Monday 14th March 2016

GTB Maintains Lead in Forex Allocation from CBN Obinna Chima

For the second week in a row, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTB) maintained its lead garnering the highest allocation of foreign exchange from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as last week's figures have shown.

GTB with an allotment of $30,902,089.86 was followed

by First Bank of Nigeria

Limited (FirstBank), which got $19,610,855.76, to come in second, while Stanbic IBTC Limited with $19,206,106 held the third slot.

Zenith Bank Plc, which published returns of $16,823,160.04, came in fourth place, while Union Bank of

Nigeria reported $15,602,956.71 to take the fifth place.

Also First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) reported returns of $14,273,731.24 to occupy the sixth place, Diamond Bank Plc with $13,929,883.10 came in seventh, Access Bank Plc reported

returns of $13,698,086.72 to occupy the eighth slot, and Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria with $13,541,059.33 was ninth.

Standard Chartered was followed by Fidelity Bank - $11,152,667.93; United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA)

- $11,152,667.93; Citibank Nigeria - $8,843,320.04; Sterling Bank Plc - $6,645,092.19; and Wema Bank Plc - $1,052,198.89.

The returns of forex utilisation across board once more revealed that school fees and business and personal travel allowances, in terms

12 Shot Dead in Ivory Coast Terror Attack… Page 46

of volume, accounted for the highest number of allocations, while other invisibles such as repatriation of capital, divestments by foreign portfolio investors from the equities and bond markets, accounted for a large chunk of forex purchases, in terms of value.

Continued on page 8

Monday 14 March, 2016 Vol 21. No 7627. Price: N150

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Signalling Transparency, Saraki to Publish National Assembly Budget Omololu Ogunmade with agency report After years of opacity regarding the finer details of the budgetary allocation to the federal legislature, the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, said yesterday that the breakdown of the National Assembly’s budget would for the first time be made public next week.

This was contained in

a statement signed by Mohammed Isa, Special Assistant on Public Affairs to Saraki, reported the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Saraki made the disclosure while speaking with a team of editors of the London-based newspaper, The Economist.

Saraki, who is the Chairman of the National Assembly, said Continued on page 8

Kachikwu: Nigeria is Targeting 2.4mbpd Oil Output in 2016

China pushes for higher crude exports Chineme Okafor in Abuja with agency report Nigeria is targeting 2.4 million barrels of crude oil per day (mbpd) in output in 2016, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has disclosed.

Kachikwu spoke recently in Abuja while outlining his broad strategy for the country’s oil and gas sector for the year.

He said that even though the target of 2.4mbpd was not used as a production benchmark for the 2016 budget, he explained that the production volume would be pursued by his ministry.

The minister however noted that about 200,000bpd of the planned total would be dedicated to domestic refining, while 2.2mbpd Continued on page 8

WARRI ROYALTY AT BOURDILLON

The new Olu of Warri, Prince Godfrey Ikenwoli Emiko Ogiame Ikenwole I (right) and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Bola Tinubu, when the traditional ruler visited the APC chieftain at his Ikoyi residence in Lagos… yesterday

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Judiciary on Trial in Anambra, CJ Instigates Suit against President, Customary Court of Appeal Tobi Soniyi in Abuja The Chief Judge of Anambra State, Justice Peter Umeadi, is currently locked in a battle of seniority with the President of the State Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Samuel Johnson Okoye.

Following a recent incident which occurred during a ceremony to mark this year's Armed Forces Remembrance Day, Justice Umeadi has instigated the state’s Judicial Service Commission and the Chief Registrar of the Anambra State High Court to file a case before the court against the President of the Customary Court of Appeal in the state and the chief registrar of the

court to determine who is superior between the two of them.

Paragraph four of the affidavit filed in support of the originating summons stated: “That first defendant (President of the Customary Court of Appeal in Anambra State) in sundry manners operates and conducts the affairs of the Customary Court of Appeal, Anambra State, as an independent arm of the state judiciary and his office as that of an alternate Chief Judge – for example on January 5, 2016 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebrations at Awka after the Hon. Chief Judge of the state had made some donations on behalf of the state judiciary, the

first defendant rose and made a separate donation on behalf of Customary Court of Appeal, Anambra State, and announced rather immodestely that the officers of the Nigerian Legion should come to the office of the President Customary Court of Appeal, Awka, to collect the donation.”

Irked by the audacity of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal in announcing a separate donation, Justice Umeadi instigated the state's Judicial Service Commission, of which he is the chairman, to file a case at the Anambra State High Court where he is the Chief Judge and would have the privilege to assign

the case to a judge of his choice.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to grant the following reliefs: “A declaration that by the combined effects of Sections 274, 271 and 197 (2) Part II Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution as amended and Section 8 of the High Court Law Cap 66 1991 Laws of Anambra State, the Hon. Chief Judge of a state is the head of the entire state judiciary comprising the State High Court, Customary Court of Appeal of the state, magistrates’ courts, customary courts, etc.

“A declaration that at a state function where the Chief Judge represents the judiciary as the head of

an arm of government, the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, cannot at the same function also separately, serve and purport to represent Customary Court of Appeal of the same state distinct from the judiciary of that state.

“A declaration that by Section 580 (2)(a) of the Constitution, the President of the Customary Court of Appeal which is only a part of the judiciary structure making up the judiciary headed by the Chief Judge, especially in its function as one arm of government of the state.

“A perpetual injunction restraining the first defendant from further operations or conduct as

an alternate Chief Judge or Head of the Anambra State Judiciary, as the State Customary Court of Appeal is subordinate and subsumed into the judiciary of Anambra State as an arm of government which is under the office of the Chief Judge of Anambra State.”

The defendants are yet to file their defence to the suit.

A lawyer based in Awka, who did not want his name disclosed, described the case as laughable and wondered what the Chief Judge hope to achieve by filing it.

“Everyone knows what the judgment will be. He wants to be a judge in his own case,” he said.

as the management of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), noting that the investigation the Senate conducted on TSA, saved the country over N7 billion.

Saraki stressed that the Senate would not hinder or water down any allegation of corruption.

On the economy, Saraki said the Senate was doing all within its power to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.

“It is only when the private sector thrives that

the issue of unemployment will be addressed and the nation’s GDP will increase.

“Few days ago, we received a report on the laws that need to be amended in order of priority to ease doing business and private sector participation in order to stimulate Nigeria’s economy.

“We will soon commence the implementation of the recommendations in the report, in addition to pushing for the amendment of the Procurement Act to

protect our local industries,” he informed The Economist.

He allayed fears that the low prices of oil would have a negative impact on the implementation of the 2016 budget, saying: “What we need to do is to block leakages and show more transparency.

“Without blocking leakages even if oil was sold at more than $100 per barrel, Nigeria will still continue to witness a decline in revenue in-flow,” he said.

PTA, while some purchased dollars from the bank to import essential raw materials and other visible items.

Union Bank’s returns published for the last week of February and first week of March, accounted for the huge figures reported by the bank. Like its peers, it sold dollars for invisibles comprising school fees and PTA and also for the importation of essential industrial raw materials.

FCMB had 283 customers on its list. The bank sold dollars mostly to customers

for PTA and for school payment abroad. Also, its corporate customers got dollars for the purchase of spare parts, pharmaceutical equipment such as infusion sets for needles, generators, and baby diapers, among

others.

Overall, returns published by all the banks showed that demand for forex remained high, reflecting the country's massive reliance on imported goods and services.

SIGNALLING TRANSPARENCY, SARAKI TO PUBLISH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY BUDGET that publication of details of the budget was in line with the anti-corruption stance of the Eighth National Assembly, promising that the legislature would not cover any form of corruption.

He also said that the budget of the Senate, which had never been made public, would be published in line with the anti-corruption stance of the Senate.

“For the first time we promised Nigerians that the Senate will disclose

its budget breakdown, the committee will make its report available by next week. We are resolved to break the tradition of one line item,” he said.

The breakdown of the budget of the National Assembly has always been shrouded in secrecy, thereby attracting harsh criticism from sections of the public over the salaries and allowances paid to the legislators.

The federal legislature has also been criticised

for expending billions of naira every four years for the purchase of luxury cars for the leadership of the National Assembly and its members.

Saraki added that the Senate would partner with President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the success of the anti-corruption war.

He said that the red chamber had already demonstrated its commitment to anticorruption through its unravelling of fraud such

GTB MAINTAINS LEAD IN FOREX ALLOCATION FROM CBN For GTB, its returns revealed that, of the $31 million it got from the central bank, it sold $11.830 million (38 per cent) to Dangote Industries Limited for the payment of interest on the company’s syndicated facility.

In all, GTB had 328 customers on its list, both corporates and individuals.

Of the total, the payment for school fees abroad got the highest allocation in terms of volume, but it also sold dollars to some of its corporate customers importing raw materials,

petrol and diesel, among others. Also, Lufthansa and Air France bought dollars from GTB for their ticket sales' remittances.

First Bank also sold dollars to a total of 767 customers – corporates and individuals. Of all its customers, Dangote Cement stood out, having bought $4.999 million from the bank.

FirstBank also sold dollars for customers paying tuition, and those importing medical equipment, raw materials and industrial equipment.

Returns by Stanbic IBTC once more revealed the

huge volume of outflow by foreign portfolio investors exiting the country. About 50 customers bought dollars from Stanbic IBTC to divest from the bond and equities markets.

Just like the preceding week, some of the portfolio investors included Northern Trust London, Milan/BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, London, Merill Lynch International, Bank of New York, and Standard Bank of New York.

Zenith Bank also sold dollars to 465 customers, largely for school fees and

KACHIKWU: NIGERIA IS TARGETING 2.4MBPD OIL OUTPUT IN 2016

TOP GAINERS NGN NGN OANDO 0.49 5.35 TIGERBRANDED 0.25 2.74 FLOURMILLS 1.78 20.16 MOBILOIL 11.05 171.00 FIDELITYBANK 0.06 1.26 TOP LOSERS NGN NGN ACCESSBANK 0.22 4.42 LAWUNION 0.03 0.64 STERLINGBANK 0.04 1.70 WEMABANK 0.02 0.87 SKYEBANK 0.02 0.98 HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦690.00 Volume: 165.978 million shares Value: N1.304 billion Deals: 2,895 As at Friday 11/03/16 See details on Page 37

% 10.1 10.0 9.6 6.9 5.0 % 4.7 4.4 2.3 2.2 2.0

would be kept for export.

According to him, the country would have been doing 2.3mbpd, but for the attack that was recorded on one of Shell’s Forcados pipeline recently.

“In terms of volumes, I think we are producing at 100 per cent. Before the Shell pipeline incident which happened about a week ago, we were already hitting about 2.3mbpd up from about 2.18mbpd.

“The target this year really, without putting that in the budget, is about 2.4mbpd and to dedicate some of that to total refining capacity and keep our 2.2mb as whole as we can.

“That is still the target we are shooting for and I think that if we have a 100 per cent performance in terms of funding and oil

companies are going full blast, so we will see things happen,” Kachikwu said.

He also spoke on the country’s cash-call arrears to international oil companies, saying: “$5.1 billion are in cash call arrears and then we have year-to-year gaps in terms of cash call amounts.

“What this means is that the upstream is not performing at 100 per cent level, they are barely just continuing and you can see the trend in terms of staffing losses, project abandonment and all that.

“But very quickly, we must find a way of finding funding for the upstream.

We want to settle the arrears to bring back confidence and to create an alternative funding scheme to cover the gap from year to year so they can work on a 100 per

cent basis, and our belief is that if you do that, you will have incremental volumes to help you pay off the loans.

“The target I have set for our people is to work with the majors, finalise all issues of funding, including arrears and the year-to-year gap within a period of four to five months, and once we do that, we can say for 2016 or 2017 at least, we would have dealt with the arrears.”

In another development, a group, the Children and Women’s Rights Network, has alleged that a cabal in the oil sector has mounted a subtle but disingenuous campaign against the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) to prolong the lingering Continued on page 10

FOREX UTILISATION

RANKING 1 2 3

BANK GTB FirstBank Stanbic IBTC

AMOUNT ($) 30,902,089.86 19,610,855.76 19,206,106

4

Zenith Bank

16,823,160.04

5

Union Bank

15,602,956.71

6

FCMB

14,273,731.24

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Diamond Bank 13,929,883.10

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13,698,086.72

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Access Bank Standard Chartered Fidelity Bank

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UBA

9,164,898.67

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Citibank

8,843,320

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Sterling Bank 6,645,092.19

14

Wema Bank

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13,541,059.33 11,152,667.93

1,052,198.89

T H I S D AY MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016

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S’Africa, Nigeria: African Giants Battle for Economic Supremacy When South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma visited Nigeria last week, he was on a delicate mission to mend rifts between the continent’s two economic powerhouses. From economic rivalry to political friction, relations between South Africa and Nigeria have been strained in recent years.

The election of Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari into office last May did not immediately ease the tension. When Zuma visited Abuja last week, Buhari set aside diplomacy and accused one of South Africa’s largest companies of failing the country in its fight against the Boko Haram insurgency.

Telecoms giant MTN was fined $3.9 billion for missing a deadline to disconnect 5.2 million unregistered subscribers, a legal requirement aimed at hampering the militant Islamists.

Buhari said MTN was “very slow” in cutting off the lines and that the unregistered lines were used by “terrorists” and “contributed to the casualties”. The Nigerian government’s concern “was basically on the security, not the fine imposed on the MTN,” he said.

But MTN is not the only South African company riding rough waves in Nigeria. Hotel and resort chain group Sun International is also a target of investigation by the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“We have an exemplary track record of operating in many countries over the past 30 years, but the difficulties we have experienced in Nigeria are unprecedented,” Michael Farr, Sun International group’s general manager for communications, told AFP. “We’ll continue to evaluate the situation and therefore our options.”

Africa’s largest satellite broadcaster, Johannesburg-headquartered Multichoice, last year came under pressure to reduce its tariffs following accusations by the Nigerian authorities that it was abusing its dominant position.

Some South African companies, such as the Truworths clothing retailer, have pulled out of the country altogether.

Two-Minute Briefing NEWS Buha Sa ak Ma k O he s Mou n b u

MONDAY, MARCH 14,

NEWS

2016 • T H I S

Tobi Soniyi, Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja and Onabu in Asaba Omon-Julius

Zuma

“We c osed our four stores n N ger a because we were unab e to send stock to stores due to the regu at ons n N ger a ” M chae Mark Truworths CEO to d AFP Fo ow ng the rebas ng of ts gross domest c product figures n Apr 2014 N ger a became the cont nent s argest economy overtak ng South Afr ca Wh e 120 South Afr can compan es operate n N ger a the West Afr can nat on s on y Pretor a s seventh-b ggest trad ng partner on the cont nent “Some South Afr can bus ness peop e and offic a s suspect that South Afr can compan es are be ng targeted because of envy from oca compet tors ” sa d Peter Fabr c us an ana yst w th the Inst tute of Secur ty Stud es n Pretor a But “many N ger ans be eve (MTN) was gross y neg gent about obey ng the ru es and arrogant ” sa d Fabr c us Muda Yussuf the d rector genera of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) sa d that t “does not mean these compan es are be ng targeted” “It s ust that compan es operat ng

anywhere have to comp y w th the aws govern ng bus ness behav ours n the r host countr es It does not matter f the compan es are from South Afr ca or somewhere e se “Laws are made to be obeyed What happened to MTN can happen to any N ger an company ” he sa d After s gn ng more than 30 b atera agreements on trade energy defence and secur ty among others Pretor a put a pos t ve sp n on the v s t “The v s t of Zuma… s a test mony that there s no undercurrent of co d war between N ger a and South Afr ca ” sa d So a On nvestment ana yst and former sen or manager w th the N ger a Stock Exchange (NSE) “N ger a s such a strateg c country that cannot be eas y gnored by any country g oba y ” sa d On But both countr es are fac ng econom c headw nds South Afr ca s growth s underm ned by the s owdown n Ch na and fa ng commod ty pr ces wh e N ger a the cont nent s top o producer s suffer ng from ow o pr ces •Culled from AFP

pr ces Mr Zao L ngX ang Econom c and Commerc a Counse or of the Ch nese Embassy n N ger a sa d th s n an nterv ew n Abu a “But the tota amount of export to Ch na was on y about one m on barre s n 2015 that was ust 1 3 per cent of N ger an annua o export " reported the News Agency of N ger a (NAN) “In my op n on t rea y doesn t matter whether Iran comes back or not Ch nese compan es want to mport more crude o from N ger a ” he sa d He sa d that the current trade vo ume between both countr es stood at $14 94 b on n 2014 mak ng N ger a the th rd argest trade partner of Ch na n Afr ca The envoy added that N ger a s trade figure was 8 3 per cent of Ch na s tota trade vo ume w th Afr ca and 42 per cent of the tota trade vo ume between Ch na and Afr ca He sa d that Ch na has a so sought to exp ore other areas of cooperat on w th N ger a wh ch he noted wou d be of benefit to both part es “Ch na s the argest deve op ng country n the wor d and N ger a s the argest deve op ng country n Afr ca and both countr es have comp ementary advantages n natura and human resources funds and markets “R ght now the N ger an government s try ng to d vers fy ts economy wh ch s fu y n ne w th the 10 Ch naAfr ca cooperat on p ans announced at the summ t on Ch na-Afr ca trade

n Johannesburg n 2015 “There s great potent a for cooperat on between Ch na and N ger a n the fie ds of ndustr a sat on agr cu tura modern sat on nfrastructure construct on financ a serv ces trade and nvestment fac tat on among others ” he sa d He however added that both countr es had made “remarkab e ach evements” n the areas of nfrastructure cooperat on not ng that the schedu ed v s t of Pres dent Muhammad Buhar to Ch na n Apr wou d fac tate the mp ementat on of agreements reached at the 2015 Ch naAfr can summ t n Johannesburg L ngX ang further added that the pres dent s v s t wou d a so deepen cooperat on between both countr es exp a n ng that the tota nvestment vo ume between Ch na and Afr ca exceeded $100 b on n 2015 n sp te of the dec ne n mports from Afr ca He added that Afr ca rema ned Ch na s argest trade partner desp te the s ow down n the Ch nese economy “The amount n mports from Afr ca to Ch na dec ned but d d not dec ne remarkab y “Moreover the econom c and trade cooperat on between Ch na and Afr ca s not on y about trade but techn ca cooperat on as we “Ch na s tota nvestment vo ume n Afr ca ast year ncreased by 100 t mes more n a short span of 10 years wh ch shows that cooperat on between both part es s mov ng to a new eve ” he sa d

Email davids

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on.iriekpen@

News Editor Davidson Iriekpe n thisdaylive.c om, 0811181308 1

Others Mourn Ibru

in Abuja described as painful and Ibru’s death In his the people of a great loss to Media statement signed by his of Delta State, Niger Assistant, commendation.

Senate President, Delta region, Mark described Paul Mumeh, the political He said: Nigerian his predecessor Bukola Saraki; and the , entire nation. class Ibru as a huge the death of late Ibru “ It is on record that sacrifice who was ready to the immediateDavid Mark and was an incorruptib the person of his life for “Ibru’s economic and loss to the senator who Ibru has passed of Abia State past Governor growth contributions to the on. never compromis le of our country. We the unity “He development socio- political his integrity,” of democracy and senator will miss who was a patriotic Nigerian ed him so representing of Nigeria. adding that dearly. May remains legendary. in Nigeria committed his Abia Central enormous the National Assembly, in solid foundation He laid the a He said Nigeria had lost Ibru as a member of the late rest in peace,” Orji his soul resources to very disciplined job then said.

Senate Committee Senator upon Theodore He also other humanitar creation and , honest, Orji, yesterday subsequent governors which patriotic and ian during the infamouson Education Ibru’s familycondoled with the mourned the of Delta statesman incorruptib “As a politician, activities.

State have and demise of the he lived who promoted le bribe-for-budget N55million of Delta State, the Governor the people, first We shall continued to build. elected Governor scandal in the 2005 was culture of integrity as a businessm for all miss him,” Okowa, prayingSenator Ifeanyi he was upright Olorogun Felix of Delta State, said. never found wanting an, Saraki uprightnes and moral “because s in both private grant them the that God will his businesses and focused in were saddenedIbru, saying they While commisera and high moralhe was a man of very fortitude to bear public life. by his passage. and the ting irreparable loss.

In separate statements standing who life was dedicated above all, his with the immediate would The former Senate not compromi to the service family of , the senators described Also, former of God and humanity. se . He was an President incorruptib Governor his passage deceased and the governmethe described Ibru as a pan-Nigeria of Abia State, as a great loss le parliamentarian.”

“There is no and people of nt who worked Mr. Orji Uzor n to doubt Delta Delta On Kalu, that State for State his part, Orji and the entire the peace and his memories will expressed sadness nation as they his death, he urged them over unity of the remain evergreen over recalled his exemplary nation, saying statement by his media in a the demise of the to be “Senator consoled by adviser, Ibru, first civilian, in the minds of the people.

Mr. Don Norman the fact that lifestyle and character Our noting prayers the nation Ibru craved for a during his lifetime. late Ibru lived an exemplary Ibru was a nation Obinna, said a rare gem. that Nigeria has lost Ibru and thoughts are with the under one God Saraki in a statement life replete family at this where builder every citizen trying time.” by his invaluable with humility and According to is free to pursue a role model whose and Special Adviser, The former governor, his or her legitimate the former death came at the while Publicity, Mr. YusuphMedia and an architect,service to humanity as urging the Ibru time his wealth governor, Ibru was a renowned ambition of any where businessman,senator family to take Olaniyonu, experience statesman without fear and governor. molestation.” of by governmewas highly needed resources who used his heart, added that the deceased left behind a nt to uplift his According to him, good legacy country forward.to move the and communit people his for the patriotic children zeal and passion He described his philanthrop y, adding that members and other family ic gestures to uphold. the late business with which astute leader the late Ibru as impacted and entreprene Kalu commisera lives positively have politician contributedmogul and who contributed ur beyond governmen ted with the to national immensely to Delta State. t development and people the development of Delta especially when In a statement State, UPU and of the country he was the senator the Special Adviser, signed by his representing adding that his contributio He prayed God Ibru family.

Kunle Oyewumi, Delta Central would be highly ns Kalu said: to grant the between President Muhamma departed soul “It is 2007 in the Senate 2003 and eternal rest and du Buhari “He was a missed. that an astute painful to hear also has exaggerate Haram lacks is worthy d peace and equity; promoter of consumma businessman, a the give the deceased’s family success against the military’s out their the capacity to carry fortitude to bear te politician a detribalised usual commando Boko Haram, the sad loss. outstanding community and an according -like attacks during to leader in which they march northern Nigeria officials in in and Continued from run down towns page 50 to an American in response villages, or but testimony that commander’s to say that that is not enough they are not around,” extremist group the Islamic Ngari Modu, a transport official still holds territory. the Nganzai area in of Borno State.

Buhari said Modu, said in January that who stays in Boko Haram camp for a is “currently not the city displaced persons in holding any territory today of Maiduguri , said his we speak.” as home village and surroundin His claim, made areas remain at a summit “no-go” zones. g in Abu Dhabi, “We are the Emirates (UAE), United Arab time we left confused each hear soldiers skepticism in was met with no territory saying Nigeria. is now under Buhari’s claim the control of last week by was contradicted told the Boko Haram,” he the Associated Press of the United Commander on telephone.

(AP) States Africa Command, In the 10 months General David since he Rodriguez, who took office promising to Armed Services told the Senate the insurgency halt Committee in , Buhari has Washington replaced the military’s that Boko Haram “does own resupplied soldiers leadership, some and moved territory in northern significant the headquarte Rodriguez’s statementNigeria.” from the distantrs for the fight capital, Abuja, indicated to that the Nigerian Maiduguri. government is overstating Senator the campaign its success in from BornoMohammed Ndume to State said the soldiers extremists, a few eliminate the are succeeding northern officials said at the weekend.

Boko Haram’s in cutting off access to food “All we know is that Boko and supplies and he is confident that eventually L-R: Daughter the military will Affairs, Prof. of the late former Governor Bolaji Akinyemi; of Delta State, governor at his GRA residenceand son of the deceased, Chief Felix Ibru, Mrs. Onojola Dr. Paul Ibru, , Ikeja, Lagos... during a condolencOniwinde; former Minister yesterday e visit to the of residence of Foreign the former SUNDAY ADIGUN Tobi Soniyi in Abuja of Buhari’s talks with his host.

In continuatio Adesina Adebiyi Adedapo n government’s of the federal Mbasogo said Buhari and in Abuja efforts to achieve would also because their greater security discuss actions and agree The federal of a clear and present constitute government Mohammed and investmen lives, resources measures on other collaborative warned danger has said the of Nigeria and ts in all parts as piracy, to combat crimes such with that it will deal ruthlessly the nation’s economic, social to government is not unaware is felt directly by Nigerians crude oil theft, its sub-region those and political engaged that well President Muhamma as it steps up attacks vandalism , on oil rigs, When power being. The attack in pipeline . arms smuggling the fight is the Forcados infrastructure on against du Buhari and the sabotage will today travel corruption, sabotaged for of has affected Export Terminal that will to Malabo for human trafficking in the and power infrastructu whatever talks with President vigorously fightcorruption reasons, Nigerians gas production re that Gulf combined of Guinea. by many back in brunt. to drastically have oil firms and reduced Obiang bear the Nguema Mbasogo forms, including The statement reduce to power While gas supply the be aimed those actions may destruction/sabotag said: “Both power generation/transmissio generating plants Guinea on further of Equatorial leaders as well at will n protect the people measures to reschedulin also confer on the times, as fuel supplies in recent the shutdown of the Utoroguand national infrastructu e of key governmen discrediting the t, those who pay re to make g of the and resources gas plant are thus inflicting of the Niger the price are the of the Economic joint summit hardship untold cannot totally condemnable and the government look bad.

Delta and Gulf vast majority on Nigerians. be allowed to ‘’However, Guinea. of West African Community of continue. make nothing will innocent, law-abiding and of In a statement States (ECOWAS ‘’Also, while wellmeaning Nigerians A statement this governmen by the Special and the Economic Communit ) Abuja yesterday, issued in will not do this administration down t to slow the Adviser to anything to abridge the Minister in its anti-corru of Central vandals or the , not just y of Informatio the President the constitutio ption saboteurs. fight and no one n and Media and Publicity, on additional African States on Alhaji nal rights of who is corrupt This is why Nigerians cooperative measures any Lai MohammeCulture, individual or Mr. Femi to must Adesina, said not allow the group to carry will be spared,’’ he d, said out curb terrorism the the repeated few assured conclusion protests, recreants Nigerians and violent attacks on oil and signing of behind these it will also extremism in . and tolerate an agreement attacks to hold not West and Central gas pipelines and The minister a situation in Nigeria and Equatorial

by Africa. the willful shutdown of appealed to sway,’’ he said. which Nigerians anyone will Guinea for power facilities the establishme hide under Mohammed to join “The summit by guise óf nt said the was to have protesters amount to economic legitimate protests the the government hands with power situation maritime policingof a combined been hosted to check sabotage power to activities is gradually

by Equatorial sabotage which no governmen patrol committee and security Guinea of the unscrupul the improving as generation will tolerate. t The shutdown infrastructure. and last year but on Tuesday ous now would be the unpatriotic has was of the national increased to ‘’Vandals, whatever major outcome postponed because of Nigeria’s transmissio have taken it elements who 4,000MW around general election. upon themselves their and the n facility in Osogbo motives are, while the Minister to continuou cannot and Ikeja Disco by State for Petroleum of will not be treated some the interest sly work against with kid gloves unionists amount to economic Dr. Ibe Kachikwu Resources, of the sabotage,’’ he , has assured ‘’When oil and people.

Nigerians said. are vandalise gas facilities fuel queuesthat the prevailing d, the impact will in the next few gradually ease days.

Again, Buha Overstating ri Accused of Boko Haram Losses

MAY HIS SOUL

REST IN PEAC E

President Leav es for Equatorial Guin Talks on Mari ea for Lai time Security VandMohammed: FG will Be Ruthless als, Power Infra structure Sabo against Pipeline teurs

JustwhenN ger ansthoughtthat J the deaoff oat nganat ona carr erhadbeen ett soned tresurrected nQatardur ng arecentv s tbyPres dent MuhammaduBuhar totheGu f state Off c a s ntheBuhar adm n strat onwerereportedto A havebegunta ks Page 15

Buhar

D AY

Buhari, Saraki, Mark,

SenatePres dent Buko aSarak h s predecessor Dav dMarkandthe mmed atepastGovernorofAb a Stateandsenatorrepresent ngAb a Centra ntheNat ona Assemb y SenatorTheodoreOr yesterday mournedthedem seofthef rst e ectedGovernorofDe taState O orogunFe x bru Page 11

EDITORIAL Who Needs a Nat ona Carr er?

KACHIKWU NIGERIA IS TARGETING 2 4MBPD OIL OUTPUT IN 2016 scarc ty of petro n the country The Execut ve D rector of the network Moses Adede sa d n a statement that was made ava ab e to THISDAY that the dec s on of the government to nvo ve the Econom c and F nanc a Cr mes Comm ss on (EFCC) and Department of State Serv ces (DSS) to checkmate the poss b e d vers on of products n the country had not gone down we w th the a eged caba Adede sa d that the Manag ng D rector of PPMC Mrs Esther Nnamd -Ogbue had then become the sub ect of attacks by the caba ow ng to her efforts to stop the d vers on of products He asked the federa government to be wary of the caba He sa d “Less than 24 hours after her appo ntment as Manag ng D rector of NNPC s reta arm a powerfu carte nvo ved n the ega d vers on of fue stepped up the r attacks aga nst Mrs Nnamd -Ogbue whose goa was to truncate the r ega bus ness by us ng face ess p atforms to ca for her remova by Kach kwu “In the past few weeks these unscrupu ous e ements and the r co aborators a so fee grave y aggr eved that under the superv s on of Kach kwu she dep oyed hundreds of offic a s under the overa superv s on of the m n ster to cease ess y mon tor defau t ng fi ng stat ons and fue d str but on across N ger a ” Meanwh e Ch na has sa d t wants more crude o exports from N ger a n sp te of the recent changes n o

STARTERS

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POLITICS The Founta n of Cr s s

Lastweek somemenofthe Depart mentoftheStateServ ces reported ystormedtheEkt State HouseofAs semb yandarrested four awmakersforund sc osed reasons Th sact onofthesecur ty operat veshass ncehe ghtened tens onandapprehens on n thestatetotheextentthat governmentfunct onar esnow ve nfear Page 16 L

POL T CS

The Foun a n

FEATURES C ean ng up Ogon and

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FEATURES

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BUSINESS Expe sF ayFGove De e o a ngEconomy Wh eN ger amaynotbetheon y front er/emerg ngeconomyfac ng econom ccha engesontheback oftherout ncommod typr ces theact onsand nact onsofthe federa governmentandeconom c managershavefurtherworsened theN ger ancase econom c expertshavesa d Page 23

CITYSTRINGS W See God f D eToday

T H I S D AY

• MONDAY, MARCH 14,

2016

BUSINESSW

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Quick Takes

Skye Bank Refutes

Report on TSA Skye Bank Plc has refuted alleging that its Managing reports in some section of Director/Chief Timothy Oguntayo the press Executive Officer, was invited Commission Mr. (EFCC) over by the Economic and Financial a Treasury Single to N6.5 billion.

Crimes Account amounting It said that the with a Presidentibank’s CEO was invited by the EFCC in connection which was closed al Implementation Committee ’s (PIC) account, According to in October 2015. a statement, Executive Officer the Group Managing of the bank, Mr. Director/C an interactive session with some Timothy Oguntayo, said hief Presidential Implementa during customers that the balance in tion Committee returned to the the ’s account, as reported, was OctoberlastyearTSA Account with Central Bank of Nigeria(CB afterthecommittee Oguntayo said N) in hadcompleted itsassignment the money was the PIC account was closed . information moved to the CBN, wondering immediately after came why and where “Let me state about. the myself nor the that as at the time of the said Chief any such invitation. Compliance Officer online reports, neither of the Bank But importantl account had y, the balances had received since in the said PIC TSA on October been moved to the CBN in compliance 2, 2015 and the L-R: Chairperso with the account closed” n, WIMBIZ Executive Corporate Communic he said.

Fidelity Bank, Council, Benedicta Oyiana ations Manager, UnileverAishah Ahmad; Minister Fidelity Bank Firm to Hold Worksho and Corporate Nigeria Plc, Ayodele of Solid Minerals Plc and Koinonia p Affairs, Unilever a one-day workshop/ Development, Ventures Limited Nigeria, Oluseyi Alabi; Human Resources Dr. Kayode Fayemi; training are set the workshop Olawoyin, at Manager, Unilever could not have on exports. According to to hold the 2016 Wimbiz view of growing the bank, come at a better Annual LectureNigeria Plc, the prevailing emphasis on export and import time especially in in Lagos...rec economic condition ently substitution. global oil prices, With precipitated by the free-fall to expand and the lender said it was imperative in increase non-oil inclusive growth. exports to foster for the country sustainable and The conference which has Workshop” is scheduled to as its theme, “Export Readiness Eromosele Abiodun Lagos on Wednesda take place at the Sheraton The workshop y, March 16, 2016.

Hotels ECONO MY is expected While Nigeria experts, governmen to bring together the Monetary may not be the only frontier/e t agencies subject Policy Committee business, to (MPC) of the share knowledge and private sector players matter merging Bureau Numbers released economy CBN opportunit in sits and export facing economic on the last insights on the 21st and 22nd of Statistics by the NBS ies in the challenges on week had revealed key trends and of March, it (NBS), which showed Koinonia Venturesnon-oil export sector. the back of is that that the Nigerian imperative for the rout in commodit the economy is a trade facilitation firm. Incorporat Committee Nigerian economy expanded the and the contracted by y prices, by the actions three guidanceapex bank to provide 2.11 per cent year-on-ye and Ekiti States,ed in 1990 with operationa /strategy consulting per cent in and inactions the fourth quarter ar (y/y) l bases in Abuja, in the the company on the the federal global player government of of 2015. of the nation’s management The fourth quarter of 2015. in internation has since metamorphosed Lagos economic managers and figure currency. In active involvemen al trade Similarly, the into view, this should our 3.83 per was 0.73 per cent and have further experts t in the marketingbusiness especially with a worsened the cent points international entail the its Nigerian case, the various administrasaid development of Nigerian brands community. what was achieved lower than economic experts of a roadmap tools deployed tive to the by the CBN would allow for flexibility that and the correspond in Q3 2015 A case in point, have said.

Bankers’ C’ttee in the of 2014. ing quarter the experts were reactionary and unstable. pricing of the naira, noted, was Marks Global In nominal terms, preferably This, they posited, As part of its the fixation through Money Week commitment the of the official exchange further system. a managed floating value of the economy Nigeria, and rate by the eroded confidence in was put to commemo to promote financial inclusion Added at N25.9 trillion Central Bank Bankers’ Committee rate Global of Nigeria (CBN), bank’s handling of the apex the need for to this would be and for Q4 2015 in Money Week which has severely N94.1 trillion adequate support through exchange crisis. the foreign from 2016, Enlightenment for the entire the fiscal authorities Sub-Committee its Financial Literacy and the 38 year 2015. investors’ confidenceimpaired at primary and “These Public has mapped complement to came wayThe growth numbers in the vacuum inevitably created Nigerian economy. monetary policies. takes place fromsecondary school students.out activities directed below expectatio a This support in the Global Monday, March ns Experts at Eczellon has largely been and were the lowest exchange (FX)nation’s foreign absent the Bankers’ 14th to Sunday, Money Week since Committee in (post Capital 2011 markets Limited stated recent March 20th and GDP rebasing has designated “Financial Literacy this while heightened uncertainties and would invariably times. This Thursday, March The poor showingera). responding which in turn impaired attract 17th as The purpose Day”. to of the released by the numbers and investment needed investment into the nation’s economy Day is to promoteof Global Money Week T H growth of in the fourth the Nigerian the quarter I S D AY • MONDAY the Nigerian country and set the economy financial knowledge and Financial was largely economy in in children and Literacy on a sustainable tied to the , MARCH 14, and fiscal planning recent quarters. the growth path,” woeful performance 2016 As they said.

According to youth. skills of the nainclude visits a statement, planned activities by to mark the week Continued schools adoptedofficials of all Financial on page 24 by their institution Institutions in Nigeria Financial Institution to s. During the CEOs/GMDs the schools a will teach select school visits, module of a Financial students from designed by Literacy curriculum Junior Achieveme organisation specially nt – Nigeria, focused a Goddy Egene Individual financial on educating children non-governmental on economic institutions have to visit banking matters. also CAPITA L MARKE Investors staked Central Bank halls to observe day-to-day arranged for students of Nigeria will T decline was driven majorly a total of banking activities.

N13.92 trillion Finance Fair/Exhib also be The decrease in by ition in Abuja organising a Child and Youth the Nigerian on securities in platform foreign exchangea at 12.42 per cent. to fixed income mark the week.

Activities in Unsecured Placements currency markets and ket to and organise the mar- (FX)transactions). internation Activities /Takings in January accounted for and February Data obtained al standards. contribute in the FX market 2.15% of total of 2016. turnover.

by THISDAY d 23.89 per transactions cent to were facilitatedThe at the weekend showed that the turnover, down by Specifically, FMDQ OTC by the exchange all it a blessed 4.32 per transactions Securities cent from the has facilitated assurance in in the two months. Exchange N13.92 foretell of value recorded the FX market stood , a the future or in January trillion investmen The FMDQ at $6.56 billion,$2.35 whilst OTC Securities invasion the market “Research shows t in a human billion (26.385 of God’s exclusive (T.bills) transactionTreasury Bills cent) Exchange in the to determine per licensed by that $28 below the first role s contributed two 35.67 the Securities was monthsmortal’s the fate trillion could of everyper cent to in the previous value recorded Exchange Commissi and investors of the year. be While journey the after7.51 staked N7.35 world economy, added to the Whatever per cent from total, up average daily month with an on (SEC) life. in 2013 as an too far in it may trillion from previous January, turnover of $0.32 as offering be, none over-the-counter month. describing February billion. Member-M is have the same if women mind and of prayers (OTC) securities the accounted outpourin for N6.57 her as vivacious conscienc to God Almighty economic g of trillion, Secured e which a declined $38.84 ember trades that showed market transaction self-regulatory exchangequality and atime opportunity as left expected demand as a little girl spent (Repos1 decrease in theofservice has million (31.87 some s per cent) whose long men” 10.6 per of the run the fixed organisatiolooking n to is met. Reputed back, could a chorister cent.Lord,forthus / Buy-Backs) accounted as activity declined income trading not preparednAn analysis - a soloist 25.54 for being but of across the perforper cent of announce The wife of former ess to see defied age in her younger all sub-catego mance her in February and sang joyously her creator turnover of her journey British Prime years ries. in the month, total Member-Client visitors. She showed that Minister, Tony at the end on this planet along with was also presented transactions, Blair and founder The 83rd birthday her earth. FGN bonds’ contribution while Reacting to Cherie Blair Foundation of of Mama Olubisi with which held settled her women the gesture by the church gifts. for Women, Continued was a silent recently at her Lagos Osinbajo, organizati Cherie Blair through

CONTRIBUTO RS TO ECONO MIC DEVELOPME NT

Experts Flay FG over Deteri Economy orating

CITYSTRING S

Investors Exch ange N13.9trn Exchange in Two Months on FMDQ OTC

W See God

Ca tab essedassurance aforete C ofthefutureorahuman nvas onof Godsexc us vero etodeterm nethe fateofeverymorta s ourneyafter fe Whatever tmaybe none stoo farfromdescr b ngtheoutpour ng ofam ndandconsc encethathas spentsomequa tyt me Page 38

D e Today

on page 24 on, who defied and came from residence and special one to many, yet, distance different provinces to celebrate a and with enmeshed gathering that left the powerful such a magnitudher, Mama Osinbajo dioceses in excitemen celebrant surrounde t as she found d among people e of love can only noted that loves most by the group of people herself be found that truly the women - the love God. that she The Church church. but because came not because of And that of Nigerian munion) is her person of (Anglican the church Commend the love they have ComMama Osinbajo with. The church’s for her. their wives ing the church’s clergymen women organisatio worships for by the wife the work of their sacrifice and commitme and of n headed recently visitedthe Primate, Mrs. Nkasiobi the nt to and churches, Lord in their different Mama Osinbajo Okoh in Lagos to dioceses at her residence closely with she noted that it is celebrate the pays birthday with the octogenarian’s With Mama’s ministers of God. to work 83rd The visit led her. confidenc fact that God by the Archbisho Province of blesses and e rooted on the p, Ecclesiastic diligently Lagos and al service Him. rewards those who Bishop, Diocese Mainland, has been her The Most Revealing Revd. Adebayo of Lagos had in attendanc that that the Lord andpropelling force in Akinde, e clergy wives, working for the top hierarchy the determina to working - Primate’s, ranging from Bishops to with the clergy tion in sticking Archbisho to her, even the Vicars’ ps, to share in and even to if on her own wives. According all the blessings Mama’s joy. the laity’s she couldn’t In a brief she desired, confident that celebration however sheget described that working could is opens up another as a church with the clergy hymns, prayers service as be better wives and God would door of blessing singing of a better part and word of exhortatio in her life wants to bless also bless her whenever of the event, n took opening prayer His servants. started with He “I always and a hymn an great, so sing walk with titled “Life I can’t get about it” is everything, the Mamayards, if events of life and the that so aptly describes that come I will get from to live and right attitude also prayed always follow the one they got.something enjoy life. needed that God So, I will In a short the more, them everywhe follow them increase and will bless Mama’s life re Akinde, takingexhortation by the enable her renew “Secondly, give them, so that whatever Godthey go. I Archbisho you have p worship always join in the her strength to birthday through verse his text from Psalms He wants to celebrated fellowship 20, reading of the Speaking fromwill give me too.” one to nine, your 83rd to always and in good in good health. You her experience urged “We pray thatAlmighty God. depend the ministers are not physical of working God will bless - divine protectionon God for all the people And as with and bouncing health, you are also only alive clergy wives of God, Mama encourage and divine their needs renew you advance in age, you the more. is bubbling According d the abundant in the Lord Jesus Christ. your strength of the Lord to remain committed providenc to that God life. Arise, to the service e. will still power comes him, the surest provision will for even as she even in old Mummy and This wives to follow your light be able to advised non-clergy age that you from God and has anywhere move shine here, join in fellowship come. all the Mamayard around, be “It is time else. Stressing alone and not from I want able to in to and worship s. these needs you love so the land of reap the fruits of your Don’t leave you to follow all the “Everyone the God I know met throughthat attempt to have much,” the the living.

Mamayar than God them, the labour blessed, Delivering Archbisho Church of would amount other means other Nigeria prayWe, the women of the and so you work they are doing d.

Extolling the wife of the birthday goodwillp prayed. days, so to inviting must be blessed.” is that as Revealing trouble. shall your the Primate message, Akinde said,the virtues of the Octogena the secret Mothers’ strength be, long as your health and the President, Speaking “Mama, we Okoh prayed. to lie on her of her life, success rian, Organisat Union, Women’s testimonie thank God Primate’s on the timeliness of and Guild and determina s of with God ion, Mrs. for the from the visit, the tion Girls’ coincide wife said that along worked very your life. We have Okoh, the entire Mama Osinbajo with the ministers’to work known and close for almost with the church’s it was planned membersh said “Greetings Being and I am delighted Union and wives, advised people to God and ip of the Mothers’ 10 years now, Mothering a special time the Women to they should to work for is a godly Sunday. of Nigeria, the Anglican Guild of the worldwid woman. At say it publicly that this would ignore detractors Anglican 83 and as the the number Communion, Church Nigeria e celebrate mothers, Communion them, want to discourage you our hearty two them. “Don’t who through her the Church the work they not miss Bible man in this country,mother of Citing several congratulations.” we offer fit to celebrate of so you leave women group are doing is she does Study and if you blessed, and deemed and honour Charging Nigerians should celebratereasons why the Octogenar prayer meetings.

Okoh, blessed. That work with them, one of their you must at this point ” senseless acquisitio to desist from ian diligent who called on was my secret especially all women own. to know of her crude and her in bringing and I want be n of wealth, up with a your life time, 83rd birthday, she life and right manners up their children to be God is that their work is just you he backed biblical quotation said blessing from God the fruit of it ascended of Mark 8:36 also urged in the you them everyday. and from the book your womb “in marriage between ladies to embrace the exalted that asked can’t drive I told them, anyone to acquire has shun office of the what Federal Republic me away, wherever Vice President, lesbianism a man and a woman I will follow material gainsit would profit His you go. of Nigeria yet lose his . and and Excellency, of this life and “On this soul in eternity?

I am pleased So, they didn’t drive you Professor Yemiin the person of note, we said, “As we The Archbisho especially with what me through them.”

Osinbajo, SAN. carry on in during this call on all mothers, God is doing p divine acceptanc this life, let Sunday to Standing gallantly us seek e, it is be diligent time of Mothering important, children, especially and beaming in bringing because this important, very, very, up their wi our permanen world we in the spite of the are pressure of Christian way, in to all beloved t place of abode. I am in is not and it’s challenge work, married appealing out obsession Christians friends, s. life “Secondly, let us for material we call on not help anyone, acquisition watch embrace marriage, all young , it does it has women to and it will the marriage and a woman never help. never helped anyone between collectively Individually should shun and raise godly children.a man and even all attractions one thing weas a nation. As a nation, They style and fulfill of should all that is deliver us the divinely selfish lesbian life child bearing from. We pray that God should assigned role and rearing,” we don’t make don’t create Decked in Okoh admonish of anything, things to work, acquiring ed. companied an immaculate white but and with a blue lace, acthat God will spending. All of us we enjoy designed with Aso the Mothers’ Oke, beautifully our values, turn the situation in must pray gear and a Union logo national psyche country, MONDAYour piece hung think of creating MATCH pearing in on her shoulderfor her and making so that we can14, 2016 • T the The brief - apH I S D AY things to work.” thus signifying same uniform with her visitors power-pack ‘birthday service’ which of the Mothers’Mama Osinbajo’s one did was a membersh prophet’s Union. The ip being the payers and not end without the Mothers’ Union highest organisati visitors, family blessings. reserved for Leading the members and on exclusivel in some minutes other well wishers y and wedded godly women who are married of prayer of thanksgiv open to both in the Anglican Commun ing clergy wives ion Mama who and the laity’s. is well-wishers joined her visitors, children and in one of most - singing the activities she of hymns and praises loves as well

INTERNATIONAL Trump Ca s for Protesters Arrests Dona dTrumpattheweek end ca edforthearrestsofprotesters whod srupth sra es onedayafter a tercat onsandprotestsforced h mtocance acampa gnra y n Ch cago Thecommentscappeda tumu tuousdayonthecampa gn tra Page 41

INTERNATIO

Trump Calls NAL for Protesters’ Arrests

email:foreign

41

desk@thisda

Donald Trump ylive.com at the weekend called not of protesterfor the arrests more going to have any gonna let his rallies, s who disrupt Trump protester s, folks,” somebody ruin hate, our country said. As altercatio ns one day after of dozens protester s the 21-year-like that,” said aboutbut we have not been forced him and protests Trump’s disrupte old native hate and that’s nominat ion, Venezuela. “People of way rally inside d of the campaign rallyto cancel a Kansas a need to we we got treated when ing his Chicagodisrupt- “Bernie’ City theater, know that they s crowd.”

The commen in Chicago. of demonstr came event, know crowds for Trump, and cannot vote Toates, out,” said Phillip where many in ators gathered Bernie was “You tumultuo us ts capped a outside. audienc the Trump canwho saying day on the not become leaning towardsaid he is senator’ e chanted the Mr. Trump should campaig n our President Lining the trail in which to his crowd,” speak Among those s support.” ing Trump a demonst the rally name after said. four corners sidewalks and Trump rator rushed but is the protester targeted by undecid “You was called of the stage where a ed. “It’s not still off. “Some they come know where Trump was intersection to the nearest the Toates s’ cries were way represen the speaking . from? theater, family: I Bernie, ted the protester expected Bernie’s father crowd.

Phillip, his our commun Trump also wife and their treated coming to be friend,” opposition s voiced their ist crowd.”They’re Bernie’s three children to Trump’s out of Dayton, Trump said nie Sanders’ accused Ber- cies poli, including a rally,” he said. in proteste And when a a 10-yearOhio, his r moment sowing unrestsupporters of manyand rhetoric, which Trump began old son. first campaig n “How do the day appeara nce disrupte d Trump’s arily by blaming and the GOP at his events racist, characte rized as they know since even attended I of Sanders, support ers was the Chicago event the GOP front-ru rally, refused to backfront-runner fear-monxenopho bic and postpon ed. nner the Vermont again said They say Trump’sthe rally? senator gering. his rhetoric down from the Later demonPolice all seeking strator about Democra in the that some used pepper have cited spray at least twice tic presiden the said protesteday, Trump person.” was a “Bernie “Get your rs at tial Clevelan of heighten as the cause night, Saturday with the d event his in line, Bernie,” people his rallies. ed tension at City Kansas are said.

Trump Police Trump’s tweeting thatDepartm ent “we protester s call to arrest use pepper spray had to came at campaign event a outside 2 times City, Missouri in Kansas arrested Trump rally and was repeatedl , where he refused two people who y interrupted to follow law.” at the beginnin As Trump address. “I’m g of his left supporte rs the venue, going to ask that you shouted and protester s Trump said arrest them,” them cursed at -- and any to the police.

“I’ll file whatever passersby coming from charges of the direction you want. the If do this ... we’rethey want to them theater -- calling “f***ing going to go strongly for your arrests.” Alicia Valeanzela, racists.”

Trump said who arresting shouting those wordswas protester s at would “ruin people she believed the rest to be of their lives” Trump supporter by giving s, said she them a “big believed anyone supportin arrest mark.” g “Once that Trump supports a starts happenin racist, xenopho bic g, we’re ideology.

“It’s not right I’m not

CANADA Train s Security Officials in Crim es Investigations, Management

Zacheaus Somorin been an opportuni Canada has trained Nigerian enforcement officials ty for law security officials to learn and A woman holding in crimes apply internationally recognized investigations methods and manageme near the Greek a child at a makeshift According to nt. crime-scenfor major case and village of Idomenii… camp set by a e manageme stranded migrants made availablepress statement direct yesterday nt. The waiting to cross yesterday, the to THISDAY in theresult will be an increase the Greek-Ma long training two one-week serious capacity to investigate cedonian border, courses were offenses and based and on effective analyse evidenceto obtain investigation management and of complex and bear judicial scrutinythat will serious criminal in the incidents for prosecution of offenders.” the Nigerian The Training police. and cooperation The Canadian South African Police College builds upon the commitme and the made nt Minister, Finance not Royal Canadian

by Canada Mounted Police Pravin Gordhan going to discuss through has the bi-nationa , matters been l commissio courses to Nigeriandelivered the established through the these to London and n, to answer given deadline with Nigeria investigators media,” States.

Hangwani the United to improve questions in 2012, to assist Mulaudz their capacity posed Nigerian security by a Gordhan’s lawyers i said. major case The Sunday for in combating forces his special police unit on Police said in and crime-scen role terrorism. It said the letter Independent spy unit are investigating the early March that he missed management, is unit at in setting up a spy evidence collectione also in response previous deadline to Gordhan’ at a lawyers instructed the revenue and preservatio to a request s Revenue the South African to from to respond a local newspape service, ister Service (SARS) the the mininvestigations n, kidnapping of the the Inspector General to answer conducting for he wasquestions because r reported Nigerian Police yesterday. as well illegal by 1600 local the questions lance interviewing busy preparing Force on taxpayers. surveil- the country’s techniques as seeking specialized time A spokesm statement analysis. and these Gordhan training in budget and an for South GMT) on Monday. (1400 headed SARS areas, and builds Africa’s Directora when the unit would respond to The Treasury upon Priority other training the police Canadian te for comment questions at declined to was set up but has initiatives Crime Investigat High Canada Commissioner said a The public later date. ion, schedule , but Gordhan is has no case to answer. he has implementhat known as “the Perry Calderwooto Nigeria, Mr in spat has und to have a In late February ted confirmed Hawks”, partnersh ip nerved investor press Africa’s briefing of the training d, at the end Nigerian with , South in that confidence stated: “this has rand Africa’s Police Force the been sent to thea letter had 1200 GMTon Monday at nearly four currency shed economy most advanced recent years. minister’s in lawyers T H I S D AY percent in and labor with business day , which could but declined •MONDAY MARCH one its investme after Gordhan leaders lose disclose to recently accompa who were its contents.

14, 2016 nt-grade rating “We are on attempts to said there by mid-year discredit an investor nied him him and , potential raising borrowin the integrity road show ly The United of the Treasury through g costs States and South the probe. for governm ent and Korean troops has denounce firms alike. drills and a staged assault as “nuclear d the exercises big amphibio USS Boxer, which war moves” landing exercise us on Saturday, threatened to respond and Harrier attack carry AV-8B forces storming simulated “with an 53 jets and an all-out offensive. with Osprey North aircrafts, took V-22 blitzkrieg strike ultra-precision Republic Korean beach Group Sports Tension on of the Korean defenses amid of Korea.

Editor Duro the Korean the assault on beachespart in style”. heightened tension CNN reported launched ballistic Pohang city, near Ikhazuagbe and threats peninsula has been high onEmail by the North “The Saturday duro.ik the since the North missiles althoughhazuag to annihilate “They will U.S. navy said. forces revolutionary armed that North Korea has doubts about enemies. its nuclear conducted its fourth be@th been were that isdayli ve.com tional enemy penetrate no- tightly of the DPRK holding searching for one of test in January The landing and its sub- expertsraised after Western beach defenses, the arms to and establish annihilate marines that has been missing assault drills followed that with a long-range said publicly the enemies on South Korea’s a beach head, for rocket days released with towering footage off its rapidly transition launch and hatred east coast were part of for them submarine may east coast. The be fake. of tests appeared to triggering new last month, sustainme forces be adrift U.N. sanctions. joint exerciseseight weeks of nt ashore,” the and for the dignifiedare waiting the sea About 55 or have sunk, under On Thursday, U.S. Comman Supreme U.S. marine military based in South allies which the between the aircraft Korea to launch d to issue an order after a technical problemperhaps leader Kim JongNorth Korean are the largest South has said Koreanand 30 U.S. and South said in a statement before during as his Un watched ever. The North exercise. The ships, the of justice,” a preemptive strike an exercise, CNN quoted North’s officials U.S. range forces fired two shortUSS Bonhommincluding the said it was prepared military carried byit said in comments secret with intelligence ballistic missiles e Richard and of the state KCNA to counter U.S. the into the U.S. and monitorin sea. This month South Korean news agency. DPRK North’s activities g of the North conducted drills the stands for the Democrat North Korea as saying. what ic People’s it said were with has said is developin Duro Ikhazuagb g submarin it develope d large newly e- rocket e launcher s. caliber reasons for quitting his As at the last job.

Although the count at weekend, NFF is yet to no fewer the advertise the post five European than occupied presently signified their coaches have by the in caretaker capacity replace Sunday intentions to SamsonOlympic Eagles coach, Oliseh as Super Siasia, it is generally Eagles’ managers . Two of the believed that the federation coaches are does not want bidding to return to the post they to rock the boat until left Two French previously. AFCON after the two-legged 2017 qualifier nationals, Paul le Guen against and Claude Egypt later this month. le Roy, and “I am very a Dutch, Mark that Wotte, THISDAY much between three aware learnt at European the weekend, and five submitted theirhave already for the coaches have applied Eagles’ job. I resumes at the Glass don’t think the NFF leadership House. Though both Clemence will want to discuss with Jo Bonfrere Westerhof and now any of them are yet to file that their application in team to Siasia is preparing the take on the Pharaohs sources at the s, authoritative of Egypt Nigerian Football between March Federation (NFF) secretariat and 29,” stressed the 25 in Abuja hinted football official top that the at the weekend.

Dutchmen have Further checks made contacts with the federation revealed that by THISDAY Paul Le Guen Oliseh walked . the NFF leadership can succeed Claude Le Roy away from is disposed to the senior Nigerian in our peculiar hiring a foreign coach national because for the Eagles environment, that I believe team shortly World Cup Mark Wotte in South Africa. why they of its past is He from the 2016 after returning with has managed both Stephen experience European are considering a 19, was sacked on Novembe African Nations Championships teams coach,” our Keshi and Oliseh. source poor2015 due to Cameroun’sr Netherlands, Egypt, in the of The Netherland revealed.

Rwanda where (CHAN) in start of the 2018 Qatar, England and “All s’ Le Guen, Romania, and 21s between 2000 U19s and World has Eagles failed the home-based seen Nigerians have now 52, had a Cup qualification campaign that those we also worked successful manageri to progress Both Westerhof and 2002. beyond the consider for the best do not have Scottish and our group stage. al career in Le Roy, 68, is a familiar the character in France, most face He has Football Association. need no introductiBonfrere The former Nigerian the African expected of on Nigerians. a position with a national team leading Olympic Lyonnotably had stints continent having Morocco captain, who is scheduled The generatioto the fondly to three Congo in Ghana, Senegal, consecutive to meet with coach. Yes, they may federation the House of Ligue 1 be coaches and Camerou good of their Under-20 in charge golden referred to as Nigeria’sn n. His Committee Representatives handlingin their own right but also coached at Stade titles. He greatest achievem era that team.

Rennais, continent ents in the has the mandate to qualify He likes of Austin included the Thursday inon Sports on Nigeria a national team like PSG, Glasgow Rangers Okocha, Oliseh, Abuja, cited the Indomitab goes beyond and Camerou include leading team for the 2017 and the Siasia, Nwankw poor working le you what Under-20 2019 n Lions to a runner-up see on the conditions as evolved under o Kanu etc AFCON. of position field. Only Cameroun. His biggest very good managers in the 1986 AFCON The likes of impact and in Yaounde Arjen Robben, between 1989 and Westerhof was leading followed of men Lions 1994 with Bonfrere as the two years up with the title Robin van Persie, Rafael to qualify for his assistant. der Vaart van later at Maroc the 2010 Bonfrere and Dirk Kuyt ’88.

Dutchman used almost Wotte, 55, flourished under same set of the Wotte’s players watch when he was in charge Africa’s first Olympicto win medal at Atlanta gold ’96.

ECONOMIC STRU GGLE

South Africa’s Deadline ove Finance Minister Giv en r Spy Unit

SPORTS F ve European Coaches on the Queue

US, South Kor ea Stage Ass ault Drills

for Eag es Job satthe astcountattheweekend no fewerthanf veEuropeancoaches haves gn f edthe r ntent onsto rep aceSundayO sehasSuper Eag es managers Page 53

MONDAYSPO

Five Europe RTS Queue for Eaan Coaches on the gles’ Job Le Guen, le Roy, Wotte have appl

FCT SWAN Asks Probe Missing Buhari to N2.7bn

ied

Westerhof & Bonfrere pulli ng strings

Champions Leag ue: Enyimba Wal Confed Cup: lops Vital’O 5-1 Nasarawa in another slim

Olawale Ajimotok an in Abuja how the money Members of a source of concernthat is now Association of Sports Writers was spent.

They FCT Chapter Nigeria (SWAN) governmealso called on Nigeria champions Enyimba have appealed look set nt to beam President Muhamm to its stage ofto progress to the next MacArthur Arakaza. adu Buhari anti-corruption searchligh not to turn Stephen CAF Champion on the sports t League after s it 3-0 for Chukwude made Leonard scored the fifth sector. allegation ina deaf ear to the they in the 85th minute. goal The Enyimba with Philip Azango bothering on the sports sector Buhari congress appealed to Burundi’s Vital’O 5-1thrashed powerful shot a left it late till In the in a first of the N2.7 billion to fast track the round first leg allegedly misappro the box in thefrom the edge Osadiaye’44th minute, Joseph the 86th minute to grab release match of money the by the National priated are capableto athletes as they Harcourt on Sunday. in Port Mfon Udoh 38th minute. a good s effort at goal after match winner for Nasarawa Stephen Chukwud of winning laurels Sports at Commission a brace in the completed team’s run into the Burundian United. the Olympics e gave (NSC). box was punched Enyimba 56th Tactically The request given the right if they are minute the lead in the 21st just two minutes afterminute, by the goalkeeper away Constantin disciplined he was inside the six in a communi was contained including denied a goal incentives, e played with The second for a corner. short yard off goalkeepe by the opposing a man Christian Pyagbara integrated the chapter que issued by and in Bujumbur leg comes up when as from the 55th minute, r to foreign training local Nigeria league ’s pass. a Hamza Boulemdia first congressat the end of its Vital’O got make it 4-0. tours.

Sports writers In the CAF next weekend. sent off. all-time for the year a consolatio record goals scorer s was Confederation Friday, to evaluate on tasked n Cup, Nasarawa Mfon Udoh goal in the 76th government similarly doubled Enyimba Nasarawa United is again sports manageme the state of alternativ through Hussein minute walking to explore 28th lead in the overcome a also had to e means, including minute, when Shaban, ‘Solid a tight rope after The money nt in Nigeria. the National narrow 2-1 he curled who capitalised on Emmanue in the ball Miners’ could the over Generatio win Lottery Funds approved by in question was Sports l manage n Foot and 18-yard from the edge of the Anyanwu’s error. government Development a 1-0 home win only Senegal in box to beat goalkeeper year as a grant last to finance The Nigeria champions the prelimina of Funds CS over Constanti round sports and augment ry ne of to reach Nigerian athletesto prepare its budgetary not done yet were a first at Ugochukw round, first Algeria in the competiti this stage of allocations.

All Africa Games for the should leg u in Abuja on.

It also consider yesterday. match The return leg in Congo Brazzaville making tax concessio match will be played in Algeria ns and other the training as well as for generous on Friday. of athletes that rebate will be participat that sponsor to corporations sports.

Olympic Games ing at the FIFA Under-17 They also World this summer. in Rio, Brazil why highest goal scorer ever, Cup a privilege and government wondered Osimhen will always The alarm failed , has arrivedVictor honour such bells were leverage on the success to camp invitations any preparation for the sounded as the time I of the Team Nigeria, of game. am called The Dream which was an to governme a wake-up call initiative team, Dream U-23 national of the “I have come upon.

Team VI, ahead expected to depart Team is March country on Sunday, that Nigeria nt as the belief is Nigeria driven by Corporate of the internatio to fight 20, aboard the shores is inexorably nal friendly jersey in this friendly for a a path of humiliatio African Airways a South on fund fortowards generating game against Brazil match that is part local and foreign month. flight. later this for n at the training of preparati Olympics in ons the the Rio tours for athletes as it happened same manner ahead The ganging am happy toOlympics and I of major internatio at the London striker be among the 2012, where nal arrived the Star View who invited players. the country failed sporting events.

Palace I was to win a medal.

Hotel camp You know The reporters Team at about of the Dream Eaglets part of the Golden SWAN appeal 1pm yesterday team was in the challenged Minister also was received light of report Youth the Brazilians that defeated of at the was not toothat government Dalung,and Sports, Solomon Coach, Fatai by interim Head World Amao. disposed to Cup in Chilelast U-17 to releasing additiona Speaking and so objectives by prioritise his it will a pleasure l funds his making public Osimhen, who on arrival, play for preparatio for me to developmental them at was part of the after NSC andn of athletes instead programme, Africa U-23 Cup and hopefullytheir backyard of grandstan of Sports failedthe Ministry embarkin find the back ding and –winning team to of Nations of the net, g Senegal last to explain as I did against outside the on fruitless trips year, said: “It’s always them in Chile.” country. fun me to come With to camp and for for my fatherlan play became his arrival, Osimhen

home win

Osimhen Arri ves Abuja ahe ad of Brazil Clas h

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

11

NEWS

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

Buhari, Saraki, Mark, Others Mourn Ibru Tobi Soniyi, Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja and Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Senate President, Bukola Saraki; his predecessor, David Mark and the immediate past Governor of Abia State and senator representing Abia Central in the National Assembly, Senator Theodore Orji, yesterday mourned the demise of the first elected Governor of Delta State, Olorogun Felix Ibru, saying they were saddened by his passage.

In separate statements, the senators described his passage as a great loss to Delta State and the entire nation as they recalled his exemplary lifestyle and character during his lifetime.

Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu,

in Abuja described Ibru’s death as painful and a great loss to the people of Delta State, Niger Delta region, the political class and the entire nation.

“Ibru’s contributions to the growth of democracy in Nigeria remains legendary. He laid the solid foundation upon which subsequent governors of Delta State have continued to build.

We shall all miss him,” Saraki said.

While commiserating with the immediate family of the deceased and the government and people of Delta State over his death, he urged them to be consoled by the fact that the late Ibru lived an exemplary life replete with humility and invaluable service to humanity as an architect, businessman,senator and governor.

Again, Buhari Accused of Overstating Boko Haram Losses President Muhammadu Buhari has exaggerated the military’s success against Boko Haram, according to officials in northern Nigeria in response to an American commander’s testimony that the Islamic extremist group still holds territory.

Buhari said in January that Boko Haram is “currently not holding any territory today as we speak.”

His claim, made at a summit in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was met with skepticism in Nigeria.

Buhari’s claim was contradicted last week by the Commander of the United States Africa Command, General David Rodriguez, who told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington that Boko Haram “does own some significant territory in northern Nigeria.”

Rodriguez’s statement indicated that the Nigerian government is overstating its success in the campaign to eliminate the extremists, a few northern officials said at the weekend.

“All we know is that Boko

Haram lacks the capacity to carry out their usual commando-like attacks during which they march in and run down towns or villages, but that is not enough to say that they are not around,” Ngari Modu, a transport official in the Nganzai area of Borno State.

Modu, said who stays in a camp for displaced persons in the city of Maiduguri, said his home village and surrounding areas remain “no-go” zones.

“We are left confused each time we hear soldiers saying no territory is now under the control of Boko Haram,” he told the Associated Press (AP) on telephone.

In the 10 months since he took office promising to halt the insurgency, Buhari has replaced the military’s leadership, resupplied soldiers and moved the headquarters for the fight from the distant capital, Abuja, to Maiduguri.

Senator Mohammed Ndume from Borno State said the soldiers are succeeding in cutting off Boko Haram’s access to food and supplies and he is confident that eventually the military will

In his statement signed by his Media Assistant, Paul Mumeh, Mark described the death of Ibru as a huge loss to the economic and socio- political development of Nigeria.

He said Nigeria had lost a very disciplined, honest, patriotic and incorruptible statesman who promoted the culture of integrity and moral uprightness in both private and public life.

The former Senate President described Ibru as a pan-Nigerian who worked for the peace and unity of the nation, saying “Senator Ibru craved for a nation under one God where every citizen is free to pursue his or her legitimate ambition any where without fear of molestation.”

According to him, the patriotic zeal and passion with which the late business mogul and politician contributed to national development especially when he was the senator representing Delta Central between 2003 and 2007 in the Senate is worthy

of commendation.

He said: “ It is on record that late Ibru was an incorruptible senator who never compromised his integrity,” adding that late Ibru as a member of the then Senate Committee on Education during the infamous N55million bribe-for-budget scandal in 2005 was never found wanting “because he was a man of very high moral standing who would not compromise . He was an incorruptible parliamentarian.”

On his part, Orji in a statement by his media adviser, Mr. Don Norman Obinna, said Ibru was a nation builder and a role model whose death came at the time his wealth of experience was highly needed by government to move the country forward.

He described the late Ibru as astute leader and entrepreneur who contributed immensely to the development of the country adding that his contributions would be highly missed.

“He was a promoter of peace and equity; a detribalised

Nigerian who was ready to sacrifice his life for the unity of our country. We will miss him so dearly. May his soul rest in peace,” Orji said.

He also condoled with the Ibru’s family and the Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, praying that God will grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Also, former Governor of Abia State, Mr. Orji Uzor Kalu, expressed sadness over the demise of the first civilian, Ibru, noting that Nigeria has lost a rare gem.

According to the former governor, Ibru was a renowned statesman who used his resources to uplift his people and community, adding that his philanthropic gestures have impacted lives positively beyond Delta State.

In a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Kunle Oyewumi, Kalu said: “It is painful to hear that an astute businessman, a consummate politician and an outstanding community leader in

the person of Ibru has passed on.

“He was a patriotic Nigerian who committed his enormous resources to job creation and other humanitarian activities.

“As a politician, he lived for the people, as a businessman, he was upright and focused in his businesses and above all, his life was dedicated to the service of God and humanity.

“There is no doubt that his memories will remain evergreen in the minds of the people. Our prayers and thoughts are with the Ibru family at this trying time.”

The former governor, while urging the Ibru family to take heart, added that the deceased left behind a good legacy for his children and other family members to uphold.

Kalu commiserated with the government and people of Delta State, UPU and the Ibru family.

He prayed God to grant the departed soul eternal rest and also give the deceased’s family the fortitude to bear the sad loss.

Continued from page 50

MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE

L-R: Daughter of the late former Governor of Delta State, Chief Felix Ibru, Mrs. Onojola Oniwinde; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi; and son of the deceased, Dr. Paul Ibru, during a condolence visit to the residence of the former governor at his GRA residence, Ikeja, Lagos... yesterday SUNDAY ADIGUN

President Leaves for Lai Mohammed: FG will Be Ruthless against Pipeline Equatorial Guinea for Talks on Maritime Security Vandals, Power Infrastructure Saboteurs Tobi Soniyi in Abuja In continuation of the federal government’s efforts to achieve greater security of lives, resources and investments in all parts of Nigeria and its sub-region, President Muhammadu Buhari will today travel to Malabo for talks with President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea on further measures to protect the people and resources of the Niger Delta and Gulf of Guinea.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the conclusion and signing of an agreement by Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea for the establishment of a combined maritime policing and security patrol committee on Tuesday would be the major outcome

of Buhari’s talks with his host.

Adesina said Buhari and Mbasogo would also discuss and agree on other collaborative measures to combat crimes such as piracy, crude oil theft, attacks on oil rigs, arms smuggling and human trafficking in the Gulf of Guinea.

The statement said: “Both leaders will also confer on the rescheduling of the joint summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States on additional cooperative measures to curb terrorism and violent extremism in West and Central Africa.

“The summit was to have been hosted by Equatorial Guinea last year but was postponed because of Nigeria’s general election.

Adebiyi Adedapo in Abuja The federal government has warned that it will deal ruthlessly with those engaged in pipeline vandalism and the sabotage of power infrastructure that have combined to drastically reduce power generation/transmission as well as fuel supplies in recent times, thus inflicting untold hardship on Nigerians.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the repeated attacks on oil and gas pipelines and the willful shutdown of power facilities by protesters amount to economic sabotage which no government will tolerate. ‘’Vandals, whatever their motives are, cannot and will not be treated with kid gloves

because their actions constitute a clear and present danger to the nation’s economic, social and political well being. The attack on the Forcados Export Terminal that has affected gas production by oil firms and reduced gas supply to power generating plants and the shutdown of the Utorogu gas plant are totally condemnable and cannot be allowed to continue. ‘’Also, while this administration will not do anything to abridge the constitutional rights of any individual or group to carry out protests, it will also not tolerate a situation in which anyone will hide under the guise óf legitimate protests to sabotage power infrastructure.

The shutdown of the national transmission facility in Osogbo and the Ikeja Disco by some unionists amount to economic sabotage,’’ he said.

Mohammed said the government is not unaware that as it steps up the fight against corruption, corruption will vigorously fight back in many forms, including the destruction/sabotage of key national infrastructure to make the government look bad. ‘’However, nothing will make this government to slow down in its anti-corruption fight and no one who is corrupt will be spared,’’ he assured Nigerians.

The minister appealed to Nigerians to join hands with the government to check the activities of the unscrupulous and unpatriotic elements who have taken it upon themselves to continuously work against the interest of the people. ‘’When oil and gas facilities are vandalised, the impact

is felt directly by Nigerians.

When power infrastructure is sabotaged for whatever reasons, Nigerians bear the brunt. While those actions may be aimed at discrediting the government, those who pay the price are the vast majority of innocent, law-abiding and wellmeaning Nigerians, not just the vandals or the saboteurs.

This is why Nigerians must not allow the few recreants behind these attacks to hold sway,’’ he said.

Mohammed said the power situation is gradually improving as generation has now increased to around 4,000MW while the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has assured Nigerians that the prevailing fuel queues will gradually ease in the next few days.

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T H I S D AY MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

COMMENT

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

THE TRIAL OF BUKOLA SARAKI Nnamdi Ebo’s piece on the trial is misguided, argues Mohammed Abdulrazaq

I

t is interesting how some persons can expect laws to be twisted to favour their selfish interest, particularly as they desperately seek to undo an opponent. In this regard, the above titled article for which this riposte is made would not have deserved any form of reply save for members of the public not to be deceived by its illogicalities and puerile assertions. Mr. Nnamdi Ebo in THISDAY of March 10, 2016, made unsubstantiated claims to the effect that the Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki ought to resign based on allegations of false asset declaration for which he is being prosecuted at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). One wonders what the country is turning into with hirelings like Ebo opting for extra-legal means to get rid of a perceived political opponents whereas the judiciary is there as arbiters to adjudicate on any form of dispute or disagreement. Nigerian cannot revert to the Hobbesian state just because some persons failed to get certain positions for themselves or their lackeys.

Ebo’s opinion is untenable in all its ramification though he remains entitled to it. It is against both natural and civil law for an accused to be denied fair hearing. For anybody to ask a man undergoing trial undeservedly not to be given the opportunity to prove his innocence is worse than murder. This is why the bellicose submissions of Mr. Ebo must be rejected by all right thinking Nigerians especially the government he sought to vainly incite and the tribunal he so targeted to prejudice by presenting his opinion like facts. Facts, they say, are sacred and opinions are free. The argument of Ebo is that Saraki should immediately resign to save the institution of the Senate based on the CCT charges. If this were to be the rule rather than the exception, most political office holders in the country today who have had to defend their victory at the tribunal, court of appeal and supreme court before having their mandates affirmed would have since resigned and given way to their opponents to take their positions.

Even though Ebo quoted some legal maxims aimed at underscoring his knowledge of the law, what he spewed out in his write-up shows that he is still a kindergarten as far as the law is concerned. Were this not the case, he would have known and respected the fundamental principle of our legal system which presumes anybody on trial innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. Besides, the burden of proof lies on the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt why charges should be upheld against an accused person. However, Ebo in his piece would prefer that this clear position of the law be waived so long as it is Saraki that is involved. Ebo’s misconceived prescription is not only laughable but a complete negation of the rule of law and the time-tested principle of fair hearing. If we have to adopt his style in all cases pending before the courts, then there will be nothing to try because either of the parties would most always be “pressured” to give up his rights through a well-oiled campaign of calumny by opponents. Besides, adopting the stand of Ebo would bring about utter confusion and anarchy because according to him, once anybody is accused - rightly or falsely - they should immediately vacate their position in favour of their accusers. Were this to be the case, what then happens if such a person who has been “pressured” to vacate his lawful position is eventually

IT IS AGAINST BOTH NATURAL AND CIVIL LAW FOR AN ACCUSED TO BE DENIED FAIR HEARING. FOR ANYBODY TO ASK A MAN UNDERGOING TRIAL UNDESERVEDLY NOT TO BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVE HIS INNOCENCE IS WORSE THAN MURDER

cleared by the courts? Will Ebo and his ilk start a new pull him down campaign to get the new occupier of the office to step down for the now former occupant?

He talks about “opprobrium and desecration” of the Senate because of the on- going case against Saraki. Let me remind the writer that Saraki’s has been on since September last year yet the 8th Senate has witnessed its most productive and stable period since 1999 and continues to wax stronger in the performance of its responsibilities beyond the expectation of Nigerians. For the avoidance of doubt, the Senate under the leadership of Saraki has screened and confirmed ministers nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari, made its voice heard on the issue of increased electricity tariff, continues to champion the patronage of Made-In-Nigeria goods, exposed the fraud in the operation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) in which it saved the country billions of naira, and have pledged to pass the 2016 budget this Thursday, roughly three months after it was presented. It has also committed itself to passing quality legislations that would turn around the fortunes of business and investments in the country.

The writer further claims that the federal government is too sophisticated and powerful to retreat from prosecuting Saraki. Let Ebo be reminded that like right thinking and rational Nigerians know, it is not about the federal government retreating - I don’t think this is part of the defence in court - but for truth and falsehood to be allowed to contest freely in the market place and the truth should prevail at the end of the day. The charges before the CCT dated back to 2003 when Saraki first had a stint as governor. Let Ebo’s voice of Jacob and hands of Esau say they would have taken this same position if the defendant is not the Senate President.

Again Ebo sees himself as the new sheriff in town. He wants Saraki to tell him if he has enough “factual evidence” to escape conviction.

Why is Ebo in a hurry? The case is before the CCT and not before Ebo for crying out loud. Besides lacking locus to make such tendentious request, his demand for ‘factual evidence’ on issues that are before the court, to all intents and purposes, is prejudicial, premature and mischievous. Saraki is not and cannot face charges before Ebo. Notwithstanding that he is in a hurry to justify his pay, he has no choice but to allow the wheel of justice grind unencumbered by his prejudices.

To ask the Senate President to throw in the towel without first putting up a defence to the apparent politically motivated charges against him would amount to grave injury and injustice of the highest order. Such abnormality, if allowed to stand, would greatly imperil the progress we have recorded so far as a democratic country. As they say, injury to one is injury to all. Ebo is practically living in a tiny colony of beasts through his advocacy that charges before the CCT demands no defence but resignation.

It is legally reprehensible for Ebo to urge the Senate President to “honourably resign” and thereafter affirm his innocence via a valedictory speech. Ebo and those who reason like him must desist from standing logic on its head.

Abdurazaq wrote from Anyigba, Kogi State

APPA AND THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari is expected today, March 14, to formally declare open the 33rd Ordinary Session of the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA) and CAPE VI Exhibition, which is considered Africa’s most strategic oil and gas meeting, at the International Conference Centre in Abuja. The conference will last for three days. Experts who do the leg-work aspects of such international meetings have been in Nigeria in the past one week preparing the ground for their ministers and heads of delegation to deliberate and take decisions on crucial issues affecting the organisation.

APPA is made up of 18- member countries namely Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroun, Gabon, Niger, Chad, Congo DR, Congo Brazzaville, Angola, Mozambique, Mauritania, Libya, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Benin, Egypt, South Africa and Sudan. APPA was formed in January, 1987 in Lagos, Nigeria at the instance of Nigeria and seven other African petroleum producing countries: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroun, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon and Libya. From this humble beginning, the association now boasts of its current 18 members with three or four others seeking to assume observer status.

Chances are that in the next five to 10 years all African countries will become APPA members as oil and gas would have been discovered in commercial quantity in all of them!

For the first time in the 28-year history of the organisation, Nigeria assumed its presidency only last year. The idea of the founding fathers which gave birth to APPA was the need to promote cooperation among member countries in hydrocarbon exploration, production, refining, petrochemicals, manpower development, acquisition and adoption of technology and others.

How far have these noble objectives been ac-

Idang Alibi urges the association to live up to the times

complished in the past 28 years? What impact, if any, has this organisation had on the peoples of Africa from whose countries crude oil is extracted? If this organisation did not exist, would the economies and standard of living of the peoples of APPA countries fared worse or better? Is APPA relevant or has it tried to be relevant to Africa? These questions and many others may not be asked and answered directly in the way they are posed here, but in one form or another, they will prop up or intrude for deliberation at the event.

One of the facts which help to give an indication as to whether or not APPA is relevant is the truth that even in Africa and even among some elite who ought to know, APPA is known more as the OPEC of Africa than by its own original name! This circuitous definition of APPA by a higher and better known organisation, should be food for thought for those at the helm of affairs of APPA. African crude oil producers account for 12 per cent of the share of world oil production. Yet of all the regional oil blocks, APPA is the least known and the least respected because of the lack of cohesiveness and assertiveness on the part of this block.

The theme of the Abuja conference is Positioning the African Oil and Gas Industry through Value Addition for Global Development. This theme could not have come at a better time as petroleum producers world-wide are gasping for breath following very unsavoury development in the oil market; the most unsavoury is the sharp fall of crude prices in the international market creating huge revenue shortfalls and foreign exchange difficulties for many countries including African crude producers. One of the major issues then that is expected to top the agenda of the meeting is how to shore up the prices of crude.

Nigeria, Africa’s leading economy and leading crude producer, has been leading the fight for a rally in oil price on behalf of Africa.

Three weeks ago, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, was with President Buhari in Qatar and Saudi Arabia to lobby the two leading producers with large reserves to cut production in order to shore up the prices. Nigeria has also been working with Venezuela and Russia calling on producers to close ranks for their common good and the good of the economies of the world.

The respite we are getting now in terms of the rise in price to about 40 dollars per barrel is the dividend of the concerted efforts by Nigeria’s oil minister Ibe Kachikwu and his counterparts from Venezuela and Russia. The social tension created by the sharp decline in the price of this main revenue earner of almost all of these countries is something policy makers and executors are having sleepless nights about.

Sacking or threat of massive sackings of public and private sector workers as a result of the downturn in the fortunes of oil dependent countries is another issue the political masters of APPA countries have to pay attention to. From the negative fall-outs, the council of ministers has to set out urgent steps to address what is popularly called the ‘resource curse’.

Norway and some other ‘reasonable’ countries have used their black gold well and are not suffering from any resource curse of any kind. African countries blessed with crude oil or any money-spinning gift from God can use them well, if they resolve to do so.

We in Africa should endeavour to use our God-given endowment well and not turn around to more or less blame God for blessing us.

APPA countries are fond of mouthing diversification of their economies away from crude oil but very little has been done over the years among them in that direction. The time for a forced change has come. It is common knowledge that most APPA countries have not been prudent in the spending

of their oil wealth over the years. The good thing therefore about this sudden turn of events for the worse is that it will act as a very much needed jolt to turn a new leaf and think of investing wisely on projects that have regenerative pay-off on their economies.

For many African countries, the sharp fall in oil prices is a tragedy long foretold; so what has befallen them cannot in all honesty be described as a rude shock. The truth is that not many prepared for the gathering storm when the USA, the world’s leading economy and greatest consumer of energy resources, was feverishly exploring and exploiting shale oil and gas. Today, with the USA as a major player in the global oil trade, the crude oil market is suffering a glut of about three million barrels per day.

The theme of the Abuja meet is particularly most appropriate because many African crude producers are not getting great value for their black gold because they export it raw without refining and getting the by-products. The crude oil industry in much of Africa is a capital intensive venture with great revenue earning ability but is unfortunately not a great creator of jobs. This accounts for the yearly growth in GDP often credited to some of these countries but the high level of unemployment in them. While oil is undoubtedly a major revenue earner, exploration for and exploitation of hydrocarbons create huge environmental challenges for many oil-bearing communities some of whom get little or nothing from the accruing oil revenues commensurate with the sacrifices they make for the growth and development of their national economies.

Their means of livelihood are often destroyed. Their environment is often so degraded and devastated that they cannot help but curse their countries for uncaring indifference. This issue must be addressed.

Alibi is the Director, Press and PR, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Abuja

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T H I S D AY MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

EDITORIAL WHO NEEDS A NATIONAL CARRIER? Looking back, we do not have what it takes to run a national carrier

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ust when Nigerians thought that the idea of floating a national carrier had been jettisoned, it resurrected in Qatar during a recent visit by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Gulf state. Officials in the Buhari administration were reported to have begun talks on the establishment of a national airline for Nigeria. Although presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, provided no details on the issue, it is nothing but a misplaced priority that the idea is still very much on the front burner.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, we agree that given the size of our nation, the huge population and the mobility of our people, there are sufficient grounds to argue for a national carrier. At present the country loses so much money to foreign airliners because there is no national carrier with adequate network of routes or the capacity to operate extensively on many of the highly lucrative routes. The few private airlines that attempt to do so do not have the wherewithal and capacity to finance extensive foreign operations. Moreover, a national carrier is not just restricted to carting THE WORLD OVER, MOST passengers to their NATIONS ARE PRIVATISING various destinations, DUD INDUSTRIES AND it is a tool for internaDIVESTING FROM AIRLINE tional relations. Yet no BUSINESSES BECAUSE matter how patriotic THEY ARE BETTER RUN BY we may feel about the THE PRIVATE SECTOR issue, going back to the era of our inglorious past remains nothing but misplaced nostalgia.

At its peak, the then national carrier, Nigeria Airways, had over 30 aircraft in its fleet. But by the time it was eventually liquidated in 2003 by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration with barely two aircraft, it had become a huge liability, an object of national shame and international ridicule. It was derogatorily called “air waste”! Some of the aircraft were seized abroad at will because of indebtedness. Salaries were hardly paid. At one of the most ludicrous moments in 2002, after more than a 24 -hour delay on a Lagos-

Letters to the Editor

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bound flight from New York, a passenger had to lend the airline $5,000 to buy fuel!

Indeed Nigeria Airways was synonymous with large-scale inefficiency, mismanagement and corruption. Yet there is nothing to suggest that appreciable lessons were learned as evidenced in the debacle that followed the federal government’s arrangement with Virgin Airlines to run Virgin Nigeria as public-private partnership (PPP), a similar model that the aviation minister is now proposing. Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the group complained of political intrigues, corruption, lack of adherence to agreements, and a regulatory body that didn’t know what to do “and persistently asking for bribes at any point”. The airline was making huge losses and ultimately, the Virgin Group was forced to divest its interest. What assurance is there that a new national carrier would be run responsibly?

T H I S DAY

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

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

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

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ndeed, the world over, most nations are privatising dud industries and divesting from airline businesses because they are better run by the private sector. At present, the nation’s aviation industry is going through financial constraints and many of the airlines are highly indebted. As a matter of fact the industry is in the grip of one major operator with doubts if the other tiny ones can survive independently for long. They are hindered by inadequate fleet and capacity and thus cannot compete effectively.

Given the foregoing, we feel that the government should enter into dialogue with the airlines and discuss the hard truths that confront the industry that is in dire need of consolidation by way of mergers.

This should be followed by some form of adequate financial assistance for the new groups to address issues of debts, fleet renewal, maintenance and insurance. Recent experience has shown very clearly that the proposal for a national carrier is not well thought-out and would end up as another monument to waste. We urge the Buhari administration to perish the idea and face the real challenge of revamping the sector.

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

LEKKI BUILDING COLLAPSE AND IMPUNITY

t the last count, the death toll in the recent building which collapsed in Lekki, Lagos, was 34 while 13 people were rescued. The collapsed five-storey building of 12 blocks of flats under construction represents yet another case of needless loss of precious lives.

Of late, the trend of building collapse, particularly in Lagos, is becoming quite alarming. Sometimes last year, a building belonging to a famous church in Lagos collapsed, leading to the death of many people. Over the years, the pattern of building collapse in Lagos smacks of impunity. What we have is the usual Nigerian style of circumventing the laws. People build structures without approved plan, building permit and other necessary authorisations, while estates spring up without layout plan. It is estimated that more than 60% of structures across the country fall within these categories.

Worse still and, perhaps, rather bothersome is that whenever the appropriate authorities attempt to ensure strict compliance to the rules by either sealing up an illegal building , those concerned often disregard such moves by simply continuing with the process as if nothing has happened.

In some cases, they could even resort to awkward actions such as beating up regulatory officials. The latest building collapse episode at Lekki is a classic example of how acts of brazen impunity by a few unscrupulous individuals could actually cause havoc to a community. In an official statement released by the Lagos State Government after the ugly incident, it was revealed that promoters of the collapsed building were served contravention notice for exceeding the approved floors and thereafter the building was sealed by officials of the Lagos State Building Control Agency.

It equally added that in a shameless act of impertinence and impunity, the proprietors of the building, Messrs Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited, the promoters of Lekki Gardens, illegally unsealed the property and continued

building beyond the approved floors until the ill-fated event.

The Lagos state government’s claim that the promoters of the building disregarded official directives to stay action on the project was corroborated by the staff of the organisation who alleged that there was never a time that they stopped working on the building. They simply carried on as if the orders from the regulatory agency were meant for the marines. It is the kind of impunity on display by the promoters of the Lekki collapsed building that has turned our country into a jungle where anything goes.

The sad reality of our country is that impunity has become part and parcel of us.

Going forward, the appropriate authorities responsible for building approval and allied matters must ensure that the rules are strictly adhered to at every stage of the process. It has, for instance, been alleged that some of the materials used for the collapsed building, especially iron rods and blocks were substandard. This, of course, amply illustrates the complicity theory of regulatory officials who ought to have subjected such materials to necessary integrity tests. Experts have, indeed, revealed that in Lagos, many developers build without appropriate monitoring from necessary quarters.

This should not be allowed to continue.

If we are to fulfil our potential as a nation, we have to collectively change our orientation. We have to change our value system. To begin with, those who willingly circumvent the laws of the land should be brought to book.

What it takes for evil to gain a stronghold in any society is for evil to continually go unpunished. It is in the light of this that one welcomes the news that the promoters of the failed Lekki building and their collaborators are already being prosecuted. They should be made to pay the ultimate penalty as stipulated by the law. They should face the music for their careless conduct.

Samuel Omojoye, Palmgroove, Lagos

THANKYOU, GOV AMBODE

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igeria is a secular state yet there are bodies set up by government to undertake the sponsorship of individuals on pilgrimage. Nowhere in the world is this done. When we read Chaucer’s the Canterbury Tales, individuals big or small, sought spiritual rejuvenation by embarking on pilgrimages and visiting a holy site. In our case, we visit for business, and at public expense.

Therefore, we are delighted with the decision of the Lagos State Government to cancel the over one-million naira it spends on each intending pilgrim to the holy lands – Jerusalem or Mecca. In this time of austerity, it is the fit and proper thing to do. Whether other governors will follow suit is another matter. Thank you Governor Ambode.

Bob Majirioghene Etemiku, Aneej, Benin City

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

POLITICS

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

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

The Fountain of Crisis

Through most of its existence, Ekiti State has always cut the image of a state wobbling from one crisis to the other. The recent invasion of the state’s House of Assembly by men of the Department of State Security clearly falls in this category of the recurring theatre of the absurd in a state that goes by the sobriquet, ‘Fountain of Knowledge’. Olakiitan Victor tells this disturbing yet developing story with all its trappings. Additional reporting by Shola Oyeyipo and Segun James

Fayose with his people...the signs of a looming battle

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ast week, some men of the Department of the State Services reportedly stormed the Ekiti State House of Assembly and arrested four lawmakers for undisclosed reasons. This action of the security operatives has since heightened tension and apprehension in the state to the extent that government functionaries now live in fear and move around incognito as nobody knows who will be the next victim.

The lawmakers, Honourables Musa Arogundade (Ado), Afolabi Akanni (Efon), Sina Animasaun (Ekiti West II) and Badejo Anifowose (Moba I), according to the speaker, Hon. Kola Oluwawole, were on Friday, March 4 arrested within the assembly complex and whisked to Abuja, for undisclosed reasons and had since been kept incommunicado.

More troubling for the members of the assembly and Governor Ayodele Fayose was the fact that contacts could not be established with two other lawmakers, whose identities were yet to be disclosed for security reasons.

Oluwawole, at a press parley, where he lampooned President Muhammadu Buhari for gradually sliding into dictatorship could not muster the courage to disclose the identities of those in detention, aside those whose names had been in the public domain.

We are unhappy about it. It is like returning us to the days of Gestapo when dictator government used the EFCC and the DSS to hound opponents.

The hallow chambers are supposed to be sacred. It is embarrassing and wrong to threaten and ensure that people are sufficiently intimidated…If such arrest must be made, there are procedures to follow. They are supposed to write to the Speaker. Security agencies should not be used to harass any elected official

The DSS alleged clampdown was not narrowed down to the legislative arm, many top government functionaries in Fayose’s cabinet, and those known to be inner caucus members, like the Commissioners for Works, Kayode Oso; Finance, Toyin Ojo; Special Adviser, Political, Mr Demola Bello; the just sacked Special Assistant on Revenue and Chairman of the Internal Revenue Board, Mr Ojo Ogunjobi and Special Assistant on Works, Mr. Odunayo Talabi, were either in the detention or already invited by the DSS, which fuelled insinuation that the game could be a fallout of Buhari-Fayose’s political battle and dangerous scheming ahead of the 2018 governorship poll.

The arrests had generated so much hoopla, which ripples have resonated beyond the shores of the state. While the Peoples Democratic Party (PDp) and pro-democracy activists, including Mr. Mike Ezekhome (SAN), had vehemently condemned the act, branding Buhari as a pseudo-democrat, the All Progressives Congress (APC) was of the opinion that the action was a retributive step to hold Fayose and members of his cabinet accountable for alleged sundry offences they have committed against the people and the constitution.

Though the Alhaji Lawal Daura-led DSS, has not come out with any definite allegation against the people arrested, there were speculations

that they were picked up for their alleged involvement in the beating of Justice John Adeyeye during the trial of a suit filed by a group called E-11, challenging the eligibility of Fayose to stand for the June 21, 2014 governorship poll, on account of his ill-fated impeachment in 2006.

Other issues speculated to have informed the action of the DSS, include the alleged culprits’ roles in the blockage of highways with trucks, when the immediate past APCdominated Assembly, led by Hon Adewale Omirin were allegedly planning to impeach Fayose. Some were said to have been picked up because of their alleged recklessness in the management of the state’s internally generated revenues and for their alleged complicity in Omirin’s impeachment, which seven out of the 26 lawmakers had played a pivotal role.

Considering these multi-dimensional allegations, this is really a difficult period for Fayose. Members of his cabinet are now living in palpable apprehension for no one could actually decipher what would be the next line of action, or who could be the next victim.

Fayose had the premonition of his present political predicament. Last December, the governor assembled all the Pastors from existing churches in the state to pray for his government. At the programme, the governor

CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

POLITICS/ THE MONDAY DISCOURSE T H E F O U N TA I N O F C R I S I S

Daura congratulates Buhari shortly after the election

explicitly said there were covert plans by his detractors to end his government abruptly the way they did in 2006. He used the opportunity to explain to the clerics that he was already in the know of the prophecy by some men of God that his government would have to beware, to forestall a re-occurrence of history.

An inkling that things would soon go awry for Fayose however came to the fore, when his close ally and embattled Secretary of the PDP in the state, Dr. Tope Aluko, openly disagreed with his estranged principal, making several damning allegations.

On various platforms, including the Channels Television, Aluko alleged that the June 21 poll was rigged for Fayose, with the instrumentality of military personnel. He flashed several documents to back up his claims and how money running into millions of dollars had exchanged hands.

However, first to hurl the salvo against the APC-led government was the Speaker of the Assembly, who lambasted Buhari for allegedly deploying state machinery to humiliate opposition, with evil intention to coerce members of the assembly to impeach Fayose.

Oluwawole, said they were allegedly offered a staggering sum of $1 million to prosecute the agenda, which he branded a desperate attempt by the APC to destabilise the government and brashly oust the governor from office. It cannot be denied that Fayose has been a vitriolic and consistent critic of the Buhari-led government since the president assumed office on May 29, 2015.

Painting the scenario of the arrests, Oluwawole, said the DSS, numbering ten, allegedly invaded the assembly complex on Friday evening and arrested the four lawmakers during the stampede.

The speaker clarified that inquiry from the state office of the DSS confirmed that the operatives, who carried out the operation, were deployed from Abuja.

“At the end of the commotion created by this barbaric act, we discovered that four of our members could not be found. It was only this morning that we were able to establish that Hon Afolabi Akanni, representing Efon Constituency was abducted and taken to Abuja.

The whereabouts of three other members is still unknown as we speak, and reasons for the invasion and abduction of our members are not known.

“However, we have it on good authority that the script now being acted by the DSS is part of the APC and President Buhari’s clandestine

plot to cripple the Ekiti State Government by arresting and detaining top functionaries of the government. We are aware that 18 of our members have been penciled down for harassment and the game plan is to harass them to submission, with a view to coercing them into signing an already prepared notice of impeachment of the governor and his deputy.

“We therefore wish to tell the APC agents of political instability that this time around, this House of Assembly will not be available for any ungodly use,” he said.

The Speaker disclosed that the lawmakers were not afraid of persecution from any government agency, including the DSS, stating that the level at which the Buhari government is allegedly exhibiting political vendetta and muscling opposition is dangerous to the survival of Nigerian’s democracy.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Fayose is a brave and not-easily rattled political warlord, who could go the extra mile to defend his territory. This also reflected in his official reaction, where he declared that even if the state was invaded by one million armed men of the DSS on the order of Buhari, the government and the people of the state will never surrender governance to political desperadoes.

The governor, who said the DSS under President Buhari was operating beyond its constitutional mandate added, “The government of Ekiti State may have to reconsider the usefulness of men of the DSS in the government house and other institutions of the state government.

“If Buhari likes, let him relocate all DSS men in Nigeria with the entire ammunitions in their armoury to Ekiti, the will of Ekiti people can never be broken. They will only try, and like they have always done, they will fail because dictatorship has never triumphed over the people. Even Buhari’s dictatorship between 1984 and 1985 ended one day and Nigerians will also outlive his present dictatorship.”

The governor said the DSS under Buhari’s kinsman, Lawal Daura, has abandoned its core mandate of providing intelligence for the protection of the internal security of Nigeria as provided in the Security Agency’s Act Cap. N74 LFN, 2004 adding that, “Instead of assisting the police, military and other security agencies with classified matters, we now have a DSS that is running after perceived opponents of the president, arresting goat and fowl thieves as well as husbands, who assaulted their wives.

“If the DSS was alive to its responsibilities, we won’t be having Boko Haram insurgents

killing Nigerians, all these kidnappings and Fulani Herdsmen killing, raping and destroying farmlands in the South-west, South-east and North Central zones in the country would have been nipped in the bud.”

He said the same way President Buhari used the National Security Organisation (NSO), headed by Ambassador Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi from Katsina State is the same way he is using the DSS, headed by another of his kinsman, Lawal Daura to harass, oppress and intimidate Nigerians.

Fayose said “It is obvious that democracy in Nigeria is becoming unsafe in the hands of Buhari and his APC and those keeping silent now because of politics may also end up in the belly of this roaring lion that is threatening to consume our democracy. Therefore, Nigerians and the international community should take special notice of the use of the DSS and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to muscle the opposition.

“As for me, I wish to say once again that I am not among those Nigerians that are afraid of harassment by any agency of the federal

Are they preventing DSS from performing their constitutional duties, after they had constituted themselves into security risk in Ekiti State? The government of Ekiti State jettisoned the rule of law for rule of impunity, illegality and unconstitutionality. The majority APC members in the fourth assembly were chased from the state and only six members, who did not form a quorum, took over

government. I make bold to state that in the overall interest of democracy and the well-being of Nigerians, I will continue to speak my mind on issues bordering on governance in Nigeria.

I will not be intimidated!”

Replying the attacks from Fayose and the assembly, the APC told the governor to encourage his colleagues to submit themselves to the law over their alleged crimes against the nation’s constitution instead of embarking on blackmail to whip up sentiments for undeserved public sympathy.

The party’s Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said in a statement that the accusation against the President was not strange to the observers of Fayose’s politics. He said instead of accusing Buhari of persecution, it was the governor that was persecuting the opponents, citing attacks on the opposition and persecution of APC Chairman, Jide Awe, after the court struck out a motion against him but Fayose still went ahead to serve the motion in his house.

“Just as expected, Fayose and his agent provocateur have started playing the game as scripted, but Nigerians are not fooled by the governor’s antics to escape justice in his various crimes against the state,” Olatunbosun explained.

He said Fayose and the assembly members were not the first or only Nigerians to be invited by the DSS for investigation, citing the National Chairman, Victor Umeh, and other eminent Nigerians, who had been invited to answer charges against them but were released after making their statements.

Olatunbosun, however, said it was hypocritical for the Speaker not to see Fayose’s actions in the invasion of the court to beat the judge and tearing court records in the Chief Judge’s office, chasing House of Assembly members out of the state for six months, impeaching the Speaker with seven members in the Assembly of 26 members and holding a gavel to pass the budget into law, among others, as actions depicting Nigeria as a banana republic while he believed performing legal duties by security agencies constituted despicable and unlawful acts in a banana republic.

“This is the Assembly that has not condemned any of Fayose’s illegalities but has been a chief encourager of constitutional breaches and acts of impunity. We are not surprised at the Speaker’s stance because the Assembly is composed of Fayose’s roughnecks, who were compensated CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

POLITICS/ THE MONDAY DISCOURSE T H E F O U N TA I N O F C R I S I S My comment is that the hallow chamber is a privilege area and should be treated as such. If they want to arrest, there is a procedure for doing that.

Then again, it amounted to illegal arrest because you cannot hold on to them just like that. I’m not saying that they should not arrest but you cannot keep them beyond 24 hours, particularly when a court has ordered their release.

We must respect the law.

Nigeria cannot be ruled by the caprice or morale of some people for the dirty job they did for him and that was why they are just the governor’s rubberstamp.

“The suspects in DSS net participated in all these crimes and this is the time for the law breakers to answer for their crimes. Nigerians are not fools to be deceived by this unconscionable descent to subterfuge to escape justice.

“For instance, how can we blame DSS for arresting Fayose’s aide, Ademola Bello, and Commissioner for Woks, Kayode Oso, and others after they were arrested by the police and caught with charms, acid, guns and cutlasses to attack APC lawmakers during the House of Assembly crisis?” he queried.

The State Executive Council, the highest decision-making organ in the state didn’t take the matter with levity and it has lent its voice to accusing the federal government of plotting to usurp the government of Governor Fayose, using military tactics.

The Council after its third meeting of the year in a statement conveying its position signed by the Deputy Governor, Dr Kolapo Olusola and 19 others, condemned how the DSS had allegedly flouted the statute that established it and acted extra-judicially by detaining suspects for more than 24 hours as prescribed by the law.

It described the foregoing as a flagrant breach of Section 41 of the 1999 constitution, the writ of mandamus, African charter of people’s rights and international regulations and conventions on protection of human rights.

“None of the stated functionaries have been accused of any crime whatsoever, let alone those bordering on the security of the state.

The spate of arrests of principal functionaries of government will appear irregular, unjust, unwholesome and politically motivated to intimidate Governor Fayose, who has become the lone voice of the opposition to the APC-led government of President Buhari.

“The current intimidation is an orchestrated plot by the APC to overthrow the legitimate government of Ekiti State, having failed to achieve destabilisation agenda through the judiciary and later through subversive machinations.

“The state had always cooperated with the EFCC and ICPC and indeed every other agencies that had visited the state to request for a piece of information or the other. The council, therefore, describes the current terror on Ekiti State as condemnable, malicious, and manifestly undemocratic.”

From the Court of Public Opinion As the controversy continues to rage over the invasion of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, opinions are equally divided on the development.

Those in Ekiti are of the opinions that the action of the DSS was politically motivated and that the totality of its purpose was to intimidate Governor Fayose and his political allies.

It is against this background that the governor has maintained that the agency went beyond its constitutional duties and has continually boasted that even if the state was invaded by one million armed men of the DSS on the order of the president, the government and the people of Ekiti State would not be intimidated to surrender governance of the state.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, the governor said the APC-led federal government was on a clandestine agenda of truncating democracy in Ekiti State and other

Layinka at a press conference on the turn of events in the state

Oluwawole...amazed at the action of the DSS operatives

PDP-controlled states like Rivers and Bayelsa States.

Former deputy governor in the state and currently a Senator representing Ekiti South senatorial district, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, in a chat with THISDAY also contended that the DSS move was as an invasion targeted at harassing the lawmakers.

“We are unhappy about it. It is like returning us to the days of Gestapo when dictator government used the EFCC and the DSS to hound opponents. The hallow chambers are supposed to be sacred. It is embarrassing and wrong to threaten and ensure that people are sufficiently intimidated.

“If such arrest must be made, there are procedures to follow. They are supposed to write to the Speaker. Security agencies should not be used to harass any elected official,” she contended.

Lawyer and Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Taofeek Gani said there was no legal barrier to prevent the DSS from arresting whoever, but like Fayose and Olujimi, he was also not comfortable with the manner the arrest was carried out.

“There is no legal bar or administrative bar in the law stopping the DSS from making an arrest, what is important is that they must not carry out the process with intimidation and

persecution,” he said, condemning the fact that the arrest was followed by detention. “You don’t make arrest and detain. When it leads to detention it means you have prima facie and there is no prima facie in this case. That is why there is hullabaloo in this situation.

“The act is condemnable. The DSS is hiding under its power to make arrest whereas some of those powers lie with the police. They are supposed to be bothered about the state – the sovereignty of the state. That is why they are called the Department of State Security. Issue of embezzlement and fruad is more of police responsibility. So, there is no gain saying that the arrest of the Ekiti State lawmakers was politically motivated.”

Lawyer, notable public opinion analyst and former National Secretary of the Labour Party, Mr. Kayode Ajulo strongly believes that irrespective of party affiliation, the way the DSS went about its operation at the Ekiti State House of Assembly should not be encouraged.

“My comment is that the hallow chamber is a privilege area and should be treated as such.

If they want to arrest, there is a procedure for doing that. Then again, it amounted to illegal arrest because you cannot hold on to them just like that. I’m not saying that they should not arrest but you cannot keep them beyond 24 hours, particularly when a court has ordered

their release. We must respect the law. Nigeria cannot be ruled by the caprice or morale of some people. That is my position,” Ajulo contended.

However, for lawyer and Executive Director, Centre for Mmadu on Human Rights, Mrs. Uju Peace Okeke, the DSS is empowered to arrest suspects on certain issues and it is until the reasons behind the Ekiti arrest are clarified before genuine comments could be passed in the debate.

But as other commentators, she condemned the sporadic shooting that characterised the arrest.

“The DSS is empowered to investigate threat of espionage, threat of subversion, threat of sabotage, economic crimes of national security dimension, terrorist activities, threats to law and order, separatist agitation and inter-group conflicts. It is unclear which of these objectives was being carried on in Ekiti. Again, if what we read about their sporadic shooting is true, then it is totally reprehensible,” she said.

Like Uju, the Executive Director, Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Lokoja, Kogi State, Mr. Idris Miliki also argued that the DSS must have basis for arresting the lawmakers and harped on the need to allow the agency do its job. He noted that the Ekiti House of Assembly has not been a law abiding assembly itself and stressed the need for things to be done in civilised manner on the part of the DSS. “I don’t have details of the reason for the arrest, so, I don’t know why they did what they did, but the important thing is that if there are issues on the ground, I think there are more civilised ways to do that. But the Ekiti House of Assembly itself has not been respecting the laws and procedures. If you look at what happened when the governor went to present budget; they should not have substituted the law and constitution to partisan interest and that is why they are victims of arbitrariness.

“Even at that, we expect security agents to follow the rule of law. The allegations of corruption and embezzlement should be property investigated and those found guilty should be penalised according to the law. An institution that is making law should not be seen to be breaking the law,” he opined.

Another Human rights lawyer and activist, Morakinyo Ogele, was particularly against the idea of the National Assembly stepping into the matter, arguing that they lacked the power to stop the DSS from performing its statutory and constitutional duty. He equally criticised the House of Representatives for summoning the DSS Director General, Lawal Daura.

According to him, the Ekiti State House of Assembly was not invaded by the DSS and therefore warned members of the state assembly against blackmailing the DSS. “The lawmakers’ allegation that some men, who claimed to be DSS officials offered them $1m bribe to impeach Governor Ayodele Fayose is a cheap blackmail and a serious offence, if they failed to prove it. This is a cheap blackmail and equally a serious offence if they fail to prove this allegation because it is trite in law that he who alleges must prove.

“Are they preventing DSS from performing their constitutional duties, after they had constituted themselves into security risk in Ekiti State? The government of Ekiti State jettisoned the rule of law for rule of impunity, illegality and unconstitutionality. The majority CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

POLITICS/ PERSPECTIVE

Saraki: It’s Time to Shine or Melt Magnus Onyibe writes that the Code of Conduct Tribunal must tread with care in the case involving the President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki because Nigerians can read between the lines

T

he firestorm generated by the Code of Conduct (CCT) arraignment of Senate President Bukola Saraki over alleged false declaration of his assets when he was governor of Kwara State has taken the dimension of political witch-hunting. At least, that’s the view of his numerous supporters, especially fellow senators, who came to that conclusion after the recent Supreme Court’s denial of the senate president’s prayer to prevent CCT from further prosecuting him.

In a terse statement, a majority of the members of the red chamber reaffirmed their confidence in Saraki’s leadership while pledging to sustain their unflinching support for their embattled leader throughout his travail.

Left with no other option, and perhaps buoyed by the exaltation of his colleagues, Saraki had looked forward to his days in court, last week (to be continued this week), where he will either shine or melt.

Normally, witch-hunting is not an uncommon part of politics and anyone who is in doubt, should ask Hillary Clinton, former First Lady, senator and secretary of state of the United States of America, and presently the Democratic Party front runner for the White House. The ‘banana peel’ to borrow from the Nigerian lingo, deliberately put on the path to the Oval Office for Mrs. Clinton to step on, slip and fall to prevent her from getting there is known to all keen observers of the race to the presidency of the USA. That’s why a sad event on an ordinary day, during her time as Secretary of State, such as the attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, where the USA ambassador, Chris Stevens and a couple of other compatriots were killed by Libyan terrorists, became a sort of albatross that would define her candidacy for the presidency.

Likewise for former two terms governor, and now senate president, Bukola Saraki, whom forces, similar to the ones intent on hamstringing Senator Clinton in faraway USA, seem to be determined here in Nigeria to equally undo him as senate president and ruin his chances of probably running for the presidency in 2019 or beyond.

Just like Hilary Clinton, who the ghosts from her time as Secretary of State suddenly started popping up as soon as she announced her interest in the presidency, Saraki’s alleged breach of public service code with respect to his network during his term as governor is being dangled like the sword of Damocles over his head.

The difference between both situations with Clinton in the USA and Saraki in Nigeria, is that while Clinton is confronting her demons barely ten (10) months to when President Barack Obama is supposed to hand over to his successor on January 20, 2017, Saraki is embroiled in a presidential ambition-motivated legal tango, less than eight months into the commencement of the new regime which has four (4) years or 96 months tenure.

Make no mistake about it, not all politicians can stand the heat of blackmail and scandal. Take the recent case in the United Kingdom, UK for instance. Chuka Umunna, a Labour Party leadership front runner in the UK dramatically abandoned his candidacy barely after three days of launching it for fear of the muck which might be raked up about him, his fiancée

Saraki...in the eyes of the public

and his mum.

Hear him: “Since the night of our defeat last week, I have been subject to added level of pressure that comes with being leadership candidate”. According to him, “I have not found it to be a comfortable experience. One can imagine what running for leadership can be like, understand its demands and attention but nothing compares to doing it and the impact on the rest of one’s life.

Consequently, after further reflections, I’m withdrawing my candidacy”.

You can imagine that the scenario above is the sort of attitude that the fear of blackmail could have compelled Hillary Clinton and Bukola Saraki in the USA and Nigeria respectively to adopt, but alas the pair of Clinton and Saraki are made of sterner mettle, hence they have decided that instead of chickening out like Chuka Umunna in the UK, they are soldiering on.

The duo of Hilary Clinton and Bukola Saraki are veterans of many political battles.

Along with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, Hillary survived the famous whitewater real estate scandal that rocked the then governor of the state of Arkansas’s presidential quest for No 1600 Pensilvania Avenue, Washington DC – which is the White House and residential address of US presidents.

After getting to the White House together, Hilary and Bill survived the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the USA by the House of Representatives.

Fortunately, the impeachment had no significant consequence, because the senate did not concur in the impeachment as constitutionally required.

On her own, Hilary fought and won the senate seat for the state of New York and subsequently contested against Barack Obama for the presidency in 2008. Although she did not make history at that time by becoming the first female president of the USA, as she had hoped, she nevertheless caught a handful of cloud, (since she could not accomplish her ambition of touching the sky) by being compensated by Barack Obama, who appointed her the Secretary of State of the USA. Similarly, Bukola too has been in the

trenches for most of his political life.

After serving as a presidential aid during Olusegun Obasanjo era, with the support of his father, regarded as the godfather of Kwara State politics, he fought and won the governorship of the state. As if he had affinity with conflicts, Bukola was embroiled in a sibling feud that pitched him against his sister, Senator Gbemi, who wanted to succeed him as governor.

Fearing the potential consequences of handing over the reins of government to his sibling with the attendant concern that Kwarans may wonder if the governance of Kwara is a family heirloom of the Sarakis, Bukola demurred. That is in addition to the fact that the existential reality in Kwara State is that it is predominantly a Muslim state, where women are not usually heard or seen.

His seeming obstinacy pitched him against his patriarch dad, who was on the side of his daughter in the ‘internecine’ war and passed away after Bukola won the battle and Gbemi lost. Although Bukola has been battle tested, the struggle for the senate presidency is by far, the fiercest and most formidable political battle so far fought by the embattled senator.

With an array of powerful forces with the sole purpose of torpedoing his ship of ambition to lead the senate, he put on his thinking cap and came up with bizarre, if not Byzantine strategies, like sleeping over the night in a car in NASS car park to avoid being arrested or kidnapped by his formidable foes, who were intent on preventing him from presenting himself for election as senate president.

Riding on the back of such political dexterity, he planted himself on the senate presidency, in a manner that left his admirers holding their breath and his opponents, licking their wounds.

In a very uncanny manner, Hilary Clinton’s main opponent in the Democratic Party primaries, Bennie Sanders has been accusing her of raising her hefty campaign funds from the Wall Street, which as Sanders alleges, makes her a rich establishment woman and therefore not a progressive and undeserving of the presidency of the USA. Such sentiments, in my view, are being echoed here in Nigeria too and therefore part of the reasons Bukola Saraki is facing political crucifixion by his traducers.

Latching onto the array of properties they allege the senate president owns onshore and offshore, and did not declare when he was governor, they conclude that he is a bourgeois, whose ambition to be senate president, which in their view is a precursor to taking a shot at the presidency in 2019 or beyond, should be deflated. How so hypocritical!

If Hilary Clinton survives the political shenanigan and gets elected in the USA, she would not only be the first female president, but also a millionaire, probably the first, since the time of Henry Ford. Only billionaire, Ross Perot, an independent candidate, who ran against Bill Clinton and George W Bush as well as the republican, Mitt Romney, part owner of investment firm, Bain capital, who contested against Obama in 2012 that could have been in the same club of millionaire presidents.

In the unlikely event that the loquacious hate monger and republican party candidate, the billionaire tycoon, Donald J Trump beats Clinton in the race to the Oval Office, assuming he becomes the GOP

candidate, he would be the richest president that the USA ever had and Americans would accept, and not begrudge him because he was already a billionaire through enterprise in real estate business before emerging the president.

Back home in Nigeria, not many of our compatriots realize that Bukola Saraki, an ex-banker would be like Trump (in terms of wealth) if he runs for and wins the office of the president of the federal republic of Nigeria in 2019 or beyond. As a banker of many years standing and having started as a middle level career banker, after graduating as a medical doctor, the senate president has proven to be a wealth creator and deserves his status as multi-properties owner.

His peers in the financial services sector, who attained the level of executive directorship and substantial ownership in the banking sector, can boast of similar affluence in terms of assets acquisition.

Being a veteran of many investments in Nigeria spanning decades, he is deserving of his high net worth status, in my reckoning.

Since politicians like to deploy all manners of armaments including blackmail as weapons in political battles, underdeclaration or anticipatory declaration of assets, as his antagonists allege, has become a deadly Arsenal being used against a rising star, who till date personifies the youth generation in the top echelon of govt. As devotees of Nicholo Machiavelli would posit, “The end justifies the means” hence political opponents would stop at nothing to pull down Saraki.

For the avoidance of doubt, I do not support corruption and l would be the first to insist that the senate president faces the consequences of his crime if he had been caught with his hands in the ‘cookie jar’ of Kwara State, where he served two terms as governor.

In other words, Saraki won’t have my sympathy if he was being tried by the ICPC or EFCC for financial embezzlement, but having not been accused of stealing the common wealth of Kwara people while in office, but for the offence of under or over declaration of his assets, which may be considered a misdemeanor, I regard the Code of Conduct Tribunal, trial, a political machination or gimmick engineered by his political opponents to crash his purported future presidential ambition which is odious to me.

Fortunately, majority of the members of the red chamber concur with the view above and they have unequivocally expressed their solidarity through a resolution disseminated to the members of the public via a press statement.

The resurgent Supreme Court has ruled, perhaps, according to point of law, so Saraki has no other option than to allow the trial at CCT continue. But caution should be taken so that the tribunal does not throw away the baby and the bath water and in the process incur the wrath of Nigerians, who have become more savvy and adept at deciphering political rights and wrongs in Nigerian political environment, which is fast descending into a jungle of sorts, where politics is brutish, long in trickery and short in altruism.

•Onyibe, a development strategist and former commissioner in Delta State is an alumnus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Massachusetts, USA

T H E F O U N TA I N O F C R I S I S APC members in the fourth assembly were chased from the state and only six members, who did not form a quorum, took over. They carried out legislative functions which are contrary to the Constitution.

“Budget was passed and commissioners were approved by the illegal house of seven lawmakers. The DSS should carry out their constitutional duties in Ekiti State. They should ignore or disregard the call of the House of Representatives as they have no such power,” he advised.

The Lagos State chairman of the PDP, Chief Tunji Shelle, said “The invasion of the Ekiti Assembly is very sad and unfortunate.

It portends great danger for our polity and nascent democracy. It is not acceptable and if

not nipped in the bud can truncate the delicate socio-economic and political state of the nation.

“The action is inappropriate and to say the least, highly undemocratic. It is uncalled for at this point in time in the history of the country.”

But a chieftain of the APC in Bayelsa State, Chief Nathan Egba begs to disagree with the position of Shelle. For him, the DSS of today is different from that of some years ago, when it was used to “bully” the members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly to impeach the late governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.

Egba also gave as example, the attempt by some minority members of the Rivers State assembly to take over the leadership of the house, a situation, he stressed, led to violent confrontation in the invasion of

the assembly by the police in 2014 and the subsequent closedown of the assembly complex for several months.

To him, therefore, Nigerian should wait for a statement by the DSS instead of jumping to conclusion. Egba opines that he would not be surprised that members of the assembly are being used by Governor Fayose to perpetuate acts that might be inimical to the political wellbeing of the nation.

“You know that Fayose has been playing the role of a political gadfly and assuming the role of the leader of the PDP. He has been in all manner of vitriolic against the federal government, so it would not surprise me that he and his cohorts in the assembly may have done something that had aroused the interest

of the security agencies.”

But the Bayelsa State chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Alabo Nengi James lamented that any such invasion may not augur well for the polity. He said what the government needed to do was explain the reason for going into the assembly premises.

This way, he reckoned, Nigerians would understand and appreciate the action of the security agency.

Certainly, no one can tell how this pulsating and seeming confusion would end. However, one fact has been established and this is the fact that Fayose is going through a kind of Dejavu, akin to his experience of 2006. But all eyes are now gazed on Ekiti as Fayose confronts yet another battle of his life.

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MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

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

Typical oil spill in Ogoniland

Cleaning up Ogoniland Five Years after the United Nations Environmental Programme turned in its report on polluted communities in Ogoniland, Adebiyi Adedapo reports that President Muhammadu Buhari will in a matter of weeks launch the clean-up project

F

ollowing several agitations from right groups in the Niger Delta area, particularly the people of Ogoni communities in Rivers State, the federal government of Nigeria in 2009, commissioned the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to carry out an Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland. The UNEP report was released on the 4th of August 2011, and former President Goodluck Jonathan, immediately set up a Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) to review its findings.

Sequel to consultations on the recommendations of the UNEP report, the PIC’s report, and the Petroleum Industry’s Action Plan; the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources with the approval of the then president established the Hydro-carbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) in July, 2012.

HYPREP was set-up as an offshoot of the ministry to among other functions: restore all communities impacted by hydro-carbon contamination in Nigeria and any or all matters that the federal government may (from time to time) assign to the project; implement the actionable recommendations of the UNEP Environmental Assessment Report on Ogoniland; design and provide a robust, independent coordinated guidance for the surveillance and monitoring of all petroleum infrastructure in Nigeria.

However, despite various promises, both at the national and international forums, the planned implementation didn’t see the light of the day. The immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Dizaeni Alison-Madueke had in 2014 promised the international community of

commencement of the implementation by 2015.

The former minister who made the promise at the follow-up meeting of technical working groups on environment restoration of Ogoniland, in Geneva, claimed that the federal government

The UNEP report is considered as a fair reflection of the scale of the pollution and then clean-up challenge facing Nigeria. Niger Delta has suffered from continuous environmental degradation from oil spillage and gas flaring ever since the start of oil production in the late 1950s.Today, the environmental devastation is indescribable, and the clean-up according to the Minister of Environment, Ms. Amina Muhammed, would take a period of 2530 years

was in a hurry to begin the implementation in the year 2015, four years after release of the report which recommended the spending of one billion dollars as initial capital injection contribution for environmental restoration of Ogoniland by government and the oil industry.

The oil spills have terrorised the oil producing community for decades.

“Yes the government feels it is important to start the process in an aggressive manner. We also think that there are some quick-wins that can be started as early as January next year. If we do not get to do this within a very short period, we may not get to do it again. The federal government is ready to fulfill its own counterpart funding that will not be path of the regular budgetary provision and that is why an independent body has been set up to manage the fund. On our part, government is committed to ensure this process is kick-started and will continue to take practical steps to encourage all the stakeholders to see to the success of the implementation.”

Unfortunately, conflicting political interests and inadequate political will on the part of the federal government militated against the planned-implementation, therefore the process couldn’t go beyond the conceptualisation stage.

The UNEP Report The UNEP report is considered as a fair reflection of the scale of the pollution and then clean-up challenge facing Nigeria. Niger Delta has suffered from continuous environmental degradation from oil spillage and gas flaring ever since the start of oil production in the late 1950s. Today, the environmental devastation

is indescribable, and the clean-up according to the Minister of Environment, Ms. Amina Muhammed, would take a period of 25-30 years.

Some environmentalists and chemical engineers cast doubt that there will ever be a clean-up, as it would cost huge amount of money, which parties concerned are not interested in parting with.

According to experts, most of the problems arose because in Nigeria, pipelines were laid above ground because it is cheaper, and companies wouldn’t always bother to fix the smaller leaks caused by poor maintenance and corrosion, leading to the majority of the spills.

The Nigerian government that is a major partner in the oil ventures, and according to the report, the government will have to provide 60 per cent of the clean-up cost, which, amounts to 600 million dollars. Many believe this is not likely to happen in a foreseeable future.

Since successive governments refused to instill stiff measures against the pollution, oil exploration companies will simply hide under this weakness and look away from what ordinarily should be their responsibility.

Rekindled Hope President Muhammadu Buhari, during the electioneering in January 2015, promised the traditional rulers and the people of Ogoni a speedy commencement of implementation of the UNEP report.

To this end, the President of the Supreme Council of Traditional Rulers in Ogoniland, and Gbene Mene of Tai, King Godwin Gininwa, conveyed support of the Ogonis to Buhari’s candidacy.

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

FEATURES

A fisherman looking worried at the environmental devastation in Ogoniland

Polluted river in Bidere community in Ogoniland

L-R: Minister of State Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Usman Jubril, President Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, Gbene Mene Tai, HRM Godwin Gininwa, Minister of Environment, Ms. Amina Muhammed, Gbene Mene Babbi, HRM Monday Kordoo and Gbene Mene Gokana

Polluted environment in Ogoniland

The Ogonis received Buhari at the Sakpenwa, headquarters of Tai Local Government Area of the state. While assuring the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of his people’s support, Gininwa said; “Ogonis have cried a lot, we want a redeemer and we believe you are the one.

Fulfilling Electoral Promise Premised on the electoral promise of President Buhari to the Ogoni people, the Minister of Environment, Ms. Amina Muhammed recently announced that the president will in a matter of weeks launch the clean-up project.

Although, the minister noted that the process of complete clean-up of polluted communities would take about 25-30 years, for the current administration, kick-starting the project is a major achievement.

Muhammed, who visited some polluted communities in Niger Delta region in the company of the Minister of States for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jubril as part of preparations for the formal launch of the project, noted that cleaning-up the polluted water, land and air of Ogoni communities was not just a Nigerian issue but an international obligation.

“The only thing we can do is to deliver, if we do not deliver it is a failure on our part, and it is not my intention to fail. Hold us into account, we have promised to deliver. It is not a Nigerian issue, it is an international obligation, and any clean-up in the Niger Delta region begins with Ogoniland.

Fear of Political Hijack To buttress the negative contribution of conflicting political interests to implementation of the UNEP report, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, while receiving the Minister of Environment, Ms. Amina Muhammed and her team on a courtesy visit to the Government House, warned federal government against patronising political interests.

Governor Wike in his cautionary words, noted that the clean-up would not be achieved if the federal government allows a particular political class to dictate or drive the process.

“Let no one tell you that don’t worry, I am in-charge, let no one toss you to where you will not be able to explain. I don’t know who compiled the lists of the stakeholders, I know that traditional rulers are involved, we must

be careful not to introduce politics into this, environmental issues does not have political affiliation, if we are not careful we may not achieve what we want to achieve,” he said.

According to Wike, communities do not care so much about political parties, but how to survive as a people.

“Communities do not know about political parties, what communities know is about how to survive, it doesn’t matter the political party that anybody belongs to, environmental issues does not affect a political party; it affects the entire state and the entire Niger Delta as a whole. And so, I will advise that we approach it in such way that it does not look political, particularly in Ogoniland, it is a very complex place; you have to be extremely careful. Because if you are not careful you may not achieve what you intend to achieve.”

The Communities While the minister seeks cooperation and supports of all stakeholders, traditional leaders in the communities and their subjects, there seem to be a discordant tune amongst various interest groups in Ogoni.

Even the supreme council to traditional rulers in Ogoni recognised this challenge, but urged the federal government to be undeterred in its determination to clean-up the area.

President, Supreme Council of Ogoni Traditional Rulers, Gininwa, disclosed that; “Splinter groups have sprang up everywhere, laying misleading claims capable of distracting the government., but as the father body of all organisations in Ogoniland, I assure you of the commitment of all important and notable stakeholders in Ogoniland. Ogoni people are eternally grateful to Mr. President fulfilling his campaign promises to the Ogoni people, this marks the actualisation of the collective dream of the Ogoni people.”

The council also enjoined the federal government to mop-up illegal arms from arms-bearing criminals in the communities, ahead of the clean-up.

“The genuine intention of the government to sanitise Ogoniland from arms and ammunitions in the recent military operation was politicised.

We hereby support the deployment of military operatives to Ogoniland until the last arm is mopped-up, while they maintain professionalism. This is most important as the clean-up is coming.”

Despite the call for military presence by the traditional authorities in Ogoni, various groups have protested the militarisation of the communities, particularly the killing of some residents, when the military stormed Bua-Yeghe community, in search of a former militant leader, Solomon Ndigara. Some residents have also threatened to resist further attacks on innocent community members.

Pollution beyond Ogoni Although, the UNEP report suggested that the clean-up of polluted communities in the Niger Delta area should begin with Ogoniland, the suggestion might be just as a result of the long standing campaign of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) founded in 1990, by late Ken Saro Wiwa.

Other oil producing communities are equally affected by what the Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson described as ‘environmental terrorism’.

Dickson, while receiving the ministers, who paid a courtesy call to his office, shortly after the stakeholders meeting in Bori-Ogoni, said the pollution started from the Ijaw land, in present day Bayelsa State.

While acknowledging the provisions of the UNEP report, which stipulated that clean-up should begin from Ogoniland, the Governor noted that pollution by oil producing companies started from the Ijaw land in Bayelsa State.

“Bayelsa is the heart of the Niger Delta, with all its blessings, prospects and challenges, this is where it all started. Let the truth be told, Bayelsa is the headquarters of pollution, environmental degradation and environmental terrorism, Bayelsa is central to the story of Nigeria’s oil production.

“If you take the blood sample of our people and carry out a toxicology test, you will be surprised at what you see, from 1958 till now, we have borne the brunt of providing revenue to the whole nation, we are happy to do so, but the side effects are injurious. It is imperative for the clean-up to begin in Ogoniland, in all of these, this is where the oil production started, gas flaring started here, we witness pollution activities everyday, even today as we speak.”

The Optimism The Federal Ministry of Environment has initiated informal meetings with key stakehold-

ers, including the Special Adviser in charge of Amnesty programme to ensure consideration and inclusiveness. Other stakeholders consulted include the traditional rulers in Ogoniland, international oil companies, state government and security agencies.

The consultation, according to the minister, will bring on board Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will provide a guarantee that clean-up areas will not be re-polluted. Also, modalities have been put in place for the pre-launch, launch and post launch for the successful implementation of the report, and awaiting final approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The minister explained that emergency measures for ensuring community access to potable drinking water, development of community engagement and communication plan as well as dispute resolution mechanism will be ensured.

“Preliminary activities will also commence on the establishment of the Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre. In the implementation of these plans and programmes, the government will ensure that the solution to our environmental challenges will provide tangible benefits to the people including employment of provision of basic services.”

The federal government, through Muhammed assured a cross section of Ogoni people including women and youths, who gathered at the Peace and Freedom Hall in Bori-Ogoni, that government intends to use the clean-up to jump start a sustainable livelihood agenda for the Niger Delta that is less dependent on oil.

Plea for Peace Muhammed, while soliciting support and cooperation of stakeholders towards the implementation, urged all groups within the Ogoni communities to embrace peace. According to the minister, without an atmosphere of peace, there wouldn’t be a meaningful development and respect for human rights.

“We underscore and plead that peace should be the watchword for everybody, peace is going to be key, the environment needs to unite. The environment does not belong to any one group than the other, without peace, there cannot be development and respect for human rights.

We plead for cooperation in the clean-up of soil, water and air of Ogoni.”

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IMAGES

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

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

L-R; Clerk, Kwara State House of Assembly (KWHA), Mr. Simeon Okedare, Speaker, KWHA, Dr. Ali Ahmad, Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed and Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kamaldeen Ajibade during the signing of 2016 appropriation Bill by the governor at the Government House, Ilorin‌.recently

L-R: Senior Manager, Energy, Accenture, Mr. Michael Faniran; Managing Director, Accenture Technology Nigeria, Mr. Olaniyi Tayo; Deputy Editor, The Economist, Mr. Edwin Carr; and Accenture Executive, Mr. Babatunde Mumuni, during a cocktail to review a report on building a digital Nigeria at the 2016 Economist summit in Lagos... recently

L-R;Arepo residents, Mr. Hassan Taofik; Engr. Adedeji Bayo; Permanent Secretary, Min. of Works and Infrastructure,Ogun State, Engr. Kayode A. Ademolake; CDA Executive, Mr. Abebefe Abbas;. Engr. Abayomi Egunjobi and Engr. Adeneye during the inspection. tour of Arepo main road by high powered team from Ogun State Ministry of Works and lnfrastructure...recently

L-R: Human Resources Supply Chain Manager, Warm Spring Waters Nigeria Limited, Mr. Oyewale Amoo; Programme Manager, Nigerian Heart Foundation, Mr. Olatunde Ojo; Managing Director, WSWNL, Mrs. Folakemi Oshinyemi; and Executive Director, Nigerian Heart Foundation , (NHF), Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, during the Endorsement of Gossy Natural Spring Water by the Nigerian Heart Foundation Heart in Lagos...recently YOMI AKINYELE

L-R: fFrst runner-up of PZ Cussons Carex Chemistry Challenge 2015, Wajul Kareem;, Chief Executive Officer of PZ Cussons Nigeria, Mr Christos Giannopoulous; first prize winner, Anthony Ike-Okoro, and second runner-up, Samuel Joseph, during the facility tour of PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc headquarters in Lagos...recently

L-R; Director, Corporate Communications CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Opara; Assistant CSR Manager, Airtel, Chioma Okolie and Communication Manager, Erhumu Bayagbon at the Airtel Touching Lives Season 2 viewing session in Lagos.... recently ABIODUN AJALA

L-R; Dr. Abayomi Ajayi; Wife of the Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo; Chief Mrs Nike Oshinowo and Mr. Adekunle Shobowale. during a courtesy visit by Endometriosis Support Group Nigeria to Osinbajo in Abuja...recently

L-R: Chairman First Bank of Nigeria/Guest Speaker, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika and Founder, Jesus Women of Influence, Pastor Mama Blessing Agboli, during Jesus Women of Influence monthly program in Ikeja, Lagos,.. recently KUNLE OGUNFUYI

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Quick Takes Skye Bank Refutes Report on TSA

Skye Bank Plc has refuted reports in some section of the press alleging that its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over a Treasury Single Account amounting to N6.5 billion.

It said that the bank’s CEO was invited by the EFCC in connection with a Presidential Implementation Committee’s (PIC) account, which was closed in October 2015.

According to a statement, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, said during an interactive session with some customers that the balance in the Presidential Implementation Committee’s account, as reported, was returned to the TSA Account with Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in Octoberlastyearafterthecommitteehadcompleteditsassignment.

Oguntayo said the PIC account was closed immediately after the money was moved to the CBN, wondering why and where the information came about.

“Let me state that as at the time of the said online reports, neither myself nor the Chief Compliance Officer of the Bank had received any such invitation. But importantly, the balances in the said PIC account had since been moved to the CBN in compliance with the TSA on October 2, 2015 and the account closed” he said.

Fidelity Bank, Firm to Hold Workshop

CONTRIBUTORS TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

L-R: Chairperson, WIMBIZ Executive Council, Aishah Ahmad; Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Corporate Communications Manager, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Ayodele Alabi; Human Resources Manager, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Benedicta Oyiana and Corporate Affairs, Unilever Nigeria, Oluseyi Olawoyin, at the 2016 Wimbiz Annual Lecture in Lagos...recently

Experts Flay FG over Deteriorating Economy Eromosele Abiodun While Nigeria may not be the only frontier/emerging economy facing economic challenges on the back of the rout in commodity prices, the actions and inactions of the federal government and economic managers have further worsened the Nigerian case, economic experts have said.

A case in point, the experts noted, was the fixation of the official exchange rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has severely impaired investors’ confidence in the Nigerian economy.

Experts at Eczellon Capital Limited stated this while responding to the numbers released by the Nigerian

ECONOMY Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which showed that the Nigerian economy contracted by three per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Similarly, the experts said the various administrative tools deployed by the CBN were reactionary and unstable.

This, they posited, further eroded confidence in the apex bank’s handling of the foreign exchange crisis.

“These inevitably created a vacuum in the nation’s foreign exchange (FX) markets and heightened uncertainties which in turn impaired investment and growth of the Nigerian economy in recent quarters. As

the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the CBN sits on the 21st and 22nd of March, it is imperative for the Committee and the apex bank to provide guidance on the management of the nation’s currency. In our view, this should entail the development of a roadmap that would allow for flexibility in the pricing of the naira, preferably through a managed floating system. Added to this would be the need for adequate support from the fiscal authorities to complement monetary policies.

This support has largely been absent in recent times. This would invariably attract the needed investment into the country and set the economy on a sustainable growth path,” they said.

Numbers released by the NBS last week had revealed that the Nigerian economy expanded by 2.11 per cent year-on-year (y/y) in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The figure was 0.73 per cent and 3.83 per cent points lower than what was achieved in Q3 2015 and the corresponding quarter of 2014. In nominal terms, the value of the economy was put at N25.9 trillion for Q4 2015 and N94.1 trillion for the entire year 2015. The growth numbers came way below expectations and were the lowest since 2011 (post GDP rebasing era).

The poor showing of the nation’s economy in the fourth quarter was largely tied to the woeful performance of the naContinued on page 24

Investors Exchange N13.9trn on FMDQ OTC Exchange in Two Months Goddy Egene Investors staked a total of N13.92 trillion on securities in the Nigerian fixed income and currency markets in January and February of 2016. The transactions were facilitated by FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange in the two months. The FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange was licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2013 as an over-the-counter (OTC) securities exchange and self-regulatory organisation to run the fixed income trading

CAPITAL MARKET platform and organise the market to international standards.

Data obtained by THISDAY at the weekend showed that the exchange has facilitated N13.92 trillion investment in the market in the first two months of the year. While investors staked N7.35 trillion in January, February accounted for N6.57 trillion, which showed a decrease of 10.6 per cent.

An analysis of the performance in February showed that

decline was driven majorly by a decrease in foreign exchange (FX)transactions).

Activities in the FX market contributed 23.89 per cent to the turnover, down by 4.32 per cent from the value recorded in January whilst Treasury Bills (T.bills) transactions contributed 35.67 per cent to the total, up 7.51 per cent from previous month.

Secured market transactions (Repos1 / Buy-Backs) accounted for 25.54 per cent of total turnover in the month, while FGN bonds’ contribution settled

at 12.42 per cent. Activities in Unsecured Placements/Takings accounted for 2.15% of total turnover.

Specifically, transactions in the FX market stood at $6.56 billion,$2.35 billion (26.385 per cent) below the value recorded in the previous month with an average daily turnover of $0.32 billion. Member-Member trades declined $38.84 million (31.87 per cent) as activity declined across all sub-categories.

Member-Client transactions, Continued on page 24

Fidelity Bank Plc and Koinonia Ventures Limited are set to hold a one-day workshop/training on exports. According to the bank, the workshop could not have come at a better time especially in view of growing emphasis on export and import substitution. With the prevailing economic condition precipitated by the free-fall in global oil prices, the lender said it was imperative for the country to expand and increase non-oil exports to foster sustainable and inclusive growth.

The conference which has as its theme, “Export Readiness Workshop” is scheduled to take place at the Sheraton Hotels Lagos on Wednesday, March 16, 2016.

The workshop is expected to bring together subject matter experts, government agencies and private sector players in export business, to share knowledge and insights on the key trends and opportunities in the non-oil export sector.

Koinonia Ventures is a trade facilitation/strategy consulting firm. Incorporated in 1990 with operational bases in Abuja, Lagos and Ekiti States, the company has since metamorphosed into a global player in international trade business especially with its active involvement in the marketing of Nigerian brands to the international community.

Bankers’ C’ttee Marks Global Money Week

As part of its commitment to promote financial inclusion in Nigeria, and to commemorate Global Money Week 2016, the Bankers’ Committee through its Financial Literacy and Public Enlightenment Sub-Committee has mapped out activities directed at primary and secondary school students. Global Money Week takes place from Monday, March 14th to Sunday, March 20th and the Bankers’ Committee has designated Thursday, March 17th as “Financial Literacy Day”.

The purpose of Global Money Week and Financial Literacy Day is to promote financial knowledge and fiscal planning skills in children and the youth.

According to a statement, planned activities to mark the week include visits by officials of all Financial Institutions in Nigeria to schools adopted by their institutions. During the school visits, Financial Institution CEOs/GMDs will teach select students from the schools a module of a Financial Literacy curriculum specially designed by Junior Achievement – Nigeria, a non-governmental organisation focused on educating children on economic matters.

Individual financial institutions have also arranged for students to visit banking halls to observe day-to-day banking activities. The Central Bank of Nigeria will also be organising a Child and Youth Finance Fair/Exhibition in Abuja to mark the week.

“Research shows that $28 trillion could be added to the world economy, if women have the same economic opportunity as men” The wife of former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair and founder of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Cherie Blair

24

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD EXPERTS FLAY FG OVER DETERIORATING ECONOMY

tion’s oil sector in the period under review.

According to the NBS, the sector contracted by 8.28 per cent y/y and 19.10 per cent, quarter-on-quarter (q/q) compared to the 1.06 per cent growth recorded in the third quarter of 2015.

The contraction, it added, was on the back of a 9.0 per cent fall in the average price of crude-oil in the fourth quarter, and a reduction in the nation’s oil production capacity to 2.16 mbpd (million barrels per day) from 2.17 mbpd in Q3 2015.

INVESTORS EXCHANGE N13.9TRN ON FMDQ OTC EXCHANGE IN TWO MONTHS

also, recorded a decline of $1.96 billion (25.51 per cent) to end the month at $5.73 billion.

On the aggregate, Spot and Swaps transactions both declined $2.29 billion (31.11 per cent) and $0.02 billion (1.56 per cent) in the month when compared with values recorded in January 2016.

Turnover in the fixed markets also recorded a decline of N71.30 billion (2.21 per cent) to settle at N 3.16 trillion.

However, there was a pickup of activities in the T.bills market, as turnover recorded an increase of N273.33bn (13.21 per cent). This value puts the percentage of T.bills turnover in the total fixed income market at 74.18 per cent. But outstanding open market operations (OMO) bills declined by N182.98bn (6.89 per cent) whilst T.bills recorded an increase of N50.00 (1.80 per cent).

Total outstanding bills as at the end of the month settled at N5.29 trillion. Outstanding value of FGN bonds increased

by N90 billion (1.49 per cent) to be at N6.11 trillion. The increase was a result of the reopening of the 15.54 per cent FGN February 2020 and 12.50 per cent FGN January 2026 bonds. Market size of FGN bonds increased marginally by 1.04 per cent to close the month at 104.05 per cent of par value.

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Maritime Editor

John Iwori

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Crusoe Osagie

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

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

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (AgriBusiness)

NEWS

Discos Defy Court Order, Begin Implementation of New Electricity Tariffs Ejiofor Alike Despite subsisting court order and the resolution of the Senate against the implementation of the new electricity tariffs across the country, the electricity distribution companies have commenced billing customers with the new rates, THISDAY has learnt.

THISDAY also gathered that the new tariffs, which took effect on February 1, 2016, have been reflected in March 2016 electricity bills.

The distribution companies, it was learnt, have started dispatching the bills containing the new rates to post-paid customers in their respective networks.

A top official of one of the Discos told THISDAY at the weekend that the implementation of the new tariffs was in line with the directive of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

When asked if the action of the Discos did not amount to contempt of court, in view of the subsisting court order against the increase in tariffs, the official who requested not to be named said: “NERC approved the increase and directed us (Discos) to implement and we implemented”.

“They (NERC) did not give us any contrary order not to implement. So, if there is a court order to that effect, it is a matter between NERC and the courts,” he added.

He confirmed that the new

rates were in the March bills being sent out to post-paid customers, adding that the bills were actually meant for the energy consumed in February.

“The new tariff took effect from February 1 and that is what is being implemented in this month. What the customers are paying for was the power consumed in February. Most customers are still doing postpaid and that is why you see it reflected in their bills. Prepaid customers have since started paying the new rates,” he

explained.

Also when reminded that the National Assembly had passed a resolution suspending the payment of the new rates, he said “by the time the distinguished law makers see the facts and figures, they will realise that suspending the tariff is like taking us 10 years backwards.”

In line with NERC’s directive, the Discos have also removed fixed charge from the new rates and retained only Value-Added Tax (VAT), thus bringing big relief to customers.

As part of efforts to enhance the ease of doing business in Lagos State, the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service ((LIRS) has announced various initiatives aimed at achieving efficient tax administration in the State.

The Executive Chairman of LIRS, Mr. Olufolarin Ogunsanwo made this known at a press conference in Lagos.

According to Ogunsanwo, the agency has consistently been at the vanguard of reform activities aimed at easing the process of doing business in Lagos State in particular and by extension Nigeria, thereby championing several initiatives aimed at supporting the state governor Akinwunmi Ambode in achieving his electoral promises to Lagosians.

Among the initiatives is the introduction of a new two-page tax form to replace the old six-page form which is to be used for both direct and self-assessments.

He stated that the revised form and its guide notes would be translated to Pidgin English and Yoruba for ease of completion and wider reach” In the same vein, the LIRS boss noted that physical filing of Annual Returns is already being complemented with e-

pay N5,466.19 including VAT and fixed charge of N750.

However, under the new rate, R1 customer with the same energy consumption will pay a total of N7,236, representing an increase of N1,769.81.

But the major challenge facing this category of customers is estimated billing as the distribution companies do not read post-paid meters but slam customers with exorbitant estimated bills, which are the major cause of the public outrage against the new tariffs.

ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT

L-R: 1st President, Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO), Lagos Branch, Ashiwaju Abdulrasaq Shittu; President-Elect, EO Lagos Branch, Mrs. Funmilayo Babington-Asaye; Guest Lecturer, Dr. Christopher Kolade and EO West Africa Chair, Mr. Anthony Okoye at the Entrepreneurs Organisation Lagos Chapter Continuous Learning Process forum in Lagos…recently ABIODUN AJALA

LIRS Slashes Cost of Replacing Electronic Tax Clearance Card Eromosele Abiodun

With the removal of the fixed charge, the difference between the new rate and the old rate for R1 customers, who constitute the largest customer population, has reduced significantly.

For instance, for Eko Electricity Distribution with an increase of 45 per cent, the old rate was N15.63 per kilowatt hour, while the new rate is N24 per kilowatt hour.

Under the old rate, a customer who consumed 300 kilowatt hour, assuming supply was relatively stable in that particular month, would

submission (on-line submission of Annual Returns) to ease compliance by Tax Payers.

Another initiative by the LIRS, according to the chairman, is the introduction of customer-care desk in all the 38 Tax Stations to deal promptly with all issues that may be brought up by tax-payers saying the initiative will be complemented with the launch of LIRS Hotline that will provide 24/7 customer-call service in English, Yoruba and Pidgin English.

Ogunsanwo emphasised that payment for tax should be made convenient and because of this the agency is leveraging on technology to offer multi-modal payment portals including but not limited to PoS, mPay, online, without sacrificing the traditional/ extant payment portal at the bank thereby taking payment portals to the tax payers for their convenience.

He added that the agency has concluded all arrangements to ensure that maximum response time of 72 hours to all electronic tax clearance certificate (e-TCC) requisitions is met and failure should be reported to any of customer care-desks.

He disclosed that the current cumbersome requirements for replacement of lost e-TCC such as Police Report, Sworn Affidavit etc are to be waived

and replaced with presentation of LASRRA Card while the replacement fee is to be reduced from N2,500 to N1,000 only.

Specifically, he stated that the agency has commenced the process of overhauling of the informal sector operations with a view to easing voluntary compliance by tax payers in this huge sector that have been categorized into three which include the Market Men/Women and Artisans, Micro, Small & Medium Scale Enterprises (including Professionals) and Household Domestic Staff (HDS).

In view of the declining revenue from the centre as a result of fall in the price of crude oil, Ogunsanwo revealed that LIRS is poised to focusing on other revenue sources such as Consumption Tax from Hotel Occupancy, Withholding Tax on Contracts, Rent, Royalties and other areas to shore up the Revenue in the State.

Speaking at the event, the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Niji Kazeem said the administration of Governor Ambode had put in place necessary measures to end the era of tax evasion and indeed avoidance in the state, adding that tax avoiders and evaders would be aggressively pursued in line with the provisions of the law.

VoLTE Set to Eliminate Telecoms Roaming Services Emma Okonji Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE), which is the next generation technology, will soon cause a major disruption for roaming services currently being delivered by core telecommunications operators, as more operators rollout the VoLTE service, THISDAY has learnt.

The new technology, when fully deployed, will completely eliminate roaming services that are characterised by high charges, when making and receiving calls in regions outside the network coverage areas.

Smile Communications, which became the first operator to launch VoLTE in Nigeria in October last year, made the disclosure in Lagos, when it introduced two new 4G LTE innovations, the Smile Voice and Smile Unlimited.

What is currently obtainable is that when subscribers travel outside the country, to different geographical locations with different time zones, the subscriber can only make and receive calls with the aid of another network in the new time zone. Also, the interconnection rate and call termination fees between the subscriber’s original network provider and the new network provider, are usually very exorbitant, a situation that has denied many subscribers who travel outside their zones, from making important calls

to their loved ones and business partners. Those that dare to make calls, pay heavily as much as N150 per minute to make calls and N50 per minute to receive calls.

But with the introduction of VoLTE technology calls, which is gradually being introduced into Nigeria, subscribers can actually make calls and receive calls without paying for roaming charges, provided they are connected to a VoLTE network.

Announcing the launch of the Smile Voice and Smile Unlimited on its VoLTE in Lagos recently, the Managing Director, Smile Communications Nigeria, Mr. Michiel Buitelaar, said Smile VoLTE would offer a complete telecoms service, from where subscribers could make their choice.

Once a customer is connected to the network, the customer could make calls on VoLTE, while eliminating the high cost charged for roaming services across networks.

“To use SmileVoice, customers will be required to have a registered SIM card, or download a free app and an active SmileData service.

When out of range of the Smile network, the SmileVoice app will enable calls from any device that is connected to the internet via 3G or WiFi at home and abroad. Customers who make calls while traveling abroad, will be charged their local call rates, as if they were calling from home,” Buitelaar said.

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

MARKET REPORT

Stock Market Sustains Momentum Despite Profit Warnings Goddy Egene and Eromosele Abiodun Despite profit warnings by Computer Warehouse Group Plc Diamond Bank Plc, the Nigerian equities market closed last week in the green, sustaining the previous week’s momentum.

The positive response to the earnings and dividend expectations in the market by investors the week before was felt in most days of the week as investors took position for possible gains.

The two firms had in separate statements to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and market operators, said that the continuing deterioration in Nigeria’s macroeconomic conditions would impact negatively on their operations.

While CWG said it would record loss for 2015, Diamond Bank said it would record lower earnings compared to 2014.

Despite the discouraging news, the stock market still closed on a positive note. The NSE All-Share Index and market capitalisation appreciated by 0.65 per cent to close the week at 25,988.40 and N8.940 trillion respectively.

Similarly, all other Indices finished higher during the week, with the exception of the NSE Premium Index and the NSE Industrial Goods Index that declined by 1.65 per cent, and 0.15 per cent respectively.

The previous week, the market gained 6.57 per cent week-onweek after closing positive in every session over the week.. The market’s performance was driven by increased positions-taking by investors in anticipation of more positive corporate scorecards as well as attractive dividend announcement on depressed price level, after positive surprise from both Dangote Cement Plc and African Prudential Registrars Plc result.

Responding to the development, analysts said the current bullish trend may likely give way to profit-taking post corporate earnings announcement.

Daily Performance Analysis At the resumption of trading last Monday, the equities market continued where it left off the previous week, gaining 0.27 per cent to end today’s session at 25,890.94. This extended the NSE ASI positive run to eight consecutive days leading to the contraction in the year-to-date (YTD) loss to 9.61 per cent. The session was driven by gains in banking names; FBN Holdings Plc (4.29 per cent), Sterling Bank Plc (7.36 per cent), United Bank for Africa Plc (2.89 per cent) and Stanbic IBTC Plc (1.77 per cent) offsetting Dangote Sugar Plc’s 3.55 per cent loss. As a result, the Banking sector was up 0.52 per cent while Oil and Gas and Consumer climbed 0.55 per cent and 0.03 per cent respectively. The Industrial sector closed flat. Investors exchanged 186 million units of shares worth N1.31 billion on the day, a 27 per cent decrease in total volume and a 12 per cent fall in total value.

However the market depreciated for the first time in the month of March on Tuesday because of profit taking activities. The NSE All Share Index dropped by 0.53 per cent to 25,755.01. The depreciation recorded in the share prices of Dangote Cement Plc, NASCON Allied Industry Plc Nigerian Breweries

up by 51.97 per cent from N1.35 billion traded the previous day.

The Bulls sustained the rally in the market on Friday as the NSE All Share Index appreciated by 0.25 per cent to 25,988.40 points.

The appreciation recorded in the share prices of Stanbic IBTC Plc, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, and Oando Plc bolstered performance. In the same vein, the market capitalisation appreciated by 0.25 per cent to close at N8.94 trillion, compared with the appreciation of 0.15 per cent recorded the prior day to close at N8.92 trillion.

Plc, ETI Plc, and Transcorp Plc were mainly responsible for the loss recorded in the index. Similarly, the market capitalisation depreciated marginally by 0.52 per cent to close at N8.86 trillion, compared with the appreciation of 0.27 per cent recorded the previous day to close at N8.91trillion. The total value of stocks traded on the floors of the NSE on the day was N1.42 billion, up by 7.91 per cent from N1.31 billion traded the prior day.

The equity market rebounded on Wednesday, as Oando Plc and Tiger Branded Consumer Goods Plc topped the gainers list for the second consecutive day. The NSE All Share Index appreciated by 0.51 per cent to close at 25,885.31 points.

Dangote Cement Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc, and Lafarge Africa Plc were responsible for the gain. The total value of stocks traded on the floors of the NSE on the day was N1.35 billion, down by 4.49 per cent from N1.42 billion traded the day before.

The market was lifted by a number of highly capitalised stocks at the close of business on Thursday as the NSE All Share Index appreciated by 0.15 per cent to 25,923.77 points.

The appreciation recorded in the share prices of Dangote Cement Plc, Access Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, and Oando Plc were majorly responsible for the growth witnessed.

Similarly, the market capitalisation appreciated by 0.15 per cent to close at N8.92 trillion, compared with the appreciation of 0.51 per cent

TOP TEN BROKERS(BY VALUE)

recorded the prior day to close at N8.90 trillion. The total value of stocks traded on the floors of the NSE on the day was N2.06 billion,

AS AT LAST FRIDAY

BROKER

VALUE

CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED AFRICAN ALLIANCE STOCKBROKERS LTD EFCP LIMITED CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED APEL ASSET LIMITED - BRD A.R.M SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD FIDELITY SECURITIES LTD CORDROS CAPITAL LIMITED - BRD

TOP TEN BROKERS

(BY VOLUME)

BROKER CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED EFCP LIMITED

% VALUE

1,770,193,067.81

11.87

1,638,116,844.72 1,092,840,199.57 1,031,747,145.26 856,103,627.85 799,013,005.26 784,775,767.64 718,743,837.47 412,120,387.58 390,312,930.81 9,493,966,813.97

10.98 7.33 6.92 5.74 5.36 5.26 4.82 2.76 2.62 63.64

AS LAST FRIDAY VOLUME %VOLUME 235,783,634

10.61

195,918,255

8.82

MORGAN CAPITAL SECURITIES LIMITED

113,473,801

5.11

CARDINALSTONE SECURITIES LIMITED

112,263,802

5.05

PLANET CAPITAL LIMITED

108,897,355

4.90

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

96,009,376

4.32

APEL ASSET LIMITED - BRD

74,113,856

3.34

AFRICAN ALLIANCE STOCKBROKERS LTD

71,734,998

3.23

READINGSINVESTMENTSLIMITED-BDR

61,397,717

2.76

PILOT SECURITIES LIMITED

48,350,459

2.18

1,117,943,253

50.31

Market Turnover Meanwhile, a total of 1.111 billion shares worth N7.448 billion in 15,562 deals were traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange in contrast to a total of 1.476 billion shares valued at N7.992 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 15,743 deals.

The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 900.274 million shares valued at N3.826 billion traded in 10,216 deals; thus contributing 81.00 per cent and 51.37 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Conglomerates Industry followed with 72.524 million shares worth N92.218 million in 703 deals.

The third place was occupied by the Consumer Goods Industry with a turnover of 52.498 million shares worth N1.901 billion in 2,262 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely – Fidelity Bank Plc, FCMB Holding Plc and Zenith Bank International Plc, accounted for 427.854 million shares worth N1.646 billion in 2,795 deals, contributing 38.50 per cent and 22.10 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Also traded during the week were a total of 72,054 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N637,635.25 executed in 26 deals, compared with a total of 40,021 units valued at N1.885 million transacted the prior week in 44 deals.

There was no transaction recorded on bonds this week. However, a total of 4,063 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N4.903 million were transacted the previous week in 3 deals.

Gainers and Losers In terms of price movement, a total of 39 equities appreciated during the week, higher than 35 equities of the previous week.

Twenty-two equities depreciated in price, lower than 24equities of the previous week, while 128 equities remained unchanged, lower than 130 equities recorded in the previous week.

The top 10 gainers were: Total Nigeria Plc (N12.25), Flour Mills Plc (N3.08), Oando Plc (N1.86), Tiger Branded Consumer Goods Plc (N1.02), Fidson Healthcare Plc (45 kobo), Honeywell Plc (36 kobo) and Fidelity Bank (33 kobo), UBA, FCMB Group Plc (11 kobo apiece)..

Conversely, the top 10 losers included: Nestle Nigeria Plc (N25.00), Beta Glass Plc (N4.50), Union Dicon Plc (59 kobo), NGC Plc (24 kobo), Ikeja Hotel Plc (13 kobo), Caverton Plc (8 kobo), AG Leventis Plc ( four kobo), Learn Africa Plc ( three kobo), Law Union & Rock ( three kobo), and Livestock Feeds Plc ( three kobo).

26

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

INSIDE BROAD STREET

A view of Lagos financial district

AKINWUNMI IBRAHIM

Hope Rises as Oil Prices Stage Recovery Obinna Chima There appears to be a glimmer of hope for Nigeria with the evidence that oil prices are stabilising and could even begin to rise again.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), lower oil output in the US and other countries was helping to curb the glut in the supply of crude oil.

Oil prices had depreciated 70 per cent since June 2014, even as it slumped to as low as $27 per barrel earlier this year. But while the benchmark Brent crude closed at $40.79 per barrel on Friday, the US West Texas Intermediate oil closed at $38.77 per barrel.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency said supply outages in Iraq, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates reduced output from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries by 90,000 barrels a day, and production declined elsewhere around the world. These moves, as well as major producers discussing a coordinated output freeze, may signal what the agency termed in its monthly report a “light at the end of what has been a long, dark tunnel” for the global glut of crude that has overwhelmed oil markets.

The market also was boosted by a research note from Goldman Sachs Group, which has had one of the more bearish outlooks since the market collapse took hold, suggesting the “green shoots” of a rebalancing between supply and demand appeared to be in the works, and that it had increasing confidence supplies would decline this year as long as prices remain low.

Nigeria has been grappling with the challenge of a significant drop in its revenue as a result of the slump in crude oil prices, with monthly allocation being shared among the three tiers of government reduced majorly.

This has seen a lot of states not being able to meet their obligation. The situation also led to a substantial reduction in its forex inflow, which has created scarcity in dollar allocation, due to the demand management system adopted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The CBN also imposed some forex curbs in its bid to conserve the country’s external reserves. This has also led to loss of confidence in the economy as businesses lament the capital flight in the system.

However, revealing that there is still a ray of hope for continuous upswing in crude prices, the Minister of State for Petroleum,

MARKET INDICATOR Dr. Ibe Kachikwu said recently that as part of measures to stabilise crude oil prices, some members of the OPEC were scheduled to meet with swing producer, Russia on March 20 in Moscow to fine tune collaborative strategies. Kachikwu said the organisation would target a new oil price equilibrium of $50 a barrel.

But the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, recently advised Nigerians to stop viewing the low oil price environment as a setback, saying that the situation offers the nation an opportunity to diversify its revenue base. According to Dangote, the situation should galvanise the country into broadening its revenue base through diversification of the economy.

He however noted that some sectors in the country were facing serious challenges as a result of scarcity of foreign exchange.

“If your business model is to import 100 per cent, definitely you would be facing challenges because the inflow of foreign exchange is not where it used to be a year and a half ago. Then we used to get about $3.2 billion on a monthly basis, but today we are generating just about $1 billion.

“This is the right moment to pursue the diversification of the economy which we have been talking about. I know that once oil gets back to $80 per barrel, we would relax and go back to the same improper behaviour. But I think this is the right time to change that attitude for good.

Source: Bloomberg.

“Government must come up with the right policies because if we don’t do it now, we may not do it ever. But low prices do not mean doom. In 1998 – 1999, the price of oil was $9, so what we need to do is just to block the leakages and pursue diversification,” he added.

He urged Nigerian businesses to take advantage of the opportunities in the West African sub-region, saying that a population of 320 million in the sub-region is a big market.

“Our projects are mainly focused on import substitution. We are working to be self-sufficient. What we need is consistency in terms of policies. By 2020, our population would be over 200 million people and it doesn’t make sense to continue to go to the central bank to collect forex to import goods for over 200 million people. We need to work towards being self-sufficient.

“Now, in the next five years, we would grow one million tonnes of rice. Do we have the market? Of course there is a market locally. Nigeria imports rice officially and unofficially of almost 2.8 million tonnes.

Majority of it comes from the borders,” he said.

In his contribution, the Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, pointed out that there are several manufacturers that rely on forex for their raw materials and are now going through tough times due to the shortage of dollars.

“However, are there opportunities? I believe there are. I think it is time for us to move towards import substitution. But I think we need to do things to support the supply side

of forex and liberalise the market. Even for those who have to source their raw materials locally, there is a value-chain effect.

“If the entire value-chain in a production process is not sorted out, we would have a problem. So access to foreign currency for raw materials is important. However, it is important that people start looking at how to use local raw materials to produce,” Wigwe said.

The Access Bank boss, who stressed that forex scarcity was creating significant bottlenecks in production processes of firms, however ruled out a banking crisis. According to Wigwe, Nigerian banks are healthy.

Also, the chief executive of Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, stated that as a result of the slump in crude prices, there has been a lot of restructuring in the oil and gas industry.

He also pointed out that investors were concerned about the country’s exchange rate policy and the future of the naira.

Also, analysts have stressed the need for monetary policy measures in the country to always complement fiscal policies in order to stimulate growth in Nigeria.

A report by the Financial Derivatives Company Limited, noted that whereas Nigeria cannot influence the direction of oil prices in anyway, the government can influence the severity of the impact of lower oil prices on the economy. It pointed out that several countries had to adopt flexible exchange rate system to dampen the impact of oil price shocks, saying that Nigeria needs to adopt an exchange rate policy that is in consonance with current market dynamics.

In its opinion, there are two options available to the government: to either do nothing and allow economic gangrene to set in, or adopt a deficit budget plan that must be implemented immediately.

It pointed out that the 2016 appropriation bill was based on the premise of a deficit funding.

“While this is a smart move, timing is of essence. The fracas over the budget numbers has stalled the passage of the fiscal plan which will spill over to the implementation of key projects that are expected to stimulate economic recovery.

“While Nigeria is being affected by the current oil price level, and will likely experience some further economic challenges in the short term, the country now has the opportunity to create a stronger position against this oil price shock and those to come in the future,” it added.

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INTERVIEW

Blair: Women Entrepreneurs Must be Empowered to Realise their Full Potential Cherie Blair is the wife of former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair and founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, an organisation she set up in 2008 to help women build small and growing businesses in developing and emerging markets.

She spoke to Chika Amanze-Nwachuku during the International Women’s Day celebration in Lagos about the barriers facing female entrepreneurs globally, how her foundation helps women grow and expand their businesses, as well as the Road to Growth project, an initiative that has worked with 500 women entrepreneurs in Nigeria to enable them grow sustainable and successful businesses. Excerpts: Can we meet you?

I am Cherie Blair, the founder of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women’s, from London.

What informed your decision to float this Foundation for Women? Apart from empowering women to be financially independent, do you handle violence against women, which is a major impediment to women’s mental health and development?

Well I think that was a mixture of things, It’s partly my history is a woman of business and myself because I am a lawyer and self – employed; perhaps I think I have always been my boss. I have always actually wanted to run a business myself, partly because in my history, my mom and my grandmother because they brought me up, they very much want to meet you be financially independent.

Again after spending 10 years in Downing Street and having a front row seat on history, I wanted to do something positive with what I had learned from that amazing experience.

One of the things that struck me most when I had the privilege of travelling around both the United Kingdom and the wider world was that we still haven’t got equality for women in absolute terms anywhere in the world. I wanted to help change that and really make a difference to other women – and I settled on the idea of financial independence because I truly believe that a woman who can make her own money can make her own choices – about her life and the lives of her children. By giving women the tools to become financially independent, we can help them play a full role in their economies and societies.

Studies have shown that when you empower a woman, you empower an economy, and indeed a nation. This is because women invest 90 per cent of their income back into their families and communities, which benefits both their immediate society and the wider economy.

We work with IFC, which is part of World Bank in east Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, where we do programme on women entrepreneurs, women in business and I went in 2006 to

Studies have shown that when you empower a woman, you empower an economy, and indeed a nation. This is because women invest 90 per cent of their income back into their families and communities, which benefits both their immediate society and the wider economy.

Blair launch into this programme and I felt this is such a good programme, they should do it more with other women, that was where I got the idea.

My foundation doesn’t specifically focus on violence against women – but I support other charities, which support victims of domestic violence. Financial independence can also help women escape from violent partners – many women find it difficult to leave abusive partners because they have no money of their own.

Getting access to finance especially for low

income earners and women at the bottom of the pyramid is difficult. How would your foundation help women who don’t have financial paperwork and collateral to access loans?

You are so right about this question. When we set up the Foundation, we were looking at what we called the 3Cs: capacity, confidence and capital, that is- helping women to be more confident, helping women have the skills with capacity to run their businesses and giving them access to capital. And pretty earlier, I realised that access to capital is the most difficult for us

to manage and because of that I realised that if you can help women get access to capital, you have to adopt a two pronged approach. The first approach was that you have to advocate for their right, it is important women have their right places because across the world, actually, women have difficulties; they have difficulties because bank loans require independent collaterals, collateral means owning their own land even if they do, they may not have the paperwork; so how do you encourage banks CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

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BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Expert Wants Buhari to Declare Emergency in Mining Sector

‘How FG, States Can Minimise Revenue Challenge’

Sunday Okobi

Eromosele Abiodun

Chairman of NASAMAN Mining Company Limited, an indigenous mining firm, Mamman Ali has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare an emergency in the mining sector as a practical demonstration of his seriousness to revitalise the non-oil sector to improve Nigeria’s revenue base for economic development.

Ali made the call recently in Abuja during the conferment of awards on some top management of the company by the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC).

Those that bagged the awards included the company’s Executive Director, Foreign Relations, Alhaji Ahmed Shehu Yarádua, and the Executive Director, Legal Services, Abba Mohammed, who equally bagged awards of Fellow of the Institute respectively in recognition of their outstanding professional standing and corporate governance excellence.

In a statement issued by Communication Assistant, Goshem Media Nigeria, Mr. Kelvin Gods’will Musa, Ali expressed confidence that if the president declares an emergency in the sector, it would instantly send the right signal to the international investing community about federal

government’s seriousness in turning around the fortunes of the sector towards harnessing its full potential.

The NASAMAN boss also called on the government to follow up the declaration with the provision of a mining intervention fund as a mechanism to give practical expression to its intention to boost non-oil revenue accruable to the government to implement its major programmes in this year’s budget currently before the National Assembly.

According to him, investors are anxiously waiting for government’s budgetary policy direction as a means of determining the direction of their capital, pointing out that investors are more attracted to where there is concrete and genuine institutional safeguard to their investment as well as minimise their cost and maximise their profit.

He pointed out that a presidential declaration of an emergency in the sector will go a long way in boosting the chances of success of the president’s current economic diplomacy.

Ali argued that critics of the President Buhari’s foreign trips often miss the point when they do not understand the issues involved in today’s globalised investment space such as in

mining where huge capital inflow is imperative.

He disclosed that his company, NASAMAN, which started mining in 2000 was convinced of success notwithstanding that the terrain was characterised by obscurity, under-development, low artisanal skills compounded by institutional tardiness which he blamed for the current massive importation of salt and iron ore by which government is losing huge revenue if produced locally. ‘’We are pleased to see our pioneering efforts being appreciated today. For over 15 years now, we have been at the forefront of advocacy for a major shift from a mono-product economy to a multi-product economy where fresh focus should be given to the mining sector. It is particularly imperative now that since crude oil sales have continued to tumble, we have to explore the non-oil sector where mining holds the ace for the country,’’ he said.

According to him, the mining sector can sufficiently create over five million jobs, raise government’s revenue base significantly, accelerate economic diversification, attract foreign direct investment and contribute to the rapid social, economic and institutional development of the mining communities across the country.

Federal and state governments have been advised to lay less emphasis on supplyfocused strategies such as increase taxes, blockage of leakages, and diversification of the revenue base through increased focus on agriculture, increased focus on solid minerals, in tackling the current revenue challenge facing the country.

According to a report on the public sector in the country put together by H. Pierson Associates, while these strategies remain strong and viable options, there is an even stronger need for a demand-side focus.

Such a demand-side focus, the report stressed, requires that state and federal entities give more strategic attention to maximising the optimal deployment of available resources.

“This involves better medium-term planning of projects and programmes where funds are most needed to be applied and defining high standards of quality for the desired outputs from all such spending. Also key is prudent value-for-money costing of the projects and programmes and importantly, effective monitoring to ensure

timely implementation against plan,” it said.

The report emphasises that the key focus here is on effective medium-term prioritisation and planning of projects and programmes by states and federal government ministries, departments and Agencies (MDAs), high standards definition, appropriate costing, water-tight monitoring, evaluation, reporting and constant re-alignment to stay within the plan.

“An over-riding element here is a leadership that gives full backing to the framework. As the federal government, states governments and their MDAs continue to experience the impact of diminished revenues from the federal allocation and their internally generated revenue, the key concern for everyone is how to quickly alleviate the current position.

Concerns range from the adverse impact on projects and programmes of government, to their inability to pay for basic recurrent expenditure. As the potential for further downward push in oil prices persists, this pressure on state and federal governments remains real,” the report said.

It explained that from the H. Pierson experience, when properly deployed, the Medium Term Sector Strategy

(MTSS) and its attendant Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) provide a good platform for States and federal government and their MDAs to actualise this demand-focused approach.

“As is well known, MTSS is a globally respected and formally structured and documented 3-5 year layout of the policy initiatives, projects and programmes for specific sectors – Health, Education, Agriculture, etc. The objective is to provide structure and acceptance to the priority areas of focus and the critical initiatives required. These are laid out over yearly time lines, reflecting various phases of execution under sound Monitoring and Evaluation. When appropriately costed and aligned within the projected medium term revenues, the MTEF can be derived, H. Pierson said.

According to the report, states that have done quite well in the past on this demandfocused approach include Cross River State where it was responsible for setting this up across all sectors and supporting the framework over an eight year period, as well as Lagos State Government where this has largely contributed to the focused planning and implementation culture across sectors.

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NEWS

NAPSAS Coordinator Threatens Court Action over Alleged Misappropriation of N3.5bn Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The National Coordinator of National Power Sector Apprenticeship Scheme (NAPSAS), Mrs. Sybil Williamson has threatened to drag the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to court for linking her to the alleged misappropriation N3.5 billion.

She has also called on the federal government to conduct a forensic audit of the NAPSAS account in order to unravel the mystery behind the misappropriation of the said amount.

Williamson said Wittengisson and Walters Ltd, which she happened to be one of the Directors, created NAPSAS as a result of its passion to help unemployed youths, before the federal government through the ministry expressed interest in the programme, thus, affiliated with it.

She said it has become necessary to make the public know the truth about the matter, as her reputation was being damaged because she was “too shy to speak out.”

According to her, “Wittengeisen and Walter created NAPSAS, not for the ministry, not for anybody, but for Nigerian youths. I, having to be of eastern origin, where apprenticeship has worked in getting young people off unemployment, was where this idea came from.”

“Apprentice does not require training, it requires placement, when my company created NAPSAS, we were not thinking that N340 million would be paid for somebody to do training; we understood what apprentice is about, get young people, have induction of two weeks, and after that they will be sent to power station to learn basic requirements.

“At no time was Sybil Williamson engaged in contractual agreement with Ministry of Power. But there are set of directors there, the people, who manage NAPSAS, money, the project accountant, the Director of Human Resources, Mrs. Papcal.

“Project Accountant, Mr. Nwachukwu has ganged up, together with NAPTIN people to drag my name to the newspapers and wherever they deem fit. They have chosen to soil my name because they have vowed that they were going to destroy me because I don’t get involved in whatever they are doing,” Willaimson stated.

She emphatically stated that at no time did her company or herself get involved in the management of any finance to deal with NAPSAS, adding that they never approved, or signed any money because their job was limited to recruitment and monitoring.

The National Coordinator explained further that, “management of funds was

left for ministry officials, and the man that managed all the money was the project accountant, Mr. Ogbonaya Nwachukwu. Every request for money and approval went from Permanent Secretary to Director Human Resources, Mrs. Papcal.”

She wondered why she was been accused of misappropriating such amount of money, when she was never a signatory to any NAPSAS account, stressing; “the N1.3 billion that was given to NAPSAS, I dont know which

account it was paid into, I dont know when it was given, I dont know how many people were paid.”

Williamson expalined that despite the fact that some States raised hundreds of million of naira that was paid into NAPSAS account in UBA, when it was time to pay the stipends, the trainees were told there was no money to be paid.

She therefore called on the National Assembly to conduct a public hearing on the issue.

ACCA Moves to Enhance Youths Employability James Emejo in Abuja The Country Director, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Nigeria, Mrs. Toyin Ademola has said the ongoing initiative by the group to address skills gaps and boost the employability of Nigerian graduates had been successful.

There have been increasing concerns that most Nigerian graduates could not be employed as they lacked basic skills including reading and writing among other deficiencies.

But Ademola, during an interaction with THISDAY at the ACCA’s 2016 Opportunities in Finance Summit which was held in Abuja, said the unemployability of most job

seekers had to do with their inability to present a good curriculum vitae (CV) as well as lack of packaging-issues the organisation had helped to address with participants.

She said more than 80 percent out of the 2,500 participants which attended its summit last year got engaged in various institutions across the banking, insurance, oil and gas and other private practice.

She said the initiative, which is in line with its corporate social responsibility objective will further complement the present administration’s efforts to reduce unemployment in the country.

According to her, “That Nigerian graduates are not

employable, is both worrisome and burdensome, especially against the back drop of the fact that no nation rises above the quality of its human capital.

We have done some research and one of the things we find that affects employability is that graduates do not know how to write their CVs and answer questions at interviews.”

She said: “These are our main focus areas. We want to guide them on leadership, oral and finance skills necessary to succeed: Which is why out of the 2,500 people that attended the fair last year, 80 per cent got employed across different sectors such as insurance, banking, oil and gas, and other private practice.”

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BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

BLAIR: WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS MUST BE EMPOWERED TO REALISE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL to see women as a good investment and not a big risk. So across the world, what we do is to actually talk about these things, advocate and help do research.

On the other hand, what we do is to prepare the women so that they know the language; if you like, they know the right thing to say, they know the right things to write, so when the bank comes with their criteria for loan, they take the right boxes. And these things are instinctive and there for you but if you have somebody to help you. It speaks like when you do exam actually, you know people, they could teach you, will help you understand how you will answer the questions to get most points and that’s exactly the sort of thing we are doing in this schools, in fact it is helping women draw up business plan, do cash flow projections; I can tell you standing there talk with some of the women, how many of them said you have helped them, they are doing their own business, learning how to do cash flows projections because the cash flow projections help them see where the blockages were in their business, where they were wasting money, where they needed to stop for example, giving people credit. One of the ladies was saying to me, she realised 25 per cent of her customers didn’t actually pay and so she now takes a deposit before she is just making it and that has decreased the number of people who don’t pay. So this is so to say just taking some time to study that and learn about it, it really helps improve women’s business spirit.

The other thing we do is we work with banks so we try to encourage them to see women as assets, not as liabilities. Unfortunately many banks and financial institutions are reluctant to invest in women because they see women –owned businesses as ‘risky’ – because they are often informal in nature and micro in scale. We work hard to try and change these attitudes.

One of the controversial things is how to get more women into banking itself, have more women in the workforce; for many women going into a bank to take bank loans, is because only 20 percent of the financial industry is female, this is a very male dominated profession and with the male’s traditional attitude, then it can get more difficult. There is a lot of work to do for that.

In Rwanda for example, we organised a field trip for bank staff to meet women customers in rural areas so they could see for themselves that these women had pertinent questions about personal finance and that their need was real.

We encourage banks to: Increase their product range to include products specially designed for women, as we as providing flexible and longer repayment periods on loans; Allow all types of assets to be used as collateral for loans, including both tangible and intangible assets such as patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade names; Apply specialised interest rates for women-owned SMEs, preferably a single digit interest rate for small loans; Engage directly with women, for example by setting up regular SME-banking events for women entrepreneurs.

The good news is that there are some progressive banks out there - Diamond bank, for example, offers a wide range of products for women and are keen to serve more women running small and medium sized enterprises.

What level of research has your organisation done to uncover the limitations and barriers hindering women from banking?

Research is very important. What we tried and do with all our programmes is first of all we do some research where they are needed, because I don’t want to just do what other people are already doing, we want to try and add value.

So we look on research very well where there are some gaps and somebody could help, then we tend to test out some of our ideas, and then have those ideas assessed by independent people to see whether they work and not just me saying they work and then we like to publicise our research not only to show we can do more of the work but so we can encourage others to get into this area because there’s a great need and not one person can do it.

There’s huge body of research out there, which has been tracking the barriers to women’s financial inclusion. Over one million worldwide still don’t have access to a basis bank account – that’s over one billion women who don’t have a safe

women, and that is because of our Mobile Phone programme and the ExxonMobil, which did this programme called the Business Women App, which focuses in intensive course, it wasn’t a higher level, it is this course we are doing now with 500 women - targeted tips and practical advice for starting and running successful businesses, teaching market women about how to improve their businesses and it is free service; it lasts for a year, and we ‘ve reached 100,000 women and 20,000 men with that project. So that was one of the ways we reached them.

Why they were saying we were in 80 countries; that is because we can use technology with our global mentoring platform. We have our mentoring platform exist purely on the web and in that mentoring platform, we match our mentees with mentors, men and women across the world. Remember we have twelve hundred people on the web for which for a year, we mentor for about two hours a month to help women entrepreneurs in the countries and because it is on the web, it is not tied to any particular country, we work with local partners across the world, who are already doing this training and this offers the opportunity for some of their graduates to come to the programme to get additional support so that’s why we can have things like a woman in Tanzania being supported by a mentor in Greece or we can have a woman in India mentoring a business woman in Kenya or we can have a Swedish woman, may be in Spain who is in whole Hair or Make-up business, mentoring a woman in Kaula Lumpur, who has a Hair Dressing business.

Blair or secure way to save, invest, spend or borrow money. As part of the Road to Growth initiative, we carried out our own research to assess the needs of women business owners in Nigeria related to financial literacy and access to finance, the research concluded that women entrepreneurs need a greater understanding of a range of finance aspects to help manage and grow their businesses. This includes improved skills in issues such as managing cash flow, undertaking market analysis, determining financial needs, choosing financial products and understanding loan processes and requirements.

Women make up the majority of unbanked population around the world because they face additional barriers to accessing capital: Women often lack access to the collateral needed to secure loans, given social and legal restrictions around inheritance and land ownership rights; women entrepreneurs tend to have less experience with banking institutions and can therefore lack the confidence to approach a bank.

Banks generally consider women-owned businesses to be higher-risk as these enterprises operate mostly in the informal sector and are usually micro in scale; Banks regard women entrepreneurs as less attractive because they may lack proper records/documents as a result of poor financial literacy/management. They may think women are bad investments.

The other thing we do is we work with banks so we try to encourage them to see women as assets, not as liabilities. Unfortunately many banks and financial institutions are reluctant to invest in women because they see women –owned businesses as ‘risky’ – because they are often informal in nature and micro in scale.

Also, banks can be intimidating because they are male dominated environment and finally there is this idea that they may be a higher risk and this is often associated with the fact that there are more small businesses, there are more women concentrated in small, micro and medium size businesses and so the more we can help women grow and expand their businesses, they will become not just small to medium, but medium to large and we are also helping them with their entrepreneurial skill, employ other people and everybody benefits from that.

Would your organisation conduct training programmes for these women?

We do, I seriously believe in partnership, I think we can do so much more together, then I can do on my own, that’s why we work with partners. The programmes that we do, we have a particular skill set in women business and entrepreneurial training, but we deliver that working with our partners. So it is not my ambition to have big branches like the Street Life Foundation for Women in Nigeria; employing lots of people in Nigeria, I will much rather work with local partners who are already doing it. For example here in Nigeria, we work with technology organization, in one of our other projects we did, we are working here in cooperation with an enterprising centre, so that way, we build up programmes…. just have to follow international standard and there are rules about cash flows and other things, but as well as that it just have to follow the Nigerian standard; so if you work with local partner, you are going to get the local content right, that is what we do and then we also of course work in partnership with organisations like ExxonMobil Foundation, which gives us the money and they helping with a number of projects - four years five years, we’ve been working with them; then we have partnership with banks, also with the mobile money, we also have with MTN in Nigeria here, and also partnership with Visa Inc., so we believe in working in partnership.

Approximately how many women has your organisation helped to become financially independent?

Overall in the last seven years, we have reached over 125,000 women in 80 different countries. Now why is that, one of the reasons is actually a 100,000 women are about Nigerian

Culture and religion play very vital roles first in Nigeria and the rest of Africa, and most women lag behind today because they are relegated to the background, are not educated or even allowed to be financially independent.

Do you see this as a challenge? What does your foundation do to turn things around for women on the continent?

Absolutely, it is a challenge and tragedy as well; and it is not just a personal tragedy for those individual girls but a main tragedy for their countries as well, because all the research shows that $28 trillion could be added to the world economy and if women have the same economic opportunity as men and yet we still hold our girls back. And what do we do about that, I hundred percent support all the efforts to keep girls in education and to allow girls not only to have primary education but secondary and tertiary education as well. I also welcome many women, who missed out on those opportunities because you can’t send them back to school; you can’t turn them back into school, they are mothers and they have responsibilities, some of them may be even grandmother that is why I feel what we do within our entrepreneur programme is important because what we are talking about is practical vocation training, which helps women catch up on the skill, which may be, they didn’t get when they were younger.

Definitely, Turkey refused to accept that just because a women is 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 or 60 even, she cannot carry on learning and growing and doing new things.

What do you think about Nigerian women?

I think Nigerian women are fantastic, when you see how strong they are... ...can I say the women were confident, they knew they were going somewhere. They don’t get enough credit, yet they were well driven. They can be formidable force.....and I feel they are a lot of blessing.

How do you feel about your humble background?

I feel very well so proud; I often think how lucky I was; I was a child, and grandchild, because if I had been born and my grandmother was born in 1903, would I have these opportunities and if I had been born and my mum was born in 1933, would I have these opportunities, the fact that I was born when I was, which was in 1954, I was so lucky to be born where I was, when I was, at the time when opportunities started opening up for women, I was lucky, God is good. I was able to make use of those opportunities, but I sometime think, gosh! my grandmother was a formidable woman, if she had my opportunities, what would she have done?.

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PERSPECTIVE

The buoyant Nigerian economic outlook Roberts U. Orya The downturn of oil prices has created immediate but temporary fiscal and monetary challenges in Nigeria. Dollar oil revenue to the government has shrunk considerably, reflecting over 70 per cent decline in oil prices from the heights they attained in June 2014. Therefore, expansion of the federal fiscal deficit has become necessary in order for the government to continue to meet its obligations and deliver service to the populace. In the states, where the fiscal space is more constricted, paying public sector wages has become more challenging.

On the monetary side, there has been downward pressure on the foreign reserves. This has limited the wherewithal of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to continue to defend the naira value across the foreign exchange markets. The official market is sheltered from exchange rate volatility. But we have seen the naira reach all-time lows against the dollar in the parallel market, causing public anxiety and threatening the way working class Nigerians love to live.

While this is on, it is so easy to become downbeat in one’s outlook for the Nigerian market.

Extreme opinions have called into question any sense of progress the country has made with economic management, especially since the return of democratic governance in 1999.

They see the threats of higher public debt, inflation, unemployment and slower economic growth. But these issues are most likely to be short-term.

The current sharp decline in oil prices constitutes a speed bump. Yes, it slowed the pace of economic growth to 3.3 per cent last year, from 7 per cent average GDP growth rate of the last ten years. But, some positive developments are already identifiable with this foreign exchange crunch. To summarise the totality of the auspicious developments, Nigeria has entered a phase of economic transition.

This transition has been imperative for long. To some extent, signs that it is already afoot are undeniable. But the economic conditions of today ensures that this transition must gather pace.

This transition would invariably lead the country to a period of sustained, endogenous high economic growth.

There are three factors that underpin my buoyant outlook on Nigeria. One involves cumulative improvement in governance. The second is Nigeria’s commitment to macroeconomic stability. And the third is the irrepressible determination of Nigerians to do well for themselves. This third factor ensures the resilience of the citizens and that of the country.

It is the critical element that has continued to drive the progress the country has been making.

Cumulative governance improvement The Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will deliver further improvement in public governance and fiscal management in Nigeria. The President will continue to build on the progress that has been

financial and price stability.

President Muhammadu Buhari has shown good leadership with his position which indicates that macroeconomic stability is not a political party agenda in Nigeria; it is a country agenda that has been upheld by successive administrations since 1999.

The institutional architecture for supporting market stability has continued to strengthen, and that is without overlooking the higher standards that are yet to be attained. Public debt management in Nigeria has been modernised. A legal framework through the Fiscal Responsibility Act is in place.

It places a 3% limit on fiscal deficit as a ratio of the GDP. Since the last two fiscal years of the last administration, a policy to channel public borrowing to infrastructure projects came into place. This policy is affirmed in the fiscal borrowing plan of the present administration, as seen in the 2016 budget.

While the borrowing plan in the budget has inflamed passions, it appears that the provision of a N360 billion Sinking Fund to liquidate matured debt has eluded the debate.

Nevertheless, Nigeria has a solid reputation of servicing its debt obligation to both domestic and international financiers. The deals by which Nigeria exited the Paris Club and London Club debts in 2005 and 2006, respectively, will remain a point of reference in the country’s debt repayment behaviour. Since those important deals, the fiscal authorities have never taken eyes off the sustainability gauge of Nigeria’s public debt.

Buhari made since the country returned to democracy in 1999. It is not the better judgment to focus on the challenges of governance and overlook the evidence of the progress that has been made.

Nigeria is committed to democratic governance. In 2007, we appeared surprised when the country made the first-ever democratic transition of government. The late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua succeeded President Olusegun Obasanjo as elected president. Then in 2009, without much pomp and pageantry, we marked the first straight ten years of democratic governance in Nigeria. The 2015 presidential election just proved to be another landmark for the country: for the first time in our history, an opposition party candidate won against the incumbent, and the transition of power was smooth.

Ahead of the election,

Even as the exchange rate policy of the CBN continues to generate a healthy debate, the anti-devaluation argument is consistent with maintaining financial and price stability

Moody’s affirmed a stable outlook for Nigeria. In an interview with one of the country’s top economic journals, Financial Nigeria, later in 2015, the head of sovereign analysis for the rating agency, Aurelien Mali, said the track-record of conclusive elections in Nigeria was factored in the positive outlook.

Institutions of democratic governance are enjoying longevity. It is a rarity for the legislature, whose existence was usually terminated by the incessant military interregna of the 1980s and the 1990s. Even the tenure certainty for the President nowadays is remarkable in view of our history. While each administration since 1999 has grappled with putting in place more transparent and accountable frameworks for public and market governance, the fact that the institutional drivers of the process are intact is a mark of progress on its own.

To crown it all, Nigerians are clamouring for further progress.

We want the pace of progress to increase. We want responsible and responsive governance. We are even more assured than we were 17 years ago that it is the role of the electorate that is pivotal in constituting government.

This awareness is healthy for the Nigerian populace and those who constitute government or aspire to political leadership.

Stable macroeconomic environment There is a positive relation-

ship between an environment of political stability underpinned by constitutionality and positive market performance. The Nigerian democracy has even prioritised the development of the Nigerian market. One of the ways successive governments have demonstrated this is by pursuing macroeconomic stability. Unprecedented levels of domestic and foreign investments have followed, beginning with the mobile telephone industry in 2001.

The CBN has pursued single digit inflation and maintained it in the better part of the last five years. Price stability has been predicated on market reforms and financial market stability.

When the 2008 – 2009 Global Financial Crisis arrived on our shores, the reinvigoration of the banking system through the recapitalisation and consolidation of the banks three years earlier, helped us to weather the storm. A strong response to the crisis through CBN liquidity intervention, introduction of macroprudential regulation and purchases of impaired assets helped to strengthen the banks. As the country faces the headwind of low oil prices now, Nigerian banks are expected to remain resilient, even if they have to make operational adjustments.

Even as the exchange rate policy of the CBN continues to generate a healthy debate, the anti-devaluation argument is consistent with maintaining

Primed for success Nigerians are generally determined to be successful. If it takes education, we would go for it. If it takes industry, we would become entrepreneurs and start businesses even under the most challenging environment. We are irrepressible in adverse conditions. As the current foreign exchange crisis begins to affect business as usual, we will reinvent ourselves.

Nobody, including the average Nigerian, wants a hard life in place of easy life. Countries that have developed have had to do so in response to challenges that posed a threat to their easy life.

It might be geopolitical threat, demographic challenges or economic stress. In Nigeria today, the formidable threat is the intertwined high dependency on oil for foreign exchange, import dependency and inadequate domestic production.

What we have to do is diversify the economy, promote non-oil exports and boost domestic production. In the meantime, we need to use policy instruments to curb unnecessary imports. The policy leaning is there, and Nigerians will respond; not only for survival but to achieve and maintain the good life. This is what defines us as a people of achievement.

This is why the outlook of the country is especially buoyant, medium- to long-term.

Orya, is former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export - Import Bank.

33

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

Expect Lower Earnings, Diamond Bank Shippers’ Council Restrategises, Sets Key Tells Stakeholders Performance Indicators Goddy Egene

The number of companies envisaging lower performances for the 2015 financial year swelled last Friday with Diamond Bank Plc sending a profit warning to capital market operators.

FCMB Group Plc and FBH Holdings Plc had sent similar profit warnings to the market due the challenging operating environment. Also, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) Plc last Tuesday said it would record loss for 2015 financial year.

While investors were still coming to terms with the reality of those profit warnings, Diamond Bank said on Friday that the continuing deterioration in Nigeria’s macro-economic conditions has resulted in the bank recognising higher than expected impairment charges on loans made to the energy and commercial business sectors.

“In light of these deteriorat-

ing conditions, and subsequent review of Diamond Bank Plc’s management accounts for the financial year ended December 31, 2015, preliminary indications are that earnings will be lower than in 2014,” the bank said.

According to the bank, in recent years, it has deployed considerable resources in building a dependable risk management framework, and the quality of its loan portfolio in general, remains high.

Diamond Bank added that it remained determined to deliver on its stated strategy of creating Nigeria’s leading technology-led retail bank.

“Already, in 2016 the business has made significant changes to its operating structure that will result in reductions in operating costs. Further investment has been made to improve customer relationships and revenue in our core business segments. These actions aim to deliver improved earnings

and lower operating costs from 2016 onward. Overall, despite the headwinds and the fact that 2016 presents a tough operating environment for the industry, we remain optimistic on the fundamentals underpinning our long term retail-led business strategy,” the bank said.

Similarly, CWG had said stakeholders should expect loss for the full year that will be driven by foreign exchange losses, inventory and bad debt write-offs.

“Foreign exchange losses – principally driven by significant exchange rate volatility.

The exchange rate, which had been largely stable within a narrow band suddenly plummeted and remained uncertain from the first quarter of 2015, following the significant drop in Oil prices. Inventory writeoffs – following technology and business model changes which made some previous investments, such as the investments in VSAT and MPLS

network obsolete. Bad debt write-offs – due to a significant amount of income reversal from the previous year as a result of the cancellation of earlier agreed contracts, for which cancellation penalties are yet to be secured,” the company explained.

According to the company, apart from the loss from the above write-offs, it expects to report an operational loss stemming from a combination of a reduction in margins in her erstwhile traditional reseller business, and inability to transfer increased cost of doing business to customers due to already existing contracts.

“This performance occurred on the back of a challenging and .uncertain macroeconomic environment including the general elections of 2015 and the subsequent takeover by a new administration which caused significant delays in investments by our traditional customers,” CWG said.

SHELTER FOR ALL

L-R: Head, Apapa Regional Bank & Chairman, Promo Committee, Obaro Odeghe; Head, Savings Group, Janet Nnabuko; Executive Director, Shared Services & Products, Chijioke Ugochukwu; Divisional Head, Retail Bank, Richard Madiebo, all of Fidelity Bank, at the Bank’s 5th Save 4 Shelter Promo Draw held in Lagos… recently

Nosa Alekhuogie Determined to maximise its contribution to the development of the nation’s shipping industry, particularly the ports sector, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has unfolded a new strategic plan in its statutory role as the Ports Economic Regulator.

Under the plan, the Council announced a new framework and key performance indicators for the period of three years and expected to guide the ports regulator and personnel for effective delivery in its statutory roles.

The Executive Secretary of the Council, Mr. Hassan Bello, disclosed that the management retreat held at Abeokuta, Ogun State, recently was mainly to examine thoroughly the internal service delivery system of the council.

Bello said that during the retreat, appropriate structures and key performance indicators were set up in line with the goal of the council.

According to him, each department goal was set up as a scientific roadmap to guide the council for optimal performance.

He said that in order to get the best from the Council and the personnel, there will be “assessment, evaluation of departments, individuals and the Council itself”.

Describing the management retreat as extremely rewarding and illuminating, Bello said the Council is moving ahead with its plans for a stakeholders’ forum as earlier directed by the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

He said that some issues have been identified to feature during the forum, which according to him will involve all stakeholders in the industry.

Bello said that among the issues include efficiency of the ports system, economic impact of the port system in terms of job and wealth creation.

He also said that the general contribution of the maritime industry to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the 48-hour cargo clearance at the ports would feature.

It would be recalled that the

Minister of Transport had said the sector has not contributed enough to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and described the 1.41 percent aggregate contribution as unacceptable.

Other issues to be discussed during forum include review of the concession agreement, ports assessment and deep seaports projects and the Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and Truck Transit Parks (TTP).

He also said that the forum would discuss the national carrier issue, the capacity to operate ships by Nigerians, the state of infrastructure at the ports and anything that will make Nigeria the preferred port in the West African sub-region.

He added that the planned forum would equally discuss the issue of freight forwarding practice, Nigeria’s trade terms in the carriage of crude oil, whether it will be on the basis Free on Board (FOB) or Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF).

The Minister believes that such stakeholders’ forum would come up with ideas on how the maritime sector would contribute more to the GDP. He had given a revenue target of N500bn each to both Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

He said during a recent forum, “the only way we would not change officers in the sector is if we achieve the N500billion, we cannot achieve it without a proper reform, Nigerian maritime sector must bring part of the money we would use in replenishing the nation, if they cannot meet the target I will tell Mr. President to allow me hire new persons who can help me achieve it.

He added: “Statistics has shown that over 80 per cent of global oil trade is transported by ships, while in the case of Nigeria, it is 100 per cent.

The shipping sub-sector of the maritime industry is estimated to be worth over 3 billion dollars annually. It is therefore expedient to stress that transport is demand-driven and government in its commitment to shipping, will consider growth and development of the industry.”

Power Generation Gets Boost as GE Supports Bresson’s 500MW Plant Osinbajo: FG to clear obstacles to power sector investments James Emejo in Abuja Global Energy giant, General Electric said it would provide support for Bresson AS’ plans to provide 500megawatts of electricity to the national grid by next year.

The Managing Director of Gaspower Systems, Mr. Mohammed Mijindadi disclosed this over the weekend at a Bresson AS working visit to the Vice-President, Mr. Yemi Osinbajo, adding that financ-

ing the project had become a priority.

He said: “The project has tremendous economic value, and that is why GE Capital is involved in structuring finances for Bresson 500mw project.”

Chairman, Bresson Nigeria Limited, Mr. Gbenga OlawepoHashim had earlier assured the Vice President that the megawatts to be generated would come from Bresson Initiative and its Magboro power plant in Ogun state.

According to him, the capacity, which will be available in phase 1 from second quarter of 2017, would represent 10 percent of the current available national capacity.

Olawepo, however, commended the present administration for removing bottlenecks associated with signing of power purchase agreements, noting that the Minister of Power had approved the agreements without delay and without waiting to be lobbied.

Olawepo-Hashim noted that the new development will attract more investors and fast track the administration’s efforts to provide adequate power supply to the citizenry.

Meanwhile, Osinbajo had told the team of investors that the present administration was committed to removing all bottlenecks hindering investor’s in the power sector, commending Bresson for the integrated nature of its power projects developing a model of fuel sufficiency

by also investing in Gas Production.

Assuring that the administration was working to ensure regular supply of gas to the power plants as well as making efforts to attract investment into the sector, he said Bresson integrated model in power generation was a laudable model.

Osinbajo said: “We shall support you and other genuine investors with recognisable foot print but we shall monitor you closely to

ensure you adhere to your schedule.”

The High Commissioner of Slovakia, Mr. Peter Holasek, the country where Bresson technical partners emerged from further assured the Vice president of the readiness of his country to support the Nigerian power sector.

He described Slovakia as a small nation but with huge technical capacity, noting that Nigeria could tap into its expertise to address her technological needs.

34

MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016 T H I S D AY

T H I S D AY MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016

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36

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Study Highlights Benefits of Electronic Payments Obinna Chima Visa Incorporated has released the results of a new 2016 study conducted by Moody’s Analytics that analysed the impact of electronic payments on economic growth across 70 countries between 2011 and 2015.

The Visa-commissioned study found that increased use of electronic payment products, including credit, debit and prepaid cards, added $296B to Gross Domestic Product, while raising household consumption of goods and services by an average of 0.18 per cent per year.

In addition, Moody’s economists estimated that an equivalent to 2.6 million new jobs, were created on average per year over the five year period as a result of increased use of electronic payments. The

70 countries in the study make up almost 95 percent of global GDP. “Electronic payments are a major contributor to consumption, increased production, economic growth and employment creation,” the Chief Economist of Moody’s Analytics,” Mark Zandi noted.

“Those countries, which saw large increases in card usage also saw larger contributions to overall growth in their economies.”

Findings from the study were shared in the report “The Impact of Electronic Payments on Economic Growth” which also indicated that the electronification of payments benefited governments and contributed to a more stable and open business environment.

Additionally electronic payments helped to minimise what is commonly referred to as

the grey economy -- economic activity that is often cash-based and goes unreported. As a result, electronic payments provided a higher potential tax revenue base for governments, while also bringing the added benefits of lower cash handling costs, guaranteed payment to merchants and greater financial inclusion for consumers.

“These findings reinforce the many positive benefits that electronic payments bring to local economies all over the world,” the Chief Executive Officer, Visa Incorporated, Charlie W. Scharf said.

Both emerging markets and developed countries experienced gains in consumption due to higher card usage. Increased card usage added 0.2 per cent to consumption in emerging markets, compared with 0.14 per cent in developed countries between 2011 and 2015.

Heritage Bank Restates Commitment to Wealth Creation, SME Devt The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Heritage Bank Limited, Mr. Ifie Sekibo, has restated the bank’s commitment to wealth creation and the development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).

Sekibo, who spoke to journalists in Lagos recently explained that Heritage Bank was poised to serve “as a catalyst to create wealth, preserve it and fashion out a succession plan for the next generation.”

He said: “Heritage Bank was set up to do one or two things and there are three steps to it.

One is the creation, preservation and transfer of wealth. We sat down as a bank and noted the

difficulties faced by businesses and families in Nigeria in the area of generational wealth transfer.

“To us, the main target is that our activity, our investment, our catalytic behavior will help make businesses move from one level to the other. That is the goal.”

To stimulate wealth creation, the Heritage Bank boss stated that the bank will continue to support the SMEs, which he described as the base of the nation’s economic growth.

“SMEs have to survive if the economy must survive.

It is not an option. It is the bedrock of our economy.

The artisans, the fitters, the

technicians… if they do not exist, our maintenance culture will be very poor. Funding is the last thing on the menu for SMEs. Let us begin to inject methods and give guidance to these companies,” he added.

Sekibo emphasised that the SMEs empowerment remained a priority to the bank and pledged the continuous support of the bank to the sector. “All big corporations today, including our brother and mentor, Aliko Dangote, started as an SME. As a bank, we have set up an SME clinic and partnered with professionals, who teach them proper methods of running and sustaining their businesses,” he stressed.

Sterling Bank Partners Manufacturers Peter Uzoho Sterling Bank’s collaboration with the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and other associations to sponsor next week’s Manufacturing Expo was in line with the bank’s efforts at promoting entrepreneurship in the country, the bank’s Executive Director, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman has said.

He said the bank was always willing to actively participate in initiatives that will encourage local manufacturers and other entrepreneurs as they are pillars to the industrial resurgence of the country. Suleiman,

who spoke at the weekend, emphasised that the prevailing harsh economic climate in the country, especially the scarcity of foreign exchange, had made it imperative for organisations to assist the government in promoting local production of goods and services.

He pointed out that the expo will give local manufacturers a platform to network and learn new ways of increasing productivity.

According to him, “The worst thing you can do is to throw money at the manufacturing sector. The fundamental thing is for entrepreneurs to have

specific knowledge that will help them to grow their business. They should know about governments’ policies and how these affect them.”

Citing Made-in-Nigeria cables and wires, which he said have been proven to be superior to imported brands, he noted that many Nigerians tended to believe that locally produced goods were of poor quality even without having purchased and used such products. He revealed that in addition to the sponsorship of the expo, Sterling Bank was also planning to increase its support for the manufacturing sector.

Customers Win Duplex, N5m in Fidelity Bank Promo Mr. Odianosen Adodo, a customer of Fidelity Bank in its Uromi branch has emerged the winner of a 4-bedroom duplex in the latest draw of the bank’s on-going Save-4-Shelter promo.

The duplex is located in Port Harcourt and the Adodo is expected to receive the property with its complete title documents paid for by the bank.

The draw which was held at the bank’s head office in Lagos, also saw six other customers winning a total of N12 million and other consolation prizes.

They included Adamu Kabir

(Kaduna branch), who won N2 million; Obi Micheal Chidozie (Obosi branch), who won N1 million; Ibrahim Selimat – N500,000; Jewel Favour Chinenye –N500,000; Nkeiruka Chijioke (Port Harcourt branch) – N500,000; and also Olukotun Abdulrasheed Temitope (Akure branch), who also won N500,000.

Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of Shared Services, Fidelity Bank, Mrs. Chijioke Ugochukwu, said the initiative was to improve the financial well-being of custom-

ers of the bank, and promote financial inclusion.

“We are committed to the well-being and growth of our customers and we would continue to come up with initiatives that would empower our customers and make them grow.

This promo is a special effort on the part of the bank to continue to build strong savings culture among our customers and among generality of Nigerians as a whole. It is also our way of supporting people’s aspiration to rent their own property or own their own houses.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

NOVEMBER 2014 Broad Money (M2)

16,696,663.77

-- Narrow Money (M1)

6,678,249.30

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,231,005.96

---- Demand Deposits

5,447,243.34

-- Quasi Money

10,018,414.47

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,183,427.14

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

9,513,236.63

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

16,353,454.75

---- Credit to Government (Net)

-1,755,121.92

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

419,550.98

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

-2,174,672.91

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

18,108,576.68

--Other Assets Net

-6,840,218.12

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,068,556.90

--Currency in Circulation

1,577,889.36

--Banks Reserves

3,490,667.54 • Source - CBN

MANAGED FUNDS Initial Price (N) Stanbic Balanced Fund

Buying Price(N)

Selling Price

1,660.29

1,685.29

Stanbic IBTC NEF

1,000.00

11,002.32

11,326.67.11

Stanbic SIBond

20

120.47

120.47

Stanbic IBTC Ethical

1

1.10

1.13

Stanbic IBTC GIF

142.90

143.38

UBA Balanced Fund

1.2563

1.2493

UBA Bond Fund

1.3443

1.3443

UBA Equity Fund

0.8205

0.8074

UBA Money Market Fund

1.1510

1.1510

ARM Aggressive Growth Fund

N13.1141

N13.5095

ARM Discovery Fund

N288.9978

N297.7112

ARM Ethical Fund

N22.6462

N23.3290

ARM Money Market Fund

13.1161 (Yield % ) • Monetary Policy Rate - 13%

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT 10 MARCH 2016 The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $35.23 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $35.05 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Murban (UAE), Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), 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) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

37

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

MARKET NEWS

CCNN, Others under Pressure over DCP’s N136bn Dividend Goddy Egene and Eromosele Abiodun Cement companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), Lafarge Africa Plc and Ashaka Cement Plc are under pressure to pay improved dividend for the 2015 financial year, following the N181 billion dividend paid

by Dangote Cement Plc for the year ended December 31, 2015.

After recording a profit after tax of N181 billion for 2015, directors of DCP Plc recommended a N136 billion dividend. The dividend, which translates into N8.00 per share, showed an increase of 33 per cent compared to the N6 paid the previous year.

According to analysts,

T H E MAIN BOARD 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. CHELLARAMS PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. JOS INT. BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals Food Products DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NASCON ALLIED INDUSTRIES PLC TIGER BRANDED CONSUMER GOODS PLC Food Products Totals Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Household Durables Totals Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. Banking Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. AXAMANSARD INSURANCE PLC N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. UNIC INSURANCE PLC. WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Micro-Finance Banks NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UNITED CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals HEALTHCARE Totals ICT

DEALS

MARKET PRICE

No. of Deals 7 5 12 No. of Deals 13 13 25

Current Price 31.5 34.25

No. of Deals 3 1 115 13 132 132

considering the performance of DCP Plc, shareholders are expecting other cement firms to also end the year well and declare significant dividends.

But considering the nine months performance of the companies, the analysts contended that investors in these companies may expect lower dividend.

For example, CCNN had recorded a PAT of N1.647 billion

N I G E R I A N QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

Quantity Traded 16,210 20,554 36,764 Quantity Traded 156,000 156,000 192,764

Value Traded 536,064.70 739,121.84 1,275,186.54 Value Traded 184,400.00 184,400.00 1,459,586.54

Current Price 0.76 3.58 1.2 19.96

Quantity Traded 7,158 100 15,679,497 32,003 15,718,758 15,718,758

Value Traded 5,546.92 341 18,591,559.21 670,462.85 19,267,909.98 19,267,909.98

No. of Deals 14 14 No. of Deals 1 1 15

Current Price 5.1

Quantity Traded 58,614 58,614 Quantity Traded 100 100 58,714

Value Traded 309,619.46 309,619.46 Value Traded 1,000.00 1,000.00 310,619.46

No. of Deals 1 12 25 1 97 136 No. of Deals 10 10 No. of Deals 33 157 45 6 26 267 No. of Deals 18 33 51 No. of Deals 7 2 9 No. of Deals 11 11 22 495

Current Price 2.88 113 18.5 1.51 100

Quantity Traded 20,000 57,456 54,635 10,000 1,663,198 1,805,289 Quantity Traded 5,540 5,540 Quantity Traded 407,861 1,568,201 1,994,900 206,500 1,605,499 5,782,961 Quantity Traded 173,102 69,284 242,386 Quantity Traded 43,520 12,000 55,520 Quantity Traded 213,123 217,273 430,396 8,322,092

Value Traded 54,800.00 6,459,824.00 966,926.25 14,400.00 163,326,191.79 170,822,142.04 Value Traded 859,829.50 859,829.50 Value Traded 2,427,955.12 31,554,660.94 3,461,969.89 1,557,429.00 4,398,911.26 43,400,926.21 Value Traded 2,859,017.68 47,814,159.99 50,673,177.67 Value Traded 178,683.00 10,320.00 189,003.00 Value Traded 5,305,320.82 6,099,709.06 11,405,029.88 277,350,108.30

No. of Deals 113 32 22 126 189 58 2 151 17 6 7 723 No. of Deals 11 6 2 1 1 2 6 8 10 1 1 71 120 No. of Deals 9 9 No. of Deals 2 2 No. of Deals 108 3 131 44 109 395 1,249

Current Price 4.42 1.52 18 1.26 16.25 0.98 1.7 3.44 5.98 0.7 0.87

Quantity Traded 3,696,616 2,462,325 199,398 16,116,091 10,266,428 3,616,693 79,315 10,375,915 328,453 100,597 161,472 47,403,303 Quantity Traded 768,860 460,000 2,807,142 50,000 100,000 700,000 100,000 253,000 2,319,076 3,200 100 15,077,784 22,639,162 Quantity Traded 269,200 269,200 Quantity Traded 13,822 13,822 Quantity Traded 4,560,260 10,674 9,862,317 584,807 5,653,418 20,671,476 90,996,963

Value Traded 16,641,609.17 3,719,437.97 3,587,735.63 19,914,529.15 167,103,385.75 3,506,208.00 133,942.90 35,334,327.31 1,941,125.99 67,797.90 141,434.85 252,091,534.62 Value Traded 620,507.30 422,700.00 1,403,571.00 25,000.00 50,000.00 350,000.00 64,000.00 559,290.00 1,778,745.90 1,600.00 50 7,538,892.00 12,814,356.20 Value Traded 282,805.30 282,805.30 Value Traded 59,158.16 59,158.16 Value Traded 15,034,828.65 40,758.44 7,967,370.50 8,732,732.74 9,561,771.24 41,337,461.57 306,585,315.85

Quantity Traded 2,500 2,610,086 34,306 149,020 544,003 18,000 3,357,915 3,357,915

Value Traded 1,250.00 6,939,546.70 852,708.60 147,531.50 372,997.89 37,160.00 8,351,194.69 8,351,194.69

No. of Deals 1 29 8 7 5 2 52 52

Current Price 1.18

Current Price 10

Current Price 161.5 Current Price 6.01 20.16 1.8 7.5 2.74 Current Price 17.2 690 Current Price 4.3 0.9 Current Price 25 28.06

Current Price 0.81 0.92 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.64 2.2 0.77 0.5 0.5 0.5 Current Price 1.11 Current Price 4.5 Current Price 3.3 3.81 0.82 15 1.69

Current Price 0.5 2.75 24.98 0.99 0.69 2.14

for the nine months ended September 2015, which was lower than the N1.729 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2014.

Similarly, Lafarge Africa Plc ended its nine months with a PAT of N29.5 billion, down from N31.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2014.

Ashaka Cement recorded a PAT of N3.698 billion for the

STO C K

nine months in 2015, which is lower than N4.365 billion.

CCNN paid a dividend of 35 kobo per share, Lafarge Africa paid N3.60 and Ashaka Cement 45 kobo. Confirming the pressure some of these companies are facing, Mr. Eric Akinduro of Ibadan Zonal Shareholders Association, said the companies will definitely do something but would not be able to match

DCP’s dividend payment.

“The other companies will do something but they cannot march DCP. What I have come to understand about dividend payment is the policy of the board to always give something out to investors and make them happy which Dangote Group always kin about despite the none conducive macro environment,” Akinduro said.

E XC H A N G E

MAIN BOARD 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 LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. Chemicals Totals Metals ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. Metals Totals Mining Services MULTIVERSE MINING AND EXPLORATION PLC Mining Services 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 Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals Courier/Freight/Delivery TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LEARN AFRICA PLC Printing/Publishing Totals Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals Support and Logistics CAVERTON OFFSHORE SUPPORT GRP PLC C & I LEASING PLC. Support and Logistics Totals SERVICES Totals EQTY Board Totals Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board ASeM CONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC Food Products Totals CONSUMER GOODS Totals ASeM Board Totals Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board PREMIUM FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals Other Financial Institutions FBN HOLDINGS PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials DANGOTE CEMENT PLC Building Materials Totals INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals PREMIUM Board Totals Equity Activity Totals Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund Name LOTUS HALAL EQUITY ETF NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA BANKING ETF VETIVA CONSUMER GOODS ETF VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF VETIVA INDUSTRIAL ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals ETF Board Totals ETP Activity Totals

DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

No. of Deals 1 1 1

Current Price 0.5

Quantity Traded 2,000 2,000 2,000

Value Traded 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00

No. of Deals 5 4 4 15 41 69 No. of Deals 2 2 No. of Deals 5 5 76

Current Price 24 9.42 38.5 8.88 85.5

Quantity Traded 13,693 19,000 1,457 84,170 121,524 239,844 Quantity Traded 36,302 36,302 Quantity Traded 46,810 46,810 322,956

Value Traded 338,568.00 180,275.00 55,815.75 747,876.10 10,307,831.72 11,630,366.57 Value Traded 59,016.02 59,016.02 Value Traded 2,024,064.40 2,024,064.40 13,713,446.99

No. of Deals 1 1 No. of Deals 1 1 No. of Deals 2 2 4

Current Price 3.95

Quantity Traded 2,934 2,934 Quantity Traded 380 380 Quantity Traded 10,000 10,000 13,314

Value Traded 11,031.84 11,031.84 Value Traded 3,553.00 3,553.00 Value Traded 5,000.00 5,000.00 19,584.84

No. of Deals 3 3 No. of Deals 125 125 No. of Deals 8 4 3 23 1 25 64 No. of Deals 21 21 213

Current Price 0.5

Quantity Traded 191,076 191,076 Quantity Traded 4,843,725 4,843,725 Quantity Traded 41,391 50,165 110 1,406,227 5,000 39,448 1,542,341 Quantity Traded 93,500 93,500 6,670,642

Value Traded 95,538.00 95,538.00 Value Traded 25,912,878.75 25,912,878.75 Value Traded 715,134.36 90,027.57 30,642.70 240,083,077.40 224,150.00 5,872,992.62 247,016,024.65 Value Traded 32,331,326.15 32,331,326.15 305,355,767.55

Quantity Traded 2,000 2,000 Quantity Traded 184,125 184,125 Quantity Traded 20,000 20,000 Quantity Traded 16,580 41,400 57,980 Quantity Traded 10,000 118,011 128,011 Quantity Traded 1,500 107,311 108,811 500,927 126,157,045

Value Traded 1,000.00 1,000.00 Value Traded 226,473.75 226,473.75 Value Traded 49,836.00 49,836.00 Value Traded 9,450.60 34,404.00 43,854.60 Value Traded 22,000.00 499,959.32 521,959.32 Value Traded 2,385.00 53,655.50 56,040.50 899,164.17 933,313,698.37

No. of Deals 2 2 No. of Deals 5 5 No. of Deals 3 3 No. of Deals 2 4 6 No. of Deals 1 19 20 No. of Deals 2 8 10 46 2,308

Current Price 1.58 Current Price 45.5

Current Price 9.84 Current Price 0.5

Current Price 5.35 Current Price 16.56 1.85 293.23 171 47.18 150 Current Price 350

Current Price 0.5 Current Price 1.18 Current Price 2.6 Current Price 0.55 0.82 Current Price 2.2 4.1 Current Price 1.52 0.5

No. of Deals 3 3 3 3

Current Price 1.29

Quantity Traded 62,873 62,873 62,873 62,873

Value Traded 80,719.98 80,719.98 80,719.98 80,719.98

No. of Deals 289 289 No. of Deals 237 237 526

Current Price 12.35

Quantity Traded 15,216,913 15,216,913 Quantity Traded 23,978,993 23,978,993 39,195,906

Value Traded 188,751,004.20 188,751,004.20 Value Traded 88,621,728.84 88,621,728.84 277,372,733.04

No. of Deals 58 58 58 584 2,895

Current Price 164

Quantity Traded 562,590 562,590 562,590 39,758,496 165,978,414

Value Traded 93,014,006.22 93,014,006.22 93,014,006.22 370,386,739.26 1,303,781,157.61

No. of Deals 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 6 6

Current Price 8.52 2,413.00 2.47 6.04 11.74 20.21

Quantity Traded 5 51 5 5 5 15 86 86 86

Value Traded 42.6 123,063.00 12.35 30.2 58.7 303.15 123,510.00 123,510.00 123,510.00

Current Price 3.69

38

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

CITYSTRINGS

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

‘I Will See God if I Die Today’ At 83, Mama Olubisi Osinbajo, reflecting on her journey through life, declared with every sense of certainty that she would see God the moment she passes, Peace Obi reports

C

all it a blessed assurance, a foretell of the future or a human invasion of God’s exclusive role to determine the fate of every mortal’s journey after life.

Whatever it may be, none is too far from describing the outpouring of a mind and conscience that has spent some quality time in the service of the Lord, thus looking back, could not but announce her preparedness to see her creator at the end of her journey on this planet earth.

The 83rd birthday of Mama Olubisi Osinbajo, which held recently at her Lagos residence was a silent one to many, yet, a powerful and special gathering that left the celebrant enmeshed in excitement as she found herself surrounded by the group of people that she loves most - the church.

The Church of Nigerian (Anglican Communion) is the church Mama Osinbajo worships with. The church’s women organisation headed by the wife of the Primate, Mrs. Nkasiobi Okoh recently visited Mama Osinbajo at her residence in Lagos to celebrate the octogenarian’s 83rd birthday with her.

The visit led by the Archbishop, Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos and Bishop, Diocese of Lagos Mainland, The Most Revd. Adebayo Akinde, had in attendance clergy wives, ranging from the top hierarchy - Primate’s, Archbishops, Bishops to the Vicars’ and even to the laity’s to share in Mama’s joy.

In a brief celebration that could be better described as a church service as singing of hymns, prayers and word of exhortation took a better part of the event, started with an opening prayer and a hymn titled “Life is great, so sing about it” that so aptly describes events of life and the right attitude needed to live and enjoy life.

In a short exhortation by the Archbishop Akinde, taking his text from Psalms 20, reading through verse one to nine, urged the people to always depend on God for all their needs - divine protection and divine providence.

According to him, the surest provision and power comes from God alone and not from anywhere else. Stressing that attempt to have these needs met through other means other than God would amount to inviting trouble.

Extolling the virtues of the Octogenarian, Akinde said, “Mama, we thank God for the testimonies of your life. We have known and worked very close for almost 10 years now, and I am delighted to say it publicly that this is a godly woman. At 83 and as the mother of the number two man in this country, she does not miss Bible Study and prayer meetings.”

Charging Nigerians to desist from crude and senseless acquisition of wealth, he backed it up with a biblical quotation from the book of Mark 8:36 that asked what it would profit anyone to acquire material gains of this life and yet lose his soul in eternity? The Archbishop said, “As we carry on in this life, let us seek divine acceptance, it is important, very, very, important, because this world we are in is not our permanent place of abode. I am appealing to all beloved Christians friends, let us watch out obsession for material acquisition, it does not help anyone, it has never helped anyone and it will never help. Individually and even collectively as a nation. As a nation, that is one thing we should all pray that God should deliver us from. We don’t create anything, we don’t make things to work, but we enjoy acquiring and spending. All of us must pray that God will turn the situation in our country, our values, national psyche so that we can think of creating and making things to work.”

The brief ‘birthday service’ which was a power-pack one did not end without the prophet’s payers and blessings. Leading the visitors, family members and other well wishers in some minutes of prayer of thanksgiving

Mama Olubisi Osinbajo (middle), receiving blessings from a clergyman at her 83rd birthday also prayed that God will bless Mama’s life the more, increase and renew her strength to enable her always join in the fellowship and worship of the Almighty God. “We pray that God will bless you the more.

And as you advance in age, that God will renew your strength even in old age that you will still be able to move around, be able to join in fellowship and worship the God I know you love so much,” the Archbishop prayed.

Delivering the birthday goodwill message, the wife of the Primate and the President, Mothers’ Union, Women’s Guild and Girls’ Organisation, Mrs. Okoh, said “Greetings from the entire membership of the Mothers’ Union and the Women Guild of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, we offer you our hearty congratulations.”

Citing several reasons why the Octogenarian should celebrate at this point of her life and especially her 83rd birthday, she said “in your life time, the fruit of your womb has ascended the exalted office of the Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria in the person of His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

I am glad that God has blessed me. If I die today, I know I will see God because of the work these people (Mamayards) made me to do. We went through bushes in Remo and other places. I will follow them, wherever they go. And I thank God for what I am realising today and I pray that everyone of you will be blessed by the power of the Almighty God

“Secondly, you have celebrated your 83rd birthday in good health. You are not only alive in good physical health, you are also bubbling and bouncing in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is abundant life. Arise, Mummy and shine for your light has come.

“It is time to reap the fruits of your labour in the land of the living. We, the women of the Church of Nigeria pray that as long as your days, so shall your strength be, Okoh prayed.

Speaking on the timeliness of the visit, the Primate’s wife said that it was planned to coincide with the church’s Mothering Sunday.

Being a special time the Anglican Communion worldwide celebrate mothers, the Church of Nigeria through her women group deemed fit to celebrate and honour one of their own.

Okoh, who called on all women to be diligent in bringing up their children in the right manners also urged ladies to embrace marriage between a man and a woman and shun lesbianism.

“On this note, we call on all mothers, especially during this time of Mothering Sunday to be diligent in bringing up their children, especially in the Christian way, in spite of the pressure of work, married life and it’s challenges.

“Secondly, we call on all young women to embrace marriage, the marriage between a man and a woman and raise godly children. They should shun all attractions of selfish lesbian life style and fulfill the divinely assigned role of child bearing and rearing,” Okoh admonished.

Decked in an immaculate white lace, accompanied with a blue Aso Oke, beautifully designed with the Mothers’ Union logo for her gear and a piece hung on her shoulder - appearing in the same uniform with her visitors thus signifying Mama Osinbajo’s membership of the Mothers’ Union. The Mothers’ Union being the highest organisation exclusively reserved for godly women who are married and wedded in the Anglican Communion is open to both clergy wives and the laity’s.

Mama who joined her visitors, children and well-wishers in one of the activities she loves most - singing of hymns and praises as well

as offering of prayers to God Almighty left her as vivacious as a little girl whose long expected demand is met. Reputed for being a chorister - a soloist in her younger years defied age and sang joyously along with her visitors. She was also presented with gifts.

Reacting to the gesture by the church through her women organization, who defied distance and came from different provinces and dioceses to celebrate with her, Mama Osinbajo noted that such a magnitude of love can only be found among people that truly love God. And that the women came not because of her person but because of the love they have for her.

Commending the church’s clergymen and their wives for their sacrifice and commitment to the work of the Lord in their different dioceses and churches, she noted that it is pays to work closely with the ministers of God. With Mama’s confidence rooted on the fact that God blesses and rewards those who diligently service Him. Revealing that that has been her propelling force in working for the Lord and the determination in sticking to working with the clergy wives. According to her, even if on her own she couldn’t get all the blessings she desired, however she is confident that working with the clergy wives opens up another door of blessing in her life and God would also bless her whenever He wants to bless His servants.

“I always walk with the Mamayards, if I can’t get everything, I will get something that come from the one they got. So, I will always follow them everywhere they go. I follow them so that whatever God wants to give them, He will give me too.”

Speaking from her experience of working with the ministers of God, Mama encouraged the clergy wives to remain committed to the service of the Lord even as she advised non-clergy wives to follow all the Mamayards. “Everyone here, I want you to follow all the Mamayard.

Don’t leave them, the work they are doing is blessed, and so you must be blessed.”

Revealing the secret of her life, success and health to lie on her determination to work with God along with the ministers’ wives, Mama Osinbajo advised people to work for God and they should ignore detractors who would want to discourage them. “Don’t leave them, the work they are doing is blessed, and so you if you work with them, you must be blessed. That was my secret and I want you to know that their work is just from God and God is blessing them everyday. I told them, you can’t drive me away, I will follow you wherever you go. So, they didn’t drive me and I am pleased with what God is doing through them.”

Standing gallantly and beaming with smiles, in a tone of certainty and with every assurance, said, “I am glad that God has blessed me. If I die today, I know I will see God because of the work these people made me to do. We went through bushes in Remo and other places. I will follow them, wherever they go. And I thank God for what I am realising today and I pray that everyone of you will be blessed by the power of the Almighty God,” Osinbajo prayed.

Admonishing women to raise their children in a godly way said, “My advice to all women is to take care of their children and not to sleep with their two eyes closed. They should take care of the children, especially the boys. You must know what they are doing and pray for them every time and love them. I know that if you can do everything to make your children happy, they will do well.

“Put everything they do in your mind and continue to pray for them and teach them the way of the Lord if you want to rest as I am resting now. If you don’t teach them the way of the Lord, you can never rest,” Mama declared.

39

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

Path to Improved Civil-Military Relations Johnson Obioha

T

he Nigerian Army in the last one month has been on the “charm offensive” to improve its human rights records and reinvigorate its Civil-Military Relations (CMR). This can be seen under the leadership of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai through the re-absorption of some dismissed soldiers and officers accused of acts of cowardice amongst others.

Also, the commuting of a sentence handed to Brig-Gen. Enitan Ransome-Kuti by the Special Court-Martial (SCM) and an open dialogue with human rights and legal bodies like the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Amnesty International (AI), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), are good developments.

The Nigerian Army had in a conciliatory move last year, reinstated about 3,032 soldiers who were convicted of various offences through series of GCM set up by the immediate past COAS, Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah (rtd).

The Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman, in a statement then, noted that the decision came from recommendations by a committee set up to review the cases of soldiers in the defunct Operation Zaman Lafiya with a view to ensure discipline, regimentation and justice in the system.

He explained that the reinstated soldiers have also shown commitment and readiness to be relaunched into the theatre to combat insurgency, clarifying “that not all the dismissed soldiers were granted pardon and recalled.”

Similarly, the Army Council in continuation of the humane acts commuted the dismissal of Ransome-Kuti from the service to a demotion to the rank of Colonel with four years seniority. The decision was contained in a circular dated March 1, 2016, and taken after reviewing the judgment of the SCM that tried him on a three-count charge for failure to perform his military duties and miscellaneous offences relating to service property.

In October, 2015, Ransome-Kuti was dismissed and sentenced to six months imprisonment following offences he committed during his command of military operations in Baga last year.

There is no doubt that one of the significant decisions of the current Army leadership to improve its image, is the establishment of Human Rights Desk under the Department of CMR. Last month, Buratai through the Chief of Civil-Military Affairs (CCMA), Maj-Gen. Rogers Nicholas, commissioned the desk with a promise to investigate all cases of human rights violations involving the army.

He said: “The establishment of the desk office was borne out of the increasing interest of the local and international human rights bodies on what we are doing in the North-east and other parts of the country”.

According to him, the army is trying to open up the system in order to close the gap with the civil populace, human rights agencies and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). He said the newly established desk will receive documents, investigate complaints from individuals; organisations and institutions on rights violations involving army personnel.

The desk, he said, will liaise and facilitate interaction with the human rights organisations; strategise and strengthen capacity of the army in promoting human rights; as well as developing a network of contacts of human rights offices in Nigeria. The desk will be opened to all Nigerians with

Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai complaints of human rights abuse.

He urged complainants to contact the desk either by writing, email, text messages or register in person, assuring them of transparency and establishment of more accessible desks in various locations outside the Amy Headquarters (AHQ).

Impressed by this action, the Executive Secretary, NHRC, Mr. Ben Angwe, commended the army for the “novel and bold initiative”. Angwe through the commission’s director, Mr. Saka Azimazi, said that the army by its actions has set a commendable precedence for other services of the armed forces.

In addition, the Nigerian Army in a marked departure from its past rocky relationship with human rights bodies engaged them as partners rather than rivals

The Nigerian Army in a marked departure from its past rocky relationship with human rights bodies engaged them as partners rather than rivals in the internal security operations

in the internal security operations.

Accordingly, the Operation Lafiya Dole have thrown open its detention facilities in parts of North East to the NBA, ICRC, and other human rights organisations to inspect the conditions of the detained Boko Haram suspects.

Recently, Army authorities engaged AI in a dialogue aimed at resolving their differences in the alleged atrocities committed by some of the officers and soldiers in the CT COIN operations against suspected terrorists.

The historic meeting was encouraging to the Head of AI Delegation and Director Research/Advocacy, Mr. Netsanet Belay, who commended the Army authorities for adopting an open door policy, while describing their meeting as “very fruitful and a first step to address the issues raised by the body”.

“We have heard encouraging views that some independent monitors like the ICRC, have been granted access to the detention centre which is a good step and we requested that we be allowed access to the facility to also verify,” Belay noted.

At least, that meeting provided the Army authorities an opportunity to clear their name and present their own side of the story to the AI team, who were allegedly horrified by the video showing atrocities of the Boko Haram terrorists.

Again, the Nigerian army, sequel to its recent approach to open its human rights records for scrutiny through dialogue and collaboration, has also activated its civil relation engagements.

The first of this was the maiden meeting with the Borno Elders Forum (BEF) in Maiduguri, to seek ways of ending Boko Haram terrorism in the state and North-east.

This was aimed at mobilising the civil populace against the insurgents.

Next was a visit to the dreaded Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu road by the army chief and the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and their involvement at the launch of the Motorbike Battalion to maintain security in the route, opened after more than three years closure, is an indication of trust in the military.

Another was the donation of 25 patrol vehicles to security agencies by the Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar.

Abubakar while distributing the N250 million worth of vehicles to the Army, Police, and Department of Security Service (DSS), said that “the role of government is to provide security especially with the rise in criminal activities around the globe”.

Meanwhile, facts available show a Nigerian Army that is determined to improve its image, human rights records and civil relations but some provocations – from the Shiites and IPOB – have hampered these efforts.

The IPOB’s case came up at the recent interview President Muhammadu Buhari granted to Al Jazeera, which attempted to air the video of alleged shooting of unarmed protesters in southern Nigeria.

The leadership of International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), had in a detailed statement signed

by Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, and titled: “Ceaseless Killing Of Unarmed Citizens In Nigeria: Why Security Chiefs Must Desist From Provoking More Insurgencies Capable Of Plunging Nigeria Into Syrian Styled Violence”, warned that urgent steps must be taken to stop the killing of IPOB members.

They drew the attention of the Minister of Interior, Lt-Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazzzau (rtd); Minister of Defence, Brig-Gen. Muhammad Dan-Ali (rtd), and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, to the alleged killing and maiming of over 480 members of IPOB by security operatives.

In the same vein, the clash with the members of the Sheik Ibrahim El-Zakzakyled Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) in Kaduna State on December 12, 2015 are yet to be resolved.

The Islamic group claims that the whereabouts of the leader remains unknown. The group also released a list of about 730 of its missing members since the clash.

Fortunately, the Police have since assumed responsibility of El-Zakzaky, while the Kaduna State government has established a Commission of Inquiry on the deadly clash, which the Sect has refused to recognise.

Also, there are reports that the Nigerian Army has dispatched a team of investigators to verify the allegations that their personnel massacred IPOB members and buried them in a borrow pit in Aba, Abia State.

Consequently, these are issues that demand urgent but dispassionate attention in order to continue on the part of resultyielding civil-military relations.

To this end, a lot has been done, much is being done and yet much more are expected from the Nigerian Army to sustain its new found vigour towards a professional fighting force, on the same page with the citizenry.

Obioha wrote from Abuja, Email: jonioh07@yahoo.com

40

MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016 T H I S D AY

41

MONDAY MATCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Trump Calls for Protesters’ Arrests Donald Trump at the weekend called for the arrests of protesters who disrupt his rallies, one day after altercations and protests forced him to cancel a campaign rally in Chicago.

The comments capped a tumultuous day on the campaign trail in which a demonstrator rushed a stage where Trump was speaking.

Trump also accused Bernie Sanders’ supporters of sowing unrest at his events and the GOP front-runner refused to back down from his rhetoric that some have cited as the cause of heightened tension at his rallies.

Trump’s call to arrest protesters came at a campaign event in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was repeatedly interrupted at the beginning of his address. “I’m going to ask that you arrest them,” Trump said to the police.

“I’ll file whatever charges you want. If they want to do this ... we’re going to go strongly for your arrests.”

Trump said arresting protesters would “ruin the rest of their lives” by giving them a “big arrest mark.” “Once that starts happening, we’re

not going to have any more protesters, folks,” Trump said. As dozens of protesters disrupted Trump’s rally inside a Kansas City theater, crowds of demonstrators gathered outside.

Lining the sidewalks and four corners of the nearest intersection to the theater, the protesters voiced their opposition to Trump’s policies and rhetoric, which many characterized as racist, xenophobic and fear-mongering.

Police used pepper spray at least twice Saturday night, with the Kansas City Police Department tweeting that “we had to use pepper spray 2 times outside Trump rally and arrested two people who refused to follow law.”

As Trump supporters left the venue, protesters shouted and cursed at them -- and any passersby coming from the direction of the theater -- calling them “f***ing racists.”

Alicia Valeanzela, who was shouting those words at people she believed to be Trump supporters, said she believed anyone supporting Trump supports a racist, xenophobic ideology.

“It’s not right I’m not

CANADA Trains Security Officials in Crimes Investigations, Management

Zacheaus Somorin

Canada has trained Nigerian security officials in crimes investigations and management.

According to a press statement made available to THISDAY yesterday, the two one-week long training courses were based on effective investigation and management of complex and serious criminal incidents for the Nigerian police.

The Canadian Police College and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police delivered the courses to Nigerian investigators to improve their capacity for major case and crime-scene management, evidence collection and preservation, kidnapping investigations as well as interviewing techniques and statement analysis.

Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Perry Calderwood, at the end of the training stated: “this has

been an opportunity for law enforcement officials to learn and apply internationally recognized methods for major case and crime-scene management. The direct result will be an increase in the capacity to investigate serious offenses and to obtain and analyse evidence that will bear judicial scrutiny in the prosecution of offenders.”

The Training and cooperation builds upon the commitment made by Canada through the bi-national commission, established with Nigeria in 2012, to assist Nigerian security forces in combating terrorism. It is also in response to a request from the Inspector General of the Nigerian Police Force seeking specialized training in these areas, and builds upon other training initiatives that Canada has implemented in partnership with the Nigerian Police Force in recent years.

gonna let somebody ruin our country like that,” said the 21-year-old native of Venezuela. “People need to know that they cannot vote for Trump, and Trump cannot become our President.”

Among those targeted by the protesters’ cries were the Toates family: father Phillip, his wife and their three children, including a 10-year-old son.

“How do they know I even attended the rally?

They say Trump’s all about

hate, but we have not been about hate and that’s the way we got treated when we came out,” said Phillip Toates, who said he is leaning toward supporting Trump but is still undecided. “It’s not the way I expected to be treated coming out of a rally,” he said.

Trump began the day by blaming supporters of Sanders, the Vermont senator seeking the Democratic presidential

nomination, of disrupting his Chicago event, where many in the audience chanted the senator’s name after the rally was called off. “Some represented Bernie, our communist friend,” Trump said in Dayton, Ohio, his first campaign appearance since the Chicago event was postponed.

Later in the day, Trump said protesters at his Cleveland event are

“Bernie’s crowd.” “You know Bernie was saying Mr. Trump should speak to his crowd,” Trump said. “You know where they come from? Bernie’s crowd. They’re Bernie’s crowd.” And when a protester momentarily disrupted Trump’s rally, the GOP front-runner again said the demonstrator was a “Bernie person.”“Get your people in line, Bernie,” Trump said.

ECONOMIC STRUGGLE

A woman holding a child at a makeshift camp set by stranded migrants waiting to cross the Greek-Macedonian border, near the Greek village of Idomenii…yesterday

South Africa’s Finance Minister Given Deadline over Spy Unit South African Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan, has been given deadline to answer questions posed by a special police unit on his role in setting up a spy unit at the revenue service, a local newspaper reported yesterday.

A spokesman for South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as “the Hawks”, confirmed that a letter had been sent to the minister’s lawyers but declined to disclose its contents. “We are

not going to discuss these matters through the media,” Hangwani Mulaudzi said.

The Sunday Independent said the letter to Gordhan’s lawyers instructed the minister to answer the questions by 1600 local time (1400 GMT) on Monday.

The Treasury declined to comment, but Gordhan is scheduled to have a press briefing on Monday at 1200 GMT with business and labor leaders who recently accompanied him on an investor road show

to London and the United States.

Police are investigating the spy unit at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) for conducting illegal surveillance on taxpayers. Gordhan headed SARS when the unit was set up but has said he has no case to answer.

In late February, South Africa’s rand currency shed nearly four percent in one day after Gordhan said there were attempts to discredit him and the integrity of the Treasury through the probe.

Gordhan’s lawyers said in early March that he missed a previous deadline to respond to the questions because he was busy preparing the country’s budget and would respond to the police questions at a later date.

The public spat has unnerved investor confidence in Africa’s most advanced economy, which could lose its investment-grade rating by mid-year, potentially raising borrowing costs for government and firms alike.

Republic of Korea.

CNN reported on Saturday that North Korea has been searching for one of its submarines that has been missing for days off its east coast. The submarine may be adrift under the sea or have sunk, perhaps after a technical problem during an exercise, CNN quoted U.S. officials with intelligence of secret U.S. monitoring of the North’s activities as saying.

North Korea has said it is developing submarine-

launched ballistic missiles although doubts about that were raised after Western experts said publicly released footage of tests appeared to be fake.

On Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watched as his forces fired two shortrange ballistic missiles into the sea. This month the North conducted drills with what it said were newly developed large caliber rocket launchers.

US, South Korea Stage Assault Drills The United States and South Korean troops staged assault drills and a big amphibious landing exercise on Saturday, storming simulated North Korean beach defenses amid heightened tension and threats by the North to annihilate its enemies.

The landing and assault drills on South Korea’s east coast were part of eight weeks of joint exercises between the allies which the South has said are the largest ever. The North

has denounced the exercises as “nuclear war moves” and threatened to respond with an all-out offensive.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a long-range rocket launch last month, triggering new U.N. sanctions.

About 55 U.S. marine aircraft and 30 U.S. and South Korean ships, including the USS Bonhomme Richard and

USS Boxer, which carry AV-8B Harrier attack jets and V-22 Osprey aircrafts, took part in the assault on beaches near Pohang city, the U.S. navy said.

“They will penetrate notional enemy beach defenses, establish a beach head, and rapidly transition forces and sustainment ashore,” the U.S. military based in South Korea said in a statement before the exercise. The North’s military said it was prepared to counter the U.S. and South Korean

forces “with an ultra-precision blitzkrieg strike of the Korean style”.

“The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK holding tightly the arms to annihilate the enemies with towering hatred for them are waiting for the dignified Supreme Command to issue an order to launch a preemptive strike of justice,” it said in comments carried by the state KCNA news agency. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s

MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

42

INTERNATIONAL

Govt, Opposition Disagree over Assad’s Fate in Syrian Talks Syria’s government and the opposition disagreed at the weekend on the fate of the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad. The arguments reflected the huge challenges facing diplomats as they prepare for talks to resume in Geneva on Monday, trying to build on a ceasefire deal that has reduced violence sharply since February 27.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem confirmed his government’s participation but said the talks would fail if the opposition had “delusions that they will take power in Geneva that they failed to take in battle”. He also heaped criticism on U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura for already presenting an agenda for the talks and for saying that a presidential election would take place in 18 months.

“The government delegation will reject any attempt to put this on the agenda,” Moualem told a televised news conference. “We will not talk to anyone who talks about the position of the presidency ...

I advise them that if this is their thinking, they shouldn’t come to the talks.” Within hours, opposition negotiator Mohamad Alloush, already in Geneva, had described Moualem’s comments as worthless.

“We consider that the transitional period starts with the fall of Bashar al-Assad or his death,” he told reporters.

“There’s no possibility to start this period with the presence

of this regime or the head of this regime in the power.”

Another negotiator, Monzer Makhous, said Moualem was “putting the nails in the coffin of Geneva”.

The talks will coincide with next week’s fifth anniversary of a war that has killed more than 250,000 people, created the world’s worst refugee crisis, and allowed for the expansion of the Islamic State militant group. They are part of the first diplomatic push since the Russian air force intervened in September to support Assad, tilting the war his way and helping Damascus reclaim significant areas in the west.

The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the United States and Russia, has been more widely respected than many expected, though fighting has continued on some important fronts, including near the Turkish border. Alloush’s High Negotiations Committee (HNC) has praised the agenda outlined by de Mistura focused on governance, a new constitution and elections.

The HNC wants to focus on a transitional governing body with full executive powers as outlined in a 2012 Geneva communique in an early bid to end the conflict. A U.N. Security Council resolution approved in December called for the establishment of “credible, inclusive, and non-sectarian governance”, a new constitution, and free and fair elections within 18

LETHAL MISSILE

A member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards checking a missile inside an underground depot in an undisclosed location in Iran…yesterday

months.

Moualem indicated that a “national unity government” with opposition participation was the most on offer, an idea ruled out by the HNC. He said the government delegation would be willing to discuss de Mistura’s agenda and would travel to Geneva on Sunday, but would return to Damascus within 24 hours if the other side did not show up.

As far as the government

Helicopters Kill 17 as Yemeni Govt Moves against Militants Saudi-led forces attacked al Qaeda militants in Aden overnight in an effort to dislodge them from a stronghold in the southern Yemeni port city, killing at least 17 people in helicopter strikes, medics and a security official said yesterday.

On another front, the Saudi-backed forces supporting President AbdRabbu Mansour Hadi fought to widen their control of Taiz in the southwest after breaking a seige there on Friday.

Islamist militants from al Qaeda and Islamic State have exploited the conflict to expand their control, especially in areas where Hadi supporters have managed to expel the Iran-allied Houthis, including in Aden and Lahej provinces.

Witnesses and medics said helicopters from the Saudi-led coalition struck armored vehicles and a government compound used by the militants in al-Mansoura district, a stronghold in north Aden.

There was no immediate comment from the coalition.

Medics said at least 17 bodies were taken to hospitals. The sources

said at least 20 civilians and militants were also wounded as well as three members of the security forces. There was tenuous calm in the district later on Sunday, with streets around the area closed off.

A Reuters reporter saw the rubble of a butcher ’s shop and the wreckage of cars.

Electricity was cut across the district and food shops remained closed.

Shops and businesses closed as security forces sealed off a block in the area, where dozens of suspected militants are believed to be holed up.

The city’s governor said the operation was the second phase of a government campaign.

“This stage will continue until it achieves its objectives, foremost of which to impose the authority of the state and restore security and stability in all districts of the capital Aden and its suburbs and to end the security chaos,” Governor Aydaroos al-Zybaidi said.

Militants killed Zybaidi’s predecessor and several other government officials, military and security officers in a series of suicide attacks and shootings in

Aden since Hadi’s forces captured the city from the Houthis last July.

The campaign took place a day after forces loyal to Hadi broke a siege by the Houthis around Taiz, Yemen’s third biggest city, about 200 km (124 miles) northwest of Aden. The advance represented a breakthrough for Hadi’s government, which has been struggling to achieve a major victory against the Houthis who seized control of most of the country in 2015 in what they described as a revolution against corruption.

Residents said that more fighting was reported in eastern Taiz on Sunday between the Houthis and fighters allied to Hadi.

Witnesses said there were many casualties but gave no figures or more details.

Yemen’s government was forced out of the capital Sanaa by the Houthi rebels in September 2014 and is now based in Aden, but struggles to impose its authority even there. The coalition began a military campaign in March last year to prevent the Houthis from taking complete control of Yemen.

was concerned, “political transition” meant a transition from the existing constitution to a new one, and from the

existing government to a new one with participation from the other side, he added. The diplomacy

has been complicated by disputes over who should be invited to negotiate with the government.

43

MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

Angola’s Leader Promises to Step down in 2018 Angolan President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power since 1979 and is one of Africa’s longest-ruling leaders, has sais that he intended to step down in 2018 but gave no reason for his decision and did not name a preferred successor.

Angola, a member of OPEC and Africa’s second largest oil exporter after Nigeria, has been hit hard by the slump in global crude prices. Oil export revenues account for more than 90 percent of foreign exchange revenues.

“I took the decision to leave active political activity in 2018,” Dos Santos, 73, said in a speech to members of his ruling MPLA party’s key decision-making body. He did not elaborate.

Angola holds its next parliamentary election in 2017 and the leader of the winning party will then become president. MPLA leader Dos Santos was re-appointed to a new five-year term as Angolan president in 2012 after his party won a landslide win.

Some Luanda residents expressed surprise that Dos Santos had decided not to step down before the next election. “The elections are in 2017, not in 2018. He should quit before the elections in 2017,” said Afonso Kangulo, 42, who is jobless and blamed the government for the weak economy.

But Frank Francisco, 48, a public service worker, said: “If he were to quit before the election, maybe people would say he ran away because he would have lost.” Weak oil prices have hammered Africa’s third largest economy and the government is in discussions with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund about possible financial assistance.

Dos Santos’ mild, inscrutable public demeanor belies his tight control of Angola, a former Portuguese colony where he has overseen an oilbacked economic boom and the reconstruction of infrastructure devastated by a 27-year-long civil war

that ended in 2002.

Critics accuse him of mismanaging Angola’s oil wealth and making an elite, mainly his family and political allies, vastly rich in a country ranked amongst the world’s most corrupt. Dos Santos, a Soviet-educated former petroleum engineer, is Africa’s second longest ruling leader after Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

Vice-President Manuel Vicente - former head of state oil firm Sonangol - is seen as a likely successor to Dos Santos. “(Dos Santos) has been grooming Vicente for quite a while now ... He has deputized for him on a number of important occasions, which sent a strong signal,” said Gary van Staden, a Johannesburg-based political analyst with NKC African Economics.

But another analyst

said the president was grooming his son, Jose Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos, to succeed him.

The younger Dos Santos currently heads Angola’s sovereign wealth fund.

“It may mean the succession is in progress and that it will be a dynastic one,” said Nelson Bonavena, an economics lecturer at the Catholic University of Angola and political analyst.

Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, an Angola

expert at Britain’s Oxford University, struck a more cautious note.

“Dos Santos’ departure from power has been the talk of the town in Luanda for 15 years. He has always hinted that he wanted to leave but this is the most specific commitment he has ever made,” he said. “The fact that he put a date to it is a powerful marker and would come back to haunt him if he were to renege on it.”

‘New Spanish Election Would Not Break Political Deadlock’ The new Spanish election would not break political deadlock, a survey published in El Pais newspaper showed yesterday. Spain’s parties have failed to form a government after more than two months of fruitless negotiations and two unsuccessful parliamentary votes to back a Socialist-led coalition government.

People must return to the polls if the impasse is not resolved before a May 2 deadline. But a similar inconclusive result could mean months of lost leadership at a time when the country is trying to cut debt and sustain an economic recovery.

The center-right party of the former government, the People’s Party (PP), would continue to

win most votes with 26 percent although this would fall far short of the absolute majority to form a government, the survey conducted by pollsters Metroscopia showed. The Socialists, who failed to gain enough parliamentary support to form a coalition government earlier this month, would come second with 23 percent.

The two newcomer parties, market-friendly Ciudadanos (C’s) and leftist Podemos, would come third and fourth respectively, with C’s showing a marked improvement on its Dec. 20 after it made a pact with the Socialists to form a center-left coalition. The margin of error is 2.9 percentage points.

The pollsters interviewed 1,200 people on March 8 and 9.

MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

44

Brazil: Protesters Demand President’s Resignation Thousands of protesters yesterday demanded the resignation of President Dilma Rousseff amid Brazil’s worst political and economic crisis in a generation. The demonstrations are the latest in a wave of anti-government rallies that lost momentum late last year but could gain strength as a sweeping corruption investigation nears Rousseff’s inner circle.

The magnitude of the protests yesterday could be decisive in convincing a divided Congress to back ongoing impeachment proceedings against Rousseff. The leftist leader is blamed by many in Brazil for sinking Latin America’s largest economy into its worst recession in at least 25 years.

Polls show that more than half of Brazilians favor the impeachment of Rousseff, who was reelected by a slim margin for a second four-year term in 2014. Tensions ahead of the demonstrations were high after Sao Paulo state prosecutors requested the arrest of Rousseff’s political mentor and

predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, on moneylaundering charges.

Rousseff has called for calm as her government fears clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters. A demonstration in the capital Brasilia was peaceful with thousands wearing the national yellow soccer jersey and holding banners that read “Dilma out” and “Impeachment now.”

Protesters inflated a giant doll of Lula wearing a striped prison uniform and chained to a ball that read “Operation Carwash” - the name of the investigation centered on state oil company Petrobras.

Although no official figures were immediately available, authorities expect the demonstrations to be as big as the anti-government rallies of March 2015, which gathered as many as one million people.

Popular discontent grew in recent weeks after a ruling party lawmaker reportedly used plea bargain testimony to accuse Rousseff and Lula of trying to hamper the Petrobras

investigation. The probe has implicated senior politicians from Rousseff’s coalition as well as top business executives.

The two-year-old probe has strained Rousseff’s ties with her main coalition partner, Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB). At its national convention on Saturday, the PMDB threatened to break with her government and join the opposition.

Brazilian assets have rallied in recent weeks as investors bet that a change in government would lift business and consumer confidence and rescue an economy that contracted 3.8 percent last year. Rousseff, whose popularity is near record lows, has said she will not quit and blamed her opponents for creating the crisis that is sinking an economy. Polit i c a l tensions have stalled Rousseff ’s legislative agenda that included measures to limit public spending and overhaul a costly pension system to regain the trust of investors.

China Says New Tibet Railway Project will not Harm Environment Tibet’s environment will not be damaged by the construction of a second railroad linking the remote area to the rest of China, the region’s deputy Communist Party boss said yesterday.

Tibet is a highly sensitive spot, not just because of continued opposition by many Tibetans to Chinese control, but because of its strategic location next to neighbors India, Myanmar and Nepal.

Critics have expressed concern over the environmental impact of the first railway to Lhasa, opened in 2006, which passes spectacular icy peaks on the Tibetan highlands and reaches altitudes as high as 5,000 m (16,400 ft) above sea level.

“The ecological environment of Tibet will not be harmed,” Padma Choling, the vice party secretary of Tibet, told reporters on the sidelines of the annual parliament meeting.

“The railway will be well built under the condition of environmental protection. That is for sure. You can’t just say, ‘Don’t build it’.” China announced plans on Saturday to build the railway linking the Tibetan capital of Lhasa with the southwestern city of Chengdu as part of a new five-year development plan. Exiled Tibetans and rights groups also say the first railway has spurred an influx of long-term migrants who threaten Tibetans’cultural integrity, tied to Buddhist

beliefs and a traditional herding lifestyle.

Chinese officials say the new railway link will bring development to Tibet and the government consistently denies any rights abuses or cultural disrespect there.

India, which had a brief border war with China in 1962, has looked on warily as China has built roads, railways and airports in Tibet, fearing they could be used to hurry troops to the border in a crisis. Padma Choling rejected such concerns.“No matter whether it takes 15 hours, or however long, to reach the border, the border belongs to our motherland,” he said.“We Tibetans have the responsibility to guard it well.”

Zambian Opposition Official Denies Threatening President A leading member of Zambia’s main opposition party has denied threatening President Edgar Lungu with violence after he was released on bail yesterday.

Geoffrey Mwamba, vicepresident of the United Party for National Development, was arrested on charges of inciting violence against Lungu last week. Police said he had threatened to “go for his throat”. “I deny the charge,” Mwamba told a packed

courtroom, without going into further details. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison, a lawyer said.

Political tensions are mounting before presidential, parliamentary and local elections in August 11. Mwamba was also arrested then released by the police last week on separate charges of training party supporters to become an illegal militia.

President Lungu, a fortnight ago, had accused the

opposition of training party supporters to cause violence during the elections. Mwamba also denied that charge and his party said the arrests of 21 of its members on similar accusations were meant to intimidate the opposition before presidential elections. Both Lungu and United Party for National D ev e l o p ment leader Hakainde H i c h i l e m a a re s e e n a s f ro n t r u n n e r s .

INTERNATIONAL

45

T H I S D AY • MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

10-Mar-16

9-Mar-16

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

01 Dangote Cement Plc

165.01

164.00

0.62%

2,811,854,126,899.05

10.91

11.40

5.53

5.63%

3.38

02 Nigerian Brew. Plc.

96.50

97.00

-0.52%

765,158,235,692.00

5.37

17.72

2.73

4.73%

4.42

03 Nestle Nigeria Plc.

700.00

715.00

-2.10%

554,859,376,400.00

24.20

29.04

4.10

3.91%

11.94

04 Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

16.30

16.28

0.12%

479,728,221,351.20

3.67

4.33

1.90

9.12%

1.17

05 Lafarge Africa Plc.

85.50

85.50

0.00%

389,444,104,755.00

8.64

9.26

1.77

4.13%

1.85

06 Zenith Bank Plc

12.40

12.40

0.00%

389,316,522,946.40

3.34

3.88

1.12

13.47%

0.71

293.23

293.23

0.00%

381,926,533,832.69

5.18

59.85

2.96

1.29%

8.78

18.00

18.00

0.00%

330,291,921,870.00

1.39

11.12

0.55

4.00%

0.76

09 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd.

350.00

350.00

0.00%

193,658,609,550.00

94.70

2.49

0.96

6.78%

0.63

10 Guinness Nig Plc

113.00

114.00

-0.88%

170,165,365,244.00

6.24

19.60

1.64

0.00%

3.78

14.70

14.70

0.00%

147,000,000,000.00

2.65

5.29

1.18

0.71%

1.25

12 FBN Holdings Plc

3.70

3.65

1.37%

132,812,583,330.40

2.39

1.66

0.36

25.19%

0.25

13 United Bank for Africa Plc

3.40

3.41

-0.29%

123,350,389,494.80

1.44

1.94

0.37

17.86%

0.31

14 Access Bank Plc.

4.64

4.44

4.50%

106,176,743,733.12

1.97

2.08

0.44

8.54%

0.27

28.00

28.00

0.00%

105,932,295,000.00

0.93

32.52

1.93

4.12%

15.86

16 7-Up Bottling Comp. Plc.

161.50

161.50

0.00%

103,455,343,624.50

11.12

15.97

1.46

1.24%

4.74

17 P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc.

25.00

24.70

1.21%

99,261,926,125.00

1.10

19.09

1.15

6.21%

1.98

18 Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

5.98

5.75

4.00%

71,760,000,000.00

1.11

5.30

0.70

8.46%

1.44

19 International Breweries Plc.

18.50

19.05

-2.89%

60,943,611,680.00

0.64

30.59

3.48

1.28%

5.34

4.86

4.44

9.46%

58,488,247,824.84

0.50

7.80

0.08

19.23%

0.30

159.95

159.95

0.00%

57,677,212,156.90

11.22

12.52

0.62

4.27%

3.42

41.50

41.50

0.00%

54,780,000,000.00

6.00

7.25

0.26

6.21%

2.25

1.74

1.75

-0.57%

50,095,327,539.24

0.26

6.80

0.52

14.04%

0.07

142.95

142.95

0.00%

48,534,646,599.15

12.41

11.48

0.21

6.32%

3.92

18.38

17.51

4.97%

48,233,479,497.06

1.84

10.77

0.16

10.09%

0.51

1.16

1.16

0.00%

44,916,357,013.00

0.02

51.43

1.18

4.07%

0.51

19.16

19.16

0.00%

36,803,761,654.92

3.62

5.25

0.46

9.21%

0.52

28 Diamond Bank Plc

1.55

1.55

0.00%

35,898,602,900.40

1.05

1.68

0.21

17.05%

0.18

29 Wema Bank Plc.

0.89

0.93

-4.30%

35,144,652,159.57

0.00

24.86

0.63

0.00%

0.85

30 Fidelity Bank Plc

1.20

1.16

3.45%

34,769,756,427.60

0.23

5.43

0.29

11.20%

0.20

31 Presco Plc

34.25

34.25

0.00%

34,250,000,000.00

3.28

10.37

2.99

0.29%

1.52

32 Cadbury Nigeria Plc.

17.20

17.20

0.00%

32,305,075,088.00

3.21

5.92

1.06

6.84%

3.45

33 Okomu Oil Palm Plc.

31.50

31.50

0.00%

30,048,165,000.00

2.25

13.58

3.28

3.28%

1.18

34 Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig. Plc.

24.98

24.98

0.00%

29,872,994,670.24

2.05

11.90

0.97

5.33%

2.29

35 Cap Plc

38.50

38.50

0.00%

26,950,000,000.00

1.66

22.37

3.91

2.69%

14.82

36 Mansard Insurance Plc

2.22

2.20

0.91%

23,310,000,000.00

0.18

12.24

1.53

1.83%

1.24

37 Custodian And Allied Insurance Plc

3.81

3.80

0.26%

22,409,902,582.95

0.70

5.52

0.90

2.84%

0.88

38 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc

7.37

7.37

0.00%

19,526,360,845.86

0.97

7.23

1.73

12.86%

3.31

39 FCMB Group Plc.

0.82

0.82

0.00%

16,238,222,818.28

0.82

1.08

0.13

33.71%

0.11

40 Skye Bank Plc

1.00

1.00

0.00%

13,880,301,410.00

0.90

1.22

0.11

27.27%

0.11

41 Honeywell Flour Mill Plc

1.72

1.58

8.86%

13,639,939,971.76

0.14

10.34

0.24

10.96%

0.54

42 Cement Co. Of North.Nig. Plc

8.88

8.88

0.00%

11,159,298,562.08

1.13

8.08

0.70

7.68%

1.07

43 Continental Reinsurance Plc

0.91

0.92

-1.09%

9,439,197,323.92

0.16

6.09

0.63

10.31%

0.66

44 UACN Property Development Co. Limited

5.10

5.10

0.00%

8,765,624,974.50

1.81

2.96

0.82

13.08%

0.28

45 Unity Bank Plc

0.70

0.68

3.24%

8,182,536,559.40

0.54

1.22

0.12

0.00%

0.09

46 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,124.00

0.03

17.47

1.78

0.00%

0.45

47 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc

4.10

4.10

0.00%

6,659,296,875.00

0.45

8.10

0.72

8.24%

0.97

48 Resort Savings & Loans Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

5,664,866,202.00

4.68

0.11

0.02

0.00%

1.89

49 AIICO Insurance Plc.

0.81

0.81

0.00%

5,613,465,628.80

0.18

5.08

0.23

0.00%

0.47

50 Fidson Healthcare Plc

2.62

2.55

2.75%

3,930,000,000.00

0.63

4.26

0.18

15.56%

0.63

07 Forte Oil Plc. 08 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

11 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc

15 Unilever Nigeria Plc.

20 Oando Plc 21 Mobil Oil Nig Plc. 22 Julius Berger Nig. Plc. 23 Sterling Bank Plc. 24 Total Nigeria Plc. 25 Flour Mills Nig. Plc. 26 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc 27 U A C N Plc.

TOTAL

8,250,974,572,937.63

TOTAL MARKET CAP

8,917,295,048,388.59

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

91.97%

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators

Open 9-Mar-16

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

25,885.31 8.90

25,923.77 8.92

0.15 0.15

105.75 8.23

105.97 8.25

0.20 0.20

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

Close Change % 10-Mar-16

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open Close Change 9-Mar-16 10-Mar-16 %

Oando Plc Honeywell Flour Mill Plc Flour Mills Nig. Plc. Access Bank Plc. Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc

4.44 1.58 17.51 4.44 5.75

4.86 1.72 18.38 4.64 5.98

9.46 8.86 4.97 4.50 4.00

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open Close Change 9-Mar-16 10-Mar-16 %

Wema Bank Plc. International Breweries Plc. Nestle Nigeria Plc. Continental Reinsurance Plc Guinness Nig Plc

0.93 19.05 715.00 0.92 114.00

0.89 18.50 700.00 0.91 113.00

-4.30 -2.89 -2.10 -1.09 -0.88

Sustenance of market momentum pushes ASI up by 0.15% Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today- Thursday March 10th, 2016, was bullish due to renewed optimism and positioning ahead of perceived positive earnings announcement. This was further highlighted by positive performance from the NSE Sub sector; Banking, Insurance and Oil & Gas (Save Consumers Goods). Trading activities increased in volume as 310.65 million shares worth N2.06 billion in 3,010 deals exchanged hands today.

This is an increase from the 214.95 million shares worth N1.35 billion in 3,327 deals carried out on Wednesday. Topping in volume terms was Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and FCMB Group Plc, while Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed positive with a 0.15% (+38.46) increase to 25,923.77 from 25,885.31 the previous trading day.

Market Capitalization appreciated in tandem to N8.92 trillion from N8.90 trillion of prior trading day. The Thisday BGL 50 Index followed suit with 0.52% increase to close at 105.97 from 105.75 the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at N8.25 trillion from N8.23 trillion of the previous trading day.

A total number of 19 stocks gained on the bourse today while 15 stocks declined, leaving 58 stocks unchanged. Oando Plc emerged the toast of investors as it topped the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list with a gain of 9.46% to close at N4.86 per share. It was followed Honeywell Flour Mill Plc with a gain of 8.86% to close at N1.72 per share. Others on the gainers list include: Flour Mills Nig. Plc, Access Bank Plc and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc while on the decliners’ list; Wema Bank Plc led with a loss of 4.30% to close at N0.89 per share. It was followed by International Breweries Plc with a loss of 2.89% to close at N18.50 per share.

Others on the losers list include; Nestle Nigeria Plc, Continental Reinsurance Plc and Guinness Nigeria 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

46

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

12 Shot Dead in Ivory Coast Terror Attack Zacheaus Somorin with agency reports At least 12 persons have been shot dead, including four Europeans, by four gunmen in an attack at Grand Bassam, a beach resort town about 40 kilometers from Abidjan, Reuters reported.

“I saw seven dead that I filmed. There were four attackers. I was swimming when it started and I ran away,” said Dramane Kima, a witness of the attack.

He also took pictures of grenades and ammunition clips that he believed had been left behind by the attackers.

Reports added that the unidentified assailants fired on guests, with much of the shooting taking place on the beach.

The hotel is popular with both local people and foreigners. Ivory Coast was seen as a model of stability in West Africa until a civil war erupted in 2002.

The conflict pitted the mainly Muslim north against

the largely Christian south.

Since then, peace deals have alternated with renewed violence.

Security forces have been sent to the scene. AFP news agency quoted a military official as saying five people were killed, but other reports put the death toll higher.

A witness of Sunday’s attack said: “Heavily armed men wearing balaclavas” had fired at guests at the L’Etoile du Sud hotel, which was full of expats in the current heatwave.

Another eyewitness, Souleymane Kamagate, says he saw people running from the beach and fleeing in all directions.

Ivory Coast has been identified as one of several countries in West Africa at risk of being targeted by Islamist militants.

Luxury hotels were targeted by such groups in Mali in November and Burkina Faso in January.

But in a press statement issued by the government as obtained by CNN, the gunmen attacked two hotels

PDP Group Asks Court to Sack Sheriff, Stop Convention Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja An aggrieved group within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Restart PDP Group, has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja to seek an order to compel Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the national Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to vacate office by the end of March.

The group is also seeking an order of the court to compel the party’s leadership not to hold the forthcoming national convention until the membership register of the party is computerised as stipulated in section 8(11) of its constitution.

In a suit filed by Mr. Emmanuel Nwosu Nwosu and Mr. Eze Chuks Silas on behalf of the Restart PDP Group on March 8, the group demanded that Sheriff and all other national officers of the PDP whose tenure of office will expire in March 2016 should be barred from unlawfully extending their tenure of office beyond the expiry date as provided in the party’s constitution.

The National Executive Committee (NEC) and all other major organs of the party had approved the continued stay in office by the Sheriff-led National Working Committee (NWC) till May to conduct national convention fixed for May 21, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

But the PDP Restart Group has insisted that the March 31, 2016 exit date for all members of the NWC is sacrosanct and must be obeyed.

The suit, number Cv/1174/16, filed at a Federal High Court in Abuja had Emmanuel Nwosu and Mr. Eze Chuks Silas, as the plaintiff while PDP, Sheriff and the NWC are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively.

In the copy of the summons made available to journalists, the plaintiffs asked for an order

“restraining the PDP, Sheriff and all other national officers of the party whose tenure of office shall expire in March 31, 2016 from further extending their stay in office.

The group further asked for a declaration of the court that Sheriff “having emerged to complete the unexpired constitutionally stipulated fouryears term of the last former national chairman of be party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, should vacate office at the at expiry date on March 31, 2016.

It held that any extension of Sheriff’s tenure would contravene the provisions of sections 2; and 47(1) and (6) of the constitution of the party.”

The group specifically asked the court to restrain “the 1st defendant and all its organs from conducting party congress and 2016 national convention or other further national conventions pending the computerisation of the party membership register as stipulated in section 8(11) of the party’s constitution.”

The spokesman of the Restart PDP Group, Chief Jackson Ude, said the suit became necessary to ensure that the PDP allow the constitution of the party prevail instead of “back-door agreement by few selfish individuals in the party.”

“If the PDP constitution says Bamanga Tukur and Adamu Mu’azu’s tenures which Ali Modu Sheriff is concluding expires March 28, so be it.

Let him and members of the NWC leave so the Party can cleanse itself and begin on a new slate “We must go back to the rule of law and the constitution.

The impunity within the party is because few individual decided on their own to jettison the constitution for their own selfish interest.

All well-meaning members of the PDP must insist on the constitution,” Ude said.

in southern Ivory Coast; with security forces responding to the attacks promptly.

According to reports, videos

from the scene appeared to show people fleeing. A photo posted by Twitter user @lopezdobe showed

ammunition magazines and grenades on the ground near the attack site.

The victims include five

men, five women and one child, the government added.

But it did not specify if these reflected deaths or injuries.

REWARDING PATRONAGE

L-R: President/CEO, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Overall Winner, Chief Executive Officer, Trader Enterprises, Sani Adamu; and Chairman, National Salt Company of Nigeria (NASCON), Mrs. Yemi Ayeni, at the NASCON distributors’ award 2015 in Lagos...weekend SUNDAY ADIGUN

Tompolo: Frank Kokori Seeking Political Relevance in Buhari’s Government Says he’s still preparing to appear in court

Omo-Julius Onabu in Asaba AnEmbattled former leader of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, has accused former secretary of the Nigerian Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) Chief Frank Ovie Kokori, of seeking political relevance by meddling in his (Tompolo’s) affairs.

Speaking through his media adviser and consultant, Paul Bebenimibo, in an e-mailed statement yesterday, Ekpemupolo claimed that Kokori and other All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in Delta State were taking advantage of his present ordeal with the law, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to get cheap publicity because they wanted political appointments.

In the statement in response to a call by Kokori for the former MEND leader to come out of hiding to face charges from the EFCC, Bebenimibo described the action of the former labour leader as meddlesome and political relevance seeking.

Reacting to an article in a national daily at the weekend, titled: ‘Tompolo should go and face EFCC Eyeball to eyeball, by Frank Ovie Kokori,’ Tompolo’s aide said that “Frank Ovie Kokori and cohorts should mind their business.”

He alleged that certain Delta APC leaders and their business associates had been sabotaging the national economy by sponsoring attacks on pipelines and other oil facilities in the Niger Delta and blaming such on Tompolo in an attempt to attract attention of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Ijaw high chief, however, restated his assurance that he would eventually appear in court over the EFCC charges, for which he had been declared a wanted

man by the law court, saying he was only awaiting the nudge of his legal counsel presently working on the matter.

The statement, made available to THISDAY in Asaba, read in part, “We have imagined why the APC leader decided to make such a statement, like other APC leaders in the past, at this time on a matter that is before a law court.

“Ordinarily, we would have ignored Kokori like others if not for intelligent information we gathered from a clandestine meeting held by this group of persons on how to implicate Tompolo in a planned act of pipeline destruction in the Niger Delta region.

“We have been made to understand that this set of APC leaders are out there to get favour from Buhari by way of appointments and empowerment with the issue of Tompolo and EFCC. “These people have inundated President Buhari and security agencies particularly in the Niger Delta with unfounded information that Tompolo is preparing to fight the APC-led federal government by way of destroying crude oil pipelines and other oil facilities, whereas they are the ones that are planning to carry out such barbaric acts in order to portray themselves as patriotic party members to get appointments and contracts from the government and its agencies.

This is a disturbing development in the Nigerian politics today.

“We are aware of the antics of these so-called party faithful. Most of them are not even happy with the performance of the President Buhari administration, particularly the appointment of party members to political positions, but they rather chose the issue of “Tompolo and EFCC” to show faithfulness in the administration to get favour from Mr President.

“Let such ones know that the act of using someone’s predicament to get favour is an

evil and wicked act. There are so many issues to discuss in Nigeria today. In fact, our dear country is at a historical crossroads: the state of the economy, no power supply, the scarcity of petroleum products, the state of the Naira and other issues are worthy to be discussed by Ovie Kokori and his likes.

“Their priority should be how Nigeria should be out of this socio-economic and political quagmire and not Tompolo and the EFCC that they have chosen to make headlines by on daily basis.

“Tompolo has said severally

that he will not resort to violence because of the issue he is having with the EFCC because he has a good case, and his lawyers are working towards his eventual appearance in the law court.

“Therefore, Kokori and other APC leaders in Delta and Bayelsa States should mind their business and think of how to make Nigeria great again. They should not go and destroy crude oil pipelines and put the blame on Tompolo, because he (Tompolo) will not condescend low to destroying oil facilities he was and still is protecting from criminal elements.”

Maritime Security: 30 National Navies Converge on Gulf of Guinea for Major Exercise Senator Iroegbu inAbuja The ships from 30 national navies will converge in the Gulf of Guinea today to conduct a week-long major naval exercise code named ‘Exercise Obangame 2016’.

The Director of Information (DINFO), Commodore Christian Ezekobe, in a statement yesterday, said the multi-national exercise will focus on increasing regional cooperation and inter operability to enhance maritime safety and security.

Ezekobe said that the exercise will be conducted in the Gulf of Guinea and will evaluate combined operations to counter illicit maritime activities utilising inter regional, regional and national whole-of –government approach towards curbing untoward activities in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to him, “the opening ceremony of the Exercise is scheduled for March 17, 2016 in Dakar, Senegal, execution phase from 14-24 March 2016 will take place at sea, while the closing ceremony is scheduled for 25

March 2016, in Doula, Cameroun.”

He said that the Nigerian Navy is committing three ships, NNS OKPABANA, NNS CENTENARY and NNS PROSPERITY for the Exercise which is the highest by any participating navy in the region.

He listed the 30 nations that are scheduled to participate in this year’s exercise to include Angola, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Germany, and Ghana.

Others are Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Norway, Mauritania, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, South Africa, Togo, Turkey, the Netherlands, and the United States (US), along with regional organisations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

47

NEWSXTRA

House Awaits Senate Concurrence on Kogi Assembly Crisis Report indicts Speaker Damilola Oyedele in Abuja Ahead of its take over of the Kogi State House of Assembly (KSHA), over the protracted crises resulting in the illegal impeachment of the Speaker, Hon. Momoh Jimoh Lawal, the House of Representatives has said it is awaiting the concurrence of the Senate to enable it implement its resolution.

This came as it said it would take appropriate action against the KSHA faction led by Hon. Umar Imam for holding plenary on Thursday despite the resolution of the House.

A 10-man delegation of the House led by the Deputy Chief Whip, Hon Pally Iriase, had recommended a takeover of the state assembly following investigations into the protracted crises.

The recommendation was unanimously passed by the

lawmakers who also declared as null, void and unconstitutional, the impeachment of Lawal as Speaker.

If the resolution is concurred to by the Senate, the proceedings of the state assembly would be taken over by the House of Representatives, except for impeachment proceedings.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, told THISDAY that the House had done the right thing in protecting and preserving the sanctity of the legislature.

“It is not the House that is taking over, but the National Assembly, comprising both Senate and the House. If the Senate concurs, then we take steps for full takeover. Even in the case of Rivers State, it was the House that initiated the steps for the takeover….Once Senate concurs, the House takes over

all their proceedings including passing their 2016 budget,” he said.

“We would take appropriate action, we have already communicated our resolution to the Senate,” Namdas disclosed.

Reacting to reports that the Imam faction had threatened legal action against the House of

Representatives over the takeover bid, Namdas said the faction has a right to approach the court.

“Whatever they do is illegal, but since they are approaching the court, it is their right, this is a democracy,” he added.

Meanwhile, the report of the fact-finding delegation also indicted the Speaker, Lawal, for

misleading Governor Yahya Bello and contributing to the crises, thereby causing avoidable collision with the governor.

Bello, according to the report, had told the delegation that he was deliberately misled by Lawal “who willingly accepted to resign his position as Speaker and gave names of possible successor and

other principal officers of the House, only for him to incite his group to renege on the promise in his desperate bid to cling to power…”

Inspite of the indictment, the House declared as null and void, Lawal’s impeachment, and condemned the actions of Imam.

Fresh Tension in Niger Delta Varsity over Reparation Levy Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa There is fresh tension in the Bayelsa State-owned Niger Delta University (NDU), Wilberforce Island, Amassoma, over a levy imposed on protesting students who allegedly damaged some property belonging to the school last month.

THISDAY gathered that the institution was shut in February, following a demonstration by some students, mostly of the Faculty of Engineering, who were advised to withdraw over their failure to pass some courses at their 100 and 200 levels.

However, some ‘bona fide’ students who allegedly participated in the protest, it was learnt, were kicking against the payment of a levy of between N30, 000 and N50, 000 as damages for the school’s property destroyed during the rampage.

The returning students as well as those who were dismissed by the school authority for failing to pass either of Mathematics, Chemistry or Physics in their first two years are riled that the reason for which the protest took place had not been resolved, yet the school was imposing a fine.

Some of them, who did not want their names in print, for fear of victimisation, blamed the senate and the Vice Chancellor, Professor Humphrey Ogoni, for allegedly causing the problem.

They argued that the university management had granted them waivers in their first and second years in the school; allowed them register and pay school fees for between four and five years, wondering why the school suddenly changed its position.

However, THISDAY learnt that the VC was only implementing the regulation in line with the minimum standard set by the National Universities Commission (NUC) which requires students in the faculty to pass the compulsory

courses.

“This decision was ill-timed, wicked, anti-student, especially asking them to pay such amount of money which is far more than the cost of the property damaged,’’ a student told THISDAY yesterday.

Besides, the returning students have also been directed to fill out a ‘form of good conduct’ to be downloaded from the university’s website and swear to an affidavit in court to be of good behaviour.

Another student, who preferred to remain anonymous, vowed that the school’s activities would be disrupted again this week if their grouses were not resolved. ‘’ We will not just go home after spending between four and five years in NDU. We are asking them to withdraw and yet they are asking some of our colleagues who joined us to protest to pay huge amount of money,” he lamented.

Apart from the levies, a statement signed by Prof. Ogoni, the school’s VC, which was made available to journalists, also instructed all returning students to submit a letter of attestation from their parents or guardians, vouching for their good conduct.

“All levels 2, 3 and 5 as well as spill over students of the Faculty of Engineering are directed to provide the sworn affidavits as directed above, and in addition, show evidence of payment of N50, 000 each to the Niger Delta University account.

“All levels 1 and 3 students of the Faculty of Engineering are directed to provide the sworn affidavits as directed above and also evidence of payment of N30, 000 each to the university,” the statement added.

Ogoni, had last month, accused those who were asked to withdraw from the school of hijacking the protest and ensuring it turned violent.

THIS IS YOUR COPY SIR

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (right), receiving a photo book on Babcock University (BU) from the President/ Vice Chancellor, Prof Ademola Steven Tayo, during the 2016 national summit/fourth International colloquium of Centre for Human Security at the Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State....recently

IG Deploys Three CPs for Rivers Rerun Elections, Orders AIG to Relocate

Warns policemen to be apolitical and professional Yemi Akinsuyi in Abuja In furtherance of the strategies designed to prevent electoral violence and to ensure a smooth and orderly conduct of the Rivers State rerun elections slated for Saturday, March 19, 2016, the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase, has directed the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) in charge of Zone 6 Calabar, Adisa Baba Bolanta, to relocate to Port Harcourt on Monday, March 14, 2016 for pre-election preparations with a view to put in place conducive environment for free, fair and credible election.

The IG, while disclosing that three Commissioners of Police had been deployed to supervise security arrangements within the three senatorial districts – Rivers East, Rivers West and Rivers South East, respectively, stated that 6,000 conventional policemen and 14 Units of Police Mobile Force personnel (MOPOL), would be deployed to compliment the personnel of

Rivers State Command during the election.

In a statement signed by the Force spokesperson, Olabisi Kolawole, in addition, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Department of Operations, Sontoye Wakama, had also been directed to proceed to Rivers State immediately to hold meetings with stakeholders and police officers in the state command on the need for peaceful conduct before, during and after the election.

The IG, while assuring the law-abiding electorates of a secure and enabling environment to exercise their franchise, warned all security details to desist from accompanying their principals and politicians to polling booths and collation centers during the election.

He emphasised that only security personnel specially assigned for election duties must be seen within and around the election designated places.

Agatu Killings: Cattle Breeders Demand Law on Cattle Routes, Grazing Reserves Tobi Soniyi inAbuja The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has called on the National Assembly to as a matter of urgency make laws that will address issues of grazing reserves and cattle routes nation wide.

MACBAN’s National Secretary, Baba Othman Ngelzarma, who stated this at the weekend, said this would go a long way in resolving the seemingly intractable clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

He said the most recent clashes in Agatu axis was part of the chain of provocative attacks by the Agatus against Fulani herdsmen and their cattle and reprisal attack by the Fulani against the Agatu militia.

He said: “The Fulani herdsmen are peace loving people who are desirous of living in a sustained peaceful atmosphere and with their neighbours and host communities.

They are also always prepared to pay damages done to any farmland by their cattle, regardless of whether the said damage was deliberate or not.

“Unfortunately, the Fulani herdsmen have suffered huge number of human and livestock losses; their gazing routes have been destroyed; they have been blocked

from accessing banks of the Benue River, the source of water for their cattle during dry season; their cattle are rustled in thousands; and their leaders and youth attacked and often killed in cold blood.”

According to him, since 2012, the Fulanis had been suffering from all sorts of attacks from Agatu militias.

“Even when the Fulanis decided to move further into Nasarawa State, the Agatus pursued and attacked them with impunity,” he added.

He said the menace of cattle rustling in which he alleged that the Agatu youth also took part was threatening the fabric of the society, adding that the problem must be tackled head-on.

MACBAN therefore said the Agatu crisis should be handled with high sense of responsibility and statesmanship by setting up a high powered panel made up of Agatus, Fulani herdsmen, the Nasarawa and Benue State governments under the Inspector General of Police to look into the immediate and remote causes of the crisis and proffer a lasting solution.

The group further asked that the federal government to expedite action in coming out with policies and practical measures that would address the Fulani herdsmen/ farmers conflict in a holistic manner.

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MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWSXTRA

Dangote’s Investment will be a Blessing to Okpella, Say Traditional Ruler, Youths Crusoe Osagie The Okuokphellagbe of Okpella Kingdom, Alhaji Yusuf Dirisu, has stated that the decision of the Dangote Group to set up a cement factory in Okpella, Edo State, will bring employment opportunities and infrastructural development to the people of the kingdom and its environs.

The traditional ruler who spoke during a meeting held at his palace, stressed that the entire community had been craving for such investment for a long time, maintaining that the African giant company’s plan to invest in the community is expected to spur economic and industrial development in the entire state.

Meanwhile, the community youths who were present at the meeting, pledged their 100 per cent support for Dangote, saying the youths were waiting earnestly for the company to begin its operation.

The leader of the community, during the forum, restated the community’s support for Dangote’s planned investment, saying: “I want to say that the purpose of this gathering today is to create an opportunity for the world to see the Okpella community reacting and appreciating the

good news from Dangote Group stating their interest to establish a cement factory in Okpella.

“We want to say that the news reached us with joy and this is why we are here today to tell him that that decision he has taken is highly appreciated.

“We want to tell the world that Dangote Group is very much welcome to Okpella community to do his business, and that every support that he will be needing from time to time, he will get at all times. I am going to give opportunity to my people to speak up so that you can hear from them directly. The traditional council of Okpella is present. We also brought in the youths so that they can have their own say,” he added.

The Secretary of the Okpella traditional council, Mr. Richards David, in his comments, said Dangote’s decision to invest here would be a thing of blessing to the community, stressing that the whole community was throwing their full weight behind the laudable investment. ”You can see the expression of love, interest and enthusiasm written on the faces of Okpella people welcoming you to the Okpella community because the people love development.

The people genuinely are asking for more industries to be established in the kingdom and we believe that as a people, the decision of Dangote to invest here will be a thing of blessing to this community, as we also believe that as one of Africa’s richest investors, his decision to come to Okpella is well placed just as the traditional ruler has said,” David said.

He assured Dangote of the community’s readiness to support the investment drive, pointing out that when the cement factory is ready, it will, unlike many other investments in the state, see the community youths occupy managerial positions.

“The oracle of this kingdom has spoken and this is the decision of the Okpella people.

We want to assure you and pledge our solidarity for what he has said and the entire people of the kingdom are

earnestly waiting for more from Dangote. If there is anything more than 100 per cent, we are solidly behind your investment in the community. We know that this decision will bring about infrastructural development to this community and we also believe that there will be employment opportunities for our youths, and unlike many others, our people will occupy managerial opportunities in your company.

“We believe our people will not only be employed at the construction stage but managers of your investment.

We have heard stories of Dangote’s investment attracting developments like roads, electricity and so on, this is what we also expect from his investment in our community,” he noted.

A representative of the Okpella Youth, Mr. Kadiri

Christopher, said with the proposed Investment, history has been made in the community particularly the youths, adding that the forum has cleared doubts over the uncertainties of Dangote’s plan to invest in the community.

“History has been made today particularly on the side of the youths because there were uncertainties about Dangote investing in our community, but today, the youth are simply saying we are behind Dangote 100 per cent. We are not cursed people, because we want development in our community. The beauty of this life is not what you have but the ability to put smiles on your faces of people. See the way he has brought smiles to the faces of people in the community.

I am telling you today that the whole of Okpella, both old and young, are in full

support of his investment,” he stressed.

A former Chairman of Esako East Local Government Area, Mr. Godwin Eshieshie, also stated that during the course of operating in the community, the investment is assured of a peaceful and hitch-free business environment, adding that the Okpella community is more than glad to be part of the beneficiaries of Dangote’s investments.

“We are assuring you of peace and concord in this our community. There will be no security threat to Dangote anytime he comes. Take the message back that there is no threat of any nature to hinder Dangote’s investment in our community. Okpella is more than glad for this kind of investment because we know Dangote is an international investor and the number one in Africa and we hope to see him soon,” he said.

PDP Wins State Assembly Rerun Poll in Cross River Bassey Inyang in Calabar The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won the rerun election for Yakurr II State Constituency in the Cross River State House of Assembly held on Saturday, March 12.

The PDP candidate, Mr. Eteng Jonah Williams, was declared winner of the keenly contested election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The declaration of result sheet endorsed by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ghesila Khan, which was made available to journalists yesterday showed that Williams scored 4,380 votes to emerge winner, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bassey Utum Inah, polled 3,670 to place second and the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Eno Utum Inah, scored 2,180 votes to place third.

Reacting to the outcome of the election, a visible, angry chieftain of the APC in the state who hails from Yakurr, Chief Utum Eteng, attributed the defeat of the party in the election to infighting within its fold in the state.

Eteng lamented that from the votes scored by each candidate, the APC would have won if the supporters did not split their votes with the LP. “I feel very bad that APC has not been able to put its act together in this state from inception. The infighting is still on. There is infighting between the old and new members. Those who voted for the APC and LP

are all supporters of the APC. It is very unfortunate that a constituency where a minister comes has been won by PDP due to crisis of confidence in the party.

The APC may claim that they came second, but in an election to the House of Assembly, there is no prize for second place so; the APC should not think it has done well,” Eteng said.

Eteng appealed to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Usani, who is from the constituency to support and help the acting state chairman of the party, Mr. John Ochala, to reorganise the APC in the state and move it forward so the party can win elections in future.

The Appeal Court sitting in Calabar and presided by Justice Onyekachi Otisi had January 8, 2016 ordered a rerun in the constituency within 90 days, after annulling the April 11, 2015 House of Assembly elections which saw INEC originally returning William as winner.

The LP candidate had filed an appeal on 12-grounds challenging the verdict of the election tribunal which upheld the declaration of Williams as winner of the April 11, 2015 election.

At the Appeal Court, the LP candidate, through his lawyer, Mr. Egere Osim; had among other issues, argued that it was illegal for the INEC to have issued a certificate of return; Exhibit 24 RE10, to Williams, on April 13, 2015, when election had not been concluded.

NEW BRIDE FOR OONI

L-R: Osun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi-laoye Tomori; Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, and his new bride, Olori Wuraola Zynab, during a thanksgiving ceremony of their traditional union at the Royal Court of Ife, in Ile-Ife....yesterday FELIX ADEMOLA

AU Clears Nigeria as Regional Hub for Disease Surveillance, CDC Paul Obi in Abuja

Following Nigeria’s giant stride in containing epidemics like Ebola and Lassa Fever in recent times, the African Union (AU) has given the country the clearance to become African’s regional hub for disease surveillance and Centre for Disease Control (CDC).

Nigeria’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will act as the collaborating centre, which makes Nigeria the hub of research and disease surveillance in West Africa and a regional collaborating centre for Africa.

This came on the heels of the findings of the African Union on site assessment of Nigeria’s CDC which was conducted by a team of experts last week.

At a briefing on the outcome of its findings in Abuja, the head of the delegation and Director of Social Affairs of the African Union Commission (AUC), Ambassador Olawale Maiyegun, explained that there were still some gaps

that ought to be filled.

The Nigerian-born AU envoy told journalists that the problem with existing gaps “is that it is not clear how the strong political commitment demonstrated by the federal government can be sustained. We want to see it being translated into sustained funding for the Nigerian CDC. “We are satisfied and we believe that Nigeria, while rectifying the gaps can fully take up this responsibility. It is a triple responsibility being a Nigeria CDC, a regional CDC and as well as a collaborating centre for the Africa CDC.” Maiyegun maintained that his team during its fact finding tour, discovered a very strong commitment on the part of the federal government of Nigeria and a legal framework which is being put together.

He was optimistic that such efforts displayed by the government “will be made on the legal framework to reflect the

regional dimension of the Nigeria CDC, which henceforth will not only be the Nigeria CDC but a regional one for West Africa and a regional collaborating centre for the Africa CDC.” Maiyegun reiterated that: “We are happy to note that from what we have seen on ground that, indeed, Nigeria CDC can take those responsibilities that is about to the entrusted to it.

“However, as we look at some of the strength that they are bringing to the table, we found out that they are bringing very strong human resources, they have a very strong and powerful field epidemiological and laboratory training which is a very huge asset that will help facilitate the fulfillment of the core capacity of the international health regulation and we are very happy about this.

“As I said earlier, we note a very strong commitment of the federal government, but we hope that this commitment

will be translated into proper funding and the funding we are referring to here is government continuing to meet its obligation to the Nigeria CDC so that it can function, not just for Africa CDC because it is a commitment the Nigerian government has to the public health of Nigeria.

“We will need more indication of continued funding and that strong political commitment being translated into budgetary support and financial allocations” Maiyegun added.

National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of NCDC, Prof.

Abdulrahman Nasidi, was of the view that the elevation of the centre to a regional hub for research and disease surveillance will strengthen the capacity of the agency for optimum results Nasidi stressed that with the new responsibility, the NCDC will now be ready to carry out elaborate research in disease surveillance, prevention and control.

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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NEWSXTRA

Nigerian Ship Owners Join Forces to Form One Body Ex-CRFFN governing council boss identifies root cause of crisis rocking council

John Iwori In a concerted effort to speak with one voice and move the shipping sector of the economy forward, Nigerian ship owners have joined forces to form a forum.

The joining of forces by indigenous ship owners is coming on the heels of divergent views and rancour among Nigerian ship owners who belong to various ship owners associations in the maritime industry.

These associations that aligned include the Nigerian Ship Owners Association (NISA) and the Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN).

Apparently uncomfortable with the in-fighting among the indigenous ship owners, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, had in a recent public forum in Lagos asked Nigerian ship owners to come together to form an umbrella body.

It was in furtherance of this directive that the key players in these associations held several meetings in Lagos that culminated in the formation of an umbrella body called Ship Owners Forum, with a Lagos-based lawyer and shipping practitioner, Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi, as the Chairman.

The Ship Owners Forum confirmed the development in a statement issued in Lagos, titled: ‘Ship Owners in Nigeria, Unite Under One Umbrella Body’ and obtained by THISDAY at the weekend.

The statement which was endorsed by the representatives of NISA and SOAN said: “Recently, the Minister of Transportation, Amaechi, at a parley in Lagos requested ship owners in Nigeria to present a common front in their engagement with government on all issues relating to ship owners in Nigeria. The ministerial challenge was immediately followed up with a convivial meeting of ship owners where the resolution to float the Ship Owners Forum under the chairmanship of Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi was reached.”

In another development, the immediate past Chairman of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding Practice in Nigeria (CRFFN), Alhaji Hakeem Olanrewaju, has identified the root cause of the problems plaguing the council just as he pointed the way forward.

Olanrewaju who is also the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Talod Oceanair Freight Limited, in an interview with THISDAY in Lagos, revealed that a lot of vested interest had combined to thwart the progress of the council.

He warned that an entrenched cartel, individuals or groups activities can not be allowed to continuously subvert extant laws of the federation and by extension, deny the federal government of its due and much needed internally generated revenue.

“Basically, the whole essence and intendment of this Act 16 of 2007 is to establish a Council for the Regulation

Group Decries Harassment of Journalists

by Customs, Police Gboyega Akinsanmi The International Press Centre (IPC) yesterday lamented the increasing spate of attacks, which it said, journalists had suffered in the hands of the officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria Police among others.

The IPC, Nigeria’s foremost media capacity development organisation, called on the authorities of the custom and police to put an end to incessant harassment of journalists by their operatives.

The call was contained in a statement by IPC’s Executive Director, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, yesterday, noting that Nigeria “is concerned that journalists are still being subjected to various forms of attacks, mostly in the course of their professional duty.”

As indicated in a statement he personally signed, Arogundade said the alleged perpetrators of the documented incidents include political thugs, the NCS, Nigeria Police and armed robbers among others.

He said the outcome of an on-going monitoring of safety of journalists being undertaken

by IPC with the support of the Open Society Foundation “shows that at least four journalists have been reported to have suffered one form of

attack or the other within the past couple of weeks.”

He reeled out the affected journalists to include Julius Osahon of The Guardian Newspapers, who according to him, was “held hostage and aggressively addressed by political thugs at Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, while covering the protest against non-payment of five months’ pension arrears by pensioners.”

He also cited the case of Michael Sholeye of Petals FM, whom he said, was reportedly “assaulted at a Mobil Filling Station at Oluyole Ibadan while covering an attempt by drivers of MTN to jump queue.”

He mentioned the attack on Toyin Ibrahim of Television Continental (TVC), who he said was “brutalised by suspected one-chance robbers on her way home from work after boarding a commercial mini-bus close to Ketu Bridge heading to BergerMagbo area at 5:30a.m.”

Among others, he referred to the abuse of Yomi Olomofe of Badagry Prime, who the executive director noted, was detained by men of the Nigeria Police, “after men he had accused of severely beating him alleged he had assaulted and attempted to extort money from them.

of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, charged with the responsibility, among others, of determining the standards of knowledge and skills to be attained by persons practicing or seeking to be a registered member of freight forwarders of Nigeria in accordance with the provisions of this Act,” he said.

Giving an insight into the challenges bedeviling the council, he stated that proper administration of the CRFFN continues to be resisted by a cabal which are refusing to be regulated.

“A few of them contested and failed an election at the maiden election into the governing council, thereby resorting to frustrating efforts to put the council on a strong footing. They became apostles of the slogan of “status quo ante” which they manifest in different

antics. Few of these elements with their glorified gangs of touts parade themselves as industry gladiators.

Most times, they instigate court actions all in a bid to stampede the CRFFN administrations, within the professional administration.

“Other challenges faced by the council were certain entrenched interests, power tussles and egotism on the part of notable leaders, whose antics also pointed to disapproval by conscience against the regulatory regime. The greatest monster was the associations’ entrenched interests and open display of power drunk and arrogance against the general professional interest and that of the regulatory council,” Olanrewaju who is also a chieftain of the Association of Nigerian Licenced Customs Agents (ANLCA) said.

He expressed regret that in

2010 to 2011, the council opened its register and called for registration by practitioners, over 5000 freight forwarders picked up forms for registration and close to 2000 corporate firms completed registrations.

The erudite licenced customs agent stated that during and after accreditation processes, just a little above 2000 practitioners are said to have completed the registration exercise and accreditation processes and names posted into council register.

He also stated that a little above 400 corporate firms appeared on the council register.

Olanrewaju spoke against the backdrop of the protracted face-off between CRFFN and some key players in the maritime industry, especially licenced customs agents.

Amaechi had in a recent public forum in Lagos read the riot act to the various freight forwarding associations. He also ordered them to meet with the regulatory CRFFN and resolve the differences.

Amaechi gave this directive while addressing the leaders of the various freight forwarding associations. The associations that are registered by the CRFFN include the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, Association of Registered Freight Forwarders if Nigeria(AREFFN) and National Association of Freight and Aircargo Consolidators (NAFAC).

MEDICAL INSTITUTION FOR ONDO

Vice-Chancellor, Ondo State University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Prof. Friday Okunofua (right), and state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, at the maiden matriculation ceremony and inauguration of UNIMED in Ondo town...weekend

Manufacturers Decry CBN, BoI’s 9% Cost of Borrowing Dele Ogbodo in Abuja The National President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, has decried the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Bank of Industry’s (BoI) nine per cent cost of borrowing policy from commercial banks to manufacturers.

He appealed to government to urgently fast track the commencement of operations by the recently established Development Bank of Nigeria, dedicated to industrial development.

The lack of access to funds at liberal cost, the president averred, had been one of the major challenges facing the manufacturing sector, adding that funding for manufacturers should be given priority attention as the sector cannot grow under the prevailing high interest rate.

Jacobs while speaking on telephone yesterday after a courtesy visit to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeoshun, at her office in Abuja over the weekend, said manufacturers

are not finding it easy to secure credits from commercial bank window.

He said the non-oil exports had taken a dip, especially as the Negotiable Duty Credit Card (NDCC), which is part of the Export Expansive Grant (EEG), is no longer being honoured by government, stressing that the EEG/NDCC policy had been very beneficial in promoting manufactured exports but was suspended some years back.

He said: “As at May 30, 2015, an estimated total of N85.4 billion EEG claims were outstanding with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) while a total of N38.105 billion was awaiting the approval of the Federal Ministry of Finance for the issuance of NDCC for release to beneficiaries. Un-utilised NDCC in possession of beneficiaries is currently estimated to be N109 billion.”

Jacobs said the manufacturing sector should be encouraged to build up appropriate capacity to enhance its capacity and produce for domestic consumption and

export, thus generating income for the country.

On the effect of multiple taxes and levies, he said: “This issue continues to be a menace to the real sector. After a study carried out by MAN on its effects on businesses and a presentation made to the last administration, a technical committee was set up to harmonise the tax administration in the country.

We are appealing that the issue should be re-opened and concluded.”

On the pervasive trade malpractices, the president said smuggling was a major draw-back to the economy, adding: “It facilitates dumping of prohibited commodities into the economy. This and other forms of trade malpractices should be checked.

“We believe that patronage of locally produced items would help to create employment. Our expenditure in favour of imported products is detrimental to the growth of local industry as it increases employment in the country of origin and simultaneously increases poverty in our land.

The policy should be enforced through the Ministry of Finance.”

Concerning the management of Export Processing Zones (EPZs), he said: “We have made representations in the past on activities of some companies in the EPZs who rather than comply with the regulations regarding sale of products from the zone, are currently violating the process by taking items from the zone to the Customs zone without paying the appropriate duties.

“This distorts the businesses of some members who have to face the challenging business environment with consequent costs that make their products uncompetitive. A good example is the Paper Group of MAN whose companies are closing down because of influx of products from the FTZ. “We appeal that the regulation allowing companies in the FTZ to sell 100 per cent of their products to the local market should be revoked in order to provide a level playing ground for all manufacturers.”

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NEWSXTRA

Buhari: N500bn Education Budget is Highest So Far Duke, Ita-Giwa bag honorary degrees Bassey Inyang in Calabar President Muhammdu Buhari has stated that the N500 billion allocated to the education sector in the 2016 federal budget, which he described as the highest so far allocated to the sector in the country, would be judiciously used.

Buhari stated this at the weekend while delivering his message at the 2014/2015, and 29th convocation ceremony of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) held at the school’s Abraham Odia Stadium.

Buhari who is visitor to the university, was represented by the Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Akaneren Essien.

The president said funds provided for the sector would be used to improve university education so; they can compete among other universities in the world.

“This administration is focused on providing a suitable

environment for universities to grow, thrive and fulfil the triple mandate of research, which is knowledge generation; teaching knowledge transmission; and responsive social engineering, knowledge application.

“The 2016 budgetary provision of N500 billion for the education sector is the highest so far, and it is our desire is to apply every kobo this budget to deal with various need of our universities to ensure that they become more globally competitive,” Buhari said.

However, the president noted that it was imperative to apply best practice and due process in the application of funds budgeted for the education sectors.

The president observed that tertiary institutions in the country have failed to avail themselves with the various funds established to enable them engage in research.

He stated: “It was with the aim of resuscitating research activates in the nation’s tertiary institutions that government put Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) establish two lines of funding for

research namely, the Institution Based Research and the National Research Fund. So much of these funds are yet to be accessed by the nation’s public universities. I urge the nation’s public universities and other institutions to put in place fundable proposals , taking into consideration the nation’s contemporary challenges in the area of energy, economic diversification strategies , value chain for our agricultural products and further exploitation of our local raw materials for our industries.”

Buhari said in order to continue to support research in the nation’s

tertiary institutions, the federal government supported the establishment of the Nigerian Research and Educational Network , which is domiciled at the NUC, stressing that universities and other tertiary institutions should key into the network , which he noted has become the bedrock for research and development.

Buhari urged the management of the University of Calabar to ensure that the objective for which the university was established became realised through the encouragement and promotion of scholarship and conduct of research in all fields of learning and human endeavour.

The president implored the university to conduct work in league with the NUC to encourage postgraduate studies in fields such as tourism and hospitality industry and management “ to leverage on the huge number of people who visit Calabar and parts of Cross River State for tourism annually.”

He congratulated all the grandaunts who successfully completed their programmes.

At the former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke was conferred an honorary doctorate degree in law while Princess Florence Ita-Giwa, was conferred with an honorary doctorate degree

in political science.

However, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who was also billed for the award of an honorary doctorate degree was conspicuously absent from the event.

No official explanation was issued for the senate president’s absence.

During the pre-convocation briefing on Thursday, Akpagu had announced that Saraki would also be conferred with an honorary doctorate degree for his contribution to the development of Kwara as governor and Nigeria in general.

Mile 12 Crisis: Afenifere Seeks Judicial Commission of Inquiry Says police probe into the crisis can’t be trusted

Gboyega Akinsanmi The Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) yesterday asked the Lagos State Government to immediately constitute a judicial commission of inquiry into the Mile 12 crisis, which undermined public order in the for four consecutive days.

The ARG, a pan-Yoruba socio-political and economic organisation, noted that the constitution of the commission became imperative because the state government “cannot rely solely of police investigation.”

The group canvassed the position in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo yesterday, noting that the crisis should be objectively investigated and those indicted in the process be prosecuted.

The clash, which principally erupted between Hausa and Yoruba at Mile 12 market on March 2, reportedly claimed no fewer than five persons and several vehicles vandalised as a result of the crisis.

While it took the intervention of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) to quell the crisis, the state government had consequently shut the market and imposed curfew on four streets in the area due to the crisis.

Also, the state House of Assembly had called on the state government to relocate the Mile 12 market and Owode Onirin Markets to another location after conducting necessary feasibility studies and when accompanying infrastructures must have been provided.

But in its statement yesterday, the ARG urged the state government “not to rely solely on police investigation of the

crisis because its local inquiries into the incident alleged that the police’s approach lacked objectivity and was overtly biased.”

“In our view therefore, only a judicial enquiry can produce the kind of recommendations and shift-change that will engender peaceful and sustainable cohabitation in that area of the state.”

The group explained that it was aware of several attempts to placate the gory clash, which claimed five lives, through conciliatory approaches aimed at getting the parties to move on.

The group added that Nigeria’s history “is replete with several of such move-on and that is why such calamities are recurring. A different approach is needed so that we stop planting evil seeds that will germinate into abominable trees in the nearest future.”

It therefore called on the state government to constitute a judicial panel, made up of credible citizens to investigate the immediate and remote causes of this mayhem.

It noted that the state’s regulatory policy on Okada as a means of commercial transportation is not implementable, thereby calling for a total ban of motorcycle as a means of transportation in the state.”

Apart from the safety and security threats that okada pose to our society, the group said it was also luring youths away from their vocations “to the effect that largely all artisanal works in Southwest are now being carried out by economic migrants from neighbouring countries.”

HOW TO TACKLE POVERTY

L-R: Assistant Director, Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Ronke Joshua; President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mrs Nike Akande; Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Lola Akande; and Vice President, LCCI, Mrs. Agnes Shobajo, during a dialogue session on gender issues and poverty alleviation in Lagos...recently

BUHARI, SARAKI, MARK, OTHERS MOURN IBRU From Delta State, the Speaker, the House of Assembly, Hon. Monday Igbuya, in a condolence message to the family described Ibru’s death as “painful.”

“Igbuya lauded Ibru’s great concern for the unity of Nigeria, the growth of democracy and development of Delta State,” a statement by the speaker’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Henry Ebiereri, quoted him as saying last night. “ Ibru as a governor, senator, international businessman, philanthropist and politician gained the respect, trust and love of the entire country and he will be greatly missed,” Igbuya noted.

Similarly, right activist and former governorship aspirant, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, Chief Executive of Centre LSD, described Ibru’s passing as “very painful and a great blow to the Delta State and Urhobo Nation in particular.”

Igbuzor in a statement last night, titled: ‘End of An Era,’ said: “The news of the death of Ibru came to me as a rude shock. I have been busy all day and heard of the death from the telephone call of a journalist who wanted to hear my comments.

“Ibru was a true son of Urhobo land. He was a leader par excellence of UPU. His regime in UPU was marked with selfless service and matured response to the challenges facing Urhobo land. He was an astute business man and progressive politician of note.

“As Governor of Delta State, Ibru governed with equity, justice and fairness. He treated all ethnic nationalities with fairness. The death of Ibru marks the end of era of progressive politics of the old school marked by credibility, welfarism and care for the poor in Delta State.

“My prayer is that the Almighty God will grant the immediate family and indeed the entire Deltans and Nigerians the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

The Almighty God will raise progressive politicians to rescue Delta State and its people. May his soul rest in peace.”

On his part, Chairman, Governing Council, School of Health Technology (DESCOHTECH), OfuomaUghelli, Delta State, Dr Nelson

Ejakpovi, described the death of Senator Ibru as “shocking.”

In a press statement yesterday, Ejakpovi said Ibru left when his wise counsel was still needed in the state. “We have lost a statesman, a technocrat and a democrat whose wise counsel based on experience was still important to our state and our country.

“Those of us at the College of Health Technology, OfuomaUghelli see his passage as a great loss, but we take solace in the fact that his legacies will stand the test of time. We cannot forget the fact that it was in his time that the College of Health Technology, which has churned out quality man-power for the health sector was established.

“We have truly lost a gem; and, while we mourn his passage we cannot question God but we at the College of Health Technology, Ofuoma commiserates with the Ibru family, the people of Delta Central, Delta State and all lovers of democracy on this great loss.”

On his party, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the state,

Continued from page 9

Chief Great Ogboru, observed about the late Senator Ibru, “In private life, business and public service, Ibru left worthy imprints in our peoples’ hearts and history.

Senator Ovie Omo-Agege on his part said, “The exit of Olorogun Felix Ovuodoroye Ibru is a major loss for Nigeria as a whole.

“He was a great leader. As a civilian governor, he constructed the foundations of a democratic Delta State. As a distinguished senator of the Federal Republic, he was a bridge builder and quintessential advocate for good governance.

Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) also joined in mourning Ibru, saying his death should challenge the people on good leadership and unity in the state.

Emerhor, who spoke through his Director of Media and Political Communication, Dr. Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, said that Ibru governed the state in a responsible manner and exhibited uncommon leadership qualities during his tenure.

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IPOB: Why Anyaoku, Ekwueme, Nwabueze, Others Qualify to Speak on Biafra Emmanuel Ugwu in Umuahia Following the reservation raised when it named some personalities to speak on its behalf, the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has clarified its choice of negotiators, saying those named are not IPOB members but eminent persons selected on account of their credibility and forthrightness.

The pro-Biafra group had last week named six eminent persons whom it suggested that a United States congressional delegation should meet to get the facts about the current Biafra agitation.

They are former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; former Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme; renowned constitutional lawyer, Professor Ben Nwabueze; Catholic Archbishop of Owerri, Archbishop Anthony Obinna; human rights activist, Dr. Arthur Nwankwo, and Gen Alex Madiebo (rtd).

But in a statement jointly issued at the weekend by its spokesmen, Emma Mmezu and Dr. Clifford Iroanya, IPOB regretted that “agents of our oppressors and avid enemies of peace and justice had deliberately and mischievously twisted its choice of the six credible personalities to mean that these great gentlemen have suddenly become IPOB members. This is not so.

“IPOB maintains its position that these visiting delegations ought to endeavour to meet and speak with credible names

like Anyaoku, Nwabueze, Ekwueme, and co. That does not in any way translate to any of them suddenly becoming IPOB commanders like one mischievous newspaper terrifying Anyaoku in private unsolicited emails tried to portray,” the statement said Alluding to Anyaoku’s reported refusal to accept speaking on its behalf, IPOB said it had discovered that some journalists were terrifying Anyaoku and others through unsolicited e-mails in which they asked the eminent Igbo personality, “Sir, is it true that you are appointed IPOB commander?

“We are aware of the activities of enemies of equity, justice and fairness,” the group said, stressing that contrary to the insinuations of those out to make mischief, Anyaoku and those named along with him as credible persons to speak on the Biafra issue are neither IPOB members nor commanders.

The separatist group insisted that it was “convinced that over 90 percent of our people are standing with IPOB today (hence) we dare the Nigerian government to organise a referendum today to ascertain the authenticity of our demand for freedom.”

The group explained that it became necessary for it to name credible persons to speak with any foreign delegation because three weeks ago, the US Consular General visited the South-east on fact finding mission and “surprisingly, he met only with the All Progressives

Troops Kill More Terrorists, Recover Weapons Troops of 254 Task Force Battalion, 25 Task Force Brigade in conjunction with vigilantes have conducted clearance operation of remnants of Boko Haram terrorists at Gwashari village along Damboa-Bale road. A statement by the Acting Director Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, said

during the patrol, the troops encountered some elements of the Boko Haram terrorists in which they killed one and captured three others.

Usman they also recovered one Dane gun, AK-47 rifle magazine, two knives, assorted drugs and the sum of N142,000 from the terrorists.

Buhari Rejoices with Omobude at 70 Tobi Soniyi in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and General Superintendent, Gospel Light International Ministries, Rev. Felix Omobude, on the occasion of his 70th birthday anniversary on March 14.

Buhari, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, saluted Omobude’s vision, charisma and strength of character which he said, had seen him dutifully fulfill his pastoral calling over the years, largely demonstrated in his love for a united and prosperous Nigeria.

The president also commended Omobude’s

invaluable contribution to nation building and development through his teachings and exemplary leadership, which continued to inspire many of his followers and admirers to work hard and improve their communities.

“As family, friends and well-wishers gather to celebrate this important milestone and Omobude’s extraordinary achievements; the President uses this opportunity to remind religious leaders and all in positions of public trust of our shared responsibility in the fight against corruption and other ills confronting our society.

“The president prays that Omobude will enjoy more years of health and fulfillment in his service to God and humanity,” the statement said.

Congress (APC) executive in Enugu and Ohanaeze.

According to IPOB, the two groups misrepresented the reason for its agitation for a free Biafra as they listed “road construction, second Niger Bridge, appointment of more Ndigbo into Buhari’s cabinet,

among other inconsequential issues as reasons for our agitation for freedom.”

IPOB further stated that last week “a delegation of US congressional staff arrived from Washington D.C. led by a senior staff of the US embassy in Nigeria, and met

with Ohanaeze at Nike Lake Hotel, Enugu, over our agitation for freedom,” adding that the delegation did not speak with credible people.

“Well-meaning and conscientious people all over the world expressed outrage and shock, wondering why in the

world these US delegations are desperately avoiding the most credible names from our political space.

“In the world over, fact finding teams usually seek out the most credible names in their search for the truth, not organisations well known

BE GOOD CHILDREN

Former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, interacting with the pupils of St. Michael’s Anglican Primary School, Ezeagu, Orumba South, shortly before he presented them a cheque of N1 million for the upgrade of their facilities...recently

If We Don’t Stop These Security UNEP Report: Abe Urges Threats Now, Our Future is Ogoni People to Shun PDP Gone, Say Experts Leaders Sunday Okobi As a practical demonstration of its seriousness to curb the security challenges facing Nigeria presently, security experts in the country have charged the federal government to strengthen as well as improve on the cooperation on security threats between Nigerians (stakeholders) and the government, adding that: “If we don’t curb these security threats now, they will not only swallow us, they will extinct the future of our county.”

Also, these security-savvy individuals decried the seeming low security awareness and nonchalance among the people on biting security matters, saying security in the country would improve if all hands are on deck to fight the scourge.

These were disclosed at the just-concluded largest commercial, homeland and cyber security exhibition and conference (Securex) in West Africa held in Lagos where world class security equipment were assembled and displayed.

At the exhibition, the General Officer Commanding of the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj. General I.H Edet, said the Nigerian government and its people must find a way to nip the security crises in the bud, adding that security of lives and property is the responsibility of all Nigerian irrespective of the level of involvement in Government affairs.

He noted that since the forum was to avail the opportunity to discuss the way forward and harness security matters in Nigeria, “we need to assess many way to tackle this security challenges. We must build the capacity to manage security matters for all the sectors of the economy-individual and corporate security.”

Edet condemned what he described as non-chalant attitude towards security matters in the country, stating that the guiding principle of security is the cooperation between the government and the people (stakeholders).

In his remarks, the Chairman of ASIS Protection Plus Service Limited, Ubong King, who sited unemployment among the youths as a major security threat in the country, stated that transnational crime was destabilising the maritime sector of the costal countries in the Gulf of Guinea.

King, who was among the numerous speakers, noted that it’s dreadful to project the future going by the current insecurity situation in the country, asking: “If 68 million Nigerian youths don’t have jobs, going by the way the economy is wobbling, what will happen in the next 20 year? Boko Haram crises will be nothing compared to that if nothing is done.

“So, instead of our leaders wrestling themselves over who gets what and non-issues in the

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the Rivers South East senatorial district rerun election, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, has called on the Ogoni people to vote for all the APC candidates and shun those who have worked against the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report implementation.

Speaking at a campaign rally held in Tai Local Government Area, Abe said right from the beginning the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had been against the process that led to the UNEP report.

He said the UNEP report on the clean up of Ogoni land was about $1 billion of which no Ogoni person should toy with, pointing out that at best what the state governor could give them is N100million.

In a statement signed by his spokesperson, Parry Saroh Benson, Abe maintained that the process that led to the UNEP report was initiated by him (Abe) while serving as Secretary to State Government (SSG) under the former Governor, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

He explained that when the expatriates visited to carry out the study, the same people in the PDP said they were deceiving the Ogoni people and that it was an indirect way of bringing oil companies back to Ogoni land to drill oil.

He said they called them names such as vultures and

wrote several petitions to the federal government under the former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to stop the project.

Abe added that even when the report came out, former President Jonathan refused to have anything to do with it and never implemented it.

But today, he said, President Muhammadu Buhari has commenced the implementation of the report.

“The decision and determination of President Buhari to implement the UNEP report is a golden opportunity for our people. We cannot throw it away. Nobody can come from anywhere, whether he is a governor or anything and come and give us N100million to collect our $1billion dollars,” he said.

Speaking further, Abe said the leaders of PDP in Ogoni did not have the sympathy of the people.

He cited Hon. Kenneth Kobani, whom he said lost five persons at his hometown in Bodo but said nothing about it.

Abe recalled that when people died during the crises in Sogho, Kaani and other places in Ogoni, the likes of Kenneth Kobani, Lee Maeba, Dum Deekor did not go there to sympathise with the people.

He said but when Nyesome Wike in his evil machination schemed the Yeghe crisis that the Ogoni leaders in PDP were all there pretending to sympathise, which he said was all to gain cheap political relevance.

52

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2016 • T H I S D AY

NEWSEXTRA

ICAO Begins Safety Oversight Audit of Nigeria’s Aviation Sector FAAN expects traffic upsurge at Nigerian airports

Chinedu Eze A four-man team from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has arrived Nigeria to commence the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) of the nation’s aviation industry.

The objective of the audit is to ensure that Nigeria still abides by the safety status in accordance to ICAO regulations.

Nigeria had passed the audit in the past and would regularly be re-examined to ensure that the country does not stray from the accepted international safety standard under which it is rated.

According to the spokesman of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Sam Adurogboye, during the audit the following areas would be the focal points for the auditors. These include Legislation (LEG),Organisation (ORG), Accident and Incident Investigation (AIG), Air Navigational Services (ANS) and Aerodrome and Ground Aids (AGA).

Adurogboye said the auditors would be working with the their Nigerian counterparts and would visit NCAA’s regional offices and all the relevant service providers in the aviation industry.

The team would work in separate groups based on specific assignments and at the conclusion of the audit, there

would be a closing meeting where the draft audit result would be presented.

The audit would end on March 25, 2016.

Since last year the aviation agencies including NCAA, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) have been preparing for the audit.

Last week the officials of the United States Transportation Security Administration (TSA) assessed the safety status of the Murtala Muhamemed International Airport, Lagos and commended the security apparatus, saying the security system was in line with the recommedations of ICAO. TSA made this known after concluding its security assessment and “expressed deep satisfaction at the level of compliance with ICAO standard and recommended practices in the airport.”

The team also said it was highly impressed with the corrective action plans put in place by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in respect of the few open items that were to be closed.

Reacting to the ICAO audit that would begin today, the Managing Director of FAAN, Saleh Dunoma, said the authority was ready for the assessment.

‘Why Rules of Engagement Cannot be Strictly Followed in War against Boko Haram’ Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja A security expert and retired military personnel, Air Commodore Darlington Abdulahi (rtd), has said it will be very difficult for the military to strictly follow the rules of engagement as it is written down in the book in the ongoing war against the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east due to the seldom change in tactics of the sect who most times engage in gorilla warfare.

Abdulahi made this known in Abuja at the launch of his book titled: “The Boko Haram Phenomenon and Terrorism in Nigeria.”

He said due to the enormous security challenges in the country, individuals, as well as groups from various parts of the country had roles to play, stressing that, “It doesn’t matter if you are from the North-east or North-west or wherever.”

According to him, “As an individual, I think this is part of the role I have to play, that is, drawing awareness to the plight of the victims of insurgency. Trying to bring out the historical event for future generations to read, to know what happen, with a view to avoiding the kind of situation we found ourselves today.”

Abdulahi explained further that he also wrote the book in order to proffer solutions that he believed would go a long way to assisting in addressing the challenges of insurgency, and most importantly, make contributions to the victims of Boko Haram who the government is trying to rehabilitate.

“That is why I devoted 25 per cent of whatever income I generate to the rehabilitation of the victims through the victim support funds.”

He stated that there was no doubt that we the military have achieved a remarkable level of success in the fight against insurgency, but added that a better result could be achieved if everyone joins hands with the government, stressing that It is not the fight for the government alone, it is a fight for everyone.

In his opening remarks, the Commandant, Nigeria Defence College (NDC), Rear Admiral. Samuel Alade, said the book was an intellectual property, and a recipe for finding solution to the menace of terrorism globally, and particularly Nigeria.

He however recommended the book for policy makers, saying it would be useful to addressing the issue of terrorism in the country.

Before the arrival of the audit team, Dunoma had inspected facilities the agency had been working on to ensure they meet the ICAO standard, which had earlier indicated the gaps which the agency had to close.

ICAO had with the support of NCAA, established an inter-agency committee which worked to meet the given safety recommendation at the airports, in documentations and in airspace management.

FAAN concentrated on upgrading the runways, the taxiways, the installation of airfield lighting and the marking on the ramp and other areas to assist pilots in take off and landing of their flights.

Meanwhile, FAAN said due to expansion of airport facilities

and increasing number of international and local carriers, a significant upsurge in passenger, cargo and aircraft traffic would be expected at Nigeria’s airports by the last quarter of 2016 when most of the airport terminals and other related projects would have been completed and commissioned.

The General Manager, Corporate Affairs of the organisation, Yakubu Dati, said with improvements in terminal and airside facilities at these airports, a number of local airlines in the country hadalready started expanding their route network, some extending to the West Coast of Africa, while international carriers are increasing their frequencies to the country

despite seemingly gloomy economy.

Dati said some foreign airlines with hitherto had Lagos as their only destination have also started showing interest in operating into Mallam Aminu Kano and Port Harcourt International Airports, citing example with Qatar Airways, which intends to expand service to other international airports following the recent signing of new Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and Qatar.

“Significant increase in passenger, aircraft and cargo traffic at Nigerian airports, especially those managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, became

noticeable towards the end of last year. In September, the figure for international passenger movements in all the airports was 316, 680.

The figure grew steadily to 318, 503 in October, 328,652 in November and 336,652 in December, 2015,” Dati explained.

During the same period in 2015, cargo movements grew steadily from 13,504,252 in September, 15,435,842 in October, 16,102,686 and 16,267,208 in December.

He noted that other factors likely to influence the growth of passenger and cargo traffic this year include the completion of cargo terminals at designated airports across the country.

DISCUSSING NIGERIA’S ECONOMY

L-R: Deputy Editor, The Economist, Edward Carr; Acting CEO, Konga.com, Shola Adekoya; Vice-President, Procter & Gamble Nigeria, George Nassar, at the 2016 The Economist Conference in Lagos...recently

Nigerians are Watching Your Every Move, Emir Tells APC Daji Sani in Yola

The Emir of Mubi, Alhaji Isah Abubakar, has called on the All Progressives Congress (APC) to be truthful and have the fear of God in governing the nation because Nigerians are watching.

He explained that if the members of the party wants to excel and win future elections, they should not deceive their electorates but administers the country’s affairs with a lot of decorum and the fear of God. Abubakar disclosed this at his palace in Mubi town, Adamawa State, at the weekend, while addressing the acting state’s chairman of the APC, Alhaji Ibrahim Bilal and his entourage who paid him a courtesy visit.

He added that the party should endeavour to run the affairs of the country with the opposition parties and the fear of God so as to bring development to the people.

He said if things are handled appropriately in accordance with the constitution of the land and the fear of God, there wouldn’t

be much problem in the country.

“I’m a father to all of you here, if I cannot tell you the truth, I am not a good father: Do what your electorate wants you to do not, you asking them to do what you want them to do for you, democracy is true delegation for the electorate,” he added.

He advised the party officials to stop imposing candidates on the electorates as it could have a serious negative effects on the people and Nigeria as a country and he sought for peace to exist among them because it would unite the party.

According to him the party will only stand the test of time if it is fair and objective in its dealings to all without fear or favor to anybody tribal or religious sentiments .

Ibrahim who is the leader of the delegation, said he came to pay homage being a son of the soil and also seek royal blessings and prayers that their party will succeed not only in Adamawa but in the country at large.

LASU Alumni Honour Medical Team, Outstanding Achievers March 31 The Lagos State University (LASU) Alumni Association is to honour the medical team of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) which performed the first successful kidney transplant by all-Nigerian professionals last November with a dinner in Lagos on March 31.

Announcing this in a statement jointly signed by the President, Maj-Gen Cecil Esekhaigbe (rtd) and the Secretary, Mr. Wale Anthony, the association said that some graduates of the Lagos State University who have distinguished themselves in various fields would also be honoured at the dinner which will hold at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja.

According to the association, the feat achieved by the LASUTH medical team led by a Consultant Nephrologist, Dr. Jacob Awobusuyi indeed deserves to be celebrated, given that it signals the beginning of

the end of an era whereby medical professionals who are nationals of other countries had to be flown in to collaborate with Nigerians to carry out such delicate transplants.

“The whole essence of honouring the medical team who achieved this feat and graduates of LASU who have distinguished themselves in various fields is to inspire and encourage others to strive for excellence. Everyone loves to be honoured, and if people know that their alma mater would recognize and honour them for outstanding achievements, perhaps they would be more driven,” the association stated.

The Minister of Health, Prof.

Isaac Adewole; the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and his wife, Bolanle; as well as the Lagos State Deputy governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, are expected as special guests at the dinner.

53

T H I S D AY •MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016

MONDAYSPORTS

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

Five European Coaches on the Queue for Eagles’ Job Le Guen, le Roy, Wotte have applied Duro Ikhazuagbe As at the last count at the weekend, no fewer than five European coaches have signified their intentions to replace Sunday Oliseh as Super Eagles’ managers. Two of the coaches are bidding to return to the post they left previously.

Two French nationals, Paul le Guen and Claude le Roy, and a Dutch, Mark Wotte, THISDAY learnt at the weekend, have already submitted their resumes at the Glass House. Though both Clemence Westerhof and Jo Bonfrere are yet to file in their applications, authoritative sources at the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) secretariat in Abuja hinted that the Dutchmen have made contacts with the federation.

Oliseh walked away from the senior Nigerian national team shortly after returning from the 2016 African Nations Championships (CHAN) in Rwanda where the home-based Eagles failed to progress beyond the group stage.

The former Nigerian captain, who is scheduled to meet with the House of Representatives Committee on Sports on Thursday in Abuja, cited poor working conditions as

reasons for quitting his job.

Although the NFF is yet to advertise the post presently occupied in caretaker capacity by the Olympic Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, it is generally believed that the federation does not want to rock the boat until after the two-legged AFCON 2017 qualifier against Egypt later this month.

“I am very much aware that between three and five European coaches have applied for the Eagles’ job. I don’t think the NFF leadership will want to discuss with any of them now that Siasia is preparing the team to take on the Pharaohs of Egypt between March 25 and 29,” stressed the top football official at the weekend.

Further checks by THISDAY revealed that the NFF leadership is disposed to hiring a foreign coach for the Eagles because of its past experience with both Stephen Keshi and Oliseh.

“All Nigerians have now seen that those we consider our best do not have the character expected of a national team coach. Yes, they may be good coaches in their own right but handling a national team like Nigeria goes beyond what you see on the field. Only very good managers of men

FCT SWAN Asks Buhari to Probe Missing N2.7bn Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Members of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) FCT Chapter have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari not to turn a deaf ear to the allegation in the sports sector bothering on the N2.7 billion allegedly misappropriated by the National Sports Commission (NSC).

The request was contained in a communique issued by the chapter at the end of its first congress for the year on Friday, to evaluate the state of sports management in Nigeria.

The money in question was approved by government last year as a grant to prepare Nigerian athletes for the All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville as well as for the training of athletes that will be participating at the Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil this summer.

The alarm bells were sounded as a wake-up call to government as the belief is that Nigeria is inexorably on a path of humiliation at the Olympics in the same manner as it happened at the London 2012, where the country failed to win a medal.

SWAN appeal was in the light of report that government was not too disposed to releasing additional funds for preparation of athletes after NSC and the Ministry of Sports failed to explain

how the money that is now a source of concern was spent.

They also called on government to beam its anti-corruption searchlight on the sports sector.

The congress appealed to Buhari to fast track the release of money to athletes as they are capable of winning laurels at the Olympics if they are given the right incentives, including integrated local and foreign training tours.

Sports writers similarly tasked government to explore alternative means, including the National Lottery Funds and Sports Development Funds to finance sports and augment its budgetary allocations. It should also consider making tax concessions and other generous rebate to corporations that sponsor sports.

They also wondered why government failed to leverage on the success of Team Nigeria, which was an initiative driven by Corporate Nigeria towards generating fund for local and foreign training tours for athletes ahead of major international sporting events.

The reporters also challenged Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, to prioritise his objectives by making public his developmental programme, instead of grandstanding and embarking on fruitless trips outside the country.

Paul Le Guen can succeed in our peculiar environment, that I believe is why they are considering a European coach,” our source revealed.

Le Guen, 52, had a successful managerial career in France, most notably leading Olympic Lyon to three consecutive Ligue 1 titles. He also coached at Stade Rennais, PSG, Glasgow Rangers and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroun. His biggest impact in Yaounde was leading the Lions to qualify for the 2010

Westerhof & Bonfrere pulling strings

Claude Le Roy World Cup in South Africa.

He was sacked on November 19, 2015 due to Cameroun’s poor start of the 2018 World Cup qualification campaign Le Roy, 68, is a familiar face in the African continent having had stints in Ghana, Senegal, Congo and Cameroun. His greatest achievements in the continent include leading Cameroun to a runner-up position in the 1986 AFCON and followed up with the title two years later at Maroc ’88.

Dutchman Wotte, 55,

Mark Wotte has managed teams in the Netherlands, Egypt, Qatar, England and Romania, and has also worked for the Scottish Football Association.

He has a position with the Morocco federation in charge of their Under-20 team. He has the mandate to qualify the team for the 2017 and 2019 Under-20 AFCON. The likes of Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart and Dirk Kuyt flourished under Wotte’s watch when he was in charge

of The Netherlands’ U19s and 21s between 2000 and 2002.

Both Westerhof and Bonfrere need no introduction to Nigerians. The generation fondly referred to as Nigeria’s golden era that included the likes of Austin Okocha, Oliseh, Siasia, Nwankwo Kanu etc evolved under Westerhof between 1989 and 1994 with Bonfrere as his assistant.

Bonfrere used almost the same set of players to win Africa’s first Olympic gold medal at Atlanta ’96.

Champions League: Enyimba Wallops Vital’O 5-1 Confed Cup: Nasarawa in another slim home win Nigeria champions Enyimba look set to progress to the next stage of CAF Champions League after they thrashed Burundi’s Vital’O 5-1 in a first round first leg match in Port Harcourt yesterday.

Stephen Chukwude gave Enyimba the lead in the 21st minute inside the six yard off Christian Pyagbara’s pass.

Nigeria league all-time record goals scorer Mfon Udoh doubled Enyimba lead in the 28th minute, when he curled in the ball from the edge of the 18-yard box to beat goalkeeper

MacArthur Arakaza.

Stephen Chukwude made it 3-0 for Enyimba with a powerful shot from the edge of the box in the 38th minute.

Udoh completed a brace in the 56th minute, just two minutes after he was denied a goal by the opposing goalkeeper to make it 4-0.

Vital’O got a consolation goal in the 76th minute through Hussein Shaban, who capitalised on Emmanuel Anyanwu’s error.

The Nigeria champions were not done yet at Ugochukwu

Leonard scored the fifth goal in the 85th minute.

In the 44th minute, Joseph Osadiaye’s effort at goal after a good run into the Burundian team’s box was punched away by the goalkeeper for a corner.

The second leg comes up in Bujumbura next weekend.

In the CAF Confederation Cup, Nasarawa United is again walking a tight rope after the ‘Solid Miners’ could only manage a 1-0 home win over CS Constantine of Algeria in a first round, first leg match in Abuja yesterday.

Philip Azango left it late till the 86th minute to grab the match winner for Nasarawa United.

Tactically disciplined Constantine played with a man short as from the 55th minute, when Hamza Boulemdias was sent off.

Nasarawa also had to overcome a narrow 2-1 win over Generation Foot of Senegal in the preliminary round to reach this stage of the competition.

The return leg match will be played in Algeria on Friday.

Osimhen Arrives Abuja ahead of Brazil Clash FIFA Under-17 World Cup highest goal scorer ever, Victor Osimhen, has arrived the camp of the U-23 national team, Dream Team VI, ahead of the international friendly game against Brazil later this month.

The ganging striker who arrived the Star View Palace Hotel camp of the Dream Team at about 1pm yesterday was received by interim Head Coach, Fatai Amao.

Speaking on arrival, Osimhen, who was part of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations –winning team to Senegal last year, said: “It’s always fun for me to come to camp and play for my fatherland. I see it as

a privilege and will always honour such invitations any time I am called upon.

“I have come to fight for a jersey in this friendly match that is part of preparations for the Rio Olympics and I am happy to be among the invited players. You know I was part of the Golden Eaglets team that defeated the Brazilians at the last U-17 World Cup in Chile and so it will a pleasure for me to play them at their backyard and hopefully find the back of the net, as I did against them in Chile.”

With his arrival, Osimhen became the first foreign-based player to arrive camp in

preparation for the game.

The Dream Team is expected to depart the shores

Osimhen

of the country on Sunday, March 20, aboard a South African Airways flight.

54

T H I S D AY •MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016

MONDAYSPORTS

NPFL: MFM Reclaims Top Spot

MFM back at the top of the NPFL log MFM FC has reclaimed top spot in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) after the Church club defeated El Kanemi 3-1 yesterday. MFM’s closest rivals Enugu Rangers and Kano Pillars could only manage draws on their travels.

MFM now have 13 points, while Rangers, who was forced to a 2-2 draw by hosts Abia Warriors, and Kano Pillars, who also drew 2-2 at Lobi Stars, are on 11 points each.

Julius Emiloju and Emmanuel Onuwa made sure debutants MFM secured maximum three points after Japhet Daniel scored a consolation goal for El Kanemi Warriors.

MFM was dominant in the game and deserved the victory.

Rangers’ Bobby Clement broke the deadlock at Abia Warriors in the 22nd minute.

Michael Ulocha equalised

for the hosts in the 39th minute from the penalty spot after Effiong Ndifreke was fouled inside the box.

Rangers lead was then restored by Chisom Egbuchulam, who powered home a free kick to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

Wydad Casablanca-bound Chisom Chikatara drew level for the hosts in the 65th minute.

Chikatara missed a glorious chance to secure three points for Abia Warriors in the 82nd minute after a good effort from Bolaji Sakin.

In Lokoja, Niger Tornadoes beat Rivers United 3-2 in a five-goal thriller.

Ismaila Gata, Gabriel Wassa and Jackson Daniel were the goal scorers for the hosts Tornadoes, while Daniel Israel and Guy Kuemian scored for Rivers.

FC Ifeanyi Ubah’s date with Ikorodu United also saw five

goals as the Anambra side showed no slacking in their early season form. Giwa FC left it late against a struggling Sunshine Stars. The side from Akure looked like they had earned themselves a point in Jos but substitute Omotayo Adegbogun broke their hearts with what effectively was the last kick of the game.

Earlier on Friday night, Akwa United’s Friday Ubong ruined his former gaffer’s home coming. Visiting Plateau United were powerless to stop the winger whose one goal in each half ensured maximum points for the Promise Keepers and a sad tale for former gaffer, Ladan Bosso.

MATCH DAY 6 Giwa 1-0 Sunshine IfeanyiUbah 4-1 Ikorodu Lobi 2-2 K’ Pillars Tornadoes 3-2 Rivers MFM 3-1 El Kanemi Abia 2-2 Rangers

Federation Cup: Anambra Draw Stalled as Police Arrest Scribe The scheduled draw for Anambra State Federation Cup was last Thursday stalled following the arrest of the Secretary of the state’s Football Association (ASFA), Mr. Chijioke Onyedika by the police.

THISDAY learnt yesterday that Onyedika’s arrest followed a petition bothering on alleged financial impropriety that trailed the yet to be conducted Anambra FA election billed for last year.

The presence of the police with a magistrate court order for the arrest of the secretary and his subsequent arrest brought the draws event at the Rojenny Stadium, Oba to an abrupt end.

Owners and supporters of the 62 clubs which registered for the tournament were barely returning from recess when the policemen stormed the venue and produced an order from a magistrate court for the arrest of the FA scribe.

The development made the official of the Nigerian

Football Federation (NFF), Joshua Onoja, who was presiding over the event to call it off indefinitely.

The Anambra FA scribe according to source was quizzed for about for three hours at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Awka and released on self recognition.

Confirming the quizzing of Onyedika by the police, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ali Okechukwu (DSP) said: “Our men invited him and questioned him on issues relating to football matters and released him.”

The petitioner and immediate past Vicechairman of NFF Disciplinary Committee, Ikechukwu Igbokwe, who spoke to newsmen said the arrest was the beginning of investigation into the manner proceeds from the sale of forms in the controversial Anambra FA election was handled.

Igbokwe vowed to take his case to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Economic and Financial

Crimes Commission (EFCC) if he is not satisfied with the way the matter is handled at the state level.

“I can’t fold my arms and allow the over N6.5m paid by candidates for the election to go unaccounted for,” Igbokwe said.

Reacting to the development, Chairman of Ikpeazu Redoubtable, Odi Ikpeazu, lamented that the non-conduct of FA elections in the Anambra had reduced the game to an abysmal state and prayed that the matter be resolved soon in the interest of football.

Pinnick...NFF President

STANDINGS Pos

Team

P

W

D

L

GF

GA

GD

Pts

01

MFM FC

6

4

1

1

9

7

2

13

02

Rangers.

6

3

2

1

9

6

3

11

03

Ifeanyi Ubah

5

3

1

.1

9

5

4

10

04

Abia W’

6

2

4

0

7

5

2

10

05

K’Pillars

5

3

1

1

7

5

2

10

06

Lobi Stars

5

3

0

2

6

3

3

9

07

Rivers Utd

6

3

0

3

8

7

1

9

08

W’Wolves

5

2

2

.1

3

2

1

8

09

Akwa Utd

4

2

1

.1

7

5

2

7

10

Wikki

5

2

1

.2

5

3

2

7

11

N’Tomadoes

6

2

1

3

8

8

0

7

12

Giwa FC

5

2

1

2

5

5

0

7

13

Plateau Utd

6

2

1

3

6

11

-5

7

14

3SC

4.

2

0

2

6

5

1

6

15

Heartland

5

1

2

2

2

3

-1

5

16

Ikorodu Utd

5

1

2

2

3

6

-3

5

17

Enyimba

3

1

0

2

1

3

-2

3

18

El-Kanemi

5

1

0

4

4

9

-5

3

19

Sunshine

5

0

2

.3

4

7

-3

2

Nasarawa

3

0

0

3

1

5

20

-4

Kwara Football Academy Second to None, Says Adepoju Hammed Shitu in Ilorin Ex- International and outgoing Administrator of the Kwara Football Academy (KFA) Mr. Mutiu Adepoju has described the academy as second to none in the country, in terms of facilities.

Also, the Kwara State government at the weekend approved the appointment of Mr. Sulyman Ayantola as the acting administrator of the academy.

Adepoju disclosed this in Ilorin at the weekend while speaking with sportswriters at the premises of KFA in Ilorin.

According to him, “The players are good and unlike other academies that rent pitches to play, we have excellent pitches here and hostels”.

He explained that he did his best during his two year contract and would want to be remembered as someone who came and did his bit.

“I worked 200 per cent, day and night as if my life depends on it. I have my name at stake and the kids are looking up to me. I also had to live to expectations of the owners, Harmony Holdings”.

He also revealed that among the success story of stay was getting accreditation for the students to write the West African Examination Council (WAEC) Senior Secondary Examination.

“Prior to now the exams were written at other schools but now we have accreditation.

We have also secured for the junior secondary and they are expected to write at the academy from this year. We also won the State league and FA Cup”, he added.

He expressed hope that the academy’s player, Danladi Sulyman, who is in Turkey on trials would be able to secure a contract by July this year.

Adepoju suggested that

0

some facilities at the centre need to be upgraded and money should also be set aside for the players to feature in foreign tournaments.

KFA was set up by the Kwara Sate Government in 2007 with the mandate to nurture and develop young footballers.

It had former Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Clemens Westerhof as its inaugural administrator.

Adepoju...Out going KFA Administrator

55

T H I S D AY •MONDAY MARCH 14, 2016

MONDAYSPORTS

Ighalo Knocks out Arsenal from FA Cup

Super Eagles forward, Odion Ighalo ended his one month goal drought yesterday helping Watford overcome FA Cup holders, Arsenal 2-1 to advance into the semi final. Ighalo’s teammate, Adlene Guedioura, nailed Arsenal’s coffin at the Emirates Stadium with the second goal to end Gunners two-year reign.

Ighalo put Watford ahead in the 50th minute before Troy Deeney teed up Algeria winger Guedioura to slam a right-foot screamer into the top-right corner, with Danny Welbeck’s 88th-minute reply coming too late.

However, Nigerian football fans will be hoping Ighalo’s injury late into the game is not a serious one as the Super Eagles prepare for the two-legged clash with the Pharaohs of Egypt later this month.

Triumphant in the FA Cup in 2014 and 2015, Arsenal were beaten in the competition for the first time since a 1-0 fifth-round defeat by Blackburn Rovers in February 2013.

It left them facing the prospect of a trophy-less season, with Arsene Wenger’s side -- booed off at the final whistle -- eight points off the

pace in the Premier League and 2-0 down to Barcelona ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 return leg at Camp Nou. The status of that tie encouraged Wenger to field his strongest available line-up against Quique Sanchez Flores’s Watford, who is currently 14th in the Premier League.

Yet while the presence of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil helped Arsenal dominate the opening 45 minutes, the home side was unable to find the cutting edge that would have turned their superiority into goals.

Watford was forced to defend in numbers from the opening moments and were fortunate to benefit from a marginal offside call when Olivier Giroud finished smoothly from Sanchez’s pass.

But the Gunners had only themselves to blame for their failings in front of goal, with Mohamed Elneny guilty of missing two excellent opportunities to open the scoring.

The Egypt midfielder found himself in space inside the penalty area in the 30th minute after being picked out by Per Mertesacker’s pass, only to lose

composure and slice his shot well wide.

Then four minutes before the interval Elneny was presented with a second good shooting opportunity, but again hurried his effort, this time firing well over.

Watford could largely be satisfied with their first-half defensive display and had Ighalo taken a more direct approach rather than attempting to play in captain Deeney, the visitors might have gone ahead.

They also had cause to feel aggrieved at referee Andre Marriner’s failure to take action against Gabriel for a two-footed lunge on Deeney that could easily have earned the Arsenal centre-back a red card.

But any frustration they felt quickly disappeared at the start of the second half when Flores’s side did what Arsenal had failed to do and made the most of a rare scoring opportunity to take a 50th-minute lead.

Giroud had already added to the growing list of Arsenal misses by wastefully heading over two minutes into the second half when Ighalo collected Deeney’s flick-on and easily turned Gabriel before poking the ball past goalkeeper

Odion Ighalo celebrating his goal against Arsenal yesterday David Ospina.

The Nigeria forward should have added a second goal when he stood on Nathan Ake’s low cross just six yards from goal.

That miss might have proved costly had Giroud made more of another chance a minute later when his nearpost effort was saved by Costel Pantilimon.

Instead it was Arsenal who were left to rue the missed opportunity when Watford responded immediately, launching another attacking move that culminated in Deeney holding the ball up excellently before teeing up Guedioura to thrash a rasping shot into Ospina’s top-left corner.

Welbeck halved the deficit

with a well-worked goal, curling home after a neat one-two with Ozil, but then spurned two chances to equalise in the dying moments.

Teed up by Kieran Gibbs, he failed to adjust his feet quickly enough and shot wide of an open goal, while another chance saw him burst into the box, only to toe his attempted lob well wide.

Martial Earns Man Utd Replay against West Ham

Okpekpe Race Organisers Plan Prizes for North Ibie Athletes

Anthony Martial’s late equaliser yesterday earned Manchester United an FA Cup quarter-final replay at West Ham United after Dimitri Payet’s magnificent free-kick threatened to heap further misery on manager Louis van Gaal.

Payet’s 68th-minute strike, curved high past United

The organisers of the 4th Okpekpe 10 kilometre Road Race, Pamodzi Sports Marketing (PSM), have created a new prize category for indigenous athletes from North Ibie in Edo State.

North Ibie comprises of Okpekpe Clan and the three Ibie Clans of Imiegba, Imiakebu and Itsukwi of Etasko East Local Government Area of Edo State.

According to sources close to Pamodzi, the top three athletes from the region (in both male and female categories) are going to smile away from this year’s edition with N150, 000, N100,000 and N50,000 respectively.

These novelty, according to the Pamodzi source, is meant to pave the way for these communities that are of the

keeper David de Gea from 30 yards, looked to have put the Hammers on course for a semi-final at Wembley.

United, however, were revitalised by the introduction of Bastian Schweinsteiger for the struggling Marouane Fellaini and Martial ensured the teams would meet again at the Boleyn Ground with a

far-post finish seven minutes from time.

Michael Carrick shot just wide and De Gea saved superbly from Michail Antonio in a frantic finale - while West Ham were frustrated earlier when referee Martin Atkinson ignored penalty appeals after Payet fell under challenge from Marcos Rojo.

same historical background besides their common Ibie language, to also benefit from the empowerment that the race has become for the area.

“We are coming up with these new prizes for our people to also benefit from the road race,” said the source.

PSM is also planning to introduce a camp in Okpekpe where the national athletes will have the opportunity for training.

This, according to the source, is also aimed at spurring Okpekpe youths that are also interested in road race to also train.

In this year’s race, the competition will begin with the take off of the international athletes, the the national athletes while the North Ibie category follows.

Besides the fact that the organiser have always beefed up security, PSM will this year tag participants in the last category in order to checkmate malpractices.

“Normally, once the race takes off no vehicle or motor cycle is allowed to move again. We will have to accredit them at the start point with a different label before they take off. “ Super Sports’ annual Let’s Play programme which usually hold on the eve of the road race will this year take place at the Otsele Primary School, Okpekpe .

Organisers of the tournament last year held it in Ebidi Primary School, Fugar, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.

Emirates Showcases AC Milan at 30,000ft Martial ectastic about getting the equaliser that earned Manchester United a replay against West Ham

NBBF Reschedules 2015/2016 League Fixtures Following the elimination of Union Bank, Dodan Warriors and Lagos Islanders from the DSTV Basketball League, the Nigeria Basketball Federation has re-organised the fixtures for the forthcoming DSTV Basketball 2015/2016 League season.

This decision was taken due to the participation of the three Lagos teams in the Africa Basketball League which the NBBF considers as illegal.

For that reason, it has been confirmed that only five teams

will slug it out in the Atlantic Conference of this season’s DSTV Basketball League: Rivers Hoopers, Delta Force, Oluyole Warriors, Kwara Falcons and the only Lagos side left, Nigeria Customs. This means, a team will be placed on standby every week with the others playing against each other twice in the same week.

To this end, Rivers Hoopers have been scheduled to play their first two games away at Customs in Lagos on Friday, March 18 and Sunday March

20, 2016.

Reacting to the new fixtures, Rivers Hoopers coach, Ogo Odaudu gave his full backing to the initiative by the NBBF. “It is better for the team to play two games a week a total of 16 games rather than the 14 previously and so we won’t wait too long in between games. It was also done that way because of the Olympics so we could finish on time. We will cope and I strongly support it,” said Odaudu

Emirates and AC Milan are celebrating their partnership with the unveiling of a bespoke decal which depicts the club’s football players in action on an A380 aircraft that operated on the Dubai Milan - New York JFK route.

The first flight of the “AC Milan A380”, A6EET operated as EK0205, and touched down at Malpensa International Airport in Milan on Wednesday, March 9.

The decal, spanning over 500 square metres of the world’s largest passenger aircraft, shows AC Milan players, Riccardo Montolivo, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Bacca, Keisuke Honda, Alessio Romagnoli, and Mattia De Sciglio.

“As a global brand

connecting people with their passions, we are constantly looking at ways to bring people closer to their favourite sports teams.

Emirates has been a proud sponsor of AC Milan for almost a decade and we are excited to showcase our sponsorship with the club around the world. We hope that the AC Milan branded A380 excites both football and aviation fans alike,” said Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand, Boutros Boutros.

“The sponsorship between AC Milan and Emirates continues, they are two international brands with millions of fans and customers around the world. They have built their

relationship on common values such as style, elegance and innovation.

The personalisation of the Emirates A380 livery with the image of our players will create a growing link between Milan and its fans and between the airline and its passengers. I’m proud and I thank Emirates for being once again on our side,” said Executive Vice President and CEO of AC Milan, Barbara Berlusconi.

From Milan, the “AC Milan A380” continued onwards to New York JFK on the non-stop service from Italy’s commercial capital.

The aircraft will continue to operate to the 37 destinations currently served by the Emirates A380 around the world.

Monday March 14, 2016

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& RE A S O

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Price: N150

MISSILE House to AGF

“There is nowhere in the law that says there is room for reduction. If you are reducing this now, what will happen to Glo and others? I see MTN going to court every time as a way to circumvent the law. In the US, British Petroleum paid the full fine for the oil spill (in the Gulf of Mexico).

Somebody is not allowing you to handle this matter the way you should. After you had imposed the fine, somebody is negotiating and reducing it” – The House of Representatives Committee on Telecommunications accusing the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), of usurping the powers of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) by leading the negotiations on the fine with MTN.

ALEXOTTI The Foreign Exchange Monster OUTSIDE THE BOX

I

like corn and pear and when pear is out of season I manage with coconut. A few days ago, I went to buy my corn and coconut from under one of the bridges in Lagos. I noticed that the price has more than doubled from what I used to pay. The argument that ensued between Mama Sikira, my usual supplier (who was happy to me see after a long time) and I was quite interesting. Mama Sikira insisted that the price of corn had doubled because of the price of dollar. She lectured that the last time I came dollar was exchanging for less than N170 and now, when you see it, you are made to pay over N350 per dollar. My shock was not only that Mama Sikira knew the rate, but what the heck has the exchange rate got to do with corn and coconut, two items that have no foreign component? That was my business as she had finished with me, her attitude seemed to have suggested. It was either I paid the new price or I tried elsewhere. As I had my corn in the car, I reflected on the discussion with Mama Sikira, it occurred to me that while there may not be any foreign content in the corn, Mama Sikira must buy something in the market that is imported or have a foreign input, whose price may have increased with the rising exchange rate. I believe that is probably why President Muhammadu Buhari has remained adamant in refusing to devalue the naira. In the course of this write up, we shall examine how far we can go with the “no devaluation” position. I must, however, quickly add that as we prepare for the confab on the economy recommended by my very senior friend, the ever erudite Prof.

Wole Soyinka, we should not forget to invite Mama Sikira and her ilk.

There has been so much debate in the media about what to do to the naira. While the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has pegged its rate at about N197 to the dollar, the black market which people believe is the real market went beyond N400 to the dollar before it started coming down about two weeks ago. Clearly, CBN has been unable to bridge the gap between the two markets. In an attempt to stem the tide, CBN had come out with a list of 41 items that could no longer be imported with funds sourced from the official foreign exchange market. Some people had criticised the CBN for introducing something akin to import licensing. CBN on its part had defended its action by insisting that it did not ban the importation of the items as importers had a choice of financing through other sources. Studies have shown that the prices of such items had increased as foreign exchange rates continued to go up.

Our economy has been challenged by dwindling oil prices from an all time high of over $100 per barrel in the last one year, to the present $30 per barrel. Given that the bulk of our foreign exchange earnings come from oil, it follows that our receipts would go down in the same proportion. Unfortunately, we failed to save when oil prices were high, choosing to spend all and even borrow. We also drew down on the excess crude account.

Our foreign reserves had also gone below $30 billion posing a serious risk of depletion. As the reserves were going down, CBN went into a panic mode and started restricting foreign currency sales to banks. This sent the black market on a spiral, going beyond the N400 per dollar mark. Even at that, availability became a challenge as demand gap remained wide in this market also.

In the light of all these, there have been serious concern on the value of the naira and many have called for its devaluation. The CBN and government have maintained that the naira was not going to be devalued. The rational for devaluation has been hinged on the almighty market forces which dictate that price is a function of demand and supply. Given that demand had outstripped supply, the only logical thing to happen is for price to go up. The market will therefore be cleared where demand and supply meet at an equilibrium. This is economics 101.

More technical arguments have been adduced.

Speculative bids and round tripping will be eliminated by devaluation given that there will be no incentive to engage in those activities if the disparity between the official and the black market rates have been removed. Scarcity of foreign exchange will disappear. Frivolous imports will be eliminated as it becomes more expensive to bring in items that are not needed.

Exports will be encouraged as export proceeds will command more naira than before. Local production would be given a boost with its attendant employment generation and domestic GDP growth. Government rather than the private sector will benefit from a devalued naira as oil proceeds will command better naira value, helping it to pay off local contractors and finance its budget deficits substantially. Crime and social tension will reduce as more people are employed and more businesses become viable owing to a more expensive dollar. Foreign investment would be encouraged as more naira will be available per dollar inflow in the foreign exchange market.

Distortions in the economy will be reduced to the barest minimum given that the real value of the naira would be established.

Like every other economic issue, the above postulations apply on the one hand. But on the other hand, there are counter arguments that also make sense. First, devaluation will neither help adjust the price of oil upwards, nor will it increase the dollar supply. How will scarcity disappear when demand has not been met? Why will government outsource bringing speculators and round trippers to book to imaginary market forces when it has the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the courts at its disposal? Antidevaluation apologists have further wondered how imports of essential products which we have no capacity to produce locally will stop.

In like manner, they argue that it is fallacious to postulate that exports will be promoted as you cannot export what you have not and cannot produce. Where will the machinery and in some cases, raw materials come from given that the devalued naira will put the dollar value beyond the reach of the ordinary manufacturer? How about infrastructural deficit that adds to the cost of doing business in Nigeria? The argument about government gaining from devaluation has also been punctured by asking what the government exists for. Is it to profiteer from an unfortunate injury inflicted on the suffering people or to make life meaningful for a greater majority of the people? Talking about reduction in crime and social tension, the reverse would be the case as inflation, business closures and job loses will be the order of the day. On foreign investors, the opponents insist that what attracts them is not necessarily devaluation as studies have shown that a lot of countries that devalued their currencies did not benefit from increased foreign investment. Most investors worry about

the ease of repatriation of profit and principal and if they feel that they will get less dollars at exit than on entry, they will not come. When a country devalues by 100 per cent, an investor who exchanged a million dollars before devaluation would be converting the naira to $500 on exit less profit or dividends. So, where lies the sense in the argument that devaluation will encourage foreign direct and portfolio investment? Most importantly, there is a strong argument that devaluation rather than stabilise the economy, breeds instability and distortions, leading to inflation and reduction in GDP. My intervention would be by way of extending the argument. The first question I would like to ask goes thus, “if Nigeria did not have oil, what would have happened to the foreign exchange market?” If oil prices went down to under $10 per barrel, making oil uneconomical to produce, what would we do? How about if for some inexplicable reason, we woke up one morning to discover that either by reason of osmosis or diffusion, our reserves have disappeared? Are we all going to relocate? Some people may be wondering if one has gone out of one’s senses, but the truth is that any or all of these can happen? Oil is just like any other commodity.

I believe we have become so subsidy-friendly that we seem to have anaesthetised ourselves to some of these realities. A situation where people queue up to buy foreign exchange from CBN at subsidised rates is not sustainable. And we

know for sure that some of the businesses that benefit from the subsidised foreign exchange still price their final products using black market benchmarks, some of them paying little or no tax to government. So, who is benefitting from the relatively cheap dollar?

I am of the view that we need to learn some lessons from some of the shocks from the foreign exchange market and begin to adjust towards more realistic positions because, we have been through this familiar route several times.

Government should focus on providing strong and reliable infrastructural base upon which efficient businesses can anchor. It is upon this that genuine and sustainable diversification of our economic base can happen. We should also strengthen regulatory and supervisory institutions to ensure that rules are obeyed. Then institutions like CBN should begin to play their roles. CBN would therefore become a player in the foreign exchange market just like other players. CBN would sell and buy foreign exchange at prevailing rates in the foreign exchange market and by so doing engender stability in the market place. To deal with the temporary shocks and pains that will come with this reform, its implementation should be timed and phased. But it will mark the deregulation of the foreign exchange market and prepare us for eventual depletion of oil reserves or another sudden drop in prices. Please note that this is not DEVALUATION by any stretch of imagination.

“NO” CHANGE! NEWSFLASH, SIR! ..FINALLY, THE MINISTER GAVE AN ANSWER! OUR FIVE MONTHS OF WAITING FOR A SIMPLE YES OR NO IS OVER!

THE PRESS MANAGED TO DRAG A YES OUT OF HIM! ERM,..

CAN I UPDATE OUR MARKETING STRATEGY NOW, SIR?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SIR?

I KNOW! SOMETHING THAT SHOULDN’T HAVE TAKEN MORE THAN A WEEK! ...SO, IS IT YES OR NO?

NOT SO FAST! NOT WHILE THE PRESIDENT IS STILL IN THE COUNTRY!

THE PRESIDENT MIGHT CHANGE THE YES TO A NO, FROM THE NEXT COUNTRY HE VISITS!

14-03-16

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