Monday 1st May 2017 by THISDAY Newspapers Ltd

Once Rejected by Nigeria, How Anthony Joshua Became Champion of the World Tyson Fury accepts boxer’s challenge

Duro Ikhazuagbe with agency report

The new IBF and WBA heavyweight champion of the world, Anthony Oluwafemi Joshua, could have fought Vladimir Klitschko, as world boxing champion, under the

green white green banner of Nigeria rather than the British Union Jack. But for one small and now ultimately significant rejection by Nigerian boxing officials

in 2008, when he wanted to represent the country of his parents at the Olympic Games, was to alter the course of history, ESPN reported yesterday.

Maybe his career would have taken an entirely different fork at the crossroads if he had been flying the green and white colours nearly a decade ago.

Joshua makes no secret of his Nigerian heritage. If anything, he embraces it. His middle name, Femi (short for Oluwafemi), is as Nigerian as they come. On numerous

Improved Dollar Liquidity May Boost Banks’ Earnings ... Page 10

occasions he has not been shy to speak about his Nigerian roots. Joshua was born in Watford to a Nigerian mother and a British father of Nigerian and Irish descent. He made his Continued on page 11

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NIA Probe Report Must Remain Classified, Bolaji Akinyemi Warns

NIA DG’s confession opens can of worms, causes disquiet among spy agencies DSS DG may be summoned, Oke to reappear tomorrow Bolaji Akinyemi in Abuja and Olawale Olaleye in Lagos A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, has warned that the report of the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo panel investigating the discovery of N13.3 billion in an apartment in Ikoyi by

the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should remain classified in order not to compromise national security. This is just as it emerged at the weekend that the panel is strongly considering at Continued on page 10

How Ekweremadu Rallied Igbos to Meet Kanu’s Bail Terms

IPOB names Fayose honourary Biafra governor, commends Soludo, Chidoka, others Olawale Olaleye in Lagos and David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Interesting details have emerged on how the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, in a space of 48 hours, rallied Igbos of different social strata

nationwide to meet the bail conditions handed down by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja to secure the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Continued on page 11

Police Arrest Sule Lamido over Utterances... Page 62

DESPITE GABRIEL SUSWAM’S DETENTION, THERE IS REASON TO CELEBRATE Wife of former Benue State Governor, Mrs. Yemisi Suswam (centre), flanked by other family members when she celebrated her 50th birthday at the central parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, in Abuja… yesterday. Mrs. Suswam’s husband has been in the custody of the Department of State Services without being charged to court for about 60 days on allegations of being in possession of firearms

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COMMENT

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

NIGERIA’S ICT SECTOR AND THE ECONOMY The sector is poised to reorient the economy, writes Mark Clack

hen one looks around Nigeria today, it is very difficult not to notice the pace of change brought about by the ever-evolving Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. The growth of the ICT sector has developed so rapidly that it has literally changed the way we think about socio-economic development. In regards to ICT, Nigeria’s numbers are staggering. Nigeria ranks number one in internet usage in Africa and eighth in the world. Nigeria’s telecom sector is one of the largest in Africa, and is driven almost entirely by mobile technology. Internet usage has increased rapidly in Nigeria over the past 10 years. ICT has opened up access to information on the world-wide web and citizens are bettered informed about matters of particular importance and interest to them. The potential to transform lives and the nation’s economy through IT is well known by lawmakers and the IT/telecommunications sector. It would be a remarkable achievement if the policy and private sector could work more closely together to address youth entrepreneurship and employment through ICT. To realise this vision, a plan for training, incubating, financing and implementation is needed. Youth engagement throughout the design and implementation process is critical for success. To promote the empowerment of young Nigerians to engage in the development process, leaders should seek to contribute to youth employment through entrepreneurship and capacity development in Nigeria. ICT should be recognised as both an input, and output of innovation. The emergence of technology hubs across the country, as well as the growing efforts by young Nigerian “techpreneurs” in developing mobile applications to solve health, education, financial inclusion, agriculture, and other socio-economic challenges all point to evidence of ICTs as outputs of the innovation and entrepreneurship processes. Young people usually lack substantial mainstream support in terms of funding for the sustainable implementation and replication of their initiatives. Techpreneurs should receive support that fosters the adoption and diffusion of mobile applications, while simultaneously allowing them to continue growing their ventures. Currently, there is growing evidence that although individual techpreneurs are winning awards and being celebrated outside the country, the adoption and diffusion of home-grown mobile applications need to be further supported and promoted. Additionally, there are important infrastructure issues that pose barriers to ICT growth and internet penetration.

GOVERNMENT SHOULD CREATE AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT AND INCENTIVES FOR INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE RATES AND INCREASED ACCESS TO RURAL AREAS. IN TODAY’S KNOWLEDGEBASED ECONOMY, GOVERNMENT CANNOT AFFORD TO HAVE PEOPLE LEFT BEHIND

Service, quality, network congestion, lack of investment in infrastructure high broadband prices, the recession and lack of economic growth. Social factors impacting rapid growth include mass illiteracy rates with computers, the high cost of computers and internet services and government policies. It should be the intention of government to look to create an enabling environment and incentives for internet service providers to provide affordable rates and increased access to rural areas. In today’s knowledge-based economy, government cannot afford to have people left behind. In other parts of Africa and the Global South, important technical strides have been made in using mobile phones and other ICT instruments to help rural farmers purchase agricultural inputs and receive fair prices for their produce from remote locations. Perhaps one of the greatest innovations is in the health sector. Telemedicine and e-health programmes have improved the lives of thousands of men, women and children. Patients no longer have to travel major distances to receive preventive care and diagnosis. The savings in terms of time and money are priceless. Imagine receiving top rated health care in hundreds of miles away from the facility is truly amazing. The federal government has announced on several occasions its desire to grow the economy and create jobs through ICT. The Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Communications have been very vocal and focused in this area. The National Assembly is playing its part as well. After partnering with the private sector on the “Ease of Doing Business” priority economic agenda, a new partnership has emerged on ICT. The Nigeria ICT Policy Working Group is a partnership between the office of the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and the Africa Business Centre of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the working group is to assemble government, the Nigerian ICT private sector, international investors development partners to work over several months to review the impediments to the growth of the ICT sector, infrastructure development, spread of broadband and government policies and offer recommendations for action by the federal government and National Assembly. The working group has the potential to deliver real socioeconomic benefits to the people of Nigeria and the interest it has already garnered leads many to believe that Nigeria is on the verge of a robust, post-petroleum revival. Clack wrote from Abuja

WILL DEMOCRACY EVER FAVOUR THE PEOPLE? Ayo Baze argues that it’s time things were put right

“While other nations are faced with the challenges of the 21st Century/ we are bogged down by the avarice of the elite./ Every time we believe we have seen the worst from our country,/the shameless, opportunistic power grabbers take us back to a new low.” -Nigeria Democratic Liberty Forum, New York, June,2010

ith trillions of naira revenue, mostly from crude oil sales from the ‘60s till date, it is a crying shame that Nigeria parades some of the most disturbing dismal figures in the Human Development Index (HDI). The reasons are not far- fetched. Much of our national wealth has gone to feather the nests of the shameless, avaricious locusts that have held the reins of political power since independence. While some have stashed their loot in dark, foreign vaults, others, as recent revelations from the EFCC go have theirs hidden in overhead tanks, underground troves, soak ways, abandoned houses and even stinking graveyards! What a country! Painful still, the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against poor Nigerians are walking our streets as free men! At the worst, they are held captive for a few days, then granted bail and paraded for media trial with all the initial hoopla that soon dies from Doppler’s effect. But the concomitant implication of their crimes and the attendant impunity are telling. From increasing poverty rate, including helpless

citizens caught in the terrible trap of extreme penury, high maternal and infant mortality rates, food insecurity to huge youth unemployment, our nation’s parlous economic situation is a criminal betrayal of what God has richly endowed us with. For instance, poverty rate rose from 15 % as at independence in 1960 to 67.1% in 1999 and 72.2% in 2014. The World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, stated in April 2014 at the IMF/ World Bank Spring Meetings that Nigeria, with seven per cent of the world’s poor ranked third in the world while India was placed at number one with 33 per cent of the world poor. Similarly, Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose from 5.8% in 2008, 19.9% in 2009 through 21.10% in 2010 to 23.9% in 2011. Infant mortality rate total stood at 74.09 deaths/1,000 live births. This insidious systemic rot has got to stop. The paradigm shift is only a matter of time. But will the political pendulum ever swing in favour of the vast majority of Nigerians? That is one’s worry. Wealth re-distribution is a now a must. Nigeria can no longer afford a sordid economic situation that had 17,474 political office holders setting the nation’s treasury back by a whopping N1.13 trillion on yearly basis, and jerking up their emoluments at will, as revealed by The Economist of London in 2010. We can no longer sustain the huge capital flight of unpatriotic politicians who steal the nation blind only to empower foreign nationals. For instance, in July 2004 UNIDO Report listed countries such as China, India, Singapore and Thailand amongst those with robust economies

that reduced poverty rate from an average of 40% in 1981 to 21 % in 2001 while ours was escalating. In fact, the report singled out Nigeria as the country with the worst case scenario of capital flight and advised us to borrow a new leaf from Uganda, which had a similar challenge but was able to reverse the drift. Back then in 2004 our politicians were accused of stashing $107 billion abroad. Similarly, in April 2011 CNN MarketPlace Report stated that Nigerian politicians own 40 per cent of luxury property in Central London, with the cost ranging from 17 million to 33 million pounds sterling. Dubai is not left out. Such barefaced robbery of our common patrimony must also come to a halt. But how? That is the million-naira question. While not a few Nigerians thought the change mantra, as promoted by the All Progressives Congress-led government back in 2015 would bring succour to the poor, (sentiments aside), there has been more heat than light in the art of governance. What with the exasperating economic recession, increase in poverty rate, lack of access to quality jobs and the resultant increase in rate of suicide. But what is the way forward? To tread the path to prosperity, political re-engineering is sine qua non. We must retool our concept of governance, from the primary school level to the highest office in the land; to be for the state instead of the self. The pay structure of political appointees must be drastically scaled down, in tandem with the harsh economic reality. The undue fixation of political power at the bloated federal centre

must be done away with. We should revisit and implement the well-thought out recommendations of the National Conference. With true fiscal federalism in place more economic resources would be devolved to the states and local governments in this regard. An economic expert has posited that with creative thinking and prudent management of resources the states could cumulatively generate up to 10 million jobs. Governments at the federal and state levels should consider instituting a Ministry of Job Creation, by merging the Ministry of Labour and Productivity with that of Trade and Investment. But we have to start planning with the benefit of credible data. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) should be financially empowered to avail Nigerians with the number of job-seeking citizens, their areas of professional specialisation, age, gender, place of residence and year of graduation. Such a Ministry should work in concert with the organised private sector and research institutes to get our job-seeking youths off the streets. Industrialisation remains the panacea to solving the searing scourge of unemployment with stable infrastructure as the catalyst. Emphasis should shift to small and medium scale enterprises. Our banks should be more interested in identifying viable home-grown businesses and be ready to fund them. Above all, Nigerians must “shine their eyes” so as not to elect their enemies, with sugarcoated tongues into sensitive political offices. Come 2019, our destiny will be in our hands again.

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EDITORIAL NCC AND TELECOMS EFFICIENCY

The NCC should celebrate its recent rating with circumspection or the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the regulator of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bourgeoning telecommunication sector, its recent platinum rating by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) was a huge morale booster. But to the extent that several challenges still plague the sector, the NCC cannot afford to roll

out any drums. However, it is gratifying that the NCC has been proactive in addressing some of the critical challenges, including those being faced by the telecom operators which include difficulty in acquiring new cell sites, multiple taxation and regulation, vandalism, power supply, etc. The main challenge is that there is not so much that the regulator can do without the support of other stakeholders. Only a few months ago, for instance, the NCC Executive Vice-Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta lamented that the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Nigerian Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Forum (NGF) and a former Minister of Communications, which covered all vital issues, was not adhered to. He added that some of the government agencies across the IT IS OUR HOPE THAT THIS country often threaten RATING WILL GINGER IT TO to shut down the Base A HIGHER PERFORMANCE Transceivers Stations IN A SECTOR WHERE of the networks over SUBSCRIBERS COMPLAIN alleged refusal to ABOUT INEFFICIENT comply with their tax regime. SERVICES FROM However, it is PROVIDERS increasingly evident that the NCC is now more alive to its responsibilities by introducing the 2442 short code to enable consumers opt out of telemarketing (unsolicited massages) while a toll free dedicated line for complaints has been reinvigorated. Earlier in the year, the NCC, in conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also intervened to save Etisalat from the receiverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hammer, bringing succour to the thousands of workers and other vendors that would have been adversely affected by a possible liquidation of the telecom service provider.

Letters to the Editor

Following the hefty fine imposed on MTN by the federal government, essentially for flouting the NCC regulation on the registration of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards of its customers, the commission has been strengthened in the application of its regulatory powers over the networks. But the average Nigerian consumer is still having a raw deal as poor services continue to define operations in the sector. The BRSC rating should therefore be seen as a sort of encouragement rather than something to gloat about.

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KOGI AND PROBLEMS OF LEADERSHIP

he problems of Kogi State seem endless. Contrary to the widespread expectation that a younger governor could take advantage of his youthfulness and energy for proactive leadership, the state continues to plunge deeper into the abyss of socio-political

quagmire. The story of Kogi State is nothing short of pity and more pity. Considering the state of affairs in the state, one cannot help looking back to the days of Captain Idris Wada with nostalgia. At a time when conditions of living have become so difficult as a result of the economic slowdown, the incumbent governor of the state could comfortably sit down with eleven months of unpaid staff salary. To compound the insensitivity, he set out with a retinue of supporters and state officials for a pilgrimage in Mecca, not minding that there are muslims who could not afford to feed their families during the Ramadan and sallah period as a result of his refusal to pay their salaries for the past several months. The adage - if you say a wood is so smoky and withdraw it from the fire, how are you sure the next one would not be smokier? This is relevant here. There was an instance when Governor Idris Wada owed state workers only two monthsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; salary and pleaded with the union to accept a month pay until conditions improved, but they refused and threatened industrial action. Today, what have they got on their hands? Capt. Wada, a

stablished in 2003 as the lead agency and engine room for integrated public service reform implementation, coordination and harmonisation, the BPSR undertook the assessment of the organisational processes of the NCC for about 15 months and concluded that the telecom regulator was excellent, awarding it a 94 per cent platinum grade. The Bureauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Director General, Dr. Joe Abah, itemised the criteria for the evaluation to include accountabilities and responsibilities for set standardised operating procedure (SOP) manuals of the commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 19 departments as well as accurate measurement of responsibilities and performance assigned to staff. After acknowledging that the NCC had a sense of where it was going and how it would get there, the bureau explained that the regulatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision, strategy and impacts complement the sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organisational direction. The bureau also rated NCC very high in procurement processes saying the commission â&#x20AC;&#x153;has adequate systems, processes and experienced personnel responsible for executing its procurement activities in line with extant provisions of the Public Procurement Act.â&#x20AC;? Danbatta promised that the commission would continue to work for improvement in the quality of service with Nigeria having already attained 21 per cent penetration, a quantum leap from 10 per cent in the last two years. It is therefore our hope that this rating will ginger it to a higher performance and translate to better service delivery in a sector that its subscribers continue to complain about inefficient services from providers.

renowned aircraft pilot and entrepreneur, is a humble and humane leader who got into the right place at the wrong time. Even the late Prince Audu considered him a good, God-fearing man who could have advanced his legacies but came into leadership at a time when the state was in a near comatose state. Current situations however have proved Wada as a saintly governor. Against so many odds, little resources and low morale amongst the citizens, he was able to keep things in shape. He demonstrated that development must of necessity starts with the people. He never stopped paying salaries, he never stopped road construction and other infrastructure that bears direct impact on the people. This same wada contested against Audu and was declared a loser in the controversial election. His successor by fate, Governor Bello, is so busy now but there are no positive impacts. As our democracy develops, I think there are enough lessons in the Kogi scenario for the electorate. Every patriotic Kogite must be praying that God gives us a new type of leadership. The APC which has General Mohammed Buhari as the president of the country rode on the crest of incorruptibility and personal integrity. The people see the leadership of the state by APC as a chance to key into the change agenda, but sadly, the leadership has failed. Often we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what we have got until itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gone. Abdulmajeed Hassan, Abuja

OGUNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DIGITAL MECHANIC WORKSHOP

or the auto-mechanics in Ogun State, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a new dawn. For the first time since the creation of the state in 1976, they now have modern tools and machines to work with. At the opening of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Four Modern Automobile Diagnostic Workshopsâ&#x20AC;? at Obada-Oko Mechanic Village in Ewekoro Local Government Area on Tuesday, it was encomiums galore for the governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, for identifying with every stratum of the society. We are adept at improvisation in this part of the world - if the desirable is not available, then the available becomes the desirable! It is not because we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want or like good things, but a progressive destruction of the economy over decades has brought us to where we are today. The Nigerian elite are usually alarmed by the degree of risks our technicians regularly expose themselves to in the name of improvisation. Some have lost limbs, arms, fingers and even lives on account of working with wrong tools or engaging in hair-brained improvisation. A majority of the elite have equally suffered loss or damage of valuable property as a result of this. But

what have the elite done about the situation? How have governments across the federation ameliorated the situation? Most of the technicians at the inauguration ceremony of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;MITROS Digital Workshopsâ&#x20AC;? on Tuesday were pleasantly surprised to see how modern equipment could make their work so easy. Most of them were seeing some of the machines for the first time. The state government had equally brought in experts to train them on the use of the digital machines. Among the automobile machines in the new workshops were digital wheel balancers, four post alignment lifts, tyre changers, oil drainers, CCD aligners, lathes or turning machines, 3D aligners, scissors lifts, two tonne lifts, trolley jacks, , BMC tools trays and air compressors. These modern workshops are to be replicated in the major mechanic villages across the senatorial districts of state. Without any doubt, this is a real feather in the cap of the governor of Ogun State. It seems our technicians have now leapfrogged into the 21st century! It can only get better in Ogun State. Soyombo Opeyemi, Abeokuta

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Improved Dollar Liquidity May Boost Banksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Earnings Obinna Chima with agency report The increase in dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is giving banks in the country reason to cheer. The CBN increased sales of the U.S. currency to banks in late February to try and curb foreign exchange shortages that contributed to the first annual contraction in the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy in two decades and limited trading by the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lenders.

It even created sectoral supply of the greenback which led to significant appreciation of the naira to as low as N520 to the dollar then, but hovers around N385 to the dollar at the moment. Transactions in the currency market rose by a half to $9.72 billion in March compared to the previous month, according to Lagos-based FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foreign-exchange trading platform. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We see an improvement in the number of letters of credit,

bills being settled and remittances being allowed,â&#x20AC;? President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Segun Ajibolresto told Bloomberg in an interview. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ordinarily, a margin will always be left behind for banks, so it will be right to say at the end of the day it will be an increase in revenue to banks.â&#x20AC;? Nigerian banking stocks rallied the most last week after it emerged that CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, will let the market determine the nairaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rate in a new forex window for

portfolio investors in a further bid to revive the economy and address the dollar deficit. While he would tolerate the naira weakening in the window, the central bank probably wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t devalue the nairaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s official rate, according to a person who attended meetings with the policy maker over the past two weeks. The countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lenders, especially small- and mediumsized banks, have been hard hit by the economyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s woes, as companies scaled back output

and workers lost their jobs. Non-performing loans (NPLs) as a percentage of gross loans worsened to 14 per cent at the end of December from 11.7 percent at the end of June, the central bank said earlier this month. Banks are now expecting a reduction in NPLs and an improvement in profitability following an increase in the oil price and dollar flows in the country, Ajibola said. Emefiele last week revealed that the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foreign reserves

have exceeded $31 billion, a development which he said gives the central bank the firepower to sustain its forays into the foreign exchange market. He also expressed optimism that Nigeria would exit the recession by the end of the second quarter of 2017, or latest by the third quarter of the year. Emefiele said the gains made by the local currency and corresponding drop in inflation were indications that the country was on its way out of the recession.

brought to his notice a year ago, has been forthright and has his support. In the light of his revelations, presidency sources said the NIA DG was re-invited for further grilling on Thursday evening and is also slated to appear again tomorrow. His appearance before the committee last Thursday lasted till midnight and was said to have been very revealing on the startling details of NIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations and even implicated certain individuals in the Buhari administration. The sources maintained that Oke also provided documents showing past expenditures of the agency, a development said to have expanded the list of those implicated. THISDAY sources were also of the view that now that Pandoraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Box has been opened, even if those identified are not indicted immediately, they would certainly lose the trust and confidence of the president, who was said to believe everything the NIA DG has so far submitted to the panel. Sources believe that if the vice-president sustains the pace and approach to this particular assignment without fear or favour, it would be a major breakthrough in the anti-graft war.

the AGF. During his grilling last Monday, Oke was said to have objected to a suggestion by Osinbajo that NIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accounts should be audited by external auditors to ascertain the probity of the agencyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finances. While Malami was said to have agreed with Oke that such an inquiry would contravene the NSA Act, Osinbajo was said to have contended that the Act was inferior to the 1999 Constitution. The vice president, however, prevailed as a team of auditors were said to have visited the NIA headquarters in Abuja on Friday to pry into the agencyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books. This, an intelligence officer said, has been unsettling to the spy chiefs in the country. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What has happened is like the FBI investigating the accounts of the CIA,â&#x20AC;? he said, explaining that it was strange. THISDAY sources said following the insistence of Oke that his operations and the unusual handling of the N13.3 billion was in keeping with the opaque nature of intelligence organisations worldwide, the committee might summon the Director-General of the DSS, Mr. Lawal Daura to testify and update it on intelligence financial accounting. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was even a misnomer that other intelligence agencies were not appointed to serve on the committee,â&#x20AC;? said an intelligence source, who said given the limited knowledge of the vice-president and the AGF on intelligence matters, persons familiar with the terrain ought to have been included on the committee. Oke, according to a source, has also been asked to appear before the committee tomorrow to clarify issues that cropped up after his last testimony on Thursday. He was said to have told the committee that his though handling of the $289m intervention fund released to his agency by the Goodluck Jonathan administration might seem unusual, it was in tandem with intelligence service operations worldwide, saying he complied with the law by informing the president and the NSA about the money. But media reports at the weekend quoted NSA sources as denying that the money was not reported to the president and the NSA. The reports claimed that the NSA only became aware of the money when the DG, NIA belatedly filed a report after a presidential committee investigating arms procurement uncovered the existence of the funds. An NIA source, however, dismissed the reported denial by the NSA as an afterthought, referring copiously to Okeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memo of January 2016 to the NSA in which he gave a breakdown of the intervention funds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The title of the memo

was â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Report on Release of $289m Intervention Fund for Infrastructure Development and Covert Operationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;,â&#x20AC;? he said, contending that it was obvious from the heading of the memo that the NSA was briefed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If the NSA was not briefed, on what basis did he set up the verification team that inspected NIA projects and submitted a report to him in February, 2016?â&#x20AC;? the source asked. According to the source, â&#x20AC;&#x153;In any case, the president came to one of the facilities built with the money, the Hill Top Retreat and Technical Centre, Abuja, to induct the new ambassadors in December 2016 and inspected other projects, including the helipad and the Snake Road built through the rocky terrain of the agencyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s headquarters. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With what money were those projects built when, in fact, the agency got zero capital allocation in 2015 and less than 40 per cent capital releases in 2016?â&#x20AC;? Cautioning the Office of the NSA not to precipitate a media war between it and the NIA, the source asked the NSA to explain the basis of a memo he sent to the DG, NIA on May17, 2016 expressing his and the presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s satisfaction over the projects executed with the intervention funds. Asked whether the NSA was briefed on the N13.3 billion found in the Ikoyi flat and why such a huge amount in cash was kept there, he said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The law does not require the DG to release details of the agencyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accounts to the NSA. What he is entitled to know are the headings, which was contained in the DGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memo of January 2016. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Secondly, there is no intelligence agency in the world that does not have cash holdings, particularly in US dollars, as 80 per cent of our operations are in dollars.â&#x20AC;?

NIA PROBE REPORT MUST REMAIN CLASSIFIED, BOLAJI AKINYEMI WARNS least a weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extension to conclude its investigations and submit its report to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The move to extend the deadline may have been compelled by the testimonies and volumes of documents presented by the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal and Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayodele Oke, among several other government officials who have been summoned by the panel, thus requiring further scrutiny. The panel, which is scheduled to conclude and submit its reports on Wednesday, was set up by the president on April 19 and given two weeks to investigate the alleged mismanagement of funds routed through the Presidential Initiatives for the North-east (PINE), which Lawal chaired in his capacity as the SGF. The panel is also to investigate the discovery of N13.3 billion in the Ikoyi flat, which the NIA has claimed were its funds meant for projects in Lagos and the South-west. Others on the panel are the Minister of Justice and AttorneyGeneral of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami and the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno. However, Akinyemi, in a statement yesterday said when news broke that some millions of dollars had been found hidden in a flat in Ikoyi, he was quite indifferent, as it had become a â&#x20AC;&#x153;recurring decimalâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was not even bothered when nobody initially stepped forward to claim it. But when Ambassador Ayo Oke stepped forward to claim it on the part of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), alarm bells started to ring in my ears. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is one of the sacred traditions of the external intelligence trade to admit nothing and to deny nothing,â&#x20AC;? he said. Akinyemi, who was also the deputy chairman of the 2014 National Conference, noted that a saving grace emerged when the president set up the Osinbajo panel to untangle the web over the millions of dollars. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But the president inadvertently made a mistake. He did not appoint anyone with a history of external intelligence experience unto the panel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;External intelligence operations do not belong in the same security genre as domestic security forces such as the DSS, EFCC and the police. â&#x20AC;&#x153;External intelligence officers, otherwise called spies, do not operate under the same operational penalties as domestic intelligence officers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ultimate penalty for a foreign spy in most countries is death. Countries go to incredible lengths to hide the identities of their agents both domestic and foreign and their operations.

No receipts get issued. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Budgets are called black budgets because they are never publicly acknowledged. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would have been reassuring if the president had appointed a former head of or a former very senior member of NIA to be a member of the panel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Even at this late stage, let me remind the vice-president that a lawyer with a specialty in constitutional law will not appreciate the niceties of international law. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is not too late to appoint a retired head of NIA as a consultant to the panel,â&#x20AC;? he said. The former minister explained that he was motivated at this late stage to issue the statement in view of the fact that the House of Representatives has decided to institute its own inquiry to this â&#x20AC;&#x153;peculiar messâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is a dangerous move. In my knowledge in this field, I know of only one occasion when a government, in this case, the United States Government, set up a congressional committee, the Church Committee, named after the Chairman, Senator Frank Churchill, to look into â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;governmental operations with respect to intelligence activitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In fact, the main issue which was its concern was â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;did the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ever indulge in carrying out assassinations of foreign presidents?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Normally, foreign intelligence activities are shrouded in secrecy and not in the glare of publicity,â&#x20AC;? he added. Akinyemi pointed out that the whole saga had made Nigeria a laughing stock in the world, adding that Nigerian agents strewn all across Africa are now in dread of being exposed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Recruiting agents in future in Africa is going to be difficult out of fear of future exposure,â&#x20AC;? he cautioned. Akinyemi went on to proffer recommendations to limit the damage that has already been done: r*U JT OPU UPP MBUF UP DBMM JO a former Director of NIA to serve as a consultant to the Osinbajo panel. r/P NPSF MFBLT GSPN UIF panel. r6OEFS OP DJSDVNTUBODFT should the report of the panel, in as far as it relates to the activities of the NIA, be made public. r6OEFS OP DJSDVNTUBODFT should the National Assembly be allowed to conduct hearings into the NIA affairs. The Osinbajo panel report could be shared secretly with the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. r4IPVME BOZ /*" PGĂ DFS CF found culpable, he or she should be quietly eased out. Putting a foreign intelligence officer on trial in an open court is going to be disastrous to external national security interests. If there is no provision to put an intelligence officer on trial in

a secret and special court, an executive bill should be sent to the National Assembly to make provisions for such. r6OEFS OP DJSDVNTUBODFT should one security agency be allowed to move against another security agency, especially one dealing with foreign intelligence, without the express permission of the president or in his absence the acting president. This should be without any publicity or fanfare.

One-week Extension Meanwhile, following the testimonies and the voluminous documents presented by Lawal and Oke, among several others government officials who have been summoned by the panel, there are indications that the committee is strongly considering at least a weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extension to conclude its investigation and submit its report to Buhari. The Osinbajo panel, THISDAY gathered, has uncovered so much in the last few days that it has come to the realisation that if it must do a thorough and convincing job, the initial two-week deadline it was given would be inadequate, hence its resolve to seek at least a weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extension. The vice-president, who is believed to have taken this assignment very seriously, given the importance that Nigerians and the world attach to the investigation, was said to have recently rebuffed a former governor of a South-west state and stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC), when the ex-governor attempted to intervene on behalf of his ally, the suspended SGF. Sources however reckoned the APC chieftain has not given up on intervening for the SGF, whose testimony before the panel was said to have indicted a few Buhari loyalists in the corridors of power. In fact, THISDAY gathered from presidency sources that the former governor was said to have told Lawal to remain calm while he continues to pull strings on his behalf. Also, it was learnt that the testimony and documents presented by the suspended NIA DG, Oke, were said to have been so revealing that the panel has realised that it would need more time for follow up questions to put together an unimpeachable report. Although the panelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s consideration for an extension is not unmindful of the possibility that Buhari may have to travel soon on another medical vacation, those itching to intervene for different reasons were said to be happy about the likely extension, as the presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absence could buy them more time. Inside sources informed THISDAY that the president was of the view that the defence provided by the NIA DG, some of which was said to have been

Growing Disquiet Another source in the presidency who spoke to THISDAY, also confirmed that Okeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s testimony and outcome of the panelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s investigations has caused disquiet among the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intelligence agencies which are now afraid it could undermine national security. One critical area the spy agencies sense might be adversely affected, intelligence sources said yesterday, is the extant stipluation that forbids the external audit of intelligence agencies. According to Paragraph 12 (1) and (2) of the Nigerian Intelligence Agency Instrument No 1, made under the National Security Agencies (NSA) Act, 1986, the accounts of the spy agency is prohibited from external audit as the DG accounts directly to the president. Other intelligence agencies, including the Department of State Services (DSS) also have similar instruments insulating them from external audit of their finances. Intelligence sources said, however, that given Osinbajoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disposition so far, he might recommend a review of the law to bring it in line with the normal accounting standards and procedures. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This could undermine intelligence operations and jeopardise our national security,â&#x20AC;? a source said. THISDAY sources said yesterday that the issue has already caused a disagreement between the vice-president and

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˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

NEWS HOW EKWEREMADU RALLIED IGBOS TO MEET KANU’S BAIL TERMS Nnamdi Kanu, who had been held in detention for nearly two years for alleged treason. Kanu, alongside David Nwawuisi, Benjamin Madubugwu and Chidiebere Onwudiwe were arrested in October 2015 by the federal government for alleged treason. In the course of his detention, Kanu was granted bail by a court, but the order was disobeyed by the federal government which moved him from his detention cell at the Department of State Services (DSS) to Kuje Prison on the outskirts of Abuja. But Justice Nyako last Wednesday granted bail to Kanu under very stringent terms, resulting in an outcry by members of IPOB, civil society groups and his family, who argued that they might not be met and were a violation of his rights to free speech and freedom of assembly. The terms included three sureties, one of whom must be a serving senator, a Judaism religion leader, and a highly respected person. All three sureties were required to own landed property in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with the sum of N100 million each. She also warned Kanu against granting press interviews, holding rallies or being in a gathering of more than 10 persons while on bail, threatening to revoke his bail if he flouted any of the conditions. She, however, denied Kanu’s other colleagues bail. But immediately the bail conditions were reeled out, Kalu last Wednesday rejected his release on the grounds

that his colleagues must be released alongside him. He was also of the view that his right to speak freely had been infringed upon by the order of the court. He was, however, prevailed upon by prominent Igbo leaders to accept the bail. They also advised him that he would be better off appealing the bail terms gagging him from the outside rather than in the custody of the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS). They also promised that they would meet with Ekweremadu to reach out to other Igbo prominent leaders, businessmen, traders and professionals to raise the money in a matter of hours to meet the bail terms. Once Kanu accepted, his lawyer issued a statement that same evening denying that his client had rejected the bail, thus paving the way for Ekweremadu to rally other Igbos to help Kanu regain his freedom. Ekweremadu was said to have quickly rallied several prominent Igbos to his Abuja home for a meeting to discuss how to meet the bail conditions and get Kanu out of prison. According to a source who was privy to the meeting, Ekweremadu who is arguably Igbo’s leading light and highest political office holder, was said to have descended heavily on the prominent Igbo sons and daughters and tongue-lashed them for abandoning Kanu at a very critical period. He condemned the fact that on the day Justice Nyako ruled on Kanu’s bail application, no prominent

Igbo person was in court apart from the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose and a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, both of whom are Yoruba. Subsequently, he informed them that as a face-saving measure, Igbos must raise the funds needed to bailout Kanu immediately. The source said one of the senators of South-east extraction who was at the meeting said he was ready to bring the N100 million ordered by Justice Nyako, but was concerned about the prying eye of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is at dagger’s drawn with the Senate and has already been accused by some senators of harassing them. On this basis, those at the meeting decided that would all reach out to Igbo traders and businessmen, professionals, politicians and other leaders in the country to raise the N300 million immediately. Having agreed to the strategy, dedicated account numbers were immediately sent to several Igbos nationwide, especially those in Abuja, as they are believed to contribute up to 40 per cent FCT’s gross domestic product (GDP). The source revealed that once word was sent out for donations, the amount needed was raised with proper accounting of who gave what for record purposes. It was also not difficult to get a Jewish religion leader since a few Igbos consider themselves Jews and have long converted to Judaism.

Once the funds were raised and other bail conditions met, it was the former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka, who was said to have sent his Mercedes G-wagon SUV to convey Kanu in a motorcade from prison on Friday. Interestingly, Kanu, while in detention, converted to Judaism, making it easy for a respectable Jewish religion leader to come forward and stand as surety for him. THISDAY also learnt that the federal government might have decided to obey the court order this time around, because it was belatedly realised that Kanu’s prolonged detention had turned him into a hero among several Nigerians of Igbo extraction. This was evident in recent weeks when prominent Igbos such as a former Central Bank of Nigeria governor Prof Chukwuma Soludo, Prof. Patrick Utomi, former Governor Peter Obi, among several others called for Kanu’s immediate release. Prior to the call, Kanu, who two years ago had absolutely no name recognition even in the South-east, was mostly supported by jobless Igbo youths and petty traders in the South-east and some South-south states. However, with his continued incarceration, the government as a result of its own doing, brought him to the public’s consciousness such that prominent Nigerians from different creeds and ethnic backgrounds visited him in prison, including officials of the British High Commission. Kanu holds a British passport in addition to his Nigerian passport.

Ironically, Kanu’s so-called agitation for the realisation of Biafra and personal attacks against President Muhammadu Buhari did not start with the present administration. Kanu was equally a thorn in the flesh of former President Goodluck Jonathan, but the ex-president had ignored, pretending that he did not exist. But Buhari, with his thin skin, said a source, brought him to prominence by incarcerating him and adjudging him guilty when a court of competent jurisdiction had not done so. In fact, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was once reported to have advised Buhari to ignore Kanu and face the business of governance but Buhari, who seemed to have a personal resentment for Biafra declined his advice and made Kanu the star that he is today.

Fayose is Honourary Biafra Gov In a related development, the Ekiti State governor has been named a honorary governor of Biafra Republic for his show of courage last Wednesday when Kanu was granted bail. IPOB, in a statement yesterday by its media and publicity secretary Emma Powerful, said it acknowledged the contributions of Fayose who did what no South-east or South-south persons had the courage to do. The group also commended former aviation ministers, Osita Chidoka and Fani-

Kayode, Professors Soludo and Utomi, Senators Ekweremadu and Enyinnaya Abaribe and others for their support in the struggle and the release of its leaders. The statement said: “We are not unmindful of the positive role played by some individuals at various stages of the process to release our leader. “On this note we wish to commend some South-east and South-south political leaders, especially those that exhibited rare courage to openly identify with the plight of our leader and the need to free him from detention. “We appreciate Prof. Nwala of Ala-Igbo Foundation, Tochukwu Uchendu, Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA), Igbo Women Assembly (IWA), Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), the Uchenna Madu-led MASSOB. “We are eternally grateful to the insightful analysis of Mr. Goddy Uwazuruike of Aka Ikenga on national television that turned the tide of public opinion on this case. We also thank Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor and the entire legal team.” The group also vowed not to abandon its members who were not released alongside Kanu, saying that it will stand by them “through and through”. It also called on international organisations to prevail on the Nigerian government to ensure their release. The group also stated that the release of its leader would not dampen their quest for the independence of Biafra.

ONCE REJECTED BY NIGERIA, HOW ANTHONY JOSHUA BECAME CHAMPION OF THE WORLD professional debut in 2013. In a post-fight interview muck-around with Nigerian reporter Oma Akatugba, he even attempted to speak some of his native Yoruba language, and the map tattooed on his shoulder tells its own cultural tale. It is a reflection of how connected he has tried to remain to his African roots. Indeed, some of 27-yearold Joshua’s his early years were spent in Ijebu-Ode Nigeria before he returned to the UK halfway through Year Seven to join Kings Langley Secondary School. Growing up on the Meriden Estate in Garston, Hertfordshire, Joshua was called ‘Femi’ by his friends and former teachers. He excelled at football and athletics and broke the Year Nine 100m record with a time of 11.6 seconds. At 11, he joined his Nigerian mother Yeta in the most populous black nation on earth for six months and attended a boarding school within that period. Joshua told MailOnline that he felt he went to Nigeria on holiday. “I thought I was going there (Nigeria) on holiday,” he said. “I wasn’t prepared for it. It was a boarding school as well. It was a change and I thought I was going to go for the full course: 5.30am in the morning, up fetch your water, put like an iron in your water to warm it up. Your clothes had to be washed and ironed. “It wasn’t an issue but I wasn’t prepared. It was

good discipline. We got beaten. That’s my culture: beating. The (British) government raises your kids now; parents aren’t allowed to raise their kids, because there is so much control (here) about what you do or what you say. “In the (Nigerian) culture it’s family, outside support; everyone has a role in raising the kids.” At the end of six months, which he believed taught him discipline, Joshua and his family returned to the UK, and he resumed the path that led to him being discovered as a promising amateur fighter. It was that connection that drove him to try and represent Nigeria at the 2008 Olympic Games, only to be turned down by the country’s boxing coaches. Obisia Nwankpa, former Commonwealth champion, world title contender and chief coach of the Nigerian boxing team, tells the story: “He reached out to us, asking to be part of our Olympic team, so we invited him to come down and take part in the trials. “Unfortunately, he did not appear when we asked him to and came down only when we had finished our trials, finalised our team and were about to travel for a training tour. Maybe other coaches would have accepted it, but I could not. “It’s a pity he did not get his chance at that time, but the two boxers we selected then, Durodola Olanrewaju and Onorede Ohwarieme, were outstanding and

experienced and there was no way I was going to drop them for somebody I had not even seen.” Both Olanrewaju and Ohwarieme failed to go beyond their first bouts at the Beijing Olympics. Olanrewaju lost to Cuba’s Osmay Acosta, who went on to win bronze, while Ohwarieme was beaten by Lithuania’s Jaroslavas Jaksto. But Nwankpa remains convinced that Joshua would not have fared any better at the time. “Those two were great boxers and the reason they did not do so well was partly because our preparations were not really so good, and partly because there is also some politics in the way they judge these fights at amateur level.” However, Jeremiah Okorodudu who represented Nigeria at the 1984 Olympic Games, has another take on why Joshua was rejected. His relationship with Nwankpa is frosty at best and they do not often agree. Okorodudu claimed that some stinging words were said to the young boxer. “When they turned him back, they told him that if he was that good he should have fought for Britain,” Okorodudu alleged. That snub, it seems, provided additional motivation which spurred the young boxer to fight his way into the British Olympic team. Four years later, Nigeria’s rejected nugget had become Great Britain’s cornerstone Olympic gold medalist. So is it possible

that Joshua dodged a bullet by that rejection? Nwankpa grudgingly agreed: “Well, maybe if he had represented Nigeria at that time he would not have won gold at the Olympics. And possibly, even if he had won, he may not have achieved what he is achieving now. “Being born in England gives him a certain amount of preference and because he is representing them, he also gets a lot of support from them; good management, and world class preparation. “Here, it would have been difficult for him to get the kind of support that he has now. And if he doesn’t have that support, he won’t have fights and if he doesn’t have fights, he cannot be champion,” Nwankpa argued. Okorodudu again holds opposite views to Nwankpa: “I believe he could still have achieved all that if he had fought for Nigeria. We have had boxers who have done well fighting for Nigeria. Peter Konyegwachie won silver in 1984. David Izonritei also won silver and I trained Samuel Peter for three years before he went to the Olympic Games and later became a world champion. “So if Joshua had been given a chance here, I believe he could still have won gold and still be a world champion.” On further reflection, however, Okorodudu admitted it would have been a harder journey for

the young champion. “Lack of fights is a big problem for our boxers. They turn professional and there is no promotion. Joshua is where he is because he is getting good promotion, so maybe it would have been tougher for him. “But because he was born in England, he could still have moved abroad, like Peter did, and that would have worked for him,” Okorodudu added. Nwankpa, who was close to being a world champion himself until he lost the WBC title fight to Saoul Mamby, however, maintained that he has no regrets about his decision to cold-shoulder Joshua. “I would do it again because we must always do things the right way. Simply because somebody was born abroad does not mean he can just walk into our team without taking part in our trials. “That would be unfair to those who sweated to take part and qualified. So no, I have no regrets at all. But I am happy for him,” Nwakpa told ESPN before Saturday’s fight. Choices: we are the sum total of the choices we make. For Joshua, he is the sum of choices stemming from one made by Nwankpa. Hard not to think that in his moments of quiet introspection, he will find himself thankful for the little mercy of having suffered that rejection early in his career.

Meanwhile, after winning the historic fight in front of 90,000 people at Wembley and with millions watching all over the world, Joshua challenged another heavyweight great, Tyson Fury to a match. Fury beat Klitschko in 2015, but was stripped of his titles shortly afterwards and has not fought since. Taking up the challenge, Fury responded to Joshua calling him out immediately after his victory over Klitschko by saying “challenge accepted”. “Tyson Fury, where (are) you at baby?” asked Joshua. “Come on, is that what you want to see? I enjoy fighting. I love fighting. Tyson Fury I know he has been talking a lot and wants to come back and compete. “I want to give 90,000 people another chance to come back and watch some boxing here,” shouted out Joshua who is now a three-belt champion as he also holds the IBO title. Tyson Fury accepted the challenge – some have called this next bout to be one of the biggest in 500 years of boxing history. Fury last year surrendered the world heavyweight titles he won by beating Klitschko in an effort to focus on his mental health problems. The 28-year-old has won all 25 of his professional fights so far, 18 by knockout. Joshua now boasts a perfect 19-0 record following his win over Klitschko, with all of the 27-year-old’s victories coming inside the distance.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

POLITICS

Group Politics Editor Tobi Soniyi Email tobi.soniyi@thisdaylive.com 08033146139 SMS ONLY

M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E

Adeniyi’s Book Opens Pandora’s Box The new book by the Chairman of the THISDAY Editorial Board, Olusegun Adeniyi, Against the Run of Play, has generated a heated debate among politicians and citizens alike. Tobi Soniyi joins the debate

Jonathan...blamed others for losing election

efore it was formally presented to the public last Friday, the book, Against the Run of Play, written by THISDAY Editorial Board Chairman, Olusegun Adeniyi was already making waves across the country. To many, how Dr Goodluck Jonathan lost the election to President Muhammadu Buhari remained a mystery. The incumbent was always expected to win. Even though there have been attempts in the past to explain what actually transpired during the 2015 presidential election, the book is the first compendium to aggregate the views of those who played active roles during the election. Being the first time an incumbent president would lose an election, any attempt to explain how this happened will certainly attract public interest. After reading the book, the man at the centre of the election, former President Jonathan disagreed with the views expressed by some of those interviewed by the authors. Of course, they in turn disagreed with him. Like Hilary Clinton, who blamed everyone else but herself for losing the United States of America’s presidential election to Donald Trump, Jonathan blamed everyone else but himself for his loss of the 2015 presidential election to Buhari. In his views as expressed in the book, Jonathan blamed everyone else for losing to Buhari but himself. Even after the book was published, Jonathan still disagreed with other participants’ views on how the election was lost. In his reactions which he released on his twitter handle, Jonathan said: “I have just

read Segun Adeniyi’s new book, ‘Against the Run of Play’ which has so far enjoyed tremendous reviews in the media. “My take on it is that the book as pre-

After reading the book, the man at the centre of the election, former President Jonathan disagreed with the views expressed by some of those interviewed by the authors. Of course, they in turn disagreed with him. Like Hilary Clinton, who blamed everyone else but herself for losing the United States of America’s presidential election to Donald Trump, Jonathan blamed everyone else but himself for his loss of the 2015 presidential election to Buhari.

sented contains many distorted claims on the 2015 presidential election by many of the respondents. “There will obviously be more books like that on this subject by concerned Nigerians. “However, I believe that at the right time, the main characters in the elections including myself will come out with a true account of what transpired either in major interview or books.” Like Jonathan, the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who claimed in the book that the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el Rufai and some other people who came to join the APC from the PDP instigated Buhari to drop him as vice president, has also tried to clarify his position. The book quoted Tinubu as saying: “What they (Saraki and others from the Peoples Democratic Party) did behind my back was wrong. We always do things as a group. By the time they joined, we were already too far ahead in our processes but we accommodated them,” he said. “We agreed to take their state structures and subsume them into the part and they all had their opportunity to nominate the candidates of their choices for different political offices. “But they went behind to instigate Buhari and some other people in the party against me on the pretext of religion. That was not right. They were canvassing arguments that the Christians in the north would not vote for a Muslim-Muslim ticket.” He also stated that on the eve of the primary, some senators and governors, who defected from the PDP to the APC,

met with him to know if he had agreed to run with Buhari, but that he told them to wait until the exercise was over. He said: “I told them that it was better to resolve such issue after the primaries, but they wanted to make it a condition for supporting Buhari, which, for me, was very wrong,” he said. “I told them I could not insist on this as a condition for my support for Buhari. I felt that was not right to hold Buhari hostage in this manner. “I believe the support that we gave was fundamental to Buhari clinching the party nomination. Without that support, a different outcome would have been most likely.” He said el-Rufai tried to influence the emergence of Tunde Bakare, serving overseer of The Latter Rain Assembly, as Buhari’s running mate in 2015. But at the public presentation of the book, Tinubu sought to clarify his position regarding the issue of the vice president. He spoke through his media aide, Mr Tunde Rahman. He said: “The account of what transpired as told by Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the book and as presented in some newspapers is not about him losing the vice-presidency and the eventual vice-president emerging, as the reviewer has put it.” “Asiwaju spoke in greater context in that book, and when people are making comments, they should speak with the context in which he spoke. If they are saying that Asiwaju lost the vice-presidency and that a vice-president emerged, where did he emerge from? Who nominated the vice-president? “I’d like to say that even the vice-president CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

POLITICS

MONDAY DISCOURSE A D E N I Y I ’ S B O O K O P E N S PA N D O R A’ S B O X

L-R: Author, Olusegun Adeniyi, former Head of State, Abdulsalam Abubakar and Mrs Onari Duke at Presentation of Against the Run of Play

has said on some occasions that a certain political leader from the south-west nominated him for the job and we all know who that is. “That nomination has been a very good choice from all the wonderful things the vice-president has been doing.” Even the Presidency can not afford to keep quiet. Reacting to claim by Jonathan that the Buhari’s administration was harassing his family, the presidency in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina said: “We make bold to state unequivocally that Buhari harasses nobody; he merely allows the law to take its course. For the umpteenth time, we say that anybody without skeleton in his or her cupboard, has nothing to fear about the bared fangs of the anti-corruption initiative. Fear belongs only to those who have abused trust while in office. Anybody who feels aggrieved is free to approach the courts to seek redress or justice. Buhari believes in the rule of law and that is why his campaign against corruption is anchored on that plank.” The Presidency also reacted to Jonathan’s objection to the Buhari’s style of fighting corruption. It said: “With regard to Buhari’s anti-graft style, which the former president deprecates, given the scale of revelations and recoveries so far by the anti-corruption agencies, it is obvious that corruption had an uninhibited course during our recent past. In any case, time will give the verdict on whose style of fighting corruption ultimately yielded the most dividends. For now, Buhari is resolute and single-minded in the fact that his crusade against graft is not targeted at any individual or group. He firmly believes that national interest must always be placed above personal interest, no matter who is involved.” While Nigerians are thrilled to read some of the chilling revelations made in the book, the author surprised many when he said that he did not write up to 25 per cent of what he was told in the course of researching

for the book. He also said that he never betrayed the confidence of all the people he interviewed for the book. He also said he spoke to the principal officers on several occasions, adding that none of the people involved could claim to have been misquoted. ”I went to some of them…more than two to three times,” he added. He said further: “I don’t anticipate any controversy though a few people may counter what others said about them like President Buhari did to what President Jonathan said. But I made sure I gave everybody a fair hearing. “Besides, I didn’t even publish a quarter of what I learnt from my interactions with the principal characters I spoke to and I met some of them two or three times. I also shared with them what I intended to publish so nobody can claim I misquoted

But the book is not just a chronicle of the fall of one president and the rise of another. It is the typical journalistic history-in-a-hurry about what happened, what could have happened and what is currently happening in our country, so that we can all learn important lessons.

him. I didn’t want controversy, I just want a good story and I believe I didn’t do too badly.” At the public presentation of the book, Adeniyi explained what motivated him to write the book. He said he was interested in why it is difficult to unseat an incumbent president. Although, he came to a conclusion that a credible opposition was instrumental to APC’ s success at the 2015 presidential election, he nevertheless provided a caveat. He said: “However, as a keen follower of events that culminated in the defeat of President Jonathan, it was also clear to me that while a credible opposition platform that the All Progressives Congress (APC) represented helped, it was not the main reason why the election went the way it did. So, I decided to interrogate the factors that led to that unprecedented electoral outcome in our country. The result is what we are presenting today.” He was also confident that others who participated in the election would write their own books on the matter. He said: “While I am sure there will be other books on the election, including by the principal actors themselves, I hope this helps to shed some light on a very anxious period in Nigeria’s history that ended on a bright note with the concession of defeat by an incumbent president.” Atlso speaking at the book presentation, former military ruler, Abdulsalam Abubakar clearly underscored the importance of the book when he said: “By reading this book for instance, we can clearly understand the chain of events that started with the death in May 2010 of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and ended with the defeat in March 2015 of his successor, President Goodluck Jonathan. “But the book is not just a chronicle of the fall of one president and the rise of another. It is the typical journalistic history-in-a-hurry about what happened, what could have happened and what is currently happening in our country, so that

we can all learn important lessons.” He also challenged journalists to go beyond their daily routine of news reporting but to also write books. He said: “We need journalists to write books about the different aspects of our national life, not just politics which seems to be Segun’s forte. We need books that will help explain some of the issues that are treated perfunctorily and generate more heat than light so we can understand ourselves better. “It is indeed instructive that a presidential election held in the United States on 9th November 2016, just less than six months ago, and there are already several books on it, including “How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution” by Joel Pollak and Larry Schweikart. It is very telling that I cannot recall a book on any of the presidential elections we have had in the last 18 years under the current democratic experiment until now. I apologise to the author of such a book if there is one but I am yet to see or even hear of any. “The point here is that I would rather have Nigerian journalists writing about the happenings and events in our country than a foreigner attempting to do same because when they do, their narratives are not always clear and their views often biased. We are blessed with so many talented journalists in Nigeria that we should be telling our stories in all aspects rather than wait for others to tell our stories.” Already the book has provoked threats by others to write their own version of the event that transpired in 2015. Jonathan, Tinubu and former Chairman of PDP, Adamu Mu’azu had already said they would write their own books on the matter very soon. Even the Special Adviser to Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati had said he would also write. He said he was inspired by Adeniyi. Many more will certainly take up the challenges. The more, they say, the merrier. The debate is just starting.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

POLITICS

Obasanjo and His Political Children It was a night of nostalgia when those who worked with former President Olusegun Obasanjo came together in Lagos to celebrate his 80th birthday, Segun James was there and files this report

here is a saying that old soldiers never die, they just fade away. But old weapons, on the other hand, hang around stubbornly. This may not adequately sums up Chief Olusegun Obasanjo who has refused to fade away unlike his many contemporaries, he has continued to hang on stubbornly on the political turf of the nation. It was not the smoothest of starts, but for the gathering of some of the political associates of the former president who gathered under the aegis of Political Children of Obasanjo (PCO), to celebrate the 80th birthday of the cerebral and iconic leader. But beyond this, it was the first signal that the Obasanjo political children are about to storm the polity and stamp their political stage with their imprint. The past few weeks have witness a flurry of political activities, one of which is the gathering of those at one time or the other worked with Obasanjo. Under the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan, the Obasanjo dynasty saw its influence diminished with many of his followers flung out of the political arena and into the cold. However, the 2015 presidential election provided Obasanjo with an opportunity to strike back. The rest today is history. Jonathan’s defeat helped Obasanjo and some of his associates to bounce back into relevance in the political arena. While some of the young people who worked with him in the past are still hoping that the man who had been commander-in-chief twice could still help them land a big political job, they are also quite happy to celebrate him. In a country like Nigeria, the influence of a general whose political sagacity has seen him wielding and playing important role in the political affairs of the country in the last 50 years matters a lot. There is perhaps something that can be said of Obasanjo: even his enemies agree that he is divinely endowed with “native intelligence” which has come handy at critical period in our peculiar political terrain. Amidst an outpouring of commendations from some of these political children as they like to call themselves, Obasanjo disclosed how the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC under Malam Nuhu Ribadu probed him and unearthed a foreign account long used by his late wife, Stella Obasanjo. Obasanjo said the account which was opened by the late Stella in her maiden name before they got married was the nearest to what the former EFCC chairman, Ribadu could find against him just after he had been appointed by him. He said he did not operate a foreign account. The associates of the former president who also converged as “Learners of the Olusegun Obasanjo School of Nigerian Politics” included former office holders in the Obasanjo administration and some of the country’s leading names in the economy. As the get together commenced at 8.00 p.m. a jovial Obasanjo, who moved around the hall for a handshake with everyone present! charged his political disciples to make it a hearty evening and make it “a reunion, of reminiscences that will make us laugh, laugh and laugh.” Among those present were Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former Governor of Ogun State, Prince Olangusoye Oyinola, former governor of Osun State, Otunba Oyewole Fasawe, Dr. (Mrs.) Dere Awosika, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Mr. Akin Osuntokun, Mallam Uba Sani, Dr. Doyin Okupe, Mr. Tonye Cole, Mr. Aigboje Aik-Imoukhuede, Senator Kola Bajumo, Mallam Yayale Ahmed, Otunba Fasawe to mention just a few. Some of the political disciples took turns in praising Obasanjo’s political steadfastness in the line of duty. Mrs. Awosika particularly praised Obasanjo’s reputation in the international community. She said that there was no better way to market a country than through a leader respected by the international community. “I travelled with Baba several times and I

Obasanjo...celebrated by his political children

can tell you that he was well respected and courted everywhere.” According to her, only two things matter to Baba as he is fondly called; God and Nigeria. “In his service to God and to his country, Baba would not allow anything to stand on his way, not even his family,” she added. After the words of commendation Obasanjo flanked by his wife, Bola and associates, cut a birthday cake. It was a night to also remember his days in office. One of the stories that the president told was about the ignoble arrest of a former Inspector General of Police and the way he was disgraced on the streets by agents of the EFCC. Twelve years after forcefully retiring Mr. Tafa Balogun as the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Obasanjo disclosed that two independent security reports had indicted the former police chief of massive corruption unbecoming of anyone in that position. Obasanjo said that a first report by the State Security Service (SSS) has alleged that the IGP’s hands were not clean. Obasanjo said that he was so alarmed that he called the police chief to the State House and warned him about the indicting reports

Eulogising the former president whom he said was the most detribalised leader that the country has ever had, one who never sorrunded himself with people from his ethnic nationality as other leaders do, Uba Sani also stated that Obasanjo was equally the most misunderstood leader even though he ended up being the most constructive Nigerian leader ever.

about his activities and asked him to make amend. He however said that not surprisingly Balogun denied it, and continued in his ways. A few months later, another report, this time by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) not only detailed the alleged corrupt activity of the IGP but that it had continued unabated and without any form of care. “I called him and said Tafa, why do you have to destroy your name and career even though you will forever enjoy your privilege and salary as a former IGP for life?” He also narrated how Ribadu threatened to arrest him at the State House. He said, “I told him that if he arrested him there, they will say it is Obasanjo who ordered his arrest.” According to him, on the particular day, Balogun was at the Aso Villa to see him and the chairman of the EFCC, Ribadu was around and was threatening to arrest the Inspector General of Police right there in the Villa that was when he (Obasanjo) decided to ask for the IGP’s resignation, effective immediately. He said that while he asked the EFCC not to arrest him at the Villa, Ribadu threatened to arrest the man outside the gates of the presidential abode. According to him, it was at the point he asked Balogun to immediately tender his resignation or be fired. “I had a hunch that Nuhu may leak the report to the press as he was close to them. I immediately called Balogun to give his letter of resignation. I told him if i don’t get the letter in 30 minutes, I will dismiss you.” Obasanjo also spoke about how to make the country great. According to him, we have to continue to do the right thing. Even if the policy was introduced by your predecessors as long as it is a good policy for the development of the country, it should be sustained. This, he said was the secret of countries that achieved development. Obasanjo who was so happy to see the gathering of his former “boys”, asked everyone to be less former and have fun as the gathering was a reunion of some sort and an opportunity to reminiscing on old times. He told them that those who worked with him should feel free to tell him if he had at one time or the other stepped on their toes to and that he would promptly apologise if it was true, but if it was not “I will step on it further and even hard.” The former president who was full of praises for his political children, said that he was proud of them and is proud to call them his political children. Eulogising the former president whom he said was the most detribalised leader that the

country has ever had, one who never sorrunded himself with people from his ethnic nationality as other leaders do, Uba Sani also stated that Obasanjo was equally the most misunderstood leader even though he ended up being the most constructive Nigerian leader ever. Sani said the president would listen to you no matter how young you are. He cited an experience when the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi abused the Obasanjo government. Sani said: “ Baba called me and said, we must respond to Gani and I said, Baba, Gani fought for democracy we are all enjoying today, don’t lest us say anything. And Baba said; ‘Sani, don’t say anything’.” Speaking in the same vein, Dr. Doyin Okupe disclosed that at every opportunity, Obasanjo is always having good intention for the country. He stated that even though the former president was the oldest member of his team, he was the most energetic even as the younger men had to struggle to meet up with his schedules. An enthusiastic Okupe told the former president: “History is going to be positive on you for what you have done for Nigeria and Africa.” According to him, Obasanjo is the real bad guy. He said: “He is full of energy, he is witty, he is sharp. If you don’t prepare yourself for a meeting with him, he will mess you up.” Also speaking, Ribadu admitted that whatever he achieved was done through the effort of Obasanjo. “I would not have been what I am today without Baba.” He stressed. He said that the gathering was to thank Obasanjo for what he had done for his “children”, while also pledging continued loyalty to the former president. Ahmed Yayale described Obasanjo as a teacher. He said anytime he was going to see him, he always prepared himself for schooling. He thanked the former president on behalf of everyone who had at one time or the other worked with Obasanjo. For Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who claimed to be Obasanjo first political son, a claim that was disputed by Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola, he admitted that Baba marched on his toe when he veered off course. He nevertheless, said he would forever remain grateful to Obasanjo. Daniel explained that Obasanjo was so interested in the development of Ogun State that at very six o’clock in the morning, Baba would call him to ask how the state was doing and if he was committing himself to the pursuit of agriculture. Also at the dinner was the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina. His immediate predecessor in office, Dr Reuben Abati who worked with President Goodluck Jonathan was also there. So, was the Special Adviser to the late President Umara Musa Yar’Adua on Media and Publicity, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi who took advantage of the gathering to present his new book, Against the Run of Play to Baba. After collecting the book, Baba said: “Segun has done what books writers are not supposed to do. He interviewed people and then used the interviews to write a book.” He asked Adeniyi to explain what the book was all about. While the gathering was obviously to celebrate the man, could it also be a sign to tell the ruling APC that; “the Obasanjo boys are still here with their captain?”, only time will tell. If the handlers of President Muhammadu Buhari were expecting troubles as the groundswell towards the 2019 election begins in earnest, it certainly not from the stable of the warhorse. Already, former Vice President, has hit the ground running with his campaign. Will he be counterbalanced by the OBJ boys, again, we need to tarry a little for the answer. After all, almost all known, formidable and troublesome political groups that have reared their heads have been effectively taken care of. What however is not in doubt is that the OBJ boys’ decision to come together to celebrate him now, was most strategic.

MONDAY, MAY ͯ˜ Ͱͮͯ͵ ˾ T H I S D AY

FEATURES

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

The newly inaugurated 485-metre Aboru-Abesan Link Bridge

Aboru: Remembered After Decades of Neglect After decades of outright neglect, Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode recently unveiled infrastructure projects linking Aboru with seven other communities in Alimosho Local Government Area. Gboyega Akinsanmi writes

boru was a locked-up community. On its west, there were patches of shelters that denied its teaming population access to Abesan Federal Estate in Ipaja-Ayobo Local Council Development Area. Southwards, there was a massive canal laced with vast swamp on both sides, thus constituting huge barrier for its residents to access Meiran through Agbelekale with ease. Given its topography, the northern wing of Aboru could have offered its residents viable access to Iyana-Ipaja. But the road was in deplorable condition. As a result, it became a huge snare of gridlocks, which most residents said often compelled them to walk rather than board public buses. So, residents faced dilemma by the day whether to go out via the east or the west. With an estimated population of 150,833, Aboru’s residents were left with an option of accessing their homes and residences through a road on the east, even though sorely constricted and disturbingly deplorable. Yet, its residents – adult and youths – lived their normal lives quietly in agony, but perhaps in hope that a government would one day remember them. So, for its dwellers, living in Aboru was truly a nightmare. For those residing in

Agbelekale too, the condition of living was not different either. The duo of Aboru and Agbelekale are immediate neighbours, but 400-metre long canal, which empties into the lagoon towards Badagry, separated the two communities despite geographical proximity

Ambode’s visit to Aboru exposed him to the plight of the people. That was why he said his heart bled when he saw firsthand what the people of Aboru and Agbelekale were going through. That condition, Ambode said, compelled him to award contracts to construct a bridge that would link Aboru up with Agbelekale and other communities

and socio-cultural commonalities. Aside that the two communities were totally blocked, they never had any primary healthcare centre. Both children and women in the two communities had to go to either Mosan-Okunola or Abule Egba to access public health centres. Aboru alone has 11,542 women of child-bearing age and 25,166 children under five years old, according to the government statistics. Since its existence, Chairman of Mosan Okunola Community Development Association, Mr. Gbenga Adanri said the story “has been a story of forsaken town. We have no road. We have no primary healthcare centre. Our pregnant women had to cross to the other side before they could deliver. And we would resort to prayers that nothing untoward would happen to them.” End of nightmare For good, however, the narrative of Aboru’s people has changed. Their narrative started changing in March 2016 when the state governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode visited the neighborhood. Ambode’s visit was simply a quest to find lasting panacea to the gnawing challenge of traffic congestion that his administration faced when he took up the mantle of power in May 2015. Then, the entire stretch of Lagos-Abeokuta

expressway had become infamous for its intractable gridlocks. In particular, IyanaIpaja, a major nodal point for commuters going towards Alimosho Local Government Area, had earned notoriety for the intractable gridlock. By implication, the congestion triggered diverse cases of traffic robbery, which Ambode described as “unacceptable.” Consequently, the governor sought technical advice. Among others, the experts recommended that a portion of Lagos-Abeokuta expressway be opened up about 500 metres after Dopemu. It was proposed to allow commuters going to Abesan, Ajasa-Command, Aiyetoro, Ayobo Baruwa, Ikola and Ipaja easy access to their homes without going through Iyana-Ipaja, especially for those who are coming from Ikeja, Mushin and Oshodi among others. Also, the experts recommended the need to construct access roads that would link Aboru with Iyana-Ipaja northwards, Agbelekale southwards, Abesan eastwards and Pleasure on the south-east wing. This proposal prompted the governor to visit Aboru personally in March 2016, which according to him, marked the beginning of an end to Aboru’s age-long nightmare. Beyond the proposal, however, Ambode’s visit to Aboru exposed him to the plight of the people. That was why he said his heart

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

FEATURES A statement from Strabic showed that the bridge “was never in existence. It was the governor that discovered the place and decided to construct the bridge to ease traffic on Lagos-Abeokuta road. Before now, the situation was terrible. It was indeed difficult connecting all these communities. Commuters have to go through Iyana-Ipaja before they could access their communities.” It, thus, highlighted the benefits of the bridge and six other road projects. According to the statement, the projects will impact greatly on the two communities. With the bridge and other road networks, it said travel time had reduced significantly. Aside from the benefits the projects offer, the contractor explained diverse difficulties encountered while executing them. First, it cited difficult geographical terrain, which it said, posed huge challenge and really undermined the time of project completion. It said the terrain “is difficult because it is very swampy.” Second, the firm cited another challenge naturally caused by rain while executing the projects. Despite these, it said the bridge was constructed between eight and nine months.

L-R: Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, Ambode, Tinubu, Adebule, Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, Senator Olamilekan Solomon, at the inauguration of the Aboru-Abesan Link Bridge... recently

Residents of Aboru, Abesan and Agbelekale jubilating on the Aboru-Abesan Link Bridge after its inauguration... recently bled when he saw firsthand what the people of Aboru and Agbelekale were going through. That condition, Ambode said, compelled him to award contracts to construct a bridge that would link Aboru up with Agbelekale and other communities. Aside, Ambode said what the people went through everyday shaped his decision “to award at least six other road projects.” Under 12 months, he said the projects “have already been completed.” The completion of all the projects ended the years of outright neglect, which the governor said, the people of Aboru had suffered in the last four decades. The projects are indeed significant, said the governor. According to him, that was why the projects were inaugurated on the day the state’s former governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu turned 65. That was why all community leaders came out in large numbers to mark their inauguration. That was how children and women trooped out to celebrate the end of their nightmare and plight. One bridge, six roads The state government awarded the bridge and six other road projects to Strabic Construction Limited, a parent firm of Laralek Ultimate Construction Limited. Strabic is purely an indigenous civil engineering firm with a record of outstanding performance. Aside this record, Ambode has a policy of

patronising indigenous engineering companies on three different grounds. For Ambode, first, patronising indigenous companies is central to rescuing Nigeria from economic crisis like Asian countries did when their economies ran into trouble in the ‘90s. Second, he said, patronising indigenous firms

Ours were communities without a link bridge. Ours were communities without road networks. Ours were communities without a comprehensive primary healthcare centre. We were just living in our own world. No governor ever visited us until Ambode came in March 2016. No government remembered us until we got this intervention. For us, it is indeed a new dawn

would help develop their expertise to enable them compete effectively globally. Third, by patronising them, according to him, our young graduates would be hired and their skills developed rather than engaging labour from Asian countries. But the construction firm did not disappoint the state government. It completed the projects under 12 months. As indicated in a document obtained from the state government, the bridge that connects Aboru with Agbelekale sits on deck and piles. So, according to the document, it is a deck-on-pile bridge. It is 485-kilometre long and its width is eight metres. The document showed that the bridge came with some roads. Apart from the link bridge, other road projects executed together include Church-Giwa, Aboru-Abesan, Giwa-Fagbemi, Oguntayo-Salami, Kazeem-Ogundare and AboruAgbelekale roads, all totalling 5.5 kilometres. The roads came with standard drainages, walkways and streetlights among others. What could have been executed between three and four years, according to the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Mr. Adebowale Akinsanya, only took Strabic less than 12 months, even though the projects were executed on highly difficult geographical terrain. He said the bridge was newly initiated and constructed on huge swamps.

A new dawn Already, the era of sad experience has gone, Chairman of Ifelodun Community Development Association, Mr. Joseph Oba said. Before a new dawn, Oba said the swamps between Aboru and Agbelekale often created intractable traffic challenges. Aside, Oba added that other road networks in both communities were completely impassable. For decades, Oba said the residents “have been living in awful conditions.” Even when the governor visited the communities, the CDA chairman said the conditions of the two communities and their residents were appalling. He said it was as though Aboru “was totally abandoned before Ambode came on board. Aboru has suffered so much before this life-time intervention. “Ours were communities without a link bridge. Ours were communities with road networks. Ours were communities without a comprehensive primary healthcare centre. We were just living in our own world. No governor ever visited us until Ambode came in March 2016. No government remembered us until we got this intervention. For us, it is indeed a new dawn.” Adanri, chairman of Mosan Okunola CDA, said the people never believed the state government would make good its promise. For many, he said, they thought it was one of those official visits that would not yield any result. However, according to him, the community leaders kept correcting the wrong impression that the residents initially had and we all supported the projects. He acknowledged that the projects came with some pains. As he put it, fences were demolished. In some cases, some houses were partly affected. In other cases, those trading along the roads were displaced. Even during the project execution, he said it was really difficult “accessing either day time or in the night. Despite these pains, we all supported the projects.” Before now, he said the communities had no primary healthcare centre. He said the CDA leaders brought it “to the notice of the Managing Director of Strabic Construction Limited, Mr. Lekan Adebiyi. He agreed to build a Comprehensive Primary Healthcare Centre. The governor inaugurated the health centre alongside the bridge and six other road projects.” He, therefore, said the people of Aboru and Agbelekale “are very happy with him. We are happy because our roads have been put in proper shape. We now have a bridge to travel seamlessly within Aboru and Agbelekale. Our communities can be connected from different parts. It can be connected from Pleasure along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway or from Meiran-Ekoro road. It can also be connected from Iyana-Ipaja or through Abesan Federal Estate.” Aside, the CDA leader said the communities now “have a well-equipped health centre. Our children and pregnant women have no need to go to Abule-Egba or Mosan Okunola before we can access public healthcare centre. What else do we want? God has truly remembered us. We no longer live in lock-up communities, even though the memories of our ugly past still linger.”

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Group Business Editor Chika Amanze-Nwachuku

Email chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08033294157

A P R I L 15.7720 18.6358 20.1680

2 7 ,

9-MONTH 12-MONTH

2 0 1 7 21.4262 22.5997

EXCHANGE RATE N305.85/ 1 US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes Total Will Invest $500m in Argentina

Total SA will spend $500 million over three to four years to develop a shale-gas field in Argentina as the country’s government lures investors by pledging a minimum price. “We have giant resources of non-conventional gas under our feet in Argentina,” Chief Executive Oﬃcer Patrick Pouyanne told reporters at a conference in Paris on Thursday. “It’s the beginning of a nice story.” The French energy giant has given the go-ahead to develop the first phase of the Aguada Pichana Este license in the Vaca Muerta formation. Total also plans to increase its interest in the license, co-owned by YPF SA, Wintershall Energia SA and Panamerica Energy LLC, to 41 percent from about 27 percent, pending approval from local authorities. To spur drilling at Vaca Muerta, one of the largest shale formations outside North America, the Argentine government has extended a program that ensures a minimum price for the gas companies produce until 2021.Total, already enjoying lower drilling costs following crude’s slump, has highlighted the need to get new projects oﬀ the ground to avoid a future shortfall in energy supply. The announcement on Vaca Muerta marks the first of 10 large final investment decisions on new oil and gas ventures that Total plans for this year and next. The company is budgeting as much as $17 billion a year in capital expenditure, including resource renewal, through 2020.

PRESENTING FACTS AND FIGURES

L-R: Group Managing Director, FCMB Group Plc, Ladi Balogun; Director, Bismark Rewane and Company Secretary, Mrs. Funmi Adedibu, during the 4th annual general meeting of the Bank in Lagos …recently ABIODUN AJALA

Recovery Beckons as Nigerian Bourse Posts Second Monthly Growth Goddy Egene Hopes that the Nigerian stock market would close positively at the end of this year are being kept alive as the market recorded its second monthly gain in April. Having declined for three consecutive years, it is being expected that the market would recover in 2017 as the economy recovers from recession. The market closed the month of April with a growth of 0.9 per cent. That was the second monthly growth. After falling in January and February 2017, the market gained 0.74 per cent in March. Some analysts had projected that the growth would be sustained in April. THISDAY checks showed that in line with the bullish sentiments of analysts at Cordros Capital

ECONOMY Limited, the market ended April with a growth of 0.9 per cent as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index closed higher at 25,758.51. The analysts had said that better-than-expected first quarter (Q1) results would bolster the market to sustain positive growth in April. “We expect the current improvement – albeit modest – in the macroeconomic environment, especially the currency space, will further stoke investor appetite, particularly in the event of no negative surprise(s). Better-thanexpected first quarter results (we expect a few top names to announce results before the end of the month) may act as catalyst,” they said.

Last week most of the results beat market expectations. Some of the positive corporate earnings released last week were: Stanbic IBTC (Gross earnings up 35.2 per cent to N47.0 billion, profit after tax (PAT) up 100.6 per cent to N16.1 billion), GTBank(gross earnings up 38.8 per cent to N104.7 billion, PAT rose 61.9 per cent to N41.5 billion), ETI (gross earnings up 35.8 per cent to N178.4 billion, PAT up 34.0 per cent to N18.7 billion), Fidelity Bank (gross earnings up 18.8 per cent to N40.8 billion, PAT up 20.5 per cent to N4.3 billion), UBA (gross earnings up 37.5 per cent to N101.2 billion, PAT up 31.6 per cent to N22.4 billion), Zenith (gross earnings up 48.6 per cent to N147.7 billion, PAT up 41.1 per cent to N31.7 billion) and Access Bank (gross earnings up

38.8 per cent to N115.9 billion, PAT grew 34.0 per cent to N26.0 billion). The analysts had similarly linked the 0.74 per cent growth posted in March partly to improved corporate results. “The rebound, which could have been stronger, save for the selloff in the first half of the month, on the domestic bourse was primarily driven by a mix of positive economic and corporate news. Recall that we had guided to the potential impact of better-than-expected fourth quarter (Q4) earnings and significant improvement in the Naira exchange rate in our review of markets in the month of February,” they said. The analysts explained that Continued on page 24

Discos: We Buy Electricity at N305 Per Dollar, Sell at N198.98 Ejiofor Alike The electricity distribution companies in the country have blamed the liquidity crisis in the power sector to the inadequate payment made by consumers for power distributed. They claimed they buy electricity from the generation companies based on the exchange rate of N305 per dollar and sell at the exchange rate of N198.98 per dollar. In a lead presentation at a forum organised in Lagos by Siemens Nigeria on energy management system for transmission and distribution systems, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Eko

ENERGY Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Mr. Oladele Amoda said this disparity was the root cause of the current liquidity gap in the power sector. Amoda, whose presentation was on “Nigerian Power Sector Distribution Landscape: Perspective of Discos,” noted that this disparity had impacted the capacity of the companies to replace dilapidated equipment. “In Eko Disco, for instance, some assets are 60 years old and need to be replaced but we have serious challenge of access to finance,” he added. Amoda, who also noted that

South Africa with a population of 40 million people generates 40 megawatts of electricity, argued that it would require special science to share only 4,000 megawatts of electricity to 170 million Nigerians. The Eko Disco CEO, who was represented by the company’s head of procurement and regulatory unit, Mr. Nosa Igbinedon, said the country’s generation was inadequate and extremely difficult to distribute to the country’s population. Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Limited, Mrs. Onyeche Tifase acknowledged the liquidity crisis that hit the country’s power sector and pledged her company’s

willingness to assist the investors to manage the crisis. “We can manage anything. We generate energy and we can also manage it to be costeffective. We can also manage it so that you can control it. If the government is not doing well, the operators will not do well. If Siemens is not doing well, our clients and contractors will not do well and we take responsibility for that. In Nigeria, we are still talking about cashflow issues and obsolete equipment; in other countries, they are talking about intelligence, smart race, and diversity of energy mix,” she explained. Continued on page 24

U.S. LNG Expands to Eastern Europe

The U.S. is set to ship its first shale gas to a member of the former Soviet bloc as Europe seeks to cut its dependence on fuel from Russia. Poland’s state-owned PGNiG SA bought a spot liquefied natural gas cargo from Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass plant for delivery in June to the nation’s Baltic Sea import terminal, the first such contract for Central and Eastern Europe, it said Thursday. No LNG has been shipped to northern Europe since Sabine Pass started exports more than a year ago. Poland may offer a new outlet for Cheniere, which said it’s targeting emerging markets as new production facilities from Australia to the U.S. lead to a glut of the fuel. Poland’s Law & Justice government has sought to cut the nation’s dependence on Russia’s Gazprom PJSC for more than two-thirds of gas supplies, stating it has no plan to extend a long-term supply contract beyond 2022 and plans new infrastructure including a pipeline to Norway. The deal comes after PGNiG opened an LNG trading office in London in February and “proves Poland is a gateway for American LNG to central and Eastern Europe,” Chief Executive Officer Piotr Wozniak said in a statement. The agreement is historic and “commercially attractive,” Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said in an interview with TVP Info television on Thursday, without being more specific on pricing.

Trump to Expand Oﬀshore Drilling

President Donald Trump moved to expand offshore oil drilling and to reconsider rules that safeguard the activity -- including mandates designed to prevent a repeat of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Trump on Friday ordered Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to revise a five-year schedule for auctioning offshore drilling rights with the aim of potentially including territory left out by former President Barack Obama. Trump’s executive order also seeks to reverse a potentially more enduring decision by Obama to indefinitely withdraw most U.S. Arctic waters and some Atlantic Ocean areas from leasing. “Our country is blessed with great natural resources” but too many have been closed to exploration,Trump said, during a signing ceremony in the White House Roosevelt Room. He was joined by Republican lawmakersfromoil-producingstates,includingSenatorLisaMurkowski of Alaska and Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana. Trump said his executive order starts the process of opening new offshore waters to “responsible” oil and gas development, adding: “It’s going to lead to a lot of great wealth for our country and a lot of great jobs.” The executive order also instructs Zinke to review a raft of protections governing offshore drilling, including a measure designed to address shortcomings revealed by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, triggered when a BP Plc well blew out in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Guinness itself has been a household name in Nigeria. So we will always invest in Guinness to make it relevant to consumers.” Managing Director and Chief Executive Oﬃcer of Guinness Nigeria Plc,

Mr. Peter Ndegwa

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD RECOVERY BECKONS AS NIGERIAN BOURSE POSTS SECOND MONTHLY GROWTH

specifically, a number of manufacturing companies (Lafarge, Dangote Cement, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, Unilever, and Cadbury), released their full year 2016 results, and surprised investors with massive upturns (compared to Q3) in their final quarter performances. “On the economic front, investors found respite in the less-apprehensive macro space. Indeed, risky assets benefitted from a confluence of positive events ranging from: the release of Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning; a moderation in February inflation rate (to 17.78 per cent, from 18.72 per cent); steady accretion to the foreign reserves, which averaged $30 billion during the month; the naira strengthening to record-high (N375/United States dollar) in the parallel market,” they said. DISCOS: WE BUY ELECTRICITY AT N305 PER DOLLAR, SELL AT N198.98

Citing the Indian experience, Tifase stated that Nigeria’s electricity distribution system and the country’s traffic situation resembled those of India but added that India is far ahead of Nigeria in power generation. According to her, India has the assets and capacity to invest, adding that many Indian companies were involved in Nigeria’s power privatisation. “We believe that Siemens can get the roadmap on how things can be done in Nigeria’s power sector,” she added. In his presentation, Siemens India’s Head of Export Unit, Mr. Rishi Maggon argued that the challenges are not peculiar to Nigeria but global. According to him, in a world where data flows every second, there is now a challenge of digitalisation in the power business. He also added that with the expected growth in world population from 7.3 billion to 9.6 billion by 2050, there will be pressure on power supply. Maggon also identified the threat posed by urbanisation, saying that by 2050, 70 per cent of the world population will live in the cities, adding that this will boost demand for power supply.

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Crusoe Osagie

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (AgriBusiness)

NEWS

Auditor-General, ICPC Pledge Stronger Ties to Combat Corruption Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The Office of the AuditorGeneral for the Federation (OAuGF), otherwise known as the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC) have expressed a resolve to intensify their cooperation and synergise effectively in actualising the present administration’s mantra of zero tolerance for corruption. Both institutions made the pledge when the Auditor-General for the Federation, Mr. Anthony Mkpe Ayine paid a courtesy call on the ICPC Chairman, Mr. Ekpo Nta, in Abuja. Ayine and Nta agreed that effective collaboration between their two institutions was crucial to the government’s anti-corruption war. The Auditor-General stated that such synergy will help to promote accountability and transparency in the management of public funds. His words: “I strongly believe that our office, working closely with the ICPC, will go a long way in ensuring the judicious application of government funds for good governance, thereby strengthening the anti-corruption drive and promote accountability and transparency in the management of public funds.” Ayine commended the ICPC for its anti-corruption activities, assuring the anti-graft

agency of the support of the OAuGF in this direction, as both institutions are poised to ensure that the current administration wins the war against corruption which it has been waging since its emergence about two years ago. Responding, Nta, congratulated Ayine on his well-deserved appointment, pointing out that the focus of audit reports was usually to highlight and hold out how funds have been applied,

thereby exposing malpractices and corruption where such has been perpetrated within the system. He stated that the ICPC has concentrated on studying and exposing corrupt practices where they had occurred, a situation which makes both institutions bed-fellows in the bid to entrench a corruption-free society as envisioned by President Buhari’s administration. While the OAuGF is charged

by the Constitution on promoting accountability in management of public funds, specifically to audit the nation’s accounts in the most professional and transparent manner, ensuring value for money in government financial activities for the benefit of the Nigerian people, the ICPC is saddled with the task of prohibiting and prescribing punishment for corrupt practices and other related offences. The ICPC Chairman noted

that the Office of the AuditorGeneral for the Federation is very important in the prevention of corruption, adding that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) considers it as an anti-corruption institution. The Office of the AuditorGeneral for the Federation is mandated by the Constitution of the Federation to audit all government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

FOR SMES DEVELOPMENT

L-R: President & CEO, Erisco Food Ltd, Chief Eric Umeofia; Founder & CEO, House of Tara, Tara Fela-Durotoye; Chairman, FirstBank, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika; Deputy Managing Director, FirstBank, Gbenga Shobo and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State oﬃce of Overseas Aﬀairs & Investment, Abdulahmed Mustapha, at the SME Conference organised by the FirstBank Sustainability Centre …recently

RTEAN Decries Poor State of Port Access Road

GTBank Food and Drink Fair to Boost Small Businesses

Eromosele Abiodun

Raheem Akingbolu

Following failure by the federal government to fix the dilapidated access roads to the nation’s ports in Apapa Lagos, more than 400 trucks have left Apapa and Tincan port areas in the past one year, the Chairman of Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Musa Mohammed has said. Mohammed, who disclosed this in a chat with Journalists in Lagos, stated that majority of RTEAN members had left the truck business and delved into other ventures because they could no longer cope with state of the roads. According to Mohammed, the problem on the port access road is affecting his members as containers keep falling daily. While urging the government to urgently address the situation, Musa who was represented by the state’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Comrade Abayomi Afini, said that RTEAN had written several letters to the National Assembly, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) but there was no response to the effect. “Two years ago, FERMA came, surveyed the area, and took some palliative measures which were washed off by the rain. The port access road requires a standard construction that will last long,” he said. Chairman, RTEAN, Tin Can chapter, Isiaka Olalere

also complained of how the dilapidated road have affected their trucks, a situation he said is making members sell off their trucks as scraps. According to him, “We are going out of the business gradually, because if you go to trailer parks, you will see truck owners cutting their trucks into parts and selling them. A truck owner with seven trucks last cannot boast of two due to the bad and dilapidated access roads. It is affecting our business seriously. Immediately the truck falls on the road, it becomes scrap as it will no longer be balance. “Today most truck owners are cutting their trucks and selling as scraps as the dilapidated road is affecting their businesses. Anyone that invests in truck business now will soon run out of business because where you are supposed to go two to three trips a day, you will not go more than once in a week due to the bad roads. The people you see buy new trucks daily are those that don’t know much about the road aspect of the port.” On alleged recklessness on the part of drivers parking on the roads and obstructing other road users, Olalere blamed the issue on lack of functional holding bay to drop empty containers. He said that the association ensured they educated their drivers regularly to ensure compliance on their trucks to meet minimum standard.

“The problem does not lie on the part of transporters. We don’t have functional holding bay. Some of the shipping companies do not have functional holding bay to drop empty containers, the drivers have to bring them back to the port, thereby causing gridlock on the access roads. That is why you see our vehicles littered on the road. “We even advise our members them that rather than having four substandard trucks they should dispose two and use the proceeds to repair the other two to a standard level and they are complying. We are in support of minimum standard and we are repairing our vehicles, ”he explained Afini added that lack of unity among the various truck owners associations in the port contributed to NPA’s success of collecting the fee for the stickers even as he blamed the government for not sticking to the two recognized associations notable in the transport sector. “Last year, NPA came out with the issue of stickers, that sticker issue has been there for six years but because there are many associations in the port that is why we have the problems we have today. If the government had been dealing with the two major associations, that is, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and RTEAN, there wouldn’t have been the problems we have today in the port.

As part of its continued efforts to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit of young Nigerians, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, is currently providing opportunities to more than 100 small businesses in Nigeria’s Food Industry through provision of free storefronts at the GTBank Food and Drink taking place in Lagos to commemorate the 2017 Worker’s Day. The two-day event offers small businesses in the Nigerian Food Industry a free and vibrant platform to connect with a wider segment of their target markets as well as experts in their business fields. Promoters of the fair told journalists in Lagos on Friday that the 2016 edition had over 90 exhibitors from the food sector and attracted more than 25,000 guests. They promised that the 2017 edition will expand on the favourite features of the previous event, such as MasterClasses led by internationally renowned Chefs and Sales Exhibitions by small businesses. Assistant Manager and Group Head, Communications & External Affairs at the bank, Oyinade Adegite, said: “It will also provide new and exciting features such as a Farmers’ Market, where SMEs involved in agriculture will showcase and sell fresh and organic farm products, and a Baking Masterclass for children kids.

There will also be a diverse range of restaurants offering mouth-watering dishes, outdoor grills and thrilling entertainment as well as savoury wine tastings to enable attendees experience an exciting and eclectic mix of undiscovered brands and household names alike,”. She further added that the exhibition will be free to attend and guaranteed an unparalleled food experience for everyone, pointing out that all that is involved is online registration It was also revealed at the press briefing that a wide variety of cuisines at the fair would be such that one can munch his or her way around the world. “If you are a food lover, get set to loosen your belt for the gastronomic delights that will be served by a diverse range of restaurants offering mouth-watering dishes. If you love drinks, then prep your taste buds for savoury wine tastings and finely mixed cocktails. “At the heart of the Food and Drink fair is the exhibition and sales by over hundred SMEs in the Nigerian food industry. Geared towards promoting indigenous agriculture and supporting small businesses, the Exhibition will provide a platform for SMEs to showcase a wide variety of products ranging from fresh organic groceries to dry foods, confectionary and pastries, ready to eat consumables and drinks as well as top quality crockery,” she stated.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD

MARKET REPORT

Equities Market Records Largest Weekly Gain on Impressive Q1 Results Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie Relief came the way of the Nigerian stock market last week as better-thanexpected first quarter (Q1) results by companies attracted bullish sentiments and led to positive close. The market had shed 0.9 per cent the previous on profit taking by investors. However, the bulls returned in full force last week following bargain hunting in reaction to impressive unaudited Q1 results to March 31, 2017. Consequently, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (NSE ASI) appreciated by 2.26 per cent to close at 25,758.51, while market capitalsiation rose by same margin to close higher at N8.913 trillion. Also, other Indices finished higher during the week with the exception the NSE Insurance, NSE Consumer Goods and the NSE Lotus II Indices that depreciated by 0.17 per cent, 0.05 per cent and 0.97 per cent while the NSE ASeM Index closed flat. Last week’s performance is the largest week-on-week gain this year. “On the news front, it was relatively quiet in the macro space; however, the market was buoyed by: positive news surrounding FX policy, particularly with the commencement of trading at the Investors & exporters’ market, and relatively impressive Q1-17 results released by highly capitalised companies across both financial services and manufacturing sectors, analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said. The NSE ASI closed on a positive note in four of the five trading sessions, recording its largest gain on Monday (2.21 per cent). In terms of sectoral performance, the NSE Banking Index led with 6.1 per cent. It was followed by the NSE Industrial Goods Index with 4.8 per cent. The NSE Oil & Gas Index appreciated by 2.48 per cent. Conversely, the NSE Consumer Goods Index shed 0.05 per cent, while the NSE Insurance Index closed 0.17 per cent lower. Daily Market performance Trading at the market was bullish on the first day as investors took position in market bellwethers such as Dangote Cement Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc which rose by 3.8 per cent, 2.8 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively. The NSE ASI appreciated by 2.2 per cent to 25,747.05, while market capitalisation added N193 billion to close at N8.9 trillion. The NSE Industrial Goods Index surged 6.3 per cent as a result of a rally in Lafarge Africa (+10.2 per cent) and Dangote Cement (+3.8 per cent). The NSE Banking Index grew by 3.0 per cent on the back of gains recorded by GTBank (+3.6 per cent) and Zenith Bank (+2.0 per cent), Diamond Bank (+5.6 per cent) and Stanbic IBTC (+5.0 per cent). Similarly, the NSE Oil & Gas Index appreciated 0.1 per cent. Conversely, the NSE Insurance Index slid 0.2 per cent following price depreciation in AIICO Insurance (-3.6 per cent) while the NSE Consumer Goods Index declined due to loss of 4.9 per cent suffered by Nestle. The equity market maintained its uptrend on Tuesday with the NSE ASI appreciated by 0.28 per cent to close at 25,818.87 bolstered by gains in Lafarge Africa, UBA, Access Bank, GTBank and Stanbic IBTC Holdings. Investors traded 127.43 million shares

Similarly, the NSE Insurance and NSE Consumer Goods indices trended 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent northward following price appreciation in NEM Insurance (+4.8 per cent) and Nigerian Breweries (+0.1 per cent) respectively. The equity market recovered from the loss it recorded on Wednesday as more banks announced their Q1 results to close 0.52 per cent higher. The NSE ASI appreciated by 0.52 per cent to close at 25,753.00. The appreciation recorded in the share prices of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Access Bank, GTBank, UBA and Nestle were mainly responsible for the gain recorded in the index. Access Bank and UBA released their Q1 results on Thursday.

valued at N909.33 million. The most actively traded sectors were: Financial Services (85.54 million), Conglomerates (21.29 million) and Consumer Goods (7.53 million), while the three most actively traded stocks were: FCMB (16.41 million), NEM (15.72 million) and Transcorp (12.54 million). In terms of sectoral performance, all sector indices closed in the green, except the NSE Consumer Goods Index which fell by 0.2 per cent following price decline in Nigerian Breweries (-0.4 per cent). The NSE Oil & Gas Index led sector gainers, rising by 1.1 per cent on the back of price appreciation in Mobil (+4.9 per cent) and Oando (+1.3 per cent). Also, the NSE Industrial Goods Index rose by 0.7 per cent, driven by interest in Lafarge Africa (+1.6 per cent). In the same vein, the NSE Banking and NSE Insurance indices added 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent on account of gains in Stanbic IBTC Bank (+3.8 per cent), GTBank (+0.8 per cent) and NEM Insurance (+5.0 per cent). After two days of positive performance, the market closed in the red on Wednesday with the NSE ASI, shedding 0.77 per cent to close at 25,620.94. The decline followed the depreciation recorded in the share prices of Diamond Bank, Transcorp, Dangote Cement, UAC of Nigeria and Presco Plc. However, investors exchanged 255.72 million shares valued at N1.67 billion, up by 83.49 per cent from N909.33mn recorded the previous day. Despite closing on a bearish note, performance across sectors

was broadly positive as all sector indices closed in the green, except the NSE Industrial Goods index which closed 1.6 per cent caused by losses recorded by Dangote Cement (-3.6 per cent). The NSE Oil & Gas Index led the

TOP TEN BROKERS

sectors with 1.2 per cent following gains in Oando (+6.1 per cent) and Seplat (+1.2 per cent). The NSE Banking Index followed, with a growth of 0.6 per cent on account of sustained interest in Stanbic (+5.0 per cent) and GTBank (+0.6 per cent).

(BY VALUE)

BROKER

AS AT LAST FRIDAY VALUE % VALUE

APEL ASSET LIMITED - BRD

1,990,780,444.19

10.29

CHAPEL HILL DENHAM SECURITIES LTD - BRD

1,933,267,693.61

9.99

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED

1,924,335,588.30 1,718,631,946.55

9.95 8.88

FBN SECURITIES LIMITED

1,434,704,461.92

7.41

A.R.M SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD

1,433,022,833.36

7.41

EFCP LIMITED

1,002,019,497.50

5.18

CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

908,183,764.54

4.69

CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED

616,412,803.69

3.19

494,798,668.75 13,456,157,702.41

2.56 69.54

READINGS INVESTMENTS LIMITED - BDR

TOP TEN BROKERS

(BY VOLUME)

BROKER APEL ASSET LIMITED - BRD A.R.M SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD

AS LAST FRIDAY VOLUME

%VOLUME

348,066,352

13.05

218,613,478

8.20

CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

185,795,796

6.97

READINGS INVESTMENTS LIMITED - BDR FBN SECURITIES LIMITED

123,838,857 118,426,343

4.64 4.44

MORGAN CAPITAL SECURITIES LIMITED

104,353,768

3.91

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

83,754,761

3.14

CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED

82,016,802

3.08

MERISTEM STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

79,844,441

2.99

CHAPEL HILL DENHAM SECURITIES LTD - BRD

72,322,119

2.71

1,417,032,717

53.15

Market turnover Meanwhile, investors traded 1.333 billion shares worth N9.671 billion in 16,300 up from 896.748 million shares valued at N5.918 billion that exchanged hands in 11,185 deals the previous week. The Financial Services Industry remained the most traded, accounting for 960.307 million shares valued at N6.098 billion traded in 9,675 deals, thus contributing 72.03 per cent and 63.06 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with 154.404 million shares worth N330.132 million in 896 deals. The third place was occupied by Oil and Gas Industry with a turnover of 60.285 million shares worth N896.174million in1,379 deals. Also traded during the review week were a total of 533 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N32,204.30 executed in 15 deal compared with a total of 100 units valued at N6,799.00 transacted two weeks ago in one deal A total of 4,705 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N3.934million were traded last week in four deals, compared with a total of 1,311 units valued at N1.346 million transacted the preceding week in seven deals. Price Gainers and Losers A look at the price movement chart showed that 38 equities appreciated in price last week, higher than the 24 equities of the previous week, while 25 equities depreciated compared with 31 equities of the previous week. Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc led the price gainers, appreciating by 28.2 per cent, trailed by Ashaka Cement Plc with 15.6 per cent. Livestock Feeds Plc chalked up 13.8 per cent, just as NPF Microfinance Plc garnered 12.8 per cent. United Bank for Africa Plc and Fidson Healthcare Plc gained 10.7 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. Other top price gainers were: Cutix (9.8 per cent); NASCON Allied Industries Plc (9.69 per cent) and C & I Leasing Plc (9.68 per cent). On the flipside, Diamond Bank Plc led the price losers with 12.2 per cent, trailed by Unilever Nigeria Plc with 10.3 per cent. Transcorp Plc and Continental Reinsurance Plc shed 9.2 per cent and 9.0 per cent in that order. Berger Paints Nigeria Plc and FBN Holdings Plc went down by 7.8 per cent and 7.0 per cent respectively. Other top price losers were: Julius Berger Nigeria Plc (4.9 per cent); Champion Breweries Plc (4.8 per cent) and Learn Africa Plc (4.6 per cent).

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD

INSIDE BROAD STREET

A view of Lagos financial district

AKINWUNMI IBRAHIM

Focus on Nigeria’s Non-oil Revenue Potential Obinna Chima The recently released Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Financial Stability Report for December 2016 had shown that the federal government’s retained revenue for the second half of 2016 increased to N2.558 trillion, above the levels of N1.898 trillion recorded in the first half of 2016 and the half- year budget estimate of N2.025 trillion for 2016. The increase in the retained revenue relative to the first half was mainly attributed to increase in non-oil receipts. With this, the federal government has signaled its move away from oil as it plans to reduce its stake in its oil assets. The development is clearly in line with the federal government’s quest for economic diversification from oil to the non-oil sectors, given the volatility of crude oil prices. The dwindling oil revenue provided the nation a painful but indispensable opportunity to look inwards in a bid to trigger economic growth, just as experts have continued to stress the need for Nigerians to appreciate locally manufactured goods such as fabrics, saying that patronising such goods would make local industries thrive and boost economy. Nigeria has the potential to become a major player in the global economy by virtue of its human and natural resource endowments. However, this potential has remained relatively untapped over the years. After a shift from agriculture to crude oil and gas in the late 1960s, Nigeria’s growth has continued to be driven by consumption and high oil prices. Oil accounts for more than 95 per cent of exports and foreign exchange earnings while the manufacturing sector accounts for less than one percent of total exports. This was one of the reasons that led to the development of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). The ERGP is also consistent with the aspirations of the Sustain-

MARKET INDICATOR

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun able Development Goals (SDGs), given that the initiatives address its three dimensions of economic, social and environmental sustainability issues. Nigeria aspires to have a rapidly growing economy with diversified sources of growth, increased opportunities for its people, and a socially inclusive economy that reduces poverty and creates jobs for the millions of young people entering the labour market annually. To achieve this, the government will increase the tax base. It will also conduct a broad audit campaign to identify under-filing tax payers; improve tax compliance by engaging non-compliant taxpayers and making them comply; and formalise businesses in

the informal sector. The government said it will also review key incentives such as the automobile, export expansion grant, mining and hotel incentives. Nevertheless, it will focus on agriculture as a priority area, which it plans to grow by 6.9 per cent per year, and the non-oil sector. The government plans for Nigeria to become a net exporter of rice, tomatoes, vegetable oil, cashew nuts, groundnuts, cassava, poultry, fish and livestock. It wants the nation to become self-sufficient in tomato paste by 2017, rice by 2018, and wheat by 2020. The ERGP was developed through a consultative process comprising retreats, seminars and round tables with a cross-section of Nigerians. The plan aims to restore sustained economic growth while promoting social inclusion and laying the foundations for long-term structural change. It will focus on providing macroeconomic stability, stimulating priority sectors and tackling critical constraints to long-term growth. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) which recently endorsed the ERGP 2017- 2020, applauded it as “how fiscal policy should be thought in developing countries.” The Fund’s Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, Mr. Vitor Gaspar said he had the privilege of visiting Nigeria some months ago and was very happy to understand that for the Nigerian government, fiscal policies in general and tax policy in particular were part of the strategy for development. Also, IMF’s Assistant Director/Head, Fiscal Policy and Surveillance, Catherine Pattillo, welcomed the country’s ERGP, saying its focus on diversification and attention to some of the problems facing the economy were steps in the right direction. According to Pattillo, “We very much welcome the ERGP. As you are aware, Nigeria went into recession last year, there have been forecasted recovery, but still very

fragile this year and the need to address the fiscal situation is urgent. Our recommendation is for the continued fiscal consolidation. “One striking statistics I think is the fact that over the past years, the ratio of interest payment to tax revenue has doubled to 66 per cent in Nigeria. So, two-thirds of all tax revenue is going into interest payment, illustrating the need to raise tax revenue. That would allow the government to implement the social and growth-friendly policies that are part of the objectives of the ERGP. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun lamented that with a tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of six per cent, the country is rated one of the lowest in the world. To this end, Adeosun stressed that in line with the focus on non-oil revenue, the government has a lot of work to do. But the minister pointed out that the government would require the support of all stakeholders to achieve its objective of increasing non-oil revenue. “We have the tax to GDP ratio of six per cent, one of the lowest in the world. And with all the cooperation of encouraging companies to pay tax, it will support what we are doing to increase our GDP, improve amount of debt to take and improve our ability to fund our projects and get our economy going. “The money that has left our country either through tax evasion or through money laundering, we need them back in Nigeria and what we are working on is a revenue initiative that would bring a lot of this money back so we can fund our infrastructure,” she explained. But the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, pointed out that implementing realistically the ERGP by the federal government would help get the economy on track. He pointed out that the ERGP captures the essence and key priorities of the federal government for the medium term 2017-2020. “We believe if implemented, it will get the economy on track. Even the greatest critiques of Nigeria agree that what we need to do is to diversify our economy from a mono-product economy that depends on oil for most of its foreign exchange and revenue, to other sources. The key is how do you do that? This ERGP captures in essence how you do that. “Some of the highlights of the plan include the focus on agriculture, food processing and agro-businesses, which is a key contributor to our Gross Domestic Product, but one that requires more investments; focus on infrastructure, particularly energy and focus on industrialisation. We think that by implementing the strategies in that plan, we would definitely get the economy to where it ought to be. “First there is a plan and then there is execution. But I think it is important to point to the fact that the plan is reasonably clear. There has to be focus on some key areas which include agriculture, infrastructure, transportation and industrialisation. The country has to get it right over the long run. What we are trying to do is to build on the fundamentals so that the growth can continue,” he explained. Also, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi noted that: “There have been a lot of talks in the past about diversifying away from oil. Basically, a fall in the oil price is what becames the wake-up call for the areas the country has neglected for a long time such as agriculture, mining industry and are now getting the attention of the government. “Yes, that has always been the trigger. When oil falls, what sector offers an opportunity for substitution? Mineral resources. Look at what we have done with cement. The limestone has helped us to produce the largest cement industry in Africa to the extent we are now a net exporter of cement.” The foregoing clearly shows that there is need for the federal government to aggressively drive the implementation of the ERGP which among other things, aims to reduce unemployment and underemployment, especially among the youth. The ERGP accordingly prioritises job creation through the adoption of a jobs and skills programme for Nigeria including deepening existing N-Power programmes, and launching other public works programmes. The partnership with the private sector and sub-national governments for job creation will also focus on the policies required to support growth and diversification of the economy by placing emphasis on Made-in-Nigeria, public procurement which takes account of local content and labour intensive production processes.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

Ndegwa: Sourcing Raw Materials Locally Helps Mitigate Currency Fluctuations Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Peter Ndegwa, spoke with Chika Amanze-Nwachuku and Raheem Akingbolu, on how the manufacturing sector has been able to weather the storm during the economic downturn, especially the strategies put in place by the alcohol sub-sector by investing more in affordable beer categories, his company’s local production of spirits, as well as its CRS activities. Excerpts: It’s no longer news that the country has been in recession since 2016. As a consumer goods company, how has this situation affected your business? There’s no question that the state of the economy has affected our business and indeed it has affected many categories. You see significant down trading of a lot of categories. In our own category -alcohol, you see a lot of consumers going for lower priced brands. It has been happening in our sector, especially beer and spirit, but has accelerated in the past two years. Consumers are looking for quality but at a better price. More recently, we have seen affordable beer and spirit being the largest part of the market. Three years ago, the affordable category was about 30% of beer and today it’s closer to 60%. And I would say the same with spirit which is even bigger; more than three quarter of the category. The second aspect that has affected our business is the cost of doing business. That has impacted our margins. As devaluation and lack of liquidity has come through, that has meant accessing the input sourced locally as those imported are more expensive. Like the saying goes, in every situation there would always be opportunities. For the manufacturing sector, has there been any opportunity for growth during this recession? Sure, there are opportunities for growth. Our business in Guinness Nigeria has been primarily premium beer. We’ve been known for great brands such as Guinness Stout and Malta Guinness and wonderful innovation such as Orijin which took the market by storm. As the economy has been challenged, we have seen that as an opportunity to offer a broader portfolio to consumers. So, innovation has been the big area of focus for us. You’ve seen innovation in beer, spirit and also soft drinks. We launched innovation in all the three areas. And you see that a lot of these innovations are brands that are affordable. In beer, we have seen growth of beer such as Satzenbrau, in soft drinks, we’ve introduced Origin Zero and we’ve also started to see Dubic Malt growing and also for Malta Guinness, we’ve introduced Herbs Light which is identifying an opportunity where consumers are looking for lower sugar. We have expanded our participation into spirits; we have acquired distribution right from Diageo for international premium spirit such as Journey Walker and Smirnoff. Today, spirit contributes about 14% of our total business. Not only are we importing spirits from Scotland, we have set up local production facility within our Benin plant in Edo State to produce locally. So, we have started producing Smirnoff and Gordon’s Spark; local versions great quality international brands, bringing affordable brands. We have Smirnoff X1 and X1 chocolate. We have Gordon’s Moringa, which Gordon’s with infusion of Moringa. We’ve also acquired distribution right for United Spirits Limited (USL) which is the largest Indian spirit business. Brands such as McDowell’s are now produced locally in Benin. As part of responding to the economy, we have significantly increased our local content. Two years ago, we were sourcing 40% locally, today we are sourcing 70%

BIO DATA

eter Ndegwa studied Economics at the University of Nairobi and holds an MBA from the London Business School. In 1992, he started his career at PwC in Kenya as a graduate before he was posted to the UK where he spent six years and rose through the ranks to become Associate Director within Corporate Finance and Strategy before leaving in 2004, to join EABL (a Diageo Company) as Strategy Director moving on to lead Sales and Finance functions in EABL. He was appointed the Managing Director/CEO, Guinness Nigeria Plc in August 2015 after spending four years as Managing Director / CEO of Guinness Ghana (Diageo company).

name in Nigeria. So we will always invest in Guinness to make it relevant to consumers. You would have seen that despite the fact that we have recession, we’ve continued to invest in Guinness. Guinness sponsors the viewership of English premiership through the DSTV contract to consumers and we know that Nigerians and Africans generally love football. The second one is the new innovation called Guinness African Special which is slightly lower alcohol, less bitterness and at an attractive price of N200. It has been in the market for about a year and we are driving it. The Guinness brand continues with resilience and innovation of extensions that are relevant to consumers. We also understand that consumers are looking for more choice that’s why we’ve launched these other brands.

Ndegwa and our intention is to increase it to 80% in the next two years. Guinness Stout has always been top demand in the market. How have you been able

to position the brand to key into the post -recession possibilities by taking advantage of the growth opportunities likely to be witnessed in the months ahead? Guinness itself has been a household

We have expanded our participation into spirits; we have acquired distribution right from Diageo for international premium spirit such as Journey Walker and Smirnoff. Today, spirit contributes about 14% of our total business. Not only are we importing spirits from Scotland, we have set up local production facility within our Benin plant in Edo State to produce locally. So, we have started producing Smirnoff and Gordon’s Spark; local versions great quality international brands, bringing affordable brands. We have Smirnoff X1 and X1 chocolate. We have Gordon’s Moringa, which Gordon’s with infusion of Moringa. We’ve also acquired distribution right for United Spirits Limited (USL) which is the largest Indian spirit business. Brands such as McDowell’s are now produced locally in Benin

What determines your response to change when it comes to campaign? We are a consumer goods business, so we undertake a lot of research. Every time we introduce a campaign, we ask consumers how did it come across; how much they like it. So before we change a campaign, we have gotten feedback from consumers and we do research at our retail where consumers interact with the brand. We ask everyone who has seen the campaign, not just those who drink Guinness. To sum it up, feedbacks from consumers guide our changes for the future and we acknowledge that consumers also interact with many other brands, not just alcohol. So we have to keep our brands current. Talking about ‘What is in Name’ campaign, can you please give us a background of how you came about this? ‘What’s in a Name’; Guinness has been a household name. It has been in the Nigerian market for 66 years, initially as an import brand and then we set up local production in Ikeja in 1962 and at the time, we also set CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

NDEGWA: SOURCING RAW MATERIALS LOCALLY HELPS MITIGATE CURRENCY FLUCTUATIONS Over time, Guinness has evolved as consumers evolve. Today, we have evolved in all areas of our operations. The second aspect is that Guinness is now focusing on local sourcing. It has been known to be a good corporate citizen. We set up hospital in the 60s in Kaduna, then one in Lagos and Onitsha. We believe that going forward is sourcing locally. We source sorghum locally. That would mean that you have cassava or sorghum grown here, used in our brewery and beer is consumed here. So all the value remains in the country. That helps government to mitigate currency fluctuation, helps our operational cost as well. All these steps are being taken so that we can offer consumers products at the right price point

up eye hospital in Kaduna, we then went to Benin and Aba. Over time, Guinness has evolved as consumers evolve. Today, we have evolved in all areas of our operations. The second aspect is that Guinness is now focusing on local sourcing. It has been known to be a good corporate citizen. We set up hospital in the 60s in Kaduna, then one in Lagos and Onitsha. We believe that going forward is sourcing locally. We source sorghum locally. That would mean that you have cassava or sorghum grown here, used in our brewery and beer is consumed here. So all the value remains in the country. That helps government to mitigate currency fluctuation, helps our operational cost as well. All these steps are being taken so that we can offer consumers products at the right price point. Local sourcing is not just us buying locally; it’s also about benefiting the farmers. We are already discussing with the community in Edo State about how we can grow cassava and process it into inputs we can use in the future for our business. Still on ‘what is in a name’, can you let us into the various platform through which you want to explore this? Performance is important for our shareholders, and not just that, part of our vision is to be most trusted and respected consumer business in Nigeria. To this end, we will explore various communications platforms to reach our target audience Is it possible to have an idea of how much you want to invest in producing locally? Our investment in Benin last year was £12 million, about N6billion. That’s the initial investment of starting to produce spirit in this market; we believe that there is a bigger market for spirit and we would continue to invest. In the past five years, in beer and soft drinks, we have invested €200 million within our plants in Lagos, Benin and Aba. We have also started to work with our partner in cassava farming in the middle belt and east and Sorghum farming in the north. What is the guarantee that the spirit produced locally would compete favourably with what people get outside the country, in terms of quality? Guinness has been known for quality in its 66 years of doing business in this market. We are part of an international business that adheres to high quality standard for beer. We are just expanding that to include spirit. And

Ndegwa Diageo our parent company is known for spirit. So producing locally does not mean compromising quality at all. We have been producing Guinness for a very long time. What we are saying now is we are producing different brands but it’s the same business. We’ve set up state-of-art production facilities that produce spirits just like we have for beer. We understand quality in production and marketing. So what we produce will be the same quality you get anywhere else. We usually get benchmark in the Diageo business and Guinness Nigeria scores very high in terms of quality. On the BSA, our breweries have some of the newest facilities. What is your installed capacity? In beer, it’s about 7.5 million hectolitres (hundred litres). What’s your assessment of meeting this capacity? We have some excess capacity in beer so we have headroom to grow beer. We don’t have enough capacity in spirit and that was why we installed the new facilities. Not just the equipment but also the quality standard we adhere to. As a process requirement, we hit the same standard that the factory in Scotland would be hitting because we are measured by the same standard. What is your approach in consumer engagement now? Our consumers are our biggest stakeholders. We have to remain relevant to them whether the economy is going well or not. At times like this, we believe we have to give our consumers more choice and that’s why we have launched more brands. We have launched more brands in the last two years than we did five years before. And we have to communicate these brands, so we have been spending more in brand building in the past two years than in the past. We grow the cost of promotion and advertisements and reduce the cost of production with local sourcing of materials. What other CSR activities do you involve in? There are three aspects of our CSR. I’ve talked about local raw materials. The second one is community project that gives back:

water, health and education. We’ve been sponsoring and supporting three eye hospitals in Nigeria for the past 50 years: one in Lagos, Onisha and Kaduna; mostly in equipment donation. And these hospitals are attached to the university training colleges. In water, our intent is to bring water to about a million people in Africa. In Nigeria, we have undertaken 26 projects in the past 10 years across many states. The latest was in Cross River State. We also work with partners that can help us implement it. Basically what we do is we identify communities that are in need of water. We can charge them a very small amount so that the water equipment can be maintained. The intention here is not to dig boreholes and leave it to the community, but have water facility that is self-sustaining. The final one is we are aware that we work in alcohol, so we work with partners to create awareness that alcohol consumed in moderate quantity should be part of social life. So we provide education around alcohol to say that there is risk in too much consumption of it and also preach against drinking while driving. Orijin was a game changer when it was introduced, but competitors also came up with brands to compete with it. How is origin bitters doing in the market now? We have been known as innovation powerhouse. Orijin is one of the disruptive innovations that brought consumption of bitters and herbs to consumers in a contemporary and easy going way. We always know that when we introduce a brand like that, competition will come. So we always have to be ahead. That was why we introduced Orijin Zero. We have three offerings: Orijin bitters, Orijin Ready to Drink and Orijin Zero. Orijin bitters is still in growth. Orijin is still a very strong brand. Guinness recorded huge loss last year which we learnt was the first in 30 years. How do you intent to reverse this trend? For now I can’t talk about results as we are having our board meeting this week and we will be announcing our results later in the week. We have been known by shareholders as a company that delivers returns paying great dividends over time. As the economy has been challenged, we saw the impact of

Our consumers are our biggest stakeholders. We have to remain relevant to them whether the economy is going well or not. At times like this, we believe we have to give our consumers more choice and that’s why we have launched more brands. We have launched more brands in the last two years than we did five years before. And we have to communicate these brands, so we have been spending more in brand building in the past two years than in the past. We grow the cost of promotion and advertisements and reduce the cost of production with local sourcing of materials

currency affecting our business. That was one of the reasons we recorded that kind of performance last year. Going forward, we are confident about our strategy, which is to broaden our portfolio so that we can have even up to double digit growth. We believe this business will get back to profitability. Also, we are in a period where the cost profile of the country is high. So, as we go into next year, we expect inflation to be lower. One of the other aspects that we spoke to investors about is the cost of Sorghum. As a result of drought in the country, the harvest was not as good, therefore the amount of Sorghum available wasn’t enough. That has now come through because the current harvest is much better.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Diamond Bank Strengthens Growth in Q1 2017 Asset base jumps to N2.07tn Diamond Bank has transmitted its Q1 2017 financial accounts to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), showcasing focused and strong determination to continue to strengthen growth in key financial parameters. The Bank’s performance scorecard for the first three months of the business year as made available to journalists on the floor of the Exchange, reflects strong growth in asset base, customer base, quality service delivery, product development and deployment of cutting-edge technology to drive its operations. Analysis of the result showed that Interest and similar income grew by 27 per cent to N44.5 billion year on year, while the asset base leapfrogged to N2.07 trillion from N2.049 per cent, representing 1.2 per cent with personal operating cost shrinking by 3 per cent, reflecting management’s prudent resource use. According to the Chief Executive Officer, Uzoma Dozie, despite the inclement operating environment that clouded the period under review, the gains of the last business year especially in customer acquisition, product development and the deepening of the Bank’s retail strategy,

helped in drilling a seamless business foothold and expansion in all market segments. He said: “Building upon positive momentum in 2016, Diamond Bank commenced 2017 focused on harnessing further benefits from its technology-led retail strategy. In particular, the Bank continued to focus on cost containment, driving operational efficiencies, and the roll-out of technology and innovation to improve customer experiences and access to financial services. The Bank’s strategy to expand reach and service through digital channels has helped customers connect to new markets…” A look at the unaudited financial statement for business activities ended, March 31, 2017 showed that profit before tax (PAT) mildly declined to N5.6 billion from N6.6 billion in the previous year while the Bank grew its interest income year on year to N44.5 billion, representing an increase of 27 per cent. As a reinforcement of the management’s determination to let go of sundry asset liabilities and consolidate on its business growth trajectory, the Bank prudently set aside NI0.5 billion as impairment charge

for the period, represent an increase of 20% year on year. This, according to the Bank, will help stimulate and sustain the strong will to continue to grow, strengthen and maintain its leadership and dominance of the retail market space and firm grip of the micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSME) segment. According to Uzoma, Diamond Bank is solidly committed to growing its corporate and mid-tier market segment in the business year and the years ahead, pointing that the Bank has outlined detailed strategies that are helping to leverage the current business momentum in the economy. He added: “Since the beginning of 2017, there have been positive developments in the wider economy which we believe will translate to greater productivity in the months ahead. For example, the inflation rate is beginning to recede and there appears to be more foreign exchange available to stimulate trade, though the quantum of unmet demand is still high. Against this economic background, our streams of income remain resilient.” He stated that Diamond Bank’s

focus on digital and mobile banking is gaining further traction, with the year on year increases in mobile revenue and app usage showing tangible results. “It is clear that customers value the ease and convenience of our services across multiple platforms and that this is leading to greater volumes of activity and enhanced relationships. I am confident that by maintaining our focus on the technology-led retail strategy, we will continue to build upon this positive momentum.” A deeper look at the result show that net operating income rose by 3.7% year on year to N31.7 billion, while Capital Adequacy Ratio crept quarter on quarter to 15.1 per cent from 15 per cent with liquidity ratio standing at 41.7 per cent in excess of the regulatory requirement of 30 per cent, reflecting the Bank’s capacity for optimum customer service delivery. Loans to other banks grew to N105.46 billion from N100.34 billion, representing 5.1 per cent, while loans and advances to customers shrunk by 0.2 per cent to N992.9 billion from N995.3, signifying management’s itch to curtail credit creation risks.

L–R: Regional Sales Manager West Africa, Charles Iyo; Product Manager, West Africa, Tosin Omodayo; Managing Director for Africa, Seydou Kane and Sales Director for Africa, Malvin Naicker all of Eaton Electrical at the Stakeholder Engagement Session held for Partners in Lagos…recently

Industrialisation: SPE Seeks FG’s Support for LADOL, Others The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has called on the federal government to support Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics base (LADOL) and other companies in the country so as to fast-track Nigeria’s industrialisation and create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths. Chairman of SPE Council, Saka Matemilola, who stated this when he led a delegation of the body to LADOL in Lagos, stressed that doing so will ensure that the opportunities for growth for local content and industries at the free zone would be harnessed for Nigeria’s benefit. According to him, “What LADOL needs now is the right support from the government and the right support from other agencies like the Content

Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and other agencies that will make it work and ensure the right projects are brought here for execution. “I learnt they have government support, I can only hope there is continuity of this support. With the project going on now what we are asking is what is next? It is only when we have a strong support from the government to ensure that any construction of things of similar scale and size that can be done in Nigeria is done here”, he said. On the opportunity for the private sector in terms of manufacturing, he said: A lot of the things that were being fabricated outside of Nigeria are now been done in Nigeria. You can see the FPSO that was fabricated here; it means we can now do

Stories by Ebere Nwoji The Chairman, Nigeria Insurers Association ( NIA),Eddie Efekoha, at the recent West Africa Insurance Companies’ Association’s ( WAICA) annual general meeting and education conference held in Gambia, took a critical look at issues that will promote or mar uniform regional regulation of the insurance industry. He observed that regulation of insurance business in West African sub region was largely underdeveloped basically due to differences in insurance supervisory standards within the sub-region. Efekoha, who is also the Managing Director, Consolidated Hall Mark Insurance Plc, noted that uniform regulation, has become necessary in the sub region because of the fact that regional business walls in the supply of insurance products are increasingly being broken down and that institutions and individuals, may want to leverage arbitrage opportunities, hence the need for regulation within the sub-region. He highlighted the enablers for uniform regional regulatory framework as increase in transborder operations within the sub region, which calls for harmonisation of regulatory framework; need for adjudicate supervision amongst national regulators; need to have regional insurance database for research and development for creation of standard for insurance market across member states in West Africa. Others include the need for

promotion of technical knowledge sharing amongst member state underwriter and regulators; need to standardise certain insurance product package and benefits; promote confidence and business sharing or exchange among players within the sub region. He listed the objectives of insurance business regulation as minimising and where possible prevent anything that routinely causes insurance to go out of business and unable to pay claims; preventing unfair and deceptive policies and practices since insurance contracts promise to make certain payments under certain conditions at points in future; ensuring adequate information are available to consumers of insurance products; encouraging the availability of insurance products that have been made compulsory. Efekoha, also highlighted challenges to uniform regional regulatory framework to include differences in the soundness of national macroeconomic and financial sector policies difference in cultures, mechanisms for providing an appropriate level of systemic protection or public safety net Nations are at different levels in the development of public infrastructure. Earlier, the Commissioner for insurance, Mohammed Kari, had observed that insurance operators across West Africa need to engage the political structure of the Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS) to rethink the historical colonial partitions in order for them to achieve real integration.

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Efekoha Proffers Ways to Promote Uniform Sub-regional Insurance Regulation

complete fabrication in Nigeria. I see a lot of opportunities for growth for local content and industries. This will create a lot of jobs for Nigerians. Other construction companies will also benefit from the expertise been developed here. “What we should be looking at now is not just what happens here but how other sectors can benefit from what is happening here. I see the determination to grow the local content and I see the vision to grow and collaborate with other similar facilities in Nigeria and make Nigeria the hub of oil and gas fabrication and engineering in Africa. I am proud that this is happening here.” Also, the Executive Director, LADOL, Mr. Ladi Jadesimi said the initiative that the present administration has shown to use free zones as a method through

which it can industrialise Nigeria, increase the inflow of foreign investment into the country and also boost the manufacturing capability and capacity will be a great way to grow the economy. The initiative, he added, is a vehicle that LADOL is very proud of and continues to play her role is boosting and achieving that lofty goal. “We are very fortunate here, we have a business model that is very flexible, and we are focused on logistic support services for the oil and gas industry. We also work closely with the maritime sector and other sectors within the economy. So whether it is project that has to do with manufacturing to supporting the aviation industry we really encourage and open our doors to those types of investors and companies to come and set up in LADOL, “he said.

As part of its corporate social responsibility as well as grooming young people to take up advertising as a career path, Wetherheads Advertising Group Limited, recently hosted best graduating students in advertising in the Mass Communications Department of University of Lagos. The group had, in 2012, set up an endowment fund of N1 million to reward the best graduating student with N100, 000 cash prize each year for the next 10 years. The 2016 winner is TajudeenTalhaOladimeji. Group Managing Director, Mr. AbiIderawumi, while speaking to The Guardian, said it was necessary to host these students and meet and engage with them, adding, “We are not only giving them prize-money after graduating, but also offering them internship with our organisation during their course of study as well as offering them employment. “We believe that it is better early in life to expose these students not only to the theory of advertising and marketing communication but also to the practicality. While they are school, they have the opportunity to know about the agencies available and service

offerings before they eventually choose a career. We also believe that talent discovery is key and that is what we stand for as an organisation that has been in the business in the past 23 years.” Iderawumi, who is also the chairman of Entrepreneur Today, an online publication established for mentoring undergraduates and youths in the art of entrepreneurship, said the endowment fund is one of the ways the company gives back to society, especially the academic community. While reacting to the kind gesture of the organisation, Head, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, Dr. Sunday Oloruntoba, expressed appreciation to Wetherheads Advertising Group for establishing the endowment fund at the department and sought for more collaborations in the area of generating employment for students. “This is gate pass for the society and a way of mentoring the young ones, we are excited about this,” he said. “I am sure there are other organisations that are making more money than them but they are not investing in our youths; this is the right step on the right path.”

T H I S D AY MONDAY MAY 1, 2017

MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017 Ëž T H I S D AY

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Why FG Must Promote Public-Private Partnership Obinna Chima The federal government needs to emphasise the need for private sector investment by increasing Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in key capital projects. The Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC), which stated this in its monthly economic bulletin for March 2017, released yesterday, pointed out that PPPs would be essential in areas such as the railway projects, privatisation of government owned refineries, airport concessions, among others. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Examples are railway concessions with GE (Lagos-Kano and Port Harcourt- Maiduguri). These will free up some cash for the government that has a fiscal deficit treading close to the three per cent of GDP threshold,â&#x20AC;? it added. According to the report, there is empirical evidence to show that investment plays an important role in a nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic growth. It stated that due to Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s huge dependence on oil, following the oil boom era of the 1970s, the economy has been more of a public sector led government. But it noted that between 1986 and 2014, private sector

investment in Nigeria started growing as market forces started playing a more prominent role, adding that efforts to privatise the public sector led to the reformation of key sectors such as the telecoms and power (although still saddled with funding constraints) sectors. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It also opened Nigeria to more foreign trade activities, resulting in an influx of gross fixed investments that reached a peak of $85.7 billion in 2014. Nonetheless, growth of private sector investment in Nigeria has been constrained by a difficult business operating environment (169th out of 190 countries in the ease of doing report for 2016); more recently by weak confidence in the policy implementation and the general economic environment, and a distorted foreign exchange market.â&#x20AC;? Over the years, countries especially developing economies have witnessed a gradual increase in private sector investment. With the increased pace of globalisation and technological development, the role of private sector has intensified. This is because governments of nations have identified the benefits of private investment and PPP which include but are not

limited to market discipline and efficiency, an economic strategy for boosting GDP growth, job and income creation, efficient resource allocation, provision of infrastructure and social benefits. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Japanese economy is a good example of an economy with an investment led growth story. Domestic investment in industries and infrastructure were the bane of the Japanese governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strategy in boosting its output and economic growth. In the early 90s, Japan was poised to overthrow the US to become the largest economy globally. Gross fixed capital formation in the private sector was as high as 21 per cent of GDP in Japan in 1996. GDP growth rate was approximately four per cent in that year. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Private sector investment in China accounts for 60 per cent of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total fixed asset investment. A total of $3.62 trillion was recorded as private investment in China in the first two months of 2017. Private sector investment is projected to increase to 10 per cent in 2017 from 3.2 per cent in 2016. This is after an annual average growth rate of 30 per cent in the last 10 years,â&#x20AC;? it added.

Paga Partners NIPOST on Financial Inclusion As part of efforts to drive deeper financial inclusion in Nigeria, Paga and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) recently announced a partnership aimed at making financial services available to all Nigerians by leveraging on all the NIPOST offices across the country as robust financial services points. This will be done on the back of the Shared Agent Network framework approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria. A statement explained that through the partnership with NIPOST, Paga will continue to expand its mobile money agent network to include post offices in all the local government areas of Nigeria while giving priority to areas where banking services are limited or otherwise difficult to access. The initial set of services to be offered are deposits and withdrawals from bank accounts and mobile money wallets, utility bill payments, and airtime recharge for all telecom networks.

Additional services, including savings and loans products, are scheduled for launch in partnership with banking partners. Speaking on the collaboration with Paga, the General Manager Financial Service, NIPOST, Mr. B.M Mukhtar said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is a post office location within reasonable distance of almost every community in the country today, so we see an opportunity for NIPOST to play a leading role in enhancing financial inclusion for the betterment of Nigeria. For this reason, NIPOST is committed to partnering with Paga and other financial institutions to bring critical financial services such as bill payments, bank account deposits and withdrawals, loans, money transfer and more to be available at NIPOST locations nationwide. We are taking it step-by-step and have already started to see the positive impact.â&#x20AC;? Also speaking on the collaboration, Paga co-founder and Director of Business Develop-

ment, Jay Alabraba said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our work with NIPOST is simply one of several big steps that we are leading the industry in taking, to bring financial services to all communities in Nigeria. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The rollout has been ongoing since the beginning of 2016, and we are very encouraged by the outcomes so far. The Central Bank provided clear guidelines for shared services such as these, and we invite banks, microfinance institutions, mobile payments providers and others to join us to reach more customers and make the scheme a success. Nigerians needs this now more than ever, so we must direct our resources wisely and make it happen.â&#x20AC;? NIPOST and Paga joint teams work closely to ensure the commercial success of the initiative, including training and equipping of the NIPOST staff at each post office performing the transactions and other dayto-day mobile money agent operations.â&#x20AC;?

Ecobank Merges 74 Branches Ecobank Nigeria Limited has merged 74 of its branches, thereby reducing the number of its branches to 405, from 479. The bank also has reaffirmed its digital transformation agenda enabling its customers depend more on its digital platforms to do their daily banking activities, thereby reducing the need to go to branches. By this development the bank will have enhanced services leveraging more on its digital channels. The Managing Director of the Bank, Charles Kie said the move was part of the bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s transformation agenda which is meant to create a fundamental shift in its banking activities

to digital channels, as well as improve customersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience, while also reducing the cost of serving them. This also supports the bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial inclusion strategy and the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria. A statement at the weekend quoted Kie to have explained that as part of this strategy, the bank has enhanced its retail internet banking platform with much speed and flexibility. Also the Ecobank Mobile App that enables customers to do instant payments; open accounts, as well as do instant transfers across 33 countries in Africa. The Ecobank App, the first

of its kind in Africa has an innovative payment solution, the Ecobank Masterpass that allows customers the convenience to pay for goods at merchant locations by simply scanning a QR code on their phones. With the merger Ecobank now boast of 405 branches across the country supported with top of the range technology application. According to Kie, â&#x20AC;&#x153;after a detailed analysis of the physical network of branches needed to serve our customers, the decision was made by the Ecobank Nigeria Board, and approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria, to optimise 74 out of its 479 branches.

President Muhammadu Buhari

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

DECEMBER 2016 Broad Money (M2)

23,840,392.42

-- Narrow Money (M1)

11,520,166.67

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,820,415.90

---- Demand Deposits

9,699,750.76

-- Quasi Money

12,320,225.75

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

9,353,504.03

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

14,486,888.39

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

26,970,297.97

---- Credit to Government (Net)

4,595,579.89

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

7,436,917.79

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-2,841,337.90

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

22,374,718.08

--Other Assets Net

-12,483,409.58

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,837,322.41

--Currency in Circulation

2,179,174.28

--Banks Reserves

3,318,344.71 Ëž Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x;Ă&#x153;Ă?Ă? Ě&#x2039;

MANAGED FUNDS Month

December 2016

Inter-Bank Call Rate

10.39

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

13.96

Savings Deposit Rate

4.18

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.53

3 Months Deposit Rate

8.80

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.23

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.76

Prime Lending rate

17.09

Maximum Lending Rate

28.55 Ëž Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2DC;Ă?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x153;ĂŁ Ă&#x2122;Ă&#x2013;Ă&#x201C;Ă?ĂŁ Ă&#x2039;Ă&#x17E;Ă? Ě&#x2039; ÍŻÍąĎą

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT 27 APRIL 2017 The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $48.90 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $49.63 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Rabi Light (Gabon), Minas (Indonesia), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela). SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

FCMB Group’s 2016 Performance, Dividend Excite Shareholders Goddy Egene and Nosa Alekhuogie Shareholders of FCMB Group Plc have applauded the financial institution for the impressive performance recorded for the year ended December 31, 2016 and the payment of N1.98 billion dividend. Despite the challenging operating environment, FCMB Group

grew its profit after tax from N4.8 billion to N14.3 billion, boosted however, by foreign exchange gains. Speaking at the annual general meeting (AGM) held in Lagos last Friday, some of the shareholders hailed the resilience, dynamism of the company, which led to the dividend payment. For instance, the founding

T H E MAIN BOARD Activity Summary on Board DEBT Federal Bond Name 15.54% FGN FEB 2020 16.00% FGN JUN 2019 Federal Totals DEBT Board Totals Bond Activity Totals Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals AGRICULTURE Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. JOHN HOLT PLC. S C O A NIG. PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Construction ARBICO PLC. Building Construction Totals Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Automobiles/Auto Parts DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC Automobiles/Auto Parts Totals Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC Food Products Totals Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. Household Durables Totals Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. JAIZ BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. Banking Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Micro-Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC DEAP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT & TRUST PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UNITED CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

DEALS

MARKET PRICE

National Coordinator of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, said: “The overall performance has been very good despite the recession the economy went through during the year under review. The impressive rise in profitability and dividend payment are clear signs that FCMB is resilient, on a stronger footing to

N I G E R I A N QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

No. of Deals 1 1 2 2 2

Current Price 98.7 135

Quantity Traded 105 100 205 205 205

Value Traded 103,815.41 137,197.80 241,013.21 241,013.21 241,013.21

No. of Deals 11 4 15 No. of Deals 5 5 20

Current Price 44.18 46

Quantity Traded 41,208 5,201 46,409 Quantity Traded 153,470 153,470 199,879

Value Traded 1,887,024.20 240,161.40 2,127,185.60 Value Traded 119,266.60 119,266.60 2,246,452.20

Current Price 0.78

No. of Deals 1 1 4 56 48 110 110

Current Price 0.78 0.66 3.77 0.78 15.1

Quantity Traded 100 500 10,000 4,840,952 350,363 5,201,915 5,201,915

Value Traded 78 315 35,900.00 3,807,735.66 5,054,510.34 8,898,539.00 8,898,539.00

No. of Deals 1 1 No. of Deals 5 5 No. of Deals 65 65 71

Current Price 4.79

Quantity Traded 200 200 Quantity Traded 10,272 10,272 Quantity Traded 1,656,711 1,656,711 1,667,183

Value Traded 958 958 Value Traded 375,647.04 375,647.04 Value Traded 3,493,667.49 3,493,667.49 3,870,272.53

No. of Deals 1 1 No. of Deals 3 64 7 208 282 No. of Deals 18 18 No. of Deals 33 22 32 15 11 113 No. of Deals 25 98 123 No. of Deals 14 14 No. of Deals 26 17 43 594

Current Price 0.5

Quantity Traded 100,000 100,000 Quantity Traded 5,160 288,915 51,123 1,386,914 1,732,112 Quantity Traded 6,947 6,947 Quantity Traded 616,050 345,909 84,482 1,028,600 117,500 2,192,541 Quantity Traded 136,880 133,592 270,472 Quantity Traded 140,811 140,811 Quantity Traded 203,505 43,451 246,956 4,689,839

Value Traded 50,000.00 50,000.00 Value Traded 11,558.40 17,613,098.61 801,955.76 156,078,414.27 174,505,027.04 Value Traded 675,390.11 675,390.11 Value Traded 2,410,595.00 2,125,832.90 1,491,827.07 1,128,310.00 833,010.00 7,989,574.97 Value Traded 1,172,206.13 79,110,103.35 80,282,309.48 Value Traded 289,850.97 289,850.97 Value Traded 2,596,373.80 1,424,799.57 4,021,173.37 267,813,325.94

No. of Deals 167 26 27 69 219 24 1,530 73 33 1 1 2,170 No. of Deals 9 6 2 2 5 1 2 1 2 1 2 33 No. of Deals 1 2 3 No. of Deals 1 1 No. of Deals 31 16 1 68 6 132 254

Current Price 6.6 0.86 9.8 0.84 23.8 1.31 0.7 4.8 4.9 0.83 0.5

Quantity Traded 11,476,994 1,149,393 58,189 8,142,068 20,039,315 1,081,695 25,994,229 5,772,233 251,225 350 800 73,966,491 Quantity Traded 214,682 503,100 200 3,000 44,144 900 5,100 1,000 401,000 1,000 384 1,174,510 Quantity Traded 1,000 25,100 26,100 Quantity Traded 1,000 1,000 Quantity Traded 450,576 325,400 1,000 3,530,043 12,830 8,474,959 12,794,808

Value Traded 76,018,367.81 990,711.98 560,377.50 6,806,919.19 477,105,071.95 1,417,729.20 18,222,090.30 27,705,413.04 1,185,050.41 276.5 408 610,012,415.88 Value Traded 126,611.20 530,295.00 100 4,770.00 36,196.64 450 2,550.00 500 200,500.00 500 192 902,664.84 Value Traded 2,700.00 27,111.00 29,811.00 Value Traded 1,440.00 1,440.00 Value Traded 1,399,304.19 1,084,759.00 500 4,689,332.14 211,696.60 31,174,405.94 38,559,997.87

Current Price 34.83 Current Price 2.12

Current Price 2.35 60.92 16.15 117.5 Current Price 106.5 Current Price 4.1 6.1 18 1.1 7.03 Current Price 9 600 Current Price 2.08 Current Price 12.16 34

Current Price 0.59 1.05 0.5 1.59 0.79 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 Current Price 2.58 1.08 Current Price 1.47 Current Price 3.05 3.32 0.5 1.31 17 3.7

overcome the difficult business environment and continually meet the expectations of shareholders and other stakeholders. Overall, we are satisfied with the performance.’’ Commenting in the same vein, the National Chairman of Shareholders’ Trustees Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Mukhtar Mukhtar, said: “We are happy that FCMB has

STO C K

again risen to the occasion by delivering value to shareholders, while also showing a strong ability to adapt effectively and professionally to the dynamics of the business environment. We strongly believe that FCMB will continue to do perform better.” In his address at the AGM, the Chairman of FCMB Group, Dr. Jonathan Long, represented by a

director, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, attributed the performance recorded last year to the professionalism and commitment the financial institution brought to bear in its business and operations. He added that, ‘’the Group has shown itself, capable of weathering the storm and I am confident that the year ahead will prove to be no exception’’.

E XC H A N G E

MAIN BOARD FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC Healthcare Providers Totals Pharmaceuticals FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals HEALTHCARE Totals ICT IT Services TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. IT Services Totals Processing Systems CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals ICT Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC MEYER PLC. LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS PLC. GREIF NIGERIA PLC Packaging/Containers Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals NATURAL RESOURCES Metals ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. Metals Totals NATURAL RESOURCES Totals OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals OIL AND GAS Totals SERVICES Advertising AFROMEDIA PLC Advertising Totals Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals Hotels/Lodging TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. TRANSCORP HOTELS PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals Printing/Publishing LEARN AFRICA PLC STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. Printing/Publishing Totals Transport-Related Services NEWREST ASL NIGERIA PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC C & I LEASING PLC. Support and Logistics Totals SERVICES Totals EQTY Board Totals Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board ASeM FINANCIAL SERVICES Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services OMOLUABI MORTGAGE BANK PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals ASeM Board Totals Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board PREMIUM FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals Other Financial Institutions FBN HOLDINGS PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials DANGOTE CEMENT PLC Building Materials Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals PREMIUM Board Totals Equity Activity Totals

DEALS

MARKET PRICE

2,461 No. of Deals 1 1 No. of Deals 13 12 4 6 2 37 38

Current Price 0.5

No. of Deals 1 1 No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 1.3

No. of Deals 7 2 7 11 1 20 48 No. of Deals 15 15 No. of Deals 3 1 4 67

Current Price 11.25 6.08 29.6 4.28 0.87 42

Current Price 1.01 14.75 1 0.66 1.95

Current Price 0.5

Current Price 1.45 Current Price 36.45 9.69

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

87,962,909

649,506,329.59

Quantity Traded 738,000 738,000 Quantity Traded 5,177,490 110,135 5,015 11,000 900 5,304,540 6,042,540

Value Traded 369,000.00 369,000.00 Value Traded 5,178,570.00 1,551,318.88 4,770.10 7,063.20 1,836.00 6,743,558.18 7,112,558.18

Quantity Traded 2,438 2,438 Quantity Traded 100,000 100,000 102,438

Value Traded 3,023.12 3,023.12 Value Traded 50,000.00 50,000.00 53,023.12

Quantity Traded 11,405 2,997 1,215,127 141,429 300 23,390 1,394,648 Quantity Traded 792,168 792,168 Quantity Traded 70,030 100 70,130 2,256,946

Value Traded 130,100.00 17,322.66 35,970,022.30 604,431.24 249 987,177.40 37,709,302.60 Value Traded 1,142,840.30 1,142,840.30 Value Traded 2,552,593.50 1,016.00 2,553,609.50 41,405,752.40

No. of Deals 1 1 1

Current Price 9.75

Quantity Traded 2,000 2,000 2,000

Value Traded 18,540.00 18,540.00 18,540.00

No. of Deals 2 2 No. of Deals 76 76 No. of Deals 16 20 229 20 1 16 302 No. of Deals 2 2 382

Current Price 0.5

Quantity Traded 18,000 18,000 Quantity Traded 1,722,434 1,722,434 Quantity Traded 35,100 284,436 905,220 12,017 100 8,826 1,245,699 Quantity Traded 5,150 5,150 2,991,283

Value Traded 9,000.00 9,000.00 Value Traded 8,234,046.51 8,234,046.51 Value Traded 1,190,988.64 886,497.72 56,399,639.77 3,215,511.70 3,708.00 2,400,901.12 64,097,246.95 Value Traded 2,045,501.50 2,045,501.50 74,385,794.96

Quantity Traded 55,000 55,000 Quantity Traded 575 29,090 29,665 Quantity Traded 1,000 13,000 14,000 Quantity Traded 500 1,000 1,500 Quantity Traded 101,050 46,801 147,851 Quantity Traded 274,973 1,000 275,973 523,989 111,640,921

Value Traded 27,500.00 27,500.00 Value Traded 2,645.75 26,607.80 29,253.55 Value Traded 3,550.00 61,623.60 65,173.60 Value Traded 355 2,190.00 2,545.00 Value Traded 275,866.50 114,662.45 390,528.95 Value Traded 242,233.86 500 242,733.86 757,734.96 1,056,068,322.88

No. of Deals 1 1 No. of Deals 2 3 5 No. of Deals 1 3 4 No. of Deals 1 1 2 No. of Deals 7 6 13 No. of Deals 14 1 15 40 3,786

Current Price 4.71 Current Price 35.49 3.24 62.5 275.99 39.03 270 Current Price 380

Current Price 0.5 Current Price 4.4 0.91 Current Price 3.65 4.98 Current Price 0.68 2.19 Current Price 2.73 2.57 Current Price 0.9 0.5

No. of Deals 1 1 1 1

Current Price 0.9

Quantity Traded 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000

Value Traded 90,000.00 90,000.00 90,000.00 90,000.00

No. of Deals 279 279 No. of Deals 140 140 419

Current Price 15.01

Quantity Traded 48,467,690 48,467,690 Quantity Traded 1,684,690 1,684,690 50,152,380

Value Traded 727,624,234.12 727,624,234.12 Value Traded 5,345,599.68 5,345,599.68 732,969,833.80

No. of Deals 10 10 10 429 4,216

Current Price 169

Quantity Traded 45,766 45,766 45,766 50,198,146 161,939,067

Value Traded 7,736,239.30 7,736,239.30 7,736,239.30 740,706,073.10 1,796,864,395.98

Current Price 3.2

˾ MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017

MARKET NEWS

Dangote Sugar Assured Shareholders of Sustainable Returns Goddy Egene The Chairman of Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) Plc, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has assured shareholders that the company remains committed to the delivery of superior returns to shareholders. Dangote restated the commitment at the 11th annual general meeting (AGM) of the company meeting in Lagos, saying that commitment informed the decision of the board to recommend a dividend of N7.2 billion for the year ended

December 31, 2016, which translated to 60 kobo per share. According to him, the company was in a position to pay a higher dividend but it retained some part of its earnings for investment in the company’s backward integration programme. “Our focus is the actualisation of our backward integration plans(BIP), your board will continue with the effective management of resources to achieve this target, sustainable financial future for

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager. Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return. An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

the company, and in the turn drive sustainable returns to shareholders,” he said. DSR’s gross revenue rose by 68 per cent from N101.06 billion in 2015 to N169.72 billion. Profit before tax stood at N19.61 billion, up from N16.16 billion, while PAT grew to N14.4 billion as against N11.4 billion in 2015. Earnings per share similarly rose from 93 kobo to 120 kobo. Dangote explained that the performance reflected the outcome of the company’s strategic initiatives being

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg. Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 27APR-2017, unless otherwise stated

implemented over the past two years, to ensure that company sustains this performance in the face of economic downturn. He noted that in 2016, the company continued the journey towards achievement of Backward Integration Project( BIP)targets. “To date about N101 billion has been committed towards the actualization of the these projects on equiptment purchase, land studies and survey, sensitaztion campaing for the local communities, rehabilitation

and expansion of Savannah Sugar Company,” he said. In his comments, acting Group Managing Director, DSR Plc, Abdullahi Sule, said they were pleased with the results for the period under review, noting that rvenue grew by 68 per cent and improve sales volume compared to 2015 despite the current macro-economic challenges. “Our focus in the current year and for the future remains leveraging our strengths to maximize every opportunity

to generate sales, increase our market share and create sustainable value for our stakeholders.” He said concerted efforts are being made towards the actualisation of the company’s BIP plan. “The implementation strategy has changed and the full focus is now on the expansion of the Savannah Sugar Estate to its full potential, and development of the new site at Tunga in Nasarawa State,” Sule said.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors. Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF Yield/Total Return: D Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return NAV: is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 1 270 1680 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 135.17 135.86 6.50% Nigeria International Debt Fund 219.04 220.02 1.83% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.71 0.72 2.18% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 16.90% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 12.58 12.96 1.86% ARM Discovery Fund 295.66 304.57 2.95% ARM Ethical Fund 22.55 23.23 0.94% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 15.84% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 108.41 109.17 3.07% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.67% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 0.00% Paramount Equity Fund 9.70 9.94 3.59% Women's Investment Fund 88.41 90.68 4.51% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.01% FBN CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,062.47 1,063.59 5.22% FBN Heritage Fund 115.42 116.19 3.43% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.49% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Institutional $107.65 $108.40 4.60% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail $107.31 $108.07 5.00% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 117.52 119.00 4.28% FIRST CITY ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD fcamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcamltd.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Equity Fund 1.00 1.01 6.91% Legacy Short Maturity (NGN) Fund 2.70 2.70 4.89% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 2,268.30 2,295.64 2.69% Coral Income Fund 2,225.94 2,225.94 5.78% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 17.52% INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 17.04% Vantage Balanced Fund 1.76 1.78 4.91% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 17.28%

LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.04 1.04 4.00% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,017.71 1,017.71 3.46% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 10.03 10.10 3.73% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.35% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.09 1.12 10.72% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 10.55 10.61 1.53% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 16.47% SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 113.05 113.98 11.04% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.29 1.29 3.35% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 1,877.11 1,886.71 2.48% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 157.22 157.22 2.12% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.78 0.79 1.95% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 195.75 195.75 4.74% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 131.15 132.94 1.05% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 18.05% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,466.94 7,553.69 -1.54% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD unitedcapitalplcgroup.com Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.16 1.17 8.48% United Capital Bond Fund 1.27 1.27 15.68% United Capital Equity Fund 0.65 0.67 -0.11% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.15 1.15 11.33% ZENITH ASSETS MANAGEMENT LTD info@zenith-funds.com Web: www.zenith-funds.com; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 10.37 10.56 7.51% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.55 11.67 5.78% Zenith Income Fund 17.63 17.63 6.68%

REITS

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

11.41 126.01

1.01% 1.65%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.02 74.10

8.12 75.48

-8.61% -2.22%

Fund Name FSDH UPDC Real Estate Investment Fund SFS Skye Shelter Fund

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS

Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697

Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

2.75 6.11 11.98 17.23 129.35

2.79 6.19 12.08 17.43 131.35

0.00% -13.01% -0.16% 7.98% -0.40%

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

T H I S D AY MONDAY MAY 1, 2017

MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

CITYSTRINGS

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

Showering Love to the Underprivileged Jodie Frank, an American and the founder of Jacco Charity International, did the unusual when she brought gifts to underprivileged children at the Gbuduyi community in Kabusa, Abuja, to celebrate her birthday. Olawale Ajimotokan who covered the event, reports

buduyi is a sleepy and small agrarian community in Kabusa, Dakwo District that presents an outlook that is quite reminiscent of a village. It is totally different from the adjourning communities of Lokogoma and Apo where developers are putting up estates to be sold to government and private businesses employees. There exist only private schools in the village which most parents can hardly afford, prompting them to send their kids to the public schools in Kabusa, about five kilometres away. Medical facilities also are considered a premium in the district as the only hospital that serves the entire community is private owned and does not have enough drugs in stock. But in a rare gesture of kindness, Miss Jodie Frank navigated the bumpy, narrow and dirt filled road to Gbuduyi to present foods, drinks, toiletries and gifts to the children of the community to celebrate her birthday. The children, some accompanied by their mothers, gathered under a mango tree that provided shade from the overbearing sun in the place locals call ‘’Bakassi’’ to mingle with Frank, who is an offspring of an American mother and a Nigerian father from Abia State. “It is my birthday and I want to celebrate with the children in the local community. I want to identify with them, show them some love and support them in any way I can in my capacity and whatever way I could. I just want to give out and I really thank God for adding another year-to me,” Frank said. Her kindness was lauded by the head of the Gbuduyi community, Chief John Pada, who sent an emissary, Titus Peter Jukura, to represent him at the occasion. Pada appealed to more good spirited individuals to emulate Frank’s attitude by bringing joy and developments to the people as well as impacting on children. ‘’It is a thing of joy. I will be happy if we can get more of this in this community on constant basis. I won’t mind if this happens weekly,’’ Pada said. Frank established her charity in March 2012 to offer community services to the poor in Africa, provide free relief materials, mosquito nets, blankets, free medical outreach and support back to school programme. The platform has allowed her to travel extensively in Nigeria, particularly, the in FCT and the North-east region where many years of insurgency has left many without home and made many children to be out of schools. Apart from outreach in Mpape, Lungu and Kado Kuchi communities, children have remained the defining theme of her charity which has nurtured back to school programmes to ensure that children, who are not privileged, are able to go to school because knowledge is power. She said on the whole, the foundation has touched over 1,500 children in Nigeria. ‘’It is a gradual thing. As we move forward, we hope that we should be able to make an impact. We are trying to reduce some level of poverty in the country which is pretty high. We can always do our best in that regard. I want to use this medium to call on all well-meaning Nigerians and NGOs to aid community development efforts because a whole lot of children are out here without cloth, walking on bare feet with nothing to eat, not to talk of next meal they will have.’’ Frank claimed that her foundation, that

Jodie Frank (1st right) presenting gifts to underprivileged children at the Gbuduyi community in Kabusa, Abuja...recently

Jodie Frank posing with the children

has an office in Garki 2, Abuja, has currently helped about 280 kids to get back to school in the FCT, saying that there are records, names, data and paper works to support

It is my birthday and I want to celebrate with the children in the local community. I want to identify with them, show them some love and support them in any way I can in my capacity and whatever way I could. I just want to give out and I really thank God for adding another year to me

KINGSLEY ADEBOYE

Frank...always caring for the less-privileged

the claim. The African-American stressed that the main drawback Nigerian children encounter include lack of care and support that literally leave children on the streets, to fend for themselves. She said the development exposes children to molestation, rape and assault. She said her funding is sourced from international donor agencies and few individuals who have been giving support to her cause which said has gulped a whole lot of money and in need of more in support of children. With a profile of working with children, Frank is already thinking of partnering the Nigerian Police Force, on how her charity can take care of the girl-child in the local region, while youth-orientated programmes are also in the pipeline in Rivers and Kogi states. She also added that the charity is working to get into partnership with the federal government through the Office of the Chief of Staff, saying that achieving that will take

a little while to follow certain procedures. Frank said that it has been extremely challenging pursuing what she believes in, while also adding that because of the challenges of charting an unusual cause, there have been instances where she felt like giving up. ‘’We have been in existence since 2012 and till date been single-handedly impacting on children. It was until recently that we started getting some donors to partner with. We need help from other agencies and the ministries and hopefully we will get some response because we can’t do it alone. We want to educate children so they can fend for themselves. One of the best things we have done so far and passionate to be involved in is back to school programme which a whole lot of children have benefitted from and will still benefit from. So it is just a whole lot and it takes the grace of God, if not you will not be able to do it. Sometimes, I say God what is happening-I am really tired-you know.’’

MONDAY, MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

PERSPECTIVE

Of NIA’s Black Budget and the Mysterious Whistle Blower Yushau A. Shuaib writes on the recent exposure of the National Intelligence Agency to disrepute after the discovery of 13 billion in an Ikoyi apartment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission through the whistle blower policy Preparatory to the daring and merciless military operations against Boko Haram members, top officers of security and intelligence agencies were in Lagos and Abuja, towards the end of 2014 to interact with critical stakeholders that matter in shaping public perception and opinions. The then President of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Femi Adesina was part of the audience. The interactive sessions involved the display of video clips of horrific atrocities of Boko Haram terrorists against humanity. Gory scenes of brutal executions of captured intelligence officers who were accused of spying on the terrorists’ group were shown. The officers and their informants were cruelly dismembered, buried or burnt alive by the dare devil terrorists. One of the heart-aching videos was that of a captured female intelligence operative who was "daggered" into pieces before she could plead for her life. Few months after some debriefing with the stakeholders, through miraculous strategies of operations against terrorists, positive images emerged on the gallantry of Nigerian troops. PRNigeria released some of the declassified videos on the storming of Sambisa Forest by the special forces and intelligence operatives from the air and on the ground. The original video showed hijab-dressed female intelligence operatives, guiding women and children from the air raid to safe military zone. There were also reported cases of captured men dressed in women attire by Nigerian troops who were later discovered to be security operatives assigned to spy in terrorists’ enclaves. Strangely enough, between January to May 2015, when Sambo Dasuki was the then National Security Adviser, over two dozen occupied towns were successfully recovered and liberated from Boko Haram. The towns were: Abadam, Askira, Baga, Bama, Bara, Buni Yadi, Damboa, Dikwa, Gamboru-Ngala, Goniri, Gujba, Gulag, Gulani, Gwoza, Hong, Kala Balge, Konduga, Kukawa, Marte, Madagali, Michika, Monguno, Mubi, Vimtim among other communities. Meanwhile, while the military and security agencies took credit for all counter-terrorism campaigns, most of the high-profile terrorists arrested, especially at the borders and across the borders were facilitated by the intelligence service. The service also facilitated the participations of reluctant neighbours in Multi-National Joint Taskforce (MNJTF) and other special forces for the success of operations. Recently too, when 21 Chibok girls were freed by Boko Haram in October 2016, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo publicly disclosed that there was no exchange of detained members of the Boko Haram sect for the girls. The Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed also strongly denied the report that Nigerian government paid a robust ransom for their release. Since no one knows what influenced the 'Father Christmas’ gesture of Boko Haram leaders in releasing the girls which even took a section of the military by surprise, it is purely exceptional intelligence operations. This writer has deliberately avoided mentioning any of Nigeria’s secret organisations on the above operations. The recent exposure of the National

Suspended NIA DG, Ayo Oke

Intelligence Agency (NIA) to disrepute after the discovery of cash haul in an Ikoyi apartment is a sad commentary to the one of the most organised, fine and respected intelligence organisations in Africa. Not only has the scandal damaged the integrity of the agency, it further exposed the Nigeria’s intelligence community to global ridicule.

With all fingers pointing to the fact that the money belongs to NIA, the burden of proof is who is the mysterious whistle-blower? Could the whistle-blower have acted on behalf of an agency engaged in the rivalry or was it as major counterintelligence operation by foreign interests to expose and embarrass our intelligence network?

It is necessary to point out that in security circle, a black budget is allocated for classified and other covert operations of a nation which can be expended under different covers and through different channels including funding of NGOs, cultural groups, religious organisations, corporations, private firms and on most occasions through cash that could not be traced. Consciously and unconsciously, patriotic and innocent citizens have supported or carried out intelligence activities without being identified with the secret service. The instrument relating to the establishment, structure and duties of the National Intelligence Agency, especially under the National Security Agencies Act 1986 (Cap 278LFN), clearly states that “The accounts of the National Intelligence Agency shall not be subject to external audit but the Director General shall by first week of March each year, render to the President… certificate showing the total expended during the preceding period and the under which the expenditure was made and copy the National Security Adviser.” Similarly, there are repeated keywords on NIA’s mandates which include: national security, national interest, employing covert sources, using the cover of government or private concerns; conduct espionage, covert operations,

and counter intelligence activities. Even though there are declared staff who are authorised to disclose their identities, most intelligence operatives are undeclared and barred from disclosing their identities but only to close family members and associates. While some live in opulence for covert assignments, others act beggarly and pretend to be poor in sensitive terrains. The intelligence agencies allow other sister agencies take the credit for successful operations. Most of the arrested terrorists’ commanders especially at the borders and across the borders were facilitated by the intelligence service. The scandal over N13.3 billion recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at Osborne Street, Ikoyi, Lagos is quite embarrassing because the Director General of NIA, Ambassador Ayo Oke has claimed that the fund belonged to the agency. The incident is coming at a period of an intense inter-agency rivalry where security agencies were allegedly reported to be behind the leakages of classified and confidential information to smear their perceived oppositions within the same government. The above scenario is again playing out here. Now that NIA has laid claim to the amount found in Ikoyi apartment, does it mean the EFCC was misled? Is the mysterious whistle-blower a character in the inter-agency rivalry? Or is it another counter-intelligence by another foreign secret service against Nigeria? In a December 2016’s article by this writer on Magu’s EFCC: 'Between Suspects and Victims' I warned that “President Buhari should ensure that the brewing inter-agency conflict among critical institutions should be urgently addressed. For instance, if the EFCC should attempt to retaliate against the report of DSS, the result will not only be dirty but likely to compromise national security.” While the EFCC publicised the discovery, it has totally failed to disclose the owner. Even the vibrant spokesperson of EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren had to put off his mobile phone for almost 72 hours during the fracas. With all fingers pointing to the fact that the money belongs to NIA, the burden of proof is who is the mysterious whistle-blower? Could the whistle-blower have acted on behalf of an agency engaged in the rivalry or was it as major counter-intelligence operation by foreign interests to expose and embarrass our intelligence network? There are many ways of removing public officers but such attempts should not be done by rubbishing the integrity of public institutions they represent, especially in Nigeria's security architecture. I strongly believe at this critical period and with the unabated inter-agency rivalries and the incidence of leakages of classified information by some agencies of government, the current National Security Adviser, General Babagana Monguno should be wary of these developments. Though a gentleman, he needs to be more pragmatic, charismatic, assertive and decisive in dealing with erring agencies. .Shuaib is the Publisher of PRNigeria, a global award winner in Crisis Communication Email yashuaib@yahoo.com

T H I S D AY MONDAY MAY 1, 2017

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T H I S D AY MONDAY MAY 1, 2017

MONDAY MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

UK Police Arrest Man with Knives on Suspicion of Terrorism Police carrying out a counterterrorism investigation Thursday swooped in on a man they said was carrying knives in a bag near Britain’s Parliament and arrested him on suspicion of planning terrorist acts. London’s Metropolitan Police said the 27-year-old man was stopped and detained “as part

of an ongoing operation” by the department’s counterterrorism unit. The department said knives were recovered during the operation. It said the man was being held at a London police station on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.

Trump Says US Won’t Leave NAFTA for Now President Donald Trump said he has told the leaders of Mexico and Canada that he will not pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement at this time, but could still withdraw if he concludes a renegotiated pact is not “a fair deal for all.” Trump tweeted early Thursday that he has agreed to remain a partner in the much-discussed trade agreement in calls he received from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The White House released a statement late Wednesday saying only that Trump had assured the two leaders in phone conversations that the U.S. would not withdraw from NAFTA

at this time. In his Twitter post, Trump called America’s relationships with the two hemispheric neighbours “very good” and said the prospects of a renegotiated deal are “very possible.” But he also said that his consent to remaining in NAFTA for now is “subject to the fact that if we do not reach a fair deal for all, we will then terminate NAFTA.” The White House statement said, “President Trump agreed not to terminate NAFTA at this time and the leaders agreed to proceed swiftly, according to their required internal procedures, to enable the renegotiation of the NAFTA deal to the benefit of all three countries.”

Police said that as a result of the arrest, there is “no immediate known threat” to the public. Witnesses reported seeing armed police blocking off Whitehall, a street lined with government buildings, and a man on the ground surrounded by police. A black-clad man could later

be seen standing on the sidewalk, surrounded by police, before being put into a police vehicle. A photo showed a forensic officer looking at a black bag and what appeared to be two knives on the ground. Security has been increased around Parliament after an attacker drove an SUV into pedestrians

on nearby Westminster Bridge on March 22, killing four, before stabbing a police officer to death inside the gates of Parliament. The attacker, Khalid Masood, was shot dead by police. Police believe Masood, 52, a British-born Muslim convert with convictions for violence, acted alone.

Thursday was Parliament’s last sitting day before Britain’s June 8 election. Police say there has been a surge in knife crimes in London in the past year. Britain also faces a threat from international terrorism classified as “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely.

Syria War: ‘Israeli Strike’ Hits Military Site near Damascus Airport An Israeli missile strike has caused a large explosion and fire at a military site near Damascus international airport, Syrian state media report. A fuel tank and warehouses were damaged, the Sana news agency said. But Syrian rebel sources said an arms depot run by Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, which is fighting in Syria as an ally of the government, was hit. Israel said the explosion was “consistent” with its policy to prevent Iran smuggling weapons to Hezbollah. But it stopped short of confirming it was responsible. Israel regards Hezbollah, and its key backer Iran, as its biggest threat. It went to war with Hezbollah in 2006 and the group has grown

considerably more powerful since then. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported that the powerful blast was heard across the capital at dawn on Thursday and that it was believed to have happened near the main road that leads to the airport. Sana said several missiles had been fired at a military site south-west of the airport, causing explosions that resulted in some material losses. Pro-government Al-Mayadeen TV cited sources as saying that missiles had been fired by Israeli jets flying inside the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. -BBCLe Pen’s National Front ‘Took 5m Euros from EU’ The far-right National Front (FN)

of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen may have defrauded the European Parliament of about €5m (£4m; $5.4m), EU sources say. It is more than twice the sum initially estimated in an inquiry into FN staff. The parliament suspects the money went to FN assistants who were not really working for MEPs, but were engaged in FN party work in France. The allegations - denied by the FN - have now gone to French investigators. Ms Le Pen is campaigning for the second-round vote in the presidential election on 7 May. Her rival, liberal centrist Emmanuel Macron, is ahead of her in opinion polls.

The alleged fraudulent payments - from 2012 onwards - concern her and several other FN MEPs. The FN is highly critical of the EU, rejecting its liberal, free market agenda. Ms Le Pen says she is the victim of a politically motivated vendetta. The European Parliament is currently withholding half of Ms Le Pen’s salary and expenses, as it tries to recoup money it says she owes. Currently the FN has 24 MEPs, France’s biggest contingent. Ms Le Pen has refused to answer a summons over the affair in France, citing her immunity as an MEP. The BBC’s Hugh Schofield in Paris says most voters drawn to the FN are already highly suspicious of the EU, and may not see the alleged fraud as a particularly serious matter.

Deadly Air Strikes Target Rebel-held Idlib in Syria At least 19 people were killed in suspected Russian and Syrian air strikes in several districts in Idlib province, a local official of the Syrian Civil Defence told Al Jazeera. “Nineteen people were killed today. Khan Sheikhoun, Maaret al-Numaan, Jisr al-Shughour and other areas were targeted by suspected Russian and Syrian air strikes since the morning,” Hamid of the Civil Defence said

on Thursday. “In the suburbs of Maaret al-Numaan, al-Jamea hospital was hit,” he added. The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, is a volunteer rescue group that operates mostly in rebel-held territory in Syria. Idlib’s health directorate reported that the strike on al-Jamea hospital killed at least three patients and injured four others.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also reported that suspected Russian air strikes targeted Idlib and killed at least 16 people, including seven children. The SOHR also said many of those killed in the attack were medical volunteers. Syrian government helicopters dropped barrel bombs just outside the town of Khan Sheikhoun, the SOHR added.

EU Officials: Libya Lacks Plan to Prevent More Migrants Crossing to Europe Libya’s U.N-backed government has no clear plan to help prevent more migrants reaching Europe’s shores this summer, European Union officials said on Thursday, citing confused requests for equipment to patrol its shores.

Libya’s newly trained coastguards lack a strategy on where to deploy or how to detect and intercept smugglers, officials told Reuters. They based their analysis on two documents prepared for EU defence ministers meeting in Malta, which

lies on the route to Italy along which thousands of people drowned last year. The confidential EU assessment contrasts with the upbeat message the bloc has promoted after training 93 Libyan coastguards since late last year to tackle smugglers as the bloc scales back its plans to go into Libya’s territorial waters. The European Union says it cannot go into Libyan waters without a United Nations Security Council mandate, which the EU says Russia is unlikely to provide because of grievances over the West’s 2011 air campaign that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi. “Our objective is not to be in the territorial waters of Libya. Our objective is that in the territorial waters of Libya, the work is done by the Libyans,” the European Union’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini said, arriving to chair the meeting of defence ministers to discuss the EU strategy.

T H I S D AY MONDAY MAY 1, 2017

T H I S D AY Ëž ÍŻË&#x153; Í°ÍŽÍŻÍľ

Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

28-Apr-17

27-Apr-17

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

01 Dangote Cement Plc

159.00

160.00

-0.62%

2,709,440,677,395.00

10.95

14.52

4.40

5.03%

3.40

02 Nigerian Breweries Plc

123.01

123.22

-0.17%

975,358,700,232.88

3.58

34.32

3.11

2.93%

5.88

03 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

26.63

0.00%

783,752,302,735.12

4.49

5.92

1.89

6.65%

1.55

727.00

725.50

0.21%

576,261,095,204.00

10.00

72.71

3.17

3.99%

18.66

05 Zenith Bank Plc

14.90

14.80

0.68%

467,807,757,411.40

4.13

3.54

0.90

12.08%

0.66

06 Stanbic IBTCÂ Holdings Plc

26.25

25.00

5.00%

262,500,000,000.00

2.85

9.20

1.68

0.38%

1.86

07 Lafarge Africa Plc

50.92

48.50

4.99%

231,935,600,165.20

3.71

13.72

1.06

5.89%

0.93

410.00

0.00%

226,857,228,330.00 -82.02

-5.00

3.58

3.88%

0.60

09 United Bank for Africa Plc

5.82

5.61

3.74%

211,146,843,194.04

1.99

2.92

0.55

10.31%

0.47

10 Access Bank Plc

6.65

6.58

1.06%

192,371,011,346.15

13.18

0.50

8.27%

0.42

45.00

0.00%

178,671,467,025.00

0.03

1,539.00

2.50

2.89%

4.27

7.71

7.80

-1.15%

141,475,039,867.65

0.68

11.40

0.24

8.04%

0.23

340.00

0.00%

122,602,389,080.00

22.61

15.04

1.30

2.12%

5.71

31.81

32.05

-0.75%

120,346,653,712.50

0.81

39.18

1.72

0.16%

10.29

15 FBN Holdings Plc

3.17

3.50

-9.43%

113,788,078,150.64

0.21

15.28

0.21

4.73%

0.18

16 Guinness Nig Plc

60.01

60.00

0.02%

90,368,350,161.88

-3.06

-19.62

0.88

5.33%

2.29

17 Total Nigeria Plc

263.00

0.00%

89,294,243,131.00

43.58

6.03

0.31

5.32%

3.79

18 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

6.20

0.00%

74,400,000,000.00

1.20

5.17

0.44

8.06%

1.12

19 Oando Plc

5.78

5.80

-0.34%

69,560,097,207.32

0.29

19.91

0.15

12.98%

0.36

20 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc

95.00

0.00%

60,856,084,485.00

-0.05 -2,079.91

0.65

2.32%

2.74

21 International Breweries Plc

17.84

0.00%

58,769,407,155.20

0.02

791.76

2.21

1.40%

5.36

22 Forte Oil Plc.

44.90

0.00%

58,481,401,524.70

2.22

20.23

0.39

7.68%

1.35

23 Julius Berger Nig. Plc

39.86

41.95

-4.98%

52,615,200,000.00

-2.89

-13.79

0.38

3.76%

0.75

24 Flour Mills Nig. Plc

18.00

0.00%

47,236,269,366.00

-1.19

-15.09

0.11

11.11%

0.47

25 Okomu Oil Palm Plc

47.05

0.00%

44,881,465,500.00

5.15

9.14

3.12

0.21%

2.64

0.88

0.87

1.15%

34,074,477,734.00

-0.03

-30.23

0.57

0.00%

0.39

14.47

0.00%

27,794,907,679.89

3.37

4.29

0.37

6.91%

0.37

0.82

0.85

-3.53%

23,749,320,267.44

0.39

2.12

0.16

19.51%

0.13

33.00

0.00%

23,100,000,000.00

2.29

14.41

3.39

3.48%

10.12

30 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

8.49

7.71

10.12%

22,493,731,829.22

0.91

9.31

1.23

6.48%

2.80

31 Sterling Bank Plc

0.73

0.76

-3.95%

21,017,005,231.98

0.18

4.07

0.19

12.33%

0.25

32 Wema Bank Plc

0.50

0.00%

19,287,233,040.50

0.07

7.44

0.36

0.00%

0.40

33 FCMB Group Plc

0.96

1.01

-4.95%

19,010,602,349.76

0.72

1.33

0.11

10.42%

0.11

34 Diamond Bank Plc

0.79

0.82

-3.66%

18,296,707,284.72

-0.29

-2.69

0.09

0.00%

0.08

35 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.02

0.00%

17,763,229,868.90

0.91

3.33

0.46

4.64%

0.59

36 Cadbury Nigeria Plc

9.30

0.00%

17,467,278,972.00

-0.16

-58.93

0.58

13.98%

1.58

14.09

14.20

-0.77%

16,849,899,715.92

3.51

4.01

1.17

2.13%

0.99

38 Mansard Insurance Plc

1.57

1.50

4.67%

16,485,000,000.00

0.25

6.26

0.80

3.18%

0.82

39 PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc

14.92

15.00

-0.53%

14,920,000,000.00

5.69

2.62

1.04

0.67%

0.40

40 Continental Reinsurance Plc

1.11

1.16

-4.31%

11,513,746,186.32

0.42

2.64

0.52

10.81%

0.62

41 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.17

1.22

-4.10%

9,278,331,259.86

-0.40

-2.89

0.19

13.68%

0.28

42 Skye Bank Plc

0.50

0.00%

6,940,150,705.00

-2.93

-0.17

0.04

60.00%

0.07

43 Unity Bank Plc

0.58

0.00%

6,779,816,006.36

0.19

3.10

0.08

0.00%

0.08

44 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,126.00

0.18

2.78

0.85

6.00%

0.41

45 Resort Savings & Loans Plc

0.50

0.00%

5,664,866,202.00

0.03

17.71

3.72

0.00%

1.94

46 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

4.44

4.47

-0.67%

5,579,649,281.04

0.22

20.28

0.50

2.25%

0.52

47 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

2.50

2.46

1.63%

4,060,546,875.00

0.36

6.99

0.51

8.00%

0.63

48 AIICO Insurance Plc

0.53

0.00%

3,673,008,374.40

1.48

0.36

0.14

9.43%

0.42

49 UACN Property Development Co. Limited

1.80

0.00%

3,093,749,991.00

-0.90

-2.00

0.49

38.89%

0.09

50 Fidson Healthcare Plc

1.10

1.05

4.76%

1,650,000,000.00

0.21

5.21

0.22

4.55%

0.25

04 Nestle Nigeria Plc

08 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd

11 Presco Plc 12 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated 13 Mobil Oil Nig Plc 14 Unilever Nigeria Plc

26 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc 27 U A C NÂ Plc 28 Fidelity Bank Plc 29 Cap Plc

37 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc

TOTAL

8,318,011,990,361.99

TOTAL MARKET CAP

8,933,784,337,233.33

% OF MARKET CAP Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

93.11%

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

Open 27-Apr-17

NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion)

25,753.00 8.91

25,758.51 8.91

0.02% 0.02%

106.83 8.32

0.00% 0.00%

Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion)

Close 28-Apr-17

Change %

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open Close Change 27-Apr-17 28-Apr-17 %

National Salt Co. Nig. Plc Stanbic IBTCÂ Holdings Plc Lafarge Africa Plc Fidson Healthcare Plc Mansard Insurance Plc

7.71 25.00 48.50 1.05 1.50

8.49 26.25 50.92 1.10 1.57

10.12 5.00 4.99 4.76 4.67

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open Close Change 27-Apr-17 28-Apr-17 %

FBN Holdings Plc Julius Berger Nig. Plc FCMB Group Plc Continental Reinsurance Plc Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

3.50 41.95 1.01 1.16 1.22

3.17 39.86 0.96 1.11 1.17

-9.43 -4.98 -4.95 -4.31 -4.10

NSE Index remains flat as week closes Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Friday, April 28th, 2017 ended on a positive note as the stock market closed green. This was further highlighted by positive performance from the NSE Subsectors: Banking, Insurance and Consumer Goods (Save Oil & Gas). Also, trading activities increased in volume as 366.47m shares worth of N2.88 billion in 3,598 deals exchanged hands today. This is an increase from 371.76m shares worth of N2.81 billion in 3,627 deals which exchanged hands on Thursday. Topping in volume terms are: Access Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc; Access Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms. Brent crude oil price today settles at US$51.73 per barrel. The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed negative with 0.02% (+5.51) increase to close at 25,758.51 from 25,753.00 the previous trading day. Market capitalization appreciated in tandem to N8.91 trillion from N8.91 trillion of prior trading day. Similarly, the Thisday BGL 50 Index closes with an increase of 0.00% to 106.83 from 106.83 recorded at the end of the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N8.32 trillion from N8.32 trillion of the previous trading day. Market breath closed positive today as 21 stocks gained on the bourse while 20 stocks also declined, leaving 60 stocks unchanged. Topping the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; list National Salt Co. Nig. Plc as it emerged as the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toast of investors with a gain of 10.12% to close at N8.49 per share. It was followed by Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc with a gain of 5.00% to close at N26.25 per share. Others on the gainers list include: Lafarge Africa Plc, Fidson Healthcare Plc and Mansard Insurance Plc; while on the declinersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; list, FBN Holdings Plc lead with a loss of 9.43% to close at N3.17 share. It was followed by Julius Berger Nig. Plc with a loss of 4.98% to close at N39.86 per share. Others on the decliners list include: FCMB Group Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc and Honeywell Flour Mill Plc. REQUIRED DISCLOSURE This report has been prepared by BGL Plc. BGL Plc does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should use this report as one of many other factors in making their investment decisions.

For more details go to www.thisdaylive.com

T H I S D AY MONDAY MAY 1, 2017

MONDAY MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWS

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

House Ad hoc C’ttee Re-invites NNPC, Others over Missing Oil Revenues

James Emejo in Abuja Following their “unconvincing” response at the initial stage of inquiry, the House of

Representatives Ad-hoc Committee which is probing the N17 billion missing crude oil and gas revenues said it’s ready to re-invite key agencies including the Nigerian

NGE Urges Media to Promote Govt Policies on Economic Diversification Chinedu Eze The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) has called on the media to promote government policies which tend to encourage economic diversification as a way of getting out of the current and future economic challenges that have stymied development in the country. In a communiqué issued by the editors after the biennial convention held at the weekend in Lagos, the body noted that the nation’s economic recession has impacted negatively on all sectors of the society, particularly the media industry, saying despite these challenges the media still played a key role in educating the populace on how to revive the nation’s economy. The communiqué, which was signed by NGE President and General Secretary, Funke Egbemode and Victoria Ibanga respectively, noted that for the media to play this role effectively, there must be a need for synergy among stakeholders in the media industry. “The media should, consequently intensify efforts

in promoting government’s policies on economic diversification. Government’s efforts towards diversification of the economy are well commended, with the Central Bank of Nigeria for moderating the exchange rate, therefore Nigerians should support the Made in Nigeria posture of the apex bank in diversifying the economy,” NGE said. The communiqué urged that media organisations to focus more on training and retraining of media professionals for better service delivery while urging the leadership of the guild to concretise ongoing discussions with the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) and National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) on training opportunities for members. The guild commended the government and people of Lagos State for their hospitality and the Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, for gracing the occasion to declare the Convention open. NGE also thanked its members and commended them for a transparent and peaceful election process of a new executive.

National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to a resumed public hearing. About 76 organisations, including International Oil Companies have pending queries relating to oil export between 2011 and 2014. Chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, told THISDAY that about 50 oil companies had so far provided unsatisfactory answers to the issues raised while others had shunned the hearing - pleading prejudice - which the committee had repeatedly overruled. He said a review of the response level of invited agencies and IOCs had been questionable and require that they showed up again at the hearing- unfailingly

to give evidence on the issue as it relates to them. According to the response report, the DPR has been requested return back to the hearing alongside it’s Director General and Operational Manager while the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) is also expected to return with Managing Director or top management officials to provide concrete response to issues raised. However, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which had earlier turned up at earlier sittings, albeit late, has been excused but re-invited to make submissions on what it knew about the missing products. Namdas further told THISDAY that affected agencies and oil companies have not addressed the issues under investigation

or at “best, tried to confuse the committee by supplying the wrong documents.” But he said the committee already had full details of the controversial transactions, but was only giving the firms a fair hearing by demanding that they state their own part of the story for confirmation. According to him: “The investigation is ongoing. We are giving them another opportunity to respond before we write our full report. For instance, we have written to the DPR and many of them to revert to us within one week. So, the summary is that they have questions to answer and they have not answered them satisfactorily.” Specifically, agencies which had not yet honoured the committee

invitations include NIMASA, NCS, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Molecular Power Systems Limited, according to the report obtained by THISDAY. Others are Shell Western Supply and Trading; AITEO Energy Resources Limited; AITEO Eastern Exploration and Production Limited; Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited; Total Upstream Production Limited; Petrobras; Trafigura; SNEPCO; Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy; Consolidated Oil Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited; and Duke Oil Company Limited. The continued refusal of the invitees to turn up could force the committee into wield the big stick in the coming days.

Emir Sanusi: Kano Can Generate N12bn Monthly Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano The Kano State Government has the capacity to generate a monthly revenue of N12 billion if each of its estimated 12 million people is charged a flat monthly rate of N1,000. The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, who made the assertion during the launch of the state Presumptive Taxation for commercial vehicle operators at the Government House in Kano yesterday, explained that “collecting a small amount from many people will definitely boost the coffers of the government.” Sanusi maintained that if Kano can generate as much as N12 billion monthly, it would not rely on funds from the Federation Account, saying for the state to remain afloat, it must look for sustainable options of earning more money. He, therefore, enjoined people in the state to pay their taxes, stressing that “paying taxes is securing our pride. We are disparaged because we rely on oil money so we must explore alternative ways to sustain our state.” The emir, who promised that his council would support the Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje administration in its revenue generation drive, advised the state government to ensure that owners of big landed property like residential structures at Nassarawa GRA in the state capital, pay ground rent properly to enable the government provide services for the poor.

In his remarks, the state Governor, Ganduje, explained that the presumptive tax was for commercial vehicles-buses, trucks, mini trucks, assorted tankers, luxury buses, tippers, trailers, taxis and tricycles. “The taxes we are going to collect will help us ensure that the roads you travel are free from potholes and will enable us build more roads, so that you can have the enabling environment to do business with ease,” he said. The governor also said the money collected would be used to provide more public utilities such as schools, health facilities, roads and to fund many pro poor programmes. “We are paying salaries but that is not enough. We have to provide other services that would make living condition in Kano much better,” he pointed out, adding that capital-intensive projects being provided by the government are funded with tax payers’ money. Consequently, the governor appealed to transport associations in the state to cooperate with the government to strengthen its revenue base for enhanced development. Earlier, the Chairman of the state Internal Revenue Service, Sani AbdulQadir Dembo, explained that the agency decided to carry out Presumptive Income Tax assessment of transport-related businesses as one of the strategies for creating a tax system that encourages compliance with the provisions of the state tax laws.

WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

L-R: Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe; former Group Deputy Managing Director/COO, Obinna Nwosu; and President, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, during the valedictory luncheon for Obinna, at the bank’s Head Office in Lagos....recently

Police Arrest Sule Lamido over His Utterances

Search his residence Former gov to be charged to court for alleged breach of public peace Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano Operatives from the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 1, Kano, yesterday arrested the former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido. Lamido was alleged to have been arrested over plans to scuttle the forthcoming local government elections in the state slated for July 1. The spokesman of the police in the zone, Sambo Sokoto, confirmed the arrest, stating that he was invited to answer questions. It was further gathered that the state government had written a petition to the zone 1 headquarters of the police to investigate the former governor over his utterances that could undermine the peace of the state in the forthcoming local government elections in the state. Sources revealed that Lamido was alleged to have addressed his supporters on April 8 in a rally recently held at the PDP headquarters in Dutse where he urged them to make sure the party

won the election at all cost. Another source also hinted that the arrest of the former governor might not be unconnected with the programme aired in one of the Kano local radio stations where he was alleged to have directed his people to make sure they win the local government elections by all means. Lamido was said to have been arrested at his Sharada Kano residence yesterday morning by the Zonal Investigative Bureau Unit (ZIB) of Zone 1. The former governor was also alleged to have directed his party members not to succumb to any intimidation from any quarters in making sure that victory is certain for the party. It was also learnt that the police had conducted a thorough search of Lamido’s residence in Sharada although nothing incriminating was found. Another police source revealed that a combined team of detectives was sent to search his Bamaina residence in Birnin Kudu Local

Government Area of Jigawa State. According to sources, the police quizzed the former governor over the alleged threat to disrupt the elections, in which information reaching the state government alleged must have prompted his immediate arrest. However, it was gathered that the state Governor, Mr. Badaru Abubakar, directed his Media Adviser, Mallam Bello Zaki, to proceed to the AIG’s office to testify as witness to the allegation. Lamido was grilled for over eight hours by the police who placed him in detention. It was also learnt that some aides of the former governor thronged the police headquarters in apparent solidarity for their leader. At the time of filing this report, Lamido was still detained at the Zone 1 headquarters of the police awaiting the outcome of the search of Bamaina house. Meanwhile, the spokesman of the police in the zone, Sambo Muhammad Sokoto, last night confirmed that Lamido would

be charged to court after investigation. He said the former governor was invited following a petition by the Jigawa State government. “A petition on incitement and breach of public peace against the former Governor of Jigawa State, Lamido, was received by the office of Assistant Inspector or General of Police (AIG), Zone I Headquarters Kano from the Jigawa State government on April 27, 2017. “Consequently, today, the former governor honoured the invitation sent to him to come and explain to the police his response to the allegation levelled against him. “It is a statement of fact that incitement and public disturbance is a criminal offence contrary to Section 114 of the Penal Code of Nigeria. His Excellency, the former governor of Jigawa State is currently under investigation and in police custody while the result of the investigation will be made public.

MONDAY MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

DPR: Nigeria Loses $850m to Gas Flaring The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said Nigeria, the ninth largest gas producing nation in the world, lost over $850 million to gas flaring in 2015. The Deputy Director, Head of Upstream, DPR, Mrs. Pat Maseli, gave the statistics at the just concluded 10th Annual sub-Saharan Africa Oil and Gas Conference in Houston, Texas, United States of America. According to Mr Sonny Oputa, Chairman, Energy

Corporate African, the organiser of the conference, Maseli said the development led to a loss of 3,500 megawatts of electricity generation and about $400 million carbon credit value emission. She said: “55 million Barrels of Oil Equivalent (BOE) was lost and 25 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted. “The country is recording decline, but the scale of gas flaring is still worrisome.’’ Maseli said with almost eight

billion cubic meters of gas flared annually, according to satellite data, Nigeria had the seventh largest gas flaring in the world. “At the same time, approximately 75 million Nigerians lack access to electricity. “In recent years, Nigeria has shown significant progress by reducing gas flaring by about two billion cubic metres from 2012 to

2015,’’ she was quoted as saying. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reported that Maseli said prior to now, there were no gas terms in place, but the department had recently developed policies on gas terms and utilisation. “This was passed to operators for their input which will subsequently be sent to the National Assembly for its passage

“The Gas Master Plan seeks to deliver gas to commercial sub sector for use as fuel, captive power and related end-use, to consolidate Nigeria’s position and market share in high value export markets. “It will create regional hub for gas-based industries, including fertiliser, petrochemical and methanol.

“ It will also transform the gas sector to a value-adding sector,’’ Maseli said. On the breakdown of the 2008-2013 Domestic Gas Supply Obligation (DGSO), she said compliance was about 23 per cent. Maseli said in 2016, the DGSO was achieved at 38.18 per cent, while in 2017, it was 40 per cent.

Adeniyi: Jonathan Caused His Defeat in 2015 Election Chinedu Eze The Chairman of the Editorial Board of THISDAY Newspapers, Mr. Segun Adeniyi has said that former President Goodluck Jonathan was responsible for his loss of the 2015 presidential election. Adeniyi, who unveiled his book on the election ‘Against the Run of Play’, weekend, told Arise Television, a sister broadcast arm of THISDAY yesterday that Jonathan took so much for granted, including not taking seriously the advice given to him by his supporters, who saw his defeat as the election drew nearer. The former Senior Special Adviser to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, remarked that he did not believe that it was the incumbency factor that made African leaders not to win elections but the inability of the opposition to come together. According to him, once the opposition political parties come together, they can defeat the incumbent president. “Majority of African incumbents don’t lose elections. So, when I researched on this, I discovered the same issue but I now realised that incumbency factor is not really the factor. When I looked at it, I said the real problem is the factionalisation of the opposition. I wrote a piece on this and I used the Nigerian example then. Later, I turned it into an article after the election. So, united they win, divided they lose.

There was no way Buhari could have defeated Jonathan, given the fact that there was no strong opposition then, until the coalition was formed. If the opposition were really serious they should begin to work towards coalition,” Adeniyi said. He defended what he credited the former President Goodluck Jonathan in his book, saying that after interviewing him, he wrote it and mailed it to him and three days later, he went to see Jonathan and they looked at the interview together and he removed what the former President was not comfortable with. According to Adeniyi, the former President called him after three hours to also review the interview. Reacting to the former president’s promise that he would write his own account of the election, Adeniyi said he could go ahead, saying that there was nothing he could do about it. He also said he could not verify the claim that the US deployed warships at the Gulf of Guinea during the election. He, however, noted that the former Senate President, Senator David Mark hinted that Jonathan had told him that the former US President, Barrack Obama was not comfortable with the planned passage of Anti Gay Bill, which was later passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by the former President.

Don’t Protest in Abuja, Police Warn IPOB The Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Musa Kimo, has warned the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), against its planned protest in Abuja. Kimo gave the warning in a statement issued by the command’s spokesperson, Usen Omorodion, in Abuja yesterday. He said as a professional organisation, the command would not fold its arms and watch criminal elements hide under the guise of such protest to cause breakdown of law and order. Kimo, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), advised residents to go about their lawful duties without fear and molestation. In a related development, Omorodion said the command arrested a member of an armed robbery syndicate at Robochi, Abuja on April 26. He said Usman Mai-moto, 24, a principal suspect, was arrested with a stolen motorcycle by police operatives on routine patrol. The spokesperson said the suspect confessed to have

participated in the snatching of several motorcycles at gunpoint. Omorodion said the suspect had given the police useful information that led to the arrest of one of his cohorts, Wisdom Peter, 18, who was arrested while trying to sell a stolen motorcycle. He said the two stolen motorcycles had been recovered from the suspects. “Frantic effort is being made to arrest their cohort said to be in possession of the firearm used by the syndicate for its robbery operations.’’ Omorodion said the command had also arrested three suspects who specialised in house breaking. The suspects are: Mansur Aminu, 24, Emmanuel Aboki and Dauda Isa. Items recovered from them include, two clippers, 11 SIM cards and one generating set. He said the suspects would be transferred to the Command Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for discreet investigation and prosecution.

RAISING CONCERNS FOR AFRICAN YOUTHS

L-R: Founder of the Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Professor Muhammad Yunus; Entrepreneur and Founder of Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Dr. Mo Ibrahim; Chairman, Heirs Holdings and Founder, the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Tony O. Elumelu; Member of the German Parliament and Chairwoman of the German Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development, Dagmar Wöhrl; and CEO, BayWa, Professor Klaus Josef Lutz, at the Development Policy Forum on creating jobs for the growing youth population, organised by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the G20 Germany 2017 at Berlin, Germany...recently

FG Should Nullify DSS’ Lopsided Enlistment, Says HURIWA A non-governmental organisation, Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria (HURIWA), has called on the federal government to nullify the recent enlistment into the officer cadre of the Department of State Services (DSS). The group described the recruitment which is believed to favour the North-west and Katsina State, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari as unconstitutional. Making the call in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the group also condemned as puerile, unethical and unconstitutional, a reported defence put up by an unnamed presidency official that the lopsided enlistment was done to redress past lopsidedness. HURIWA dismissed the “tepid defence for this outrageous and indeed heartless violations of the constitutional principles of federal Ccharacter and natural justice by officials of the DSS whose Director General, Alhaji Lawal Musa Daura, also comes from Katsina State which took a joint lead in the high number of

favoured candidates enlisted into this national security institution. It said apart from the fact that the defence put up by the presidency official is irrational and illogical, the so-called presidency official failed to produce any convincing statistical data to validate the “justification of this national show of shame by those who conducted the enlistment exercise recently done in the DSS. “If we take the claim that because in the past Kano and Katsina States were reportedly shortchanged in the previous enlistment exercises (assuming without conceding), do we then say that the South-east of Nigeria should produce the president of Nigeria for the next four tenures from 2019 because of the historical crime of systematically excluding the zone from producing any executive president of Nigeria since Independence? This gross breach of the constitutional principles of federal character as occasioned by the lopsided enlistment exercise carried out by the Daura led DSS must be reversed so as to preserve our much cherished unity as a country.”

HURIWA stated thus: “We in the human rights sector are by this statement calling on the Northern hawks that have constituted the presidential cabal under the President Buhari’s administration to stop their longstanding implementation of pro-northern regional agenda which are signposted by the heavily lopsided appointments into key national defence and economic departments of the Nigerian government with only Nigerians from the Hausa/ Fulani section of northern Nigeria. “This longstanding rape of the Nigerian Constitution would inevitably have significant negative impacts on the unity of this very highly fragile and fragmented nationstate known as Nigeria. “Those who have constituted themselves as political demigods and are waging vicious campaign of total capture and occupation of all vital security institutions and other juicy economic positions must know that power is ephemeral and that

they can’t subject and subjugate forever without resistance the rest of the Nigerian population to this enslavement and forceful occupation of national offices and key positions that by constitutional right belongs to each and every Nigerian citizen irrespective of ethno religious beliefs and orientations.” HURIWA recalled that a breakdown of the recruitment into the DSS in 2016 commissioned cadet officers on geopolitical basis showed that Katsina State alone had (51) candidates. This is even as all the South-east states combined got a paltry (44). The statistical data as released are as follows: North-west 165; North-east 100; South-south 42; North-central 66; South-west 57; and South-east 44. HURIWA also called on the National Assembly to wade in and direct an investigative hearing on “this dangerous violation of the Nigerian Federal Character principle in the enlistment exercise recently carried out by DSS with a view to ensure that equity, fairness and constitutionalism take overriding place.”

Police Arrest Man Who Buys Fuel, Food for Boko Haram The Borno State Police Command yesterday said it had arrested a driver, Modu Mustapha, suspected to be purchasing fuel and food items for Boko Haram insurgents. The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Damian Chukwu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri that the suspect was arrested after a tip-off by members of the public. “The police have received information that one Modu Mustapha of Jumptilo village was

a terrorists’ collaborator, who buys fuel and food for them at Alagarno and other hideout. “The police descended on the suspect, who has confessed to the crime,’’ he said. Chukwu alleged that the driver usually fetched firewood in the bush, from where he was suspected to have met the terrorists. “He said he had been buying things for the insurgent group. “We recovered N10,000 from the suspect, which the terrorists

gave him to buy bicycle spare parts for them,” the commissioner said. The commissioner said the suspect also named 15 other firewood vehicle drivers, who engaged in similar crime. According to him, the police are yet to establish the motive of the driver buying things for the insurgents. “We have not been able to establish his reasons for buying things for them, whether he is under the influence of spell, coerced

into doing it, or doing it willingly as their collaborator,” Chukwu said. He said because of the nature of the alleged crime, it would be transferred to the military for further action. Chukwu said the police also arrested three men who specialised in adulterating grind-pepper, mixing it with sawdust and flower waste selling same to public as pepper. “Those arrested included Bukar Masona, Babakura Umar and Ali Muhammad.

MONDAY MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY 6

NEWSEXTRA

World Bank to SERAP: We Can’t Find Any More Information on Abacha Loot The World Bank has informed a civil society organisation, SocioEconomic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), that it “cannot locate any additional information on the projects executed with recovered stolen public funds by the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. According to the response sent last week to SERAP, the World Bank Access to Information Appeal Committee said it had thoroughly searched its records and databases and cannot locate any additional information on Abacha’s loot. The World Bank last year asked for more time to release details on the spending of recovered loot by Abacha. This followed the bank’s decision to refer “portion of appeal by SERAP to the bank’s Archives Unit for processing for public access. The bank’s request for more time followed the appeal SERAP lodged with the bank onFebruary 5, 2016, on the grounds that the bank’s decision on its initial request did not reveal “important portions of the information requested on how Abacha loot was spent.” But dissatisfied with the failure of the bank to locate additional information, SERAP has now sent an open letter to the bank’s president Dr. Jim Yong Kim requesting him to use his “good offices and leadership position to urgently address the public perception that the World Bank is seeking to distance itself from responsibility over alleged mismanagement in the spending of recovered Abacha loot.” Specifically, the organisation asked Kim to “establish a Special Inspection Panel on Nigeria to visit locations across the country to verify whether or not the projects reportedly executed by the Nigerian government with the funds were actually executed.” In the letter dated April 28, 2017, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Timothy Adewale, the organisation expressed concern that “the apparent lack of transparency and accountability in the spending of recovered Abacha loot and the fact that the bank has now come to the conclusion that it has no more information to provide on the status of the projects reportedly executed with the funds have impacted negatively on the communities across the country who are victims of corruption.”

The organisation argued that “using technicalities under the bank’s Access to Information Policy to refuse to answer outstanding questions on the projects reportedly executed with recovered Abacha loot would leave communities across the country that have been negatively affected by the mismanagement of the funds without any effective remedies.” The letter read in part: “Getting to the root of how Abacha loot was spent would demonstrate that the World Bank is willing to put people first in the implementation of its development and governance policies and mandates, as well as remove any suspicion of the bank’s complicity in the alleged mismanagement of the recovered public funds. “There would be an acute risk that the bank’s on-going and future role in supervising and monitoring of spending of recovered stolen public funds would be questioned and may be legally challenged for lacking transparency and accountability. “SERAP believes that given its supervisory and monitoring roles in the spending of the recovered Abacha loot, the World Bank ought to do much more to clarify outstanding questions regarding the status of projects reportedly executed with the funds. It is vital that the bank is able to show that it is up to the task whenever it takes up the responsibility of supervising and monitoring the spending of recovered funds in Nigeria and elsewhere across the world. “SERAP also believes that the bank ought to have classified the execution of the projects by the Nigerian government as high or substantial risk especially given the prevalece of corruption in the country, and exercised due diligence including by keeping proper records on the conditions of projects supervised and monitored by the bank. “Any failure to take decisive action to uncover what exactly happened to the projects reportedly executed by recovered Abacha loot which the bank volunteered to supervise and monitor would shed a bad light on the World Bank, undermine its goal of alleviating poverty, and may mark the demise of transparency and accountability at the bank.

Northern Group Accuses Buhari of Double Standards in Anti-corruption War Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja Arewa Peace Coalition (APC) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of double standards in the anti-corruption war, saying the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir Lawal, should have been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), rather than an administrative panel for investigation. The APC added that as Buhari’s kinsmen, its hope in the anticorruption war of the president was gradually fading away. It noted that it wishes to bring to the president’s attention a critical

observation which it considers as a renege on his promise in fighting corruption that, ‘there will be no sacred cows’. The group, in an open letter to the president titled: ‘A tale of two anti-corruption war,’ and signed by Abdulkadir Mohammed, said it was worried about the way the anti-corruption war was being fought by the government. According to the group, “The suspended SGF should have been handed over to the EFCC as the federal government did to the personal physician of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Fiberesima, who is being accused of fraud worth 285million.”

“The proposed inspection panel on Nigeria should be able to ask appropriate questions from the authorities and engage with the communities affected by the alleged mismanagement of the recovered funds. This process would help to enhance compliance on the ground with the bank’s safeguards and thereby bolstering the bank’s accountability under its policies. “The panel should also undertake a full investigation into whether there has been a serious failure by the bank supervisors and monitors

to observe its operational policies and procedures regarding the execution of projects with recovered Abacha loot; the role played by any government officials including in the Ministry of Finance, and the material adverse effects on communities across the country. “Communities that have been affected by the apparent mismanagement of recovered Abacha loot should receive from the bank proper and adequate compensation as well as community-based development

benefits such as education, sanitation systems, health care, and community services (particularly for the elderly, mothers and children), access to clean water, access to livelihoods, and other locally determined remedial measures. SERAP considers this is a basic corrective justice, and it is the bare minimum required in the circumstances. “SERAP also urges you to adopt and implement a Transparency Charter with respect to your ongoing

and future supervisory and monitoring duties on the spending of recently recovered Abacha loot in order to ensure the integrity of the process of project execution. SERAP believes that the Bank’s goals of promoting transparency, accountability and the rule of law in countries would gain more credibility and respect if the Bank can lead by example particularly in its supervisory and monitoring role of spending of recovered stolen public funds.”

DREDGING THE RIVER NIGER

L-R: Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello; Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi; and Managing Director, National Inland Waterways Authority, Mr. Boss Mustapha, during the flag off ceremony of the dredging of the 162km waterway between Ajaokuta and Onitsha, to foster more economic activity within the area in Kogi......weekend

Atiku, Saraki, Dogara Congratulate NGE’s President, Egbemode Former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, yesterday congratulated Mrs. Funke Egbemode, on her reelection as the President of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE), during the guild’s biennial convention in Lagos. Atiku felicitated with the entire members and leadership of the editors’ group on a peaceful and successful election at its biennial convention in Lagos at the weekend. The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain said in a statement by his media office in Abuja that the guild displayed exceptional leadership and good conduct in the way it was able to organise within a short time, a rancour-free and credible election, which saw the emergence of a new crop of leaders to pilot the affairs of the association. He said the outcome of the elections of Egbemode as President; Suleiman Uba Gaya as Deputy President and other well-known editors was a testimony to the enduring legacy of the guild. The Turakin Adamawa wished the new leadership the best as it goes ahead to run the affairs of the association while serving as a watchdog of sorts on the practice

of the journalism profession. He expresses the hope that the new management would partner the present administration in the dissemination of government programmes as well as other critical groups in the society to see that the country gets good leadership through timely and unbiased information gathering and management. As a media enthusiast, investor and consumer, the APC chieftain said looked forward to working closely with the guild to advance the frontiers of good governance, democracy and justice in our society. Also, Saraki, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, noted that the choice of Egbemode, who is the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, New Telegraph Newspapers, is a clear testimony that she has successfully justified the confidence reposed in her by her colleagues in the past year. Saraki said: “I can only admonish her to work harder to extend the frontiers of her achievements as the President of the NGE. Her return unopposed is a fitting tribute to the fact that her contributions have been recognised. As they say: “the reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.” He also lauded the NGE for

the peaceful and transparent elections while urging the body to collaborate with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and other critical stakeholders to rid the journalism profession of quacks and impostors whose activities daily undermine the credibility of the true professionals. On his part, Dogara in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Turaki Hassan, in Abuja, urged Egbemode to continue from where she stopped in uniting the guild to tackle the many challenges confronting journalism in the country. The Speaker, who expressed confidence that Egbemode’s re-election would sustain the tempo of her first term and usher in a new era in the NGE, said: “She will no doubt bring her wealth of experience to continue to bear in the discharge of her responsibilities. “I congratulate Egbemode and indeed, all members of the leadership of the NGE for the successful conduct of the election. “I also use this opportunity to call on all members of the guild to unite behind the new leadership to help it achieve success in its agenda to lift the guild to greater heights.” Similarly, Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, has congratulated Egbemode on her

re-election as the President of NGE. Okowa in a statement issued in Asaba by his Chief Press Secretary, Charles Aniagwu, described the re-election as appropriate and well-deserved, adding that going by her contributions to the guild, it was expected that she would be re-elected. The governor noted that the entire members of the guild deserved accolades for re-electing Egbemode as President of the guild due to her invaluable and significant contributions to the journalism profession. He further described Egbemode as a role model who has proved her mettle in the profession, adding that her recent re-election was welldeserving and an inspiration to other women striving to make a name in the profession. “As Nigeria continues to grapple with the challenges of economic recession, it is therefore a challenge on the NGE to ensure that editors continue to set agenda for the diversification of the economy through their editorial comments and feature writings,”the statement noted. Okowa urged Egbemode to bring her wealth of experience to bear, not only in advancing the course of the guild, but also the journalism profession in general.

MONDAY MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

WORKERS’ DAY...

Saraki: Workers are the Lifeblood of Our Nation We are committed to passing new minimum wage, says Dogara Our Correspondents Senate President, Bukola Saraki ans Speaker of the House of Represenattives, Yakubu Dogara, have said the invaluable contribution of Nigerian workers towards national development has made them the country’s lifeblood and driving force. Saraki, in a statement to mark the 2017 Workers’Day celebration, commended workers in the formal and informal sector, describing their contributions to the nation and the economy as priceless. According to him, “From the SMEs that contribute over 47 percent to our GDP to the civil servants who are the driving force behind our government, all the way to the unregistered business owners who work to make a living for themselves and their families, every Nigerian worker in both the formal and informal sectors makes a priceless contribution to the sustainability of our nation. “As we mark this year’s Labour Day, all Nigerian workers should be proud that their significant contributions keep this nation moving forward-as they are the lifeblood of our country, an integral part of the fabric that makes up our society.” The Senate president also gave the assurance that the Senate would continue to pursue enactment of legislation that would guarantee better living standards for Nigerian workers. On his part, Dogara restated the determination of the House to pass a new minimum wage bill. He said a top up to workers’ salary and wages had become necessary in view of current trend in inflation, naira devaluation and rising cost of living. In a statement to mark the 2017 Workers’ Day, Dogara, reiterated the resolve and commitment of the parliament to enacting the new minimum wage bill for Nigerian workers. “I wish to congratulate the entire Nigerian workers as they join their counterparts the world over in commemorating the International Workers’ Day. While commending you for your sacrifice and commitment to the service and building of the nation, I wish to assure you that the National Assembly and in particular , the 8th House of Represntatives remains committed to the passage of the National Minimum Wage Bill when presented by the executive and initiating other laws and legislative interventions that will promote the welfare and well being of Nigerian workers.” Dogara, however, enjoined workers, especially civil servants to rededicate themselves to duty and support government’s laudable policies and programmes.

Cross River Workers Get May Salaries May Day Eve

Cross River State workers yesterday evening received alerts of the payment of their salaries for the month of May. The payment, which was made on the eve of this year’s May Day celebrations is coming a day earlier than last year when the state Governor, Senator Ben Ayade, ordered payment of May salary on the first day of May. Ayade has made salary payment one of his administration’s cardinal objectives with workers getting paid early every month. The payment of salaries for the month of May is coming barely a week after the payment of salaries for the month of April in the state. It would be recalled that during the celebration of Workers’ Day last year, the ceremony became frenzied as shouts of “alerts” rent the air once workers began to receive bank alerts regarding the payment of their salary for the month which was just beginning. However, the governor appears to have trumped that record this year by paying May salary on the last day of April. It is not known how the workers will receive this latest gesture from the governor. Workers in the state have often complained of getting paid too early in the month since Ayade assumed office in 2015. Reacting to the complaint at an event recently, Governor Ayade joked that getting paid early is a good problem for the workers to have. He said he feels challenged only when he is able to pay salaries in the second week of every month.

Workers Driving Force of Nigeria Economy, Says Okowa

Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has described Nigerian workers as “the driving force” of the country’s development due to their priceless contributions. In a statement yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Charles Aniagwu, in Asaba to mark the 2017 Workers’ Day celebration, Okowa praised the resilience and commitment of workers in the state to his administration’s SMART agenda. He described the contributions of workers to the economy as priceless and invaluable, assuring that the state government will continue to ensure the welfare of workers by regular and prompt payment of their salaries and allowances. Okowa acknowledged the challenges facing pensioners, NULGE and teachers in the state, adding that the state government will continue to collaborate with local government councils in the state to tackle the payment of salaries of NULGE and primary school teachers. “As we mark this year’s Workers’ Day, I commend Nigerian workers for their significant contributions to the growth and development of the nation’s economy. “As a government, we believe that workers deserved to be motivated and appreciated for the roles they are playing in ensuring increased productivity, stable government and virile economy,” he said

APC Solicits Workers’ Support on May Day

L-R: Former Acting Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment, Mr. Olakunle Obayan, with incoming Director-General Directorate of Employment, Dr. Nasiru Mohammed, during the handing over ceremony in Abuja....recently Kingsley Adeboye The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked Nigerian workers in the formal and informal sectors to continue to show understanding over the present hardship brought about by the economic recession. In a message issued by its National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, on the occasion of the 2017 workers’ day celebration, the ruling party “commended Nigerian workers for their strong support in the ongoing task to build a new Nigeria and bring about the change much desired by the citizenry. “Without doubts, the economic recession has had a telling effect on the livelihoods of many working families and businesses in the country. We are however happy to note that the country’s economy is gradually coming out of recession and the APC assures Nigerians that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will continue to work hard to improve the livelihood of every citizen.” The party noted that the task of improving workers welfare; creating a conducive business environment to attract investments and grow existing businesses; and creating jobs is a tripartite collaborative effort between trade/labour unions, private sector players and government.

Edo Govt Hails Workers

As the country celebrates the International Workers Day, workers in Edo State have received greetings from the state Governor, Godwin Obaseki, who felicitated and appreciated their efforts towards making the state work. According to the statement from the Office of the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, “The governor genuinely felicitates with the great workers of Edo State on the worthwhile celebration of the International Workers Day also known as Labour Day. As workers, we play an indispensable role in nation and state building, and without workers, an economically viable and socially stable society would not achievable.” The governor further stated that the essence of the workers’ day was to underscore the role and significance of workers in nation building, a festive tradition that workers all over the world now celebrate annually. “On this Labour Day in Edo State, I identify fully with all workers. I assure you once more that I am committed to enhancing the welfare of workers and the great people of the state. To achieve this objective, we are laying with speed the foundations for socio-economic and ‘agripreneur’ revolution in the state, which will empower workers and the citizens as well as provide revenue for the state to implement people-oriented policies and programmes,” Obaseki stated in the statement.

Glo Charges Workers to Reinforce Virtues of Hard Work

Telecommunications company, Globacom, has congratulated Nigerian workers on the occasion of 2017 May Day, encouraging them to continue to reinforce the virtues of hard work and excellence in their duties. In a statement issued in Lagos, Globacom commended the resilient spirit of Nigerian workers in spite of daunting challenges, and urged them to continue to uphold the dignity of labour, adding that they remain the bedrock of the nation’s economic growth. “We salute Nigerian workers on this auspicious occasion and commend them for their hard work, commitment and resourcefulness which have continued to grow and sustain the nation’s economy over the years,” Globacom said. While wishing the workers a happy May Day celebration, Globacom added that “the progress that Nigeria has made in different sectors of the economy over the years is mainly attributable to the contributions of the country’s workers,” adding that “they remain the pillar on which the nation’s economy rests firmly.” The company therefore urged labour unions in the country to implore their members to build a stronger work culture that will engender a more efficient and productive work force. The company posited that this will potentially lead to the entrenchment of due process and world-class

labour standards in the country.

Kaduna Electric Salutes Workers

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC), Garba Haruna, has described the organised labour movement as an invaluable factor in any production process. This was contained in a solidarity message sent to the workers of the company in Kaduna yesterday in commemoration of this year’s Workers Day. A statement issued by the Head of Corporate Communications of the company, Abdullazeez Abdullahi, stated that the managing director of KEDC has expressed his unflinching commitment to the welfare of the workers and called on them to reciprocate the gesture by living up to their responsibilities. “On behalf of the board of directors and the management of KEDC, I wish to congratulate the labour movement worldwide, especially the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and particularly, the National Union of Electricity Employees and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies on the important occasion of this year workers’ day,” Garba stated. The electricity boss also enjoined the entire Nigerian workers to drive the current efforts aimed at revamping the nation’s economy by making productivity, prudency and efficiency their watch word.

Dickson: Their Welfare Remains a Top Priority

As workers in Bayelsa State join their counterparts around the world to celebrate the 2017 International Workers Day often referred to as May Day, the state Governor, Seriake Dickson, has restated his administration desire to improve on their welfare. He stated that improving their welfare is key in order to encourage them to be more productive and offer their best to the government and the state in general. In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the governor also disclosed that his government has put in place measures to strengthen the state civil service and further boost the capacity of its workforce. He enjoined the workers to accept the challenges they had to face in the verification exercise embarked on by the administration aimed at sanitising the system and fish out those who for long has derailed the ideals of the civil service and retarded its growth. Dickson who used the opportunity to remind the workers of the importance of discipline in the service, equally assured them of prompt payment of salaries within the availability of the state government resources.

Ajimobi to Workers: I Feel Your Pains Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has promised to spare no effort in ensuring that the state clears the four months’ salary arrears, assuring the workers that he feels their pains in the face of the biting economic situation. The governor made the promise in a congratulatory message to workers by his Special Adviser, Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka, yesterday on the occasion of this year’s workers’ day. Ajimobi urged the workers to continue to put in their best and key into the state government’s reform agenda aimed at enhancing productivity and ultimately the internally generated revenue. The governor said: “I congratulate the entire workforce in the state, including those in the private and informal sectors. This year’s workers’ day has provided another opportunity for you to take stock and assess your performance. “I can say without any equivocation that workers in the state are among the best you can find anywhere in the country. But, for the few yet to embrace the new order of hard work, accountability, dedication and commitment, I urge you to join the train.

MONDAY MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

Ogun State Ranks Second in Revenue Collection, Says Amosun Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Governor Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun,

said the state is now ranked in second position on the revenue generation index in the country, only next to Lagos State.

Chief Judge Frees 12 Prison Inmates in Kano The Acting Chief Judge of Kano State, Justice Nura Sagir, has freed 12 Awaiting Trial Inmates (ATI) who have over stayed in captivity. The gesture of the judge was part of the processes to decongest over-populated prisons in pursuant to the power conferred on him by section 1 of the Criminal Justice (Released from Custody) Special Provisions Act 1977. The release of the inmates was made after a visit by the state Chief Judge to Goron Dutse Prison where he reviewed their case files. Sagir also promised to assist in the decongestion of prisons by speedy trial of cases in High Courts, Magistrates and Sharia

Courts and called on prisons authorities to cooperate with the judiciary in the exercise. He urged the freed inmates to be good ambassadors of their community Earlier in his remarks, the Comptroller of Prison, Alhaji Aliyu Achor, said the NPS was willing to cooperate with the state judiciary in reducing the menace of congestion in prison. The Kano State command of the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) had listed 43 awaiting trial inmates with minor offences who have stayed for four years and above in the 10 prisons in the state.

He noted that the collection of Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) has enabled the state to augment its financial base and make it less reliant on the federal government. While Lagos State’s IGR has risen to 90 per cent and federal allocation is 30 per cent, that of Ogun State currently stands at 70 per cent. “While we have seen a marked decline in federal allocation which is just 40 per cent of our revenue, we

have crossed the 70 per cent mark by way of IGR. There is no other way to augment the declining allocations if we hope to create a system driven environment that is self sustaining,” Amosun, who was recently conferred with a leadership award by the Nigerian Union (NUJ) said. He noted that when he came to office, the state was languishing in 29th position among all states of the federation, but a deliberate emphasis on IGR collection

has seen it up to second behind Lagos. According to Amosun the allocation Ogun receives from the Federation Account is barely enough to pay workers’salary. “There is no other way other than to make sure we increase our IGR and that is what we are doing. The federal allocation is just over 40 per cent which is low.” He similarly dismissed the call for fiscal independence for local government councils, saying that the monthly

salary of primary schools’ teachers in the state of N2.16 billion is way above the local government areas’ monthly allocation of N2 billion. “I don’t believe it when people accuse governors of taking local governments’ money because there is no money to be taken. Local governments’ money can’t pay teachers’ salaries talk less of workers in the local councils. For us in Ogun, local government system is more like a burden. Truly it is,” the governor said.

Senator Okonkwo Denies Interest in Obiano’s Seat David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Senator Annie Okonkwo, who represented Anambra Central in the sixth Senate, has dispelled rumours making the rounds that he will contest the forthcoming November 2017 Anambra State governorship election. Okonkwo’s denial is coming on the heels of the emergence of his campaign posters in every nook and cranny of the state, announcing his governorship ambition on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Recall that Okonkwo’s younger brother, Donatus, had two weeks ago unveiled his plan to run for the governorship seat of the state, while also affirming that he had the support of his brother who has severally run for election in Anambra State. Donatus, who is vying on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had taken a swipe at Obiano for what he described as ‘mis-governance’. In a statement issued by Mr. Collins Steve Ugwu, Special Adviser on Public Communications to Senator Okonkwo, he stated that it became imperative to issue a denial, given that Okonkwo’s posters had flooded the town. He said: “For the avoidance of doubt and for the purposes of

public records, we wish to state pointedly that Annie Okonkwo as politically vibrant as he is, and as eminently qualified as has been established to aspire and contest any elective office in this country, does not intend to, and will certainly not be in the ballot for Anambra State 2017 governorship election.” He described as ‘thoughtless orchestrations and a miserable script of mischief’ the emergence of the posters, adding that the intents of those behind the posters were not known. “In all fairness, Okonkwo is a bold politician whose courage of conviction does not come in piece meal, and makes no apologies for choices within his remit. But he is strategic and candid enough to discern that the pulse of the Anambra people whose interests he champions relentlessly and will continue to do, does not presently support the scenario being painted by these lazy labourers. “Of course, as a committed vendor of service, sensitive to the wishes of his supporters and followers, he has been engaging them proactively and purposefully, to build consensus and strengthen alliances for the inevitable direction they will go as the election beckons. That will be done properly, colourfully and publicly,” statement concluded.

Ogunsanwo to Be Buried On May 5 The late Chief Abayomi Segun Ogunsanwo, the Fiwagboye of Oru Kingdom of Ogun State and veteran journalist and Chairman of SAO Oguns Advertising, will be buried on Friday, May 5, the family has announced. According to a statement by Mrs. Ogunsola Arogundade, there would be a funeral service for the deceased at the Ijero Baptist Church, 84, Apapa Road, Ebute-Metta (West), Lagos by 10a.m. This will be followed by a private interment at his residence, 9 Otun Road, Akute, Ogun State by 12noon. Thereafter, the reception will take

place at LASU Museum, Oba Ogunji Road, (Ogba-Pen Cinema Road), Lagos. Earlier on Thursday, May 4 there would be a Christian wake keeping service at Princess Hall, Akute/Ijoko Road, Akute, Ogun State for the deceased. Ogunsanwo worked with Daily Times of Nigeria and Concord Press while he was also the Chairman of Crest Communications, Biyem Enterprises and Double AA Waters. He is survived by children and grandchildren

FELLOW

Controller, Internal Audit, THISDAY Newspapers, Mr. Nduka Moseri, and his wife, Florence, after his investiture as a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) by the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (ICAN) in Lagos...recently

Again, Delta Govt House Annexe in Warri Burgled Sylvester Idowu in Warri The Delta State Government House Annex in Warri was at the weekend burgled and several items carted away by some unknown persons. THISDAY sources disclosed that the incident appears to have been carried out in connivance with some private security personnel attached to the building. Security sources said this was not the first time the government house annex in Warri would be burgled in the last six months. Last February, the same burglary incident was recorded

within the premises where air conditioners and other electronic gadgets were carted away by some unknown persons. Although some officials of the annex building had kept this ugly trend in secrecy but an unconfirmed report has it that this act had been going on at the building for quite sometime and nobody is doing anything to address the situation. While sources are that the immigration officers who operates its passport office within their premises are responsible, further investigations revealed that they have no hand in the crime as it had been discovered

that the internal security was working in connection with external partners. The recent burglary incident that led to the busting of the crime has to do with the office of the Ministry of Justice located within the premises that was invaded and property worth several mullion of naira carted away. It was gathered that detectives from the Warri Command Office swooped on the premise following a distress call from some unknown persons within the neighbourhood and made some arrest. Among those arrested and

currently being detained are some security operatives attached to the premises and their external collaborators. They are said to have confessed to the crime and helping police in their investigation. A suspect at detention at the ‘B Division’, police station in Warri, who was a member of the internal private security operatives within the premises, had since admitted that they were responsible for the series of theft going on within the premises. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) “B” Division, Warri, Eyoh Itang, refused to comment on the incident.

Rivers Jubilee Committee Urges Mass Participation in Events The Rivers State Golden Jubilee Committee has called on the people of the state to join the state Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, to participate actively in the activities and events lined up for the activities marking the 50th anniversary of the state. The call was contained in a statement issued yesterday in Port Harcourt by the state Commissioner for Housing, Emma Okah, who is also the Secretary of the Media and Publicity Sub-committee of the Golden Jubilee Committee.

According to Okah, the people of the state have every reason to thank God and roll out the drums in appreciation of the progress the state has made and for staying together since its creation in May 27, 1967. “The celebrations will also afford us the opportunity to project into the future of the state so that, in unity, we can improve on the shortcomings of yesterday and build on the strength of today,” he said. Although the full schedule of

events have been made public, the committee said the month of May 2017 will be received in a special way tomorrow and urged motorists and road users to accommodate the motorised floats that will be on the roads in celebration of our history. Meanwhile, invitations for the various events are being sent out to prominent sons and daughters of the state as well as the public including leaders of the various political parties in the state with a view to opening the doors for

all Rivers people. The inter-local government football competition kicked off yesterday in three senatorial zones Rivers East (Emohua), Rivers South East (Eleme) and Rivers West (Degema) but while Senator George Sekibo took the kick off in that of his Rivers East senatorial zone at Emohua, Senators Magnus Abe of Rivers South East and Osinaka Ideozu of Rivers West had sent in apologies and explained their unavoidable absence.

MONDAY MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

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Osun Govt to Unravel Circumstances Surrounding Adeleke’s Death Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The Osun State Government yesterday said it would use instrumentality of the law by setting up an inquest to unravel the circumstances of unfortunate death of Senator Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke, in order to put the record straight on his death. In a statement yesterday in Osogbo, the government noted that it was still in shock and great pain over the transition of Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke. According to the government statement “he was a prominent son of our state and its first democratically elected governor. Until his death, he was the senator representing Osun West in the Senate.” “He was an astute and coloruful politician and a generous personality. “He was gregarious, enthusiastic and full of life and zest. His death is therefore shocking and totally unexpected.” The statement noted also that state government had intended to give him a befitting state burial which he rightly deserved and which the state was prepared to undertake. The government said: “Regrettably, the enemies of the state, through brigandage, violence and evil machinations, created an atmosphere of fear and terror in the minds of our citizenry and friends throughout the federation. Immediately the

news of his demise filtered in, a band of vagabonds, crying more than the bereaved, took to the streets, looting and wreaking havoc. Journalists were roughened and their equipment damaged. Important dignitaries that came for the burial were equally molested by these thugs. “Adeleke was a man of peace. He preached peace and lived it through his life. He left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because he could not stand violence. This was after he was beaten up by some leaders of the PDP during a meeting in a hotel in Osogbo. “It is a profound irony and most unfortunate therefore that a few disgruntled elements purporting to protest his death desecrated his funeral with violence and attacks on innocent persons. They dishonored him and did his memory a great disservice by keeping his friends, political associates and well-wishers away from his burial. “The best we could do in the circumstance was to declare three days of mourning throughout the state and fly national, state and our party’s flags at half-mast in his honour.” The government contended that it would continue to mourn the untimely death of Adeleke. “He is irreplaceable in our hearts. We commiserated with

NTIC Foundation Conducts Medical Outreach inYobe The Nigerian Tulip International Colleges Foundation (NTICF) in collaboration with the Nizamiye Hospital Abuja recently conducted a medical outreach programme in Yobe State with a combined team of four Turkish and Nigerian doctors, and nurses who attended to over 1,700 patients free of charge. According to Mr. Behlül Fatih Baaran, the Director of NTIC Foundation, the foundation medical outreach is part of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative of the Nigerian Tulip International Colleges. “The choice of Yobe State for the medical outreach this year is informed by the fact that we wanted to reach out to people in high need,” Baaran said. “We at NTICF do not believe there should be barriers or excuses in reaching out to individuals in need especially in health-related issues.” The medical outreach which was carried out at the General Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital, Damaturu, saw to the treatment of over 1,700 indigent patients with various illnesses. Baaran stated: “Aside from the different severe cases we handled, we had a sensitive case with a six-month-old baby who had a cataract in both eyes. This is quite a rare medical condition. Thankfully we were able to intervene, and

the baby has been slated for comprehensive treatment at the Nizamiye hospital free of charge, just like many others that were identified from the eye consultancy services we rendered. “We also visited internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Damaturu where our team of Turkish and Nigerian doctors and nurses donated essential drugs to the IDP camp.” The NTIC Foundation was established in June 2013 with a mandate to concentrate on four critical areas of health, education, water, and orphanages. According to Baaran “Our ultimate goal is to raise or nurture a golden generation of Nigerians. Part of the idea behind establishing the foundation is giving back to the society.” “The NTICF also operates a unique scheme called ‘I Support a Child’s Education.’ What we do here is to source for funds from our parents, partners, and well-wishers. Afterward, we purchase stationery items like mathematical sets, notebooks, sketching books, pens and pencils, erasers, sharpeners and other stationary materials for students. “So far, we have distributed over 31,500 stationary packs have been distributed to schools in the last four years in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education,” Baaran said.

his family, the good people of Ede, associates, friends,

constituents and generality of our people on the passage of

this patriot. As we pray for the repose of his soul, we equally

pray for the strength to bear this heavy loss.”

GOVERNOR OF THE PEOPLE

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, acknowledging cheers from Rumuokwuta people, at the fundraising for the construction of the Ultra Modern Civic Centre of the community....weekend

Ambode Has No Hand in Demolition of Alade Market, Say Traders Gboyega Akinsanmi The Association of Nigerian Market Women and Men in Alade Market yesterday said Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, had no hand in the demolition of the second wing of Alade Market. The association added that all marketers in the second wing agreed to a plan to demolish the market at a stakeholders’ meeting the Ikeja Local Government convened sometimes in April. The Iyaloja-General of Alade Market, Mrs. Adia Apena, in a statement, refuted a report that Ambode was behind the demolition of the market, which began yesterday after all the traders agreed to relocate. In 2016, the traders at the main wing of Alade Market had relocated to the New Alade Market, which the Ikeja Local Government constructed in partnership with the concessionaire of Alade

Shopping Mall, Master Reality International Concepts Ltd as an alternative. The second wing, which specifically housed the operators of Bureau de Change among others, was not demolished to enable the local government construct an alternative market in order to avoid disrupting their commercial activities. In a statement she signed yesterday however, the Iyaloja faulted reports coming from different quarters that the governor was responsible for the demolition of the second wing of the market. Apena said the demolition of the second wing started on Sunday in line with a resolution all the traders agreed to a stakeholders’ meeting the local government convened on the final relocation of the marketers. She said the traders “requested the Ikeja Local Government and the concessionaire, Master Reality International Concepts Limited

that before the demolition of the second wing of Alade Market, they should provide an alternative market for all traders.” Consequently, Apena said the local government directed the concessionaire “to cater for those whose interests have not been accommodated in the New Alade Market. The concessionaire moved to the site and constructed blocks of shops for them. “After the concessioner completed the new blocks of shops, the Sole Administrator of Ikeja Local Government, Mr. Abiodun Taiwo convened a stakeholders’ meeting on the relocation plan for the marketers that were yet to be provided with alternative shops. “At the meetings, letters of allocation of shops were issued. And all marketers at the meeting received their letters of allocations. We made resolution that demolition would commence precisely on

April 30. By April 28, traders began to move their goods from the market,” she said. Yesterday, Apena said all traders were still moving from the market, noting that she was physically present at the market “to witness their relocation. This is evident by the ledger that all shop owners before they could move from their shops. “We, therefore, do not see any iota of truth in reports being circulated on the social media that Governor Ambode has ordered the demolition and looting of the market. Rather, we thank Governor Ambode, Sole Administrator of Ikeja LG and the developer for successful relocation.” She said the market “is the first and only market that has been demolished in Lagos, if not in Nigeria with an alternative for relocation. This arrangement has saved us from disruption of commercial activities.”

Wike Urges Community Leaders to Contribute to Development Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has called on community leaders to work in unity to develop their respective communities. Speaking during the fundraising for the construction of an ultra modern civic Centre complex by the Rumuokwuta Community on Saturday, Wike said community development efforts will complement the development programmes of his administration.

He noted that leaders should make sacrifices to advance communal interest through a united front. The governor praised the Rumuokwuta community for supporting him during the 2015 general election, pointing out that they will not regret their support for him. He said: “Because of the sacrifices the Rumuokwuta Community made for me when I was in need, I will

also support them. “When you are at war and you see a brother who supports you, when it is his turn, you have no choice but to support him. We must encourage and support ourselves. The governor explained that he embarked on the total rehabilitation and expansion of the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Rumuokwuta because the people deserve the best.

“The Rumuokwuta community didn’t lobby for the rehabilitation of the Government Girls’ Secondary School. I took the decision to rehabilitate the school because the people deserve it,” Wike said. Chairman of Rumuokwuta Community Development Committee, Such Ama Chinda commended Wike for the rehabilitation of the Government Girls’ Secondary School in the area.

MONDAY MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

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Akande: Amend Constitution to Guarantee Local Govt Autonomy A former Chief of Staff to the Governor of Oyo State and Visiting Professor of Political Science at Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Adeolu Akande, has advocated local government autonomy as the panacea to the problem of local government administration in the country. Akande, who was a guest on a television programme monitored in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital at the weekend, said local government in the country has failed to achieve the objective of grassroots development because of three factors. He listed the factors as lack of autonomy, lack of direct financial allocation from the federation account and the failure to elect local government councils, explaining that the three factors boil down to the issue of local government autonomy. “Local government councils will be accountable to their people if they are elected. Caretaker committees are only

accountable to their appointing authorities,” he said, explaining that it is when a government is accountable to the people that it is motivated to perform to the expectation of the people. He said the failure to make direct financial allocation to local government councils also inhibit local government performance.”The Joint StateLocal government account system denies local councils the opportunity to determine projects that are relevant to their people. The situation where state governments award uniform projects for all local government areas is a negation of the principle of grassroots development that undergirds the creation of local councils as third tier of government,” he said. He advised that the Joint State-Local Government account should be abolished while administrative guidelines are stipulated for the payment of teachers and other workers’ salaries as first line charge on local government accounts.

Akande said that the Constitution should also be amended to allow Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or a new national electoral body comprising representatives of states and political parties to conduct local government elections. He said the present system where ruling parties at the state level win all local government elections that they conduct does not promote democracy, good governance and competent leadership at the local government level.”It is indefensible that no ruling party in any of the 36 states has ever lost a local government election in their respective state.

This clearly makes a mockery of our democracy and there is need for an urgent review of this electoral embarrassment”, he submitted. Akande, who is also the Director of the Centre for Presidential Studies at Igbinedion University, said the conduct of local government election by state governments has denied the third tier of government the opportunity to recruit competent and accountable leadership at that level. “The caretaker system has denied the people the opportunity of electing leaders of their choice at the local level. This is against the provisions and spirit of the

1999 Constitution”, he said, arguing that the conception of local government as a training ground for leadership at higher levels of government is lost because democratic tenets of governance are not allowed to blossom at the local government level. Speaking on the situation in Oyo State, Prof. Akande explained that the autonomy of local government could have been ensured if local council elections had been held. He claimed that the governor had triggered the process of election twice but the process was truncated by court processes. ”The governor triggered the

process in 2011 but a court case instituted by the members of the state electoral panel constituted by Governor Ladoja but dismissed by Governor Alao Akala resulted in a court injunction against the new Commission constituted by Governor Ajimobi. “The Governor triggered the process for council elections again in 2016 but some parties aggrieved with provisions of the Local Council Development Authorities (LCDA) got a court injunction against the conduct of the election. He expressed the confidence that the resolution of the court case will restore local government autonomy in Oyo State.

APC Chieftain Tasks N’Assembly on Review of Criminal Justice System Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Mr. Kayode Ojo, has called on the National Assembly to review the country’s criminal justice system to prevent those alleged of politically-motivated killings from being detained endlessly. Ojo said some governors were allegedly hiding under the law, which permitted endless incarceration of those alleged of complicity in criminal charges, especially murder, to victimise opposition, describing this as dangerous to the country’s judicial process. On the crisis trailing the death of senator representing Osun West, Isiaka Adeleke, Ojo appealed to politicians in Osun State, particularly members of APC not to allow Adeleke’s demise to cause rancour and unwarranted suspicion that could stoke the ember of discord and rob the party of victory in 2018. Ojo expressed the concern in Ado Ekiti yesterday when he paid a visit to the APC chieftains imprisoned at the Ado Prison to donate food items and cash for their welfare inside custody. The aspirant expressed concern over the plight of some APC chieftains incarcerated in Ado Ekiti Prisons over alleged obvious political oppression. Those being imprisoned are: The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) leader in Ekiti Prince Niyi Adedipe (Apase), Rotimi Olabiwonnu (Mentilo), Sola Adenijo (Solar), Bayo Aderiye (Ojuigo), Ajayi Kayode, Sola Durodola, and Osi Farotimi. They have been in the prison for over two and half

years over the death of the late Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ekiti, Chief Omolafe Aderiye, who was assassinated in Ado Ekiti on September 24 , 2014 Addressing journalists after visiting the political detainees in the prison, Ojo, who was touched by their plights, expressed resentment over the victimisation, assuring that the party will take all necessary legal and administrative steps to address the perceived injustice against them. “This is a clear case of political victimization. How can somebody be detained for close to three years without diligent prosecution? The police filed charges against them but lacked evidence to prosecute the case and they are still being held in spite of this open fact. “It is high time the National Assembly in conjunction with the National Judicial Council reviewed the criminal justice system that will ensure justice for those being persecuted over political beliefs. “I will suggest to the National Assembly to carry out review that will stipulate specific time those falling victims of such should be in prison after which they can be released on bail pending the time police can have evidence against them after conclusion of investigation “But a situation whereby police will just pick a suspect up and charge him to court and only for the judge to order his imprisonment even before evidence are produced is a great injustice that must not be allowed to exist in the constitution , because such will constitute a crime against God and humanity if someone is found to be innocent after being detained for more than five years,” he said.

47 HAPPY CHEERS

L-R: Publicity Secretary, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin; Executive Member, Niger Delta Forum, Tony Uranta; Celebrant and National Coordinator, Oodua People Congress (OPC), Chief Gani Adams, his wife, Mojisola; and President, Women Arise Initiative, Dr. Joe OkeiOdumakin, during the 47th birthday celebration of Adams in Lagos.....yeesterday

IPAC Demands Suspension of Party Leaders in Cross River Bassey Inyang in Calabar The Cross River State chapter of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), has commenced moves to suspend some of it members who allegedly conspired and attempted removing the state Chairman of the body, Mr. Baron Eyo, and his executive committee from office. Already, the IPAC in the state under the leadership of Eyo has written to its national secretariat, demanding the suspension of the members who staged a purported election on March 16, where Dr. Fidelis Okoh was allegedly announced as the new chairman of the group. Aside from calling for sanctions against the leaders of the political parties that participated in the failed attempt, the IPAC have also called for a review of the appointment of the Special Assistant on inter-party affairs to the state Governor , Mr. Austin Ibok, whom they alleged master-minded the attempt to sack the Eyo-led executive committee.

In a petition, signed by Eyo, and addressed to the national chairman of IPAC, with reference number IPAC/ CRS/NO.1/001, dated, April 22, 2017, the IPAC indicated that it was considering legal actions against those who announced the purported removal of the Eyo-led executive. A copy of the petition made available to THISDAY in Calabar at the weekend, read in part: “In reference to the recent publication of THISDAY Newspaper of April 19, page 19 concerning the illegal IPAC election held on March 16 at the Special Adviser to the Governor on Inter-party Affairs (SA) office, Cross River State. “We want to bring to your notice that it is obvious that the faction of IPAC constituted by the special adviser to the governor on inter-party affairs Mr. Austin Ibok has been proven to be true.” The petition stated that following a meeting held recently the IPAC under the leadership of Eyo resolved as follows: “That those who took part (political party chairmen) in the illegal election should be suspended;

that a petition should be written from its National secretariat, asking for the terminate the appointment of Austin Ibok as SA Interparty-Affairs; and approval should be given to IPAC in the state to take legal action against their activities.” In the petition, the IPAC demanded the immediate suspension of the state chairmen of the Accord Party(AP), Independent Democrats(ID), All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA), Peoples Progressives Alliance(PPA), Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Social Democratic Party(SDP), Peoples Democratic Movement(PDM), and Alliance for Democracy(AD). Speaking on the development, Eyo challenged his opponents to produce the result of the purported election they claim to have held on March 16, and the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that supervised it. Eyo brandished the result of the election held at the INEC secretariat in Calabar, which brought him and his executive committee members to office on September21, 2016.

The document sighted by THISDAY indicate that Eyo defeated Mr. Sunday Michael of the ID by 7 votes to 6 to emerge chairman; Nlami N. Eseje of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), emerged deputy state secretary with 7 votes to defeat Engineer Eno .E . Eno of the AP who had 5 votes; Francis Offiong of Action Alliance (AA) emerged state treasurer with 7 votes against Ita Bassey of AD who had 6 votes; and Pastor S.E. Esuabanga of Fresh Democratic Party (FDP) had 6 votes to emerge state publicity secretary against Dr. Uke Enun of PDP who had 5 votes. Those who were returned unopposed were Mr. M.B. Bujor of National Conscience Party (NCP), Deputy State Chairman; Ali Patrick of PPA, state Secretary; and Pastor Franklin E. of Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), state Financial Secretary. Ibok who said he has no knowledge of the power struggle in IPAC, absolved himself of any complicity, and involvement in the attempted removal of the Eyo-led executive.

MONDAY MAY 1, 2017 ˾ T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

Your Allegations are Baseless, Unfounded, APC Tells Yusuf Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has described the allegation of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Lasun Yusuff, that some members of the party are after his life as unfounded, baseless, and of no security concern. Yusuff had at the weekend, through his aides, alleged some members of the APC in the House of Representatives from the state, and the Osun APC Chairman, were threatening his life since

the expression to run for the state governorship in 2018. But in a statement signed by its Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy Kunle Oyatomi, the party described Yusuff as a cheap opportunist. It also denied the claim by the deputy speaker that himself and the late Isiaka Adeleke were singled out and warned not to contest in 2018 governorship election. “The attention of the leadership of the APC in Osun State have been drawn to a statement issued by one Dr. Aderemi Suleiman Ajala on behalf of the Deputy Speaker,

House of Representatives, Yussuf, on the threat to his life, among all other allegations which are unfounded and baseless, they are of no security concern to say the least. “We hereby state unequivocally that the Deputy Speaker and his band of delusional propagandists are mere opportunists clustering to the death of our late party leader and illustrious son of Ede, Senator Adeleke to make smokescreen names and score undue political relevance for themselves. “To all intent and purposes, the deputy speaker has once again

demonstrated to the teeming populace that he is a mischievous and a mere opp ortunist who lacks the deserving respect for the dead and cannot stand by the etiquette and traditional norms of our rich cultural heritage as Yoruba speaking people. “Setting the records straight, the executive of the Osun APC in line with the tenets of democratic principles entrenched in the ideology of our great party, and in order not to distract the business of developmental governance and fulfilment of our electioneering

promises as contained in our manifesto issued an advisory notice to all intending governorship aspirants for the 2018 election to wait until there are clear guidelines and directives by INEC. As such, the claim by Hon. Lasun Yussuff that himself and the late Adeleke were singled out and warned is a blatant lie and a template to deceit. “Without searching further, Yussuff has shown to us that he is the chief sponsor and promoter of the irritating blackmail against the government of the state of Osun that the late senator of Osun west

senatorial district was poisoned which was a resultant effect of his death. This in its entirety is illogical and irresponsible. “Its quite unfortunate that someone who rode on the popularity and acceptability of our party to get to National Assembly could fabricate tissues of lies against the government and leadership of the party. We only wish to advise the lawmaker to simply retrace his steps if truly he is still a member of the Osun APC,” the statement read in part.

Okowa Allays Fear of Deltans on Grazing Bill As the nation continues to grapple with ways to proffer solution to the menace of Fulani herdsmen, Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has allayed the fear of Deltans that there will be grazing reserve in the state. Speaking at the weekend at the second session of the seventh synod of Ughelli Diocese of the Anglican Communion held at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Ekete, Udu Local Government Area of the state, Okowa asserted, “we are not supporting any grazing reserve.” The governor stated that legislators cannot pass a bill that is unacceptable by the people, disclosing that Deltans have made it clear that they were not in support of grazing reserve. While disclosing that his administration has done a lot to ensure that clashes between herdsmen and Deltans are reduced to the barest minimum, he observed that “possibly, there would have been much more killings if not for our consultations; we are also aware that most of the kidnapping in the state are being done by the Hausa/Fulanis in connivance with some of our people. “There are special courts for the speedy trial of kidnappers and any one who is caught

assisting them is liable to life imprisonment,” he continued, while commending security agencies, especially, the police for controlling crime in the state. Okowa also urged the church to relentlessly pray for the state and the nation, assuring them that revenue to the state would increase within the next couple of months as Shell was working to fix the Forcados Trunkline which would boost oil export from the state. The governor stated that increase in revenue generated would lead to the construction of more roads and the provision of infrastructure in different parts of the state. Earlier in a sermon, Bishop Marcus Ibrahim of the Yola Diocese of the Anglican Communion, commended Okowa for the effective management of resources in the state despite the recession affecting economic activities in the country. The bishop who spoke on the theme: ‘Watching and praying: The escape route from the dangers of our time,’ decried greed in the church and also, urged Christians to pray harder to check the activities of Boko Haram, kidnappers and armed robbers, reiterating, “the time that we are in, is evil time.”

ICAN Confers Fellow on THISDAY Staff The Controller of Internal Audit, THISDAY Newspapers Limited, Mr. Nduka Moseri, has been conferred with Fellow, Chartered Accountant (FCA) by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). The elated Moseri, while speaking at the 15th edition of the fellowship investiture ceremony which took place in Lagos, said his dreams of rising to the peak in the accountancy profession has been achieved with the conferment of FCA. He added that he worked diligently to ensure that he met the criteria set by ICAN in financial reporting and compliance in line with international best practice. The controller noted that the impacts of the accountancy practitioners in Nigeria have been felt both in the public and private sectors respectively, stressing that

the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who is also a fellow of the institute, is contributing her quota in repositioning the economy. Moseri who vowed not to rest on his oars, also enjoined practitioners to be involved in adding value to the profession as well as be accountable wherever they find themselves, while referring to the biblical saying: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you shall find it after many days.” It was gathered that ICAN only confers members with this highest status based on proven integrity, post qualification experience, updates in the financial reporting skill, ethical compliance and technical competence as required by the International Federation of Accountant (IFAC) which ICAN is a member.

PAYING LAST RESPECTS TO A SCHOLAR

R-L: Governor of Ebonyi State, Mr. David Umahi; Chairman, Senate Committee on Youths and Sports Development, Obinna Ogba; former Governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Sam Egwu; and National Vice Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (South-east), Chief Austin Umahi, during a farewell service for the late Senator Offia Nwali, the first black man to obtain a Ph.D in Computer Studies from the Harvard University at the Onueke Township Stadium in Onueke...recently

Mobile Court Convicts 22 Offenders in Kogi

Six Officers of Akwa Ibom NULGE Suspended Indefinitely

Yekini Jimoh in Lokoja

Okon Bassey in Uyo

The Kogi State Sanitation and Waste Management Board’s Mobile Court, at the weekend, convicted 22 offenders for violating the monthly sanitation laws in the state. The state prosecutor, Mr. Samuel Adewuyi, while speaking with journalists, disclosed that after monitoring the April sanitation exercise in Lokoja, more than 100 persons were arrested out of which 22 were convicted by the mobil court. He said the offenders were found wandering about and failed to participate in the sanitation day exercise contrary to Section 46 subsection (1) 28 and 32 of Kogi State Sanitation and Waste Management Board Law 2013. “Out of 25 persons that were charged to court, 22 persons admitted to have committed the offences and were convicted and sentenced to five to 14 days imprisonment or an option of fines of N200, N500, N1000, N1,500 or N2500 depending on the magnitude of their offences. “The cases of the remaining three accused persons were referred to be tried at the conventional court having denied the charges, and the judge adjourned their cases till May 2, 2017 for further tryer. “Some offenders opted to pay

fine of N2500 each without being charged to court and were issued payment receipts to enable them continue their journey, while others were compelled to do community service by clearing drainages,” Adewuyi said. The Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoya, also told journalists that the state had again recorded another great success in observing the 12th monthly sanitation exercise under the present administration led by Governor Yahaya Bello. “Today, Saturday April 29, 2017 is yet again another opportunity and the 12th time we as a people – collectively and individually demonstrated that we are responsible users of the environment God has graciously blessed us with. “We appreciate the efforts and commitment of the state government, security agencies, sanitation officers, volunteers and other stakeholders who have supported us in making this great feat a reality. “We are not there yet; we need more support from people within and outside the state to be part of the ‘Clean, Green Kogi Campaign’ clean first your home, street, neighbourhood, community, local government area, state. ‘There is no glory in dirt,’” Osikoya said.

Ahead of the May Day celebrations, six officers of the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) have been slammed with indefinite suspension for anti-union activities. The affected state Executive officers were Anestina Iweh, Owoanam Akpanwa and Kingsley Akpan, as well as the branch Chairmen; of Ibesikpo-Asutan Local Government Area Imoh Udoeyop, Esit Eket Local Government Area, Aniekan Ntia, and Ukanafun Local Government Area, Monday Abak. The indefinite suspension order of the state officials which took effect from April 27, 2017, was contained in a letter addressed to them and signed by the National Acting Secretary of the union, Chukwu Emeka Aguonye. The national executive of the union in the suspension letter, a copy made available to journalists in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, at the weekend, stressed that the suspension was based on the independent investigations carried out on the sins labeled against the officers. “Following reports of your antiunion activities in Akwa Ibom State, and having confirmed through our investigations, in addition to your failure to exculpate yourselves, I am directed to inform you that

the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of April 26, 2017 has approved your suspension indefinitely. “Besides, you have been using the name of the union to pay courtesy calls on government officials, holding yourselves out as leaders of the union, against the position of the national secretariat, and in contravention of the solidarity and unity expected of our true comrades “You are hereby suspended indefinitely from the union, for your anti-union activities. You are therefore, requested to handover all properties of the union in your possession to the state secretary immediately,” the suspension letter further stressed. Before the national directive for the officers to proceed on suspension, the affected state officers had been queried for allegedly flouting National Executive Council (NEC) decisions bordering on union activism. The affected state NULGE officers had further been accused to have colluded with the state government to victimise their state President, Martins Effiong. The actions of the suspended union officials had reportedly degenerated into wrongful transfer of the service of the state President to the state civil service which he didn’t not apply for.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 1, 2017

MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

F I FA B E A C H S O C C E R W O R L D C U P

Sand Eagles in Decisive Clash with Iran Duro Ikhazuagbe with agency report Nigeria’s Super Sand Eagles have the chance of progressing to the quarterfinal stage of the ongoing FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Nassau, Bahamas early hours of tomorrow morning if they are able to overcome the challenge posed by Iran. The game is scheduleD for Tuesday 2.30am (Nigerian time) at the National Beach Soccer Arena in Nassau. Both teams have only won one game each. They both lost a game to make today’s clash a winner-takes-it-all. After Eagles lost their opening game to Italy, last Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Mexico brought them back to life with the hope of progressing to the knock out phase. That lifeline will be meaningless if they are unable to build on with victory against the Iranians. Iran began their campaign at this edition on a bright note snatching a nail-biting 3-2 victory against the Mexicans but failed to build on it in their next game as they lost their second game 5-4 to Italy. After conceding 12 goals against Italy on Thursday, Nigeria Head Coach Audu Adamu made two changes for the Saturday clash. Emeka Ogbonna and Ogbonnaya

Okemmiri started this time. The Mexican trainer Ramon Raya opted to stick with the startlist that lost 2-3 to Iran. Mexico led the first period through Abdiel Villa’s strike with Carlos Rodriquez’s effort brilliantly kept out by Sand Eagles stopper Danjuma Paul. Nigeria had scant opportunities at goal in the first period. Isiaka Olawale’s free kick was well-saved by Mexico goalkeeper Diego Villasenor while Ogodo’s attempt in the last seconds of the opening period was kept out by Villasenor. Ogodo’s two early attempts in the second period could not level matters for Nigeria though he was unfortunate to see the second, an overhead kick, graze the crossbar. Nigeria goalkeeper Paul was magnificent. He stopped Rodriguez’s expertly taken attempt but the Mexican returned moments later to double his team’s lead. Ogbonna fired Nigeria back into the contest immediately after Mexico’s second goal but Ramon Maldonado restored Mexico’s two-goal lead from the spot. Abu Azeez then scored with four minutes left in the second period with a controlled shot into the top corner to trim Mexico’s lead to one. Three minutes to wrap up the second period Abu could

Ihonvbere Emerges IBB Lady Captain Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Mrs Grace Ihonvbere has emerged the Lady Captain of IBB International Golf and Club, Abuja for 2017-18 season after she was returned unopposed at the club’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) which held at the weekend. Ihonvbere described her election was an act of God that she least expected and promised an all-inclusive regime. “It is a vote of confidence to win an election unopposed. I am filled with emotion that people could really love me like this. I will do well because I like working with people. I promise I will change things for good,’’ Ihonvbere said. A member of IBB Club Board of Trustees and the founding captain of the club, Senator John Shagaya heaped praises on Ihonvbere for showing maturity by working with the immediate Lady Captain, Lami Ahmed, though she lost narrowly to the latter in last year ’s election. “I know women and jealousy,” Shagaya said. “But I was shocked that after a bitter race where she lost, Grace Ihonvbere

could still put herself together to work with Lami Ahmed. Grace even helped to upgrade the ladies section changing room. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that she would be a big lady captain. “Do you know why I am saying this? This is the first time we are having a captain elected unopposed after a long time. I think something like this happened twice when we were still developing. Grace (Ihonvbere) is a brave woman who has a ready smile for everyone and she is generally loved by members of the club. I will be disappointed if she can’t turn the ladies section around. I mean she should be able to add to the qualities Lami Ahmed left behind,” Shagaya concluded.

NPF RESULTS

Nasarawa 1-0 Rivers Utd Sunshine 2-0 Rangers

PREMIERSHIP

Man Utd 1-1 Swansea Everton 0-3 Chelsea M’bro 2-2 Man City Tottenham 2-0 Arsenal

not get on the end of Ogodo’s pass to tuck the ball into an unguarded net to make the score 3-3. The third period dragged on for longer spells without goals. Two minutes to the end, Victor Tale smashed in a free kick after Benjamin Mosco

handled the ball near his goal. Tale’s goal sent the game into extra time which meant either Mexico or Nigeria would only get two points from the game. Akwa United’s Godspower Igudia gave Nigeria the lead in the game for the first with a well struck effort in extra

time. The Mexicans responded and Ikechukwu Ibenegbu had to throw himself at Maldonado’s attempt to clear off the line. With 29 seconds left in extra time, Mosco levelled the score at 4-4. Right at the death - two

second left on the clock - Abu toed Ibenegbu’s pass at goal and the ball came off the inside the post and nestled in the net for a dramatic winner. It was Nigeria’s first win at the FIFA Beach World Cup since September 2011.

Victorious ABS FC, winners of the maiden Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) U-15 Tournament in Lagos celebrating with the trophy…last weekend

ABS FC Defeats Katsina Utd 3-1 to Emerge NPFL U-15 Champions Senate President lauds the champions, LMC Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) Football Club at the weekend defeated hard fighting Katsina United 3-1 to emerge champions of the maiden Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Under-15 Tournament at the Agege Stadium, Lagos. Niger Tornadoes pipped Rangers International 1-0 to claim the third place. Tornadoes goal came off a Yahaya Abba Yahaya ferocious free kick on the 22nd minute leaving Okoh Chizoba in goal for Rangers completely beaten. It was the first defeat for Rangers in the tournament and it turned out the most important win for their opponents.. Oni Williams had opened scoring for ABS three minutes from the start with a well placed shot after he was set up by skipper Olakunle Olusegun. The shot left goalkeeper Aliyu Sanni with no chance. Afeez Ajao should have doubled the lead on the 8th minute when he elected for power instead of simply

placing the ball with the Goalkeeper at his mercy. Katsina United won a penalty on 25th minute when ABS defender, Suleiman Majid tripped Hussain Mohammed in the box. Hussain picked himself up to convert and restore parity. ABS upped the game on resumption of the second half and was immediately rewarded on the very first minute when Bello Sufian scored the first of his two goals with a cool finish after good work from tournament Most Valuable Player Olusegun Olakunle. The young striker deservedly got his brace four minutes later to add gloss to the score line. ABS should have put daylight between them and their opponents if they had converted the several chances that came their way. Jamiu Lasoju and Afeez Ajao were the biggest culprits as they wasted several scoring chances. Trophy and medals were presented to the winners by

Iwuala who was assisted by Barradas and Adepoju Koma Million of Rangers International emerged the highest goal scorer with 11 goals. The youngster who admires Bobby Clement says he looks forward to playing in the Flying Antelopes first team in the near future. The Golden Ball for the most valuable player of the tournament went to Olusegun Olakunle of ABS, while defender Chukwuemeka Egbu of Rangers won the Silver ball. Nasel Bussa who saved two penalties for FC Ifeanyi Ubah on their way to the finals in Lagos won the bronze ball as the third best player of the tournament. The final game was watched by Antonio Baradas, the Director of Africa operations of LaLiga, partners of the NPFL, Head, Special Projects of the League Management Company (LMC), Harry Iwuala and a former Super Eagles captain and Country Manager of LaLiga in Nigeria, Mutiu

Adepoju. Meanwhile, the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has congratulated the Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) Football Club for winning the maiden U-15 NPFL cadet tournament. Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja, commended the sterling efforts made by the players and their technical crew throughout the period of the competition before capping it with a resounding 3-1 victory in their final match against Katsina United. He also commended the organisers of the tournament for their objective which is to groom talents for the national team. Olaniyonu noted that the competition which involved over 400 Under-15 teenagers from 20 NPFL clubs was a giant step in proactive youth engagement, crime reduction and the discovery of future super stars for the country.

Former Commonwealth Boxing Champion, Dele Jonathan, Dies On the same day that football coach, Dan Ajibode died, Nigeria also lost a former boxing legend, Dele Jonathan on Saturday. Jonathan, a former African and Commonwealth boxing champion in lightweight category died in Ibadan on Saturday

morning after a protracted poor health. He had for the past seven years been battling with his health after he was diagnosed for prostate enlargement at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan where he had

the first phase of his surgery but could not afford the cost for the further medical care. While narrating his last moment, wife of the late boxer said “we have been managing his health all this while until the early hours of Saturday when he

woke up at 3:00am to demand for water and went back to his sleep, I fed him with his breakfast in the morning afterwards he vomited the food and gave up the ghost at precisely 8: am,” observed the widow of the colourful boxer.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY MAY 1, 2017

MONDAYSPORTS

PREMIERSHIP

Advantage Chelsea as Man Utd Blows Chance to Leapfrog City Chelsea looked every inch champions in taking a significant step towards the Premier League title yesterday with victory at Everton, while the Manchester clubs stumbled in the race for the top four. A superb second-half strike by Pedro and late goals from Gary Cahill and Willian stretched Chelsea’s lead at the top over Tottenham to seven points as they emphatically ended Everton’s run of eight successive home wins. The 3-0 win by Antonio Conte’s relentless side turned the pressure back on Spurs ahead of their derby with Arsenal later on Sunday. Arsenal badly need three points to stay in the race for a Champions League spot, but their hopes were boosted with Manchester City and United both held to surprise draws against relegation strugglers. Chelsea took time to settle but once Pedro scored their opener – his first goal in nine matches – the floodgates opened and they became an irresistible force against their hosts. “This gives us lots of confidence,” Conte told Sky Sports. “Now it is important to prepare the final rush. “If in the next game against Middlesbrough you don’t win, you lose this victory. We must look step by step.” Chelsea need nine points to be assured of being crowned English champions in Conte’s first season in charge, but less will do it if Spurs falter. Cahill’s eighth goal of the

season and Willian’s beautifully worked third inflicted only Everton’s second home defeat of the season. “It was convincing but we had to work hard for it,” Cahill told Sky Sports. “Pedro’s goal was special, at times you need a bit of class to open up a team, that’s what he did today. I’m buzzing with that, it’s a huge result for us.” City had to come from behind twice to draw 2-2 at Middlesbrough and United drew 1-1 at home to Swansea. City relied on 20-year-old striker Gabriel Jesus to secure them a point in the final five minutes of their game against a Boro side scenting back-to-back wins in the Premier League for the first time since May 2008. Jesus’s vastly more experienced strike partner Sergio Aguero had pulled City level at 1-1 with a penalty before Calum Chambers restored the hosts’ lead. “We controlled the game and missed so many chances,” Jesus told Premier League Productions. “Today’s result is disappointing but at least we have a point.” A sublime free-kick by Icelandic international Gylfi Sigurdsson gained Swansea a deserved point against United at Old Trafford. Sigurdsson’s 10th goal of the season, but first in 11 matches, cancelled out veteran Wayne Rooney’s contentious penalty in time added on in the first half when Marcus Rashford made the most out of minimal

Pedro (right) firing the long rage canon that earned Chelsea the opening goal in the 3-0 defeat of Everton …yesterday contact with Swans goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. It will be of little consolation to manager Jose Mourinho that it extended United’s unbeaten run to 25 and they have not been defeated at Old Trafford since September 10 last year. Liverpool is third, City fourth and United fifth, with nothing to choose between

them. Arsenal is a distant sixth but with two games in hand. Only the top four will get into next season’s UEFA Champions League. Mourinho saw two more defenders depart injured in the impressive Eric Bailly on the hour mark and Luke Shaw in just the eighth minute.

“We lost players and we lost points, so yes, today was a bad day,” Mourinho told the BBC. “We did not look tired and exhausted, we are tired and exhausted. “You cannot isolate the performance out of the context. This is the ninth match of April, it is not human.

“We have a squad of 22 that is reduced to 13 or 14 players. The players are very tired.” His Swansea counterpart Paul Clement said Rashford had “deceived the referee” but added the point enforced their belief they could retain their elite status. The Welsh side is two points off safety with three games left.

O’Trafford Squash Club Ecobank: We’ll Continue To Muntari Walks off Pitch in Sponsor Okpekpe Race Honours Members Cagliari Racism Storm It was a glamorous night last Friday when O’Trafford Squash Club rolled out the red carpets to celebrate and honour some of it’s members for their immense contributions to the game of squash and the rapid progress of the club. The event, which took place at the Metropolitan Club, Victoria Island, Lagos was a social hub for renowned dignitaries in the society and top notchers in the business and communications world who graced the occasion to savour the colourful evening of awards to deserving members.

Top on the list of awardees was the Group Managing Director of UACN Plc, Larry Ettah, who also doubles as the founding chairman of the O’ Trafford Squash Club. The award night was compere by popular sports television host, Charles Anazodo. In his opening remark, the newly elected Chairman of the O’Trafford Squash Club, Remi Adeosun, described the night as one to: “recognise the effort of the founding fathers of the club.” Adeosun added that: “O’Trafford is a balanced club of the young and the old.”

Kaduna Agog for Zenith Women Basketball League The second phase of the National Women basketball League sponsored by Zenith Bank is scheduled to begin today at the Ramat Square in Kaduna. A total of 18 teams that competed at the first phase in Abuja are also expected to vie for honours in Kaduna with over 200 players on parade. This time however, the last six of the 18 teams will not continue the journey to the next phase in Asaba and so fireworks are expected at this stage of the competition. The Nigeria Basketball

Federation (NBBF) President, Tijani Umar, confirmed at the weekend that all “is now set for the Kaduna phase in which the top teams like First Bank, Customs and Dolphins are expected to play against one another this time. Umar said he was elated that Zenith Bank had continued to make the league a big event every year. He said: It is a thing of joy to me that the partnership struck between the NBBF and Zenith Bank has continued to grow bigger because it is helping the development of our female players.

Ecobank Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Ecobank Group has pledged to continue with its partnership with organisers of the Okpekpe International 10km Road Race to ensure it attains a gold label status from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Managing Director of Ecobank, Charles Kie, stated this last week when he met with organisers of the event at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos. Kie said that the objective of the organisers of the race matches that of Ecobank and assures the bank will continue to throw its weight behind the race as its Official Bank. ‘’I want to use this opportunity to state here that Ecobank fully endorse this competition and will like to assure you that we will continue to be associated with the Okpekpe International Road Race,” he said. He said Ecobank identifies sports as fulcrum and key component of economic development of the Africa continent and therefore partners sporting events with continental appeal that creates opportunities for African youths to converge on healthy and competitive basis. ‘’Let me state here that we are proud sponsors of the Okpekpe International Road Race. We are impressed and excited with the participation

of both local and international athletes from across the continent. We assure you that we will continue to be associated with this mutually beneficial initiative. You will attest that this is the fourth edition of the Okpekpe International Road Race we are partnering. We hope this year’s edition will be better. “This is also the guiding principle of our Corporate Social Responsibility and sponsorship activities. Our main focus is to give back and contribute effectively to the communities in which we operate. Ecobank is a responsible and caring corporate citizen assisting communities and underprivileged groups to enhance their lives. We also encourage creativity and excellence among youths in Africa, while also fostering integration within the regions of the continent,’ he further stated. This year’s race will hold on Saturday May 13, 2017 in Okpekpe, a town in Etsakor East Local Government Area of Edo State. It is located about 25 kilometres northeast of Auchi. It is the only road race in Nigeria that is recognised by both the IAAF and Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) because its race course has been measured by an accredited measurer using the approved calibrated method.

Ghana’s Sulley Muntari dramatically walked off the pitch while playing for Pescara at Cagliari yesterday after his complaints of alleged racist abuse were met with a yellow card. The former AC Milan and Inter midfielder also angrily confronted Cagliari fans, shouting at them: “This is my colour.” Muntari could now face disciplinary measures after deciding, voluntarily, to leave the field seconds before fulltime – a decision that earned him a second yellow card, and then a red, in the 96th minute of the game that his team lost 1-0. Earlier, he had spoken directly with a section of the

Cagliari supporters targeting him with racist abuse. And when he protested to match referee Daniele Minelli and other officials in the 89th minute that he was still being targeted, Muntari was booked. While leaving the pitch in frustration and murmuring “Basta ! (Enough)” minutes later, Muntari went to address more supporters, showing them his arm and shouting: “this is my colour, this is my colour.” His protest was later backed by Pescara coach Zdenek Zeman, although in comments to Sky Sport the Czech veteran said Muntari should not have quit the game.

NPFL: Nasarawa Overpowers Rivers Utd in a Rescheduled Clash Adamu Hassan scored the winner yesterday as Nasarawa United defeated Rivers United 1-0 in a rescheduled Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) game in Lafia. Nzube Anaezemba was largely culpable for the goal as his under-hit pass in midfield in the 17th minute was pounced upon by Thomas Zenke, who proceeded to deliver a defence-splitting pass to Hassan, who slipped the

ball past Sunday Rotimi in goal for Rivers United. The visitors rarely threatened in a first half dominated by the hosts and were lucky not to have conceded more before the interval. Hassan thought he had doubled his side’s lead on the half hour after rounding Rotimi and playing emphatically into an empty net, but the effort was ruled out for offside.

Monday May 1, 2017

UT H

& RE A S O

Price: N250

MISSILE Yoruba Scholar, Tuboson to Akiolu “The Oba’s behaviour undermines the royal institution of the Yoruba people, It sends a wrong signal - that the norms, values and culture of the Yoruba people are being taken for granted” – Yoruba scholar, Kola Tubosun condemning the condescending attitude of Oba Akiolu of Lagos for snubbing Oni of Ife at a recent public event in Lagos.

ALEXOTTI OUTSIDE THE BOX

alex.otti@thisdaylive.com

The EGRP Sure Sounds Like a Plan O

n the 5th of April, 2017, President Mohammadu Buhari launched the 168 paged Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) for years 2017-2020. This is one of the major successes recorded by this administration in my opinion. I believe so because it is the first time in the recent past that government had articulated a set of guiding principles in a live planning document for the management of the economy. Most times, I noticed that many right wing economists get nervous when economic planning is mentioned. This derives from the fact that they immediately attribute an ideological bent to any discussion of planning. This situation is aptly captured by the Cambridge Professor of Economics, Ha-Joon Chang, who wrote: “I have read quite a few readers’ reviews of my book on Amazon, saying ‘Ah, he criticises the free market, he advocates central planning’. I don’t do that for a minute! But this is our black and white dichotomous way of thinking-which has really been harmful”. While I would not want to dwell on the mischief or shallow appreciation of issues by the anti- planning protagonists, it is important to point out that central planning as a cardinal principle of socialism is very different from the economic planning that we advocate. For most institutions and companies it is important to sit down and draw up a short term, medium term and sometimes, long term strategy for guidance, measurement and evaluation of activities that would determine their success or lack thereof. This is usually a very serious assignment that requires clear understanding of the operating environment, the opportunities that exist, the resources available, the anticipated challenges, the approaches required to navigate those challenges and how to harness the identified opportunities to win. Some people refer to this as strategy formulation. Those who are ardent campaigners of planning in organizations in the private sector, find it convenient to dismiss it for the public sector. There is an interesting saying to the effect that it makes no sense to leave a live dragon out of your calculations if you leave near one. But this presupposes that you are aware of the existence of the dragon in the first instance and know how to plot its containment. Finally, I’m of the strong conviction that the fact that you do not like a system should not stop you from taking anything you find good in that system. Realistic critics of socialism agree that there is something positive about their planning model and many developed economies have had to learn from the kind of sophisticated planning models of the socialist system. The planning function has not really been completely absent in the Nigerian economic lexicon. There are the short-term plans represented by the annual budgets, the medium-term plans like the NEEDS and the long-term plans like the Development Plans. The First National Development Plan (1962-1968) made an attempt to improve infrastructure and provided for the equivalent of about N2.2b to be spent on capital projects within the plan period. Because of the advent of the civil war, this plan was extended for two years of 1969 and 1970. The Second National Development Plan (1970-1974) was the post-war economic plan which provided for capital expenditure of about N3b for the period. The Third National Development Plan (1975-1980) tried to address the shortcomings of the previous ones, providing for a capital expenditure of N30b, later reviewed to N43.3b, even though at the end of the plan period, the government was only able to spend N29.43b. The most aggressive of all the national plans was the Fourth National Development Plan (1981-1985) that provided for N82b capital expenditure. This plan which was the first to be put together by a democratically elected government focused on the eradication of poverty

Buhari and building an enabling environment to support productivity. The implementation of these plans remains a subject of major debate. In fact, literature has it that one major challenge with these plans was that implementation was measured by the extent of the expenditure relative to budget. Thus in the case of the Third National Development Plan cited above, the budget would be said to be 68% implemented even if there was nothing on the ground to justify the expenditure of N29.43b. We shall return to this later. The ERGP represents the first blue print by this administration to not only deal with the present economic meltdown, but also to ensure growth in the medium term. The document starts by recognizing the challenges in the structure of the Nigerian economy that has been impeding growth and one may also add development. The economy has been characterized by import dependence, consumerism and lack of diversification. There is no doubt that this is a correct analysis of the economy. We transitioned from an agrarian economy before independence to an oil-dependent economy after independence. The plan therefore seeks to promote sustained inclusive growth which will include structural economic transformation with emphasis on improving both public and private sectors efficiency. “This is aimed at increasing national productivity and achieving sustainable diversification of production to significantly grow the economy and achieve maximum welfare for the citizens, beginning with food and energy security”. The ERGP envisages average GDP growth rate of 4.62% per annum over the plan period. GDP is expected to gradually turn positive in 2018 and peak at 7% per annum by 2020. While I believe these numbers are ambitious, I agree that just like in other projections in other living documents, there is nothing stopping the authors from reviewing it within the implementation period, if there are sufficient grounds to so do. GDP growth would be driven by fiscal stimulus, another name for government borrowing money to pump into the economy to stimulate demand and production thereby creating jobs and reducing unemployment. The plan also envisages oil prices of between $42.50 to $52 per barrel within the period and a steady rise of output from the present 1.8m barrels per day to an all-time high of 2.5m barrels per day in the year 2020. Non-oil proceeds are not left out in the GDP growth drivers. Here, we are talking of agriculture, industrial production, service sector (which is projected to grow at an average of 2.5%), electricity, gas, and construction. One of the most important drivers is infrastructure. The plan envisages massive infrastructure spend and roll out across the country. These would be in the areas of roads, rail, waterways, seaports and airports.

Ease of doing business is another area that received the plan’s attention. At the moment, Nigeria is ranked No. 169 out of 190 countries. The plan envisages improved ranking to around No 100 within the plan period. The plan recognizes that there have been some strategies put in place by the federal government which must be sustained to improve our ranking. It strongly supports the view that no serious change would happen if we don’t fix the inhibitions to smooth setting up of businesses, enforcement of contracts, payment of taxes, etc. It also envisages alignment of fiscal, monetary and trade policies for better ordered economic fundamentals and congruence in outcomes rather than a situation where those policies are pulling in different directions. Inflation is expected to trend down from the present average of 18% to single digits by 2020 while we would achieve stable exchange rate regime within the period. The plan also proposes self-sufficiency in agricultural products to ensure food security and actually believes that by 2020 we would have started exporting agricultural products massively. On energy, it is expected that we would increase our power generation capacity to about 10GW by 2020, a chunk of it, coming from clean renewable energy sources. It is also expected that we would reduce our dependence on imported petroleum products by 60% in 2018 and by 2020, we would have become a net exporter of petroleum products, thus foreclosing a return to petroleum subsidy era. Industrialisation through the micro, small and medium scale enterprises received copious mention in the plan. It correctly identifies some self-imposed constraints including lack of access to foreign exchange to import inputs and raw materials. The general contraction of the manufacturing sector to about 4% of GDP as of Q3 2016 was as a result of very poor state of infrastructure and uncompetitive business environment. According to the plan, “the focus will be on priority sectors to generate jobs, promote exports, boost growth and upgrade skills to create 1.5 million jobs by 2020. A revitalised manufacturing sector will create jobs, stimulate foreign exchange earnings and grow micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The involvement of small businesses in the service sector is a major lever for economic recovery” On job creation, the plan had this to say, “The implementation of the Plan is projected to reduce unemployment from 13.9% as of Q3 2016 to 11.23% by 2020. This translates to the creation of over 15 million jobs during the Plan horizon or an average of 3.7 million jobs per annum. The focus of the job creation efforts will be youth employment, and ensuring that youth are the priority beneficiaries”. Like I had stated earlier, this is a very good and well-articulated document. It is an excellent direction towards the resuscitation of our ailing economy. Having said that, there are a few areas that the authors will need to review as they continue to improve on the plan. The plan just like the name implies pays so much attention to recovery and growth, ignoring the more fundamental issue of development. Like I had had cause to argue at different fora, recovery from stagflation or recession is like a piece of cake. Once there is reversal of oil prices or drop in imports or sustained inflow of foreign exchange, we would easily come out of recession. That, however, says nothing about the structural defects in the economy. Again, emphasizing growth at the expense of development is very dangerous to this economy. We had seen almost a decade of massive GDP growth which was not only jobless, but empty. It is this distortion that encouraged us to begin to feel that we were a big country and made us go on a spending spree and become an import maniac. It is this same growth that made us not to focus on putting in place the enabling environment for businesses to thrive locally, making imports cheaper than local

production. It is important therefore that the authors of the document look at development as distinct from growth. The document seems to promote and rely on a commodity economy as a major growth driver. The projection for improved oil prices and output over the plan period does not help government’s diversification argument. The other commodities of agriculture and solid minerals are open to the shocks that oil faces, in a more disastrous manner as these resources don’t have an OPEC to protect producers. A more robust human resource and development program would help in harnessing the ingenuity and creativity of the people for technological and innovative development which is more enduring than commodities. Studies have shown that most developed nations either do not have natural resources or have deliberately down-played them in favour of a knowledge economy. Again, the document budgets 30% capital expenditure for the period. This is rather disappointing because that is where we have been and what led us to the infrastructural deficit and decay. The question is, how would you fund the massive infrastructural expansion envisaged by the plan if 70% of budget will continue to be spent on salaries? Any plan that does not deal with the restructuring of both the economic and political structures to reduce big government and its spending will not achieve its purpose. There was no clarity on the issue of exchange rate management. Maybe there is no agreement yet on how the government wants to resolve this thorny issue. If one were to advice, government should take the bold step of deregulating the exchange rate policy and have sellers and buyers determine price. The government should intervene from time to time to ensure stability and optimum supply to the market. The plan also makes reference to fiscal stimulus. If the government intends to borrow massively, it should first and foremost have a look at the debt service budget which was 35% as at 2016. The capacity to service additional debt is critical to further borrowing. Having said these, there are a lot of positives about the document that should not be taken for granted. The first one is that there is a plan. This is very heartwarming because if one does not know where one is going, one would neither know when one gets there nor if one is missing one’s way or not. “If you do not know where you are going, any way takes you there”. I must therefore commend the government, especially, those that put the document together as it is a brilliant effort. Second, the analyses and idea formulation are spot on. The authors have a good understanding of the fundamental problems of the country and they were able to articulate them properly. They also highlighted enduring approaches towards dealing with the challenges. There is strong reference to both the federating units and the private sector, both at the idea formulation and implementation stages of the plan. This is important as the government at the centre cannot drive the plan alone. The states are as important as the local governments just as the private sector must be a strong part of any blue print as a lot depends on its participation. Like I had noted earlier, a major reason why previous blue prints failed was lack of diligent implementation. To address that challenge, this plan set up a delivery unit inside the Presidency to help drive implementation. Because this unit is independent of the MDAs, It is expected that it will do its job without fear or favour. Finally, because the plan is a living document, it leaves room for review and the government should immediately begin to look at the issues that have been highlighted here and elsewhere to ensure that it remains realistic.

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