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CBN Launches New Schemes for Non-interest Financial Institutions Obinna Chima AThe Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has introduced intervention schemes to cater for non-interest financial institutions (NIFIs).

It said in a circular signed by its Director, Financial Policy

and Regulation Department, Kevin Amugo, a copy of which was posted on its website yesterday, that the initiative was part of efforts to increase access to NIFIs and promote financial inclusion.

The schemes include Noninterest Guidelines for the

Accelerated Development Scheme (AADS); Non-interest Guidelines for Intervention in the Textile Sector; Guidelines for the Operations of the Agri-Business, Smal and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) for NIFIs; Guidelines for MSME

Development Fund for NIFIs; Non-interest Guidelines for Non-oil Export Stimulation Facility; Non-interest Guidelines for Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and Non-interest Guidelines for Real Sector Support Facility Revised Guidelines.

Others are Non-interest Guidelines for the operation of the Credit Support for the Healthcare Sector; Modalities for the implementation of the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (Non-interest version); Non-interest Guidelines for the implementation of the N50

billion Targeted Credit Facility.

Shedding light on some of the schemes, the CBN, in a 99-page document, explained the framework for each of the scheme.

For instance under the Continued on page 10

FEC Approves N75bn for 68m Youths to Fund Business Ideas... Page 6 Thursday 23 July, 2020 Vol 25. No 9236. Price: N250

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Media Leaders Name Journalism House after Ismaila Isa Funtua First Lady, Babangida, APC govs pay tribute

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The Nigerian Organisation

Press (NPO),

comprising the Newspapers' Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and the

Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), yesterday renamed the newly-rebuilt Nigerian Institute of Journalism House,

Lagos, ISMAILA ISA HOUSE, to honour a former Continued on page 10

APC Prepares for 2023 Elections, Asks Members to Unite and Mobilise Says no riding to victory on Buhari's persona in next polls Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday called on its members to close ranks and engage in intense grassroots mobilisation for the party to retain power after the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

It said unlike in 2015 and 2019 when the party rode to power on the persona of the president, who enjoys solid support in the North, other factors, outside the president's credibility and support, would determine whether it would continue to be the ruling party beyond 2023.

The Secretary of APC Caretaker Committee,

Senator John Udoedghe, told a Coalition of the APC Support Groups, led by Mr. Frank Ossai, that visited him in Abuja that various support groups of the party, should therefore, make themselves relevant in grassroots politics.

He spoke against the backdrop of muted concerns about the fate of the party in a post-Buhari presidency.

Some critical stakeholders of the party have been expressing concerns about the future of the party after Buhari Buhari would've served out his constitutional two-term limit by 2023.

The president expressed a Continued on page 10

Buhari Departs for Mali in First Foreign Trip in Five Months... Page 5

ON NATIONAL DUTY...

L-R: Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, in Abuja‌ yesterday godwin omoigui

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Group News Editor Ejiofor Alike Email Ejiofor.Alike@thisdaylive.com, 08066066268

Buhari Departs for Mali in First Foreign Trip in Five Months Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari will today embark on a one-day visit to Bamako, the Malian capital, following the briefing he received from the ECOWAS Special Envoy to the country, former President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday.

The trip will be his first outside Nigeria in five months, in the wake of the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, which subsequently led to a global travel restriction to curb the spread of the virus. Nigeria recorded its first case of the disease on February 27.

Prior to today's trip, the

president's last foreign travel was on February 7 when he left Nigeria to attend the 33rd Ordinary Session of Heads of States and Governments of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Before the Addis Ababa trip, Buhari had on January 17, travelled to London to participate in the UK-Africa summit which held on January 20, and convened by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson.

A statement yesterday

by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari and some ECOWAS leaders, led by the Chairman of

the Authority of Heads of States and Governments of the sub-regional organisation, President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger Republic, had agreed to meet in Mali for further consultations in order to find a political solution to the crisis in the country.

The Malian President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire, according to the statement, will also

participate in the meeting.

Jonathan, accompanied by the President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, had briefed the president on the political crisis rocking Mali on Tuesday, culminating in ECOWAS leaders' decision to consolidate on the agreements reached by various parties.

“We will ask the president of Niger, who is the Chairman of ECOWAS to brief us as a group, and we will then know the way forward,” Buhari had told

Jonathan.

The former president had been appointed as Special Envoy by ECOWAS to restore amity to Mali, which has been rocked by protests against the personality of Keita, who has spent only two out of the five years of his second term in office.

A resistance group in Mali, M5, had called for the dissolution of the country's Constitutional Court as well as the president's resignation, before peace could return to the country.

Crisis broke out in the country after the court nullified results of 31 parliamentary seats in the recently held polls and gave victory to some other contenders, resulting in the allegation by the resistance group that the judgment was influenced by the president.

During the riots of July 10 on the matter, some protesters were killed by security agents, resulting in escalation of the crisis, a situation that now necessitates ECOWAS' intervention.

Presidential Panel Resumes Magu’s Interrogation Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commision (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, yesterday returned to the Justice Ayo Salami-led presidential panel probing the alleged financial infractions under his leadership, for the resumption of his interrogation.

Counsel to Magu, Mr. Wahab Shittu, confirmed to THISDAY that Magu returned to the panel for interrogation. "(It is) true but no further comment," he said.

Magu also thanked the panel for his unconditional release after spending nine days in police custody.

Magu was released by the panel last week after nine days in detention following the clarification by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu, that the police were not responsible for his detention.

A letter written to the panel

by Shittu, which was sighted

by THISDAY, thanked the panel for Magu's unconditional release.

"Our client wish to place on record his appreciation to the chairman and members of the panel for ordering his release from custody on the 15th day of July, 2020 without any conditionalities.

"Our client appreciates this gesture given the fact the panel has repeatedly stated that it did not order the detention of our client in the first place," he said.

The letter noted that "our client is grateful to the panel for the gesture".

In the letter, Magu also pledged full cooperation with the panel.

"Our client while appreciating the panel, offers full cooperation to the panel in the discharge of its assignment.

"Our client believes in the work of the committee because of his commitment to ridding the country of corruption," the letter added.

ALIGNING AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE...

L-R The Head of Delegation, UN-EU Spotlight Initiative, Ulla E. Muelle and Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, during a visit by the group to commend the House's support for the fight against sexual and gender-based violence, in Abuja... yesterday

Address Ndume’s Allegation of Underfunding of Military, PDP Tells Presidency Slams Masari for blaming opposition for banditry Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday charged the presidency to immediately respond to comments by the Chairman of Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume, that the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s alleged underfunding of the military is responsible for the persistent insecurity challenges in the nation.

The party also criticised Katsina State Governor,

Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, for blaming the opposition for the banditry in the state.

The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, described as worrisome, the comments by Ndume, who on a national television on Tuesday night, restated his position that the Buhari’s administration is not adequately funding the military.

The PDP noted that Ndume’s comments deserves clarification from the

presidency in view of the worsening security situation in the country.

The party, he said, was equally worried that President Muhammadu Buhari had failed to lead from the front as he promised in addition to failure to heed the demands

by Nigerians to change his service chiefs and inject new blood into the nation’s security outfits.

The PDP, in berating Masari, expressed concerns that the governor resorted

to playing politics with the lives of Nigerians in Katsina State by blaming political rivals, when it is public knowledge that he knows the bandits and have been having dealings with them.

The party, however, observed that Masari’s comments have escalated public apprehension over his government’s alleged complicity in the banditry ravaging the state.

PDP cited Masari's September 2019 meeting with the bandits and

much-publicised ceasefire agreement he signed with them as indicative of his connections with the outlaws.

It added that Masari, in June 2020, also announced that his peace agreement with the bandits had collapsed because, according to him, the bandits breached the agreement.

"Our party therefore urges Governor Masari to come clean on his connections with the bandits and stop pointing accusing fingers on

imaginary political rivals, apparently to divert public attention from deeper issues relating to banditry in his state," it added.

The PDP urged security agencies not to be distracted

by Masari’s comments, which is ostensibly to cover for his alleged failures in ensuring security in the state.

The PDP called on Masari to look for excuses elsewhere as no opposition group is behind the banditry in the state or any part of the country for that matter.

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FEC Approves N75bn for 68m Youths to Fund Business Ideas Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved N75 billion for the establishment of Nigerian Youth Investment Fund, to be otherwise known as the Youth Bank.

Briefing reporters at the end of a virtual meeting of FEC, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Sunday Dare, said the fund would be created to support enterprises, ideas and innovations evolved by 68 million Nigerian youths, aged between 18 and 35.

According to Dare, the 'youth bank' would serve as a platform for the youth who fall within this age group with enterprising and innovative ideas to draw credit facilities from 125 micro-credit banks across the country to fund such innovations.

The minister said details of the initiative would be disclosed later, adding that the council also approved all necessary steps to be taken to bring the initiative to fruition, including the necessary legal framework and method of financing.

He stated that the initiative would be run like the N-Power

programme that is implemented with digital applications and would be available for any youth within the specified category irrespective of his ethnic background or social status.

The minister said the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and other relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) would work out the modalities for its funding.

He said: "For the first time in the history of Nigeria, the Federal Executive Council today approved the establishment of the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) to the tune of N75 billion. This fund is meant to create a special window for accessing credit facilities and financing on the part of our youths that will help to fund their ideas, innovations and also support their enterprise.

"The best way to call it is that for the first time, the country will have a youth bank. A fund that will cater specifically for our youths within the stipulated age band, which is going to be between 18 and 35 years.

"The second approval that we secured was for the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to play a lead role in working on necessary steps that need to be taken in terms of legislation, organisation and other aspects of financing.

"The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning will take the lead when it comes to the aspect of financing, working with the CBN, the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and other relevant MDAs. A couple of other details will be released later, but I think the most important thing is that the N75 billion Nigerian Youth Investment Fund, to cater specifically for this target group, a population of over 68 million, got the attention and support of the Federal Executive Council today and this fund will be assessed by our youth, once they are able to present their ideas."

Also briefing reporters, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said the council also approved a memorandum she presented for the review of a contract earlier approved in 2018 for the supply and installation

of mobile cargo scanners.

"These are large size cargo scanners that will be placed in Onne port, Port Harcourt Port and Tin Can Port. They are scanners that can actually drive containers through; that will facilitate inspection and... the need for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to open containers and do the physical inspection as they are doing now that is causing us a lot of time as well as loss of revenue, will be checked," she stated.

The minister added that the contract for the scanners was awarded to Messrs Airwave Limited at the rate of $18.12 million, an equivalent of N3.

255 billion, including five per cent VAT. She explained that the review of the contract had become imperative in view of the necessity "to include VAT that was not included in the initial contract and also due to dispute that we had arising from exchange rate differential."

Giving other functions of the scanners, Ahmed said they would aid effective revenue collection, screen for narcotics, weapons and undeclared items and detect arms and ammunition, legal

ROUNDING OFF ANOTHER TOUR OF DUTY....

L-R: General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Nigeria Army, Port Harcourt, Major Gen. Felix Agugo; Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and Commander, 63 Brigade, Nigeria Army, Asaba, Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Jalo, during the GOC's farewell visit on the governor, in Asaba... yesterday

Police Arrest 217 Suspected Bandits, Recover N93m in Kaduna

John Shiklam in Kaduna

The Kaduna State Police Command has arrested 217 suspected kidnappers, armed robbers, bandits and cattle rustlers among others.

The police also recovered N93 million and 180,070 Saudi Arabian Riyadh, including 43 assorted guns from the suspects.

Parading the suspects in Kaduna yesterday, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Umar Muri, said the arrest were made between April 29 and June 22, 2020 following a review of strategy in combating crime in the state.

Besides Muri said fake currencies which included $5.7 million, €200,000, 210,000 CFA and N2.7 million notes were recovered from the suspects.

He said: “The security situation in Kaduna State has been relatively stabilised recently,” noting that “this would not be unconnected with continuous review of the operational strategies of the command in collaboration with other sister security agencies."

According to Muri, “the 217 suspects include those who engaged in armed banditry, armed robbery, kidnapping, cattle rustling, culpable homicide, shop breaking, theft and other related crimes.”

He said arms and ammunition, including seven AK47 rifles, one type 06 rifle with breech No.20900, two locally-made pistols, two English-made pistols, 22 locally-made guns, three revolver pistols and two revolver rifles were also recovered.

Also recovered from the suspects are 1,113 rounds of AK47 live ammunition, 16 rounds of live cartridges, 26 empty shells of AK47 rifle, 17 sharp knives/cutlasses, 11 matchetes/swords, a bow and arrow and a drilling machine.

"We equally recovered, 2,400 bags of Chikun poultry feeds valued at N8.3 million and 23, (823) 25Kg bags of rice, 10 motor vehicles of different brands, 31 motorcycles of different brands, 15 Plasma televisions – valued at N8.6 million, 833 rustled cows, 20 rustled sheep, 14 mobile cell phones of different brands, nine laptops (Lenovo & Del), six fake police ID cards...” the police commissioner said.

Muri called on members of the public to be wary, as there is proliferation of fake local and

foreign currencies as well as fake transaction alerts, which have been in circulation within and outside the state.

"It may interest you to know that in this direction, the command has made another breakthrough by arresting a fraudster who specialises in creating fake transaction alerts of any amount to defraud his victim.

“The suspected fraudster was arrested in possession of a Mercedes Benz car, procured from the coined fake alert of N1.8 million,” Muri stated.

He said the command, in its continuous fight against all forms of criminalities, had intensified surveillance and raided drugs peddling points, with a view to getting rid of drugs trafficking in the state.

importation and possession of arms and light weapons in Nigeria.

She also said the council approved another memorandum for the NCS, seeking the "design, construction and supply of five numbers of fast ballistic reverie assault boats and five numbers of patrol boats with all associated accessories in favour of Messrs CY West African Limited in

the sum of N280, 992, 888,75 inclusive of 7.5 percent VAT." She added: "The Nigerian Customs Service needs these boats to enhance its operational efficiency and combat smuggling activities on our waterways.

This will also significantly boost revenue collection and other core duties of maritime unit of the Nigerian Customs Service."

Senate Confirms Ex-THISDAY Editor, Djebah, 39 Others as Ambassadors-designate Urges Buhari to submit 2021 budget by September Deji Elumoye and Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Senate yesterday confirmed the nomination of 39 non-career and one career ambassadorsdesignate, including a former Editor with THISDAY, Mr. Oma Djebah (Delta).

It has also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the 2021 budget is sent to the National Assembly before the end of September.

Buhari had requested the approval of the Senate for the confirmation of 42 nominees.

But only 40 of the nominees scaled the screening process as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, while presenting the committee's report, said there were irreconcilable issues with two nominees from Niger and Yobe states.

The only career ambassadordesignate on the list is from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Besides Djebah, among others confirmed were a former Editor of THE GUARDIAN, Mr. Debo Adesina (Oyo) and Mr. Dare Awoniyi (Kogi), who is the son of the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, a former Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).

Three states, (Kwara, Kano, Oyo) have three nominees each while three others, (Borno, Benue, Adamawa), got two slots each.

Twenty states had one slot each while four states had no nominee.

The full list of the noncareer ambassadors-designate confirmed are: Umar Suleiman (Adamawa); Kelvin Peter (Adamawa); Chief Elejah Onyeagba (Anambra); Prof.

Monique Ekpong (Cross River); Ominyi N. Eze (Ebonyi); Yamah Mohammed Musa (Edo); Maj. Gen. CO Ugwu (Enugu); Dr. Hajara I. Salim (Gombe); Amb. Yahaya Lawal (Katsina); Ademola Seriki (Lagos); Chief Sarafa Tunji Ishola (Ogun); Adejare Bello (Osun); John Usanga (Akwa Ibom); Hamisu Umar Takalmawa (Kano); Philip Ikurusi (Bayelsa); Hon. Tarzcor Terhemen (Benue); Al-Bishir Ibrahim Al-Hussain (Borno); Obiezu Ijeoma Chinyerem (Imo); Ali M. Magashi (Jigawa); Prof. M. A. Makarfi (Kaduna).

Others are: Henry John Omaku (Nasarawa); Sadiya Ahmad Nuhu (Kano); Adeshina Alege (Oyo); Shehu Abdullahi Yibaikwai (Plateau); Maureen Tamuno (Rivers), Faruk Yabo (Sokoto); Abubakar Moriki (Zamfara); Adamu M. Hassan (Taraba); Abubakar D. Ibrahim Siyi (Bauchi); Paul Oga Adikwu (Benue); Jazuli Imam Galadanci

(Kano); Dare Sunday Awoniyi (Kogi); Ibrahim Kayode Laaro (Kwara), Abioye Bello (Kwara); Zara Maazu Umar (Kwara); Mrs. Nimi Akinkugbe (Ondo); Debo Adesina (Oyo) and Ms. Folakemi Akinyele (Oyo).

Mr. Suleiman Sani of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is the only career ambassadordesignate on the list.

Senate Urges Buhari to Submit 2021 Budget By September The President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, has called on Buhari to ensure that the 2021 budget is sent to the National Assembly by September.

Lawan gave the directive yesterday after the Senate referred the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework s(MTEF) to the Senate committees of Finance and National Planning for further legislative duties within the next four weeks.

Lawan said the September deadline for the presentation of the 2021 budget was to ensure a speedy passage of the budget as was the case with that of 2020.

“The executive should continue to work on the preparations for the 2021 budget, and by this we are also equally committed to ensuring that we receive the budget estimates at the end of September and that we are able to consider the budget and get it passed before the end of December to repeat what we did for budget 2020," he stated.

He mandated the Senate Committees on Finance and National Planning to relate with all revenue generating agencies to smoothen the passage of the MTEF He said: “This Senate is giving the committee four weeks within which to work very closely with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and particularly engage with the revenue generating agencies where we are expecting them to meet their targets.

“We need to ensure that they have all the support that they require from the National Assembly, particularly the Senate to meet their targets."

Buhari had on Tuesday forwarded the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper to the Senate for approval.

The document was accompanied by a letter read during plenary by Lawan.

Buhari, in the letter, said: “It is with pleasure that I forward the 2021 – 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) for the kind consideration and approval of the distinguished Senate.

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Jegede Picks PDP Governorship Ticket, to Face Akeredolu in Fresh Contest

James Sowole in Akure

With the emergence, in the early hours of today of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the October 10 election in Ondo State, the stage is now set for a fresh battle between him and the incumbent Governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu.

Akeredolu, who defeated Jegede who flew the PDP flag in 2016, had emerged

the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the party's primary held on Monday.

Jegede beat seven others, including the Deputy Governor, Mr. Agboola Ajayi, who defected from the APC to vie for the PDP's ticket, to win the primary.

Jegede scored 888 votes to defeat Ajayi, his closest rival, who scored 657 votes, in the primary that was concluded in the wee hours of today.

The results of the primary, contested by eight aspirants,

was announced by the Chairman of the Ondo State PDP Gubernatorial Primary Committee, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.

Ajayi had defected from the APC to the PDP on June 20 and was cleared by the opposition party for the governorship primary.

The keenly contested election was held at the State International Event Centre, The Done amidst tight security provided by men and officers of the Nigeria police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence

Corps (NSCDC) and the Department of State Services (DSS).

The results of the other aspirants as announced by Ugwuanyi are Dr. Eddy Olafeso (175 votes); Dr. Bode Ayorinde (95 votes); Mr. Banji Okunomo (90 votes); Chief Olusola Ebiseni (39 votes); Senator Boluwaji Kunlere (33 votes) and Mr. Godday Erewa (14 votes).

The total number of invalid votes is 64.

The voting process, which started around 2pm yesterday,

was halted for more than one-and-a-half hours when a list containing the names of 11 former members of the state House of Assembly was submitted.

Some of the aspirants objected when Ugwuanyi wanted to bring them in to vote after delegates from the 18 local government areas had voted.

However, the list was accepted after due consultation with all the aspirants.

Prior to the voting, commotion ensued at the

entrance of the venue of the primary when two men were caught with thumb-printed ballot papers.

The ballot papers, which were later found to be specimen to educate delegates, were thumbprinted in favour of Ajayi.

The suspects, were however, attacked by a mob, which inflicted varying degrees of injuries on them.

The timely intervention of security men at the venue saved the men from further attack.

the party to reward his members by allowing them to participate in the forthcoming Ondo State governorship election.

Ossai said: "One of the issues the Coalition of APC Support Groups have is the lack of rewarding system.

Since 2015, we from the Southsouth and other geopolitical zones we know what it means

to have APC as your surname.

"We have members of our groups who were shot dead and some who lost members of their families in 2015 and 2019 general election. Up till today most of us have not been rewarded."

Ossai urged the APC Caretaker Committee to reconcile aggrieved members of the party.

believed so much in the unity of Nigeria.

He said Funtua believed so much in constructively engaging issues, apply mediation to resolving issues than seeking alternative methods.

The former military ruler stated that Funtua carried himself with uncommon patriotism and was always ready to reach out to people, no matter their backgrounds and tribal inclinations.

Babangida described him as a pan-Nigeria statesman who was largely misunderstood by some and eternally appreciated by many who understood the dynamics of his engagements.

"His death, has once again, reminded us of the ephemerality of life and its fleeting nature. It is a call that should remind all of us to be God fearing, in our trajectories and engagements in life. I have no doubt in my mind that Isa lived a fulfilled life as a devout Muslim and lover of humanity," Babangida said.

APC governors also described the death of Funtua as a loss to the nation.

The Chairman of Progressive Governors and the Governor of Kebbi State, Mr. Atiku Bagudu, in a statement issued yesterday, expressed sadness over his death.

He said: "We received the death of Mallam Isa Funtua with heavy heart and gratitude to Allah (SWT) for a life well blessed. We, the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), join the family, President Muhammadu Buhari, people and government of Katsina State and the nation to pray for the repose of the soul of our dear and beloved Malam Isa Funtua.

"His death is a loss to the nation, Nigerian business community and patriots.

We pray to God Almighty to grant the family the fortitude to bear this heavy loss."

contract for NIFIs with the same all-inclusive rate of return of nine per cent.

“Financing tenor is six months for grains and broiler production (rice, maize, soy bean etc); 18 months for cassava; 24 months for egg production and ruminants; five years for plantation crops, etc “Average financing size of N250,000 per ha for arable crops; N500,000 per unit for livestock; and N1.5 million for plantation crops like cocoa, cashew and oil palm,” it said.

It explained that diversion of funds by the PFI shall attract a penalty at its maximum financing rate at the time of infraction, among other penalties.

TOP GAINERS NGN NGN % ETERNA 0.16 1.96 8.8 MAYBAKER 0.22 3.00 7.9 NPFMFB 0.10 1.42 7.5 NEIMETH 0.10 1.50 7.1 CUTIX 0.06 1.60 3.9 TOP LOSERS NGN % GSK 0.50 4.75 9.5 CHIPLC 0.04 0.45 8.1 PRESTIGE 0.03 0.46 6.1 AFRIPRUD 0.17 4.01 4.0 STERLBANK 0.04 1.18 3.2 HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦1,256.80 Volume: 402.64 million shares Value: N4.55 billion Deals: 3,252 As at yesterday 22/7/2020 See details on Page 31

APC PREPARES FOR 2023 ELECTIONS, ASKS MEMBERS TO UNITE AND MOBILISE similar concern in November 2019, when, at a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party in Abuja, he urged party leaders to work hard to ensure that the party survives beyond the end of his tenure in 2023.

According to him, history will not forgive the party leaders if APC should

collapse at the end of his administration.

He had told the party leaders that they have a responsibility to make the party attractive to their constituents.

“History will be fair to us if the APC remains strong and not only holds the centre but makes gains," he had added.

Udoedghe, however, said

yesterday that nobody in APC would have an opportunity to hide under the integrity of Buhari to contest the 2023 general election.

"Owing to your contribution to the party, we will integrate and reconcile aggrieved members to ensure that they are part of the party system.

"In 2023, the personality of President Buhari will not be

replicated. So, we need you and other support groups, we need to do something about it," Udoedghe added.

Earlier, Ossai had lamented that some of his members that participated in the 2018 national convention, particularly those that contested elections, were sidelined in the system.

He, therefore, urged

MEDIA LEADERS NAME JOURNALISM HOUSE AFTER ISMAILA ISA FUNTUA NPAN President, Malam Ismaila Isa Funtua, who died on Monday.

More tributes also poured in yesterday for Funtua, a Second Republic minister, with the First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, lauding him for influencing board appointments for female politicians.

Former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida and All Progressives Congress (APC) governors also joined others to mourn the passage of Funtua, a close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, whose remains were interred on Tuesday in Abuja.

A statement yesterday by the NPAN President who also doubles as NPO President, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, on behalf of the collective leadership of the Nigerian media, said the late Funtua was honoured for "his untiring contributions to the development of journalism and freedom of the press in Nigeria and around the world."

Obaigbena, who is also the Chairman/Editor-in-Chief

of THISDAY Newspapers/ Arise Group, said the media leaders considered it a privilege to honour the late Ismaila Isa Funtua, whose life of dedicated service to Nigeria spanned politics, business and media.

"His contributions to the development of journalism is innumerable: including, but not limited to his co-founding of Democrat Newspapers; presidency of the NPAN at a time of national crises, and later a life patron; services to the International Press Institute where he served on the global board; contributions to journalism education as Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism.

"Ismaila Isa Funtua, 1942-2020, will be deeply missed but not forgotten," Obaigbena said.

In her tribute to the late Funtua, which she posted on her social media platforms yesterday, Mrs. Buhari said Funtua, who died at the age of 78, would be remembered for his support to female

politicians.

“On behalf of my family, I extend our condolence to Mrs. Hauwa Isa Funtua and the entire family on the sudden death of Malam Ismaila Isa Funtua.

"We pray that Allah SWT will grant him aljannatul firdaus.

“Mallam Ismaila Isa Funtua will be remembered for his support to female politicians, especially his role to get them appointed into different boards in the last four years.

“May Allah grant his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss, amen,” she added.

In his own condolence message, Babangida expressed shock over the death of the business and media mogul.

He said in a statement yesterday that it had taken him two days of shock to be able to muscle the strength to write this tribute and condolence to the family of his departed brother, friend, associate and confidant.

He said: "I am still left in awe to come to terms

with the shocking news, but like every mortal, we must taste death when it is time.

Irrespective of age, status and social standing, when we lose our dear ones, we are left in pains, emotional trauma, grief and nostalgia.

Mallam Isa, was like an alter ego to me since our path crossed over fifty years ago.

"He became part of my family since then and we remained so closely knitted until his sudden death two days ago. Mallam Isa, as I fondly call him, was one Nigerian who never pretended about issues and situations.

You would rightly know where he belongs. He was not given to frivolities and shenanigans. He was pointedly frank when he needed to make his position known on any matter. He carried with him an aura that defined his persona.

He made friends across the length and breadth of Nigeria, from the North to the South, East to the West."

Babaginda described Funtua as a bridge builder, a peace maker and one who

CBN LAUNCHES NEW SCHEMES FOR NON-INTEREST FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AADS, it listed the objective to include engaging a minimum of 370,000 youths in agricultural production nationwide over the next three years in order to reduce youth unemployment.

It said the broad objective of the AADS was to increase agricultural production towards food security, job creation and economic diversification.

“The specific objectives are: promotion of national food security in each state through sustained interactions amongst stakeholders in the agricultural value chain; collaboration amongst state governments, the CBN and relevant other

stakeholders to create jobs in the agricultural sector, with strong focus on crops where states have comparative advantage; and provision of short and medium term funding windows for the implementation of the scheme,” it stated.

According to the CBN, the target group is Nigerian youths within the ages of 18 to 35 years and the focus would be on two agricultural commodities where the state has comparative advantage.

Under this scheme, the state government is expected to mobilise prospective young farmers with representation from all senatorial zones while state governments/FCT are to provide agricultural land

in contiguous locations in all the senatorial sones.

A minimum of 100 hectares per cluster are to be provided.

“Prospective entrepreneurs (that meet the eligibility criteria) shall be grouped into clusters by commodity to be produced. State government to allocate 2-5 hectares of land per beneficiary.

“State government to provide access roads, water sources and other infrastructure that will enhance agricultural production on the land “States may charge a rental on land (maximum. of N10,000 per ha) to defray the cost of land clearing and other infrastructure

provided. Rental charged will be embedded in the Economics of Production (EoP) of the farmer,” it added.

The guidelines also stated that the participating financial institutions (PFIs) would act as agents of the CBN in disbursing the financing to the beneficiaries, which shall be in kind.

The PFIs shall purchase the inputs for on-selling to the beneficiaries, using CBN approved non-interest financing contract of Murabaha, Istisna’, etc at an all-inclusive rate of return of nine per cent per annum.

“For the financing of labour, the PFI shall use Service Ijarah or any other appropriate CBN approved

THURSDAY JULY 23, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

11

NEWS

Buhari Condemns Killing of Five Aid Workers By Boko Haram Omololu Ogunmade and Kingsley Nwezeh inAbuja President Muhammadu Buhari last night condemned the recent murder of five staff of humanitarian agencies who were kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists last month in Borno State.

The terrorists group, yesterday reportedly executed five aid workers in Borno State following their refusal to pay $500,000 ransom.

The terrorists, in a video released yesterday, said they executed the hostages, who have been in their custody for over a month.

The humanitarian workers executed include a staff of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Action Against Hunger, Rich International, and International Rescue Committee and a security guard.

The humanitarian workers were traveling from Maiduguri to Monguno, a town in the northern part of Borno, when they were ambushed by Boko Haram on June 29, 2020.

In a 34 seconds’ video, one of the insurgents who spoke in Hausa, said the humanitarian workers were executed for “working with the infidels”.

“This is a strong message to those who are being used by unbelievers to convert people to infidels… those who are working for the organisations of disbelievers,” one of the Boko Haram fighters said.

“You work for them to achieve their goals but they do not care about you; that is the reason when we abducted you, they showed

no care. We are calling on you to repent and turn to God. “For those of you remaining, we will surely get you… we know the routes you follow. If you do not desist, you’ll end just like these people too.”

After speaking, five of the insurgents opened fire on the captives from a close range.

It is unclear when the victims were killed but the video was released on Wednesday.

Reacting to the incident, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement, said Buhari sympathised with families of the five aid workers, and prayed God to comfort them over the irreplaceable loss.

The president said his government would continue to do all it could to ensure the remaining vestige of Boko Haram is wiped out completely from the North-east while the perpetrators of this heinous crime face the wrath of the law.

“President Buhari also condoles with the State Emergency Management Agency, Action Against Hunger, Rich International, and International Rescue Committee, whose staff have suffered this gruesome fate.

“He thanks them for their continued dedication and service to the victims of Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria. He assures them that security agencies in the state will work closely with their organisations to implement measures to ensure that no such kidnapping of staff occurs again,” the statement added.

Nigeria’s COVID-19 Cases Rise By 543 to 38,344 Martins Ifijeh Nigeria has recorded 543 new cases of COVID-19, bringing to 38, 344 the number of confirmed cases in the country.

It also recorded eight COVID19-related deaths in one day, raising the tally from 805 to 813 within the last 24 hours.

Announcing this yesterday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said Lagos

recorded 180 new cases; Federal Capital Territory (FCT), 86; Kaduna, 56; Edo, 47; Ondo, 37; Kwara, 35; Ogun and Rivers, 19 each; Kano, 17; Ebonyi and Enugu, 16 each; Delta, seven; Bayelsa, four; Bauchi, three; and Abia, one.

It said: “Nigeria has recorded 38,344 cases of COVID-19.

15,815 patients have been discharged, while 813 persons have died.”

Don’t Reopen Schools Now, Doctors Warn FG Ernest Chinwo inPort Harcourt

Following the clamour by many interest groups for the reopening of schools, the Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) has warned against reopening of schools, stressing that COVID-19 is still on the rise.

Paediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves medical care of infants, children and adolescents.

In a statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, yesterday, PAN cautioned against reopening of schools as the virus due to the upward spike of the virus in the country, with no scientifically reliable vaccine available to treat patients.

In the statement signed by the President, Prof. Edward Alikor, and the Secretary, Dr. Petronila Tabansi, the association said, “As a professional association whose fundamental objective is to ‘actively

seek the well-being of children and ensure that their right to quality health care is protected,’ Paediatric Association of Nigeria views it as a professional responsibility to publicly express its opinion in the ongoing national discourse.”

It noted the announcements and shifts in dates for resumption of schools by the federal government and said the possible date of September for reopening of schools would not be in the best interest of children and the nation.

PAN said its position was based currently “vailable consistent scientific facts about Covid-19 published and accepted by the scientific community; the fact that these scientific facts are rapidly evolving and changing; the trend in the incidence of Covid-19 infection in Nigeria; the recognition that children need structured school environment for optimal learning and realisation of their full potentials.

Meanwhile, the air component of Operation Hadarin Daji killed scores of armed bandits in Kagara Forest in Zamfara State.

An update issued by the Directorate of Defence Media Operations (DDMO), said the mission was conducted pursuant to human intelligence reports, indicating heavy presence of the

armed bandits, along with a large number of rustled livestock in a portion of the forest.

This, it said, was later confirmed by series of aerial surveillance missions.

“Accordingly, the air component dispatched Nigerian Air Force fighter jets to engage the location, with their munitions hitting the

targets leading to the killing of some of the armed bandits.

“Some of them who were seen attempting to escape camouflaged in between the livestock were taken out in follow-on attacks”, it said.

The update issued by the Coordinator of DDMO, Major General John Enenche, said the Chief of the Air Staff, Air

Marshal Sadique Abubakar, commended the Air Component of Operation Hadarin Daji for their professionalism and urged them to remain resolute in the conduct of air strikes whilst continuing to provide close air support for ongoing ground operations in order to eradicate all armed bandits.

HEALTH ON THEIR MINDS...

L-R: Member, House of Representatives’ Committee on Health, Dr. Paschal Obi; Chairman of the committee, Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu; and the Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Hon. Abubakar Sarki Dahiru, during a visit of the World Health Organisation’s representative in Nigeria to the health committee chairmen at the National Assembly in Abuja...yesterday

17 People Feared Dead in Delta Tanker Explosion

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

No fewer than 17 people were yesterday reportedly burnt to death and many others injured as fuel tanker exploded in Delta State.

However, the state police command confirmed that three people were burnt beyond recognition in the tanker explosion.

THISDAY learnt that the tanker burst into flames after it fell into a ditch around Koko and Ologbo axis of the Benin/ Sapele expressway in Ethiope West Local Government Area of the state.

Gory images of the incident

circulating on social media showed the burnt remains of people, mainly passengers who were trapped in their vehicles.

An eyewitness said the incident which occurred at about 11 am, resulted in heavy gridlock along the ever busy road.

Most of the trapped passengers were heading to and from Warri in Delta State, Yenagoa in Bayelsa, Port Harcourt in Rivers, Uyo and Calabar in Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers, respectively.

The witness, who simply gave his name as Nnamdi, told journalists that he was on his way from Benin when their vehicle was made to park

because of the heavy gridlock the incident caused on the road.

He said, “the situation was terrible. Many people died because they were trapped.

“If my memory will not fail me, I counted about 20 gory bodies and 10 passenger vehicles that were burnt. Ours was luck because we got there when fire fighters were already battling the fire.

“Many people were trapped inside the vehicles and it was difficult to rescue them because the fire was really huge.

“We were told that the tanker was trying to avoid a bad spot in the road when it suddenly veered off, and fell with an

explosion”, he said.

As of the time of filling this report, officials of Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) were still battling the fire and rescuing victims.

Several corpses have been evacuated from the vehicles and some seen burnt beyond recognition on the deplorable road.

Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Onome Onovwakpoyeya, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) confirmed the incident.

She however said only three persons died with two vehicles and two motorcycles burnt during the incident.

DSS, FAAN Bicker over Alleged Assault, Breach of Protocols Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja The Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday debunked allegations that an official of the agency breached the protocols and assaulted staff of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

Reacting to FAAN’s allegations that its staff was assaulted by the DSS Head of Formation at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Mr. Safiyanu Abba, the security agency said there was neither an assault nor breach of protocol as claimed

by FAAN. FAAN had, in a statement

issued yesterday, alleged that Abba deliberately obstructed airport security process, and slapped an aviation security officer, who was performing his duty by calling on Abba to desist from doing so.

FAAN said the DSS boss had prevented security officers at the airport from performing a mandatory check on a passenger on Friday.

The statement read, “We note with dismay that Mr. Safiyanu Abba, the Head of DSS at NAIA deliberately obstructed airport security process, and slapped an Aviation Security Officer who was performing his duty by

calling on Mr. Safiyanu Abba to desist from doing so.

“This happened on July 17, at about 15:25 hours. He breached security procedure by obstructing further search of a visitor who had just walked through the metal detector and activated the alarm.

“The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria strongly condemns this abuse of power and the security process in our airport. This has also been duly escalated. FAAN is committed to the core values of safety, security, and comfort.

But in a swift reaction, the DSS in a statement issued yesterday by its Public

Relations Officer, Dr. Peter Afunanya, said that no such incident took place.

“The attention of the Department of State Services has been drawn to the official release by FAAN that its staff was assaulted by the DSS Head of Formation at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

“FAAN also accused him of breaching security protocol at the Airport. So far, it has not been established that any FAAN staff was assaulted. DSS personnel are well mannered and could not have slapped or fought a worker of another agency,” it said.

Kano Suspends Eid-el-Kabir Festivities over COVID-19

Kano State Government has suspended all traditional festivities in the forthcoming Eid-el-Kabir celebration to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

The gathering for Hawan Daushe -the paying of visit on the governor by Emirs and massing of Emirs at Shettima House, among other traditional outings by the Emirates have been suspended.

The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Muhammad

Garba, told journalists that the decision was part of government’s efforts to consolidate on the successes achieved in the fight against the pandmic.

Eid-el-Kabir is the holiest festival in Muslims’ honouring the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, Isma’il as an act of submission to God’s command, before God stopped him in his tracks, informing him his sacrifice

had been accepted.

Garba said the suspension of the Sallah’s festivities was reached after a deliberation by members of the State Executive Council (SEC).

He said the Excos however granted the conduct of Eid-deKabir congregational prayers across the state under strict observance of social distancing and other COVID-19 safety orders at praying grounds.

He announced that the state

government would assist in the provision of safety materials, such as face masks and hand sanitisers.

“All the five Emirs in Kano will go to the Eid prayer grounds in their respective domains in vehicles.

“There will however, be no gathering at Shettima House, and no gathering for Hawan Daushe, Hawan Nassarawa and other traditional outings in the Emirates.

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY JULY 23, 2020

POLITICS

Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG Email nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com (08114495324 SMS ONLY)

‘Fayemi Detests Ostentation of the Average Nigerian Politician’ Professor Bamitale Omole, a former Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University and the current Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti holds a conversation with Nseobong Okon-Ekong on the governance style of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and what he thinks may be wrong with the Nigerian educational system, among other issues

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he general impression is that university education is underfunded in Nigeria, and it is this that is responsible for the rampant cases of Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) strikes.

As a former Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University and currently the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council Ekiti State University, what is your opinion on this matter and how can the issue of incessant strikes be reduced?

There is no scintilla of doubt that university education in Nigeria is grossly and abysmally underfunded by successive federal administrations. Let me quickly give you some statistics so you will not think it’s all about my imagination.

In 2018 budget, education was allocated 7% of the total budget. In 2019 it was 7.02% and in the 2020 budget it was reduced to 6.7% of the total budget . Whereas in Ghana for the same period, a country that is much poorer in terms of GDP, the allocation for education for three years consecutively was 12% of the total budget. And to think that the UNESCO average recommendation on education for developing countries is between 15-20%. Do you know that Kenya budgetary allocation for the education sector in 2019 at $4.95Billion was twice the combined allocation for the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health and the Presidency! Whereas in Nigeria the budgetary allocation in the 2020 Budget for the National Assembly was N128 Billion plus another N37 billion for renovation! You see , education in any serious nation is seen as the bedrock of development. A nation that prioritizes the development of human capital via education, is a nation on the road to overcoming basic human challenges and vicissitudes of existence. Without education, there will be no innovation, there be no creativity, science will not develop, technology will be stunted and the whole landscape will be littered with ignoramus and criminals who are dangerous to themselves and deadly to the society. Some might say there are other competing sectoral priorities. Yes, but a serious nation must be able to identify and prioritize that one sector that can catalyse and dynamitise and pull other sectors from the bootstraps.

Let me tell you, if not for the incessant interventions, interrogations and interposition of ASUU with recalcitrant and contumacious governments over the decades, education in Nigeria would have become a museum piece of the dark ages. Most times when ASUU goes on strike, the issue of salary is just an item in the myriad of demands. The central plank of ASUU in all of these, is to ensure that governments put necessary infrastructure in place in our universities for teaching and research. Building of classrooms, lecture theatres, laboratories etc. So to stymie the rate of academic disruptions occasion by strikes, government should privilege the option of dialogue and fidelity to the agreement signed with ASUU. If and when it’s becoming difficult to fulfill all the items as agreed, it is then expedient on the government to call for meetings and dialogue with a view to finding ways to resolve grey areas and not all these resort to brinkmanship, bluffing and blustering.

What is your take on the current faceoff between ASUU and the Federal Government over IPPIS and Pension Fund Administration?

I have spent over three decades of my life in the university system and I know where the shoe pinches in the university system. I spent my entire life learning the ropes in the university system as a researcher, a teacher, a mentor to many students who today are excelling in different walks of life of whom many are today professors. I was at different times in my career Head of Department, Dean of Faculty, member of the university senate,

introduction of Nigerian University Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO)

Omole two term member of the University Governing Council before I became the VC. So what I’m saying is that I understand the morphology, the sociology, the mores and the norms of the university topography into-to.

IPPIS as it is designed is a scheme that is responsible for the payment of salaries and wages directly to government employees bank accounts with appropriate deductions and remittances of third party payment. All the MDAs are on the platform and it is conceived to eliminate ghost workers on the payroll thereby save government billions of naira. It’s been operational since 2007. The trouble with ASUU and IPPIS started however in October 2019 when all public sector workers including ASUU were directed to register on IPPIS. All over the world, universities are meant to be mobile, fluid and responsive epicenters for intellectual firmament. In its Latin origin, the university was rightly called “universitas magistrorum et scholarium” meaning community of teachers and scholars. They are not civil servants. If I understand the narrative well, ASUU is not saying that government should not eliminate ghost workers nor is ASUU encouraging corruption in the university system. What ASUU is saying is that all over the world, universities are known for their flexible personnel recruitment and management. For example a Professor or Lecturer from Harvard or MIT or Oxford or Makerere University Uganda, University of Bordeaux, France, King’s College, London etc may want to come on an exchange programme

as a visiting faculty to a particular university for a semester, for a session , even for a month etc. ASUU is saying that there are peculiarities in the university system as an emporium of scholarship that should make it responsive and receptive to urgent and critical global and national academic demands given the speed, the rate and attrition of the knowledge economy and the mobility of its purveyors in the global intellectual market of the 21st century. ASUU is saying that given the rigidity and cumbersome nature of IPPIS, it is not adequate to respond to that demand. This was why ASUU came up with the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as the alternative to IPPIS. Government has virtually rejected this as ASUU members have been migrated willy-nilly to IPPIS . I am of the opinion that government should have allowed ASUU to stay on UTAS. After all, the objectives of government and ASUU are coterminous i.e weed out ghost workers, save money for government, monitor the in flow and out flow of funds etc. And for ASUU, the UTAS will allow universities to participate effectively and speedily as credible interlocutors in a global intellectual market and attend to its peculiarities as a veritable centre of knowledge.

Corollarily, is the government saying that in countries where there are plurality of platforms for payment of personnel salaries, emoluments etc , is government saying it is ghosts and phantoms that work in those places?

On the issue of Pension Fund Administration, I am aware that it has been resolved with the

I don’t know about Dr Fayemi’s involvement in APC issues.

And I don’t need to know. My own concern is Ekiti. I have often asked this question which governance issues do people want him to attend to that he’s failing to do?

You know Ekiti State is among the four poorest states in Nigeria by monthly allocation and revenue generation.

But for the fortune of the state to improve, I think the Governor should continue to leverage on the assistance of development partners like AfDB, DIFID, World Bank, UNDP, IFC etc . I don’t believe that the Governor should sit down in Ekiti and think that heads of these institutions will come to him in Ado

The Federal Government through the Minister of Education recently backpedaled on the resumption of schools and universities and threatened that SS3 students would not sit for the WAEC examination.

Do you think it is a wise decision to reopen schools at this time despite the rise in COVID-19 cases?

Since the confirmation of the first index case of COVID-19 in Nigeria on February 27, 2020, the virus has proved to be virulent, lethal and deadly. It’s a virus that does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, the young and the old. It kills human beings as if they are chicken. So it is real.

I believe the decision by the Minister of Education to postpone resumption of schools and the to disallow students from taking WAEC examinations was a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. No doubt it is always good to err on the side of caution, but the reality is that schools and universities cannot be closed for ever. On the threat by the Minister of Education to disallow students from taking the WAEC examinations should be balanced with the diplomatic hoopla and crises that it will cause. Nigeria is just a member of the organization and as such any decision should be diplomatically and collectively agreed upon. WAEC is an Anglophone transnational institution comprising Ghana, The Gambia , Sierra-Leone and Liberia. So any action that Nigeria wants to take must not be unilateral but in tandem with other member state I think the Ministry of Education should be doing what the Aviation Ministry is doing.

Give guidelines for reopening of schools and start to test the waters gradually by taping in different categories of students and see how it pans out. We are in an uncharted and giddy terrain.

As the Pro-Chancellor of Ekiti State University, what are you putting in place to ensure that EKSU moves up the ladder as a university to be reckoned with?

As the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, our job is to set policy direction for the university. The Vice-Chancellor is in charge of the day to day running of the university as the Chief Executive. I know however that following our policy guideline for the university, the ViceChancellor, a capable and brilliant man with the relevant faculty members are introducing new and relevant courses in the university. You see, for any university to be worth the name, it has to be very good in research, teaching and training and fundraising. Because we are in a fast changing world of knowledge economy, any university that does not want to atrophy, wither and tail off, should innovate and mount new programs, mount new curricula suited for a digital economy, rebrand and explore novel opportunities for funding and thinking without the box. The age of thinking outside the box is gone because we are in a disruptive economy and virtual world where relevant educational programmes should be tailored towards this new and challenging world. So for our university, the Vice-Chancellor in collaboration with the faculties are introducing courses in Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, Big Data Analytics, Bioinformatics, Cyber Security, Nanotechnology, Cloud Computing Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality and Mechatronics. Beyond this is that COVID-19 has brought to the fore the need for on-line delivery of courses and increasing digitalization of activities in the university environment.

That’s where the world is going. We are in a new normal.

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY JULY 23, 2020

POLITICS DISSENTING VOICE...IN HIS OWN WORDS ‘If Heads Don’t Roll at NDDC, the People Won’t Fraudsters Target Akwa Ibom Be Satisfied‘ Deputy Governor

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State and former governorship candidate in the state, Tonye Princewill dialogues with Nseobong Okon-Ekong on the catalogue of financial scandals in the Niger Delta Development Commission and his peace plan for Rivers APC

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High Court in Rivers State has affirmed Igo Aguma chairman of the caretaker committee of the All Progrwssives Congress (APC) in the state. Where does that leave Mr. Rotimi Amaechi in the political equation in the state?

It seems like everyday there is a new court matter, so this will probably go all the way to the Supreme Court if we can’t make peace. Peace is harder than going to court.

On Amaechi, I think it’s very fashionable to always link him to Rivers state politics and ignore the other fighters in the ring. As a two-term speaker, two-term Governor, two-term Governors Forum chairman and two time DG of a Presidential campaign that was successful, that is not surprising. But if you go back to the first open letter that started Igo Aguma on his chosen path, you will see that he complained that APC is not just about Amaechi or Abe or even himself. APC is a large tent with a very wide following, so what happens there affects everybody. And I can say it with conviction - the vast majority of us want peace.

Amaechi is far bigger than Rivers state.

He has survived without it in two elections.

If it happens a third time, it is all of us who will suffer it. Not so much Amaechi. So when you ask me how Amaechi will fair based on the ongoing court drama, my answer is, he’ll do just fine. But I cannot say the same for the APC family. We don’t need this crises.

Why is it proving difficult for Rt. Hon. Amaechi and Senator Godwin Abe to bury their differences in the interest of Rivers APC, Rivers State is today virtually PDP because the two APC factions failed to agree?

There are more than two factions. There is the Amaechi faction which is by far the majority of the party, then there is the Abe faction which successfully thwarted us from presenting candidates in the 2019 election.

In recent months, there has now come the emergence from the same Amaechi faction of Igo Aguma’s faction. When it emerged, I raised the alarm because I saw it as just as disruptive, if not more so. But I’ll come back to that.

On the question of my two older brothers coming back together, that will be tough. For several reasons. A lot of water has now gone under the bridge and egos have been severely bruised. Trust is now a major issue. As many of you know, there are two major political parties in Nigeria. When you despise your own party members so much so that you don’t mind them losing an election to the other party, a line has been crossed. Incidentally the dynamics between Aguma and the Amaechi faction is also similar.

For those of us who belong to what I prefer to call the “peace faction” we are very realistic.

We don’t see them as coming back together like before. Not again. This is why. Amaechi has his opponents in Abuja. They see him as a threat in 2023. They will do whatever they can to promote his worries at home and since he has chosen not to focus on the state politics, but instead focus on his national assignment, his silence is leaving a vacuum. My view is his opponents will continue to exploit it. Not sure how long it will last, but underestimating Amaechi is not wise. I would not advise it.

What I would advise, is my fellow leaders waiting for Amaechi. They need to behave like leaders and take their destiny into their own hands. We must make peace and promote unity. That is my message to them. A war is not in anybody’s interest. We can’t wait for Amaechi to run to Port Harcourt to put out

Princewill flames. That would be an indictment on us and our leadership. By peace I do not mean the past is forgotten. I just mean that camps can operate with mutual respect. APC is not a cult. We can disagree agreeably. But we should agree to follow the rules.

After the botched March 2020 NEC of APC and President Buhari’s initial reluctance to intervene in the crisis, he finally shoved Adams Oshiomhole aside.

The action, however, seems belated given the crisis that developed in Edo and the subsequent move of Gov Obaseki to the PDP. What is your take?

The President is not going to make it a habit of jumping in to solve party problems. That’s not his style and that is not what he was elected to do. Some of us felt that this was a unique situation and some of us felt it rose to a level that required his input. I personally quoted Newton’s first law of motion and I’m glad it worked.

I wouldn’t describe what happened as shoving Oshiomole aside, that is a harsh way of putting it. My take is he was asked to close the door from outside and he was not alone. The entire NWC including Victor Giadom were also shown the door. That did not mean that they can not return at a later date. Politics is a fertile ground for comebacks.

What it means is give us room to find a neutral path to organizing a convention, where a new chapter can begin.

The party situation had become far too toxic and Oshiomole as the captain of the ship, just had to take a bow. Governance can not be sacrificed on the altar of politics and so many times in this administration, you will see the continuing evidence of a reluctance to intervene in politics. The priority for the administration is governance. Unfortunately the public and the media will focus on the politics. Obaseki did what he felt was his right. I wasn’t surprised. But it’s no longer a matter for APC. Do you think the APC will be able to win the Edo and Ondo governorship elections given the intraparty crisis in both states?

I don’t see why not. But Edo will be tough.

The party is fractured and unlike the PDP, here in APC, we have a habit of gifting power to the opposition. To lose the only state we have in the South South takes a certain degree of incompetence and I want to hope that this is not again on display on the 19th of September.

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

Ekikere Umoh, Spokesperson to Akwa Ibom State Deputy Governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo writes that the COVID-19 Pandemic may have provided a cover for a gang of thieves who attempted to defraud the public, using the name of his principal

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kwa Ibom State was steadily becoming a safe haven for criminals, particularly cyber thieves who took advantage of the tranquility of the environment to ply their heinous trade. From the assumed safety of luxury hotels in Uyo, the state capital and the oil city of Eket, they conceived and executed grand diabolical schemes that dealt deadly blow on the finances of their victims.

The state police command was inundated with several reports of the nefarious activities of these daring thieves and would promptly spring into action to trace them, but the lack of physical addresses usually makes the exercise a difficult task.

Despite the determination of Governor Udom Emmanuel and heads of security agencies in the state to ensure safety of lives and property of the citizens, a few hardened criminals who have refused to be reformed continue to carry out their accursed business. They have since become so bold that they have made an attempt to siphon monies, while assuming the identity of the Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Moses Ekpo.

Ever ready to take advantage of any situation, the COVID-19 pandemic is the vehicle of opportunity these scammers are riding on to milk unsuspecting members of the public.

Alarmed at the game of the tricksters, Ekpo has warned members of the public not to be taken in by the cunning devices of these online scammers who are using his name to defraud innocent people of their hard-earned money.

The state government has recently embarked on a second round of palliatives, having learnt from reports of its earlier effort. This time, the quantity and quality of food items have vastly improved and would be promptly distributed in all the

The Deputy Governor has no idea of the identity of the alleged account officer, “nor does he have any account in any of the various banks mentioned in the said messages”, adding emphatically, “as a matter of fact, he does not have any form of financial transactions in the said banks”.

The Press Secretary noted that the Deputy Governor empathizes with the public, especially the vulnerable group, over the current pains occasioned by the pandemic

Ekpo

villages in the 31 local government areas of the state. This is apart from the personal acts of charity by Mr. Ekpo extended to his constituency in Abak local government area and random communities in the state to alleviate hardship occasioned by COVID-19.

A screen shot of the message taken from the fake Facebook account with Mr. Ekpo’s identity states: “Due to the current situation (COVID-19) causing the economic breakdown, am using this medium to support Nigerians and empower them with the sum of N50,000 only. Call my Account Officer on 08081679628, Mr. Kingsley Udo for the transaction, only FCMB bank, Unity bank, Union bank, Jaiz bank users. Note: don’t send your bank details here, send it to the number above for your transaction.”

Mr. Ekpo’s rebuttal came through a statement by his spokesperson, Mr. Ekikere Umoh. He said, the Deputy Governor has neither a private nor an official Facebook account, and therefore could not have originated such a message.

“His Excellency has not mandated anybody or an organization to organize a COVID-19 pandemic palliative or any form of welfare based programme in respect of the pandemic, at any given time on his behalf,” Mr. Umoh stated.

According to him, the Deputy Governor has no idea of the identity of the alleged account officer, “nor does he have any account in any of the various banks mentioned in the said messages”, adding emphatically, “as a matter of fact, he does not have any form of financial transactions in the said banks”.

The Press Secretary noted that the Deputy Governor empathizes with the public, especially the vulnerable group, over the current pains occasioned by the pandemic.

The Deputy Governor said “within my limited means, I will continue without any publicity, to reach out directly to the poorest of the poor who abound in our villages, churches and communities, those who cannot afford bank accounts instead of dealing with faceless names with bank accounts.”

He used the opportunity to commend the state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel for identifying with the plight of the people, and his efforts at ameliorating the impact of the situation in the state through a number of palliatives.”

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COMMENT

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

IN PRAISE OF NEW LABOUR UNITY

The reconciliation between NLC and ULC is good for trade unionism, writes Issa Aremu

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here is a Yoruba saying that “A ki dupe ara eni”(meaning self praise is not praise worthy). And that’s precisely why this singular self praise is significant! As an active participant in the five-year long “strain within the ranks of Organized Labour in Nigeria” I bear witness that the renewed unity is in the fullest of time and commendable! Better late! NLC’s Press Release aptly sums up the imperative and desirability of the new united labour movement: “The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the United Labour Congress wish to announce to the world that the strain within the ranks of Organized Labour in Nigeria has been resolved. The Nigeria Labour Congress led by Comrade Ayuba Wabba, mni has Fully Reconciled with the United Labour Congress (ULC) led by Comrade Joe Ajaero. Nigerians would recall that after the conduct of leadership election in the NLC at the 10th National Delegates Conference in 2015, some misunderstanding arose between some affiliates of Congress. Efforts by labour veterans such as the pioneer President of the NLC, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu and a former President of the NLC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to resolve the issue were inconclusive. The outcome of this quiet but sustained effort at making the peace is the fruit of the reconciliation that we are celebrating today has been resolved.

Unity is the cardinal principle of trade unionism. This has been a recurring theme in my written reflections on “Labour and Trade Unions” as well as active praxis in the past four decades. As the General Secretary of National Union of Textile, Garment Textile Union (NUTGTWN ) between March 10, 2000 – March 30, 2020, I bear witness that a cohesive indivisible movement is an indispensable precondition for the Union’s acknowledged achievements in wage improvements, defense of workers’ rights and advocacy for industrial renewal over the past four decades. Indeed the motto of textile union is “Unity, Justice and Diligence”. No motto of any union resonates without alluding to unity first. Unity ultimately builds unions while disunity imperils and undermines its capacity for collective action. Unity does not preclude diversity and multiplicity of unions. Affiliate unions are as many as the industries and workplaces. Unity means an aggregation of this diversity into a collective voice to improve on the welfare of members. NLC marked 40th anniversary of the present structure/ formation in 2018. As a pioneer Head Economics/Research Department of NLC ( 1987 – 1989), two terms elected Vice President, Nigeria NLC, 2007 2015 and many years CWC and NEC member of NLC, I bear witness that the landmark negotiated five national minimum wages since 1981(among many other achievements!) are dividends of a United labour movement. It is refreshing that the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the United Labour Congress had agreed to close ranks under a new indivisible NLC, following the rift after the controversial 11th Delegates Conference of 2015. It’s gratifying to note that “the leadership and structures of the United Labour Congress have been reintegrated into the Nigeria Labour Congress” to the satisfaction of both parties. More than ever organized labour has moral authority to pronounce on organizational anomie that has afflicted Nigeria’s ruling class.

The importance of a strong organized labour movement not just for the welfare of worker-members but for the growth of the enterprises/ workplaces and development of the nation cannot be overstated. Only united labour creates wealth unhindered. It’s has always been a long and challenging road to union formation and union unity in Nigeria. But once

A UNITED AND STRONG LABOUR VOICE IS BASED ON THE STRENGTH OF ITS MEMBERS, THROUGH UNION ORGANISING, NEGOTIATIONS, CAMPAIGNS AND OTHER FORMS OF ACTION

comrades demonstrated the will, there would always be ways leading to unity through shared positions with shared burdens and responsibilities.

The NLC itself emerged out of the controversial unique 1975-1978 state intervention and restructuring of the hitherto independent four labour centers under Murtala/Obasanjo military regime. Just as capital, employers and owners of means of production are concentrating power and efforts aimed at maximizing profits so also workers and their unions have seen the urgent need to form national and international organizations aimed at maximizing labour’s welfare and curtail exploitation under capitalism. To this end under British colonialism, the first generation of unionists saw the need not only to form trade based/ house unions but also central national labour organizations that could confront colonial capital with its exploitation and oppressions. The first Nigeria Labour Congress was formed in 1950. The inaugural conference of the second NLC was on December 18th, 1975 at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos City Council. The second NLC was formed on the ashes of the then existing four labour centers, namely – United Labour Congress (ULC), Nigeria Trade Union Congress (NTUC), Nigeria Workers’ Council (NWC) and Labour Unity Front (LUF). The independent efforts at one indivisible labour centre were propelled by great veteran unionists like Alhaji H.P. Adebola, late Wahab Goodluck, S.U. Bassey, J.O. James, N.F. Pepple, A.I. Okwese, Chief E.A.O Odeyemi, M.A. Imoudu, J.U. Akpan, R.A. Ramos, Okon Esshiett and Vincent Igwe Jack. The second NLC was inspired by the great oration delivered by late Mr. Okon Eshiett then Director of Trade Union Institute (TUI), at the burial of the late Chief J.A. Oduleye at Apena Cemetry, Lagos in 1975, known as Apena Declaration.

It’s a quotable quote: “Today, we are conscious of the necessity for the workers of Nigeria to come together and to remain under one umbrella”.

I suggest that the enlarged strong NLC leadership should make that historic oration a compulsory read for all labour leaders and workermembers alike if we must sustain the historic efforts at one strong united labour centre. The efforts at one new NLC were successful until the then Federal Commissioner for Labour, under the Administration of General Murtala Mohammed, Major General Henry Adefowope announced new Federal military Government’s “Labour Policy of limited Government Intervention and Guided Democracy in Trade Union matters” which eventually led to wholesale restructuring of the then existing hundreds of the so- called house unions into national industrials union. The 2015 ruptures during the 11th Delegates conference are now part of the movement’s rich history of disagreements and agreements. But what makes the new unity significant is that it was a product of dialogue and compromises between comrades, not state imposition and court judgement (far from justice!). It was also good that veterans were allowed to rest well in deserved retirement. The new NLC is indeed in fullest of time of a global Coronavirus pandemic which has claimed 800 lives including frontline health working people. The new normal makes millions of jobs precarious. This tasks the unity of purpose of labour to struggle to defend lives and livelihoods. A united and strong labour voice is based on the strength of its members, through union organising, negotiations, campaigns and other forms of action. Nigerians therefore look to a new reenergized labour/ civil society Situation Room.

Aremu mni is former Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress

THE LEGISLATIVE CONTRACTORS

Olusegun Adeniyi canvasses a holistic reform to instil accountability in the system Continued from backpage

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f you go through the ‘2020 Appropriation Act FGN Budget Details’ as I have done, it is easy to locate the contracts promoted by National Assembly members. And most of them have no real value to the people and may in fact be duplication of projects inserted in previous budgets. The contract sum carries the same round figures in sequential order and the majority are labeled as ‘ongoing projects’ and domiciled in ‘some communities’ or ‘various locations’. Of the 434 project contracts last week advertised by the Rural Electrification Agency for the 2020 budget, more than 90 percent are also allocated to either a ‘senatorial district’ or a ‘federal constituency’.

The essence of legislative oversight is to detect and help eliminate areas of waste within public agencies, make government accountable to the people, evaluate the impact of policies and programmes on the society while ensuring that all these are in promotion of the public good. But a National Assembly whose members are busy chasing contract papers will sooner or later lose the moral authority that surrounds its constitutional power. That exactly is the situation today. But we must also understand their constraints.

The argument of the lawmakers has always been that if unelected ministers, heads of agencies and civil servants can insert whichever projects they want in the budget of the MDAs, why should they be precluded from doing the same? With a constitution that prescribes a minister must come from each of the 36 states, resource allocation has already been made to resemble a distribution of spoils. In the budget of the federal ministry of water resources,

for instance, there is construction of a gym for N2 million and renovation of Block B (New building) for N13 million. These obviously are projects inserted by private individuals and lawmakers. So, when you question the rationale for their constituency projects, they get angry.

Many of our lawmakers also talk glibly about Earmarks—provisions inserted by American Congressmen into spending bills for specific projects in their constituencies. What they ignore is that even in the United States, these ‘Congressional Porks’ are so contentious that they were for several years banned.

It has also led to the resignation and conviction of a Congressman and the indictment of others. Besides, in those climes, lawmakers work in concert with the executive and do not nominate contractors. And they follow due process. This contrasts with the case here, as can be glimpsed from the 17th August 2017 ‘Dear brother’ letter to the then chairman, Senate committee on Niger Delta by Akpabio.

In his capacity as Senate Minority Leader at the time, Akpabio had requested the fencing of Federal Polytechnic Ukana, Akwa Ibom at a cost of N200 million and another fencing of Federal Government College, Ikot Ekpene (Old site) in the same state he governed for eight years at N100 million. Two training sessions “in the use of modern farming implement” gulped N150 million. These proposed projects went through no bid or evaluation process before costs were allocated which then explains why at the national summit on diminishing corruption in public sector last November, President Buhari said: “One Trillion Naira has been appropriated in the last 10 years for constituency projects, but the impact can hardly be seen.”

Now that we are witnessing a rash of public

hearings at the National Assembly, I hope we will not miss this opportunity to deal with what is clearly a systemic problem. On Tuesday, Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, who is also at war with management of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), made shocking revelations.

The suspended Managing Director, along with his team according to Nigige, awarded 332 contracts worth about N4.448 billion in one day. Among 74 other allegations Ngige levelled against the NSITF management are extra-budgetary spending, making payment for unapproved expenditure, irregular direct payment from the Employees Compensation Act and making payment for Assurance policy without a policy cover. There have of course been several counter-allegations of impropriety against Ngige himself. If you add the NSITF scandal to that of the NDDC and others, what the current situation calls for is an holistic reform to instil accountability in the system. The legislature is the most significant link between the government and the people in a democracy. Indeed, section 88 subsection 2(B) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) confers on the National Assembly the power to “expose corruption, inefficiency and waste in the execution of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by it.”

Sadly, our lawmakers have not effectively discharged that responsibility, as I told them three years ago.

On the second anniversary of the 8th National Assembly on 9th June, 2017, I had the privilege of addressing members of the House of Representatives at plenary, at the invitation of then Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara. In my presentation, I spoke about the crisis of expectation from the society and sympathised with the lawmakers. “While the

Honourable members of this House were elected to make laws for the good governance of the country and through that bring developments to the people, what your constituents demand are instant gratifications. They want money to pay the school fees of their children, establish businesses and sometimes even to marry more wives. If you are not able to deliver on these, no matter how many bills you sponsor in the National Assembly or how efficient you are in your oversight functions, you are a failed lawmaker, in their estimation.”

But I also spoke to how the lawmakers help to erode their own credibility: “As far as the Honourable members seated here this morning are concerned, you are serving the people. But where majority of Nigerians are concerned, you are all here serving only your own interest...From certificate forgery and bribery scandals to budget padding and rowdy sessions that sometimes degenerate into fisticuffs, every negative episode involving members only serves to erode the credibility of the legislature.”

While Nigerians continue to enjoy the current entertainment from the National Assembly in the name of probes, they are also no fools. The legislative ‘power of the purse’ confers on lawmakers the responsibility to serve as watchdogs on the executive in the way and manner national resources are allocated and expended. But when a lawmaker who is not known to have won any lottery publicly advertises the number of expensive vehicles he owns and the houses he has abroad on social media, it becomes clear to Nigerians that ‘oversight’ must be a very lucrative enterprise in our country. Now, can someone please pass me a bucket of popcorn as l await Akpabio’s response to the National Assembly ultimatum?

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T H I S D AY ˾ THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020

EDITORIAL THE TENURE OF SERVICE CHIEFS Why are they still keeping their jobs?

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he disagreement between the Senate and the Presidency over the continued stay in office of the current service chiefs is a disturbing development that should not be taken lightly. While we agree that the power to hire and fire is the prerogative of President Muhammadu Buhari, a vote of no confidence by the Senate, which Tuesday’s resolution indicates, is also a significant development. It cannot escape the attention of the Presidency that the Senate resolution is in tandem with public mood. It also doesn’t help that just recently, the president himself summoned the service chiefs, for the umpteenth time, to express his disappointment with their efforts. He reportedly told them their best was not good enough. The question therefore is, why are they still keeping their jobs?

While the president seemed undecided on what to do with the service chiefs, the security situation across the country is alarming. The last few months were exceptional. The Northeastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa have THE GENERALS ARE been susceptible to TIRED AND INCAPABLE frequent attacks by OF LEADING THE the Boko Haram WAR AGAINST THE insurgents and their INSURGENTS. THEY more vicious variant, CANNOT INSPIRE Islamic State West Africa Province FOLLOWERSHIP (ISWAP). Moving the motion that was adopted on Tuesday, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume said: “The Senate notes with concern the number of casualties among the Nigerian Army and other security agencies. Just recently, 24 soldiers were ambushed and killed along Maiduguri-Damboa road in Borno State, 19 were wounded and nine were declared missing in action.” Besides, some soldiers were ambushed and killed in Katsina while it had been alleged that “over 200 soldiers voluntarily resigned their engagement or appointment with the Nigerian Army.”

As much as we agree that the decision on service

Letters to the Editor

chiefs is that of the president to make, things are already getting out of hands. In the past two months, violence had risen precipitously as more than 100 attacks had reportedly been launched on communities and military posts by the insurgents. But many of the attacks were not reported, perhaps because of the prominence Covid-19 pandemic has imposed on all.

Some local governments reportedly had fallen back into the hands of the vicious sect. While the insurgents are on the rampage in the Northeast, bandits, kidnappers, cattle rustlers and all manner of criminals are holding the Northwest and other parts of the country by the jugular.

S T H I S DAY EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI DEPUTY EDITOR YEMI AJAYI, DAVIDSON IRIEKPEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR JOSEPH USHIGIALE

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, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS BOLAJI ADEBIYI, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PATRICK EIMIUHI, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO HEAD, COMPUTER DEPARTMENT PATRICIA UBAKA-ADEKOYA TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

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.

Buhari, Service Chiefs And The Senate

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f President Muhammadu Buhari is keeping the service chiefs because they are doing well in the fight against terrorism, neither the Senate nor Nigerians would be asking him to sack them. Besides, it’s often said that one good turn deserves another.

But that is not the case as they’re underperforming.

Civilians and soldiers are being killed every day by Boko Haram and other defiant sects. There are no sanctuaries in the country again. Churches, schools and mosques are not safe as they’re being invaded by terrorists. Some Nigerians in the North are seen fleeing to neighboring countries to seek refuge.

Soldiers who are supposed to be at the frontline are tugging their khakis and resigning over lack of motivations from the service chiefs. There are limited weapons in supply. Recently, over 200 experienced soldiers were reported to have resigned. The Nigerian Army would later debunk it, but investigative efforts by some media put paid to the position of the military authorities.

Besides, there were periods our media was saturated with the videos in which some Nigerian soldiers were cursing and blasting the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, for not supplying them the needed weapons and ammunition to combat the Boko Haram terrorists. Most of these videos were made in the Sambisa forest.

The soldiers who made the videos would later bite their

uch untold and frequent attacks undermine popular support for leaders. Many northerners who initially warmed up to the president are becoming increasingly disconcerted. Indeed, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) as well as Northern Elders Forum (NEF) accused President Buhari and Northern governors of having completely lost control of their constitutional responsibility of protecting lives and property. Convener of the NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi said, “Bandits and insurgents appear to sense a huge vacuum in political will and capacity which they exploit with disastrous consequences on communities and individuals.”

As we argued recently, if we must pour more resources in the fight against insurgency, it should be to another team of military leaders, not to an incompetent team that had failed repeatedly. Many believe the present security top brass have reached the peak of effectiveness and the right thing at this moment is to ease them out. We buy into that argument. The generals are tired and incapable of leading the war against the insurgents. They cannot inspire followership. They are being retained, perhaps against their will. They are all beyond their retirement age. They, like the president said, had done their best. But their best is not good enough. We cannot afford to retain a losing team. It’s time the president allowed the service chiefs to take their long-overdue retirement!

fingers as they were dealt with. General Olusegun Adeniyi would never forget what befell him few days after he appeared in a viral video where he asked the Nigerian Army to empower his team with the necessary weapons. Another soldier that was dealt with was Lance Corporal Martins who indicted and cursed Tukur Buratai in a viral video. They’re not getting what they need and they mustn’t complain!

However, if these service chiefs are not replaced in this critical time as the Senate proposed on Tuesday, there is no way we can win the war against Boko Haram and other terrorist groups. A retired sergeant, Mike Omorege, had said the same thing few months ago. Hear him: “If they want the war to end, let them remove the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Air Staff, bring in a neutral person that is not up to their rank and tell the person that when you succeed, I’m going to promote you, that person will deliver.”

In response to the Senate’s call however, President Buhari through his media aide, Mr Femi Adesina, said it is his prerogative to sack or replace service chiefs. Of course, it’s duty to protect every Nigerian citizen rights and property which are being terrorised by men of the underworld too. Therefore, that’s why President Buhari should replace the underperforming service chiefs now.

Aremu Lukman Umor, Lagos

Wash, Dry And Spy

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n article about smart devices on the Science Daily website (1) and in recent newspaper articles discusses the possibility of hackers gaining access to your computer system through smart devices including washing machines and light bulbs, a matter I was in the dark about.

The basic issue is that anything connected to your computer or operated by Wi-Fi such as the light bulbs needs to have strong passwords in order to protect your privacy.

To me it seems not that great a worry, not just because I don’t have these devices but more so because I don’t think I am that interesting. A look inside my fridge would show some healthy food, some not

so healthy food and some chocolate but no fascinating creative cooking that will inspire thousands of home chefs. If you want to leave me in the dark by turning off my light bulb, I’ll just go to bed and sulk. If you think you can spy on me via a Wi-Fi washing machine all you are going to see are some dirty clothes and a few ‘unmentionables’.

Sometimes science goes too far in developing useless applications for useful technologies and maybe for a while the pressing area of concern is finding a vaccine for the COVID virus.

In the meantime, I am going to see if I need to change my lightbulb or just its password before it gets too dark to see.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

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FEATURES NDDC vs. NASS: Arm Twisting as Oversight Function

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi

Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, Tel: 07010510430

Tajudeen Kareem

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hese are not the best of times for the Buhari Administration and its image minders. When Nigerians expect firm and decisive steps, what they see or perceive are tentative actions bordering on lack of capacity and inability to rein in disparate interests of politicians.

After the various allegations against the interim managers of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and theMinistry of Niger Delta Affairs on one hand and the counter-allegations against members of the National Assembly on the other hand, Nigerians who have been fed with absurd tales may have to wait longer than they expect to know the real truth.

Recall that the Prof. Daniel Pondei-led Interim Management Committee, IMC, of NDDC has appeared before Senator Peter Nwaoboshi-led Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs ondifferent occasions. The same IMC is having a running battle with the Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo-led House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, seeking to open the same books already scrutinized by the other chamber of the National Assembly. Why are our lawmakers so wasteful and unserious?

While some Nigerians are already swayed by the emotion of the multi-million naira fraud allegation against the NDDC, most discerning people are asking pertinent questions. What does the law say about the relationship between an agency of government and alegislative committee, which oversights the former? And how does one know the boundary between the truth of a matter and fallacy of it?

It is noteworthy that the word ‘oversight’ is not in the Nigerian Constitution. However, under the doctrine of the separation of powers, legislative oversight of the executive has become a norm. Separation of powers splits the judicial, legislative and executive powers of government into three independent branches in the belief that vesting all these powers in one organ may breed absolutetyranny. In spite of the separation clause, the possibility of abuse is still quite high. Therefore, the power of oversight is one of the checks and balances of this system, to curb corruption, which is vested in the legislative arm of government.

The relevant portions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) are Sections 88 and 89. Section 88 says each House of the National Assembly has the power to investigate (a) any matter in respect of which it has the power to make laws; and (b) the conduct of any parastatal or official responsible for administering any Act of the National Assembly or in charge of disbursing funds. The section then says that the power to investigate is only exercisable for the purpose of enabling it (i.e. the Senate or the Reps) to (a) make laws on any matter within its legislative competence and correct defects in existing laws; and (b) expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws.

Section 89 says, as it relates to the power to investigate, that lawmakers also have the power to procure evidence, require the evidence to be

given on oath, summon anyone to give evidence or produce documents and issue a warrant to compel the attendance of any such witness.

Flowing from the foregoing, does the National Assembly really has as much powers as it often seeks to assert?

The National Assembly had in the past sought to void contracts signed by MDAs for ‘not being favourable to the masses’. Our lawmakers also seem to be under the illusion that they can summon anyone for just aboutanything but these clauses don’t lend themselves to that belief.

The questions to ask are: Does the National Assembly have the power to investigate actions of the Executive branch? Does it have the power to summon anyone to give evidence or produce documents during such investigations? Can it exercise these powers without limit? The 1999 Constitution (as amended) does not support these myths. When can it exercise these powers? The Constitution says only for the purpose of making new laws and exposing corruption, inefficiency or waste. There is an added dimension of statutory interpretation which could mean that because of the conjunctive word ‘and’ between the two situations when the powers are permitted to be exercised (i.e. making laws and exposing corruption), the power is in fact only exercisable when both circumstances are present. This is not the case with the current NDDC probes at the National Assembly. A former Speaker of the House of Reps, Rt. Hon. Ghali Umar Na'abba, while speaking onthe legislature's vast powers over MDAs during a television programme, Focus Nigeria, on July 18, 2017, had submitted that: "The Constitution does not put an end to the powers of the Legislature over Appropriations but there must be rationality

in whatever we do."

That was very apt and the operative word is 'rationality' rather than playing to the gallery as we are currently witnessing with the NDDC multiple probes. It appears that the on-going circus show is not meant to expose corruption in the commission. Looks like a means to settle scores with the interim managers of NDDC by lawmakers who are already complicit in the bazaar dressed as contract awards at the commission.

This should not be allowed to continue.

At the Red Chamber, lawmakers have bruised their ego in another running battle with the Minister of State for Labour and Employment,Festus Keyamo over the execution of the special public works programme of the Federal Government, which was initiated to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on itinerant workmen. In this case, NASS has also chosen to settle personal scores with Keyamo at the expense of the 774,000 workers to be engagednationwide.

Thanks to the timely and decisive intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari,otherwise the noble idea would have been halted on the altar of greed masqueraded as oversight function. It is instructive that the acting managingdirector of NDDC, Prof. Pondei has reiterated that no money is missing or misappropriated from the coffers of the interventionist agency under his watch.

He was quoted in the media: “We have absolute respect for the National Assembly. That is why we appeared before the Senate ad-hoc committee to investigate the same issue. We made our presentations over two days and we wait for the outcome of the investigation. However, the House of Reps committee is being chaired by a member whom the NDDC has severally accused of different things.

“For reasons beyond our control, we were not able to present ourselves but the report that came out of the briefing had already indicted us, our head had been shaved in our absence. The fact given by the CBN and the Accountant-General's office in the Senate explained that between October, 2019 and May 31, 2020, N81.5bn was spent by the NDDC. Yesterday, according to what was read out by the chairman (Hon. Tunji-Ojo), the same figure was spent in four months by the NDDC. Already it shows that there is a problem, that there is an agreed and conceived effort to portray the management of the NDDC in a bad light and we know we cannot get justice in this manner.”

Interestingly, facts before the legislative committee indicate that the CBN and the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation agreed that the two IMCs spentN81.5bn. The current IMC spent N59.1bn of which N38.6bn was capital expenditure, mainly on road projects. The balance of N20bn covers a wide range of things mostly related to staff salaries and allowances which accumulated for four years, inherited debts to hotels and sundry suppliers. “We operate a single account with the CBN and the account details are published and it was from those things that investigations in the Senate were based on the account provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” Pondei explained.

It is salutary that President Buhari has finally expressed a strong resolve to uproot theproblems undermining the performance of the NDDC as a driver of development in the blighted Niger Delta region. At last, beyondthe cacophony of voices renting the air, something good may come out of the circus show at the National Assembly. t,BSFFN XSPUF JO GSPN "CVKB

Schneider Electric Decorates Long-standing Distributor As part of its periodic appraisal and reward for outstanding activities of its distributors nationwide, Schneider Electric has decorated Alhaji Bola Azeez, the chief executive officer of Bolamark Engineering Limited.

Alhaji Azeez, on behalf of his company, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his long-standing partnership with the energy management firm, Schneider Electric.

Though Schneider Electric stands out globally in its service delivery on providing energy and automation digital solutions, its management affirms the rightful place of distributors with the right culture and push for excellence as a key component to the success equation.

Established in 1981, Bolamark is an industry leader in the area of installation, servicing, repairing, maintaining, and commissioning of electrical systems.

Alhaji Bola Azeez, CEO Bolamark Engineering Limited receives Lifetime Achievement Award for his long-standing partnership with Schneider Electric Nigeria as Official General Distributor Left to Right: Mr Nurudeen Oyedeji, Channel Manager, Schneider Electric Nigeria; Mr Mojola Ola, Head, Partner Business, Schneider Electric Nigeria; Alh. Fatai Bola Azeez, CEO, Bolamark Engineering Limited, Mr Christophe Begat, Managing Director, Schneider Electric Nigeria

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T H I S D AY ˾ JULY 23, 2020

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Quick Takes FirstBank Organises Forum on Education

SUPPORT FOR ISOLATION CENTRES

L-R: Head, Human Resources (HR) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Samsung, Winston Nkanor; Minister for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire; Head of Mobile at Samsung, Adetunji Taiwo, and Senior Manager, Public Affairs, MTN Nigeria, Anas Galadima, during the donation of 500 smartphones to isolation centres across Nigeria...recently

Analyst Highlights Strategies for Business Survival Raheem Akingbolu Business operators in Nigeria have been urged not to allow the connection between their brands and consumers wane, despite the current global challenge.

Rather than being indifferent to the performance of their businesses in the market, the brand owners were advised to embrace technology driven Public Relations strategies to service the various market channels.

The Chairman of the Lagos State of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Olusegun McMedal, in a recent interview with THISDAY, expressed fear that many companies may not survive post Covid-19 because of the inactiveness of their public

PR communications department, which according to him would have helped the brand created a longer-lasting brand recall among the public.

He said: “This is the time for savvy business owners to key into PR but unfortunately, a lot of brand owners out there have allowed their businesses to lockdown with them.

“That is suicidal because keeping a connection with the masses always bears fruit and is essential for any business.

“Having created a longerlasting brand recall among the public helps in the marketing funnel at all stages and influences the buying decisionmaking.

“The pandemic has created such a negative environment around people that they are scared to trust anything new or unknown. To this end, owners of the existing brands should leverage technology to boost their PR,” he explained.

The PR experts, though admitted that the marketing communications industry, like other sectors, was under threat, he was quick to point out that PR still maintain a leading platform that brands could leverage successfully in this period.

“Like I stated during the recent virtual monthly clinic of the Lagos NIPR, with technology as focus, we are living in a different and very challenging time and the current restriction is altering business and work

models for almost all the industry and professions.

“Everyone must evolve and adapt to the new work environment by unlearning and relearning the new skill sets required surviving in the fast-changing world.

“Like other leg of marketing communications, a service-led industry like Public Relations is also undergoing a critical period but it still stands a better chance of lifting many brands to the post pandemic era,” he added.

Reacting to the data recently released by KPMG Nigeria, which indicated that 94 per cent of businesses in Nigeria have been adversely impacted by the pandemic, McMedal said the report was a wake-up call to Continued on page 20

Experts Advocate Adoption of Cloud Computing for Businesses Emma Okonji Technology experts have advised businesses to enhance the adoption of cloud computing.

They explained that cloud computing has the potential to accelerate growth of the about 41 million SMEs in the country, and could enable rapid governance on the part of government.

The experts gave the advice at a recent webinar hosted by CyberCloud, an indigenous service provider, with the theme: “The New Normal: Future of Cloud Computing in Nigeria Post COVID-19.

While advising businesses to device means to continue serving their customers adequately, the experts concluded that one clear cut platform through which it could be achieved was through

TELECOM cloud computing.

Some of those in attendance included the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa; Managing Director, RackCentre, Ayotunde Coker; Partner Technology Advisory, KPMG, John Anyanwu; Chief Information Officer, First City Monument Bank, Collins Osugo and National Coordinator, NITDA, Barrister Kasim Sodangi.

According to Coker, “Cloud Computing are services that you consume over the internet, regardless of its location. It’s a service you can subscribe to and consume as you require, you scale as you grow and you pay as you go.”

He further stated that CyberCloud and Rack center have the capacity to provide all cloud services needed by the government, corporate bodies and individuals.

Speaking on the development, Anyanwu said Cloud services have always been a part of our lives without us knowing it.

Anyanwu said several people have been using the likes of Google Mail, Yahoo, and so many services that are in the cloud and “we have been enjoying these services for our personal lives without even knowing what we are using.”

He further said ‘’Cloud gives a huge opportunity for us to facilitate innovation with low capital investment.”

Describing how Cloud Services are utilised by the government,

Sodangi said as far back as 2013, NITDA issued a guideline for National Content Development in Information Technology (IT).

According to him, one of the guidelines specifically speaks to the retention and domestication of Data Services of the government needs rising from the operation of government and data that is owned by government must be hosted locally.

He said ‘’Cloud services will sufficiently improve how services are delivered in Nigeria and change the face of the public sector if it is understood and implemented as it ought to be.

Osugo stated that ‘’Banks have been in the forefront of Cloud Computing,” but he however Continued on page 20

FirstBankofNigeriaLimitedwilltodayconveneabusinessclinictopromote thegrowthandsustainabilityoftheeducationalsector,especiallyinthelight ofthecoronaviruswhichishavinganadverseeffectontheoperationsof schoolacrosstheworld.TheeventisscheduledtoholdviaZoomplatform by11:00am.

“ManagingYourSchoolthroughthePandemic:EngagementandRetention Strategies,”isthetopicoftheeventandwillbediscussedbyexperts,leading players, policy influencers and proprietors in business and education management that have carved a niche for themselves at promoting the growthofeducationandbusinesstowardsimpactingthenationaleconomy.

Thepanellistsattheeventinclude;MrsFolasadeAdefisayo,Commissioner ofEducation,LagosState;DrYomiOtubela,President,NationalAssociationofProprietorsofPrivateSchools(NAPPS);WaleAbioye,TeamLead, CustomerPracticeinManagementConsulting(KPMG);BabatundeVaughan, EducationLead,ModernClassroomMicrosoftNigeria;TinuAluko,Proprietor, BusyBee&WestMillsandBankoleAdediran,HeadTransactionBanking Products,FirstBankofNigeriaLimited.

Speaking on the event, Mr. Gbenga Shobo, Deputy Managing Director, FirstBanksaid“theeducationsectorremainsthebedrockofthegrowth anddevelopmentofanynation-withoutaviableeducationalsystem,the humancapitalwouldbeincapableofdrivingnationalgrowthanddevelopment.

FirstBankisdelightedtoconvenethiseventasitreinforcesourleadingroleat enablingthegrowthoftheeducationalsectorinthecountry,overtheyears.

“ArecentexampleisthecurrentpandemicinwhichtheBankhasspearheaded thecontinuedlearningofschoolchildren,withaviewtomovingover1million Nigerianstoe-learning,anexcitingjourneythathashadover45,000active participantsontherespectiveplatforms,notablyRoducateandIBM.

Google Launches Initiative for Marketers

Think with Google has launched its sub-Saharan Africa website - thinkwithgoogle.com/ssa, designed to help marketers on the continent get thelocallyrelevantinsightstheyneed.

Announcingthelaunch,HeadofGoogleSMBMarketingforsub-Saharan Africa,AshaPatel,said:“ThinkwithGooglesub-SaharanAfricawalksalongside marketers and business leaders as they deal with the challenges of arapidlychangingmarketplace.Itprovidesdata,adeeperunderstanding andperspectivesspecificallycraftedformarketersandbusinesspeople intheregion.”

ThinkwithGooglefeaturesinsightsandcasestudiesfromAfricanorganisationsandmarketersworkingwithGoogle.Forexamplethisparticularcase study on how Africa’s largest entertainment brand - MultiChoice - drove watchtimeonitsYouTubechannelup238percentbyofferingcontentfree.

AnotherexampleisonhowKenya’sKCBBankdroveachangeinconsumer behaviour,fromonlinebettingtosavingmoney,usinganadcampaign.Another exampleisapieceonNigeriane-commercegiantJumiaadoptingmachine learningtooptimiseitsbiddingprocessforGoogleAds,whichledtoa48 percentincreaseinconversionrate,2.4percentfallincostperacquisition, and52percentgrowthinconversions.

MTN, Samsung Donate to Isolation Centres

Samsung and MTN Nigeria have provided communication support to healthworkersacrossthecountry.

Five hundred A2 Core phones from Samsung together with SIM cards and 2GB data monthly for six months from MTN would be given to case managers in the isolation centres across the 36 states of the country as wellastheFederalCapitalTerritory(FCT).

The donation eases the process of data capturing and case reporting in thesecentres,supportingthegovernment’sstrategicplanindealingwith thepandemic.

Commenting,ChiefCorporateServicesOfficer,MTNNigeria,Tobechukwu Okigbo,saidtowinthefightagainstthecoronavirus,Nigerians,including corporatesandindividualsmustcontinuetoworkwiththegovernment.

Accordingtohim,“EveryonethatcallsNigeriahomemustseethispandemic as an opportunity to unite in service to the country, for the greater good ofusall.Weareonlygoodtogether.MTNwillcontinuetolookforwaysto collaboratewithotherstakeholderstohelpthegovernmentflattenthecurve.”

Samsung’s Managing Director, Caden Yu, described the initiative as the company’scommitmenttosupportingthegovernmentinthesetimes.‘’Our thoughts are with every Nigerian and this donation is a way of using our resourcestofightthispandemic.Thesurvivalofthehumanraceishinged onourcollaborativeeffort;togetherwewillgetthroughthis,”Yusaid.

“Our plan is to build an ecosystem to enable most secure collaboration environment in businesses, add efficiencies to workflows and allow organisations make decisions quickly with customers, vendors and partners” Founder and CEO of 21st Century Technologies Limited,

Mr. Wale Ajisebutu

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BUSINESSWORLD ANALYST HIGHLIGHTS STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS SURVIVAL business owners to deepen their marketing. The PR chief hinged his argument on a similar report

by Influencer Marketing Hub, which established that more than 69 per cent of brands have decreased their Ad and communications spend since the pandemic hit the world in the first quarter of 2020.

“No doubt, COVID 19 negatively impacted businesses but promoters of those businesses should look outside the box to communicate with their target audience. We all are familiar with the term ‘no risk, no gain’.

“These are tough times for businesses that need to float and for that, they need to prioritise their services. But, this is also the time to grab the market by the scruff of the neck and thrive.” He stated.

Meanwhile, the Lagos NIPR had recently held a virtual PR Clinic, with the theme: Technology and the Future of Work, to prepare participants with the skill sets required to thrive in a fast-changing practice environment.

EXPERTS ADVOCATE ADOPTION OF CLOUD COMPUTING FOR BUSINESSES said for banks to have the confidence to host and work with local providers, there are certain criteria that needed to be met.

He added, ‘’Once the government plays its significant role in making sure adequate infrastructures are in place and the companies like KPMG, VMware accesses the risk and ensure that the skills required to manage these services are also in place, then the sky’s the limit.”

VMware Senior Manager Cloud Business, Dave Funnell, said ‘’Interrogate your cloud provider because not all cloud providers are equal and can deliver the services you require. However, the certification Vmware provides Cybercloud should help build the element of trust and trust is key because Cloud Computing is the way to accelerate a business.’’

He further said that Cloud remained an enabler to fast forward to the future and that working with a cloud provider that is reputable could really enable businesss.

Group Business Editor

Obinna Chima

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

Chinedu Eze (Aviation) Eromosele Abiodun (Maritime) James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafo (Energy) Reporters

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT)

NEWS

‘Accounting Separation Framework Will Deepen Telecoms’ Competition’ Stories by Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC) has said it is committed to the creation of an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry to ensure the provision of qualitative and efficient telecoms services, as stipulated in Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.

NCC recently said it would achieve this through the implementation of Accounting Separation Framework (ASF) in the Nigerian telecoms industry effective from July 15, 2020, adding that it will further ensure transparency and accountability in regard to effective regulation and prevention of anti-competitive behaviour.

The policy document, “Determination on the Implementation of an Accounting Separation Framework for the Nigerian Telecoms Industry”, which was developed via a consultative process in 2015, has undergone a comprehensive review by the regulator in collaboration with telecoms licensees and other critical industry stakeholders.

The Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, said: “With the commencement of the implementation of the framework, telecoms licensees are, henceforth, obligated to submit their Regulatory Financial Statement (RFS) to

the Commission in line with the new ASF, within seven months after the end of the licensees’ financial year.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, expressed optimism about the framework noting that “the new ASF will promote an industry environment that fosters open and transparent financial reporting, while ensuring that charges for telecom services are cost-based and

non-discriminatory.”

The Commission, however, stated that submission of RFS in line with the new framework, is currently limited to and mandatory for only six telecom licensees, adding that this will subsist for an initial period of two years after which the regulator may review the list to include other operators.

The six licensees include Airtel Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, Emerging Markets Telecom-

munications Services Limited (9Mobile), Globacom Nigeria, Main One Cable Company Limited and IHS Nigeria.

Adducing reasons for limiting compliance to six operators for now, Danbatta said the decision was taken to ensure necessary structure is in place for reviewing and analysing the accounts before applying the new framework to all licensees in the industry.

Danbatta, however, stated

that any other licensee willing to prepare its financial statements in line with the new framework is allowed to voluntarily do so, just as he said the Commission may exercise its discretion to demand that a licensee prepare and submit separated account where it is determined that the activities of such a service provider are deemed critical to the overall well-being of the Nigerian telecoms industry.

Mast

Firm Launches Business Tool to Tackle COVID-19 21st Century Technologies Limited, an ICT firm in Africa has launched Konet, a wholly indigenous business collaboration tool that will help SMEs and large scale enterprises adapt to the new world of work due to the COVID-19.

Konet is a technology suite that empowers individuals, SMEs, startups and businesses to become more productive online.

Its features include voice, video,

live chat, file sharing with brand customisation.

Citing a recent news report, which stated that the web virtual conferencing market size is $12.58 billion in 2020 and it is estimated to reach $19.02 billion by 2025, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.6 per cent, the technology company said the financial figure called for the need for indigenous collaborative tool that would help Nigerians

and the entire world to address the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking during a recent virtual press conference, the Founder and CEO of 21st Century Technologies Limited, Mr. Wale Ajisebutu said the platform was carefully designed to cater for the needs of SME and businesses as they face the new normal occasioned by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Commenting on what the company intends to achieve with the service, Ajisebutu said: “Our plan is to build an ecosystem to enable collaboration, most secure collaboration environment in businesses, add efficiencies to workflows and allow organisations make decisions quickly with customers, vendors and partners”.

He emphasised that “Konet is a very secured platform with

enterprise grade security features and compliance standards to prevent data loss.”

According to him, “Our ISO certifications make us top of the line globally however we’ve ensured that our services remain easily deployed and used by businesses.

“This will help Nigeria as a country to rebuild the damaged economy being caused by COVID-19 pandemic.”

Global Accelerex Introduces Convenient Payment System for Uber Riders In order to address the inconvenience of cash payment on Uber rides and provide comfort to passengers who do not want to enter their card details online, financial technology company, Global Accelerex Ltd, has partnered with Moove, Uber’s preferred fleet partner in subSaharan Africa.

The partnership is to make payments easy and seamless for all Uber riders across Africa.

To achieve seamless connectivity in payments, Moove has integrated its payment

platform to Global Accelerex’s N3 Android PoS device, an advancement in e-payment technology. This will make it convenient for passengers to pay for their Uber rides via the PoS terminals deployed in all Moove cars.

The portable and stylish N3 PoS terminal outperforms the competition with unique features that make it the preferred choice for businesses that value efficient operations.

It comes loaded with multiple payment options, which enables

bank card, mobile and QR payments.

Speaking about the strategic alliance, the Executive Director, Business Development and Operations of Global Accelerex, Mr. Kayode Ariyo, stated that it was a union of two market leaders in the technology-driven business space constantly seeking to make life easier for consumers.

“We are thrilled to partner with Moove to offer the revolutionary N3 device for deployment in their cars to make payment simple and

safer for passengers.

“I am particularly glad about the fact that it reduces the restriction on payment options as passengers can now pay with their cards while on the move, and not just at stationary locations. “This is an exciting development for our company because it underscores our commitment to promote a cashless system and aligns with our objective to make e-payment accessible to Nigerians,” Ariyo said.

Managing Partner of Grace

Lake Partners and Co-founder of Moove, Mr. Ladi Delano, said: “At Moove, our focus is democratizing car ownership for drivers whilst providing the best option for riders to move from point A to point B. We utilize hardware and software to ensure security, safety, comfort and convenience in every vehicle, and the PoS terminals provided

by Global Accelerex are in line with this commitment by ensuring that payments are more secure, seamless and convenient than ever before.”

its Research and Development (R&D) investments in digital services, to capture additional business opportunities.

Analysing the report, the President and CEO of Ericsson, Börje Ekholm, said the human toll caused by COVID-19, directly and indirectly through a weak economy, became increasingly clear.

According to him, “We continue to put safety of our people as first priority,

and more than 80 per cent of our employees are currently working from home. Despite the difficult environment we delivered a solid result. Q2 organic sales were flat and gross margin improved to 38.2 per cent YoY, including negative effects from strategic contracts. While the effects of COVID-19 create uncertainties, with current visibility, we maintained the full-year targets for the group.

Ericsson Records Increased Income Ericsson, a global technology company with operations in Nigeria, has released its second quarter results 2020, recording increased operating income, excluding restructuring charges, to reach 8.2 per cent Its gross margin excluding restructuring charges improved to 38.2 per cent, including the earlier communicated inventory write-down related to Mainland China,

which equals to 1.6 percentage points.

Networks sales increased by four per cent Year-on-Year (YoY).

Networks operating margin excluding restructuring charges was 14.1 per cent, impacted by strategic contracts and the inventory write-down, partly compensated by operational leverage and a favorable business mix.

The company however

reported a decline in sales of 5 per cent.

Ericsson explained that the Covid-19 pandemic had a limited impact on operating income and cash flow in the quarter.

The financial report further anticipated that the technology company with speciality in network operations, would maintain its financial targets for 2020 to 2022. However, it stated that it would accelerate

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Examining Globacom’s Stride in Data Service Delivery The latest data report from the Nigerian Communications Commission, rated Globacom as the telecoms company with the highest mobile data customer in four consecutive months, writes Emma Okonji

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ince the inception of the rollout of Global Service for Mobile Communication (GSM) in 2001, competition to provide best quality service to customers has been the order of the day till date.

Econet Wireless Nigeria, which severally changed its brand name, based on new ownership agreement, before it eventually retained its current brand name as Airtel Nigeria, was the first to roll out GSM services in Nigeria on August 6, 2001, followed by MTN Nigeria, which became the first GSM company to commercially roll out telecoms services in August 8, 2001. Globacom, the third entrant, rolled out its GSM services in 2003 with per second billing system, which crashed cost of telecoms services across networks.

Since 2003, Globacom has introduced several consumer products to further drive competition, a development that helped it to overtake Airtel some years later, in terms of subscriber numbers on its network, to become the second largest telecoms operator in Nigeria, after MTN Nigeria, which still maintains the market leader in terms of subscriber number for voice communication subscription.

Aside voice communication subscription, MTN has also maintained the market leader in data subscription, followed by Airtel and Globacom. But in the past four months, Globacom became the market leader in terms of mobile data subscription, and has maintained the lead for mobile data, as at the date of the last release of data figures in May this year, by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telecoms industry regulator.

Commending Globacom for the feat, the President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Olusola Teniola, said Globacom has rolled out several mouthwatering consumer products that have attracted data consumers to its network to experience quality data connectivity from their mobile devices.

Data service delivery The incursion of GSM operators into mobile

Broadband data cable data service offerings, even though they were originally known for voice communication, deepened competition for data services among core Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Although GSM operators were initially licensed to provide voice services only, their licences were later expanded after the expiration of the five years exclusivity period, to include mobile data services. Since then, Globacom intensified efforts in both voice and data service offerings, and eventually rose to become the largest mobile data service operator in the country.

Some telecoms subscribers, who spoke about the quality of data services they receive from both GSM and ISP operators, said in the area of service quality, Glo has extensive 3G and 4G data coverage, and became the first network to achieve nationwide 4G coverage. Glo data service is powered by Glo 1 submarine cable, which offers sufficient internet bandwidth.

Glo also has extensive fibre optic network spanning thousands of kilometers. All these have ensured reliable and qualitative data service delivery. The network is also known to carry out regular modernisation and upgrade of its facilities to guarantee pristine services.

In the area of affordability, they the subscribers said Globacom had over the years, established a reputation for offering the most competitive data plans in the market and attractive packages with unmatched value.

Its innovativeness came to the fore when the lockdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic started. During the period, Glo rolled out two unique plans, the Stay Home Data plan, which gives subscribers up to 20 per cent more data and the Sunday Data plan, which offers 1.2GB for just N200 on Sundays.

NCC’s data rating According to the recent NCC’s released figures on mobile data among GSM operators, internet subscriptions across GSM operators’ networks, grew in the last five months. In January this year, mobile data subscription across GSM networks, was 128.4 million. In February, the figure increased to 131.7 million subscriptions, and in March, it rose to 135.8 million subscriptions. In April, the figure rose again to 138.3 million, before reaching 140.8 million in May this year. When combined

with Fixed Wired and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) subscriptions for data in the month of May this year, the figure moved up again to reach 141.2 million, according to the NCC statistics.

Of these figures, Glo had a clear lead, as it gained additional 1,748,501 data subscribers in the month of February this year; 2,917,651 in March; 2,072,369 in April; and 1,292,714 in May this year, totaling 8,031,235 subscribers in the four months.

MTN came after Glo with 960,814 data subscribers in the month of February; 794,020 data subscribers in March; 698,593 in April and 882,458 in May, totaling 3,335,885 in four months.

Airtel is next to MTN, having added 670,474 data subscribers in February; 654,549 data subscribers in March; 41,791 data subscriptions in April and 448,504 subscriptions in May, totaling 1,366,814 in four months.

The fourth GSM operator, 9mobile, is next to Airtel with 96,220 mobile data subscribers in February; 181,973 data mobile subscribers in March; 302,125 mobile data subscribers in April and 204,595 mobile data subscribers in May this year, totaling 580,318 in four months.

From the NCC statistics, Glo leads in mobile data subscription of 8,031,235, in four consecutive months from February to May 2020, followed by MTN with a total mobile data subscription of 3,335,885, within the same period. Airtel added a total of 1,366,814 mobile data subscribers within the same period, while 9mobile added a total of 580,318 mobile data within the same four months period.

Glo data plan In a bid to maintain market lead in data service offering, Glo announced fresh data plans for customers. Globacom increased the data volumes offered its esteemed subscribers in line with the company’s resolve to make life easier as humanity continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

Tackling Menace of Illicit Trade Illicit trade remains a global challenge, writes Ugo Aliogo

I

llicit trade has remained a global challenge to government of nations and law enforcement agencies. Through smuggling, counterfeit and tax evasion, governments are losing billions in tax revenues, legitimate businesses are suffering, and consumers are being exposed to poorly made and unregulated products.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime noted that transnational organised crime is worth $870 billion yearly.

From reports, it was learnt that it is not just luxury goods that are counterfeited or smuggled and sold illegally. Medicines, cosmetics, toys, electronics and cigarettes can be widely found on the black market. In fact, anything in high demand is attractive to counterfeiters and smugglers.

Cigarettes are among the illegally trafficked goods in the world.

The global black market for tobacco products is large and growing. The value of the illicit tobacco trade is estimated to be greater than the illicit trade in oil, wildlife, timber, arts and cultural property, and blood diamonds combined.

Reports suggest that illicit trade in tobacco represents 10 to 12 per cent of global tobacco consumption, with an estimated illicit volume of up to 600 billion illegal cigarettes.

Criminals are increasingly attracted to the high profits and minimal risks associated with trafficking illegal cigarettes.

According to a report by Foreign Service journal, new computer technologies, communications and globalisation are fueling the exponential growth of dangerous forms of illegal trade for instance, the markets for narcotics and child pornography online, the escalation of sex trafficking through web advertisements, and the sale of endangered species for which revenues total in the hundreds

of millions of dollars.

Therefore, speaking during a recent webinar, the Acting Director, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (OECD) Public Governance Directorate, JĂĄnos BertĂłk, revealed that illicit trade accounts for three per cent of global trade and also causes huge revenue losses in excess of billions of dollars for government and the private sector globally.

BertĂłk, also stated that illicit trade doesn’t only impact the economy, but also raises serious safety, health, and leads to production of fake pharmaceutical products. “The new evidence released just months ago, estimates the total at â‚Ź4 billion for pharmaceutical products. Data analysed and quantified shows that the most frequently encountered products are antibiotics, lifestyle, and pain killer drugs. “What is interesting is that many of these specific drugs especially those that are anti-malaria, are linked to COVID-19 as a treatment.â€?

In his remarks, the Global Senior Director, Anti-illegal Trade, (JTI), Ian Monteith, said it is important to recognise that illegal trade is driven by criminals whose only concern is to make money, adding that customers are going to be driven towards such because of lower incomes, “and an increasing number of them are going to be exposed to that.�

He further explained that Malaysia is about 66 per cent illegal trade, but JTI is actually working with Malaysian government to introduce a task force and approach, noting that public private partnerships are essential to combat the practice.

Monteith, remarked that strong enforcement with reasonable and moderate taxation is key drivers that would reduce the supply of the illegal commodities.

According to him, “Because none of the money from the illegal activities of the criminals goes back to the government and it does not benefit society and individuals. Rather, it benefits criminals, and individuals involved in terrorism, smuggling and other related crimes. “The International Monetary Fund (IMF) actually described the current situation as waning of income inequalities. These are very desperate situations, which require a very careful partnership controlled approach with governments, law enforcement agencies, private sector, and society working together. “Information is the lifeblood of law enforcement agency. We can bring quality intelligence forensic analysis, transportation, reach and everything that will assist law enforcement to initiate or to continue with their investigation. Law enforcement agencies can be restricted by international boundaries and different government regulations. “But private sector is not restricted; therefore, we work in one continent or in one country and provide that information to another country where the illegal activity is taking place. “The point here should be better understanding of the vulnerability of ecommerce, and also its impact on the global supply chain. There is need for closer collaboration between the public and the private sector in sharing data, and standardisation. “Tax is a very resilient contributor to government revenues. It is important to protect tax revenues for governments and society, so that they can use it to implement different programmes within their jurisdiction. But the big issue is once a illegal trade takes over, none of those taxes are paid on it, so it is extremely difficult for governments and law enforcement agencies to combat that illegal trade, once it has a foothold in society.

“And it can be very difficult for anybody to remove it. Because it is will be looked upon as a victimless crime, and but it is not actually a victimless crime, rather it is affecting the society negatively.�

Speaking on the changing nature of illicit trade, the Director of Organised and Emerging Crime, Interpol, Paul Stanfield, said the most obvious trends would the restriction of the movement of people, noting that as people go online to commit massive amounts of frauds taken advantage of the situation, they become savvier as a result of using online.

He stated that there are a lot of criminal activities taking place online because of the restriction on movements, but said criminals are very quick to adapt and are motivated primarily by making money.

He further explained: “Because of the motivation to make money, criminals see the opportunity where there is a real demand for public protection equipment and other medical pharmaceutical goods, and they seize the opportunity. “However, people still want to move across borders by whatever means possible. So we also see an increase in risk. And because it’s an increasing risk, it is more difficult, the cost also rises. We see this as a significant problem across the world. “As the police one of our priorities is around public safety, and attention is being drifted away towards safety elements, and therefore less opportunity to tackle some of these new and emerging threats.�

Stanfield remarked that law enforcement agencies weren’t prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic especially on how pharmaceutical companies could help protect themselves and the public.

22

T H I S D AY Ëž Í°ÍąËœ Í°ÍŽÍ°ÍŽ

FCMB Empowers SMEs First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has provided a platform for SMEs to expand beyond the shores of the country.

Recently, the bank organised virtual seminars for the business operators aimed at connecting them with globally recognised experts and business entities.

The match-making seminars were organised in collaboration with the Nigeria-Belgian Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) and recorded a number of quality businesses in attendance.

In a statement signed by the Group Head, Corporate Affairs of FCMB, Mr. Diran Olojo, the bank explained that the forum provided platforms to expose and connect its SME customers to lucrative global opportunities with European and Middle East

based businesses. This was to enhance growth, competitiveness and sustainability of Nigeria based SMEs in the global environment.

According to the statement, the first virtual seminar, tagged “Energy Catalyst,� held from June 1 to 5, brought together over 50 SMEs based in Nigeria and 12 United Kingdom based ones to explore opportunities to partner in the execution of renewable energy projects along with the possibility of receiving grants from Innovate UK , a research and innovation agency in the UK. The webinar featured informative discussions covering topics like; Energy access situation in Nigeria, how to do business in Nigeria (etiquette, environment, culture).

Among the experts that provided insight and solutions were the Chief Executive Officer, All On, Dr. Wiebe Boer; Partner, Tax, Regulatory & People Services at KPMG Mr. Adewale Ajayi; Executive Director, Business Development, FCMB, Mrs. Bukola Smith: Group Head, Business Banking, of the Bank, Mr. George Ogbonnaya, among others. “The second seminar, which took the form of a virtual trade fair, was held on July 7. It focused on enlightening SME on the vast opportunities of manufacturing in Qatar and the numerous partnership possibilities with leading manufacturers in construction, building materials & plastic industries based in the Middle East region,� it added.

Gold West Africa Initiative Organises Forum Nume Ekeghe The Gold West Africa initiative conference is set to expand its offering to include planned festivities, an art exhibition and more activities extending to other West African countries.

A statement from the organisers explained that the activities would commence with a with a Gold Durbar from August 1st to 22nd, 2020, in Kano, which is a curated marketplace for trading and purchasing gold jewelry as well as showcasing inspired design and lifestyle products.

It would be followed by another market in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso at the end of September, this time serving as a

meeting point for artisanal gold producers with jewelers and traders and then ending with the Gold West Africa Conference and Gold House art exhibition and auction in Lagos in the month of November.

Speaking on the upcoming Gold West Africa initiatives, Event Manager, Ms. Nicole Smith, stated: “In 2019, we called 2020 the year of gold renaissance for Africa. As part of the gold value chain development in West Africa and renaissance of the West African gold markets and ancient trade routes, we began working with the governments of Nigeria and Burkina Faso and other stakeholders in West Africa on several gold initiatives

including gold duty free week in Nigeria and Burkina Faso. “However, given global market disruptions, travel restrictions and with national borders closed, the price of gold soared, the regional economic landscape changed, artisanal production and craftsmanship was impacted. Never has gold been more important to Africa and the need to developing its value chain been more daunting. “We linked arms together with several collaborators across the world. We re-strategised and re-designed the initiatives for impact in the present regional economic and social climate knowing that 2020 truly must be marked as the year of gold renaissance for Africa.�

23

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͱ˜ ͰͮͰͮ

BUSINESSWORLD

PERSPECTIVE

FCCPC Changes Gear Raheem Akingbolu reviews the aftermath of the clampdown on MedContour Services Ltd and how the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission demonstrated through the ongoing trial that the agency has the will to protect the right of consumers to the logical end

U

ntil few years ago, the major campaign against the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) was that it had a limit and could only bark but could not bite. There was virtually no adequate legislation to back Consumers’ rights. As a result of this, manufacturers of goods and services often abused the right of innocent consumers with ease and got away with it without facing any sanction. This explains why Nigerian consumers in their thousands have in the last few years, become victims of fake products and poor services.

After many years of pushing for passage of its enabling act by the National Assembly and signing into law by the President, it came to pass last year and the Federal Consumer Protection and Competition Commission (FCCPC) was birth. The FCCPC was set up not only to consolidate on the achievements of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) over the years, but also to serve as a regulator that promotes competition and fairness in the Nigerian marketplace.

It was also designed to focus more on robust enforcement of the rights of Nigerian consumers to enable them derive more value for their money come 2020.

Besides, the current Chief Executive Officer of FCCPC, Babatunde Irekera, a Lawyer, appeared to have also come prepared for the job as he brought some reforms into the agency in a way that Consumers’ rights and unhealthy competition are now being properly checked. To a large extend, the regulatory agency has restored some level of human dignity into consumerism in Nigeria.

FCCPC didn’t only hit the ground running immediately, it embarked on a dizzying series of interventions in various sectors of the economy as well as engagements with stakeholder agencies and other public and private sector partners. One of the first achievements under the new framework was the issuance of a final order to Multichoice Nigeria Limited — a Pay TV company that provides television services to DStv, for the failure of upholding an alleged mutual agreement on tariffs review and other services.

In April this year, the agency had revealed on its official Twitter handle that it had commenced an investigation into a case of failed plastic surgery performed by MedContour Services Ltd. Few days later, the Director General of FCCPC, led his team to seal off the company, over allegations of illegal activities.

After weeks of hide-and-seek between the federal government agency and the owner of the company, FCCPC has finally dragged the Lagos Surgeon, Dr. Anuoluwapo Adepoju to court that she has a case to answer. The decision was said to be in line with the agency’s mission to ensure that, customers are priority in the business value chain.

Adepoju recently appeared before a Federal High Court in Lagos over alleged evasion from investigation into a failed plastic Surgery. She was charged alongside her Clinic -MedContour Services Ltd, on a five count charge bordering on a refusal to honour an invitation for investigation. She is standing trial before Justice Mohammed Liman.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) had in April, sealed the second defendant (MedContour), a plastic surgery hospital,

Irukera

over allegations of illegal activities.

In a five count charge brought against the defendants recently, the prosecution alleged that without sufficient cause, the first defendant failed to appear before the FCCPC in compliance with the commissions summons dated April 15.

The prosecution alleged that without sufficient cause, the first defendant refused and failed to produce document which she was required to produce in compliance with the commission’s notice of investigation dated April 14.

The defendant was also alleged to have prevented and obstructed the commission from carrying out its investigation into the said issue.

The offences were said to have contravened the provisions of sections 11(1)(a), 33(1)(a), 110, 113(1)(a) and 159(4) of the FCCPC Act, 2018.

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to all counts.

After her plea, Defence counsel, Mrs. Maria Jonnes informed the court of a preliminary objection challenging the charge.

She had argued that the law setting up the FCCPC does not empower the court to entertain the case filed by the commission, adding that the defence had already filed a pending suit before a brother judge, Justice C. Aneke challenging the Act of the commission.

In response, the prosecutor who is Irukera, argued that there was no legal basis for the preliminary objection of the defense.

According to him, the subject before the court is not on the issue of violation, and so, there is nothing in the preliminary objection that can stand.

He also submitted that the objection that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case is misinformed.

After listening to submission of parties, Justice Liman, upheld the submission of the prosecution, and held that the criminal jurisdiction of the Federal High Court is activated by the provisions of.sections 251(f) of the Constitution.

The court held that sub section 1(f) of the section, includes organisations like the Consumer Protection Council as well as the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) The court consequently, over ruled the preliminary objection of defence.

Justice Liman granted the defendant bail on self-recognizance, and adjourned the case until July 9 for trial.

Meanwhile, Adepoju has cried out to Minister of Health Dr. Osagie Ehanire, President Muhammud Buhari and other Nigerians to come to her aid, arguing that she was being unjustly prosecuted.

Defunct Skye Bank: Vindication of NDIC Sunday Oluyemi

“B

ridge Bank” and other resolution options utilised by the NDIC in the cause of its over 31 years of operation in Nigeria in the resolution of failing or failed insured financial institution has significantly contributed to maintaining public confidence and stability of the banking system with minimum disruption to the payment system.

In September, 2018 when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) withdrew the operating licence of the defunct Skye Bank Plc, after protracted efforts to turn around the bank’s fortunes failed to yield the desired results, the major responsibility for its effective resolution fell on the Corporation.

The term failure ‘resolution’, in the context of this discourse, refers to the cocktail of systematic actions and options available to the NDIC to deal with failing or failed banks whose operating licences have been withdrawn by the CBN. The overriding objective is always to preserve public confidence in the banking system along with the sustenance and enhancement of financial system stability. The other notable object is to achieve minimal disruption to the payment system.

At the time it was classified as a failed bank by the CBN in 2018, the defunct Skye Bank Plc operated with 300 branches across the country. The bank also employed over 6,000 Nigerians whose jobs ultimately depended on the choice of resolution option adopted by the NDIC. An outright liquidation of the bank, which was the sole prerogative of the Corporation, would have sent all the employees of the bank into the employment market. It would also have resulted in a lengthy deposits verification process along with the attendant disruption in the continuation of banking services for its multiple stakeholders. Thanks to the resolution option adopted by the NDIC, thousands of employees of the defunct Skye Bank did not have to lose their jobs when the bank failed. Their jobs were preserved with Polaris bank albeit under fresh terms of employment.

It is, therefore, in that context that the eventual choice of the “Bridge Bank” option in the resolution of the defunct Skye Bank, and the positive annual report published last week by the Polaris Bank which emerged from its ashes, must be situated.

As was revealed when the CBN handed over the failed Skye Bank Plc to the NDIC for resolution in line with its statutory mandate, the Bridge Bank option was utilised for its resolution.

Bridge bank is one of the multiple failure options at the disposal of the corporation in the resolution of failing or failed deposit taking financial institution whose operating license had been revoked.

A Bridge Bank could be incorporated by the Deposit Insurers to take-over the loans and advances, fixed assets, other assets, deposits and other liabilities of a failed or failing bank on an interim basis until it is nourished to such a state that it becomes viable to be sold to credible investors.

As opposed to a pay-out, which ultimately involves the outright liquidation of a bank and the settlement of only insured deposits; along with lengthy delays in the payment of excess uninsured deposits due to protracted litigations and the quality and disposal of the assets of closed banks; when a bridge bank is established, depositors are guaranteed seamless and unhindered access to their total deposits. The same also applies to creditors whose liabilities are assumed by the bridge bank.

Polaris Bank was the bridge bank established by the NDIC in collaboration with the CBN in this instance. Although

its establishment immediately after the revocation of the operating license of Skye bank may appear spontaneous to the uninformed, the processes leading to the establishment of a bridge bank were actually very thorough and exhaustive as provided for under Part VIII, Section 39 of the NDIC Act, 2006.

The establishment of Polaris Bank involved intensive consultations between the NDIC and the CBN which resulted in the choice of the name of the bridge bank which was then fully incorporated and registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), as a limited liability company to assume the deposit and other liabilities of the failed Skye Bank Plc, along with the acquisition of its assets.

The CBN thereafter issued a new operating licence to the bridge bank which enabled it to commence operations as a fully licenced bank. The next stage involved the NDIC transferred the entire assets and liabilities of the failing bank to the bridge bank under a ‘Purchase and Assumption’ (P&A) agreement executed between the NDIC and Polaris Bank. The transfer under the P & A, enabled Polaris Bank to resume seamless operations of the defunct Skye bank.

Closely related to this was the revocation of the operating licence of Skye Bank Plc by the CBN, and handing over to the NDIC for liquidation as provided for under the NDIC Act, 2006. The NDIC had since commenced the liquidation process after obtaining the necessary approval from the Federal High Court.

It is important to note at this point that the NDIC enjoyed forbearances from Regulatory Authorities in the operations of the Polaris bank in its quest to return it to the path of profitability which has now yielded fruits. This was demonstrated by the impressive financial results recently released by Polaris Bank. The financial performance of Polaris Bank in its first full year of operation is impressive. An indication that the once troubled bank, is now stable and strong.

A Bridge Bank is not an end in itself.

It can be best described as a special purpose vehicle designed to return a failing bank to profitably bearing another name. Had Polaris bank failed to return to profitability in the timeframe envisage it could have faced the prospects of outright liquidation by the NDIC. But the experience of the NDIC in the management of the Bridge Banks it previously established have been highly successful.

With the release of its annual statement of accounts last week, the case of Polaris bank was not different.

It is also important to recognise the role of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in the capitalisation of the previous bridge banks earlier established by the NDIC which were later sold to new investors. As was the case in the earlier ones, the recapitalisation of Polaris bank was done by AMCON through the injection of N786 billion so as to return the bank to soundness and profitability to facilitate its subsequent sale to credible and financially sound third parties’ acquirers.

The need for the stability of the banking system in these troubled times cannot be over emphasised. The establishment of Polaris Bank Limited to resolve the failed Skye bank was done in the interest of depositors and other creditors of the defunct bank. Its establishment also protected the ex-employees of the failed bank by preserving their jobs, albeit with a new employee. In the end, though, what is beyond denial is that the choice of the Bridge Bank by the NDIC in the resolution of defunct Skye Bank Plc, has been fully vindicated by eventual the outcome. The next challenge will be to secure protective buyers for the bank.

-Oluyemi is the Director, Communication and Public Affairs Department, NDIC

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24

T H I S D AY ˾ JULY 23,, 2020

HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

ÜÙßÚ ÏËÞßÜÏÝ ÎÓÞÙÜ˝ ÒÓÏ×ÏÖÓÏ äÏÙÌÓ ×ËÓÖ chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, Tel: 07010510430

The Forgotten Children of Sokoto The continued attack on villages in Northwestern Nigeria by bandits and terrorists has fuelled displacement of many families and has increased poverty. Martins Ifijeh, in this investigation, chronicles how children in Sokoto State are most hit, with many of them now severely malnourished

T

wenty year old Aisha Musa is not a happy woman. Besides the pain of losing her loving husband to the cold hands of death from Boko Haram terrorists, the thought of not having a community to fall back on and the seeming ostracism this has caused her displaced family hurts her every day. But these loses are nothing compared to the pain of seeing her only child, Hassan, ‘waste’ before her eyes.

He was her beacon of hope when she hurriedly left Kamitau community in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State in the middle of the night when insurgents struck the village, killing anyone in sight, including her husband who persuaded her to run with his baby while he, along with other men, stayed back to ward off the terrorists.

They had named their son Hassan, an Arabic word for ‘handsome’ or ‘strong’, because it was the description of his true feature at birth. He was the most adorable human in the world to them.

But life happened. It served them lemons.

Since a year and half, the little boy has not had good food to nourish that body. He has stopped growing in correlation with his age.

The only prominent features in Hassan are his eyes, head, clavicles, rib cages and an almost defeated demeanour. He is a shadow of what his name portrays.

The otherwise three-year-old Hassan could pass for a nine month old child; a situation that has kept his mother wandering the villages of Goronyo looking for two most basic needs – food and shelter. But these two important life savers eluded her for over a year.

She would move from one community to the other begging for arms or ‘any work’ just so she could earn some stipends to buy millets and beans to feed herself and her only child.

But with every passing day, it was obvious she was going to lose the only person remaining in her family, as he was repeatedly stooling and vomiting even on an empty stomach.

Health experts believe severe malnutrition, as suffered by Hassan, is one of the quickest factors for child mortality. Hassan was however a fighter, as not many children will suffer his level of malnutrition and live.

But in a last attempt to save him, and at least make lemonades from the lemons life served Aisha, she located the Gare Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp where the United Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) is playing a prominent role to ensure no child dies from malnutrition.

With urgency, Aisha enrolled him at the Gare Dispensary IDP Camp Centre and the Sabon-Gari Dole Primary Healthcare Centre, both in Goronyo Local Government Area of the state where he is presently receiving emergency treatment.

Although Hassan is only two weeks old at the clinic, the Officer in Charge, Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP), Sabon-Gari Dole Primary Healthcare Centre, Mr. Bashir Saidu believes that once his underlying ailments -diarrhea, fever and vomiting are treated, he stands a chance to embrace the Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) provided by UNICEF. Poverty and Link to Malnutrition While Hassan’s severe malnutrition exposed the link between insurgency and malnutrition in Sokoto State, THISDAY’s discussion with Halima Yusuf, a 24-year- old mother of three, captures the link between poverty and severe malnutrition.

Halima, her husband, Audu and their three children live on less than one dollar per day.

No thanks to the little stipends Audu makes from splitting firewood for people in Birjingo community where they reside.

Clinching to her two year old severely malnourished son, Mohammed, Halima gave

Out Patient Clinic in Gare Dispensary IDP Camp

Aisha and her son, Hassan

Halima and her two year old son, Mohammed

a picture of how they struggle to make ends meet, and how their children (two sons and a daughter) have suffered the consequences.

“There are times my husband makes N1, 000 (less than $3) in an entire week. When we are lucky, he makes up to N2, 000 (less than $6). But this is not enough for feeding. I sometimes buy millet and beans on credit, but I have overused the privilege, so nobody gives me anymore. My children, on many occasions, have stayed an entire day without meals as we sometimes had to wait until my husband returns with money or food. If he comes with nothing, they sleep on empty stomach,” she said.

Halima gave birth to all her children under the condition, and this has reflected on their health, physiology and mental lives. For instance, her first two children, six and four years old, could pass for three and two years respectively.

Going by science, lack of food may have caused irreversible damages to their mental and physical health, thereby losing the opportunity to contribute optimally to their future and that of the society when they eventually come of age.

Her last child, Mohammed, is still within the age of redemption, according to science.

He is presently accessing treatment at the Gare Dispensary IDP Camp Centre. He is among the over 50 children currently benefitting from the RUTF offered by UNICEF in partnership with the state government. Although he still looked severely emaciated, the clinic personnel said he looked worse few weeks ago when he was admitted.

Boko Haram or banditry attacks, the inability to get the stipends needed to feed their little off springs has become their biggest challenge, with the situation taking a toll on the nutritional status of their children.

On specifics, 28-year-old Farida is a widow with seven children in the camp. Every morning, she sends the three most senior ones out for begging. She believed she could only manage to carter for the last four children through the menial jobs she does. “Even at that, it has not been easy. We don’t get donations of food items as we used to. We are on our own in this camp,” she said.

One of the UNICEF Assistant Nutrition focal persons, Gare Dispensary IDP Camp, Abdullahi Aliyu told THISDAY that cases of severe malnutrition were commonplace in the communities in Goronyo because most of the women were widows.

“In Sokoto here, many of the women are widows and are displaced, and they cannot get food to eat as nongovernmental organisations are no longer coming to share foods like before,” Aliyu said.

He said most of the women who are desperate to survive, resort to cutting of firewood in the bush for sale, adding that the causes of malnutrition for the IDPs are insecurity and poverty as they do not have lands to farm.”

The UNICEF Nutrition Supervisor in Sokoto, Mrs Ijanada Jacob told THISDAY that the main cause of malnutrition in the state remains insecurity, ignorance and poverty, adding that many of the women cannot prepare balanced meal for their children with locally available resources.

She said Sokoto’s high burden of malnutrition will on the long run have a negative outcome on the lives of the children when they grow up, as well as affect the state’s economic and security chances.

Grim Picture Hassan and the three sons of Halima are just four among the estimated 2.5 million children currently malnourished in Nigeria. They may end up adding to the burden of stunting in the country which currently affects over 11 million children.

Sadly, Sokoto State has the highest number of malnutrition among the 36 states of the federation with several thousands of their children currently living on empty stomachs in their formative years. No thanks to insurgency, poverty and lack of government’s prioritisation of their nutritional wellbeing.

On specifics, Sokoto’s burden of malnutrition stands at 7.9 per cent for children aged between six and 59 months, according to data from the 2018 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) obtained by THISDAY. Neglect of IDP Camp also Fueling Malnutrition in Sokoto The establishment of the Gare Dispensary IDP Camp should ordinarily alleviate the burden of malnutrition in the camp. But a visit by THISDAY, which was facilitated by UNICEF Nigeria, showed that save for shelter and the outpatient therapeutic clinic, the residents usually go to neigbhouring villages to either beg for alms or engage in menial jobs in other to feed their families.

With many of them being widows whose husbands are either missing or dead due to

Nutrition Clinic Enrolls 25 Cases Daily Aliyu, who said UNICEF provides them with free RUTF at the centre, disclosed that they see between 15 and 25 new cases of malnutrition every day.

“Apart from the ones already admitted, the clinic gets up to 130 to 150 new cases every month. The centre opened for treatment of malnutrition in October 2018 and serves 10 communities,” he said.

Consequences of Malnutrition Apart from stunting, wasting and underweight, health experts believed malnutrition is one of the highest killers of children, noting that for those lucky to survive, it could have a toll on their health, education, social and even economic lives on the long run.

A Nutritionist with The Ville Memorial Clinic, Ogun State, Daramola Olalekan told THISDAY that adults who were malnourished during their first two years of life are more likely to earn income 10 per cent below what they would have earned if their childhood was malnutrition-free.

She said: “Stunting has the tendency to lead to incessant recurrent illnesses due to decreased immune system. In almost half of the cases, it may lead to death. This is one of the reasons Nigeria has a high child mortality rate, as majority are due o malnutrition.”

UNICEF’s Intervention UNICEF, with support from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation (ECHO) of the European Union and the Primary Health Care Development Agencies of Sokoto has established seven therapy sites scattered across three local governments – Rabah, Goronyo and Sabin Bini.

At Sabon-Gari Dole Primary Health Care Centre, one of the treatment wards for Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM), several hundreds of children have been saved from stunting and death.

On his part, the UNICEF Nutrition Head Sokoto, Walton Beckley said about 4,565 children with severe acute malnutrition have been admitted for treatment in Sokoto and 3,963 have been successfully treated.

“The number of pregnant women that received iron and folic acid supplements are 3,716. About 5,688 pregnant women and caregivers of children less than two years have received advices on how to take care of their children and feed them to prevent malnutrition,” he said.

Way Forward Although UNICEF’s intervention has yielded positive results, this unfortunately is a drop in the ocean; as increased efforts from government and other stakeholders are needed to addressing the high burden of the public health challenge in the state.

Indications have shown that the Sokoto State government has not shown enough commitment towards the programme. For instance, its 2019 budget for nutrition has not been released till date.

According to Mr. Beckley, if this is released, it could be channeled programmes like the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM).

“The state governments are our main partners.

The facilities and staff are provided by government while we provide technical support with hope that government will eventually complete the programme. The setting up of a stabilisation centre or In-patient Centre (IPC) is not as easy as OTC. We have been working with donors to ensure that we get the centre working but only UNICEF is responding for the crises in Sokoto at the moment. We are trying our best to ensure that the children do not develop medical complication before being brought to the OTC,” he added.

He said for a more robust intervention, the support of other agencies, including the World Health Organisation (WHO) was needed. “We have huge number of children who are moderately malnourished but our programmes are not designed to address this. We are focused on children that are severely malnourished so we need other agencies that can address this such as World Food Program (WFP), to step in and assist,” he said.

T H I S D AY Ëž JULY 23,, 2020

25

HEALTH

ICT and Nigeria’s Health Sector Post COVID-19 FayemiAdegoroye The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented disruption for the global health and development community. Patients, especially those with underlying health issues that require continuous management, have found their lives complicated by challenges of access, safety, supply chain logistics, and financial stress like never before.

The short-term implications of this global challenge are evident everywhere, but the long-term consequences of the pandemic — how it will reshape health services delivery and accessibility in the post COVID-19 world — have started engaging the thoughts and attention of forwardlooking service providers.

Experts have submitted that the outcry in virtually every country about the lack of equipment and supplies to test for and protect against COVID-19 will lead countries to reexamine their supply chains for critical health and livelihood related products.

For a nation like Nigeria, it was generally expected that this predicted wave of nationalism would catch us on wrong footing, given the fact that we have always lacked most of the required factors to develop a robust innovative and responsive health services delivery model.

Wealthy Nigerians have often preferred travelling abroad for medical treatment with the Minister of Health having been quoted as estimating that the country spends over $1 billion annually on medical tourism.

Therefore it is a no-brainer that with the emerging new normal world, a rethink of how healthcare and healthcare resources are accessed even by the comfortable and well to-do citizens has become necessary. Healthcare services delivery must undergo a transmutation from the physical, brick and mortar format to a more tech-driven approach. Thus, the concept of tech-for-health san borders cannot be dismissed lightly.

And Nigeria, now more than ever before, must confront using technology to transform her healthcare delivery system in a way that ensures a win-win for all.

Since 1989, when the first attempt at healthcare computerisation was recorded in the country, Nigeria had been expected to double up on her effort in making steady progress towards making her health space become strongly tech-driven.

It is on record that the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo

University, in conjunction with the Obafemi AwolowoUniversity Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC) and theUniversity of Kuopio (now theUniversity of EasternFinland) Computing Centre in Finland, jointly established the country’s first project on health informatics (HI) in 1989.

Through this collaboration, they developed a basic system for in-patient admissions, transfers, anddischarges that has been enhanced over the years and is now known as the Made in Nigeria Primary Healthcare InformationSystem (MINPHIS).

MINPHIS was the first digitalised hospital system in Nigeria to be locally developed and deployed to keep electronic patient records and generate various reports for health management. These reports include patient status, medical history, and admissions detailssuch as length of stay, discharge summaries, mortality and morbidity data, and operations.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic appears to be a game changer as the idea of personalized clinic installed as an App on a patient’s mobile device has now become firmly established in the country’s health delivery space to take over from where MINPHIS and its other offshoots of the past stopped.

For a country that has for long been reel-

COVID-19: House of Reps Seek Better Deal for Health Workers Onyebuchi Ezigbo Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË The House of Representatives has said that the provision of better medical facilities and welfare of the workers in health sector should be given a priority.

The House also said that there was need for greater harmony between the federal government and health workers in order to provide a healthcare system that average Nigerians can be proud of.

The Chairman, House Committee on Health Services, Hon. Yusuf Tanko Sununu stated this during a working visit to the headquarters of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) executive in Abuja.

He said the leadership of the House of Representatives appreciates the health workers for not embarking on industrial strike at this period of COVID-19 pandemic.

Sununu said, “My visit is part of the agenda of House of Representatives under the leadership of the Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila which includes the promotion of qualitative health care services. “The speaker in his wisdom realised that when there is harmony between the stakeholders in the sector, then progress will

be made. “The COVID -19 pandemic has exposed the health system and we are in a situation where the haves and have-nots are situated in the same place and so no one travels. We must therefore ensure that our health infrastructure is improved.�

The lawmaker said that they were at the union’s office to thank the health workers for not embarking on strike, and for their cooperation when the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter threatened to embark on strike.

Earlier, the Chairman of JOHESU, Comrade Biobelemoye Josiah had congratulated Dr. Sununu for his emergence as Chairman, House Committee on Health Services and assured him of the preparedness of the health workers to work with the authorities.

He told the House committee delegation that MHWUN recently distributed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which includes face masks, sanitizers and disinfectants to its members to its members to help check the increasing infection rate among health workers in Nigeria.

ing under the various negative impacts of an underfunded health sector, the recent introduction of the grassroots-targeted PDI App by Pre Diagnosis International, a private sector, charity-driven, hybrid telehealth brand, is a commendable initiative that could prove landmark in the nation’s quest to maximize the scarce health resources at her disposal in the delivery of health services to the populace.

Although there have been a few other telehealth platforms aimed largely at the upper crust of the society, the uniqueness of the PDI App stems from its focus on targeting poor, vulnerable Nigerians in, especially, rural and semi urban parts of the country under an aggressive charity-styled Reach, Rescue and Fortify mantra aimed at delivering healthcare to two million vulnerable Nigerians annually.

The App is an interactive mobile application that gives users immediate access to highly trained and experienced full time PDI doctors who can assist them access quality healthcare from home, office, on a business trip or vacation.With a meager annual subscription,the user can obtain and store latest blood pressure reading, heart health vitals, blood sugar information, as well as other vital statistics required to comprehensively evaluate

the state of their health status. Also, the user is able to access free quality consultation and treatment for a myriad of ailments all year round without physically stepping out of his or her home as the doctor may order an investigation, give a prescription or counselling or initiate a referral to a secondary center via the interaction.

And all these and other benefits are accessible at the payment of just the annual subscription and no other payment.

COVID-19 may have been a sudden and unexpected occurrence that has triggered sad and unfortunate illnesses and deaths, jolting the world in a way that has not been witnessed for several years. It may have, however, begun to nudge us as a nation to re-invent ourselves in many ways.

Efforts, such as the PDI innovative move to give patients full control of their health via cheap, personalized telehealth solutions as well as other Private-Public Partnerships (PPP) designed to improve the health and well-being of citizens deserve full applause for helping to speed up the re-shaping of Nigeria’s health sector. t"EFHPSPZF JT UIF $IJFG 1SPKFDU 0GmDFS PG 5&$) )&"-5)/( -BHPT

NAPPSA Canvasses Strong Health Infrastructure, Donates COVID-19 Items to NCDC Martins IďŹ jeh The Nigerian Association of Pharmacists and pharmaceutical Scientists in the Americas (NAPPSA) has called on the government to as a matter of urgency invest in building a strong health infrastructure in Nigeria. This call was made recently in Abuja when the association donated coronavirus pandemic diagnostics, PPEs and other medical consumables to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Speaking at the official presentation of the items, the President of NAPPSA, Dr Anthony Ikeme,

who was represented by Dr Ali Onoja, said the donations underscore the association’s continued efforts at assisting the country in overcominge the virus.

He said the nations with strong healthcare infrastructure and a solid manufacturing base were beginning to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the pandemic to tap into the global medical and pharmaceutical products’ supply chain, following the collapse of China’s near monopoly in that sector.

He said: “We regret that Nigeria counts among the nations that missed out on the

opportunities presented by the truncation of the global medical and pharmaceutical supply chain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The lessons from the pandemic should inform our decisions going into the future. There is an urgent need for investment in the creation of robust protocols for preparedness, prevention and containment of pandemics as well as their related economic and social impacts,� he said.

NAPPSA, while thanking NCDC for its role in coordinating the country’s COVID-19 response, encouraged the Centre and other stakeholders in healthcare delivery to use their positions to facilitate

the creation of a national strategy for medical and pharmaceutical manufacturing in Nigeria. Adding that this should not only be as a way to prepare for future health emergencies but also to position the country to earn foreign revenue as an alternative source for medical and pharmaceutical supply.

The Director General, NCDC, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who received the donations, thanked NAPPSA for the gesture, even as he assured that NCDC was willing to collaborate with NAPPSA and other related professional bodies in diaspora to engender a strong health sector.

NGO Calls for Stringent Measures to Tackle Medical, Psychological Effects of Rape Kuni Tyessi Ă“Ă˜ ĂŒĂ&#x;ÔË With the spiraling cases of rape and incest in recent times, the Fatherless and Motherless Children Aid Organisation (FADACO), a nongovernmental organisation, has called for stringent measures in tackling the medical and psychological effects of rape and incest.

It said government was trying,

but that it needs to be more committed, adding that everyone found guilty should be made to face the wrath of the law.

Founder and Director, FADACO, Ms. Ngozi Anih-George who made the call at the orphanage in Nasarawa State, said the menace has become worrisome as even most reported cases were closed and swept under carpets in police stations. She said the security

of the girl child was crucial at the moment and this can be done through sex education and enlightenment which will enable girls know the dangers facing female folk, precautionary measures to take and how to report sexual advances.

Alluding that some cases of rape and incest were spiritually induced, Anih-George said already, the 14 years old orphanage

which caters for 30 orphans, aged one month to 15 years, has begun teaching the orphans lessons about self defence in case of unfriendly attacks from the opposite sex.

She said: “Rape can have psychological, medical, emotional and physical effects on the survivors. I call them survivors because some are raped to death, while some are raped and killed to avoid identification of the offender.

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T H I S D AY ˾ JULY 23, 2020

HEALTH

Berthing the Dream of a World-class Nursing School Rukaiya Shettima had always dreamt of achieving a world-class nursing school where the best of nurses and midwives would be trained. In this report, Michael Olugbode writes how the World Health Organisation has made her dream come through

Some medical equipment

Shettima

oung Rukaiya Shettima was a She said the college begun as School of Nursing girl with great love for nursing. in 1971 before it was converted to School of She was in the mode of Florence Nightingale, who lived between Midwifery, adding that it started with a total May 12, 1820- August 13, 1910. In of 15 nurses, 119 student nurses, two midwife her lifetime, she was an English educators and six nurse educators. social reformer, statistician, and The school established by the defunct Northrecognised for being the founder eastern government, Rukaiya said even with nce promine of modern nursing, that came to all the odds, the school has been performing while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses wonderfully well and have always received during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers, and through her action recommendations from all over the world.

She said:” I came in as a student in 1981. At gave nursing a favourable reputation.

For Shettima, in order to realise her dream of the National Examinations, we used to record becoming a nurse, she enrolled as a student of 100 per cent, 90 per cent and so on, until recently, the College of Nursing and Midwifery Maiduguri when the percentage started declining due to in 1981, graduated from the college and took the obsolete equipment in the college. up a job with Borno State government, while “In 2016, the then former governor, Kashim praying and hoping that one day, the dream of impacting in the career of nurses would be Shettima, deemed it necessary and upgraded the school to status of a college. So on August achieved.

Over the years, she has seen many nurses and 29, the college came into being. Although, it fact in and Mater midwives trained at her Alma was a college, our performance didn’t go well she has been part of the training for years. The because, scores and percentage didn’t go the training of nurses and midwives through the years have been a painful exercise as few could way we wanted. be trained as there were not enough facilities “Percentage at the national examinations at and teachers to train many, thus, the College of a time between 2014 to 2015 came even below Nursing and Midwifery Maiduguri could not be 50. But with the intervention of some partners ranked among the elite nursing training school like WHO, Women For Health, the percentage in the country. started to increase. And since 1971 and 1972 that This was a source of great pain for Shettima who while growing through the rank of the school, the school was established, it has maintained still hoped to chaperone the school into the rank probationary accreditation, meaning that we cannot admit more than 50 students. of an elite institution.

When she was promoted to principal and “So until March 2020, when we had last acafterwards the provost of the college, she was creditation, we obtained full accreditation with a so preoccupied with making the institution the slot of 100 students per programme. Based on the best in the North-east and among the best in facilities we had, they added another programme. the country but at the same time, she never lost We have programmes like basic nursing, basic sight of her vision.

Recently, over two decades after, her dream midwifery and community midwifery. Although materialised when the World Health Organisation we are yet to start community nursing, it has been (WHO) came into the picture and gave most of approved with an index place of 100 students the facilities that was needed to get the needed for each of the courses. And our performance accreditation for the school and eased it moving at the last national examinations rose from 50 into the ranks of institutions allowed to train the maximum number of nurses. This put an end per cent to 95 and 98 per cent.” to the pains of three years accreditation visits She noted that with the coming of majorly WHO to the assistance of the college, it has by the accreditation body.

Speaking on the latest status of the school, enjoyed first class facilities. Recalling that during a from ranks the Shettima, who grew through the accreditation process, the accreditation team nurse to a nurse trainer and then an administrator went into the college library and were looking (provost) of a nursing school, said it is a dream come through not only for the school but “for me.” for books and fortunately, some of the books She said the school is now equipped to move that were supplied by WHO were latest editions into the next level of being an elite institution for and that earned praises from them. the training of nurses and midwives. She said She said now, facilities in the school eased the institution has had a glorious past and hastraining of students because of the electronic produced thousands of nurses and midwivesequipment that were installed there. who are working within and outside the country On her experience when the school did not and have equally distinguished themselves. have full accreditation, and now that it has full

Y

accreditation, the provost said then, “we were producing students with certificates but now, with the status of the school as a college, the school has all it takes to produce students with Higher National Diploma (HND)”.

She said before the coming of WHO, the school skill laboratory for nursing was dilapidated, adding that it was not worthy for training, but WHO stepped in and renovated it.

She added: “Chairs for students were completely worn out and WHO provided 385 chairs. Science laboratory was rehabilitated with gas cylinders, microscope, chemicals for testing and computers for keeping data in the laboratory were as well supplied by WHO.” Rukaiya recalled that what brought WHO into the affairs of the school was that the attention of the organisation was drawn to the dilapidated nature of some equipment of the school when they were organising trainings, and they felt a school with great potentials should be assisted to achieve it’s dream.

She said now the school is in the rank of elite nursing and midwifery institutions, one of the challenges it has to face is the overwhelming number of admission seekers that outnumbered the slot approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN).

She said with the full accreditation of the College of Nursing and Midwifery Maiduguri, the training of more nurses and midwives will fill the gaps created by the debilitating effect of Boko Haram insurgency on health institutions, which saw some health workers killed with many others fleeing Borno State to safer areas.

Even prior to the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno and other states of North-east, the health indices of the state and region were one of the worst in the country, with paucity of health facilities and the ever present epidemic of curable and treatable diseases.

As if this was not enough a curse, Boko Haram came in and the health sector was one of their main targets, thus, health facilities and killing of health workers in the affected states were a recurring decimal.

With the insurgency in its 11th year, the situation is evidently worse. In 2018 alone, attacks on healthcare system have become common place.

A total of 13 attacks on health facilities leading to 17 deaths and 12 injuries were reported in 2018.

Eight of the attacks involved health personnel, five affected supplies, four were on health facilities, and one on transport logistics.

As a result, many health workers were displaced, others killed or injured and many more fled their locations for safety. Hence few staff are left to provide healthcare services to the teeming vulnerable population in the Borno State, affected populations remain at high risk of epidemic - prone diseases like malaria, cholera , measles, meningitis, Lassa fever and yellow fever.

To address this obvious gaps, it became imperative to build the capacity of the health workforce and strengthen the curriculum of existing health institutions in Borno State.

With funding support from the European Union (EU) , the World Health Organisation (WHO), equipped the College of Nursing and Midwifery Maiduguri, Borno State with laboratory equipment and classroom facilities including, electronic learning aids to enable the college improve the quality of its training which will invariably impact on the overall healthcare system for the teeming vulnerable population of Borno State.

Today, the college which has existed for 40 years without full accreditation, has obtained full accreditation from the Council of Nursing and Midwifery with the support of WHO’s donation of required laboratory equipment, classroom facilities, books among others, thus making it a noble institution for training of critical health workers which has all it takes to produce world standard graduates of Nursing and Midwifery.

Across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, health resources are available at varying degrees in various locations. Only 30 per cent of health facilities in Borno State are fully functional according to WHO health resources availability monitoring system ( HeRAMS), with 45 per cent in Adamawa and 69 per cent in Yobe State.

Consequently, more than 1.7 million vulnerable women in the North-east are of reproductive age (15 to 49 years ), and require reproductive healthcare and support.

With the accreditation of the College of Nursing and Midwifery Maiduguri by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, all hope is not lost on production of health workforce to tackle the health challenges bedeviling the Boko Haram ravaged Borno State and other states of North-east.

WHO has with the intervention at the College of Nursing and Midwifery Maiduguri not only assisted in making Shettima’s dream come to reality but the dream of a world-class institution for the state and entire region bedeviled by the Boko Haram scourge.

Amid COVID-19, 13,561 Girls Access Reproductive Health Services in Oyo Martins Ifijeh Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in February, not less than 13,561 girls in Akinyele and Ibadan North-east Local Government Areas of Oyo State have accessed sexual and reproductive health information.

Speaking at a media roundtable organised recently by the Oyo State Primary Health Care Board (OYSPHCB), in collaboration with State COVID-19 Task Force, with support from Society for Family Health in Ibadan, the Executive Secretary, OYSPHCB, Dr. Muideen

Olatunji said 4,106 girls have also gained access to SRH facilities since the state started reporting COVID-19 in March.

“No fewer than 2,977 girls have also accessed contraceptives while 151 were treated for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STI).

With the theme: “Meeting Adolescents and Young People’s Sexual Reproductive Health Needs during COVID-19” he said despite the rise in COVID-19 pandemic in the state, the demand for basic needs of life and health services have remain on the increase.

He said: “Lock down does not lock sexual activities and its attendant effects among the young and old. We are poised to increase services to ensure quality of lives of young population in Oyo state through our existing facilities and networks.”

Other intervention by the Board, Dr. Olatunji further disclosed include :distribution of Vitamin A (Red and Blue) to 657 Health Facilities across the 33 LGAs in the state; commencement of food demonstration in 12 pilot ARIN-support centres; capacity building for 33 LGA Health Edu-

cators on Risk Communication and Community Engagement for Covid-19; training of identified Gate Keepers on COVID-19; LGA level training on COVID-19 on Preparedness and Response to COVID-19 across the 33 LGAs and distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) across the 33 LGAs. In his presentation, the Regional Manager, SFH’s A360 Project, Mr Tunde Ogungbenro said that meeting the SRH needs of adolescents became more important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He disclosed that the A360 project, which commenced intervention in September 2017, is designed to meet the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) needs of adolescent girls aged 15-19, using Human Centered design and youth engagement approach.

Now being implemented in two LGAs – Ibadan North East and Akinyele – the project operates in 6 Hub facilities and 12 spokes facilities, he disclosed.

“Youth-friendly Health services build confidence and esteem of adolescent and increase access to primary health centres in the

communities of implementation,” he noted, adding that the facilities also ensure the application of human-centred design in providing health services, provision of verified data into digital applications such as the DHIS2 while increasing digital knowledge to work during the pandemic. A360 Young designer, Seun Taylor narrated the plight of adolescent girls in the country and called on the state government “to scale up and prioritize protecting and improving Adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health”.

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͱ˜ ͰͮͰͮ

IMAGES

L-R; Olori Aderonke Omolola Erinle; Prince Adeola Adeleye Erinle; The Regent of Iba,Prince Kazeem Goriola Oseni and Engr Temidayo Erinle during a condolence visit to Iba Kingdom by the Erinles on the demise of the traditional ruler of Iba, Late Oba Ishau Goriola Oseni in Lagos...recently

Workers of Edo College of Education protesting over eleven months of unpaid salaries and other allowances in Benin City...recently

L-R: Ekiti State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Chief (Mrs.) Moji Fafure; Chairman, Ekiti State FGN/Special Public Works Programme, Hon. Biodun Omoleye; State Coordinator, National Directorate of Employment (NDE)/secretary of the Committee, Mr. Alao Babatunde; and Chairman, Ekiti State Traditional Council, HRM. Oba Adebanji Alabi; at the inauguration of the committee in Ado-Ekiti…recently

President, Rotary Club of Ikeja GRA, Alex Abah; Immediate Past President Sylvia Abdalla and others during a tree planting exercise as part of the global Rotary International tree planting exercise to create a greener and healthier Earth at Lagos State High Court, Ikeja &Goverment Technical School ,Agidingbi Lagos...recently

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Photo Editor ÌÓÙÎßØ ÔËÖË Email ËÌÓÙÎßØ˛ËÔËÖË̶ÞÒÓÝÎËãÖÓàÏ˛ÍÙ×

L-R: Former President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Chief Joshua Fumudo; Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, His Excellency, Sen. Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo; Governor of Bayelsa State, His Excellency, Sen. Douye Diri; and the Newly Elected President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Comrade Peter-Timothy Igbifa, during Presentation of the Newly Elected President of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) to the Governor, held at Government House, Yenagoa..recently

-L-R: member representing Isuikwuato Constituency Abia State House of Assembly, Emeka Okorafor; community leader in Amaibo Autonomous community, Obi Chima; Deputy Chief Whip House of Reps/Representing Isuikwuato/ Umunneochi Federal Constituency, Nkeiruka Onyeojeocha and Ogudu of Oguduasaa, Eze Okoronkwo, during the commissioning of Amaibo road in Oguduasaa Isuikwuato in Abia State.... recently.

L-R; Immediate Past President, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, (CIIN), Mr. Eddie Efekoha; President Elect, Sir. Muftau Oyegunle; his wife, Lady Iyabode Oyegunle; and the Past President/Administrator of Oath, Venerable Ladipo Ajayi at the investiture of the 50th President/ Chairman of the Council, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), held in Lagos…recently SUNDAY ADIGUN

L-R: Children and Widow of the late PDP commitment member in Ogbomoso North Local Government Area of Oyo State, Isiah Adegoke, Mrs Folasade Adegoke and Representative of Oyo State Governor/Special Advser on Strategy and Political Matters, Hon Babatunde Oduyoye ,. during the presentation of cash donation to the widow at Governor’s Office, Ibadan...recently.

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THURSDAY JULY 23, 2020 •T H I S D AY

THURSDAY JULY 23, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͱ˜ ͰͮͰͮ

INTERVIEW

Emefiele: Loan Forbearance Will Enable Companies Survive Covid-19 Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, in this interview after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting spoke about the state of the Nigerian banking sector, the recent exchange rate adjustment as well as the reason behind the aggressive development finance activities by the Bank since the outbreak of the pandemic. Obinna Chima and James Emejo bring the excerpts: How strong is the banking sector today, in the light of the massive disruption caused by the pandemic and some have said that the forbearance granted banks to restructure loans for their customers is like postponing the dooms’ day. What is your take about this?

Let me say that the Nigerian banking system remains very strong and resilient.

I will say that unlike in other climes, the Nigerian banking industry appears to be one of the well-regulated industries in the world today. We have prudential ratios that has been prescribed for the banks and they are required to ensure that they abide by those prudential ratios. For instance, the non-performing loans (NPL) ratio, the capital adequacy ratio and the liquidity ratio. To demonstrate the fact that the Nigerian economy remains sound and resilient, as at May 2019, non-performing loans ratio in the industry was 11.1 per cent.

As at June 2020, NPLs have dropped to 6.41 per cent. For capital adequacy ratio which is a ratio that measures the size of capital that banks deploy into real assets, as at June 2019, capital adequacy ratio was 15.2 per cent, but as at June 2020, it remained flat at 15 per cent. For liquidity ratio, as at August 2019, liquidity ratio was 48 per cent, but as at June 2020, liquidity ratio had dropped to 37 per cent. Yes, liquidity ratio has dropped and I will say understandably so because for instance, you will note that from around July 2019 to June 2020, gross loans and advances into the economy as a result of the CBN’s loan to deposit ratio had increased by N3.33 trillion from N15.6 trillion from June 2019, to N18.9 trillion as at June 2020. And these loans were advanced to some of the productive sectors as I read in the communique. For instance, the manufacturing sector received N815 billion; retail and consumer loan sector received N615 billion; the agric, forestry and fishery sector received N255 billion; general commerce received N221 billion, and information technology and communication received N208 billion.

What we are saying is that in spite of this large sums granted in a year from N15.6 trillion to N18.9 trillion and the prudential ratios still looks so strong, this is clear indication that the Nigerian economy and the banking system remain very strong and resilient and able to support economic development of Nigeria. The second question is that some of my critics have said the forbearance granted by the CBN to banks to restructure loans for customers is like postponing the dooms day.

Let me say that the health crisis occasioned by the pandemic itself would have resulted in doomsday for the banking industry and by extension for the economy. Ordinarily, the CBN is not in the business of granting forbearance because it has the prudential guidelines. When banks comply, we gives them a tick, and when they don’t comply, we apply the necessary sanctions. But it was out of the need to ensure that the CBN and monetary authorities is seen to be working with the fiscal authorities and government to see to the resolution of the problems arising from COVID-19 and drop in commodity prices, that the CBN should be seen to offer some forbearance to banks and by extension to their customers.

Now listen, if the CBN didn’t ask the banks to offer some forbearance to their customers, the loans would go bad by our prudential ratios and the loans go bad and get classified, the banking system begins to wobble. But by the forbearance, what we are saying is that if for instance somebody took a loan and he was servicing his loan but as a result of the crisis he can no longer service his loan because revenues are not paid, it behooves on the banks with the support of the CBN to say let us restructure the loans from maybe two years to four years or from four years to six or seven years, thereby reducing the outlay that would be used in repaying the loan or bring down the interest rate on the

Emefiele

loans so as to make life meaningful for the customer. And indeed because some of these customers have not earned revenue over this period, shouldn’t we have granted them additional loans so that they can kick-start their businesses again? Ladies and gentlemen, I am telling you that most of us who have been watching television have watched on CNN companies close down, companies going into bankruptcy abroad. Is it Brook Brothers?

Is it JC Penney? Also, some of the luxury and consumer shops abroad have gone into bankruptcy because they are no longer earning revenue. But here in Nigeria, I am yet to read about any large corporate or conglomerate going into bankruptcy. Now, on the strength of this forbearance, I would say that so far in Nigeria, 22 banks out of 27 of them have come to the CBN to restructure loans of about 35,640 of their customers and this restructuring is just about N7.8 trillion which constitutes 41 per cent of the total industry loans. Total industry loans, don’t forget is N18.9 trillion which we still consider a little bit low because we are still going to continue to encourage the banks to see how they can grant more forbearance to those customers. Perhaps if we see forbearance rising to about 60 to 65 per cent, we get a little bit comfortable that yes we have really been able to turn the corners by assisting businesses to get over their business and then come over again back to life like.

You can imagine a man or somebody who owns a school who took a loan from a bank and for two terms he has not earned school fees because children are at home and have not paid school fees. If these children are at home and they have not earned revenue, then it is just sensible and reasonable to expect that that school will not be able to service its loans. If the school cannot service its loan then what we encourage banks to do is extend or restructure the loan, make repayment a little bit friendlier for the proprietor of the school. Indeed, grant him some more working capital for him to be able to restart his business when school starts. So what are we saying? That he can pay some of his teachers while the children are at home. Then when

the children are back, he can begin to earn school fees again and revenues can come even if he wants to increase his school fees at that time even the parents can understand, the authorities will understand. So those are the things that are involved in this restructuring.

So when somebody or naysayer say granting the forbearance postpones the doomsday, indeed, it completely helps us to resolve a doomsday scenario because what you are trying to do is to say what do we do to get companies and businesses and institutions alive in the wake of this pandemic.

The CBN recently adjusted the naira exchange rate against the dollar. What should local and foreign investors expect from this exercise?

Like you know, we have always tried as must as possible to see how fast we move and this started from even 2016. We started a gradual programme of unification of the exchange rate closer to the NAFEX and what we did as a result of the crisis was the fact that no doubt there’s dollar shortage, but I still need to underscore the fact that Nigeria’s reserves still stands at $36 billion today which is strong. Indeed, Nigeria has not even touched the $3.4 billion loan it took from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is a sign of prudence and being cautious to say let’s be prudent in spending our money. So, it’s an adjustment process.

When somebody says what next, I can say that the market is stable right now at about N386/ N387 and sometimes hovering towards N390 and it is understandable and it would go up and come down. We believe as dollars become more available and the liquidity in the market becomes more and more, what you’ll find is that the rate will appreciate and come down to a level we think is at par with our exchange rate mandate and practices You have done massive interventions in the economy to cushion the impact of the Covid-19. Do you have any feedback as to the impact so far of the interventions?

When the Covid-19 struck, we put on the

table, a couple of intervention facilities. Firstly, we said we were making N50 billion available to support households and SMEs that are impacted adversely by Covid-19. Secondly, we said for the health and pharmaceutical companies, we are putting on the table, N100 billion. To support the agricultural and manufacturing sectors to also remain business, we also put on the table N1 trillion in intervention facilities. And I can say that as at today, the update as at today is that over N152.9 billion has been disbursed to 61 manufacturing companies, out of the N1 trillion. Also, 20 healthcare projects have been funded to the tune of about N26.278 billion out of the N100 billion.

Under our AGSMEIS, the CBN has also funded 11,613 beneficiaries with over N41 billion. This is different from the household facility. This AGSMEIS fund is like people who want to go into small scale poultry, setting up a barbing salon, and we make it possible for you to be able to get the tools you need to go into your business and these are the micro and small businesses that badly need access to credit in the economy. Also, out of the N50 billion that we set aside for the household and MSMEs that are affected by the Covid-19, we have so far disbursed to over 92,000 people close to N49.195 billion.

Indeed, the board of the Bank and the MPC endorsed the fact that we might even need to increase the household and MSMEs’ facility to accommodate more of the households and businesses so that they can easily recover from the crisis and get back into their micro businesses. So, that asking for the impact must understand that the fact that inflation is moderated, yes it is rising, by 10 basis points in a month, but we saw one of the PMI indices even improving from 26 to 35 index points. That is a sign that rather than going down, it has started to reverse upward.

And we do think that as we deploy more resources to support businesses, even the PMI for manufacturing sector, we believe very soon would also reverse back in the positive territory, so that we can begin to see the type of positive growth we expect for our economy.

Last week, President Buhari launched the CBN Gold-buying programme. How will this impact on the country’s external reserves?

Luckily Nigeria happens to be one of the countries in the world endowed not only with human resources, but also by material and mineral resources and gold being one of them. Nigeria is endowed with gold, Columbite, tin, iron ore.

So, what we are trying to see is how to put to good use some of these mineral resources for the good of our country. So, what is the programme? As you know today, there is banditry in Zamfara state, occasioned by this.

We also have gold, not only in Zamfara, in Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna and some other states in the country. And we are saying there is need to encourage the artisanal miners so that when they dig out the gold, or when they mine the gold, that we should make life difficult for those who want to illegally transport or steal the gold out of the country, thereby shortchanging the artisanal miners.

What would we do? Of course, the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals has already licenced refineries or gold-buying and selling agents.

Those agents can access facilities from the CBN, take those raw gold abroad until we have our own gold refineries, bring them back and then we pay them naira that is benchmarked along market rate. It is a winwin for us because we are able to use naira to buy refined gold and store in our vault to increase our forex reserves. With this, we are truly diversifying the base of the Nigerian economy from just oil into non-oil sources of revenue. That is what we are doing and I am optimistic. It is an interesting vista for Nigeria and every right-thinking Nigerian should give support to this programme.

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T H I S D AY ˾ Ͱͱ˜ ͰͮͰͮ

MARKET NEWS

Investors Urged to Patronise Stocks with Strong Fundamentals Goddy Egene FBN Holdings Plc has called on retail investors to invest in companies with strong fundamentals, sustainable growth and profitability to ensure enhanced returns on investment.

Head, Investor Relations at FBN Holdings, Mr. Tolulope Oluwole, gave the advice at the Capital Market Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CAMCAN) virtual forum on Wednesday in Lagos.

According to him, the COVID-19 pandemic and downturn in the stock market provide an opportunity for investors, therefore, urging them to go beyond speculation and invest in stocks with strong fundamentals, sound management and potentials for growth.

He said understanding to invest in good companies such as FBN Holdings, for instance, was key at this time for investors not to have their fingers burnt again.

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

“At this time of economic challenge, we have seen an increase in the domestic retail and institutional investors participation in the market. There was an opportunity in any market downturn and investors should key into the present opportunities in the equities market, “ he stated.

On the exit of foreign investors, Oluwole said they would soon find their way back to the market in a matter of time with strong business fundamentals.

In his presentation titled,

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‘Financial media and engagement with retail investors’, he said there were a number of different investors with varied levels of interest in a company’s investment story.

Oluwole noted that while the majority of the audience has broadly similar requirements, there are subtle differences and it is critically important to ensure consistency in the messages to avoid misinterpretation.

He described retail investors as non-professional market

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

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participants who generally invest smaller amounts than larger institutional investors.

He also noted that individual investors were thought to be less knowledgeable, less disciplined, less skillful, and prone to behavioral and emotional decisions, noting that despite their lack of knowledge, the retail investment space was enormous with individuals.

According to him, knowing and understanding potential investors is very crucial when

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presenting the equity story and consider having a fair balance of investor type, adding that investor relations (IR) plays a pivotal role in providing detail about the health of an organisation to a wide range of interested parties.

“The increase in stakeholder interest from optimal IR will ultimately result in an increase in the market value of the organisation, as long as the company delivers on its operational performance, noting the environment.

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THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

MARKET NEWS

SAHCOL Posts N3bn Revenue, N11.42m Profit in Six Months Goddy Egene

Shareholders of Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL) Plc yesterday

announced its unaudited financial results for the half year (H1) ended June 30, 2020, showing a decline in the revenue and profits,

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager.

Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is a type of fund which owns the assets (shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency, etc.) and divides ownership of those assets into shares. Investors can buy these ‘shares’ on the

indicating the challenges encountered in the review period.

SAHCO recorded a revenue of N3.092 billion,

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg.

Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 21Jul-2020, unless otherwise stated.

showing a decline of 11.9 per cent from N3.511 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2019. Gross profit stood at N1.219 billion as

against N1.510 billion.

Administrative expenses were reduced from N1.153 billion to N1.108 billion, making the company to close

the H1 with a profit before tax of N143.491 million. However, profit after tax dipped by 93 per cent from N171.503 million to N11.428 million.

Offer price: The price at which units of a trust or ETF are bought by investors.

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF. Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

NAV: Is value per share of the real estate assets held by a REIT on a specific date.

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Afrinvest Plutus Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria International Debt Fund N/A N/A N/A ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund 0.92 0.93 1.74% ACAP Income Funds 0.78 0.78 9.77% AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 6.41% AIICO Balanced Fund 2.89 2.95 17.36% info@anchoriaam.com ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 6.10% Anchoria Equity Fund 94.13 94.45 -8.28% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.27 1.27 10.24% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 13.92 14.34 -9.15% ARM Discovery Fund 331.43 341.42 -4.05% ARM Ethical Fund 30.07 30.98 3.39% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 4.62% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 92.04 92.68 -4.21% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 4.96% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.17 2.17 23.22% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 1.80 1.83 -8.93% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 0.06 0.04 5.71% Paramount Equity Fund 10.76 10.97 -13.97% Women's Investment Fund 107.27 108.15 -2.88% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.93% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 100.23 100.46 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 100.57 100.80 Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 100.95 100.95 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 3.72% Coronation Balanced Fund 0.91 0.92 -1.62% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.55 1.55 16.60% EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 4.25% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 4.67% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,177.10 1,187.39 6.04% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Fixed Income Fund 1,367.03 1,368.29 12.16% FBN Balanced Fund 147.44 148.45 0.42% FBN Halal Fund 107.90 107.93 7.90% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.72% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail 117.92 118.62 1.59% FBN Nigeria Smart Beta Equity Fund 110.92 112.87 -14.76% FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Legacy Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 4.22% Legacy Debt Fund 3.79 3.79 3.72% Legacy Equity Fund 1.07 1.09 -5.29% Legacy USD Bond Fund 1.11 1.11 2.82% FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coral Growth Fund 3,061.59 3,092.61 0.64% Coral Income Fund 3,201.90 3,201.90 4.10% FSDH Treasury Bills Fund 100.00 100.00 4.43% GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria Entertainment Fund N/A N/A N/A

GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 3.97% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.26 2.30 3.05% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 8.49% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 146.77 147.31 2.33% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.23 1.25 5.38% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,120.83 1,120.83 5.94% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Meristem Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund 1.35 1.37 10.45% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 12.02 12.08 6.61% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 3.60% PACAM Equity Fund 0.99 1.00 PACAM EuroBond Fund 107.14 109.54 SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 118.50 121.32 -7.87% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 5.50% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 2,521.35 2,532.80 -0.82% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 210.33 210.33 0.38% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 0.88 0.89 -0.57% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 273.87 273.95 0.47% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 154.92 156.64 0.51% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 4.42% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 7,674.15 7,756.30 -2.12% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.16 1.16 0.29% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 118.18 118.18 0.00% UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 803 306 2887 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.12 1.14 -5.51% United Capital Bond Fund 1.83 1.83 5.79% United Capital Equity Fund 0.63 0.64 -10.66% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 5.28% United Capital Eurobond Fund 113.38 113.38 3.79% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.02 1.03 -2.53% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 10.00 10.10 -2.78% Zenith Ethical Fund 11.39 11.46 -2.14% Zenith Income Fund 24.44 24.44 9.77% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 4.93%

REITS NAV Per Share

Fund Name SFS Skye Shelter Fund

Yield / T-Rtn

116.39

3.85%

53.25

2.31%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

8.88 81.24 64.48

8.98 82.96 65.63

2.01% -4.41% -2.32%

Union Homes REIT

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS Fund Name Lotus Halal Equity Exchange Traded Fund SIAML Pension ETF 40 Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 Fund

VETIVA FUND MANAGERS LTD Web: www.vetiva.com; Tel: +234 1 453 0697 Fund Name Vetiva Banking Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Consumer Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Griffin 30 Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva Money Market Fund Vetiva Industrial Goods Exchange Traded Fund Vetiva S&P Nigeria Sovereign Bond Exchange Traded Fund

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

108.03

16.90%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

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

THURSDAY JULY 23, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

34

NEWS XTRA

First Lady, Aides undergo COVID-19 Test as Fayemi Tests Positive Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has tested positive for COVID-19 virus.

Fayemi had been previously tested twice with the results coming out negative.

But Fayemi said on his tweeter handle yesterday: “I took my third COVID-19 test yesterday and it came back positive.

“I am generally okay and I’m already self-isolating at home and receiving the best of care from my medical team.

“I’m delegating critical tasks to my Deputy, Mr. Bisi Egbeyemi , but will continue routine duty from home, JKF.” The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Yinka Oyebide, also revealed that the first lady, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi and all the governor’s personal aides have gone for COVID 19 tests.

“The Wife of the Governor, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, being the

closest to the governor and members of the state executive council, including myself as well as personal aides of His Excellency have submitted ourselves for COVID-19 tests.

“Samples have been taken and we are now expecting the results. But none of us is symptomatic as of now, so no cause for alarm,” Oyebide said.

Meanwhile, the members of the State COVID-19 Task Force have officially announced that Fayemi had tested positive for the virus.

The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Muyiwa Olumilua, said they decided to break the news as a responsible government that believed that no information about the governor should be hoarded from Ekiti populace.

Olumilua, who spoke during a COVID-19 Task Force press briefing in Ado Ekiti, revealed that the governor had self-isolated

and will be attending to official duties from home.

“Ordinarily, we are not supposed to do this, because the governor had broken the news on his twitter handle, but as a responsible government, we owe it a duty to do this officially,” he said.

Olumilua said the governor would be attending to official duties from home while issues that would require his physical presence would be delegated to State Deputy Governor, Mr. Bisi Egbeyemi.

He urged Ekiti people not to panic over the governor’s

medical situation, saying he remains as symptomatic as of now.

Similarly, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mrs. Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, said the molecular laboratory established by state government had tested 1,000 persons across five local

government areas of the state.

Yaya-Kolade added that the state has recorded 86 cases since the breakout of the pandemic out of which 37 are still active.

“During this time, we have also traced over 500 contacts in relation to the number of cases we had had,” she said.

FIRS Asks Landlords to CURBING TANK FARMS’ MENACE...

Member, House of Representatives’ Committee on Relocation of Tank Farms in Residential Areas of Ijegun, Kirikiri and Others, Hon. Collect 6% Stamp Duty L-R: Miriam Onuoha; Chairman of the committee, Hon. Sergius Ogun; and another member of the committee, Hon. Ibrahim Hamza, at the on Tenancy Agreements committee’s investigative hearing at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja ...yesterday Stamp Duty Act identified as Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja the tenant or renter while the Police Kill One Person, Injure Three in Ogun Protest The Federal Inland Revenue responsibility of collection and Service (FIRS) has mandated landlords and property agents to ensure that they charge six per cent Stamp Duty on all tenancy and lease agreements they enter into with all renters and remit same promptly to the Service in order not to run foul of the Stamp Duty Act. FIRS’ position is sequel to the recent circulation of a stamp duty clarification guide by its Executive Chairman, Mr. Muhammad Nami.

According to Nami, propertyrelated transactions like tenancy or lease agreement fall under the Ad Valorem category of the stamp duty which attracts six per cent duty payable in percentage of the total value or sum of the tenancy or lease.

A statement issued yesterday by the Director, Communication, FIRS, Mr. Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad said the burden of payment of the six per cent lies on the beneficiary of the tenancy or lease agreement, whom the

remittance falls on the landlord or agent in charge of the property for lease or rent.

Nami stressed that “in any case, the party making the payment shall have the obligation to account for the applicable stamp duties.”

Some other Stamp Duty types and their rates are Appraisement or Valuation of Property, 1.5 per cent; Certificate of Occupancy, Partnership, N1,000 flat rate; Gift of Land, 1.5 per cent; Legal Mortgage, 0.375 per cent; Legal Mortgage (Upstamping), 0.375 per cent, and Deed of Conveyance or Transfer on Sale of Property, 1.5 per cent Others are Gift of Land, 1.5 per cent; Memorandum of Understanding (Related to Land, Sales, Joint Venture, Surrender, Subdivision Agreements, 1.5 per cent; Power of Attorney (Irrevocable/Land Related), 1.5 per cent; and Sales Agreement, 1.5 per cent.

The new Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Air Vice-Marshal Muhammadu A. Muhammed (rtd), has commenced the process of putting in place

modalities and processes essential to properly position the agency to effectively and efficiently deliver on its statutory mandates of disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response in Nigeria.

Muhammed, who was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 30, 2020, formally assumed duties on May 5, 2020.

According to a statement issued by the agency, Muhammed comes with a wealth of experience serving in various capacities in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and public service, including as Chief of Policy and Plans at the Nigerian Air Force before his retirement.

Rebecca Ejifoma

The operatives of the Adigboluja Police Station in Ogun State have allegedly shot and killed a motorcyclist and left three others injured at Ojodu Berger area of Ogun State.

The operators of commercial motorcycle were protesting the hike in ticket fee imposed on them by a newly created body called ‘ROMO’ by the state government.

The motorcyclists were said

to have been paying N200 as ticket fee before ROMO was established.

One of the cyclists, Mr. Kunle Idowu, said that they were protesting against the increase in rate around 10a.m. when the members of ROMO arrived at the park to stop them from protesting the hike in ticket fee.

As a result, an argument ensued between ROMO members and the riders. The ROMO members left and returned later

with a team of policemen from Adigboluja station to disperse the protesters.

He continued the police did not caution anyone to stop protesting. Rather, “they started spraying us teargas and shooting indiscriminately. It was in the process of their shooting that stray bullet hit one of us called Abdulahi and injured four others in the process.

“Some of the policemen also beat our members and took away

many motorcycles. I don’t know why they are treating us like this? We are also citizen of this country. We are law abiding,” Idowu said.

Another motorcyclist, who identified himself as Olope, narrated how they were picking passengers at Kosoko junction, opposite Just Rite Mall, the boundary between Lagos and Ogun State, when some members of ROMO accosted them to pay more.

UAE Orders Nigerians With Expired Visas to Leave on August 17 The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has ordered Nigerian citizens living in the country whose visas had expired to leave before August 17, 2020 or face the wrath of the law.

The Embassy of Nigeria, Abu Dhabi, UAE, has, therefore, advised concerned nationals to join the evacuation

flights arranged from the country before the expiration of the grace period.

In a statement titled, ‘Public Notice’ and dated July 21, the Nigerian Embassy in the Emirates urged affected citizens to immediately submit their papers for emigration processing.

The statement read, “The Embassy wishes to inform that the government of the United Arab Emirates has granted waivers on fines/penalties on visas that expired before 1st March 2020 to leave the country on or before August 17, 2020.

“Consequently, the

Embassy is urging fellow Nigerians living in the UAE to avail themselves of this opportunity to return home with the impending Air Peace evacuation flight scheduled for 1st August 2020, and or subsequent Emirates evacuation flights before the expiration of the grace period.

Emergence of Ohanaeze Faction Not Good for Warns New NEMA Boss Moves Ndigbo, Group extractions. plot, to desist from setting up on the legitimate leadership of Fred Ojeh The diaspora group in a any splinter group of Ohaneze. Ohanaeze must be condemned to Reform Agency According to IWA in the by any full-bloodied Igbo person.

The Igbo World Assembly (IWA) communiqué issued after its

Muhammed

has warned that creating a splinter Ohanaeze Ndigbo for political expediency is not good for Igbo unity, insisting on a unified Ohanaeze leadership led by Chief Nnia Nwodo, The recent foiled attempt by an Igbo group to set up another splinter group of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has continued to attract condemnation among Igbo

recent Skype meeting, which was jointly signed by its Chairman, Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze; Vice Chairman, Christian Onuorah, and Secretary General, Oliver Nwankwor, while condemning the plot in the strongest term, urged the traditional ruler of Igbariam town in Anambra State, Igwe Nkeli Nzekwe, and his group alleged to be behind the

communiqué, “we recognise that time and again, an Igbo-speaking governor may hold a personal perspective, and that is his or her prerogative, but the general consensus of Ohanaeze Ndigbo remains that Chief Nwodo, the current president-general of Ohanaeze is the only authentic mouthpiece of the Ndigbo.

“This type of interference

“The report reaching IWA stated that Igwe Nkeli Nzekwe went to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to register another Ohaneze group with the same exact name. His actions were foiled when CAC realised that Ohanaeze has been in existence since 1976 with its corporate charter legally registered by CAC.”

APC, PDP in War of Words over Alleged Corruption in NDDC Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday engaged in war of words over alleged corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The main opposition party fired the first salvo when it issued a statement, alleging that the stench of corruption oozing out of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has further confirmed that the APC is the headquarters of corruption as well as the dockyard of thieves, treasury looters, and

oppressive cabal who have stolen our nation dry.

The PDP further accused the APC of seeking to frustrate ongoing probes in government agencies because its leaders are complicit and all soiled, from head to toe, in the mire of corruption.

The party in the statement by the National

Publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, noted that APC’s attack against PDP’s insistence on the prosecution of APC leaders indicted in the NDDC probe further betrayed the ruling party’s desperation to shield its corrupt leaders and office holders who have been implicated in the probe.

THURSDAY JULY 16, 2020 ˾ T H I S D AY

35

24 HOURS...

24 HOURS...

OPL 245: Eni Rejects Italian Prosecutor’s Requests for Conviction of Its CEOs Ejiofor Alike Italian energy giant, Eni has rejected the request by Italian prosecutors, asking for oil majors – Eni and Shell to be fined and some of their present and former executives, including Eni CEO, Mr. Claudio Descalzi, to be jailed in a long-running trial over alleged corruption in Nigeria..

The prosecutors alleged that Eni and Shell acquired Oil

Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245, a Nigerian oilfield in 2011, knowing most of the $1.3 billion purchase price would go to politicians and middlemen in bribes.

In a Milan court, prosecutors on Tuesday asked for eight years in prison for Descalzi and seven years and four months for Shell’s former Head of Upstream, Mr. Malcolm Brinded.

But in a swift reaction, Eni, in a statement issued yesterday by the Nigerian Ajip Oil Company

NCC Directs MTN, Glo, Four Others to Submit Financial Statements Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC), has directed the Airtel Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services Limited (9Mobile), Globacom Nigeria, Main One Cable Company Limited and IHS Nigeria to submit to submit their Regulatory Financial Statement (RFS) to the commission within seven months after the end of the licensees’ financial year.

The NCC said the directive is part of the implementation of the Accounting Separation Framework (ASF) in the Nigerian telecoms industry, which took effect from

July 15, 2020, as stipulated in Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003.

The agency said it would further ensure transparency and accountability in regard to effective regulation and prevention of anti-competitive behaviour.

The Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, said: “With the commencement of the implementation of the framework, telecoms licensees are, henceforth, obligated to submit their Regulatory Financial Statement (RFS) to the commission in line with the new ASF, within seven months after the end of the licensees’ financial year.”

(NAOC), said it considered the Public Prosecutor’s requests for conviction of the company, its former and current CEOs and the managers involved in the OPL 245 proceeding as completely groundless.

The statement argued that during its indictment, in the absence of any evidence or tangible reference to the contents of the trial investigation, the Public Prosecutor told a story based on suggestions and deductions as already developed during the investigation.

NAOC insisted that this narrative ignores both the witnesses and the files presented within the two years long and more than 40 hearings proceeding, that have decisively denied the prosecutorial hypothesis.

“Defence lawyers are going to show to the Court that both Eni and its management’s conducts were correct in the OPL 245 transaction. Eni and Shell paid a reasonable price for the license directly to the Nigerian Government, as contractually agreed and through

transparent and linear means.

Furthermore, Eni neither knew nor should have been aware of the possible destination of the money subsequently paid by the Nigerian government to Malabu.

Moreover, the payment was made after an inquiry carried on by the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

“So, there can therefore be no bribes from Eni in Nigeria, no existence of an Eni scandal.

Eni recalls the decision of the Department of Justice and the US SEC, which decided to close

its own investigations without taking any action against the company.”

“The multiple internal investigations entrusted to international third parties by the company’s supervisory bodies have long since highlighted the absence of unlawful conduct. Eni trusts that the truth can finally be re-established following the defensive arguments that will be presented at the end of September, pending the Milan Court’s forthcoming verdict,” NAOC explained.

PROMOTING EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION...

L-R: Head of Legal Services, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Ibadan Office, Mrs. Faustina Adeoluwa; Oyo State Auditor General, Mr. Aweda Adewola; and ICPC Commissioner, Oyo and Ogun states, Mr. Stephen Pimor, during a visit of the commissioner to the Auditor-General in Ibadan...yesterday

Nobody is above Scrutiny of Policeman Killed, Four Chinese Kidnapped in Cross River N’Assembly, Says Lawan Bassey Inyang in Calabar

Senate adjourns till September 15 President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, has said that nobody is above the scrutiny of the National Assembly.

Lawan stated this yesterday in his closing remarks moments before the upper chamber adjourned plenary till September 15, 2020.

Speaking on the gains of a harmonious working relationship between the legislature and the executive arm of government, the Senate President advised appointees of the President against needless confrontation with the Committees of the National Assembly.

According to him, engagements with Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government by the Committees of the National Assembly are

carried out to serve public interest and in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

“As for what has been happening recently, let me take this opportunity to advice that it takes both arms of government to work together in a cordial and harmonious way.

“We are desirous of working together with the executive arm, and we expect that the Executive arm would be desirous of working with us. We want to work in harmony.

“Nobody should feel that he is above the scrutiny of the National Assembly. The function of the National Assembly is enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Madam Juliana Mabamije Passes on The death has been announced of Madam Juliana Mabamije.

According to a statement by

Madam Juliana Mabamije

her family, she passed on to the Lord in Lagos on July 12 2020, at the age of 76.

She was a businesswoman, a community leader and a devoted Christian.

The statement revealed that she will be buried in Ota, Ogun State in August 2020, according to Christian rites.

Mrs Mabamije is survived by sisters, brothers, grandchildren and five children, including Tselu Mabamije, Abraham Mabamije, Timothy Mabamije, Lydia Mabamije Ajirotutu, Onajite Jitubor (late); and a General Manager at Astroturf Nigeria, Margaret Mabamije.

The Cross River State Police Command has confirmed the killing of one policeman and the kidnapping of four Chinese working in the state.

The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ms. Irene Ugbo, said the incident

happened in Oban in Akamkpa Local Government Area.

A source gave the name of the policeman that was killed as Sergeant Ifere Sampson and the kidnapped Chinese as Kan Jinxi, Hujin chang, Jiang Jijun and Cheng Qing.

The source, who did not want his name in print, said the

incident happened on Tuesday evening at about 7.00 pm when some gunmen stormed the premises of Danatrite Construction located in Oban.

The source said that the underworld men stormed the company in about three flashy cars and shot the policeman who was guiding the premises of

the company before the Chinese workers were abducted and carried away.

The police spokesperson said that officers and men of the anti-kidnapping and cultism squad of the command and the mobile policemen have been drafted to Oban on search and rescue mission.

Advise Your Children against Thuggery, Edo APC Warns Parents The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) inaugurated its campaign council .

The party has also called for peaceful and issue-based campaigns, urging parents to ensure that their wards were not used as thugs during the election.

Maj. Gen. Cecil Esekhaigbe (retd.), was named as the DirectorGeneral of the campaign, while

a former deputy governor of the state, Mr Lucky Imasuen, would serve as Deputy DG. The immediate past deputy chief whip of the House of Representatives, Hon. Pally Iriase is to serve as secretary.

While speaking at the event, Esekhaigbe said, “I will advise parents to hold their wards and admonish them that this time is not

a joke. “Insecurity is synonymous with our dear state as of today, but I want to assure you that with Ize-Iyamu as governor, he already has the template for security this he will implement.

“Ize-Iyamu will give the government of Edo people to the Edo people. There is going to be a paradigm shift in this campaign, we are not going to base our issues

on insults and provocative words because when they go low, we are going g to go very high.

The acting state Chairman of the APC, Col. David Imuse (rtd.) while inaugurating the council, urged the people of Edo State to ask Governor Godwin Obaseki to account for the federal allocations he received over the past three years.

10 Quarter Finalists Battle for $10,000 NASFAT BUILD Prize Peter Uzoho Ten budding entrepreneurs have emerged quarter finalists in the contest for $10,000 winner’s prize in the maiden edition of the NASFAT BUILD (BUsiness Incubation LaunchpaD) Initiative.

According to a statement by the Chairman of NASFAT BUILD Committee, Mr. Fatai

Olayemi, NASFAT BUILD is an avenue through which entrepreneurs and startups with innovative solutions, entrepreneurial mindset, cando spirit and a big idea or solution that has the potential to positively impact Muslims, Muslim communities and the world at large, are spotted and supported.

The 10 quarter finalists are Abideen Opeyemi Olasupo and Taibat Hussain Aduragba of OPAB Gas Station; Sodiq Ade Balogun of STEM Tutor; Bola Shakirah Ramos of Fashion Waste Recycling and Upcycling; Olayiwola Muhammad Jamiu of Autospect-Pre-Purchase Vehicle Inspection Service; and Yusuf Ayodele of Ayonique Poultry.

Others are Ojutiku Ayinde Moshood of Sarasara Cereal Products; Nura Abdullahi Bagwai of ILMUBIL APP; Aliyu Taiwo Oke of Joobla Social Media and Da’wah Network; Ajagbe Kamil Adeniran of Medical Texts and Accessories Store; and AbdulAzeez Femi Oguntoyinbo of HALAL INVEST.

IBAN Elects New Board to Run Its Affairs The Independent Broadcasting Association of Nigeria (IBAN) has elected an eight-member board to run its affairs.

A statement by the Secretary of the board, Charles Maraizu Daniels, said the election was conducted during its extra ordinary general meeting held in Lagos on Tuesday.

IBAN is the umbrella body of all privately owned and independent broadcast operators in Nigeria.

It was formed in the year 1997 by the initial batch of licensed private broadcasters with High Chief Raymond Dokpesi as its founding Chairman.

The outing going board

chairman, Mr. Osa Sunny Adun, thanked members for cooperating with his board during his tenure and prayed for the success of the in coming board.

Those elected to the board are: Mr. Guy Murray-Bruce (Chairman), Alhaji Tijani Ramalan (Vice Chairman),

Mr. Charles Maraizu Daniels (Secretary) and Hon. Habeeb Fasinro (Legal Adviser).

Others include Mr. Ime Ufot (Publicity Secretary), Mrs. Tatiana Mousalli- Nouri (Treasurer), Mr. Chris Ubosi (Financial Secretary) and Mr. Greg Odutayo (Organising Secretary).

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Customs Dismisses, Retires ACGs, Promotes 2,634 The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday announced the dismissal of an Assistant Comptroller General of Customs (ACG), Mr. Aminu Dahiru and also compulsorily retired another ACG, Mr. Bashir Abubakar, for what the service termed “act of negligence.”

In a statement signed on behalf of the Customs Comptroller General, Col. Hammed Ali (rtd), by the Service’s National Public Relations Officer, Deputy

Comptroller Joseph Attah, and made available to journalists, the NCS explained that the action, approved by its Board, was in line with the reform agenda in the service. The two senior officers, Abubakar and Dahiru, were about a month ago found culpable by a Disciplinary Committee set up by the Customs to investigate the affected officers over alleged official misconducts.

While Dahiru was dismissed

for an alleged complicity in a botched smuggling of 295 trucks of petroleum products sometime in December 2019, while serving under the Joint Security Border Patrol, Abubakar on his part, was alleged to have maliciously ordered a botched raid on a warehouse of a prominent local rice dealer while searching for imported rice in Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari’s home town.

Interestingly, just about two

years ago, he was celebrated by the Service for rejecting a $412,000 bribe from Tramadol drug traffickers.In similar vein, the NCS Board (NCSB) also approved the appointment of five ACGs and promotion of 2,634 officers. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning and Chairman of NCS Board, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who presided over the meeting, said decisions taken during the meeting were meant to ginger

and move the Service forward in-terms of manpower and operations.

A breakdown of the 2,634 Officers whose promotion have 1st January 2019 as effective date includes 37 Deputy Comptrollers to Comptrollers of Customs; 110 Assistant Comptrollers of Customs to Deputy Comptrollers; 138 Chief Superintendent of Customs to Assistant Comptrollers; 93 Superintendent of Customs

to Chief Superintendent of Customs; 93 Deputy Superintendent of Customs to Superintendent of Customs; 1, 224 Assistant Superintendent of Customs I to Deputy Superintendent of Customs; 475 Assistant Superintendent of Customs II to Assistant Superintendent of Customs I; 464 Inspector of Customs to Assistant Superintendent of Customs II. About 205 of those promoted are “Support Staff”.

Alleged Oath-taking: Ekiti PDP Executives Only Expressed Loyalty, Says Fayose Following the controversy of the viral video circulated on social media platforms, a former Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose has said what the ward executives in Ijero Council Area did was not an oath-taking but expression of loyalty.

Some loyalists of the former governor in Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were enmeshed in alleged secret oath-taking scandal.

The spokesman, Mr. Lere Olayinka speaking yesterday on behalf of his principal on Rave F.M, Osogbo during a programme, Frank Talk, noted that the video was not leaked but released to a WhatsApp platform of PDP by one Hon. Dayo Akinleye.

He explained that whatever is secret may likely not be found in the open or in the public domain.

But the video of the meeting was recorded by those that attended the meeting.

He said, “The video was not leaked but released by Hon Dayo Akinleye popularly as Dayo Maximal. He is an unrepentant follower of Ayodele Fayose. It was released probably to show what is happening in their ward.

The meeting was not called and attended by Fayose. He did not direct anybody to pledge allegiance to him.

“There is different between taking an oath and expressing allegiance to someone. In the context of the video, do you take an oath in God’s name?

The exercise is being portrayed as been fetish. In Yoruba land when taking an oath, there are objects that would be in place before it can be characterised as an oath.

New Research Identifies Six Potential Strains of COVID-19 Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja There could be six distinct types of COVID-19, according to a new research from the King’s College, London, United Kingdom.

One of the initial conclusions from a team of researchers from the college is that the symptoms experienced in the first few days of a COVID-19 infection could help predict the course a patient’s illness will follow.

Their research identified six possible sub-divisions of COVID-19, using machine learning to analyse data from a symptom-tracking app.

These findings - from a preprint paper, reflect how the thinking regarding the disease is evolving and how technologies are being leveraged to fight

the disease.

The King’s College team scrutinised data from around 1,600 people with confirmed COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom and United States of America.

Each had logged symptoms using an app in March and April. A second dataset of around 1,000 app users from the UK, US and Sweden who had logged their symptoms during May was also examined.

The researchers said they have been able to group symptoms into six divisions to study how unwell a patient could become.

The six underlining clusters are flu-like with no fever, indicating headache, loss of smell, muscle pains, cough, sore throat, chest pain, no fever.

Rivers Approves N18bn for Construction of Fourth Flyover, Dualisation of Roads Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt The Rivers State Executive Council has approved the sum of N18 billion for the construction of a fourth Flyover Bridge at the GRA Junction along the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway.

The amount also covered the dualisation of Tombia Extension Road to Ikwerre Road and Ezimgbu Link Road to Stadium Road.

The approval for the project was made yesterday at the State Executive Council Meeting presided over by the State Governor, Nyesom Wike,

at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

The State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, who briefed the press on the decisions of the council, said the project would be executed by the Julius Berger Nigeria PLC. According to Nsirim, the length of the roads for expansion is 680 meters while that of the Flyover is 502 meters.

He said government took the decision to further strengthen its infrastructural development drive.

HARNESSING ICT...

L-R: Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda; Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr. Ali Pantami; and Assistant Director, SEC, Mr. Bagudu Waziri, during a meeting between the minister and Director General of SEC in Abuja...yesterday

House Demands Evidence of $11bn Withdrawn from ECA from 2005 to 2007 Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The House of Representatives has demanded evidence for over $11 billion withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) between 2005 and 2007 by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Chairman of the Adhoc Committee on Power Sector Review, Hon. Ado Doguwa, issued the directive after the presentation of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Ahmed Idris, who announced that the total sum of $8.234 billion was expended between 2005 and 2007 deducted from the

ECA as approved by Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Doguwa alleged that there were discrepancies in the total amount withdrawn from the ECA and the N1.3 trillion announced by Ministry of Finance in its submission.

He said there was need for clarification on the status of the additional $2.9 billion withdrawn from the ECA as well as status of the N600 billion payment assurance facility in 2019 and the sum of N701 billion loan to Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) company between 2017 and 2018.

The chairman observed that

the President’s letter (Ref. No: PRES/134 dated September 9, 2005) sent to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, referred to by the Accountant General of the Federation could be a mere notice for the record or normal record keeping, hence, the need to produce the copies of approval for the additional approval to the tune of $2.9 billion, being the clearing point for all financial transactions for the federal government.

A document that was made available to journalists showed that President Obasanjo informed the National

Assembly via a letter Ref. No: PRES/134 of 9th September, 2005.

The breakdown of the funding of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and National Integrated Power Projects contributed by the three tiers of government showed that the federal government contributed the total sum of $3,773,952,839.22 (45.83 per cent) while the state governments contributed $2,984,670,057.16 (36.25 per cent) while the Local Government Councils contributed $1,475,767,435.23 (17.92 per cent).

Be Fair on COVID-19 Clinical Trials, House Tells WHO The House of Representatives yesterday told the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be fair in its regulation of clinical trials for COVID-19 drugs and vaccines.

Chairman of the House Committee on Health Services, Hon. Tanko Sununu, said this in Abuja at a meeting with the new WHO Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Walter Mulombo, and five health-related committees of the House.

Sununu noted that the outgoing country representative maintained a healthy relationship

with the National Assembly, especially the health committees, saying he hoped that Mulombo would relate with the parliament same way.

He said, “We want to call on WHO to always remember that principles of ethics, especially now that we are moving towards both national and international clinical trials is to ensure that the principle of justice in medical researches is attained.

“By justice, it means all human beings are equal and the benefit of that research is

translated to all, so that there is no segment of the world that will be used as a scapegoat in trying to achieve something.

This is the only way we can see that WHO has been fair in this fight against COVID-19 and ensure that each individual reaches his height.”

Earlier, Mulombo said as chairmen of health committees, the lawmakers were called to higher service to humanity, adding that they were expected to use their functions of legislation, appropriation,

representation and oversight to impact the health of Nigerians, majority of who are poor and vulnerable.

“I have heard of the tremendous support you are already providing to the health sector, including appropriation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund and ongoing review of many health laws such as the National Health Insurance, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, National Cancer, and National Blood Transfusion Bills.”

Court Declares Jigawa Lawmaker’s Suspension Illegal The Jigawa High Court sitting in Dutse has declared that the suspension of a lawmaker, Hon. Sani Iyaku, by the state House of Assembly is illegal, null and void This was contained in a judgment given by the court on a case filed by the member representing Gumel State Assembly Constituency over

his indefinite suspension by the assembly.

The High Court Judge, Justice Ahmed ruled that the action of the Assembly did not comply with order 15 rule 74 (2)(c) and (3) a, b of the state House of Assembly standing orders 2017 and therefore declared the suspension as illegal, inappropriate, null and void.

The member was suspended in March over alleged attack on the state governor Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar Badaru who was on a visit to Hadejia town for a wedding ceremony.

The judge directs the perpetual injunction restraining the defendants either by themselves or through their agents, officers or privies from denying the

claimant entrance into the Jigawa State House of Assembly, or performing his functions as an elected member therein, or violating any of his fundamental human rights whatsoever.

The court also directs that the defendant must pay the claimant his three months allowances withheld to the tune of N3 million.

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THURSDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor Duro Ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com 0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

PREMIER LEAGUE

Champions Liverpool Get Trophy after Eight-goal Thriller Win against Chelsea Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson lifted the Premier League trophy on the Kop at an empty Anfield last night to mark the club’s first top-flight triumph for 30 years.

Henderson received the trophy from Reds legend Sir Kenny Dalglish, who was manager when Liverpool last won it in 1990, during a spectacular ceremony after the champions beat Chelsea 5-3on Wednesday.

Liverpool were confirmed as champions of England on 25 Junewith seven games to spare when nearest rivals Manchester City lost at Chelsea, but they had to wait until their final home game of the season to be presented with the trophy.

There were no supporters in their 53,000-capacity Anfield home after the Premier League season resumed on 17 June behind closed doors following a three-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Merseyside Police had warned fans not to repeat the widespread gatherings that took place on the city’s

waterfrontafter the club’s title win last month, amid fears of a spike in infections, and Reds boss Jurgen Klopp urged supporters to celebrate at home.

A small group of fans, some with red flares, greeted the team coach when it arrived at the ground before kick-off, while fireworks were set off outside Anfield throughout the match.

During the game, Merseyside Police announced they had put in place a dispersal order between 21:30 BST today and 21:30 BST on Friday as they anticipate large crowds gathering in Liverpool after the club lifted the trophy.

Dalglish, who scored 172 goals in 515 appearances as a Liverpool player between 1977-1990, handed out medals to each player during a ceremony which involved a light show, pyrotechnics and a lot of emotions on display.

Liverpool chief executive Peter Moore said players and fans will “come together to celebrate” the title “when the time is right”.

Abia Warriors Unveil Amapakabo as New Head Coach Abia Warriors Football club of Umuahia on Wednesday unveiled former junior international, Imama Amapakabo as the club’s new Head Coach.

The impressive ceremony held at the Umuahia Township Stadium, and was anchored by the Club Secretary, Ebere Esiaba, and Sporting Director, Patrick Ngwaogu, saw the elated coach expressing confidence on the ability of his new team making maximum impact in the league next season.

Imama who signed a two-year contract with the Umuahia team, promised

to work tirelessly with every Abians to lead the team to glory in the new season.

He said that the task of taking Abia Warriors Football Club to the next level, is a collecting one. Amapakabo called for the support of all to ensure that the team achieve its heart desires.

Amapakabo handled Rangers International of Enugu to Flying Antelopes first League win in 2016 after 34 years.

He was the Assistant Coach to the Super Eagles to the last 2018 Senior World Cup in Russia.

Semi Ajayi’s West Brom Promoted to Premiership Super Eagles defender, Semi Ajayi and his West Bromwich Albion teammates will play Premier League matches next season after the team gained promotion to the topflight despite failing to beat QPR in their final Championship game of the season last night.

A point at The Hawthorns was enough for Slaven Bilic’s Baggies to go up in second place behind Leeds United, thanks to rivals Brentford’s home defeat by Barnsley.

Albion’s draw would have been enough anyway, but Barnsley’s winner gave the Baggies a two-point cushion.

Ryan Manning put QPR ahead before Albion turned it round with goals either side of the break from Grady Diangana and Callum Robinson.

Eberechi Eze’s stunning equaliser earned Rangers a point but was not enough to deny Albion a record fifth promotion to the Premier League.

Champions of 2019/20 English Premier League Liverpool players celebrating at the Kop shortly after legend of the club, Sir Kenny Dalglish, presented the trophy to Captain Jordan Henderson ...last night

Ndidi, Iheanacho’s UCL Hopes Slipping Away with Man Utd’s Entry into Top Four Duro Ikhazuagbe Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho’s hopes of UEFA Champions League football next season appears to be slipping away following Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with West Ham yesterday evening that lifted the Red Devils into the Top Four of the Premier League.

United leapfrogged both Chelsea and Leicester City to the third spot on same 63 points as Chelsea but are ahead on superior goals difference of +28. Leicester on 62 points are now fifth.

Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester have been in the Premiership Top Four for much of the season to give hope to Ndidi and Iheanacho playing in the Champions League.

But team’s capitulation to Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham

Hotspur last weekend has now thrown the Foxes into uncertainty going into the last match of the 2019/20 season against Manchester United at the King’s Power Stadium on Sunday.

Yesterday’s result at Old Trafford was not what Manchester United’s fans were looking forward to but the one-all draw with West Ham however gave them a valuable point to make hopes of Champions League within reach.

Meanwhile, the point for David Moyes’ West Ham guarantees Premier League football next season as they now lie four points clear of the relegation zone.

West Ham went ahead on the stroke of half-time through Michail Antonio’s coolly taken penalty after Paul Pogba handled

Wilfred Ndidi

Kelechi Iheanacho

inside the area.

United levelled early in the second half through Mason Greenwood who exchanged passes with Anthony Martial before drilling home a low finish for his 17th goal of the season.

United goalkeeper David de

Gea’s position has been under scrutiny after two errors in the FA Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea, but the Spaniard made an excellent reflex save to deny Jarrod Bowen.

Declan Rice struck a powerful drive narrowly over but neither

W E LT E R W E I G H T T I T L E AT U F C 2 5 1

Covington Blasts ‘Pathetic’ Masvidal for Seeking Rematch with ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ Colby Covington has branded Jorge Masvidal ‘pathetic’ for wanting a rematch with Kamaru Usman after getting ‘destroyed’ by the welterweight champion at UFC251.

‘Chaos’, who used to be teammates with Masvidal but is now a bitter rival, was scathing in his criticism of the challenger’s effort on Fight Island.

“It’s pathetic that he’s out there asking for a rematch,” he told MMA Junkie. “He lost every round. Dude, you got destroyed. I won three rounds off “Marty Fakenewsman”.

You’re not on my level, Jorge, and you know that.

“Deep down inside, you

could say whatever you want to the media and talk all that (expletive) before, guess what (expletive), I’m not at American Top Team no more, we could do this anytime.”

Covington challenged Usman for the title before the champion faced Masvidal and suffered a TKO defeat and broken jaw in their fight last December.

He took aim at both men for their performances on Fight Island at UFC 251, accusing Usman of being boring and Masvidal over-hyped.

Covington continued: “I wanted to watch, but then I fell asleep. It was so boring, it was a hug-fest and they were

playing footsie the whole time.

That wasn’t a real fight. ‘”Marty Fakenewsman’s” stock went way down in that fight. He’s definitely the most boring fighter in the history of the UFC and we found out just what I said the whole time “Street Judas” Masvidal is all hype.

“He had his 15 seconds of fame, his 15 seconds of fame are up. He hit lightning in a bottle, but just we found out what everyone knew. He’s not a well-rounded fighter, he got exposed.”

To the uninitiated, Covington’s nickname for Usman stems from the champion’s wrestling coach

being unable to pronounce Kamaru and calling him Marty.

Masvidal also sometimes goes by ‘Street Jesus’ given his early days scrapping in backyards and the long flowing hair.

Masvidal took the Usman fight on just six days’ notice and believes he would get the victory with a full training camp to prepare.

But it seems likely that Usman will defend his welterweight belt against either Gilbert Burns or Leon Edwards next.

Masvidal may end up taking on Covington to put himself back in with a title shot in what could be a hugely anticipated grudge match.

THURSDAY JULY 23, 2020 • T H I S D AY

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TR

Thursday, July 23, 2020

UT H

& RE A S O

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Price: N250

MISSILE Antonio Guterres to Global Leaders

COVID-19 has been likened to an X-ray, revealing fractures in the fragile skeleton of the societies we have built. It is exposing fallacies and falsehoods everywhere; The lie that free markets can deliver healthcare for all; The ďŹ ction that unpaid care work is not work; The delusion that we live in a post-racist world; The myth that we are all in the same boat. While we are all oating on the same sea, it’s clear that some of us are in superyachts while others are clinging to the oating debris.

OLUSEGUNADENIYI THE VERDICT

olusegun.adeniyi@thisdaylive.com

The Legislative Contractors “I t should be clear to the National Assembly that their incestuous relationship with the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on which they have oversight responsibilities cannot continue. It is an open secret that many of our lawmakers are the leading contractors in some of these MDAs where they deploy their oversight powers as a weapon of blackmail and intimidation...�

The foregoing is taken from my column, ‘Incest in the House’ published on 22nd April 2013, following the scandal that pitched the then Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Director General, Ms Arunma Oteh against the House of Representatives committee on Capital Markets and Other Institutions. Bullied by the committee chairman, Oteh had turned the table by questioning the credibility of Hon Herman Hembe: “On 20th October last year (2012), you were given a cheque to travel to the Dominican Republic to attend a conference.

Can you tell Nigerians that you returned the money when you did not travel? In asking the SEC to contribute N39 million for this public hearing, don’t you think that you are undermining your capacity to carry out your duties? You also requested that we should provide at least N5 million, that was a day before this public hearing started...�

That scenario of the accuser becoming the accused was re-enacted on Monday at the House of Representatives public hearing on alleged mismanagement and financial impropriety at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Following the drama of the acting managing director of the Interim Management Committee (IMC), Prof Daniel Pondei slumping while rendering accounts—with all manner of hands inserted into his mouth (I hope he goes for COVID-19 test)—it was the turn of the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio. Issuing a subtle threat, Akpabio said it was in the interest of the National Assembly

Akpabio, Niger Delta Minister to ensure that ongoing payments to NDDC contractors were not hampered since their members were largely the beneficiaries. “So it is important that people who have gone to court, people who genuinely did jobs should be paid for their jobs. For me, I am not against it because, of course, who are even the greatest beneficiaries? It is you people.�

Akpabio made his declaration not necessarily to indict but rather for lawmakers to understand the implication of what they were doing. Aside ‘taking care of themselves’, the real mandate of the IMC foisted on the NDDC by Akpabio is not to award new contracts but rather to pay ‘old contractors’. And the former Akwa Ibom State governor is well aware that this inquisition by lawmakers is a ‘needless distraction’, so he had to remind the Honourable members of their own interest. When a female lawmaker interrupted to question his claim, Akpabio dismissively retorted, “I just told you that

we have records to show that most of the contracts in NDDC are given out to members of the National Assembly but you don’t know about it, the two chairmen can explain to you.

I was a member of the NDDC committee; so, I know about it.�

An apparently uncomfortable Hon Thomas Ereyitomi – chair of proceedings in the absence of committee chairman, Hon Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo (who recused himself following accusation of complicity in the scandal)—kept shouting “It’s okay, it’s okay, Hon Minister, it’s okay. Drop the mic, it’s okay, it’s okay�, in a futile attempt to prevent the public from hearing whatever bombshell Akpabio might throw next.

Since both the Senate and the House have challenged Akpabio to name lawmakers who are also NDDC contractors, there are interesting days ahead. But let me share a few details with readers on the title of this piece. In the latest edition of Federal Tenders Journal (6th to 19th July 2020), the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) advertised for 16 projects. It is easy to identify the promoters/contractors. Four of the projects that will take our country to space this year are: ‘construction and furnishing of guest lounge by Korinya town hall in Konshisha/ Vandeikya federal constituency of Benue State’, ‘supply of furniture at Korinya town hall in Konshisha/Vandeikya federal constituency of Benue State’, ‘supply of audio vision system to Korinya town hall in Konshisha/Vandeikya federal constituency of Benue state’ and ‘training of youth in agro-business and artisanship in Konshisha/Vandeikya federal constituency of Benue State’. The question perceptive minds will ask is: Was the renovation of a town hall split into three different contracts to circumvent Public Procurement Act approved payment thresholds?

With ten of the 16 contracts awarded to legislative constituencies, we can also understand the bid requests for procurement

Walter Carrington at 90 But for the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruptions it has brought to our world, former American Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Walter Carrington and his wife, Arese, would probably be in Nigeria now to celebrate his 90th birthday which comes up tomorrow. On 24th July 2010 when Carrington turned 80, then Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, hosted a banquet in his honour and a collection of his Nigerian speeches, ‘A Duty to Speak: Refusing to Remain Silent in a Time of Tyranny’, was also launched as part of the birthday celebrations.

Carrington’s association with Nigeria dates back to 1959 when, on the eve of our Independence, he led a group of American students to spend a summer living with Nigerian families in Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano and Kaduna. However, it was as the American ambassador to Nigeria between 1993 and 1997 that Carrington played a pivotal role in the political history of our country. He arrived Nigeria shortly after the annulment of the June 12 presidential election and instantly became part of the struggle to rid the country of military rule.

Despite threats to his life, including

assassination attempts, Carrington was such a thorn in the flesh of the late General Sani Abacha’s regime that in 1997, a farewell reception organized for him by pro-democracy activists was violently disrupted by soldiers at the residence of Chief Ayo Adebanjo. Guests had earlier been dispersed from the late Pa Solanke Onasanya’s residence, also in Surulere, Lagos. He remains perhaps the only American ambassador who was practically hounded out of Nigeria.

A 1952 graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law School (1955), Carrington practiced law and served on the three-member Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination becoming, at the age of 27, the youngest person to be appointed a commissioner in the state’s history.

He returned to Africa in 1961 as one of the first overseas Directors of the Peace Corps and in 1967 he had the responsibility of evacuating the young Americans as Biafran troops were advancing towards Benin during the Nigerian civil war.

Even after his assignment at the Peace Corps, Carrington’s professional career continued to revolve around the continent as a highly respected American specialist on Africa and America’s policy toward the continent. He later

taught African Politics and American Foreign Policy at several universities in the United States.

He has written and lectured widely on Africa and on the status of African-Americans in the United States and hosted a television series, ‘The African World’. He has also worked on African issues as a staff in the U.S. Congress and at the leading African-American think-tank, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, DC. Conferred with the Nigerian national honour of Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003, Carrington is currently an Associate of Harvard’s DuBois Institute while working on his memoir and a book on Nigeria under military rule. He is a member of several reputable institutions, including the Council on Foreign Relations, the Council of American Ambassadors and the Association of Black American Ambassadors.

Married to Arese, a Nigerian-born medical doctor and public health specialist with whom he is joint recipient of the 2014 City of Newton Lifetime Human Rights Achievement Award, Ambassador Carrington is a true and genuine friend of Nigeria. I wish him happy birthday at 90.

of 480 laptops for three villages (160 to each, perhaps for community meetings!) in Ebonyi North senatorial district in addition to another contract for capacity building/ training. Established in 2008 “to promote and support the use of space technology within and outside of Nigeria for the management of the full disaster cycle including prevention and mitigation�, NASRDA did not forget to add a very important contract for the ‘procurement of rice for Southern Taraba’! A simple search at the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) will offer clues as to who is executing which contract on behalf of who - even while most of these companies may not be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

In the same journal edition, the Energy Commission of Nigeria advertised 54 project contracts and nine consultancy services contracts.

While the statutory mandate of the commission is “for the strategic planning and co-ordination of National Policies in the field of Energy in all its ramifications�, the advertised contracts for 2020 are for the installation of air conditioners, incandescent lamps, solar boreholes, solar street lights, solar kiosk and transformers etc. Aside five of the contracts whose locations were identified by village, local government and state, the others were either in a ‘senatorial district’ or a ‘federal constituency’. The consultancy services at the commission are of course for ‘training of youth on renewable energy’, ‘stakeholders annual forum’, ‘strategic communication’ as well as for the ‘promotion of energy planning tools in six geopolitical zones’. There are, however, two interesting consultancy contracts: ‘Review of ECN policy and legal instruments (A) Passing the National Energy Bill into law (B) Review of ECN Act Cap 10E’ and ‘E-Registry, E-Budget, E-Procurement and E-Accounting for transparency and accountability’. I am sure the people to whom those E-contracts have been ‘allocated’ know themselves! r/05& $PODMVEFE PO QBHF

Adieu Diekolola Avielele

When a family member with whom you shared loving memories dies, it’s always very difficult to process the sense of loss and the accompanying pain. But in the passage of the CEO of Cedarwood Rentals, Mrs Diekolola Osa Avielele (nee Adebayo) at age 44, we can draw comfort from the fact that it was a short but impactful life. ‘Tanwa (a shortened version of Olatanwa) as fondly called by her dad, was unique in several respect but the one I cherished most: the inability to hold a grudge. If Diekola felt hurt by something you did to her, she would confront you fiercely.

But once she spoke her mind, sometimes with tears, the issue was over. And she had an uncommon generousity of spirit. If there is any lesson I have taken from her death, it is that it is not enough to appreciate loved ones who are still alive, it is important for them to know how much they mean to us.

To Diekola’s husband, Emmanuel and their son as well as daddy, Bukunola (Omosolape) Ajayi, Mosunmola Jegede, Abimbola Adewuyi, Oloruntoyosi Thomas, C.O. Adebayo (Jnr), friends and family members, may God avail us His comfort to deal with our loss.

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