MONDAY 30TH AUGUST 2021

Zenith Bank Shows Resilience, Grows H1 Profit By 3% to N117bn James Emejo In a clear demonstration of its resilience, Zenith Bank Plc has announced its audited results for the half-year (HI) ended 30 June 2021, recording positive growth across key financial metrics despite a challenging macroeconomic environment exacerbated by the

COVID 19 pandemic.

According to the bank's audited half-year financial results presented to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), the Group recorded a growth in profit before tax of three per cent, from the N114 billion reported in H1 2020, to N117 billion in H1 2021.

The Group also recorded a nine

per cent growth in non-interest income from N116 billion in June 2020, to N127 billion in June 2021.

Overall, the significant reduction in interest expense by 26 per cent and growth in non-interest income by nine per cent culminated in improved profitability.

The Group's retail journey continued to deliver positive

results as retail deposits grew by N38.2 billion from N1.72 trillion to N1.76 trillion year-to-date (YTD).

Also, the financial institution’s savings balances grew marginally by two per cent YTD to close at N1.18 trillion, from N1.16 trillion as at December 2020.

The drive for increased retail deposits and a low-interest yield

environment helped reduce the cost of funding from 2.2 per cent to 1.3 per cent in the current period.

Furthermore, the results showed that operating expenses grew by 10 per cent year-on-year, but growth remained below the inflation rate, while the Group improved its Earnings per Share (EPS), which grew two per cent from N3.30

to N3.38 for the half-year ended June 2021.

The Group also increased total customer deposits by eight per cent to close the period at N5.77 trillion, demonstrating growth in its market share, just as total assets grew marginally to N8.52 trillion Continued on page 56

THISDAY Saved Imo from Burning, Says State Govt... Page 8 Monday 30 August, 2021 Vol 26. No 9639. Price: N250

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Concerns Mount as Court Injunctions, Orders Threaten Nation's Democracy Rulings for sale to highest bidder

Obinna Chima in Lagos and Alex Enumah in Abuja The increasing meddlesome interventions of the judiciary in almost every stratum of the political turf is fast threatening the nation’s hard earned democracy and becoming a source of concern to stakeholders, especially, as the country moves closer to the 2023 elections.

From Port Harcourt to Kebbi and then, Calabar as seen in the past few days in the Peoples Democratic (PDP) as well as events leading to the Anambra gubernatorial election, stakeholders are worried that the

trend signposts possible dangers ahead, even as they rebuked members of the judiciary for making themselves readily available for the dirty biddings of politicians.

The courts, many well-meaning Nigerians are worried, might have become a market place for politicians to buy injunctions and exparte orders, and at the rate things are going, it may be difficult to draw the lines that Judges will not cross just to do the bidding of politicians.

The ease with which judges allow themselves to be manipulated Continued on page 56

Insecurity: State Police is the Way to Go, Masari Insists Says Katsina already training people to defend themselves Reiterates stand on call to arm Worries state is policed by less than 3,000 officers Insists open grazing is causing trouble Obinna Chima For the umpteenth time, the Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, has said if the country truly intended to get a hold of the deteriorating security situation, then, it must embrace multi-level policing otherwise called state police.

The governor, whose state has been under intense fire from bandits and insurgents, reiterated his recent call for the people of Katsina to procure arms and defend themselves, sand added his government had begun to train people to defend themselves.

Continued on page 56

TACKLING CHALLENGES OF DOING BUSINESS IN NIGERIA...

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi (left), and South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister, Mr. Choi Jong-gun, during the foreign minister's visit to Nigeria to discuss economic cooperation and difficulties faced by South Korean companies that invested in Nigeria, in Abuja...recently (See Story on page 60)

Kachikwu: How I Recovered My Vehicle from US Authorities... Page 5

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Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 0803 350 6821, 0809 7777 322

NEWS

WE MOURN YOUR LOSS...

L-R: Alara of Ilara, Oba Olufolarin Ogunsanwo; former governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun; Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi; and foremost businessman, Aliko Dangote, during a condolence visit to the Abioduns on the demise of their patriarch, Dr. Emmanuel Abiodun, at their family house in Iperu... yesterday

Kachikwu: How I Recovered My Vehicle from US Authorities Denies deposit of N9.7bn in his account, bank refutes report Ex-minister threatens to sue online newspaper, demands N3bn compensation over defamatory publication Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja A former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has explained how he recovered his jaguar car, which was erroneously impounded by US authorities, and maliciously described as stolen in some online reports. Kachikwu denied receiving N9.7 billion in his bank account, and threatened to sue an online publication that claimed he smuggled the jaguar car to the US and was impounded.

First Bank also denied the publication with regard to his transaction with the bank.

The former minister made a demand of N3 billion compensation from the online publication, People's Gazette, following the false and malicious publication.

The minister, in a letter addressed to the Publisher of the People's Gazette through his counsel, Mike Ozhekome's Chambers and titled: "Libelous Publications against Dr Ibe Kachikwu-Demand for Retraction and Compensation", sought the sum of N3 billion as compensation and a retraction of the said publication.

It said the online newspaper had in its August 23, 2021 edition claimed that Kachikwu purchased a stolen vehicle, which was smuggled from a United Kingdom Assembly to California in the United States.

It said the publication "maliciously and falsely" portrayed the former minister as a smuggler.

The letter also stated that the publication claimed the former minister received the sum of N9.7 billion in his First Bank account while he served as minister, which it said denoted his appetite for luxury goods and accommodation.

The letter said, "The aforementioned publications, which were deliberately calculated to do maximum damage to his esteemed person, image and hard-earned goodwill and integrity, falsely

alleged that our client smuggled a stolen jaguar car into the United States of America.

"You went further in your baseless, provocative and malicious publication to falsely allege that our client 'received N9.7 billion in his personal First Bank account, which denotes his appetite for luxury good and accommodation' and portrayed our client as a corrupt, dishonest, dishonourable, unscrupulous, debased and degenerated decadent public officer."

Kachikwu, also a former Group Managing Director of NNPC, said through his lawyers he was inundated with calls, messages, emails from friends and associates from within and outside the country, who have expressed worry and concern over the development.

The letter further explained that the former minister had procured a jaguar car from Nigeria and used it for some years after which he sent it as a gift to a relation in the United States.

He said, "US Customs erroneously impounded the car mistaking it as a stolen car and an emission control infringement as cars with European and African emission control specifications cannot be used in the USA." He said he made the details of the purchase available to the US authorities, who reached out to the car dealer in Nigeria, and later apologised to him upon which it was released to him and he subsequently brought the car back to Nigeria.

Kachikwu also debunked the claim that some N9.7 billion was found in his First Bank account, insisting that while he maintained a domiciliary account, the statement put out a false transaction of N9.7 billion inside a dollar domiciliary account.

The minister, therefore, demanded that the publishers pay him N3 billion compensation, retract the story and desist from

further similar, defamatory publication and tender an unreserved apology to be published in five national dailies.

The letter said failure to adhere to the demands within seven days, the former minister would be left with no other option than to seek legal redress.

Meanwhile, First Bank Nigeria PlC, has faulted the accuracy of

the details provided by the online publication.

A letter written to the minister in response to the status of the account with regard to the publication did not emanate from the bank.

The letter obtained by THISDAY and signed by Rotimi Akinbode and Janice Aleto, said the published bank statements did

not reflect the true state of the accounts.

The letter read, "We refer to your email of August 24 in which you attached court statements purportedly belonging to you that were published by an online blog and requested us to confirm whether the statements reflect the true statement of your account with our bank.

"Having reviewed the statement, we wish to state that the account numbers quoted are your visa infinite card and US dollar account with First Bank.

However, the statements are not in line with those issued by First Bank and did not emanate from us. They do not reflect the true state of your accounts and are therefore false."

Leadership Tussle: PDP Elders Step Up Engagement, Advocate Return to Status Quo Want Secondus, Wike to withdraw suits in Rivers, Kebbi courts Say order suspending party chair was illegal Chuks Okocha in Abuja Elders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have stepped up their engagements to try to resolve the crisis besetting the main opposition party, even as they advocated a return to status quo between the two main gladiators in the party.

They asked both Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and the embattled National Chairman, Uche Secondus, to withdraw their suits from the Degema High Court, Rivers State; Calabar High Court and Kebbi High Court, stressing that the order which suspended Secondus in the first place was illegal.

THISDAY gathered these were part of the decisions made by the six-man committee set up by the national caucus of the PDP to resolve the leadership crisis, after meeting with the two feuding principal characters.

Former senate presidents David Mark, Bukola Saraki and Anyim Pius Anyim, as well as the governor of Taraba State, Darius

Ishaka, among others, lead the committee.

Basically, the committee wanted both Secondus and Wike to withdraw all suits before the Degema High Court, Calabar High Court and Kebbi High Court and allow the return to the status quo, a source explained.

Asking Secondus to resign as National Chairman, the source noted, was out of the question, as in the first instance, the restraining order against him was illegal.

The source said, "By the constitution of the PDP, a ward, in this case, the Akoko Toro ward, cannot suspend a national officer, no matter the offence."

Interestingly, however, officials at Secondus’ ward have disclaimed the news that they suspended him as there was no time, the issue of Secondus was brought before the ward executive.

He said, "The order of the Degema High Court was on a wrong premise and, therefore,

cannot stand before the eyes of the law. But our fear is that we don't want this matter to go further for fear of it being hijacked by external political forces."

The source recalled what happened when Jegede, a former governorship candidate in Ondo State, contested in 2016 against Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and it was just 72 hours to the governorship election that the Supreme Court delivered judgement in favour of the PDP. "This is our fear as we don't want this leadership tussle to degenerate more than this level,” the source said.

A source privy to the meetings, hinted that the Mark committee met Secondus in his office on Friday evening at the party's national secretariat, where it was agreed that he would preside over Saturday's National Executive Committee (NEC), but for the late night court order from Calabar, Cross River State.

Secondus, despite the understanding that he would

preside at the NEC, had asked his Deputy National Chairman, South, Elder Yemi Akinwonmi, to preside as a mark of respect for court order.

But the Mark committee spoke on the phone with Wike over the leadership crisis.

According to the THISDAY source, Wike and members of the committee spoke on how to revolve the crisis, through a conference call.

Wike was said to have told the committee members that he would have preferred the matter to be resolved at the Supreme Court, the way the apex court did, when Senator Ali Sheriff claimed to be the national chairman of PDP in 2017 But the Mark committee, sources claimed, remained undaunted and scheduled to speak to Wike on the matter again That, nonetheless, the committee members were confident that the ice had been thawed and that with time, truce would be reached.

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Falana: Judgement on VAT Will Strengthen Campaign for Restructuring Presses states to rally round Rivers Says dispute over enforcement not call for anarchy Lagos with 70% VAT contribution will be greatest beneficiary Gboyega Akinsanmi Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, yesterday, said the judgement of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, which ruled against the administration and collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) not only corroborated the struggle for restructuring via litigation, but also strengthened the campaign.

Falana urged all state governments to team up with Rivers State Government to defend the judgement.

However, Falana warned that the FIRS should not be prevented from collecting VAT, pending the hearing and determination of the appeal. He said dispute over the enforcement authority of VAT, should not call for anarchy.

The lawyer added that, if implemented, Lagos State Government, believed to contribute about 70 per cent of VAT, would be the greatest beneficiary, followed by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with 15 per cent contribution to VAT. Falana, a former President of the West African Bar Association (WABA), also contended that it was evident in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as Amended) that VAT, “is neither listed in the Exclusive Legislative List nor on the Concurrent Legislative List.”

The legal luminary spoke in response to THISDAY’s enquiries on whether or not Rivers State Value Added Tax Law No.4 of 2021 was enacted in contravention of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

Justice Stephen D. Pam of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt had ruled that the FIRS lacked constitutional authority to enforce and administer taxes not expressly stipulated under Items 58 and 59 of Part I of the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution.

Emboldened by the judgement of the Federal High Court, the Rivers State House of Assembly

duly passed the State Valued Added Tax Bill No. 4 of 2021, which the state governor, Mr. Nyesom Wikne subsequently signed into law.

FIRS said in a statement by its Director of Communications and Liaison, Abdullahi Ahmad, advised taxpayers to continue remitting their VATs to the federal agency or face stiff penalties if they failed to honour their tax obligations.

But Falana, in response to THISDAY’s inquiries, explained away the constitutional provisions for the administration, collection and enforcement of VAT in relation to the power of the FIRS under the Value Added Tax Act, 2007, which had its foundation in the Decree No. 102 of 1993.

He said the judgement of the federal high court was consistent with Items 58 and 59 of Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, which according to him, did not encompass the VAT or consumption taxes.

On this ground, according to him, the court decision that the Rivers State Government and not the federal government was constitutionally entitled to impose VAT, enforceable or collectable in its territory was in order.

Based on the judgement, the senior advocate challenged other states of the federation to file applications to join the case at the Court of Appeal as interested parties to defend the judgement of the Federal High Court.

Specifically, Falana explained that other state governments “will have to join Rivers State to defend the judgement of the Federal High Court. They are entitled to join the suit at the appellate court because any order from the appeal will affect them.”

Falana pointed out that in view of the valid and subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court, the Rivers State Value Added Tax Law No. 4 of 2021, “has not impugned any provision of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended).”

He said the judgement “will provide an opportunity for the appellate courts to review the contradictory judicial authorities on the legal status of VAT. Actually, there is a lacuna in the 1999 Constitution. The lacuna is that VAT is not on the Exclusive Legislative List, which was the basis of the judgement.”

The senior advocate explained that the judgement of the federal high court, “has confirmed the struggle for restructuring via litigation. That means that the judgement will strengthen the campaign for restructuring.”

Falana also observed that the judgement, “has a lot of implications for the dwindling revenue of the state and local governments across the federation,” which according to him, reinforced the call for other state governments to join the suit at the appellate court.

“VAT was increased from five per cent to 7.5 per cent last year by the National Assembly. Right now, VAT collected is between N1.5 trillion and N1.8 trillion per annum.

“VAT is fully collected by the federal government and payable into the federation account for distribution among the three tiers of government. Even though state governments have joined the campaign for resource control, the judgement is not in favour of the majority of them.

“If the judgement is implemented, the Lagos State Government, which contributes about 70 per cent of VAT, will be the greatest beneficiary. The Federal Capital Territory will be the next beneficiary with 15 per cent contribution to VAT. “Apart from Rivers and about four other states that will benefit minimally, not less than 30 states will be adversely affected as they contribute little to the VAT. It is expected that apart from FIRS, which is allocated four per cent from VAT as cost of collection, other state governments may file applications to join the case at the Court of Appeal as interested parties.

“It is also interesting to note that the judgement does not affect the collection of import

VAT on international trade.

The judgement requires all stakeholders to take advantage of the current constitutional review to examine the collection of VAT as it is neither in the exclusive nor in the concurrent legislative lists under the 1999 Constitution.

“Since an appeal to the Court of Appeal together with a motion for stay of execution had been filed, the FIRS had simply enjoined all parties to allow the status quo to remain.”

He said FIRS should not be prevented from collecting VAT, pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.

He said the dispute over the enforcement authority of VAT “is not a call for anarchy.”

Rather, according to the senior advocate, the process was meant to ensure that appeal that had been filed by the FIRS was not rendered nugatory. That was the practice in Nigeria, when the rule of law reigned supreme.

Falana also expressed reservations about the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in terms of upholding the rule

of law.

He lamented that the Buhari administration “has put the rule of law in abeyance by saying that court orders should pave the way for national security. A regime that has disdain for the rule of law cannot turn round to insist on compliance with court orders.”

To compound the crisis, Falana acknowledged that Rivers State Government “has enacted a Value Added Tax Law. The effect is that the law takes precedence over the practice of suspending action until the hearing and determination of the motion of the FIRS for stay of execution.

“As soon as the vacation of the courts ends, the FIRS will ensure that the trial court hears its motion for stay. If the motion is granted, the status quo remains but if it is refused the Rivers State Government will continue to collect VAT under the new law, because of the serious issues involved in the case, the legal battle will be pursued up to the Supreme Court.”

Bandits Kill Senator Na’Allah’s Son, Two Others in Kaduna John Shiklam in Kaduna

Three people, including the first son of Senator Bala Na’Allah, who represents Kebbi South senatorial district, have been killed in separate attacks by bandits in Kaduna State.

The senator’s son, Abdukkarim Na’Allah, said to be a pilot, was said to have been killed yesterday by gunmen at his residence in Malali GRA, Kaduna metropolis.

An aide to Senator Na’Allah, Garba Mohammed, confirmed the killing of the news but did not give details of how the incident occurred.

Two other persons were killed by bandits in an attack on Makoro Iri village of Kajuru Local Government Area.

Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, who confirmed the killing of the villagers in a statement on Sunday, gave the names of the victims as Gideon Mumini and Barnabas Ezra.

The commissioner also said three commuters were rescued by security forces along the Gidan Waya-Godogodo road, Jama’a

Local Government Area.

Aruwan said security reports indicated that the “bandits invaded the remote village and shot dead the duo identified as Gideon Mumini and Barnabas Ezra.”

“In another development, troops of Operation Safe Haven rescued three travelers from armed bandits along the Gidan Waya-Godogodo road in Jema'a LGA. The travelers were abducted by armed bandits, who barricaded the road.

“Troops responded to a distress call and pursued the bandits, rescuing the trio identified as Jibril Salisu, Happy Sunday and Ruth Dauda. The rescued travelers' vehicle, a Peugeot 307, was also recovered,” he said.

The commissioner, however, stated that, “Governor Nasir El-Rufai noted with sadness the report of the attack in Makoro Iri village of Kajuru LGA, and prayed for the repose of the victims' souls, as he sent condolences to their families.”

The statement added that the governor commended the troops for the swift response that led to the rescue of the three commuters.

SANWO-OLU ATTENDS SUNDAY MBANG'S 85TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION… Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu (left) with the Prelate Emeritus of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr. Sunday Mbang, during the 85th birthday celebration of the Prelate Emeritus at the Methodist Church of the Trinity, Tinubu in Lagos... yesterday

Middle Belt Accuses Presidency of Plot to Declare Emergency in Benue Chuks Okocha in Abuja The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has alleged a plot by the presidency to aggravate the crisis in Benue State with the intention to declare a state of emergency and undermine the authority of Governor Samuel Ortom. The group while strongly backing Ortom, said the recent vituperations of the presidency were all aimed at giving the dog a bad name in order to hang it.

MBF’s response came following the response by the presidency to Ortom’s allegations of

compromise on the part of the federal government on the issues of insecurity and appointments among others.

The MBF response articulated by its president, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, stated, “After a careful review of the interview and the 10-paragraph response issued by the presidential spokesman, the Forum is shocked at the twaddle response issued by the presidency.

"It is irrefutable that while the Benue State Governor came out speaking truth to those living in self-denial, we find it incompressible and strange on

why Mr. Shehu refused to speak on issues raised by the governor but resorted to accusing Dr. Ortom of attempting to incite genocidal attacks against the Fulani. It is either the presidential spokesman is incapable of comprehending the content of the interview or he was simply being simply mischievous or both.

“When Mr. Shehu described Governor Ortom as an instigator of genocidal attacks, he was simply attempting to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it,” the MBF said.

While alleging a plot to

instigate crisis in Benue State for the purpose of declaring a state of emergency in the state, the MBF said it was totally opposed to such a plan, which it said would throw the state into unprecedented violence.

“For Governor Ortom whose political path has been symbolised as a metaphor for astuteness and deft political moves, he has emerged as the voice of the voiceless and one whose struggle is predicated on the enthronement of equity and justice for ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, especially, in the Middle Belt Region.

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Victor Uwaifo Didn't Die of COVID-19, Says Son PDP, UNIBEN, lawmaker mourn late music maestro

Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Adibe Enenyonu in Benin City The son of deceased music maestro, Prof. Victor Uwaifo, who died in Benin City on Saturday at the age of 80 has debunked news making the rounds that his father died of the dreaded COVID-19.

Goodman Osarentin Uwaifo who spoke in company of his sister, Mrs. Evelyn Oghonmwen, insisted that his father died from complications resulting from pneumonia and not he dreaded virus as being rumoured.

The third son of the music icon said his late father was rushed to Stella Obasanjo Hospital also in Benin City on Friday, and he passed on at about 4pm from untreated pneumonia.

He said: "I want to use this opportunity to clear this misinformation. We have heard rumours going around that our father, Sir Victor Uwaifo died of COVID-19. It is not true. He died of pneumonia and not COVID-19.

He was rushed to the hospital on Friday and passed on the following day on Saturday August 28. We did the necessary tests. He was treated for pneumonia."

His house on Victor Uwaifo Avenue off College Road was a beehive of activities as people from different walks of life and neighbours trooped in to condole with the octogenarian's children.

The younger Uwaifo, a pastor with Image of God Bible Ministry, Benin, said he was yet to come to terms with the loss of his father but had been able to weather the storm because of his strong faith in God. He said: "I have mixed feelings over our father's sudden death.

Before he passed on, I had different feelings. I am yet to accept the reality of his death, I am very sad.”

He said his late father will be remembered for his works which he said are evergreen, noting that people like the multi-talented musicians are hard to come by.

Born on March1, 1941, the music legend was a writer, sculptor, musical instrument inventor and university lecturer.

He was the Edo State Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism during former the administration of Chief Governor Lucky Igbinedion

and was the winner of the first gold disc in Africa (Joromi) released in 1965 and seven other gold discs in Guitar Boy, Arabade, Ekassa series and Akwete music.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it is shock and saddened by the death of highlife music maestro, famous sculptor and academician.

In a statement, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, said, “Guitar Boy” as the late Uwaifo was popularly called, was a rare gem, a nationalist, who, for decades, ruled the airwaves, and used his music and arts to propagate the message of hope, faith, hard work, honesty, tolerance and patriotism; and left resounding legacies that will remain evergreen even for generations yet unborn.

"Victor Uwaifo placed our nation in the world map when he won the Gold Disc Record with his popular hit, Joromi. His contributions to nation building earned him the national merit honours of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), the first musician in Nigeria to be so decorated.

"His versatility was further brought to bear as a commissioner in Edo state as well as a lecturer in the University of Benin, Edo State,” the PDP spokesman wrote.

The PDP further said despite his towering attainments, Uwaifo remained humble, accessible, selfless and always dedicated to service.

According to the PDP, "Our party is grieved that this legendary Nigerian left the stage at this time when the nation needs his wealth of experience, especially in mentoring the younger generation of Nigerians, is needed the more."

The party urged the federal government to take steps to immortalise the late Uwaifo for his contributions to national development.

It also commiserated with the Uwaifo family, Governor Godwin Obaseki, the government and people of Edo state as well as the music industry.

In a related development, the University of Benin (UNIBEN) and the member representing Ovia Federal Constituency, Mr. Dennis Idahosa, have described the death of Uwaifo as a great loss to the entertainment industry.

They both noted in a separate

statement in Benin City yesterday, that the demise of the Edo-born entertainer and “Joromi” crooner, left a void that would be difficult to fill in the industry.

The Vice Chancellor, UNIBEN, Prof. Lilian Salami, said the university community would miss Uwaifo's uncommon mastery of the arts.

According to her, "The shocking

and wicked news reached us of the loss of a legend and great son of Benin Kingdom.

"Our most painful and heartfelt condolences go to his family, Edo State, the University of Benin community, his friends and loved ones.

"Sir (Prof) Victor Uwaifo (MON) was our 2nd UNIBEB Alumni Honorary Graduate, May his good soul rest In Peace. The University

According to him, attempts to simplify the reasons into a basic narrative may help raise donor-dollars for international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), fill pages of overseas newspapers and burnish foreign politicians’ faith credentials.

“But this does not increase understanding, nor offer solutions.

If anything, simplistic theorising and finger-pointing makes the situation worse.

“It is important both for Nigerians and the international community to appreciate that there are a multitude of factors attendant to these troubles,” he added.

He pointed out that there is the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorism, as well as the spate of kidnappings for ransom, “transformed by some misinformed global media into a Muslim-on-Christian threat. Yet, in reality, there are no religious connotations at all when the primate purpose of these acts is to extract money.”

“Then the herder-farmer clashes.

While international voices and some Nigerian politicians who seek personal gain from division declare this a matter of religion, for those involved it is almost entirely a matter of access to water and land.

“Herders have moved their cattle

described Uwaifo, as a pride of Edo in the Nigeria and world creative industry.

“Sir Victor Uwaifo was a musical export, Edo’s pride in the creative industry and a great patriot”.

“Indeed we’ve lost one of the very best old wine in the creative industry. Though he’s gone but his music will speak well of his legacies,” he said.

AVIATION CARGO & EXPORT EXHIBITIONS… L-R: CEO, Mainstream Cargo, Mr. Seyi Adewale; Chief Executive Officer, Sahco Plc, Mr. Basil Agbarunmi; Chief Executive Officer, Nahco, Mrs. Olatukunbo Adenike Fagbemi; and Head, Structured Tured Trade and Export, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Chuks Aghaunor, at the Chinet 2021 Aviation Cargo & Export Exhibitions Conference Awards held in Lagos... on Friday

THISDAY Saved Imo from Burning, Says State Govt Warns opposition against rascality Imo State Government, yesterday, said the timely intervention of the THISDAY management, which disowned a fake publication of its digital edition, saved the state from burning.

However, the government warned the opposition and those into such creepy acts to desist from acts capable of setting

the state on fire. It said it would not hesitate to unleash the law on anyone, who for selfish and political reasons, engaged in seditious acts.

Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon Declan Emelumba, gave the warning while reacting to the cloning of a THISDAY publication,

Buhari Pleads with Jos, Other Warring Communities to Give Peace Chance

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the warring groups in Plateau States and other parts of the country to embrace peace and end the shedding of blood seen in the country in the past few days.

The president in a statement by his spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, also assured all citizens that his government was on top of the situation and was moving ahead to crush perpetrators of the unrest in Plateau State.

However, he said to achieve success in that regard, communities must unite to end the orgy of violence in the past few days.

“The presidency wishes to assure all citizens that as a government, the administration is on top of events and is moving ahead with force to crush the perpetrators of the recent incidents of unrest in Plateau State.

“But to achieve success, our communities must unite against against these horrific attacks. Retributice violence is not the answer. While these troubled communities are being reinforced with security personnel, our religious, traditional and other community leaders must not allow the use of use of their spaces for the propagation of violence and incitement to violence,” Buhari added.

of Benin Community will dearly miss his uncommon mastery of the Arts.

"We pray God to grant us all the will to bear this great irreplaceable loss."

On his part, Idahosa said the entertainment industry have lost a legend.

Idahosa in a statement signed by his media aide, Friday Aghedo,

and into contact with farmers for millennia. But, increasingly, due to population pressure, the increased aridity of northern states, and climate change they are forced to travel further south to find grazing lands.

“Then, further afield in the southEast, IPOB are not struggling for freedom when they attack police stations and property, but rather committing acts of terrorism in order to steal money. IPOB is not defending Christians – as their highly-paid foreign lobbyists

claim - when almost every citizen of those the states they terrorise is uniformly Christian.

“Yet mistakenly, and because the lobbyists for IPOB have duped them, some misguided foreign media and politicians believe it so.

“As for Nigerians, what we need is to come together. And we must do this firstly and for the most part by our own hands, by casting asunder those who seek to divide us for their own nefarious financial and political gain,” he added.

which alleged that Governor Hope Uzodinma had planned to marry off Imo daughters to Fulani herders.

Describing the act as criminal and the height of desperation by the opposition, Emelumba vowed that perpetrators of the forgery and perjury would not go unpunished. He said but for the timely intervention of the management of THISDAY newspaper, which disowned the publication, Imo State would have been on fire by now.

The commissioner said the despicable act was intended by the opposition to ignite crisis between imo people and a section of the country.

"I have never in my life witnessed this kind of rascality and desperation for power by a people ready to sacrifice innocent lives to achieve their selfish interest," Emelumba submitted.

He expressed appreciation to the management of THISDAY newspaper for handling the matter swiftly and referring it to the security agencies for proper investigation.

The commissioner said the

government would support every effort aimed at unmasking the criminals with a view to ensuring that they faced the law.

He regretted that the opposition was yet to heal from their loss of power and were behaving like a bull in a china's shop.

"But this time, they have crossed the red line,” the commissioner stated. He added, “This singular act of faking a national newspaper to blackmail the governor and the government will forever stand as strong witness of your inglorious signpost as those, who were ready to destroy their state for selfish gains. History will judge you, just as you will not escape the long arm of the law."

He also noted that whereas Uzodinma had been ignoring the insults and blackmail from the opposition, this act of cloning a newspaper to precipitate security breaches would not be tolerated.

Emelumba warned those who had been heating up the polity in the state to be prepared for the consequences as government would no longer fold its hands and watch renegades destroy the state.

Dangote, Ooni, Oshiomhole, Others Eulogise Abiodun's Late Father The President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi; former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole and other dignitaries, on Sunday, visited the Iperu-Remo country home of the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, to commiserate with him over the death of his father, Pa Emmanuel Abiodun.

Speaking during the visit, Oba Ogunwusi admonished Nigerians to endeavour to live a life of service in order to be remembered after their demise.

The monarch noted that it was imperative to engage in good deeds while alive, stressing that,"Pa Abiodun lived a life of service not only to his immediate environment, but the whole country through imparting the right values, morals and character that those he taught are noted for in the society."

He urged members of the Abiodun family not to mourn their father's departure, but to celebrate him for he had left a legacy worthy to celebrate.

In his remarks, Dangote noted that the deceased used his profes-

sion to touch many lives in the country, adding that, people across the country would continue to remember him for his good works.

The Alara of Ilara Kingdom, Epe, Lagos State, Oba Ogunfolarin Ogunsanwo, described the deceased as a worthy and erudite scholar, who demonstrated competence, zeal and professionalism in imparting knowledge on his students during his sojourn on earth.

The monarch stated the deceased was a great man, who lived and left a legacy that should inspire others, praying the

Almighty to grant the departed soul eternal peace and the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, Adron Homes, Adetola King, observed that Pa Abiodun was passionate in inculcating the right values into his students, many of whom have become eminent personalities in the society.

Responding, Governor Abiodun, charged all to be mindful of their last days on earth by doing things that would make people to remember them when they die.

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COMMENT

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

GDP GROWTH, NNPC PROFIT AND NATIONAL COHESION The growth in GDP is heartwarming, writes Etim Etim

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hree important positive developments grabbed the headlines last week and gave hope to a beleaguered nation seized by constant news of bloodshed and violence. The growth of the GDP by 5% in the second quarter, a third consecutive climb, and the N287 billion profit posted

by NNPC in the 2020 financial year, the first time it’s ever recorded a profit in its 44-year history broke a constant stream of negative stories and astounded many analysts. Very few people saw it coming. Capping the week was the uplifting speech by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo last Thursday at the National Cohesion Dialogue organized by the Africa Polling Institute, in which he noted that despite the divisive agenda of some people, Nigeria will prevail over its tribulations due to the resilience, faith, hope and strength of the citizens.

The 5.01% GDP lift in Q2 is the highest quarterly growth since 2014, a significant jump from a marginal 0.51% growth in Q1. It signifies the rebound of the economy following the COVID-19-induced contractions seen in Q1 and Q2 2020. The non-oil sector is a significant contributor to the economic performance in Q2 2021 with growth of 6.74% in real terms, the fastest growth in the sector since the third quarter of 2014. The contribution of the non-oil sector to GDP increased from 91.07% in Q2 2020 to 92.58% in Q2 2021. The main drivers of the Q2 2021 economic growth include trade, information and communication (mainly telecommunications), transportation, electricity, agriculture (crop production) and manufacturing. The service sector, specifically, recorded its strongest performance in more than a decade, growing at 9.27%. These main growth drivers of this second quarter performance are reflective of the gains from easing restriction of movement locally and internationally, and the improvement in the business and economic environment compared to the same period in 2020.

Soon after the NBS made the announcement, an excited President Muhammadu Buhari was quick to commend the managers of the economy, urging them to keep at it till the positive development “touches the lives and pockets of the average Nigerian.” He had the vice president in mind, among other officials of government who have been working hard to restore the economy on the path of growth.

Professor Osinbajo deserves a special acclamation for his hard work in coordinating the economic agenda of the administration. There is no doubt that this recovery is largely due to contributions of the National Economic Sustainability Plan developed by the VP and other stakeholders. The N2.3 trillion plan, launched last year, aims to respond robustly to the negative impacts of COVID pandemic; identify fiscal measures to grow oil and non-oil revenues for the government; create financial stimulus package for Nigerians; support for MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and support the state governments to play their own roles.

In the last six years, the VP has made a big difference in practically every important socioeconomic agenda of this administration such as the Social Investment Program (SIP), Economic Sustainability

THE NON-OIL SECTOR IS A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTOR TO THE ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN Q2 2021 WITH GROWTH OF 6.74% IN REAL TERMS, THE FASTEST GROWTH IN THE SECTOR SINCE THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2014

Program (ESP), Micro Small Medium Enterprises Clinics, Technology and Innovation Programs of the government. Take the ESP as an example. This program was designed by the VP, in collaboration with NEC last year to protect the economy against the negative fallouts of the pandemic. He serves as its Chair. So far there are over 465,820 beneficiaries of the Payroll Support element of the plan and many other beneficiaries of the Artisan Formalization Support Track. In all, over 1.5million beneficiaries would be impacted.

The administration has given unprecedented support to the MSMEs in the country. MSME Clinics have been held in 28 States, twice in Ebonyi, across the country including the FCT. Just last week, the VP was in Anambra State to launch the MSMEs Shared Facility at the Ogbunike Leather Trading Cluster. The leather cluster has about 2,000 stores with almost 30,000 MSMEs operating there. They produce 200 to 400 pairs of shoes monthly using manual processes. But with the Shared Facility, the output should go up to 96,000 shoe soles, 44,000 slippers, 44,000 pairs of shoes and 22,000 boots. This is a major support to shoe manufacturing in the company. It should be noted that under this administration, domestic leather and shoe production has received a major boost to the extent that our military and paramilitary forces are using shoes and boots manufactured in Aba and other cities in Eastern Nigeria.

Over 400,000 MSMEs have so far participated in the MSME clinics nationwide. About 300,000 new business names have been registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) at a reduced 50% price of N5000, down from the normal N10, 000. In addition, seven One-Stop Shops have been established for MSMES in Cross River, Kwara, FCT, Abia, Bauchi, Osun and Plateau. The federal government has also launched Shared Facilities for MSMEs in Oyo, Bauchi, Benue and Lagos. This is to allow MSMEs which do not possess the financial capacity to own their equipment the opportunity to go into a fully equipped cluster-style facility to pay a token to use such equipment.

In the area of technology and innovation, Prof Osinbajo has also made significant contributions. The VP’s involvement in tech brought about the following: Microsoft opened an African Development Center in Lagos in 2019 employing engineers building Microsoft products for global use. This was as a result of the meeting the VP had with the leadership of Microsoft on the 10th of November, 2015 where Microsoft promised a significant presence on the African continent and Nigeria in particular. Google Inc. in July 2020 announced plans to establish its Google Launchpad Space in Lagos, the first outside the United States.

Facebook, in September 2020, made public its decision to open an office in Lagos as part of its planned expansion in sub-Saharan Africa.

This should materialize this year. HUAWEI on the other hand last November promised the VP that the company will position Nigeria as a technology centre for the African continent and give more jobs to young Nigerians. These initiatives are partly responsible for the visible roles of ICT in the GDP growth.

BRIDGING HOUSING DEFICIT: THE LAGOS MODEL Toyosi Ogunrinde writes that the Sanwo-Olu’s administration is committed to drastic reduction in housing deficit

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eing the most populous nation in Africa, Nigeria is confronted with severe housing challenges as its predominantly low and middle income earners do not have access to qualitative housing. With a population of about 200 million and 35% of this figure dwelling in cities, it is apparent that the problem is burdensome. However, it must be acknowledged that even in developed nations, there are still some pockets of homeless people.

Housing challenge is, therefore, universal in nature, though with variations from nations to nations.

Quite understandably, provision of affordable housing is a foremost part of the Babajide SanwoOlu Administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S Developmental Agenda in Lagos State. With the various innovative strategies it has put in place, thus far, the Sanwo-Olu Administration has, no doubt, made appreciable strides in the housing sector.

The last two years, the state government has strengthened its efforts to realise the housing programmes by completing and delivering various schemes across the state.

This includes 360 home units in Igbogbo, Ikorodu, 252 home units at the Lagos State Affordable Housing Scheme, Idale, Badagry, 84 home units, in LagosHoms, Lekki, Phase 2,132 home units at the BRF Housing Estate, Iponri, Surulere, 120 home units at Courtland Villas, Igbokushu, Lekki and 360 home units at the Lateef Kayode Jakande Housing Estate, Igando.

Similarly, four housing schemes are already completed and are ready for habitation. They are located in Odo Onosa Ayandelu, Agbowa, Magodo/ Omole, Gbagada and Ibeshe. In all, a total of 14 schemes have been completed in the last two years, thus making available over 7,000 affordable housing units for Lagosians to access.

It is cheering to note that the government is not

resting on its oars as it is determined to break new grounds. Therefore, it is currently working on other housing projects, totaling 21 schemes, which are being developed through budgetary allocation as well as joint ventures. Going by the current momentum, by the end of 2023, the Sanwo-Olu administration would have delivered 35 housing schemes to further close the huge deficit in the sector.

The homes being delivered are for both the low and high net worth individuals in highbrow and low-income settlements, including Igando, Igbokushu, Lekki, Badagry, Igbogbo, Odo-Onosa/ Ayandelu, Agbowa, Sangotedo, Epe, Ilubirin, Epe and Egan-Igando.

The main goal is to ensure that the housing deficit in the state is bridged as much as possible.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s desire is to see more residents of the state own homes and he has put in several strategies to ensure this becomes a reality. That is the secret of the success, thus far.

Presently, the government is partnering multinational development partners for the construction of mass housing estates across the state.

Successes recorded, thus far, do not come by accident. It is a product of conscientious thinking and carefully thought out strategies. From the outset, the government set out strategies that would ensure the realisation of its targets. The first strategy was to complete all inherited housing projects from the past administrations in order to consolidate on the gains of the past and have a quick win which will translate to more dividends for the people.

Many of the projects had been put on hold for over four years. Some had exceeded the project life span, thereby requiring extensive modifications and variations. Suffice to say that, this plan was also to curtail the unwarranted wastage which would have resulted from continued abandonment of such housing projects.

The second plan was to activate the PublicPrivate-Partnership (PPP) schemes, which were already in existence. This helps in reducing direct governmental expenditure, thereby releasing more funds for bridging other infrastructural gaps. While the government provides unencumbered land for these investors, the onus then lies on the partner to build according to given and agreed-upon specifications within a time limit.

Also worthy of note is the introduction of an eco-friendly accommodation, through a joint venture arrangement with Echostone Nigeria, to utilize less energy for cooling and heating, thereby ensuring sustainability of the environment. The first phase of the estate, which comprises 252 two bedrooms in Idale, Badagry, was recently commissioned by Mr. Governor. The initiative is also being extended to Imota and Ayobo areas of the state respectively.

Similarly, work is also due to commence on the Workers’ Village, Ishefun, Ayobo-Ipaja, with 608 two-bedroom flats as well as the Workers Village at Imota with 501 homes comprising 2 bedrooms and three bedrooms flats.

Concerted efforts have also been made to strengthen the government’s “Rent-to-Own” policy, thus making more residents on the homeownership ladder. This scheme enables an allottee to pay only 5% as initial payment with the rest spread over a period of 10 years with a minimal interest of 6%.

On January 30, 2020, apartments’ keys were handed over to 492 beneficiaries of the administration’s rent-to-own housing scheme at the Lateef Kayode Jakande Housing Estate, Igando.

To sustain the plan, the government is actively driving cluster arrangements via Cooperatives to satisfy the yearnings of as many people as possible in this bracket. This group is accommodated through the ‘Rent to Own’ Scheme which is a unique way of increasing affordability.

Effective mortgage funding at a reasonable interest rate to reduce the high cost of funding for housing is also part of the current administration’s policy considerations. In addition, encouragement is being given to research into the use of local building materials to reduce the cost of building. In this way, the issue of affordability is being resolved, while also energizing the local economy through reduced import cost.

Cheeringly, the state’s efforts at bridging the housing deficit equally have a job creation component.

Besides the main and sub-contractors, numerous artisans, labourers, suppliers and food vendors are also effectively engaged and earning a living from these projects.

On the whole, the government housing policy is being tailored towards a more integrated and fully incorporated synergy for the total benefit of the people. With this, location of housing schemes, either in rural or urban parts of the state, will soon be inconsequential in making choice of homes, especially with multimodal means of transportation being embarked upon by the current administration.

The progress in the Housing sector in the last two years, no doubt, affirms the commitment of the Sanwo-Olu’s administration to drastic reduction in housing deficit, which will in turn fulfill the attainment of realizing a 21st Century economy.

However, in order to achieve sustainability of the various housing initiatives of the government, all beneficiaries are enjoined to play their part by ensuring good maintenance of the houses as well as remit their financial obligations to the government as at when due. This would not only open doors of opportunity for others yet to benefit, but will also motivate the government to do more for the residents.

Ogunrinde is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

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EDITORIAL

KUDOS ON COVID-19 MANAGEMENT The Covid-19 task team deserves commendation. But there is more work to do

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he recent ranking of Nigeria’s COVID-19 response as the fourth best in the world is a delightful development. The World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative, Dr Walter Mulombo, made the announcement while delivering 177,600 doses of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine procured by Nigeria from the African Union (AU) through the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) platform. That Nigeria’s efforts in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic have been recognised globally are a clear indication that we are doing something right, especially in addressing the pandemic. All the officials involved in fighting the pandemic deserve commendation.

While it is commendable that the federal and Lagos State government have been proactive, it would seem we have reached a critical stage with the rate at which many Nigerians are dropping dead because of Covid19. The death of more than a dozen prominent citizens has in recent weeks been attributed to complications arising from Covid-19. The nation therefore needs to urgently summon the same resourcefulness in ideas and methods BEYOND ADDRESSING employed during the THE CURRENT CHALLENGE Ebola crisis so that we WITH NARD, THE FEDERAL can effectively deal with this new health GOVERNMENT NEEDS challenge. The Covid-19 TO URGENTLY IMPROVE pandemic remains the THE QUALITY OF most serious public LIVES OF HEALTHCARE health emergency facing PROFESSIONALS BY the world today. On MAKING DELIBERATE Saturday, the Nigeria EFFORTS IN THAT Centre for Disease DIRECTION Control (NCDC) night confirmed 53 fresh fatalities from Covid-19, with indication that the third wave may be claiming the lives of more Nigerians. Every preventive step should be taken to ensure that the Delta variant does not escalate in the country.

This is more so since the revelation by Governor Babajide

Letters to the Editor

Sanwo-Olu that about 1000 passengers from the red zones, with high Delta variant cases, have absconded. “From the start, Lagos State has been the epicenter of the disease in Nigeria, and that remains the case in this third wave. The test positivity rate, which measures how many tests are returning positive, out of every 100 tests conducted, currently stands at 12.1%; compared to 1.1% at the end of June 2021, and 7% at end of July 2021,” Sanwo-Olu said. “We have identified that the third wave emerged on account of non-adherence to the laid-down health protocols designed to mitigate this pandemic.”

I T H I S DAY EDITOR SHAKA MOMODU DEPUTY EDITOR WALE OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN MANAGING EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI THE OMBUDSMAN KAYODE KOMOLAFE

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 SHAKA MOMODU, PETER IWEGBU, ANTHONY OGED ENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PATRICK EIMIUHI CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO 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.

THE TRAVAILS OF TAXATION

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ach time the government announces new taxes or jerks up the costs of already existing services, Nigerians shift uncomfortably in their seats, haunted by the unaccountability that has shrouded the collection and collation of taxes in the past. An identical reaction was recently drawn when the government announced that toll gates would return to some roads, and the costs of some of the products and services manned by the Federal Road Safety Commission will increase.

The question on the lips of many Nigerians verge on what good these will do. This question is not at all without basis.

For many Nigerians, toll gates evoke all that is wrong with Nigerian roads; for many, it is also a metaphor for the country`s bumpy ride to development.

Nigerians are always left bemused as why they should part ways with huge sums as taxes when the government does puzzlingly little to justify the enormous taxes imposed and collected. Worse still, many Nigerians have no doubt that most of the taxes imposed on Nigerians end up as proceeds for corruption or perks for expensively assembled governments at different levels.

There are taxes for virtually everything. Yet, the Nigerian government through the agencies that collect and collate these taxes takes it upon itself to lament from time to time that the taxes are not enough, or that people are not tax compliant enough.

Business owners have to pay through their noses as do the consumers of goods and services. Yet for all it makes from taxes, the country is yet to transform the lives of its citizens.

Public infrastructure is mostly in shambles and the crucial to engender a better life for Nigerians are in critically short supply.

Nigeria`s journey to nationhood has been one of mammoth difficulties. Lord Lugard`s 1914 contraption of convenience was always fractured from the beginning. Those fractures were well

t is evident that the third wave of COVID-19 is more virulent and spreads faster than the earlier strains of the disease. Yet, across the country, the level of compliance with the COVID-19 protocols is still very low. Churches and Mosques still gather crowds for Sunday services and Jumaat prayers, respectively. Social outings like weddings and burials are conducted largely without regard for the protocols. In many of our schools, there are no basic tools for temperature screening, students move around without face masks while there is no running water for handwashing. The situation is compounded by the strike of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) that has left government hospitals prostrate at a time of national emergency.

Beyond addressing the current challenge with NARD, the federal government needs to urgently improve the quality of lives of healthcare professionals by making deliberate efforts in that direction. This will not only help to reduce brain drain and medical tourism—two ‘monsters’ that should easily be blamed on insensitivity of government—but also help in the bid to revamp the health sector in the country. Meanwhile, as the vaccines are made available, the federal government should create awareness among the people to partake in the vaccination exercise. This is where the National Orientation Agency (NOA) can come in with the use of jingles, town criers in some rural areas to reach out to Nigerians from age 18 to avail themselves of the COVID-19 vaccines.

What the latest WHO rating indicates is that we can win the battle against the latest wave of the pandemic.

concealed until Nigeria erupted into a civil war seven years after its independence.

The Nigerian Civil War was internecine and attritional, irreparably damaging the fabric of Nigeria within three bloody years. It is no exaggeration to say that the country has not remained the same.

Renegade members of the Nigerian military, whose reckless excursion out of their barracks and incursion into politics precipitated the Civil War in the first place, still took their turns at different times to have a run at the country`s highest office. They lingered, doing irreparable damage to Nigeria`s democratic credentials until they beat a hasty retreat in 1999. They have remained on the horizons of power, dishing out unwelcome and unsolicited advice about the direction Nigeria must take much to the chagrin of Nigerians who do not by any means have short memories.

Just as the toll gates which are being reintroduced would lead to unnecessary congestion on our roads and milk Nigerians of hard earned money, corruption has been another rock in the road of Nigeria`s journey to nationhood. So entrenched in Nigeria`s culture has corruption become that many Nigerians no longer see anything wrong with the deadly vice.

Contractors retained by the government to build public infrastructure have to pay their way through the jobs. A t the end of the day, in order to balance their own books, they execute the jobs shoddily and move on like vultures to the next contract to be ripped apart with nothing to show for it.

Nigerians are not at all averse to taxation. The pangs of taxation in Nigeria is directly traceable to the fact that Nigerians cannot see tangible benefits from the taxes they pay. The day the Nigerian taxpayer will begin to see their taxes judiciously used for their own good, taxation will become appealing to many.

Kene Obiezu, Abuja

I WANT MY COFFEE

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y favourite local coffee shop “Fifty Birds” was shut on Friday but there was no notice on the door saying why so I am worried about its future. It and many others have closed on weekends because of the consequences of COVID lockdowns and not being able to travel more then 5km at the moment.

On the few occasions there is a reason to drive anywhere it becomes obvious that a few bigger shops and food outlets have moved to “click and Collect” but there are far too many that have closed and given that there are “For Lease” signs they aren’t coming back.

There are two main suggestions as to how to protect these mainly small businesses, we can open up and live with the consequences or we can shut down and hope it goes away. The first option of living with COVID is concerning as many people are no longer living at all and some of those that have it are living with long term consequences. The second option, my preferred choice, may lower the rate of spread but there are serious mental health concerns for a number of people. The general community attitude is one of feeling locked up, wondering if there is an end to it all and we are not happy.

Solution - get double vaccinated, wear masks, don’t go out too often and isolate properly if you have to, ignore the social media trolls, and cheer for the scientists and all of those keeping us alive. I know I am not the only one that wants that coffee and the world in general to return to normal.

Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia

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Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG

POLITICS

Email: nseobong.okonekong@thisdaylive.com 08114495324 SMS ONLY

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

Jos Violence and the Irreparability of Nigeria’s Fault Lines The recent bloody crises in Jos, Plateau State, have further exposed how endemic the nation’s fault lines have become. Seriki Adinoyi writes

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he ill-fated Saturday came like every other one; everyone went about their businesses without any hint of the violence to come. Some were already in the market place, others had gone to their farms, and taxis were on the streets, everyone trying to hustle for the day.

There was no form of tension in any way to suggest that the city was going to be thrown into a mayhem.

The only occasion that drew emotions was the burial of victims of previous attacks in Bassa Local Government Area, where scores were killed and farmlands destroyed by suspected herdsmen.

Two weeks had gone by, frail nerves had been calmed and victims’ relatives had accepted their losses. They were only going to convey the remains of the dead from Plateau Specialist Hospital for a mass burial in Bassa, a few kilometers away from Jos. They had repeatedly announced to the public that they were conveying the bodies for burial.

On that Saturday morning they had gathered at the hospital in the morning, and in a convoy they headed to the cemetery with the bodies.

On getting to Rukuba Road, they met another convoy of about five buses. They were commuters conveying Muslims that had gone to Bauchi State for a spiritual exercise. They were allegedly returning to Ondo State from where they had visited Bauchi.

No one expected any serious problem to ensue. Muslims have had several retreats in Jos without any rancor; these ones were only passing by. The mourners only got worried that they were on the same route to the cemetery where they were going for the burial.

They were alarmed to see such a large number of able-bodied men going the same direction with them. On approaching them, they allegedly explained that they were from Bauchi state passing through Jos. Their concern was not unfounded because in the past sympathizers were attacked and killed at cemeteries where they had gone to bury victims of attacks.

It was in similar circumstances that Senator Gyang Dantong and an Assemblyman, Hon. Gyang Fulani died. They had gone to sympathize with loved ones where they were burying victims of attacks, and suddenly attackers came down from the hills over them.

As everyone tried to escape to safety, the two lawmakers became exhausted from running long distances. They collapsed and died of exhaustion. So, it was not out of place to suspect a large number of strangers in a convoy going the same direction considering the security circumstances in the state.

They were even more alarmed because Rukuba Road was completely off Bauchi Road, and there was no thorough fare to Ondo where they claimed they were heading to. But the

Buhari

strangers allegedly explained further that they had branched off their way to re-fuel their vehicles. But the question would still be that why must it be in the

same direction as the mourners?

But typical of Jos in recent times, every little thing triggers violence, which snowballs into full blown crisis. As arguments

To express this displeasure, they people gathered the corpses of the victims and took them to the Government House for the Governor to bury. They first took the bodies to the state House of Assembly, and then they proceeded from there to the Government House. This again threw the city into confusion, forcing the Governor to re-impose 24-hour curfew on the city

Lalong

and counter-arguments ensued between those going for burial and the strangers, emotions were let loose, and violence followed. The best form of defense, they say, is to attack first. The commuters obviously were attacked by the grieved sympathizers, and the city literally caught fire. Corpses littered the streets; the strangers ran in all directions. Those that were not smart enough got killed in the midst of the confusion, others were severely injured, while many got missing in the mayhem. Before soldiers and policemen could get to the scene, a huge damage had been recorded; about 23 lives were lost. The security men took over the streets only to salvage what was left.

Though the soldiers and police tentatively controlled the violence, palpable tension got

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MONDAY DISCOURSE

Havest of corpses for mass burial

hold of the city. There were apprehensions that the crisis was not over yet. Dark clouds of unfinished crisis covered the city. Sensing the apprehension, the state government immediately imposed 12-hour curfew on the city; 6pm to 6am.

The following day was a Sunday, worshippers went to churches with their hearts in their mouths; they suspected that there could be an escalation of the mayhem. Indeed, there was.

Some churches were attacked and vandalized.

Worshippers were attacked on their way to their churches. Others didn’t go to church for fear of the unknown. In the aftermath of the Sunday attacks, at least seven other persons were killed. Students of the University of Jos were not spared; those that were not so lucky fell victims of tricylists (keke) who stabbed them to death, and pushed them down from the moving tricycle. Others were attacked while they were on their way to church. Then it turned to a religious crisis.

The blame game began. While some blamed the strangers for crossing the path of an emotion-laden group that were going for burial, others blamed those going for the burial for intolerance.

The Governor extended the 12-hour curfew to 24-hour to prevent escalation.

To worsen the already bad situation, the Plateau State command of the Nigerian Police Force issued an unprofessional and controversial statement that further fueled the crisis. The police was probably not patient enough to do thorough investigation before apportioning blames. The statement identified the Irigwe as the aggressors who pounced on Muslim commuters and killed them. Even if the allegation was true, the Police should not have arrived at such a hasty conclusion before the report of the investigation was released.

The statement signed by the state Police Public Relation Officer, Mr. Gabriel Ogaba could best be described as a goof. It read it part; “On 14/08/2021 at about 0928hrs, the Plateau State Police Command received a distress call that a group of attackers suspected to be Irigwe youths and their sympathizers along Rukuba Road of Jos North LGA attacked a convoy of five buses with Muslim faithful who were coming back from the Annual Zikr prayer in Bauchi State and heading to Ikare in Ondo State.

“Unfortunately, 22 persons were killed and 14 injured in the attack.

“Upon receipt of the report, a team of police personnel, the military and other sister agencies were immediately mobilised to the scene where seven victims were rescued and six suspects arrested.

“The Commissioner of Police, Plateau State Command, CP Edward Egbuka, along with the GOC 3-Division, Major General Ibrahim Ali, also visited the scene and ordered for a discreet investigation to fish out other perpetrators of this barbaric act at large.

“The CP warned that those that perpetrated this dastardly act and others that incited it will be made to face the full wrath of the law. The command urges the public to remain calm and to furnish the police with useful information that will aid the investigation.”

Within a short time, the Presidency, through Mr. Shehu Garba quickly issued a statement condemning the act and charging the police to apprehend the perpetrators.

Arrests were quickly made, and more Policemen were deployed from Force Headquarters, Abuja to join their counterpart in Jos. This raised a question about the interest of the

Victims for mass burial

Protest over killings

Federal Government on the matter. The Irigwe tribe first denied complicity, then queried the interest of government in the matter. Plateau Initiative for Development and Advancement of the Natives (PIDAN) also expressed concern that the Federal Government became so interested. They recalled that three weeks earlier, suspected herdsmen raided Bassa communities where they killed several persons, burnt down houses, destroyed farmlands, and rendered several thousand homeless without a word from the Federal Government. The traditional head of Bassa also lamented that soldiers watched while his subjects were hacked to death by the suspected Fulani herders. So, why did the Federal Government quickly become interested in the recent one, so much that a statement was issued to condemn it, as security men were deployed to the scene all the way from Abuja.

PIDAN observed that in spite of the repeated attacks on the natives in Bassa Local Government, the Federal Government did not deem it important to deploy security personnel. They observed that on the same day the Muslim strangers were attacked a Presidential spokesman quickly learnt his voice to condemn the attack.

PIDAN said, “We take exception to the statement credited to PPRO of the Police Command in Plateau State on the unfortunate incident at Rukuba Road where it was reported to have said that the killings and skirmishes at Rukuba

Road were carried out by Irigwe youths and their mourners.

“Rukuba Road is cosmopolitan and we do not know how the Police arrived at such a speedy conclusion that the Irigwe were the ones that attacked the commuters.

For weeks, they have not been able to unravel the killers behind the persistent attacks in Irigwe community.”

PIDAN’s statement, which was jointly signed by its President and SecretaryGeneral, Prof. Madaki JKA and Comrade Nanle Gujor respectively, said the incessant killings of people in Irigwe land in particular, and Jos environs in general over the last two weeks was disturbing. The statement further condemned the attacks on law abiding citizens by any group of persons by whatever name and for any reason, stressing that life is sacrosanct.

While identifying with the families that lost their beloved ones and praying that God granted them the fortitude to bear their losses, PIDAN said that the escalating violence in Bassa and Jos North LGAs since 2nd August 2021 to date has been of grave concern and must be looked into.

According to the statement, “In the first week of August, the Irigwe land was massively attacked by suspected Fulani militias resulting in massive destruction of property and loss of lives.

“Following the unfortunate incidence, the Irigwe Development Association recorded 68 deaths, destruction of over 500 homes and displacement of over 30,000 persons.

Their concern was not unfounded because in the past sympathizers were attacked and killed at cemeteries where they had gone to bury victims of attacks. It was in similar circumstances that Senator Gyang Dantong and an Assemblyman, Hon. Gyang Fulani died. They had gone to sympathize with loved ones where they were burying victims of attacks, and suddenly attackers came down from the hills over them

“While we were mourning, we expect the government to have used such a period to beef up security in all nooks and crannies of Jos and its environs but such has not been the case.

“On the 13-08-2021, when the Irigwe were having mass burial of their victims, a convoy of five buses filled with able bodied men with a claim that they were from Bauchi going to Ilaro in Ondo State was intercepted at Rukuba Road where a fracas ensued between them and the youths resulting in deaths of 23 persons as reported by the press.

“We are very much worried at the insensitivity of some members of the public to the plight of natives on the Plateau.

“Why would any group of right thinking Nigerians fill a series of vehicles with able bodied men and attempt to pass through a community undergoing mass burial when there are more secure alternative routes to continue in their journey?

“We call on the security agencies to thoroughly investigate this incident and make their findings known to the public on the real mission of the group involved in this ugly situation”, the statement added.

PIDAN said it was equally shocked with the swift reactions of the security agencies and the quick response from the Presidency on the incident at Rukuba Road saying that same reaction was not displayed on the killings that went on for days in Irigwe land. It condemned what it called ‘Government’s selective treatment of killings on the Plateau’ and asked for equity and justice in the handling of the security challenges in the state.

It added that the state Governor, Mr. Simon Lalong that did not visit the scene of attacks in Bassa communities, but he personally visited the scene of the commuters’ attack for onthe-spot assessment, describing his action as unacceptable. They alleged that Lalong has joined the Federal Government to play politics with the lives of Plateau citizens.

Just when the normalcy was returning and curfew relaxed, gunmen launched another massive attack on another Christian community in Jos; Yelwa Zangam killing at least 35, and throwing city into another phase of confusion.

The native got really aggrieved that strangers are out to take their lands from them; they alleged that the persistent attacks were a form of jihad being launched by the Fulani to dislodge them from their ancestral homes.

They were also worried that the Governor has been blindfolded by politics and power, and can no longer see the long term effect of selling off his people.

To express this displeasure, they people gathered the corpses of the victims and took them to the Government House for the Governor to bury. They first took the bodies to the state House of Assembly, and then they proceeded from there to the Government House. This again threw the city into confusion, forcing the Governor to re-impose 24-hour curfew on the city.

The state House of Assembly was forced to speak. Addressing a world press conference, the Assembly also called on the people of Plateau to rise up and defend themselves and their communities, as the conventional security design seems to have shown ineptitude to do so, and can no longer guarantee the safety of the people.

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

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021

POLITICS

APC Chairmanship: Who Wears the Crown?

As the date for the much-anticipated national convention of the All Progressives Congress draws closer with the scheduled September 4 local government congresses across the states, Nseobong Okon-Ekong wonders who will emerge National Chairman of the party

Musa

Mustapha

Al-makura

Yari

T

Senators Abdullahi Adamu, Tanko AlMakura, George Akume, Mohammed Sani Musa and Danjuma Goje. Also in the race is Mallam Mustapha Salihu and former governors, Ali Modu Sheriff and Abdulaziz Yari.

These candidates are eminently qualified and they have served the party in one capacity or the other. All the candidates are former governors with the exception of Senator Sani Musa and Alhjai Saliu Mustapha. Being former governors, they will bring to the fore their meritorious years of leading their states and the party can benefit immensely from their experience. However, the perception of overzealousness, corruption baggage and authoritarianism as witnessed during the leadership of former governor Adams Oshiomhole may affect their endorsement by members and leaders of the party. There is also the hint that President Muhammadu Buhari may not be favourably disposed to a former governor as National Chairman of the APC. On the other hand, Mallam Saliu

he National Secretary of the All ProgressivesCongress (APC), Senator John Akpanudoedehe has issued a statement, which announces approved guidelines and commencement of the local government area congresses in all States of the federation. The notice also harps on a three-man delegation to the national convention. With this, the structure of the party is gradually taking shape. Once this is done, the focus, once again will shift to the chairmanship position to kickstart, which will kick-start the politics of 2023.

Going by the array of eminent persons seeking the Office of the National Chairmanof the APC, it is going to be a keenly contested election, as the party is determined to return to power at the centre. The next National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, asides from preparing the party for the 2023 general elections will have to deal with an enormous issues inherited from the past leadership and ensuring that the party truly lives up to its ‘progressives’ credentials beyond just the name.

The Chairman will be saddled with the responsibility of changing the current perception among Nigerians, rekindle the hope and confidence of chieftains in the party and more importantly give a level playing ground to all the presidential aspirants during the presidential convention in cases where consensus cannot be achieved.

The ultimate goal is to secure victory for the party in 2023. To achieve this, old wounds must be healed and an emergency response unit must be set up to cater to those who will sustain fresh injuries during and after the general elections.

Among the candidates jostling for the position of the party’s national chairman are

Mustapha will bring with him three years of experience as a former deputy chairman of the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) and a member of the defunct All Nigeria’s Peoples Party (ANPP). Unlike the other candidates, the Kwara-born politician in recent times has not shown much interest in making public his intentions and agenda to clinch the top party position.

Meanwhile, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa from Niger State has featured predominantly in the national dailies as one of the strong candidates for the APC chairmanship position. The Northcentral region is being touted by pundits as the preferred region to produce the next chairman of the party.

Sen. Sani Musa represents, a serving senator representing the people of Niger East Senatorial District in the 9th Senate is the Chairman Senate Services Committee.

Much has been said about his sterling qualities and ability to lead the party and a lot has also been left unsaid on his impeccable patriotism to his country

However, the perception of overzealousness, corruption baggage and authoritarianism as witnessed during the leadership of former governor Adams Oshiomhole may affect their endorsement by members and leaders of the party. There is also the hint that President Muhammadu Buhari may not be favourably disposed to a former governor as National Chairman of the APC

and party.

Sani Musa has remained visible and consistent in envisioning a radical departure from the docility and obstinacy that was the hallmark of the past administrator of the party in resolving delicate issues that requires tact and reconciling aggrieved members.

The challenges that come with inheriting a party of diverse culture with a potential to be enveloped with protracted crisis requires a technocrat and a politician with the prerequisite leadership skills of the modern era – one that is vibrant, focus driven, devoid of godfatherism and a fabric unstained of corruption.

In retrospect, the APC cannot afford a repeat of the past, the party is going through a new metamorphosis on the account of the ongoing reconciliation efforts and recent ‘decampees’ into the party ahead of its national convention.

The egos and expectations of these gladiators must be managed in such a way as to avoid a possible implosion of the party. In addition, the opposition party is regrouping and playing to the gallery by capitalizing on the past challenges of the APC to whip up public sympathy.

Sen. Sani Musa’s rich experience in managing people will come handy. He’s a goal-oriented person; energetic, inventive and a workaholic.

Having demonstrated a high level of integrity and discipline, he remains a valid choice for the APC to begin the rebuilding process; build mutual trust, friendship and respect among our party members and Nigerians as a whole.

It is expected that more aspirants will declare their intention to contest the APC chairmanship position as the national convention draws nearer, no doubt Sani Musa towers above them all and he’s expected to weather the storm successfully by becoming the choice of his party men and other stakeholders within the party.

MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021 • T H I S D AY

21

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T H I S D AY ˾ ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

FEATURES

Group Features Editor: Chiemelie Ezeobi Email chiemelie.ezeobi@thisdaylive.com, 07010510430

How Nigeria Continues to Lose Multimillion-naira to Lagos, Other States' Pipeline Vandals Chiemelie Ezeobi reports that the recent unearthing of a pipeline vandalism syndicate by the Western Naval Command at Baruwa in Alimosho, Lagos, again brings to the fore the need to tackle this economic sabotage headlong

The vandal's connection to the vandalised NNPC pipeline

C

ountlessly, pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have been breached, with the nation suffering losses of petroleum products running into billions of naira. The NNPC facility is a strategic national infrastructure for refined petroleum products to be distributed across the county, so sabotage of any nature spells grave danger to Nigeria's economy.

Alarming Figures With the huge revenue derived from crude oil, pipeline vandalism portends grave danger for the nation’s economy.

In 2000 alone, about 300,000 barrels of crude oil were stolen per day. An International Centre of Reconciliation study puts the total value of stolen crude oil and disrupted oil production between 2003 and 2008 at approximately N14 trillion.

In 2011 alone, Nigeria lost about $7 billion to crude oil theft, a clear but whooping difference from the value of crude oil lost between 2003 and 2008.

A Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC) report on crude oil theft in Nigeria revealed that the government lost about N3.8 trillion between 2016 and 2017. That figure has tripled over the subsequent years. Last February, NNPC pegged crude oil in the hands of saboteurs and vandals at an average of 200,000 barrels per day. This was a giant climb from 70,000 barrels per day as of August 2020.

Heist at Alimosho The Niger Delta, synonymous with oil theft and destruction of oil pipelines, is not the only place economic saboteurs are exploiting Africa's most populous nation. At Baruwa, one of the suburbs that dot the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos, an oil heist was recently discovered. Vandals had dug a manhole after vandalising one of NNPC's pipelines enough to leak crude oil into the criminals' receptacle with pipes and hoses connected to the manhole, a conduit that supplies fuel

into waiting tankers for onward Tipped off by anonymous transportation to buyers. sources, the Western Naval Command (WNC) of the Nigerian Navy swooped in and intercepted four Arrest by Navy

From January 2019 to January this year alone, repairs of the pipelines and other facilities came at an outlay of about N15 billion. Of which a third of that amount was expended within two months. Just last May, NNPC spent about N3.2 billion on repairs. Prior to that, March 2020 gulped N2.6 billion for the same purpose

trucks laden with petrol. Although the interception was carried out in a joint operation with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) personnel, the Flag Officer Commanding of the naval command, Rear Admiral Jason Gbassa, attributed the success to intelligence gathering.

"This was possible as a result of the intelligence we received for some weeks, and we have repeatedly been on this case. Yesterday we set up and discovered four trucks came into this area," stated Gbassa. "The striking thing is that within a built-up area like this, people had the effrontery to carry out illegal acts.”

Unfortunately, the squad could not capture the suspects who fled the scene, leaving behind their trucks and appliances.

“You will recall that some weeks ago, four people who were involved in similar incidence and were sentenced and handed over to the Nigerian Correctional Service," the FOC disclosed, adding that it takes technical skills and enormous resources to muster the kind of operation.

He added, "We will do our best to make sure it doesn’t take place here again and other places we have identified. If we put together these four trucks with a capacity of about over 90,000 litres multiplied by N165, you will go into the range of about N15 million for just one night’s operation for a group of people to rip off the nation."

Beyond the economic damage of the criminals' activities, there are health misfortunes pipeline vandals bring upon communities.

“The fumes from this activity alone is a threat to their health and even to the environment. I thank the people of this community because they were the ones who provided the intelligence, and I appreciate other security agencies who collaborated with us in carrying out this activity," the naval officer explained. "I urge them that we continue in this collaboration and synergy in going forward that the

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T H I S D AY ˾ ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

FEATURES

Commanding Officer Operation AWATSE, Cdr AS Omotosho showing the well to FOC Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Jason Gbassa (third right); WNC Chief Operations Officer, Commodore DN Mathew (second right); and NSCDC Commandant, Lagos State Command, Eweka Okoro

collaboration will get better and we will get more results in the pursuit of perpetrators of such crimes.”

Collaboration The NSCDC Commandant of the Lagos command, Eweka Okoro, is committed as Gbassa to bringing economic saboteurs to book. He warned pipeline vandals to steer clear of oil infrastructure. “These vehicles are purported vandalised vehicles used to vandalise the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) trucks on the right of way," said Okoro.

Next Step Often, the recovered products are handed over to the PPMC for storage, pending the court's decision.

In this case, the FOC said it would move the four trucks to base and hand them over to the appropriate agencies for further investigations.

"Similarly, we will ensure to follow up on this same case to see to it that we conclude effectively to make sure that the trucks are forfeited to the federal government," he added.

End Buyers One part often neglected in the scheme of things are buyers of the stolen oil. “On our part, we will continue to pursue the perpetrators in order to know those who are behind the sponsorship of these illegal acts and see to the end of such acts sabotaging our economy," said Gbassa.

THISDAY gathered that the entire process is run as a cartel: the vandals siphon the products, package them, and sell them to the highest bidders.

Sometimes, it is transported to different parts of the country and sometimes to neighbouring African countries.

Well-oiled Vandalism Scheme Destruction of pipelines and subsequent stealing of crude oil is more sophisticated than being a mere operation of vandals. It is an organised crime run by a cartel of economic saboteurs.

Given that these oil pipelines belonging to the NNPC are virtually

on the ground surfaces, vandals dig boreholes kilometres away from the pipelines and siphon the products. The products then run into the boreholes, which they fill into kegs and drums, even tankers. The stolen products are then sold to the buyers within Nigeria and neighbouring countries at cheaper rates.

Colossal Repairs These illegal activities have led to a significant loss in revenue accruable to the government and damages to strategic installations that require a colossal amount of money to repair.

In early 2017, the authorities were forced to shut down the 76km stretch of pipeline running from Atlas Cove to Mosimi Depot for 11 months due to severely damaged pipelines. The repair cost the federal government billions of naira.

According to NNPC, between October 2018 and October 2019, the nation recorded 2,181 vandalised pipelines. In the monthly financial reports of NNPC, mined

by Premium Times, 1,161 pipeline points were vandalised across Nigeria in the 21 months between January 2019 and September 2020.

The data revealed that the acts of vandalism happened across five pipeline axes nationwide.

It noted that the Port Harcourt axis of the pipelines recorded the largest share of the 'pulverized points' within this period, with 538

points damaged. This is followed by the Mosimi-Ibadan axis, with 535 points damaged. Other oil pipelines in Gombe (46), Kaduna (32) and Warri-River Niger (10) accounted for the remaining oil pipelines theft in almost two years.

Aside from the huge financial toll on the nation’s lean purse, the report also noted that from January 2019 to January this year alone, repairs of the pipelines and other facilities came at an outlay of about N15 billion. Of which a third of that amount was expended within two months. Just last May, NNPC spent about N3.2 billion on repairs. Prior to that, March 2020 gulped N2.6 billion for the same purpose.

Damage to Environment Inevitably, damaged pipelines have led to pollution of the maritime environment and, in some cases, fire disasters resulting in the loss of several lives and properties.

Environmental pollution is also rife. The 2011 Ogoniland report by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) revealed an unprecedented concentration of benzene, a carcinogen and hydrocarbons occasioned by an oil spill that pollutes air and water in the Niger Delta.

In some instances, UNEP's study showed benzene concentrate in outdoor air were 900 times higher than World Health Organisation's (WHO) benchmark. It noted that the contamination of drinking and

It is to curb the menace of pipeline vandalism, oil theft that Operation AWATSE, a joint operation led by the navy, was borne. Its mandate entails protecting NNPC pipelines within the right of way from Atlas Cove to Mosimi, where billions of naira have been lost to pipeline vandals

groundwater posed a serious threat to human health and distortion of the ecosystem and would take up to three decades to clear.

Although the federal government had approved establishing modular refineries to checkmate crude oil theft, the crime has not stopped.

Alleged Complicity Pipeline vandals may not be working alone. Stakeholders are fingering corrupt officials as part of the criminal enterprise. THISDAY's past checks at FESTAC Town revealed vandals had insiders who unplugged pipelines and connected them to the vandal's hose buried underground.

Operation AWATSE It is to curb the menace of pipeline vandalism, oil theft that Operation AWATSE, a joint operation led by the navy, was borne. Its mandate entails protecting NNPC pipelines within the right of way from Atlas Cove to Mosimi, where billions of naira have been lost to pipeline vandals.

Launched in December 2019, Operation AWATSE has, over the years, engaged in series of operations within the corridor seizing various petroleum-related materials from criminals.

Way Forward Industry watchers and stakeholders want pipelines to be more secure, urging security agencies to go beyond arresting to successfully prosecuting.

Also, there is a continuous need for speedy dispensation of justice and forfeiture of vessels used in the crime. In such cases, the navy has appealed to the judiciary and prosecuting agencies to fast-track the trials to save the cost of maintaining, securing the vessels and other exhibits the prosecution agencies do not have facilities to keep.

Stakeholders also suggest partnership among security agencies, not leaving the fight to the navy alone. Also, the agencies cannot successfully tackle the criminals without citizens, traditional rulers, community leaders' support.

24

MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021 • T H I S D AY

25

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021

BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

A T

REPO

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun

Email oriarehu.eromosele@thisdaylive.com

08056356325

A U G U S T

S & P INDEX

2 5 , 2 0 2 1

S & P INDEX

EXCHANGE RATE

OBB

15.50%

CALL

4%

INDEX LEVEL

558.25%

1/4 TO DATE

4.74%

N411.00/ 1 US DOLLAR*

OVERNIGHT

15.75 %

1-MONTH

6%

1-DAY

0.43%

YEAR TO DATE

-16.71%

*AS AT LAST FRIDAY

3-MONTH

10%

MONTH-TO-DATE

3.91%

With Large Corporates, Multinationals’ Dominance, Credit to Private Sector Increases by 6.68% YTD to N32.8tn

Eromosele Abiodun and Darasimi Adebisi With a significant percentage given to large corporates, multinationals and high end medium enterprises and no noticeable impact on the real sector, which concerns production, purchase, flow of goods and services, credit to private sector maintain an upward momentum in the first seven months of the year.

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Money and

Credit Statistics, credit to private sector gained 6.68 per cent from N30.65trillion in January to N32.8trillion in July 2021.

But analysts said increase in private sector has not manifested in increased output, lower inflation, lower interest rates, improved Purchasing Managers Index and stock market performance as well as job creation opportunities.

While describing the growth in credit to private sector as laudable, analysts stressed that the impact would depend on

the sectoral spread, quality of credit, tenure of the funds and interest rate.

Meanwhile, the CBN Money and Credit Statistics revealed that credit to private sector crossed the N32 trillion mark in May and since then, maintained growth.

According to the CBN, credit to government rose by 5.3 per cent to N12.13trillion in July from N11.52trillion in June.

Analysis of CBN numbers showed that credit to private sector in seven months of 2021 appreciated by N2.19 trillion, a

development some analysts say showed deposit money banks supporting the apex bank in lending to real sector and creating jobs.

Further analysis of the CBN Credit Statistics revealed that credit to private sector hits a peak of N30.19trillion in July 2021 amid the ease in COVID-19 lockdown.

According to the CBN statistics, Money Supply (M3) increased to N39.79trillion in July from N38.78 trillion in January 2021, while Narrow Money rose

by 2.15 per cent from N15.95 trillion in January to N16.29 trillion in July.

Further review of the CBN statistics showed that Net Domestic Assets (NDA) rose to N44.97 trillion in July, an increase of five per cent from N42.95 trillion in January this year.

Some analysts contended that banks lending to real sector played a critical role in the recent increase in Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The National Bureau of

Statistics (NBS) had last week announced that Nigeria’s real GDP growth for the second quarter (Q2) of 2021, came in at 5.01 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) increase.

Announcing the GDP figures, the bureau said: “The YoY performance was mainly supported by the Non-oil GDP component, as it grew 6.7 per cent y/y compared to the 6.1 per cent YoY contraction in Q2:2020. This was on the back of the strong Continued on page 26

Insurance Regulator Urges Operators to Strategise for Effective Management of N14tn Annuity Premium Ebere Nwoji The commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, has charged insurance industry operators to strategies on how best to effectively manage the existing N14 trillion pension assets, which will through life annuity plan be transferred to insurers as annuity premium by pension fund operators.

Thomas, who stated this in Lagos during a visit to Mutual Benefit Assurance Plc retail office, said time has come for insurance to take its rightful place in the scheme of things in the economy.

He charged insurance operators to brace up to the challenge of effective management of stream of premium that will flow into the industry especially through annuity plan as stated by the law.

The Pension Reform Act 2014, which established the on going Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) says that at retirement, a contributor into the scheme is at liberty to continue receiving the remaining part of his contributed fund after the initial lump sum pay on monthly basis from his Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) under programme withdrawal for 18

years or purchase life annuity from a licensed life insurance company to whom the retiree’s pension fund manager transfers the fund to and who takes over payment of Benefit to him for life.

Initially, contributors into CPS were confused on the choice to make between annuity plan and programme withdrawal but with time, majority now prefer buying life annuity which has the advantage of paying benefits to them for life instead of 18 years.

This means that the pension assets belonging to this greater number of contributors will automatically be transferred to life insurers as annuity fund.

Speaking to the retail insurance marketers and management of Mutual Benefit Assurance Plc, he said insurance business in Nigeria is no longer business as usual and that days were gone when insurance was described as poor cousin of the bank.

He said even before now, the above statement was misconception of what insurance does pointing out that most of the assets used today in Abuja was insurance fund.

“Before now, insurance was owned by banks but now it is not like that. Insurance firms own some banks and more banks will be taken over by

insurance firms. Even some of the monumental assets in Abuja is owned by insurance industry look at Nicon Hilton, Sheraton Hotel, all were built with insurance funds. Abuja itself was built by insurance money and without insurance, Abuja wouldn’t have come to be,” Thomas stated.

The insurance commissioner said the N14 trillion pension fund will be emptied into insurance treasury as annuity fund to be managed by insurers adding that insurance managers have been assigned the responsibility of managing the fund by the regulation that established the

prevailing Contributory Pension Scheme.

He said this is in addition to the existing N500 billion annual premium income in their coffers.

Section 4, subsection one of insurance Act 2014 on contributors’ retirement benefits says “A holder of a retirement savings account upon retirement or attaining the age of 50 years, whichever is later, shall utilise the balance standing to the credit of his retirement savings account for the following benefits“Programmed monthly or quarterly withdrawals Continued on page 26

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT F R I D AY, A U G U S T 2 7 , 2 0 2 1 FGN BONDS DESCRIPTION 11.150 FGNSB 11-SEP-2021 12.364 FGNSB 12-SEP-2021 12.175 FGNSB 10-OCT-2021 11.244 FGNSB 16-OCT-2021 10.296 FGNSB 13-NOV-2021

Price

Yield

BILLS Change (%)

MATURITY

OTC FX F U T U R E S

Discount Yield Change (%)

100.49

2.86

-0.02

NTB 9-Sep-21

2.80

2.80 0.00

100.59

2.89

-0.02

NTB 16-Sep-21

2.96

2.96 0.00

101.18

3.55

0.06

NTB 30-Sep-21

3.27

3.28 0.00

101.16

3.69

0.08

NTB 14-Oct-21

3.59

101.36

4.33

0.17

NTB 28-Oct-21

3.90

CONTRACT TENOR (MONTH) 1

Contract

Current Rate ($/₦)

NGUS AUG 25 2021 420.93

2

NGUS SEP 29 2021 422.38

3

NGUS OCT 27 2021 423.83

3.61 0.00

4

NGUS NOV 24 2021 425.28

3.93 0.00

5

NGUS DEC 29 2021 426.73

C Ps MATURITY

Discount Yield

Change (%)

UNCP CP III 27AUG-21 VAAG CP I 27AUG-21 TTNG CP II 31AUG-21 SIBP CP I 2-SEP21 NBRP CP XIII 2-SEP-21

3.65

3.65

-0.07

9.62

9.63

-0.07

4.08

4.09

-0.06

3.65

3.65

-0.05

4.33

4.33

-0.05

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MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

WITH LARGE CORPORATES, MULTINATIONALS’ DOMINANCE, CREDIT TO PRIVATE SECTOR INCREASES BY 6.68% YTD TO N32.8TN

growth recorded in Trade (22.5 per cent YoY), Transportation & Storage (76.8 per cent YoY), and Manufacturing (3.5 per cent YoY) activity sectors amidst full re-opening of the economy.”

Commenting on the impact of private sector lending to Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Head, Retail Investment, Chapel Hill Denham, Mr. Ayodeji Ebo opined that there has not been a major credit to SMEs aside government intervention.

Ebo said banks lending towards government bond, and Commercial papers and corporate lending increased recently.

On his part, an Economist & Private Sector Advocate, Dr Muda Yusuf said the growth in credit to private sector is laudable, stressing that the impact would depend on the sectoral spread, quality of credit, tenure of the funds and interest rate.

He explained further that: “The CBN has done a lot in lending to agriculture, but the quality of the lending is an issue.

Reports indicate high default rates in agricultural credit, especially the anchor borrowers’ scheme.

“Monetary intervention is imperative for real sector development. But it is not sufficient to guarantee the desired outcomes of growth and productivity. The context in which businesses are operating is as important as the funding, if not even more important.

“The totality of the investment environment must be right for sustainable real sector development to be achieved. Therefore, to complement the credit to the private sector, the other factors that should reckoned with include infrastructure quality, especially power, roads and railways.”

He added, “There are also

issues around the quality of the regulatory environment, the foreign exchange policy regime, the ports situation, volatility of the naira exchange rate, the tax environment and the security situation. These are not things monetary intervention can solve. It takes an impactful fiscal policy intervention to fix these problems.

“Some of the issues border on economic reforms that need to happen. Engagements between the private sector stakeholders and policymakers is critical to achieving sustainable development of the economy.”

Speaking from a different perspective, the President, Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria (ACMAN), Prof Uche Uwaleke said the increase has no noticeable impact on the real sector, which concerns the production, purchase, flow of goods and services.

He stated that, “While inflation rate in June trended marginally downward, available evidence regarding the other metrics does not indicate any significant impact of the increase in private sector lending on the economy.”

He suggested that, “For impact to be noticeable, it needs to be sustained and scaled up, especially targeting critical sectors of the economy with job creation potentials such as SMEs.” The Governor of CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele in his communiqué at the end of July’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting said the committee noted that broad M3 declined to 2.02 per cent in June 2021, compared with 2.99 per cent in May 2021.

According to the CBN boss, “This development was largely driven by a slowdown in the growth rate of Net Domestic Assets (NDA) and Net Foreign

Assets (NFA). Net Foreign Assets contracted by 3.65 per cent due to the contraction of foreign asset holdings of the central bank, as well as noninterest, primary mortgage, and microfinance banks.

The marginal decline in Net Domestic Assets reflected the slowdown in aggregate credit net, which decreased to 4.30 per cent in June 2021, from 4.79 per cent in May 2021.”

A member of the MPC and the Deputy Governor, Operations at the CBN, Folashodun Shonubi, in a statement had said, “Growth in credit to the government and credit to private sector reflected impact of various measures by the CBN to promote flow of credit to drive economic activities.”

Shonubi added that: “I believe the CBN’s interventions through aggressive provision of credit should continue as a

complement to on going effort by the fiscal authority to boost economic activities.

“As the government act, more decisively to discourage bad behaviour and restore orderliness, we must collectively work to overcome the insecurity challenges. At the same time, we must begin to tighten to deal with the subtle monetary component of inflationary pressure and curb spiralling inflation, without suffocating economic growth.”

The apex bank in its statistics also disclosed that currency in circulation increased by nearly three per cent to N2.81trillion in July from N2.74trillion in June.

The CBN defined currency in circulation as currency outside the vaults of the apex bank; that is, all legal tender currency in the hands of the general public and in the vaults of the Deposit Money Banks.

Report: Inadequate IT Infrastructure Hampering Nigeria Customs Service Operation Ugo Aliogo A report has revealed that inadequate telecommunication infrastructure is hampering the operations of the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) despite the NCS’s efforts in achieving an unprecedented N1trillion half year collection by the end of June, 2021 and processing about 700,000 Single Goods Declaration (SGDs) in August 2019, and 820,000 in 2020.

The report, which was made available to THISDAY

stated that presently in 2021, Custom has processed over 1,100,000 SGDs which reflects in collected revenue without commensurate national upgrade in telecommunications and ICT infrastructure to accommodate the expansion.

The report hinted that importers and port agents have suffered setbacks due to the inadequate network and internet connectivity while trying to process their online transactions.

The report disclosed that despite the remarkable im-

provements and stability being experienced by port users in their transactions with the NCS, their system is not immune to the overall glitches being experienced across board in Nigeria and Africa.

The report remarked that the NCS is hoping to achieve N2 trillion revenue collection by end of 2021.

It further explained that inadequate network and internet connectivity have became the crux of debate for electronic transmission of results by the

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that it became the major reason why electronic voting was stepped down by lawmakers in the National Assembly.

It remarked that lack of confidence in the country’s technological backbone may have influenced the pattern of voting for and against electronic voting and transmission as more law makers stood against it.

According to the report, “Perceived infrastructural gaps and the need to meet

users’ expectations have forced telecommunication companies in Nigeria to begin moves towards upgrading their infrastructures.

“Incessant glitches which directly affect businesses, polity and security have dotted their services and resulted in some setbacks. Individual users across board have inundated the service providers with complaints of poor clarity, drop calls, slow internet access and in some cases lack of service at certain urban locations across the country.

“The servers are believed to be fine but reacting to increasing volumes of trade which requires upgrade. Findings have shown that operators may have the best computers, printers, hardware, software and everything else, but will also rely on telecommunications as well. In most of the instances, it reached a point when the load on the telecomm service was a lot and it was slowing down the service. That, investigations have shown, was a major cause of the problem.”

‘Digital Transformation is Accelerating Recovery, Financial Inclusion’ Nume Ekeghe

Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Comms/e-Business Editor Emma Okonji Aviation Editor Chinedu Eze Asst. Editor, Money Market Nume Ekeghe Senior Correspondent Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents James Emejo (Finance) Ebere Nwoji (Insurance) Chineme Okafo (Energy) Emmanuel Addeh (Energy) Reporters Nosa Alekhuogie (ICT) Peter Uzoho (Energy) Ugo Aliogo (Development)

The President/Chairman of Council, The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Dr Bayo Olugbemi has stated that with the increase and adoption of technology, the economy and financial inclusion is on a faster path of recovery and growth.

He made this known during a virtual CIBN’s 2021 Graduates’ Induction and Prize Awards Day ceremony, where he urged bankers to continually adopt and keep to the revolving pace of technology.

According to him, “The pandemic has accelerated the

pace of digital transformation, as such, the future which was anticipated would come in some years’ time is now here with us.

Consequently, businesses now leverage more than ever on technology to deliver products and services to customers at their convenience.

“Technological advancements such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Machine learning, Coding and Programming, Blockchain, Cloud computing etc are being used to develop unique and bespoke products suited to customers changing needs. Financial innovations

are also employed as viable platforms to drive economic recovery, financial inclusion, foster green/ethical financing and overall transformation of the ecosystem.”

He stressed the need for individuals and businesses to remain ahead of the curve adding, “Individuals and organisations, to survive the Next Normal you must break new grounds and position yourself for global competitiveness.”

This year, CIBN inducted a total of 672 candidates as follows: 321 candidates for the flagship ACIB programme, 41 candidates on Chartered Banker

MBA programme, 19 candidates on MSc/ACIB programme and 291 candidates on Microfinance Certification Programme with inductees which spanned from the Gambia, Ghana and Sierra-Leone.

Furthermore, he added: “The Chartered Institute of Bankers in recognition of this fact had embarked on several initiatives to ensure that our members are future-ready. Specifically, the Institute in its forward-looking outlook reviewed the syllabus of its Banking Professional Examinations to ensure its contemporary and covers emerging issues in the banking and finance landscape.

The new syllabus was launched on March 31, 2021. With this development, we are certain that we are producing future forward bankers who are equipped with knowledge and skills required to function in this new dispensation.

“We have also relaunched the CIBN Mentoring Scheme with a view to building the capacity of young practitioners in the banking and finance industry thereby strengthening the talent pipeline into senior leadership roles. This way, we are securing the future of the industry whilst ensuring safety and soundness of the financial services industry.”

INSURANCE REGULATOR URGES OPERATORS TO STRATEGISE FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF N14TN ANNUITY PREMIUM calculated on the basis of an expected life span; annuity for life purchased from a life insurance company licensed by the National Insurance Commission with monthly or

quarterly payments; and a lump sum from the balance standing to the credit of his retirement savings account, Provided that the amount left after that lump sum withdrawal shall be suf-

ficient to procure an annuity or fund programmed withdrawals that will produce an amount not less than 50 percent of his annual remuneration as at the date of his retirement.”

Initially, insurance and pension fund managers had clash over sale and management of the annuity fund but later came up with a document they tagged Revised Regulation on

Retiree Life Annuity Pursuant to the Pension Reform Act 2014 Jointly Issued by the National Insurance Commission and National Pension Commission (NAICOM).

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021

BUSINESSWORLD

STATUS REPORT

Zenith Bank: Impressive Growth in Key Fundamentals

Darasimi Adebisi

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ast Friday, Zenith Bank Plc released its audited result and accounts for half year (H1) ended June 30, 2021 with impressive growth in key fundamentals amid domestic and foreign macro economy headwinds.

Despite the challenges, the most profitable bank in Nigeria announced N106.12 billion profit in H1 2021, about two per cent increase from N103.83 billion reported in H1 2020 Profit before tax also rose by three per cent to N117.06 billion in H1 2021 from N114.12 billion reported in H1 2020.

With growth in profits, Zenith Bank Plc’s return on average equity (ROAE) closed H1 2021 at 18.8 per cent as against 21.5 per cent reported in H1 2020 while return on average assets (ROAA) dropped to 2.5 per cent from three per cent in H1 2020.

Overall, the significant reduction in interest expense by 26 per cent and growth in noninterest income by nine per cent gave rise to improved profitability.

The bank in the period under review was able to effectively utilized its fees and commission, trading gains business position to drive NonInterest Income (NII).

Zenith Bank in H1 2021 result and accounts proposed interim dividend of N0.30 to shareholders, to maintain a track record for the fourth consecutive time.

For 2020 financial year, Zenith Bank declared interim and final dividend of N0.30 and N2.70, to make it N3.00 total dividend, while in 2019, it was N0.30 interim dividend and N2.50 final dividend to complete the year with N2.80 total dividend.

The group in 2018 had proposed of N0.30 and a final dividend of N2.50 per share (December 31, 2017: interim; N0.25, final; N2.45) from the retained earnings account as at December 31, 2018.

BALANCE SHEETS POSITION

The Group’s audited results for the period under review shows a stable performance in balance sheets position as customer deposits and gross loans advance by eight per cent and three per cent to drive total assets to close the period with total assets of N8.52 trillion.

The solid financial performance for the period affirms Zenith’s Bank industry leadership position in profits, resilience and consistency in achieving its strategic objectives.

Zenith Bank offers its clients a wide range of corporate, investment, business and personal banking products and solutions. It is one of the biggest and most profitable banks in Nigeria.

With two per cent increase in profit after tax, the group Earnings Per Share gained two per cent to N3.38 in H1 2021 as against N3.30 recorded in H1 2020.

Drop in impairment, increase in NII, boost

profits Zenith Bank for the period under review reported gross earnings dropped 0.1per cent to N345.56 billion in H1 2021 as against N346.09billion reported in H1 2020. The low-interest environment also affected the net interest margin, which declined from nine per cent to 6.5 per cent in the current year due to the re-pricing of interest-bearing assets. The financial institution reported Interest and similar income of N203.9 billion, six per cent decline from N216.95 billion reported in H1 2020, as yields from some interest-bearing assets declined.

THISDAY gathered that drop in Zenith Bank’s yield from Treasury Bills contributed primarily to decline in interest and similar income reported in the period.

Yield from Treasury Bills interest income dropped by 29 per cent to N20.29 billion in H1 2021 from N28.38billion reported in H1 2020.

billion in H1 2021 from N22.02 billion in H1 2020.

However, fees on electronic products closed H1 2021 at N17.05billion in H1 2021 from N 8.94 billion reported in H1 2020 while Account maintenance fee rose by 53.5 per cent to N14.48 billion in H1 2021 from N9.4 billion reported in H1 2020. Impairment loss on financial and non-financial instruments dropped by 17.24 per cent to N19.8 billion in H1 2021 from N23.9 billion reported in H1 2020. Total operating expenses rose by 10.3 per cent to N149.85 billion in H1 202 from N135.85 billion, and remains below the inflation rate.

Key contributors to total operating expenses are 3.6 per cent increase in Depreciation of property and equipment to N12.93billion in H1 2021 from N12.47billion reported in H1 2020 while Personnel expenses dropped by 3.3 per cent to N37.56billion from N38.9billion in H1 2020.

INTEREST INCOME

OPERATING EXPENSES

Interest income from loans and advances to customer, thus grew by 5.5 per cent to N135.43 billion in H1 2021 from N128.37 billion reported in H1 2020, while interest from government and other bonds closed H1 2021 at N41.58 billion as against N39.52 billion reported in H1 2020. This was mitigated by a 26per cent drop in interest expense from N59.5 billion in H1 2020 to N44 billion in H1 2021, resulting in an increase in net interest income from N157 billion to N160 billion in H1 2021.

Time deposits was the key factor to Zenith bank’s decline in its interest expenses as it dropped by 42.8 per cent to N14.24 billion in H1 2021 from N24.9 billion recorded in H1 2020, while interest expenses on saving account dipped by per cent to N7.26 billion from N12.62 billion recorded in H1 2020.

This translates into net interest income that gained two per cent to N159.94 billion in H1 2021 as against N157.41 billion in H1 2020. Continuing the trend during the year, NII gained nine per cent to N126.771billion in H1 2021 from N116.49billion in H1 2020. The strong growth recorded in NII was supported by expansions in fees and commission income and gains on investment securities, while “Other operating income,” dropped significantly over foreign currency revaluation gain that dropped to N12.5

In addition, operating expenses rose significantly by 18 per cent to N97.58 billion in H1 2021 from N83.73 billion in H1 2020. Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) levy of N37.92 billion in H1 2021 from N30.95 billion reported in H1 2020 was the key driver in Zenith Bank’s operating expenses.

The group cost of funds dropped to 1.3 per cent from 2.2 per cent, while cost of risk closed H1 2021 at 1.3 per cent from 1.8 per cent in H1 2020. Also, cost to income ratio dropped by three per cent to 56.1 per cent from 54.3 per cent in H1 2020.

The group closed the period with modest increase in gross loans, while total assets remained flat.

Zenith Bank total assets closed June 30, 2021 at N8.52 trillion from N8.48 trillion reported in full year ended December 31, 2020. This impacted on the group Loan to deposit ratio that dropped by six per cent to 51.9 per cent in H1 2021 from 54.7 per cent in 2020 FY. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had mandated commercial banks to lend 65 per cent of the deposit to support real sectors of the economy. Zenith bank in half year grew gross loans by three per cent to N2.99 trillion over N2.92trillion reported in 2020 FY. In addition, total customer deposits closed

The Group is well-positioned to maximise the opportunities that these recovering fundamentals present while leveraging e-technology to expand the retail footprint to deliver improved returns to all its stakeholders.”

June 30, 2021 at N5.77 trillion from N5.34 trillion reported in 2020.

The group’s retail journey continues to deliver positive results. Retail deposits grew by N38.2 billion from NGN1.72 trillion to N1.76 trillion year-to-date (YTD).

Savings balances grew marginally by two per cent YTD to close at N1.18 trillion from N1.16 trillion as at December 2020.

The drive for increased retail deposits and a low-interest yield environment helped reduce the cost of funding from 2.2 per cent to 1.3per cent in the current period. Furthermore, Zenith Bank’s total equity added two per cent to N1.14 trillion as at June 30 2021 from N1.12 trillion reported in 2020.

The financial institution continued to maintain a disciplined and prudent approach to loan growth in line with its risk management framework.

The Group Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio remained low at 4.51 per cent in H1 2021 from 4.29 per cent in H1 2020, below five per cent threshold required by CBN.

LIQUIDITY RATIO

In addition, despite the tight liquidity, the group’s liquidity ratio closed the period at 69.9 per cent from 66.2 per cent in H1 2020.

Zenith Bank Plc’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) closed H1 2021 at 22 per cent from 23 per cent in H1 2020, above 16 per cent required by regulatory body being of the Symmetrically Important Banks (SIBs).

This gives headroom for providing support to businesses while creating risk assets opportunities in line with our credit risk management framework.

Despite the macro-economic challenges, alongside CBN’s monetary tightening policy, which constraints most banks income generation and resulting in high cost of funds within the financial system, Zenith Bank has outperformed beyond general expectation.

The financial institution prospect last year was to drive for low cost and appropriately mixed deposit base to fund credit and money market transactions.

The bank in a statement said: “Despite the continued prevalence of COVID-19, there is a cautious optimism that the global economy will continue to recover as vaccination programmes are intensified. Locally, “Nigeria’s GDP grew by 5.01per cent in the second quarter and inflation which peaked in March 2021 at 18.17per cent is gradually trending down (currently at 17.38per cent as at July 2021).

“The Group is well-positioned to maximise the opportunities that these recovering fundamentals present while leveraging e-technology to expand the retail footprint to deliver improved returns to all its stakeholders.”

Given the performance in the period under review capital market analysts, urged investors to BUY Zenith Bank shares.

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MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

Onifade: Life Insurance Could be Solution to Alleviating Poverty in Nigeria Globally, the topic of financial inclusion has been touted as a panacea to poverty. In Nigeria, the Financial Inclusion Strategy was set up in 2012 to increase access to finance to 80 per cent of the adult population. Nine years after, it appears there is still a lot more to do to reach the mark. In this interview, the Managing Director/ CEO of the specialist and digital life insurance company, Heirs Life Assurance Limited, Niyi Onifade, shares his thoughts on the subject and the role life insurance and his company, play in advancing the vision of financial inclusion, and provision of safety net for Nigeria’s middleclass. Eromosele Abiodun presents the excerpts

Onifade

As a finance and insurance expert, how important is financial inclusion to the economic growth of the country? e should start with an agreement on what financial inclusion means.

It is simply a deliberate action to ensure that people, regardless of their income, class, or gender, have access to affordable financial products and services that meet their needs. This therefore translates to the removal of those barriers that are preventing people and businesses from having access to financial products and services such as savings, credit, payments, and of course, insurance.

The World Bank says that 1.7 billion people across the world lack access to basic financial services. Most of these people are said to be living in developing countries like ours and more than half of them are women. Just think about that for a moment. It means that these financially excluded people lack access to savings, they find it hard to receive payments, it is difficult for them to make payments for supplies, and making financial plans for their future and the future of their children is practically impossible. Imagine the pains they must be facing.

At the critical level, the barriers with

W

financial inclusion are of two parts. On one part are the supply side barriers and on the other side are the demand side barriers to financial products and services. Supply side barriers have to do with issues such as distribution inefficiencies, inefficient regulation, complex products, difficult processes, unfriendly terms and conditions, and so forth. The demand side barriers include lack of awareness, financial illiteracy, affordability issues, and many more.

So, in a nutshell, financial inclusion is very important because it serves as a catalyst, a great enabler, for prosperity and poverty reduction, most especially in a country like Nigeria.

How can life insurance play a significant role in achieving this vision of financial inclusion and what is your company doing in that regard?

I see life insurance as a key to unlocking prosperity. In its basic form, life insurance replaces the income of the breadwinner if he or she passes away. In other words, the dependants continue to live comfortably even in the absence of the breadwinner, simply

because of the financial plan that has been made in advance through life insurance. But life insurance goes beyond that. It equally helps people to plan for everything from long term financial goals to financial emergencies. It is a very important tool for saving towards retirement, future financial projects, children’s education and so forth. As a people-friendly specialist life insurance company, Heirs Life is on a mission to making life insurance accessible to all Nigerians.

Our purpose is to impact lives and transform the country. That is why we have come with the promise of fulfilling people’s financial dreams.

We provide Nigerians with simple, quick, reliable, and accessible life insurance by leveraging technology.

We have a bouquet of simple products to meet different needs that people have, and we ensure that every interaction with us is fully enjoyed.

We understand that inclusion must cut across pricing and access, so we provide people with target savings and life insurance products that are very affordable and sustainable too.

With as little as a N100 a month, for example, you can get a life insurance

cover of up to N100,000 from us. In addition to all this, we take financial literacy seriously by educating Nigerians on how life insurance can assist them to fulfill their dreams. That is why you often hear us say things like “simple life is here” and “tell us your dreams”. All you need do is tell us your dreams and we will work with you to achieve them.

There have been several literatures that point to savings as a means of attaining this financial security you have talked about. To what extent do you agree with this?

We all dream of different things like good education for our children, a holiday in the Caribbean, a fancy car, house, a society wedding, a small business we can call our own, or a befitting retirement.

All these require money and they can be achieved with a disciplined approach to savings.

At Heirs Life, we have different target savings products that allow people to save towards their financial projects and at the same time enjoy life insurance protection. What that means is whether you remain alive or pass away, your financial objectives would be met. For example, MyHeirs Plan is a children’s education product that allows you to put

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

“A life insurance plan offers what other types of investments cannot provide. The difference is in the name itself. A life insurance plan gives additional financial protection beyond what a customer has saved. That’s why we say that your savings aspiration is fully guaranteed whether you survive or pass away.”

Onifade

money aside for the future education of your child. On an agreed future date, a payment is made to fulfil your dream of a good education for your child, so you don’t have to worry about how to pay school fees. Should death occur before the chosen future date, we will ensure that a pre-agreed life insurance benefit is paid along with your accumulated savings to fund the education of that child.

The events of last year have also taught everyone the importance of saving and investing for the rainy days. No doubt, a good savings habit shields one from financial agonies if an emergency shows up.

We must not also forget to give priority to our old age. A time will come in our lives when we are unable to jump up and down as we do today. At that time, we should not be depending on anyone to survive. We must actively prepare for retirement by saving and investing.

This way, our retirement will be sweeter.

That’s why Heirs Life’s pension regulated Annuity plan is great for retirees – it helps retirees enjoy a regular income for the rest of their lives.

Tell us about the savings and investment products that your company has Our target savings and investment products cover a wide range of personal and business needs and they all come bundled with life insurance protection.

Let me also add that we didn’t just sit down and started rolling out products.

Rather, we conducted series of research and studies to find out what people want.

This way, we are certain that each of our products has been designed to meet specific needs of the people and what they can afford. One of our product is Heirs Save plan that helps anyone save as little as N5,000 a month, earn interests, and still receive an additional life insurance payout of up to N5 million if the unfortunate happens. Another is our savings plans for children’s future education called MyHeirs Plan which helps you put aside as little as N5,000 a month for your child’s education.

We also have a target savings plan for couples as well; Heirs Couples Plan.

This plan is beautifully designed for couples, whether married or unmarried.

It is an attestation to the fact that life insurance is a business of love. Heirs Couples Plan helps couples build a solid financial future together. In terms of business needs, our Entrepreneurs Plan helps Small and Medium Entrepreneurs save against future emergencies and uncertainties. It also gives them the assurance of business continuity should the unexpected happen.

Beyond our target savings plans, our suite of pure life insurance plans are great for families and businesses. For instance, Heirs Term Assure provides financial assurance to dependants should

the policyholder pass away within an agreed period of time. Our Group Life insurance product is great for employees as it pays three times of an employee’s total emolument to his or her named beneficiary if death occurs while in service. This product also helps each employer fulfil the regulatory requirement contained in the Pension Reform Act 2014. The law requires that each employer must effect a life insurance cover for each employee and the value of such cover must not be less than three times the total emolument of the employee. Details of all our other products can be found on our website.

How does life insurance savings plans differ from the savings offered by other financial institutions?

A life insurance plan offers what other types of investments cannot provide. The difference is in the name itself. A life insurance plan gives additional financial protection beyond what a customer has saved.

That’s why we say that your savings aspiration is fully guaranteed whether you survive or pass away.

For instance, if you effect a target savings plan with Heirs Life, we would invest your money for you and add interests to it periodically so that your money continues to grow. In addition to this, we also give you the assurance that if you pass away even on the second day of our contract, we would pay an additional sum of money to your beneficiary.

Customers keep money with financial institutions with the hope that they will remain alive. While this is the way we all think, the reality is that things don’t always turn out that way. People die, and we all know what usually happen to the loved ones left behind. What the other financial institutions would do on the passing of a customer is to pay to the beneficiary the amount saved so far together with interest.

Nothing more. Heirs Life, on the other hand, will go a step further to pay a pre-agreed sum to the beneficiary in addition to the accumulated savings and interest.

What makes your insurance company and your offerings different from the others?

I would say our obsession with three things - technology, product innovation and customer satisfaction.

At the heart of what we do is our customer, and that is why we keep asking ourselves: How can we offer value to make our customers live confidently?

We have trends on our pulse; we benchmark against global best practices

and still localize our insight to ensure that we match the pace of innovation and readiness of our customers. We pride ourselves as a digital insurance company because we are now living in a digital world. For example, the e-Conomy Africa 2020 report by Google and IFC has projected that Africa’s internet economy would hit $180 billion by 2025 and the figure is further projected to increase to $712 billion by 2050. That tells a lot about where our continent is heading in terms of technology.

Our website has been specifically designed to be interactive in such a way that customers can easily choose the products that best meet their needs, make payments for those products, and even lodge claims within minutes without any human interaction. Additionally, our products are developed in such a way that anyone can easily understand them.

We have multiple platforms through which customers can easily reach us to make enquiries or have issues resolved.

To cap this, our team of dedicated staff are constantly looking to satisfy customers at every step of the way.

Reliability is also an important factor to consider when it comes to insurance matters. You can be rest assured that Heirs Life is a company you can depend on. In terms of financial soundness, I can confirm to you that we are fully capitalized to the tune of N8 billion.

We also have the solid backing of our major shareholder, Heirs Holdings, which is a pan-African investment company with presence in more than 20 countries. We rely on the strength, experience and record of great achievements of Heirs Holdings in different sectors such as financial services, oil & gas, hospitality, energy, real estate and so on. In addition, Heirs Holdings, is led by Tony O. Elumelu, an astute businessman and serial philanthropist who propounds the economic philosophy of Africapitalism - the economic philosophy that the African private sector has the power to transform the continent through long-term investments, creating both economic prosperity and social wealth.

This philosophy guides our actions at Heirs Life. We believe in doing well and doing good at the same time.

You mentioned earlier that lack of financial education is one of the reasons people are not open to the idea of savings and investment.

What is your company doing to encourage savings culture?

Most people don’t know much about life insurance and how it can help them achieve their financial objectives.

That’s why we take financial literacy very seriously at Heirs Life and this

is because we believe that once we take time to open people’s eyes to the risks they’re exposed to and explain how life insurance works in a very simple way, they will understand and appreciate its benefit.

That way, we would be contributing our quota to financial inclusion and poverty reduction in the country.

We strongly believe that life can be improved with financial education. We all know what happens when a breadwinner passes away. We are familiar with how the wife and children are often without support in the absence of a life insurance cover. At Heirs Life, we help people realise the risks they face on a daily basis and provide them with fair, affordable, and sustainable products to protect them against those risks. Imagine a man who has obtained a loan to provide shelter for his family and suddenly drops dead thereafter. Without life insurance, his wife and children could find themselves under the bridge.

We embark on different forms of sensitization campaigns to educate people. Today, we are on radio, tomorrow we are on TV or newspaper, everyday we are on social media talking about life insurance and how it can change life for better. This interview is also part of our financial education efforts.

The good thing is that we are beginning to see the result. On a daily basis, we receive series of enquiries from people on how we can work with them to achieve their financial goals. The high level of interest is encouraging and it shows that our efforts are already yielding positive results.

How best do you think the government can go about achieving an improvement in the cause of financial inclusion?

The government, through our regulator, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), is already doing quite a lot in this regard, and we are proud to associate with their efforts. Take for instance the laudable objective of the Commission to increase insurance penetration from its current level of less than one percent to 10 per cent by 2023, with a projected gross written premium value of N1.5 trillion. That will surely have tremendous positive impact on both individuals and businesses.

The Commission is focusing on various initiatives such as the enforcement of compulsory insurance policies, insurance education for the public, micro insurance for low income earners, support for a more digital approach to insurance, takaful (Islamic insurance) and others.

We will continue to work with the Commission to achieve these laudable objectives.

We also believe that partnerships across various sectors will help increase insurance penetration rate, create prosperity and reduce poverty in our country.

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AVIATION AND CARGO CONFERENCE…

L-R: Former DG, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); Mr. Benedict Adeyileka; Dr. Daniel Young; Aviation Civil Consutant, Capt. John Ojikutu; Organizer, Chinet Aviation and Cargo Conference, Mr. Ikechi Uko; Commissioner for Finance, Ogun State Government and Chief Economic Adviser, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo; CEO, Belujane Konzult, Mr. Chis Aligbe; and former Managing Director, Skypower Aviation Handling Company PLC, Mr. Chike Ogeah, during the opening ceremony of Chinet Aviation and PHOTO: KOLAWOLE ALLI Cargo Conference at GRA, Ikeja, Lagos...yesterday

FAO: Global Food Security Threatened

by High Use of Antimicrobial Drugs Gilbert Ekugbe The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has admonished global leaders on the need to urgently reduce significantly, the use of antimicrobial drugs in global food systems.

According to a report published on FAO’s website, without immediate and drastic action to significantly reduce levels of antimicrobial use in food systems, the world is rapidly heading towards a tipping point where the antimicrobials relied on to treat infections in

humans, animals and plants will no longer be effective.

FAO maintaining that the impact on local and global health systems, economies, food security and food systems will be devastating.

“We cannot tackle rising levels of antimicrobial resistance without using antimicrobial drugs more sparingly across all sectors. The world is in a race against antimicrobial resistance, and it is one that we cannot afford to lose,” the co-chair Global Leader Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, Mia

Startup Secures $26.5m Financing to Boost Female, Students’ Inclusiveness Emma Okonji Decagon, the tech startup which combines lending, training, and job placement to help exceptional people launch careers as software engineers has closed a $1.5 million seed equity round from early-stage Venture Capitalists (VCs) as well as a $25 million student loan financing facility from Sterling Bank.

Operating at the intersection of fintech, edtech, and the future of work, Decagon attracted investment from early-stage investors including Kepple Africa Ventures, Timon Capital, as well as Angel Investors like Paul Kokoricha, managing partner of the private equity business of Nigeria’s largest Price Earnings (PE) firm, ACA, and Tokyo-based United Inc., who themselves run a tech training business in Japan.

The company was founded in 2018 by Chika Nwobi, a successful serial tech founder who achieved one of Africa’s first tech Initial Public Offers (IPOs) in his first company, MTech, and went on to either found or fund over 20 other startups including Jobberman, Cheki, and Oya. According to Nwobi, “Decagon aims to address the under-representation of black people in tech globally starting in Nigeria - the most populous black nation, where youth unemployment is about 50 per cent. Funding for local startups is growing massively but

companies now face a shortfall of skilled tech talent. US, German, and UK-based companies are also looking for the best talent from all over the world but often need help accessing Africa’s best.

Microsoft, Facebook, and Google have all invested in building engineering offices in Nigeria but most other companies can’t afford to do that, so we help them access top talent to work as remote engineers.”

Decagon created Nigeria’s first-ever merit-based student loans in partnership with Sterling Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria. This enables Decagon to offer a Pay-After-Learning ( PAL) plan, which provides trainees with laptops, accommodation, internet, meal allowance, and a sustenance stipend without any upfront payment. This has proven very popular with over 80 thousand people applying from which 440 have been accepted so far.

“Three things I am especially proud of are our 100 per cent placement rate upon graduation, the 100 per cent loan repayment rate by DecaDevs, and the 410 per cent salary uplift we are seeing after Decagon,” Nwobi further said.

Speaking on the student loan financing, Divisional Head, Sterling Bank, Obinna Ukachukwu said: “We got involved to support alternative education by providing loans for Nigerian students complemented with financial literacy training..

Amor Mottley said.

FAO added that consumers in all countries can play a key role by choosing food products from producers that use antimicrobial drugs responsibly, pointing out the urgent need for investment to develop effective alternatives to antimicrobial use in food production, such as vaccines and alternative drugs.

Also, Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance called upon all countries to significantly reduce the levels of antimicrobial drugs used in global food systems.

“This includes stopping the use of medically important antimicrobial drugs to promote growth in healthy animals and using antimicrobial drugs more sparingly overall, “they said.

The call coming ahead of the UN Food Systems Summit, which takes place in New York on 23 September 2021 where countries will discuss ways to transform global food systems.

The Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance includes heads of state, government ministers, and leaders from private sector and

civil society from 22 countries.

The group was established in November 2020 to accelerate global political momentum, leadership and action on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and is co-chaired by Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, and Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

FAO said a top priority call to action is to use antimicrobial drugs more sparingly in food systems and markedly reduce the use of drugs that are of greatest importance to treating diseases in humans, animals

and plants.

Other key calls to action for all countries include ending the use of antimicrobial drugs that are of critical importance to human medicine to promote growth in animals; limiting the amount of antimicrobial drugs administered to prevent infection in healthy animals and plants and ensuring that all use is performed with regulatory oversight and eliminating or significantly reducing over-thecounter sales of antimicrobial drugs that are important for medical or veterinary purposes.

Emzor Signs Deal with Mangalam to Produce Pharmaceutical Ingredients Emzor has signed an agreement with Indian company Mangalam Drugs & Organics Limited to produce in Nigeria and distribute active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to treat and prevent malaria.

The arrangement includes an API technology transfer and licensing agreement, which establishes a co-development basis for manufacturing four APIs for the treatment of malaria, which continues to be a leading cause of death on the African continent.

According to a statement by

the firm, this will lead to the development of a world-class API manufacturing facility in full compliance with international standards and the first of its kind in the sub-Saharan African region.

“The agreement reaffirms Emzor’s longstanding commitment to strengthening the pharma sector in Africa. The signed technology transfer and licensing agreement with Mangalam, a leading Indian chemical manufacturing company, will provide in-house developed technology for manu-

facturing antimalarial Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), “the statement reads.

It explained that Mangalam would provide consultation and relevant designs for setting up a world-class API manufacturing facility compliant with WHO standards as part of the agreement.

It added that the initial focus would be on the development of 4 APIs: artemether, lumefantrine, sulfadoxine, and pyrimethamine.

The selected APIs provide chemo-preventive combina-

tion therapies for malaria in pregnant women and treatment for adults and children.

According to the 2020 World Malaria Report, Nigeria had the highest number of global malaria cases (27 per cent of global malaria cases) in 2019 and accounted for the highest number of deaths (23 per cent of global malaria deaths).

Additionally, this agreement with Mangalam is an apt response to the complete dependency on external firms for APIs to sustain the regional pharmaceutical industry.

Incoming AIO President Highlights Gains of Conference to Nigeria’s Image Ebere Nwoji The fourth coming 47th edition of the Africa Insurance Organisation Conference (AIO) and National Assembly, will serve as a forum to market Nigeria and correct negative views held by the outside world about Nigeria and its people, the incoming AIO President, Mr Tope Smart has said.

The conference, scheduled between September 4 to 8, in Lagos, will be attended by 48 member countries of AIO and 10 non African countries.

“We want to use the event to make people who are coming to see that Nigeria is a peaceful

country as against their negative perceptions about Nigeria, “Smart said.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Olorundare Sunday Thomas, including other key stakeholders in the Nigerian economy are expected to be at the AIO event.

“We have invited all the key stakeholders in Nigeria. We have invited the President of the country. We have invited the Minister of Finance who supervises the finance sector.

We have invited the Commissioner for Insurance and Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Commission” (NAICOM).

At a virtual press briefing to this effect, the Chairman, local Organising Committee of the conference, Mrs Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, said the theme of the conference is Rebuilding Africa’s Economy: An Insurance Perspective.

She said the conference will enable Nigeria insurers have bilateral discussions with their counterparts from other African countries and beyond.

She said the conference would showcase Nigerian

culture and attract patronage and opportunities for different businesses in the country.

She said among those that would benefit immensely from the conference were those into hospitality business, IT business operators among others.

She said because of the impact of the COVID 19, the conference has been planned to accommodate only 600 physical participants while others will participate virtually “There is no doubt that COVID-19 pandemic had left in its trail, very debilitating effects on many economies and there are efforts at addressing these challenges.

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‘Africa Lacks Production Capacity to Meet Local Demand for Oil Palm’ Gilbert Ekugbe The Secretary, National Action Committee on Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Mr. Francis Anatogu has stated that Africa lacks the production capacity to meet local demand its oil palm needs, noting that the continent still depends heavily on importation.

According to him, Nigeria and other countries on the continent put together cannot produce the quantity of oil palm Africa needs as report reveals that importation of oil topped the list of import among countries in Africa.

Anatogu stated this on the sidelines of a seminar on AfCFTA organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in Lagos recently.

He said, “There is still a lot of oil palm being imported into Africa, so we do not have the production capacity to meet what Africa needs, so we need to build the capacity and reduce the importation of oil palm. Africa cannot produce the quantity the Continent needs.

All the countries in Africa put together cannot produce what Africa needs, but it is not just all about palm oil, but about the value chain.”

He urged exporters to take advantage of the huge opportunities that exist in the oil palm demand gap, saying that the higher the continent imports, the higher the opportunities for exporters to tap from the trade.

“Our market is huge and represents 11.8 per cent of total imports into Africa and we have

to maintain our domestic market share and we have to develop the local capacity,” he added.

He noted that Nigeria has continued to witness increased investment moving into agriculture and agro based manufacturing, assuring that the federal government would continue to support local and foreign investment in its bid to get more investments into agriculture and manufacturing.

“The public sector will continue to get people into agriculture and manufacturing through some of the programmes that already exist like the agro loans, access to finance and other incentives while also promoting local consumption. We need to catalyse the local market to make sure that we consume what we produce and as the demand grows people

will be encouraged to produce more. As we export as well, it also means that there is demand as well.

There is local demand and export demand and it will as it would encourage more people to go into agriculture to reduce the food import bill,” he added.

On AfCFTA, he added that although the trade pact is yet to be fully activated, but stated that Nigerians are already exporting products formally and informally to its counterparts across the continent, saying that the federal government is working assiduously to make export trade a lot easier and viable for exporters taking congnisance of the challenges they face at the international market.

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021

HOMES&DESIGN ONE6TEMPLE

PRIME OFFICE CATERING FOR NIGERIA’S CORPORATE WORKSPACES

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BUSINESSES ARE RECONSIDERING PHYSICAL SPACE REQUIREMENTS TO MAXIMISE UTILISATION Nigeria has its fair share of high-profile commercial real estate, comparable to most around the world, particularly in African countries like South Africa and Kenya. Then COVID-19 came and blew the market wide open, changing work mode to remote. Most of the star properties in Lagos are managed by Fine & Country International (W.A), an affiliate of the renowned global realtor organisation Fine & Country International. Bennett Oghifo explores its offerings through the eyes of the Chief Executive Officer of Fine & Country International (West Africa), Maryanne Udo Okonjo

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lobally, the real estate industry was blindsided by the coronavirus pandemic. All projections in the commercial property sector took a hit and collapsed with the lockdowns, and projects have been affected one way or another by the new normal of remote work, which is expected to linger.

While an economic upturn predicted, the Delta variant could send that to a screeching halt, a player in the real estate sector observed recently. Since July 27, governments and health authorities have recommended that fully vaccinated people in areas of high transmission wear a mask indoors.

Property experts, cannot as of today, predict the full impact additional COVID-19 restrictions will have on the housing market.

However, several real estate agents and experts have weighed in with their opinion of what the market will look like for the rest of the year.

Regardless, the Chief Executive Officer of Fine & Country International (W.A), Maryanne Udo Okonjo, believes the commercial property will stand the test of time, and she states her reasons lucidly.

Fine & Country International (W.A) is a global player and multi-award-winning international real estate network reputed locally and worldwide for its unique blend of intelligent and creative marketing and branding services.

It is also involved in market research and property investment advisory service coupled with a professional approach to

corporate sales and leasing premium commercial and luxurious residential properties. With operations spanning over 300 offices worldwide, including the UAE, South Africa, Mauritius. Fine and Country International Realty has its head office located on Park Lane, Mayfair in the United Kingdom. The firm has sturdy pieces of real estate in its portfolio.

These include One6 Temple, the Post Square, the Wings, NestOil Towers, Alliance Place, Heritage Place, Civic Tower, Sapetro Towers, BAT Rising Sun, and Kings Tower. The One6 Temple, a 15-floor developed by Yf Construction Development and Real Estate, is a grade-A office building designed specifically for top corporate and professional enterprises.

It features state-of-the-art mechanical, safety, and security systems. Other facilities include 24-hour power supply and 24-hour security with CCTV cameras, coffee shop, cafeteria, waiting lounge, data network, UPS network and voice network with a digital PABX, voice evacuation system, modern building management system, and building maintenance unit, ample parking spaces and more.

The Post Square -14 floors- previously known as the NIPOST Tower, is located in the heart of Victoria Island. It also offers greater flexibility in space management for businesses and corporations seeking smaller office spaces to meet the ever-changing,

dynamic needs of fast-growing businesses. The office space incorporates a 24-hour power supply guaranteed with five units of 810 KVA, 24-hour security with CCTVs, kitchenette, modern building management system and building maintenance unit, ample car park, and an array of other facilities integrated for optimal building performance.

“The 2020 global pandemic led to an abrupt change in work-life with organisations across all sectors forced to work from home,” said Okonjo.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY Commercial offices have noticed definitive shifts in demand for office space as we begin to settle into a new normal. The traditional work activities at commercial offices have fully returned for some businesses. Many businesses are operating a hybrid model, flexible work from home options, alternate days of virtual work, which means many businesses are reconsidering their physical space requirements both in the short and long term to maximise space utilisation.

Wellness, leisure, and health considerations are also factors as organisations actively develop a more holistic approach to their space planning. The commercial office scene is changing rapidly with sustainability, smart buildings, and remote work expected to accelerate a new face of

workspaces integrating human connection with safe distance, lifestyle goals, safety, and flexibility at the core of office design.

“We expect the demand for prime office space to remain conservative for the foreseeable future in light of both the pandemic and pressures in the local economy,” said Fine & Country International honcho. “Commercial landlords have noted this trend as the astute ones offer more flexible commercial terms to maintain or attract top quality clients.”

In addition, the demand for smaller floor sizes is increasing, as we envisage more large corporates will reconsider the need for extensive and expensive locations, preferring to find or create flexible work hubs for employee accessibility and costefficiency.

Okonjo further stated, “Some of the leading commercial office spaces, including One6Temple in Ikoyi, Post Square in Victoria Island, The Wings Victoria Island, Nest Oil Tower, and Greystone Tower, all prime grade-A offices in Victoria Island are abreast of these trends and adapting.”

According to her, some office spaces have experienced continuous demand for “mostly” smaller office spaces. These requests are 200 to 400 square meters, while larger corporations looking for 1000 square meters are increasingly less active.

“It is worth noting, however, that since the pandemic hit, none of the tenants at any of these office buildings have reduced or relocated from these office buildings,” she added

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HOMES&DESIGN

WELLNESS IN DESIGN WELLNESS

OMON ANENIH MORDI Founder, The DEW Centre

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question we hear quite often is ‘How are you?’ and we habitually respond by saying ‘I am okay’ or ‘Fine, thank you’. Most of the time, this exchange is something we do in polite society; merely etiquette. Just like “Good morning” or in our part of the world. “How was your night?”

And even when we do genuinely mean to enquire about someone’s health, the question is usually tilted towards how they are physically, when in fact wellness encompasses both physical and mental health. Health has been defined by the WHO as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (illness).” while it defines wellness as the optimal state of health of individuals and groups,” and wellness is expressed as “a positive approach to living.”. The primary difference between health and wellness is that health is the goal and wellness is the active process of achieving it. You truly cannot have health without first achieving wellness. Wellness has a direct influence on overall health, which is essential for living a robust, happy, and fulfilled life Wellness is more than just physical health; it is holistic and multidimensional. It comprises six dimensions that include physical, intellectual, emotional, environmental, social, and spiritual wellness.

Physical: Physical wellness increases physical fitness—by being physically fit, a person would have an enhanced ability to prevent illness and diseases.

Intellectual: Mental exercise and engagement through learning, problem-solving, and creativity support intellectual wellness and promote a better attitude.

Emotional: A person with emotional wellness can better deal with stressful situations.

Social: Social circles and support networks are invaluable to the overall well-being of a person.

Spiritual: Spiritual wellness does not imply religion or faith of a person, but the search for meaning and purpose of human existence.

Environmental: Awareness of the role we play in improving our natural environment rather than denigrating it and maintaining and living in a healthy physical environment free of hazards, promotes wellness.

‘Design’ is such a familiar word, and yet there seems to be a certain degree of misconception surrounding it. Is it simply a process to make nice looking things? Far from it. It doesn’t focus purely on aesthetics, nor is it about adding ornaments to an item or space. First and foremost, design is about making the user’s interaction with the environment more natural and complete.

It is the process of envisioning and planning the creation of objects, interactive systems, buildings, vehicles, etc. At its core, design is user-centered, i.e. users are at the heart of the design thinking approach. It is about creating solutions for people, physical items, or more abstract systems to address a need or a problem.

It is a very broad concept and its meaning can greatly vary from one field to another.

It permeates every aspect of our lives and branches out into many different subgenres, from product design, sounds, virtual reality , experiential design, to designing cars, video games, software interfaces, the home and office interiors etc.

It is well established that our daily behaviours and lifestyles are directly influenced by our homes, communities and surrounding environments (and vice versa) and as a result, determine about 80% - 90% of our health outcomes. Along with the many advantages and evolvement brought to the world in this digital/technological era (high levels of comfort, convenience, entertainment, etc.), it also created a modern living environment that not only poses health risks to us (sedentary lifestyles, poor diet, stress, social isolation, etc.) but also environmental degradation.

In addition to the existing stress of our already busy lives, research has shown that the way homes and office spaces have been built over the last century, has boosted lifestyles that make us unwell, stressed, alienated, congested and dispirited; leading to increased cases of depression, anxiety and insomnia, amongst others. Our homes and offices are the places we spend most of our time and they are supposed to be our safe havens and shelter from a very noisy world; places where we can regain focus, recollect our thoughts and be our best and most productive selves in, thus the urgent need for a paradigm shift in the way we think about - and design - the spaces where we live and work.

Wellness-focused design involves lighting, materials, air and sound quality, calming colour palettes, biophilic design (connecting architecture and nature), and outdoor-indoor space integration—to name just a few key design elements. The pursuit and promotion of wellness requires a shift in focus from treatment to prevention. Wellness based Design is an opportunity to address incidental factors, instil a culture of wellness, and keep

low-risk individuals at low risk by providing healthy environments and promoting healthy behaviors.

Employees satisfied with the physical and performance factors of their workplace report higher energy levels when at work and take fewer sick days than peers in underperforming environments. Employees whose physical environments are healthier and higher performing are not only less likely to call in sick, they are also less likely to come to the office when they are sick—they’re working more, and staying home when they should.

Furthermore, The World Green Building Council found a 66% fall in staff performance as a result of distracting noise. In general, office sound levels should be moderate or less to keep worker stress in check and thereby optimize productivity, as task performance is degraded both in environments that are too loud and those that are too quiet. Another example of intentional design choices to promote wellness is designing office layouts to have far off water stations and printing bays, which would force employees to leave their seats thereby encouraging some movement during the course of the day.

The outbreak of Covid-19 and restrictions on all activities really shone a light on the need for wellness focused design thinking.

People were stuck at home and there is extensive research to show that there is a high link between depression and living space. It is crucial for office and home spaces to be designed to integrate wellness. The world has changed and steps need to be taken to put that into consideration. With global warming, getting in as much fresh air as possible is important. It is also crucial for future homes to be designed with multiple uses in mind, such as carving out dedicated workspaces or exercise areas, or creating rooms that are reconfigurable depending on the time of day and intended use.

Homes have also become safe havens amid the Covid-19 pandemic and this sentiment is likely to become more literal with interiors designed to provide comfort, security and calming wellness spaces. With the ‘Stay home, stay safe’ mantra of the lock down months, Home has acquired unprecedented importance by being perceived, particularly at the height of the pandemic, as being the only safe sanctuary against the virus. With the increase in the time spent at home, it has been observed that people are becoming

more particular about their home design. They are paying attention to the minutest details and design flaws in their homes which were ignored or tolerated earlier. If being locked down within the four walls of the home has taught us anything, it is that we should have such a home design which can satiate all our needs.

Greater focus and consideration is being given not just to function and awsthetics, but to how these spaces make us feel and their suitability to support our desired lifestyles.

Both in personal and commercial spaces, we are beginning to create more open spaces with access to natural light and freshness and with a more intentional connection to the outdoors.

Inclusion of greenery, particularly in the space of a home is an important requirement that has been realized because of covid. With no access to parks and gardens during the lockdown period, people realized the importance and impact of greenery in their lives. As such, biophilic design is being considered less of a luxury or niche area, and more of an essential element of every design project.

The prolonged state of crisis and the need to maintain social distance and reduce social interactions is taking a toll on people’s mental health. In such a situation, it becomes even more important to introduce those elements in the home which create a relaxing atmosphere. We need to create environments that lift up the mood and foster good health and feelings of vitality.

What better option than greenery to do this job! Greenery not only decreases carbon dioxide levels in the home, but is also soothing to the eyes, adds a distinct freshness to a space and stimulates our senses. From vertical gardens to hanging pots, planters on balconies or table tops, every space poses an opportunity to introduce greenery and connect to nature.

As we better understand ourselves and our essential needs for optimal wellness, we will begin to further appreciate the interconnectivity of design, health, wellbeing and lifestyle choices and realise that wellness is not complete without design thinking and vice versa. From deliberate selection of materials, infusion of colours, lighting, sound and space planning, you can design a space that would be both functional and effective in enhancing your wellbeing. Design can be functional and aesthetically pleasing, but it can and in fact should, also be an avenue to achieving a more balanced life. Wellness is multi faceted and our spaces need to be designed with careful consideration for all the different facets. t 0NPO "OFOJI .PSEJ 'PVOEFS 5IF %&8 $FOUSF

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BUSINESSSPECIAL CBN AND NIGERIA’S WOBBLY POWER SECTOR For decades, the Nigerian power sector has faced several challenges. While several players in the industry may have done their bits to ensure that at least Nigerians have access to a supply threshold that meets their basic daily energy needs, the part played by the Central Bank of Nigeria appears to always take the back burner. Emmanuel Addeh highlights the role played by the apex bank in improving power supply in the country

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ast month, the Minister of State, Power, Mr. Goddy Jedy-Agba, said over 90 million persons were still without electricity in the country, making Nigeria one the most deficient nations in the world in terms of access to basic energy needs.

According to him, Nigeria’s huge figures in energy poverty remain a major challenge that must be resolved, noting that about 2.6 billion people still lack access to clean cooking solutions worldwide.

It didn’t come as a surprise to the teeming population of the country who feel the pinch and who know that energy access underpins economic development and ultimately reflects on every other sector, whether health, education or businesses.

Nigeria’s power supply malaise has in many ways hampered improvement in the standard of living, raising poverty level and causing general frustration, despite it’s ‘privatisation’ for roughly eight years.

There have, however, been continued collaborations by the federal government, especially through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other stakeholders in the power sector, in a bid to improve the sector optimise its capacity.

CHALLENGES Liquidity remains a critical issue in the distribution sector and Distribution Companies (Discos) continue to struggle to pay for the power received from the power generation

companies (Gencos). While the central bank is not the industry regulator, it has, however, been in at the forefront of solving the liquidity crisis which has bedeviled the sector.

To sort this out, in 2020, NERC had set a minimum market remittance threshold payable by the DisCos across the country and mandated the them to make remittances to the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s (TCN) Market Operator in line with the threshold, repay loans to CBN and remit some percentage to Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) monthly.

In addition, CBN directed money deposit banks to take charge of the collection of electricity bill payments. This was in a bid to ensure that payments were made into a dedicated account and disbursed depending on priority, beginning with loan repayment and service charge to TCN. Added to that, it was also expected to lead to cash flow management discipline in the beleaguered industry as the insufficient capital investment in the distribution sector makes it difficult for the sector to cope with generation and transmission capacity.

Although, there has been some improvement with power generation reaching a new peak in February, but current levels of supply and the overall production capacity of less than 6,427MW remain grossly inadequate.

Shortage of gas supply for thermal plants,

high levels of unpaid electricity bills and the country’s outdated and poorly maintained transmission network, which the government still owns, have become major issues in the sector.

As it is today, the transmission network cannot handle a certain amount of load at certain peak electricity production points as ageing facilities requiring substantial amounts of investments to upgrade and expand. So, it has become a problem of which one comes first, the chicken or the egg, as it were. This is because private investors are reluctant to put money into infrastructure projects if they believe that there is little or no prospect of achieving profitable returns on their investment.

The Generation Companies (Gencos), in the last couple of years, have tried to increase generation over the past years, but of lack of infrastructure to evacuate all the available capacity due to system constraints, leading to rejection of load and by extension idle capacity.

As a summation of the impact of all the problems, the International Energy Agency (IEA), estimates that about 77 million Nigerians do not have access to electricity while about 22 million generators continue to serve as alternative power to households and small businesses which have to source for their own electricity.

Little steps are also being taken to tackle the issue of lack of cost reflective tariffs, huge amount of aggregate technical

commercial and collection (ATC&C) losses, gas supply credit worthiness of the major players in the industry and general value chain misalignment.

However, despite these efforts, the Nigeria Electricity System Operator (NESO) earlier in the month, revealed that Nigeria’s power sector was only able to generate about 15.6 per cent of the total projected national daily requirement of 28.880 megawatts.

NESO, a semi-autonomous arm under the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) is responsible for operating the transmission system in a safe and reliable manner.

The data released by NESO showed that the country needs approximately 28.880MW, but is barely able to push 5,000MW for use by homes and business concerns in the country.

The World Bank recently projected that the federal government could be paying as much as N3.4 trillion by 2023 if the current shortfall persisted.

According to the Washington-based institution, only 22 per cent of the poorest households has access to electricity, with Nigeria now having the largest number of ‘unelectrified’ people globally after overtaking the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Nigeria currently has a rough energy mix, which is dominated by thermal, mostly gas-to-power of 75 per cent and hydro (water) of about 25 per cent power Continued on page 41

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BUSINESS SPECIAL

INTERVIEW

BELGORE: EXPANDING TAX BASE CRITICAL IN RAISING NIGERIA’S REVENUE Managing Director, Utica Capital Limited, Mr. Ola Belgore, in this interview advises the federal government to take steps towards expanding its tax base in order to boost revenue generation. Obinna Chima provides the excerpts: What is your take on the second quarter (Q2) 2021 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released last week by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that showed a 5.01 per cent jump in growth, compared with the 0.51 per cent recorded in Q1 2021? t is a positive development for the economy. It signals recovery of economic activities despite the challenges. You will notice that trade contributed about 68 per cent of the recorded growth, while the ICT sector (with 20% contribution) was also resilient. It is also good that the agriculture sector, a priority sector for this government also contributed to growth.

However, manufacturing growth remains soft, pointing to the need to address some of the structural issues in the sector and the real sector in general.

What do you think should be done to maintain the momentum?

Firstly, we need to get the vaccination rate higher to improve the safety of workers and prevent the likelihood of another round of movement restrictions. Beyond that, we need to face the issue of credit for the manufacturing sector and infrastructural challenges. Ultimately, we need to make the business and investment climate more friendly by tackling insecurity and boosting business confidence.

Do you think this positive piece of news will bring about a turnaround in the economy, especially regarding capital outflow?

Well, it is a good one but I don’t think investors will be carried away by the numbers; don’t forget it is coming off the back of a low base due to the pandemic.

Also, capital flows is driven not only by GDP growth but also by other factors like inflation, interest rates, the presence or absence of capital controls, exchange rate stability, among others. If you look at the macroeconomic indicators now, I don’t think we can make a strong case for preventing capital outflows. On the other hand, we can look at the numbers as a signal of the potential in the economy and for investors who are used to our environment, it is an indicator of the opportunities in the economy, subject to their risk appetite.

What is your outlook for the banking sector this year, especially as we look forward to more banks releasing their half year results?

Results released so far by some banks have been largely unimpressive mainly due to lower-than-expected interest income. On the other hand, income from fees and commission has continued to improve as a result of increasing use of mobile channels for banking transactions by customers. That notwithstanding, the decline in interest income which is the largest source of income trickled down to bottom line, impacting profitability negatively. Going into the second half of the year where yield is now declining, we have a cautious outlook for the banking sector. While we expect fee-related income to improve further across board, we do not expect much from other non-interest revenue streams like foreign exchange and trading income given the relative stability in the naira now. Overall, improvement in banks’ performance this year will be modest.

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The Nigerian Exchange Group last week celebrated its 60 years of existence, do you think the stock exchange has lived up to expectation in the past 60 years especially in the area of wealth creation and capital formation?

I believe so. I think the Exchange has come a long way to its current status as one of the largest securities exchanges on the continent. It has introduced many innovations that has facilitated process improvement and product creation, the Exchange has

Belgore

evolved technologically, from the days of call-over to now Straight-Through Process (STP). More importantly, it has improved greatly in protecting investors and improving transparency of the market through initiatives like the Direct Cash Settlement and trade alerts. Yet, there is still a lot to do and achieve which I think the recent demutualisation will help to drive.

In what ways can the government boost its revenue which has remained weak over the years?

Government should seek to expand the tax base, and explore more joint venture arrangements with the private sector on revenue generating projects.

I think it is equally important to plug

“The experience has been exciting, it is what I have always done but now I have more flexibilities to create innovative products to meet the yearnings of our clients. Being new, flexible and innovation help both us and our clients. We offer them the opportunity to contribute to how they want to be served and what new product they would like to have.”

leakages from the system, partly by driving a more efficient tax collection system and cutting out expenditure on redundant items. Also, the government must intensify efforts with diversifying its revenues from Oil. Asides agriculture, the government has to also look into making the best out of the vast mineral resources available in the country like iron and steel. Technology is an enabler, government need to provide conducive environment for technological ideas to thrive, not hamper or frustrate initiatives like the financial technology which is putting Nigeria on the global map and creating jobs for our teeming and gifted young population.

Do you share in the optimism that has trailed the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act? If yes, why?

It is a step in the right direction. It is a clear improvement on what existed in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

The Bill has been introduced to attract investments in the sector and also provide a guiding framework for the activities of the sector. Any concerns about certain provisions of the Act can be improved upon as we go along.

Give us an overview of what corporate and investment banking at Utica Capital entails. What has been your experience since the firm was created?

Utica Capital Limited is licenced by the Securities and Exchange Commission as a Fund/Portfolio Management company, what that means is that as an asset management company we can provide wide ranges of financial services and products to the various categories of clients. The portfolio management aspect of our business is particularly suited for the high net worth individuals and institutional investors whiles the fund management angles gives us the opportunity to provide professional management for individuals who would rather start small because of where they currently are on the ladder of wealth or those who would like to put a foot out first to test the water.

The important thing for us is that people aspire for a better tomorrow and we are there to help them get there. The experience has been exciting, it is what I have always done but now I have more flexibilities to create innovative products to meet the yearnings of our clients. Being new, flexible and innovation help both us and our clients. We offer them the opportunity to contribute to how they want to be served and what new product they would like to have.

What is your strength in the industry and how have you handled competition and what are you doing differently?

Well, apart from the opportunities I have had and experienced gained setting up and managing firms in the top hierarchy in Nigeria, I would say our strength is in our people, we are young and dynamic, yet we have people with cognate experience to stay innovative even within the ambits of the regulations. The only time we compete is in our constant attempt to improve the quality of service to our clients. Otherwise, we see other capital market operators as collaborators. You will see what I mean when you take a look at our products and services offerings and find firms you would ordinarily call competitors working together with us for the greater good of all especially the clients.

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NWOKOMA: GOVERNMENT MUST ADDRESS INSECURITY TO SPUR ECONOMIC GROWTH Prof. Ndubisi Nwokoma is a Professor of Economics and the Director, Centre for Economic Policy and Research, University of Lagos. In this interview on Arise News Channel, he speaks on Nigeria’s latest Gross Domestic Product report released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Excerpts: How important is the latest GDP figure, what are the realities and what else do we need to do? think it is good news in the sense that we are hearing something positive about the Nigerian economy, unlike the negative things we have been hearing in the past.

Hearing that the economy recorded about 5.01 per cent growth year-on-year is something that we should celebrate, but we should look at it critically and find out why it was so. I say critically because these are post-COVID-19 recovery effects, period! What is GDP? We are talking about the volume of economic activities.

What we seeing is thing there is a pick-up in the level of economic activities. And when you talk about growth rate, you are talking about growth from a base.

Remember that the economy shrank by about six per cent during the second quarter of last year. So, when an economy shrank by six per cent and is recovering by about five per cent, you know that the base has actually been low. So, growth rate is majorly about the increase. Even though it is good to celebrate growth, you need to look at it from that perspective. Secondly, you want to take a look at the growth drivers. One of them is transportation. Last year, people hardly travelled and aviation almost went down. Now, people are travelling and so there is an upsurge in that sector. The issue of whether the GDP we were attaining in the past has been achieved is another issue. But the fact that from a low base we were able to add something that is significant is commendable. Take a look at services, many people worked from home and ICT has been enabled to enhance work. People can still achieve the level of output they were achieving before, compared with what happened in the year when everything was on lockdown. So, if you take a look at all these, then you would know that we should celebrate, but with a pinch of salt. Again, we take a look at mining. There has been an increase in coal mining and the mining sector generally because of government policy. So, we can say that we need to keep on along this line, but the increase in GDP is critical because the base we are using to determine the growth was low and we should celebrate that something good is happening. Of course, we could have done a lot better because agriculture was low

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and many people were not going to the farms to work. So, we need to up the game.

I want you to speak more on the stagnancy with respect to crop production which grew slightly by 1.38 per cent?

Yes, just like I said, there is a lingering problem with that sector and there is actually no solution in sight. We are talking about grazing reserves and it has been quite contentious and farmers are still scared to go to farm to produce. Which means that the highest contributor to GDP is actually under threat. And we can see that during the period of farming, when the rains are on, we needed to see significant growth in agriculture, but it is not so and the debate of ranching or no ranching reserve is still there in the public domain. So, there is still the fear about insecurity and the output of agriculture may not grow as it ought to grow.

So, that is an area that the government needs to look at. If we don’t address insecurity, but just keep on going round in circles, we would not be able to bring about the desired growth that this economy is supposed to have. Over the years we have gone into recession and we came out of recession and in the past three quarters, we have been having economic growth, which is beautiful.

But like I said earlier, it was from a low base. When the economy had shrunk and is coming up again, you will expect normally that the growth figures should be high. It is when we now begin to stabilise to where we were before, that you can now say whether the growth is really and what we should celebrate or not. So, agriculture needs to grow more than it did and for it to grow we need to address the issue of insecurity and people can go to farms without fear of being raped, without fear of being killed and without fear of being kidnapped. We should address those issues, because if we don’t, the growth figures we are having now may not be as much as it was next quarter or the quarter after that.

If you look at agriculture, most of its growth came from crop production which I find very curios because we’ve had a

lot of crop failure due to insecurity, so what was the statistical modeling and another sub-sector which ought to have spurred growth is the livestock sub-sector, what are the ways to spur growth in the agric sector?

I agree with you entirely. If you look at the contribution of livestock to GDP, you will see that it is quite insignificant. So, why all these cry, confusion and problem about livestock? What is the contribution of livestock to GDP? We need to ask that critical question. The bulk of agriculture contribution to GDP comes from crops.

So, why are we so much concerned about livestock in the country? So, I think what government needs to do top jumpstart the economy is to address the insecurity. Even transportation, how many people travel by road today? The bulk of this increase in GDP would come from aviation. Mind you how many people can afford to leave road transportation and go by air? We need to address insecurity so that we can enhance the contribution of other sectors to GDP. The contribution of transportation went high in the second quarter 2021, compared with what it was previously, but until we address insecurity, the economy would be going up and down. Services is also growing significantly and that was because it was COVID-19 induced growth. People have switched on to be able to render services, using ICT. Internet penetration has gone very high in this country and so people can still achieve increased output despite the lockdown and despite the insecurity. So, I think the critical thing is that we should be happy with the growth we saw in Services, Transportation, Mining sectors. Agriculture grew slightly and there was a depression with the contribution of the Industrial Sector to GDP. Industry isn’t doing well and the other area we should look at very well is the transmission mechanism and how to transmit this growth to other macroeconomic indicators. That is very critical. Does the growth affect living standards? If the economy has expanded, what is the transmission? Has it been able to transmit to prices? That is very critical. If we

don’t look at that, we would just be celebrating the increase in volume in growth. We should see the GDP growth reflecting the people’s living standards. Until that is done, it would just be a growth that is tangible. But overall, it is a good thing to grow. Growth is good for the economy, but another thing is transmission. Comparatively, we did well. It is like somebody who is in a class of 50 and you are like 49th position and tomorrow you improve to the 40th position.

That is an improvement, but we still have some ways to go.

But do you think the figure is being magnified and is it a true reflection of the size economy considering the fact that inflation remains very high? But if you answer in the affirmative, then how do we sustain this growth?

Yes, there have questions in some cycles about the quality of data being churned out. In fact, some have even suggested that with the new Director General of the National Bureau of Statistics, are we going to have single-digit inflation rate? In research and data collection, there is a difference between truth and fact. What we have before us are facts which are given to us by an authentic body that is licenced to perform such duties and give us macro-economic data. But people have questioned if these are the true reflection of the Nigerian economy. They might be fact, but are they the truth? If we have a National Bureau of Statistics that can’t be compromised, we would be having data that would be telling us what we want to hear so that we can confront the problems that are facing us. So, if we have inflation that is still very high and GDP is growing, we should not be celebrating yet.

Let us see the transmission and then that will lead to expansion of income and that should also transmit to prices, which is a reduction in inflation. People have questioned those inflation figures, 17 per cent or 18 per cent, but people are saying the increase in prices are more than 50 per cent and some 100 per cent. Even though it is a basket of commodities in calculating inflation, but there is disconnect between what the figures are saying and what is in the market. The figures that are being churned out should help us to address the challenges we are facing and not that there is problem and then we now say

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CBN AND NIGERIA’S WOBBLY POWER SECTOR generating sources, although there have been recent noticeable attempts to rev up solar power use in far-flung rural areas by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

CBN’S OFF-GRID POWER FUND There have been many efforts to activate and incentivise off-grid electricity supply and take the pressure off the weak national grid, which is constantly under the weight of collapse.

To support this, the Solar Power Naija, was floated to enable 5 million new connections and support the economic recovery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in communities that are not grid-connected.

Expected to generate an additional N7 billion increase in tax revenues per annum and $10 million in annual import substitution, the solar connection intervention facility will provide affordable electricity to underserved rural communities through the provision of long term low interest credit facilities to the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) pre-qualified home solar value chain players. These players include manufacturers and assemblers of solar components and off-grid energy retailers in the country and will expand energy access to 25 million individuals (5 million new connections) through the provision of solar home systems (SHS) or connection to a mini grid.

In addition, it will increase local content in the off-grid solar value chain and facilitate the growth of the local manufacturing industry and incentivise the creation of 250,000 new jobs in the energy sector.

The N140 billion scheme to be funded by the apex bank, will further address one of the main challenges to energy, which is access to finance, under which developers can access funds as low as 5 per cent interest rate.

“The Solar Power Naija will address the issue of access to financing through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for pre-qualified private companies,” Managing Director of the implementing agency, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Ahmad Salihijo, recently noted.

He added: “This is a testament to our dedication and commitment to scaling the off-grid solar market through provision of long term low interest credit facilities to the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) prequalified home solar value chain players that include manufacturers and assemblers of solar components and off-grid energy developers and retailers in the country,” he said.

In the upstream, the CBN will fund 70 per cent of the manufacturing and assembly proposals, with repayment of 10 years, while the downstream comprising mini grid developers can get N500 million payable in three years.

Phase 1 which is ongoing is expected to be completed within 12 months, coming with

Emefiele

750,000 connections will create 37,500 jobs in the first instance, with companies involved in the assembly/manufacturing of components of off-grid solar solutions to be 70 per cent Nigeria-owned.

In phase 2, starting from June 2021 to May 2022, the REA will improve on the programme, using the experience in phase 1 by reviewing the scheme. It will also expand the beneficiary pool with the connections, reaching 1.5 million and creating up to 75,000 jobs.

The phase 3 will have 2.75 million solar connections and over 137 million jobs created. This period will be between June 2022 and May 2023 when the REA is expected to have mastered the scheme by using experiences from phases 1 and 2, while expanding the scheme’s beneficiary pool.

RESCUING THE ON-GRID SUPPLY SYSTEM In the last seven years, the CBN was

estimated to have pumped over N1.5 trillion into the power sector, in over 23 instances through the Power and Aviation Intervention Fund (PAIF) worth roughly N300 billion, through the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF), valued at N213 billion and the N140 billion Solar Connection Intervention Facility (SCIF).

Added to that, the apex bank has spent over N600 billion to augment tariff shortfall, plus a recent N120 billion intervention designed for mass metering, which is currently being deployed in the country.

With the various power supply financing plans, there is the belief that in the months ahead, liquidity and funding challenges facing the sector would be greatly reduced.

Aside the various interventions listed earlier, the bank had recently disbursed a total of N120.2bn to

different electricity distribution companies (DISCOs), power generating companies (GENCOs), service providers and gas companies.

Some Nigerians have questioned why the CBN would intervene despite the privatisation of the power sector and the creation of successor generation and distribution companies in the value chain.

Although, not Father Christmas, the other argument, is that the sector has continued to significantly underperform with very little progress made and therefore needs the apex bank’s to step in at the strategic level at intervals to prevent a total collapse.

As it is, the entire value chain is beset with lack of cost-reflective tariff, low revenue collection, poor metering infrastructure, archaic transmission facilities, power theft, regulatory stranglehold and as mentioned earlier, the liquidity crunch.

With the recent mass metering of electricity consumers across the country, the bank aims to keep the industry in tune with market realities and drive efficiency.

Experts at Proshare Nigeria Limited, a niche financial information service focusing on delivering market intelligence, data, analysis/analytics, research and news on markets, business and economic development have lauded the CBN initiatives.

However, the caveat is that whatever the initiatives are should be short term because, according to them it’s not sustainable in the long term.

“In our opinion, we consider the government’s financial support for the sector laudable, however, we are concerned about the sustainability of such support amidst the government’s weak revenue position.

“Available data from the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), umbrella body of the Discos shows an improvement in revenue collection by the Discos as they reached a new record of N483 billion as of Q3 2020, representing a 3.6 per cent y-o-y increase.

“Nevertheless, without cost-reflective tariffs, no meaningful progress in the power value chain can be achieved. As such, for the sector to receive a new lease of life, consumers will at some point have to come to terms with an increase in tariffs,” the market intelligence group stressed.

Furthermore, with the phase 0 of the CBN-assisted metering programme now winding down, and phase 1 taking off soon, the system of estimated billing by the Discos will soon become history, a development that will indeed be revolutionary for the power sector.

NWOKOMA: GOVERNMENT MUST ADDRESS INSECURITY TO SPUR ECONOMIC GROWTH something that is palatable to us and to our leaders and everybody would have a false sense of wellbeing. But for now, it is not yet uhuru for the Nigerian economy.

We need to celebrate this, but cautiously because there is a lot of work to be done. Like I said earlier, one earlier thing that needs to be done is to address the issue of insecurity.

There are other problems in the economy, but one singular thing they can do is to tackle insecurity because there is also capital flight.

If you address that, every other sector would begin to pick up and then the growth figure would be something we would all definitely be happy with. I think government should do the needful and then things would be better.

What other low hanging fruits can you point at to stimulate growth?

Government needs to actually address the issue of availability of foreign exchange, which is very critical to grow manufacturing. The normal trajectory for economic growth in any economy is that from agriculture you transit to industry and then services. China, for example, grew by enhancing industrialisation; India grew by enhancing services. Now, compare India with China in terms of the trajectory of their economic growth. China was able to take over 500 million people out of poverty by taking the route of industrialisation. But India, they say is the software capital of the world.

We are taking the path of India, which is not the path we should take. We need to enhance industrialisation. We need to do that because

Nwokoma that sector is shrinking.

Currently, they are facing the challenge of getting foreign exchange for their inputs.

So, we need to focus on industrialisation because it shrank in this report. We need to transit from agriculture, to manufacturing and then to services. But even when the GDP was rebased under President Jonathan, we had a very large services sector of over

50 per cent. But we are jumping the middle, which is manufacturing by moving from agriculture to services. We need to change that trajectory by moving from agriculture, to manufacturing and then to services.

That would enhance inclusive growth.

So, we need to address industrialisation.

If we don’t do that and we say we are growing through services by jumping the middle, which is manufacturing, the growth cannot be sustained for a long time and it cannot be inclusive.

That is because many people are involved in the first stage which is agriculture and the second stage which isindustrialisation.

So, if the middle is weak, the economy will not have a strong foundation. So, we need to address that problem of manufacturing.

There is scarcity of foreign exchange, there is no infrastructure, there is no security for them, they provide their own water, provide their own power and are involved in road construction. With all these, the factory cost of what they provide will be high.

So, how can we spur the growth of manufacturing vis-à-vis the AfCFTA? I think as things stand now, Nigeria would not benefit maximally from the AfCFTA. I happen to have done some work for the African Union in that regards and I discovered that the way Nigeria is structured now, of which Nigeria part of, the benefits of the AfCFTA would be for countries that have goods to sell,

particularly in the area of agriculture.

So, the value you add to your basic commodity will be your cutting edge. Nigeria does not have what it takes to compete on the continent currently because we don’t have a functional manufacturing sector where we need to add value. Many times, what we do is that we re-export. That is, we import from Europe or China and we send to Congo.

These are re-export because the origin of those goods are not from your country.

That is, from another country, you export into Nigeria and then you ship to another country and put a premium on your price.

For us to benefit, we need to take a look at the operating environment in Nigeria. Look at roads, how many roads in Nigeria are in good condition? Even the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, how many years have we been doing that road? Can we have a factory in Ibadan that can be supplying goods to Lagos? What is the cost of moving cargo from Apapa to Onitsha?

In fact, somebody alleged that it cost more to move your goods from Apapa to Kwara or Ibadan, more to import the goods from China.

So, these are issues of logistics and dislocation within the economy. If we are bringing in raw materials as such a high cost, then how can you produce at a cost that you can compete with somebody in Niger Republic or somebody in Cameroun? So, these are issues we need to address in enhancing manufacturing. And that is our basic selling point to be able to compete in the continent. So, we need to address the middle as I stated earlier.

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Intrigues as Bola Tinubu’s Friends, Foes Make Beeline for His London Base

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siwaju Bola Tinubu spends from the hear heart, rt, be it passion or political capital. To relieve the wretched wret w virtue’s is his pride, and even his foibles lean to v vir flank, his hardcore loyalists would tell yo you. ou.

But while his spacious politics has been largely la responsible for his meteoric rise from a two-time gove governor ern of Lagos to a formidable contender for the nation’s presi presidential ide seat, not a few of his detractors dreaded his likely emergence emeerg as the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential sta standardand bearer for the 2023 polls. Thus they ganged up against him h and hatched series of desperate plots to thwart his ambition. am mb Even some of his godsons and beneficiarie beneficiaries es o of his expansive political capital and empire hav ve been have known to join in the plot again nst him. against That the proverbial cock crowed crow wed few minutes after his godsons godson ns stuck a dagger in his back revealed rrev much about the na atu of nature politics. It also revea als how reveals it leans on betraya als and betrayals separations; how it cl cloaks simple gestures like a p pol political harmless godson’s seemingly ha arm affectionate insolence, Judas’ affec ctio hand wave kiss or a casual han nd w window from an open w win in the robe of betrayal. betr b having But ha conspired d and failed in their plots to plot ts thwart thw hwa his vision, vi

EX-VP ATIKU ABUBAKAR IGNORES IBB’S HOMILY ON 2023 PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST

Atiku He that strives to touch the stars oft stumbles at a straw, goaded by desire. Apparently, desire manifests like rabies on a great man. Some have likened it to an innate madness borne from the bite of unbridled yearning.

Others have called it the grand enemy of all peace and the nemesis of patrician men. But former Vice President Atiku Abubakar seems oblivious of these facts.

Driven by his ambition, he would do everything and anything to become Nigeria’s president come 2023. Atiku is leaving nothing to chance this time around, having failed in his previous attempts.

Perhaps someone among his team of aides and advisers would painstakingly interpret to him the recent memo issued by the former military dictator, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), concerning the calibre of men worthy of contending for Nigeria’s presidency in the 2023 presidential election.

IBB, ahead of his 80th birthday anniversary earlier this month, expressed his confidence in the country’s capacity to be great, given its

human and natural endowments. He gave his opinion about who should emerge as Nigeria’s president in 2023, hinting at a few unnamed individuals, whom he said were in their 60s with the capacity to occupy the nation’s number one seat.

According to him, these individuals could effectively run the country. Visualising the country’s ideal presidential candidate, he said that such a person should be able to traverse the different parts of the country and make friends everywhere; he should also listen to the people and communicate effectively with them at every level.

The former military ruler made this assertion during an interview with Arise TV, focusing on the state of the nation.

According to him, Nigeria has refused to progress and achieve the founding fathers’ dreams because Nigerians no longer believed in the future of their own country.

The former leader accused Nigerians of creating and, at the same time, destroying their own country, identifying bad leadership as a major cause of the country’s socio-economic challenges.

On leadership, IBB said, “If you get a good leadership that links with the people and tries to talk with the people; not talking on top of the people, then we would be okay. I have started visualising a good Nigerian leader. That is, a person, who travels across the country and has a friend virtually everywhere he travels to, and he knows at least one person that he can communicate with.

He added, “That is a person, who is very versed in economics and is also a good politician, who should be able to talk to Nigerians and so on. I have seen one, or two or three of such persons already in his sixties.”

The Minna-born ex-military ruler added that the fellow could be triumphant in the 2023 presidential election if Nigerians could get him. He reiterated his staunch belief in the unity of the country, lamenting, “Nigerians don’t believe in the future of their country.

They created, and they destroyed.”

Apparently, Atiku hasn’t got the memo from IBB. He would understand that men like him

Tinubu’s major traducers are making a beeline for his residence in London. This is apparently to curry his favour en route his march to the polls, and probable emergence as Nigeria’s new president-elect, come 2023.

It has become the pastime of the country’s preeminent politicians and public officers to visit Tinubu in the UK. Their rush to pay homage at his London base became manifest soon after President Muhammadu Buhari visited him abroad, and photographs of their reunion got widely circulated on social media.

Several politicians, including his sworn enemies, estranged godsons, and loyalists, have been trooping his London residence to pay homage to him. They have conveniently forgotten that they had once cast morality and decency to the winds and enacted lethal deeds of treachery and deceit against the person and political empire of Asiwaju Tinubu, the man variously regarded as the author and progenitor of their political and economic fortune.

But all that is in the past. Right now, Tinubu is the man every politician worth his stature wants to align with. Politicians who have visited him in London included former Lagos commissioner of environment, Muiz Banire, member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Abiodun James Faleke, to mention a few.

Governors Kayode Fayemi and Rotimi Akeredolu and transportation minister Rotimi Amaechi also visited the APC national leader at his London base on August 25. Lagos House of Assembly speaker and his members similarly visited days ago.

Among them are his sworn enemies and closet foes; during their visit to him, they engage in intense photo ops and, afterwards, share pictures taken with Tinubu with several media, particularly the online media. They mobilise the latter to publish and circulate the pictures widely in their desperate bid to reassert lost relevance in Asiwaju Tinubu’s political circuits and beyond.

Amid their newfound love for Tinubu, however, pundits have warned the APC national leader to be wary of men and women of shady intent, all wolves in sheep’s clothing.

aren’t welcome in the 2023 presidential race if he did.

GRAND DEPARTURE: FAMILY, ASSOCIATES PLAN FUNERAL FOR CAPTAIN HOSA OKUNBO

buried in Benin City, not London, his family announced in a statement. That was the desire of Capt Okunbo: to be laid to rest in the ancient city of kings. In the meantime, the family has requested their privacy is respected, explaining that details of the funeral would be announced later.

NIGERIANS SWOON AS BUHARI’S DAUGHTERS DAZZLE AT BROTHER’S WEDDING

Okunbo Yes, Benin city, Edo will definitely list as eminent dignitaries worldwide will storm the state to grace Captain Hosa Idahosa’s burial in few weeks.

The flood of despair incited by the death of Capt Hosa resulted in a cascade of tears.

Travelling across continents for his burial is undoubtedly a worthy enterprise for the hundreds of people eager to canonise the deceased’s memory.

It’s the least they could do to venerate a man, husband, father, grandfather, and business titan, who was passionately inured to his desire to do good for others so he could contribute his quota to improving humanity. Hosa was a natural nobility, who was peerless, and proved throughout his existence that he needed no trappings of wealth or fame to generate his peculiar brand of humanity.

From the calibre of the eminent Nigerians and Africans planning to grace the occasion, one need not be told that Capt Hosa lived a purposeful, fruitful, and awe-inspiring life.

Okunbo died on August 8. He will be

It was the fabled Helen of Troy that flashed a face that launched a thousand ships and goaded gallant generals into a gory war.

But it was President Muhammadu Buhari whom the heavens blessed with the fairest daughters, all ravishing beauties and fit love for the gods.

That the Nigerian president and his beautiful wife Aisha have sired flawless beauties is no news. For instance, his married daughters: Halima, Zahra, and Hanan, wear their visual aspects like a tightened bow, breaking in splendid blossoms at every private and public function they honour with their presence.

There is no gainsaying that each of the three sisters presented a sight for sore eyes at the wedding luncheon of their handsome sibling Yusuf as he got married to Zahra Nasiru Bayero in Kano on August 22.

The president’s daughters warmed up to their husbands as they posed for photographs in the ornate hall of the event. In the pictures widely circulated online, the husbands could be seen grinning from ear to ear with undisguised pride over the eye candies they married as wives.

Mohammed Sheriff and his wife, Halima; Ahmed Indimi and his wife, Zahra; Mohammed Turad Sha’aban and his wife, Hanan, all cut perfect portraits of fulfilled husbands glowing in the magnificence of their wives’ beauties.

While each couple presented an enviable sight, triggering shades of debate online by fans of the Buharis and even in the circuits of their sworn enemies, their marital success depends on their ability to ride the tide of hassles foisted on celebrity marriages by elements beyond their ken.

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PASTOR TUNDE BAKARE THROWS STONES AT BISHOP DAVID OYEDEPO T gospel, according to The ‘d ‘daddy’, da poses a moral problem in n the Nigerian clime.

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nlike lik JJesus Ch Christ’s i t’ gospell off minimalism, i i li compassion and sacrifice, the gospel according to the Nigerian pastor or ‘daddy’, advocates an obscene, pocket-friendly version of faith.

It enhances the capacity to say the right things without doing them.

The daddy’s brand of faith propagates life without integrity, devotion without humanity and the darkest possible version of prosperity. Thus, the impulse for acquisition, the pursuit of gain and money, has nothing to do with spiritualism. Rather, it has everything to do with capitalism. One may say it is common to all sorts and conditions of men at all times and in all cultures of the earth.

Hence the fascination it presents to several Nigerian pastors. It is an open secret that Nigerian pastors are done waiting for their rewards in heaven. As you read, they engage in a mad, desperate hustle for earthly rewards.

Little wonder they drive the best cars and fly private

in jjets t even as too many of their congregation wallow ll i abject poverty.

Interestingly, however, Serving Overseer, Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), Tunde Bakare, understands that if he fails to bellow the truth when he knows it, he undoubtedly makes himself the accomplice of liars and forgers. This perhaps explains his recent outburst and criticism of fellow Pentecostal pastor, Bishop David Oyedepo.

Mr Bakare said this on Saturday during a TVC programme with Sam Omatseye tagged ‘The Big Talk’. A former vice presidential candidate, Bakare spoke about his relationship with fellow Pentecostal pastors in the country.

“Oyedepo and I are contemporaries. We were born in the same year,” he said. “Oyedepo was born in August 1954, and I was born in September. We are contemporaries. God has really blessed him and used him. We have differences in doctrines, what we believe, but that does not make us enemies.”

Bakare said he and Oyedepo were on a plane one time,

and brother d another th b th was coming i over to t greett him, hi but b t on seeing them together, he froze.

“There is (a) difference between issues and persons.

We can defend the gospel, but those who do not and destroy it will die before their time,” Bakare explained.

“I have nothing personal against any man of God. But I will always defend the truth that I know, and I will always make it plain.”

When asked whether the incident was before Oyedepo acquired his private jet, Bakare said he didn’t know why the clergyman makes so much noise about his private jet.

“By the way, when he makes noise about his private jet of a thing, do you know that I once acquired a 1707 with the logo of our church on it? Are you aware of that? But we use it for business,” Bakare reasoned. “I don’t buy a plane to be spending money on it, that I can jump quickly on another and pay little money to where I’m going.

He added, “We can afford it; we are not envious of them at all.”

EXPENSIVE SEX! Beyond Actress Chioma Ifemeludike’s Alleged Sexcapade with Apostle Suleman Poser for the cleric, why always you?

A

ll bitter truths resound as blasphemies. Yet, it is often said that a truth that is told with bad intent beats all the lies that could be invented.

Thus if the intention is the measure for rendering actions true, it may be said that where the intention is sound, action is sound, and where it is corrupt, then action is corrupt.

In the light of these profound notions of intent and truth, the jury may be out on Nollywood actress Chioma Ifemeludike’s claim that Apostle Johnson Suleman, General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries International, committed adultery by sleeping with her in a hotel in Ikeja, Lagos.

There have been several allegations against Suleman - including the highly controversial claims by Stephanie Otobo, who later recanted - with all having no substance.

Suleman’s accusers had always come back to recant and apologise.

But Ifemeludike seems bent on sticking to her claims about her adulterous affair with the pastor. In a video released on Saturday, the actress alleged that she had sex with Apostle Suleman twice and was paid N500,000 by the cleric.

In an Instagram video she termed confession, Ifemeludike also said, “Dear @lyndaclems, I have to tell the world about that hookup you arrange between @johnson_suleman_official and myself on the 20th November 2016 in a hotel at Ikeja. The apostle secretly

gave me his number, and we had a second meeting at Oriental Hotels Lagos.”

Continuing, she disclosed: “I’m sorry my conscience can’t hold it anymore. I encourage you to tell the truth as a mother and a Christian, to put the devil to shame and save millions of souls being misled…To my family and friends, I am sorry: don’t judge me. Please, pray for me so the light of God will continue to expose every work of darkness in my life and the church of God.” While the confession video has elicited mixed reactions in the social space, Apostle Suleman claimed he is unperturbed. The cleric responded while preaching in his church on Sunday, claiming that he didn’t watch the video made by the actress because he doesn’t want to be distracted. He wondered why some of his loyalists were messaging to encourage him when he was not even bothered by the allegation.

He said: “Why are you encouraging a man that is not discouraged? I’m upset since yesterday. I saw messages saying that I should not worry. Read my countenance.

When you see me moody, you can encourage me.”

The clergyman added, “Do I look like somebody who needs encouragement? I’m not discouraged at all, and I’m not angry at those insulting me on social media.”

Suleman added that he was neither annoyed nor heartbroken by comments about the scandal on social media.

“They are reacting to what they read. They are reacting to what they see and not what they know. You can’t

know me and not like me. It’s impossible. Keep doing what you are doing, and I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.

I must do the work of He that sent me,” he noted.

The cleric further added that he intentionally ignored all the videos made against him.

“My wife can bear witness: all the videos done against me, I’ve not watched one. Many of you have watched it but me, the subject matter, I’ve not watched one.

What I don’t see cannot affect me,” the Omega church founder claimed. “Somebody sent me a video from a blog yesterday. That was the last time it was on my phone. I guard my heart so that I can have fellowship with God. Stop all these rumours and gossip. What will not encourage me, I don’t give attention to it.”

Notwithstanding his claims, pundits argued that fumes hardly emanate without fire. Many social media users, Christians inclusive, believe that if Apostle Suleman had no skeletons in his closet, he wouldn’t be on the receiving end of persistent adultery and sex-for-money scandals.

The import for the adherents and future of his church, and Christendom in general, have been the foci of intense debates across various fora. Whatever his excuses, Suleman has failed to address the merit of the actress’ allegations and instead struggled to direct attention away from them - this, several people have argued, hardly exonerates him from the scandalous allegations. More people have wondered why Suleman has always been in the eye of such scandalous storms.

44

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ 30, 2021

BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

Trade Ministry Seeks Amendment to PIA, Eyes N1bn Revenue James Emejo ÓØ ÌßÔË There are indications that the the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has put machinery in motion to push for the amendment of the newly passed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to address certain conflict with the mandate of the Weights and Measures Department particularly in the area of preshipment inspection activities at the crude oil terminals.

The department is under the ministry.

Director, Weights and Measures Department, Mr. Hassan Ejibunu stated this during his maiden meeting with management staff as well as state and zonal coordinators of the department in Abuja.

He also said that the federal government had issued a marching order to the department to improve on it revenue generation efforts to achieve the over N1

billion target before the end of the year.

He said as at July, the department had generated over N357 million to the federal government, working with limited tools.

Ejibunu, said the ministry is however, working assiduously towards a possible amendment to the Act to ensure that the mandates of the department as provided for in Item 65 of the Nigerian Constitution and other legal instruments are not hampered with.

He said,”We are confident that Mr. President will endorse the amendments to the PIA as being proposed by the ministry.”

He said the department has a mandate to ensure that the interest of consumers and producers of goods and services are well protected through the instrumentality of legal metrology.

He said the government has taken steps to ensure that staff

are motivated to redouble efforts on their job.

To this end, the director said among other things, approval had been granted for the purchase of 14 operational vehicles to ameliorate the challenges encountered on field assignments.

He told THISDAY, “Nigeria is so blessed with other mineral resources and it is in the interest of the country to promote the non oil sector and weights and measures is one of the means of promoting the non oil sector so that Nigeria can derive the appropriate foreign exchange from that.

“The ministry is working to give us the necessary wherewithal to work with. If they give us the necessary tools, I believe with the remaining five months remaining, we are going to meet the over N1 billion target.

And that’s why we are here to brainstorm on how to meet the target.”

NIRSAL Unveils Business School for Farmers’ Information James Emejo ÓØ ÌßÔË The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Plc has launched the NIRSAL Farmers’ Business School (NFBS) to provide convenient, bespoke training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) to Smallholder Farmers (SHFs) who crave improved access to vital information critical to the success of primary production cycles.

The NFBS is a mobile learning platform that is based on Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology operated in partnership with Successory Nigeria Limited, and MTN Nigeria.

Managing Director/Chief Executive, NIRSAL, Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed, at the launch in Abuja, described the solution as a conduit through which its interactions with farmers and

other agricultural value chain stakeholders could be carried on seamlessly and cost-effective and ensure prompt dissemination of vital weather information to farmers in the fields as they become available.

He said the school will address the lack of access to information which is critical to the success of production cycles, particularly in the face of changing weather and climatic conditions.

The MD said the technology will enable NIRSAL to sustainably build the capacity of smallholder farmers on GAP as well as help them to make better decisions in real-time by providing vital information seamlessly.

He said this would further Improve farm yields and lessening the risk of loan defaults - and transition Nigerians farmers from an era of agriculture to the new era of agribusiness.

He however noted that despite

the novelty of the platform, it is remarkably easy and affordable to subscribe to and use.

Abdulhameed said,”First and foremost, we have a platform that does not require smartphones or internet connectivity to function. It is accessible offline and on-the-go.

“Secondly, it is a multi-language platform that utilises proprietary audio and IVR technology, meaning that farmers can use it to learn in their own language and at their own pace” He said the initiative will also be of immense benefits to NIRSAL’s other stakeholders including the federal government, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), bank and other investors in agricultural primary production as the platform will promote the inclusion of farmers in the use of ICT and limit physical classroom engagements in line with the new normal.

AfCFTA: Nasarawa Marks 270,000 Hectres for Commercial Agriculture Igbawase Ukumba ÓØ ËʨË The Nasarawa State government has announced that it has marked over 270,000 hectres of land for the purpose of purely commercial agriculture to earn foreign exchange for the state through the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr Abdulkarim Kana, disclosed this at the National Action on Africa Continental Free Trade Area’s (AfCFTA) Nasarawa State Sub-national Re-engement Workshop held in Lafia.

Kana added that Nasarawa State total size is about 27,000 square kilometres which most of it are arable, and all what the state needed was to sacrifice 270,000 hectres for the purpose of purely commercial agriculture in order to have enough foreign exchange for the state.

He said: “As we speak now, Dangote Group has taken 70,000 hectres, Flour Mills of Nigeria has taken 20,000, Olam Farm

was on 9,000 and Azman has taken 14,000. So from our target of 270,000 hectres planned to be allocated purely for industrial commercial agriculture, we have given out nearly a 100,000 already.

“So in order words, we are still looking for investors in the area of agricultural industrialization that will take the remaining 170,000 hectres. That is 10% of our total land in Nasarawa State.”

Kana expressed optimism that if the 270,000 hectres are put purely for industrial agriculture, the entire value chain would employ a minimum of 100,000 youths in the state both through direct and indirect employment.

Speaking to journalists during the Nasarawa State AfCFTA Subnational Re-engement Workshop, leader of the National Action Committee on AfCFTA, Mr Babafemi Lawal, believed that Nasarawa has vast proportion of its land as arable which agriculture would be one of the priorities of the state, perhaps to be a hub for agriculture and agriculture products in Africa.

Lawal stated further that the mission of AfCFTA in Nasarawa State was to support the state to develop its strategy towards building an implementation plan under the AfCFTA. “Nasarawa State is one of the leading states in these efforts.

There are so many areas of investment that the state can look at. Our mission is to help them identify priorities, set these priorities properly and then be able to effectively implement these priorities,” he maintained.

The AfCFTA Focal Person for Nasarawa State, Mrs Viva Angbazo Musa, when speaking to journalists at the workshop, said with the coming in of AfCTA, there was intention to make the state a single market so that all the commodities that are within the continent, the state would pick which suits best for it wether in agriculture or mining.

“So we are going to pinpoint and streamline those products that best suits Nasarawa State and then export it to the world,” she explained.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

JANUARY 2021 Money Supply (M3)

38,779,455.43

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

1,039,129.55

Money Supply (M2)

37,740,325.88

-- Quasi Money

21,779,302.69

-- Narrow Money (M1)

15,961,023.19

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,364,871.13

---- Demand Deposits

13,596,152.06

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,414,275.50

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

31,365,179.93

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

42,916,586.63

---- Credit to Government (Net)

12,304,773.44

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

0.00

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

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

30,611,813.19

--Other Assets Net

3,892,112.74

Reserve Money (Base Money

13,264,585.14

--Currency in Circulation

2,831,167.19

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,433,417.96 317,234.17

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

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

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE ˜ Ͱ͵ ͰͮͰͯ

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $70.75 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $70.59 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

45

T H I S D AY ˾ ˜ ͱͮ˜ ͰͮͰͯ

Guinness Nigeria Reports 110% Increase in Profit to N1.25bn Darasimi Adebisi Guinness Nigeria Plc, a subsidiary of Diageo Plc, has announced its audited results for the period ended June 30, 2021 revealing a 110 per cent increase in profit after tax to N1.25billion from loss of N12.6billion reported in full year ended June 30, 2020.

The company said it recorded double digit growth across all key categories despite the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and

economic challenges.

As a result, the management recommended N1,008 million dividend, subject to shareholders’ approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The audited results, which were released to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) indicated that revenue increased 54per cent to N160 billion in 2021 from N104.4 billion reported in 2020 Managing Director/CEO, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr.

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

Baker Magunda, in a statement said: “The performance of fiscal 2021 showed that the business delivered growth despite the challenging external environment characterized by COVID-19 restrictions and high inflation.Revenues grew double digit across all key categories, particularly our strategic focus brands Guinness, Malta Guinness as well as our local and imported spirits.”

“This was supported by im-

S E C U R I T I E S

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

proved product mix and headline price increases in key brands.

Gross margins declined by three per cent driven by inflationary pressure, a shift towards more expensive can products given at-home consumption trends, and forex devaluation impacting some materials.” Magunda explained.

The company, however, revealed that its net finance costs remained on similar level as last year despite the lower debt

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

position, due to the devaluation of Naira impacting the foreign currency denominated trading balances.

“Tax was impacted by a one-off historic charge. Profit before tax increased to N5.8 billion, a 134 per cent growth versus same period last year; and Distribution expenses increased by 22per cent versus last year behind volume growth due to efficiency improvements across distribution channels, ”Magunda

O F

said.

“Going into the new fiscal year, we are conscious of the continued challenging operating environment with double-digit inflation and pressured consumer income spending. However, we will continue to focus on our strategy - optimising our route to consumer, innovating at scale to satisfy our consumers and improving cost control – as we continue to emerge stronger from the current crisis.

2 7 / 0 8 / 2 0 2 1 DEALS

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QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

46

MONDAY, ͻ͸˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

47

MONDAY AUGUST 30, 2021 • T H I S DAY

MARKET NEWS 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

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 26Aug-2021, unless otherwise stated.

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 Afrinvest Dollar 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 N/A N/A N/A ACAP Income Funds N/A N/A N/A 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 7.47% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.30 3.46 -2.97% info@anchoriaam.com ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 7.75% Anchoria Equity Fund 139.84 141.53 5.13% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.14 1.14 -14.22% 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 19.69 20.28 8.55% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 432.68 445.73 8.07% ARM Ethical Fund 38.31 39.46 13.63% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.09 1.09 -0.98% ARM Fixed Income Fund 0.97 0.98 -7.33% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.15% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 105.88 105.88 4.10% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,028.49 1,028.49 2.85% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund 134.15 135.09 6.32% AXA Mansard Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.67% CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.03 2.03 -8.58% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.13 2.17 -7.36% CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com ; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.01 1.01 2.61% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Paramount Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A Women's Investment Fund N/A N/A N/A CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.71% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 117.98 118.74 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 N/A N/A Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 107.98 107.98 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 7.88% Coronation Balanced Fund 1.21 1.22 0.50% Coronation Fixed Income Fund 1.40 1.40 -11.46% 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 8.36% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 7.68% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,154.34 1,170.60 0.20% 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 1,406.81 1,406.81 12.06% FBN Balanced Fund 191.14 192.48 1.84% FBN Halal Fund 112.08 112.08 8.36% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.45% FBN Nigeria Eurobond (USD) Fund - Retail FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Legacy Money Market Fund Legacy Debt Fund Legacy Equity Fund Legacy USD Bond Fund FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Coral Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

126.88 156.59

126.88 3.52% 159.91 3.58% fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com

Bid Price 1.00 3.96 1.59 1.19

Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 1.00 5.75% 3.96 2.47% 1.62 4.43% 1.19 4.33% coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com

Bid Price N/A N/A N/A

Offer Price N/A N/A N/A

Yield / T-Rtn N/A N/A N/A

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 7.83% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.68 2.74 -6.11% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 152.59 152.87 -1.87% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.27 1.32 1.22% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.09 1.09 0.54% 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 1.43 1.45 4.86% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,146.96 1,146.96 5.62% 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 11.44 11.48 9.04% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 9.30% 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 1.67 1.69 7.15% PACAM Fixed Income Fund 11.54 11.54 -5.09% PACAM Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 6.01% PACAM Equity Fund 1.64 1.66 3.90% PACAM EuroBond Fund 112.91 114.78 2.79% 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 131.71 134.29 8.88% 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 1.05 1.05 10.00% 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 3,293.40 3,328.25 2.54% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 232.53 232.53 3.42% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.22 1.24 4.24% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 306.44 306.44 4.00% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 224.59 227.91 2.90% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.74% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 10,388.31 10,534.58 -1.02% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.27 1.27 3.56% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 115.39 115.39 3.88% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 103.27 103.27 UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.30 1.32 1.64% United Capital Bond Fund 1.91 1.91 4.35% United Capital Equity Fund 0.87 0.89 9.18% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.40% United Capital Eurobond Fund 119.95 119.95 4.79% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.06 1.07 3.79% United capital Sukuk Fund 1.06 1.06 6.05% 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 12.86 12.97 8.34% Zenith Ethical Fund 14.22 14.35 16.41% Zenith Income Fund 24.31 24.31 1.36% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.23%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

125.36 51.90

10.94% 2.86%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

13.35

13.45

1.04%

121.84 97.24 17.43 18.21

124.87 99.37 17.53 18.31

1.33% -1.99%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

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

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

3.90 5.54 17.50 1.00 19.67 156.87

3.94 5.62 17.60 1.00 19.87 158.87

3.27% -2.62% 7.83% 6.32% -4.14% -28.63%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.40

13.11%

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.

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TRIBUTE

VICTOR UWAIFO: WITH MUSIC, HE BIRTHED HOPE

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INTERVIEW

HIS EXTRAORDINARY LEGACY ENDURES In the highlife musical genre, Prof.

Victor Efosa Uwaifo, MON, who passed away on Saturday, August 28, 2021, aged 80, was a sublime lyricist, singer, inventor, guitarist and conceivably Africa’s Ludwig van Beethoven, writes Louis Achi

H

is rare, consummate ability to translate feeling into music stood him out and defined his incomparable artistic odyssey. His addition of sculpting to his creative repertoire captured the unusual depth of the prodigious artiste. His timeless hit songs “Joromi” and “Guitar Boy,” amongst so many others, continue to speak to Nigeria and Africa’s troubled soul.

In addition to his many creative gifts, he was also a musical instrument inventor, university lecturer and the curator of a self-built museum in Benin which houses some of the greatest artworks he did. Little wonder, he effectively told the Nigeria and African story through visuals and combined them with sounds to create a real-life effect.

Over the weekend, on Saturday, August 28, 2021, Prof. (Sir) Victor Efosa Uwaifo, MON, took his last earthly breath and bowed out at his hometown in Benin, Edo State, aged 80.

This brings an important, specific musical era to a close.

In condoling with the family, friends and associates of the deceased legendary musician and multi-talented artiste, a saddened President Muhammadu Buhari noted, “the renowned musician, with global appeal and recognitions,

lived for many firsts, which include invitation to the State House by four presidents and heads of state, and winner of a gold disc in Africa for his song, “Joromi,” released in 1965, at the age of 24.”

The President noted the glory that Uwaifo brought to Nigeria, through his international tours “and the active role he played in national development, returning to school to get a first degree at age 54 with first class honours, masters’ degree at 56, and a doctorate at 77.’’

In a transitional period of Nigeria and African history at once defined by crises and hope, Uwaifo boldly stepped in to supply touchstone aural and visual creative perspectives which inspired generational optimism and provided a compelling philosophical-musical staple to anchor the uncertain existential journey.

Wittingly or otherwise, Uwaifo, through his musical exertions and impactful contributions to society, reinforced the important message of the resilience of the human spirit in the face of extreme challenges and the imperative of focus and hope in transforming the human condition.

In ‘Elder’s Corner’, a documentary film by musicians Ade B Bantu and Siji Aw o y i n k a , U w a i f o described music aas spiritual.

“Th “There is telepathy in m music,” he said.

Part musician, part, p philosopher, part ssculptor, part p admini administrator, part mystic y - th that’s the vintage Uwaifo persona.

Born in March 1941, in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria Nigeria, g Uwaifo began strummin strumming the guitar at age g 12, th thus earning the moniker, ““Guitar Boy.” His earliest p popular music influences were Spanish and Latin American music. After his primary p y school education, he proceeded p for his secondary sec school education at the Western Weste Boys’ High School Benin and St Gregory’s Gre College, Lagos, g from 1957 to 19 1961.

He thereafter studied graphics g at Yaba College g of Technology, gy Lagos, Lag g graduating in 1963 at age g 22. He receive received a bachelor’s g hono degree with first-class honours at 54 years m old (Valedictorian) and a master’s degree y of Benin in 1997, at 56 from the University where he studied Fine and Applied Arts j p and majored in Sculpture. g g Bucknor, young Uwaifo Alongside Segun p y with the Lagos g high g school sch bandleaders played j g with Victor Olaiya’s y All Stars band. jamming p g secondary y school studies, After completing p y with E.C. Arinze’ he played Arinze’s highlife band g late hours. during Uwaifo also honed his mu musical skills with p Stephen Osadebe and Fred Coker before g Melody y Maestros Maestro in 1965. The forming band released “Joromi” which became

a hit in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. It was the band that stormed Japan Expo 70 and FESTAC 77. He made history in Nigeria when he won the first Golden record in Nigeria, West Africa and Africa

by Philips, West Africa for his smash hit “Joromi” in 1996.

He developed the Akwete rhythm sound and in 1969, launched a new beat called Shadow, accompanied by a new dance also called Shadow, a mixture of Akwete and twist. He was the first among his peers to attain monumental fame when he sold over 1,000 copies of his album, making him the first winner of a gold disc on the internet.

Asides winning the first gold disc in Africa, he won seven other gold discs in Guitar Boy, Arabade, Ekassa series and Akwete music.

He recorded under the name Victor Uwaifo and His TItibitis. Revered as the most educated performing music legend, musical instrument inventor, and artist worldwide with a B.A Honors (first class valedictorian), Master’s degree and Ph.D in Architectural Sculpture, he became the first Honorable Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism in Nigeria’s Edo State, under the government of Chief Lucky Igbinedion.

Something of the occasional rebel, Uwaifo was not one to refrain from speaking truth to power. At a point in his life, he peered back at history and lamented at how the country forgets its pioneering music stars.

He was not speaking for himself alone. He was simply too large hearted for that.

Hear him, “It must be a devil’s trick to be born in a country where neither soul nor talent is appreciated.” However, his love for music and the arts was deeply ingrained.

It manifested in all he did.

Uwaifo was perhaps one of the few continental professionals who excelled in both arts and sciences. He invented a musical instrument, the double-neck guitar which he played; an aeroplane and a car which are all in his museum.

At 77, Uwaifo obtained a PhD in Architectural Sculpture from the University of Benin. His thesis was on ‘A Reinvention of Benin Royal Ancestral Pieces’. He was a lecturer at the Department of Fine and Applied Arts at the same university and was the Chairman of Joromi Organization, a multi-track recording and television studio in Benin City.

Late Uwaifo was a trustee of the Performing Musicians Associations of Nigeria (PMAN) and inspired a whole generation of Nigerian musicians. The legendary Sonny Oksouns had his apprenticeship under him. He also ran the Victor Uwaifo Music Academy and had over 500 songs and 100 records to his credit.

Significantly, in an amazing career that traversed over 60 years, Uwaifo amazingly kept a clean slate and was unusually scandalfree. Was he some kind of a saint? Definitely not. He was never heard to claim that arcane status. That was vintage Uwaifo.

In his tribute to late Uwaifo, Nduka Otiono, Associate Professor of African Studies and English at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, observed that his death, together with Professor Yusuf Grillo’s, same

“Never one to rest on past laurels, Uwaifo was always pushing his restless creativity while charting new ways to reinvent and express himself. Sir Victor Uwaifo, the ‘Guitar Boy’ was a force of nature, his charm and charisma were infectious and disarming.” week, signal the passing of a generation whose footprints on Nigeria’s cultural sands need to be preserved.

His words: “It is noteworthy that Sir Uwaifo died in the same week as another Nigerian art master, Professor Yusuf Grillo, died. These deaths signal the passing of a generation whose footprints on our cultural sands need to be preserved. One hopes that the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who has paid glowing tribute to Sir Uwaifo would do more than a commendable press statement by taking practical steps to preserve his legacy.

“The first step would be for the state government to rehabilitate Sir Uwaifo’s home and museum as a tangible treasure and a shining tourist and research destination in Nigeria and the African continent.”

According to Ade Bantu, late Uwaifo was a true renaissance man who effortlessly wore several hats: “Victor Uwaifo was one of a kind, a true renaissance man who effortlessly wore multiple hats be it as a musician, sculptor, inventor, politician or educator. His outstanding musical catalogue won him a dedicated and loyal fan base that cut across generations.

“Never one to rest on past laurels, Uwaifo was always pushing his restless creativity while charting new ways to reinvent and express himself.

Sir Victor Uwaifo, the ‘Guitar Boy’ was a force of nature, his charm and charisma were infectious and disarming.”

Ade Bantu (Adegoke Odukoya) is a NigerianGerman musician, producer and social activist who is the front man of the 13-piece band BANTU and the creator of the monthly concert series and music Festival Afropolitan Vibes which holds in Lagos, Nigeria.

For masterfully using music to enthrall and raise his generation’s consciousness as well as tell their story and for compelling his society to raise its gaze in the belief that the art of music can indeed be an important medium for social re-engineering and development, Prof. Victor Uwaifo has indisputably left indelible footprints on the sand of time.

He lived an impeccable August life and fittingly bowed out in August. But then it’s a given that great lives are deathless. So is Uwaifo’s.

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FIFTY-SIX C O N C E R N S M O U N T A S C O U RT I N J U N C T I O N S , O R D E R S T H R E AT E N N AT I O N ' S D E M O C R A C Y by senior lawyers in pursuit of narrow self-interest is baffling to many, who now see the judiciary as a major threat to the nation’s democracy. Some of the actions of judges defy logic and reason causing the layman on the street to ask questions and raise suspicion of underhand dealings.

“The situation is now embarrassing. It is now so easy for any group to move into any court to get a judgment. All they need do is to get a pliant judge. It is unfortunate that the judges are the ones that determine, who holds political position in Nigeria.

“There are so many interventions by the judiciary across the country.

They make governors, senators; they issue injunctions and they now sell injunctions. You have case in Akwa Ibom, you go to Sokoto to get a judgment and then INEC has to obey. So, it is an abuse. With the way they are going, you can even get an injunction for marriages in Jigawa,” a senior lawyer, who pleaded to remain anonymous, said.

For instance, in the PDP, early last week, a High Court in Rivers State, had issued an order of interim injunction, restraining Uche Secondus from carrying on as national chairman of the party, pending the hearing and determination of a suit challenging his continued stay in office.

Secondus, according to the ruling, had been ordered to stop parading himself as a member of the PDP on grounds of his suspension from the party.

Justice O. Gbasam of the Degema Division of a High Court of Rivers State, sitting in Port Harcourt, had issued the orders while delivering ruling in an exparte application by some chieftains of the PDP in Rivers State.

But two days after, Justice Nusirat. I. Umar, a vacation Judge of the Kebbi State High Court of coordinate jurisdiction with the one in Rivers State and who was clearly aware of the case already in Rivers State, not only entertained the case, she gave her own orders restoring the embattled National Chairman

of the party to his position.

This was after the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the Party, Elder Yemi Akinwomi, had assumed leadership of the PDP in acting capacity.

In a suit brought before her in Birinin Kebbi, the state capital in case KB/AC/M. 170/2021, Justice Umar said she was satisfied after reading the affidavit of the respondents that an interim order should be granted on the purported suspension of Secondus pending the determination of the case.

“An order of this Honourable court granting leave to the first respondent (Uche Secondus) to continue exercising all the constitutional powers of the office of Chairman of PDP (second defendant) as enshrined in both 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended and the Peoples Democratic Party’s constitution pending the hearing and final determination of applicant’s motion on notice,” the order stated.

Regrettably, 24-hours after the Kebbi State ruling, the crisis in the political party took a new twist as this time another court in Calabar, Cross River State, further restrained Secondus from parading himself as chairman as well as from presiding over the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party held at the weekend.

Any right thinking person will know that something was surely wrong with a system that tolerates such abuse and mockery of such a critical arm of state. But Judges and many senior lawyers appear to care less about the consequential implications of their behaviour, which had brought disrepute and dishonour to the judiciary.

The interim order was issued by the court, presided over by Justice Edem Kufre, last Friday, upon an application brought by a member of the party, Enang Wani.

The situation is not different in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), which had also been engulfed with leadership squabble between the Jude Okeke and Victor Oye factions.

ZENITH BANK SHOWS RESILIENCE, GROWS H1 PROFIT BY 3% TO N117BN as at June 30, 2021, from the N8.48 trillion recorded as at December 31, 2020.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic induced challenges and the challenging operating environment, the Group grew its risk assets as gross loans were up three per cent year-to-date, from N2.92 trillion to N2.99 trillion.

This was conservatively achieved at a low non-performing loans (NPLs) ratio of 4.51 per cent (FYE 2020: 4.29%) and a reduced cost of risk of 1.3 per cent (June 2020: 1.8%).

It prudential ratios such as liquidity and capital adequacy also remained above regulatory thresholds at 69.9 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

Despite the continued prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is cautious optimism that the global economy will continue to recover as vaccination programmes are intensified.

On the domestic economy, Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.01 per cent in the second quarter of 2021, and the inflation rate, which peaked in March 2021 at 18.17 per cent is gradually trending down and currently at 17.38 per cent as at July 2021.

Zenith Bank in the statement explained that it has been well-positioned to maximise the opportunities that the recovering fundamentals present while leveraging technology to expand its retail footprints to deliver improved returns to all its stakeholders.

In recognition of its track record of excellent performance, Zenith Bank was voted as Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria in the World Finance Banking Awards 2021, Bank of the Year

(Nigeria) in The Banker's Bank of the Year Awards 2020, Best Bank in Nigeria in the Global Finance World's Best Banks Awards 2020 and 2021, and Best in Corporate Governance 'Financial Services' Africa 2020 and 2021 by the Ethical Boardroom.

Also, the bank emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking Brands 2020 and 2021, and Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital in the "2021 Top 1000 World Banks" Ranking by The Banker Magazine.

The bank was also recognised as Bank of the Decade (People's Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020, Retail Bank of the year at the 2020 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards, and Best Company in Promotion of Good Health and Well-Being as well as Best Company in Promotion of Gender Equality and Women Empowerment at the Sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility (SERAS) Awards 2020.

“Zenith Bank has grown enormously in 30 years to become Nigeria’s largest and one of Africa’s largest financial institutions by tier-1 capital, with shareholders’ funds of NGN1.1 trillion ($2.64 billion) as at 31st December 2020.

“The bank continues to distinguish itself in the Nigerian financial services industry through superior service offerings, unique customer experience and sound financial indices.

“Zenith Bank is the clear leader in the digital space with several firsts in the deployment of innovative products, solutions and an assortment of alternative channels that ensure convenience, speed and safety of transactions,” it added.

This has seen leaders of the same party move from one court to the other shopping for injunction in their quest to control the party and ensure their candidates are recognised ahead of the November gubernatorial election, thus further polarising the party.

In the case of the APGA, former Cnetral Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Chukwuma Soludo is having a running battle with Chukwuma Umeoji. The litigations are tied to who is the authentic Chairman of APGA in Anambra State amongst Chief Victor Oye, Chief Njoku and Jude Okeke.

Meanwhile, judges in Anambra, Jigawa, Imo and Abuja have intervened in the matter causing INEC to at various times list and delist both the names of Soludo and Umeoji as candidate of APGA. The electoral umpire had on July 16 published the name of Umeoji as the APGA candidate following an order by the Jigawa State High Court on June 28.

On July 18 justice Charles Okaa of Anambra State High Court directed INEC to publish Soludo’s name as APGA’s candidate.

Meanwhile justice Iheka of the Imo State High Court again ordered INEC to publish Umeoji’s name.

Reacting to the confusion, Justice Nwosu-Iheme berated the judges for indulging politicians, who go round the country shopping for judgments to enable them be on the ballot. According to her, the judges, who indulge these politicians are bringing the legal profession to public ridicule.

The PDP in Anambra State is in a terrible position as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presently does not recognise either the Valentine Ozigbo or Senator Ugochukwu Uba factions, because of a plethora court injunctions.

A former National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, was also removed after legal fireworks that saw the former labour leader and his then rivals from the Federal High Court in Kano, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, among others, in the battle for the soul of the party.

Some three weeks ago, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) warned that except the leadership of both the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the National Judicial Council (NJC) intervened, the seemingly endless and conflicting court orders over political parties’ affairs could jeopardise preparations for the 2023 general election.

INEC, which lamented the level of distraction the commission had begun to face as a result of litigations arising from the Anambra State governorship primary elections, however, restated its commitment to the use of technology in conducting elections, because it was the only way to credible and transparent polls.

While maintaining that new and conflicting court orders from all parts of the country kept flooding its headquarters on a daily basis, the commission said it was not only frustrating but also causing it to keep recognising one candidate over the other, and changing same again in the major political parties.

National Commissioner for Voter Education, Festus Okoye, who hinted at the concerns in Awka, Anambra State, said, “This (litigations) is frustrating. What the commission does in terms of obedience to court orders is that if a judgment comes today, the commission obeys the order, because it is the latest in time.

“If on the same issue, another court of coordinate jurisdiction, or from a court of another judicial division comes to us, because that one is the latest in time, the commission obeys that one.

“So, what the political parties have been doing, and what they are doing is that they anticipate the commission, and the moment you’re proceeding, they get court orders. This is impeding our performance and making things difficult.

“Elections require sanctity and adherence to guidelines, the leadership of the NBA and the NJC should look at this. This is urgent and imperative, because if it persists, this can jeopardise the conduct of the 2023 general

election. We are having court orders on a daily basis from courts in all parts of the country and that is not right.”

Although sections of the country’s constitution and the Electoral Act allow the judiciary, (courts and election tribunals) to intervene particularly, when issues of non-compliance, manipulation, violence etc are alleged to mar the process of electing a particular representative, however, recent developments seems to portray the fact that these days, the judges rather than the people choose the leaders.

A peculiar case in recent times is that of a South Eastern State where the governor was referred to as the “Supreme Court” governor, simply because he was declared winner of the 2019 governorship election, after coming a distant fourth in the poll.

The intervention of the courts whether at pre-election cases or election petitions are taking a worrisome dimension as their judgments to most aggrieved parties and even the people seem to be

far from justice, particularly, when such courts or judges lacked the necessary jurisdiction in the first place to hear the case brought before them.

The situation, was so bad that sometime last year, former Chief Judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Bello had to issue a practice directive warning justice against delving into cases outside their jurisdiction as well as issuing all sorts of retraining orders in election matters.

But it seems the warning may have fallen on deaf ears as the situation rather than abating is getting worse. Only recently, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, while delivering judgment called for the punishment of a Jigawa State High Court judge, Justice Ubale and his Imo State counterpart, Justice B. C. Iheka over what she described as professional misconduct by dabbling into the Anambra State gubernatorial election controversy and gave consequential judgments on it.

SERAP Sues FG, Seeks Details of Payment of N729bn to Poor Nigerians Udora Orizu in Abuja The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court in Lagos to compel the federal government to disclose details of the proposed payment of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians.

The group is asking the government to provide logistics for the payments, list of beneficiaries and whether the payments would be made in cash or through Bank Verification Numbers or other means.

In the suit number FHC/L/ CS/853/2021 filed against Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, Sadia Umar-Farouk, SERAP sought an order directing and compelling the federal government to clarify whether the proposed payment to poor Nigerians is part

of the N5.6 trillion budget deficit.

The organisation is also seeking an order directing and compelling the federal government to explain the rationale for paying N5,000 to 24.3 million poor Nigerians for six months, which translates to five-percent of the country’s budget of N13.6 trillion for 2021.

The suit filed last week on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Opeyemi Owolabi, read in part: "Transparency and accountability in the programme would improve public trust, and allow Nigerians to track and monitor its implementation, and to assess if the programme is justified, as well as to hold authorities to account in cases of diversion, mismanagement and corruption.

“The right to truth allows Nigerians to gain access to information essential to the fight against corruption.

INSECURITY: STATE POLICE IS THE WAY TO GO, MASARI INSISTS While decrying the growing insecurity in the country, Masari expressed concern that the number of policemen available to his state were less than 3,000 and therefore not enough to protect the citizens.

Masari, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, who spoke in an interview monitored on national television at the weekend, therefore, reiterated his support for state police, saying there was a need for it to be accommodated in the constitution.

According to him, working with the Nigeria Police Force, his administration had been training people to defend their villages and communities.

“Knowing full well how long it will take the police to improve its capacity to be able to provide the much-needed security for villages and communities, are you saying people should fold their arms?

“If somebody slaps you, the natural instinct is to raise your hands up, and if he comes with a stick, you take a stick to protect yourself,” he said.

The president’s home state governor, disclosed that this week, his government would complete the training of 500 vigilantes, who were trained by the police and armed forces, saying in the coming week, training for another 500 would be completed.

He said the target was to have 3,000 trained vigilante working with the police and other security agencies.

“The situation we have on ground is such that bandits would come to a village, kidnap and collect over N500,000 from villagers and in some cases get N5 million from them.

“And in same village, when you

say come let us contribute and train these vigilantes to defend them at night, they would not give you N20,000,” he said.

Lamenting that Katsina, which has an estimated population of between seven and eight million persons, the governor claimed presently has only 3,000 policemen.

Defending his recent call for citizens to defend themselves as the way out of the the present situation, Masari argued that the efforts his administration made to achieve peace in his first two years in office could not be sustained because same wasn’t made in Zamfara and some other neighboring states at that time.

“I have no regret in what I said (that people should defend themselves). But what is the natural instinct of every living thing? It is to protect himself against events happening around him for him to survive.

“Let me give you a simple scenario. Katsina State as of 2006 had a population of 5.6 million, even if we are growing at three per cent, what would be the population by 2021?

“We are projecting a population of seven to eight million. Now, what is the total strength of the police in Katsina? The total strength of the police in the state is not up to 3,000.

So, if you divide the number of policemen by the population, you have an average of one policeman to over 200,000 people. What form of ammunition does the policemen have?” he said.

Speaking further, Masari explained that, in his state, a local government with 34 policemen, had over 300 villages and towns to secure.

“They (police) lack logistics

in terms of equipment to move around, they lack the necessary weapons and above all, they lack the technology.

“If you look at the military, how many are they in Katsina?

The military are in all the states of the country, what equipment and level of technology are they applying? Look, when you are faced with reality of daily killings, daily kidnappings, daily raping and daily cattle rustling, you will understand.

In Katsina, we wake up every day to these realities,” Masari added.

Lending his support for the anti-open grazing legislation, the president’s governor said, his state had a ranching programme that would cost about N12.5 billion, out of which the federal government already supported it with 50 per cent, while the state would provide 50 per cent.

“When we were growing up we had community grazing areas, where you take your sheep, goat and cattle to graze, without going to other people’s farm,” he recalled.

He, therefore, advocated that, “We should stop open-grazing; it is causing trouble,” adding that, “Anybody living in the forest, for me, is a criminal.”

About a week ago, the seemingly helpless security situation in Katsina had caused two members of the state House of Assembly to publicly shed tears while deliberating on the worsening state of insecurity in the state.

During plenary presided over by the Speaker, Alhaji Tasi’u Maigari, the Deputy Speaker, Alhaji Shehu Dalhatu-Tafoki, in a motion of urgent public importance, decried how despite government and security agencies’ efforts, the insecurity situation in the state

seems to be increasing.

Dalhatu-Taofiki, urged the government in conjunction with security agencies, to adopt a new approach and also increase the number of outposts, especially, in the affected areas to tame the menace of banditry in the state.

“The security operative need to increase their outposts across the state, especially, in the areas mostly disturbed by the bandits.

The outposts in those areas are not enough; they cannot overpower the bandits, despite the huge amounts of money being spent on them,” he lamented.

Also, reacting to the motion, Alhaji Haruna Goma, member representing Dandume Constituency, could not hold back his tears as he narrated how the cruel bandits wasted the lives of not less than 11 persons and abducted scores in Dandume recently.

Similarly, Alhaji Abubakar Mohammed, member representing Funtua constituency, equally wept why recounting how the hoodlums terrorised their communities in the last one month, killing and kidnapping scores.

According to the lawmaker, the insecurity challenge plaguing the state was unimaginable, because about 32 out of the 34 LGAs in the state were now being threatened by the bandits.

In May, Deputy Speaker of the state, Shehu Tafoki, had also cried profusely while talking about rising insecurity in his constituency.

He broke down in tears during a special sitting on insecurity by the Assembly.

He said hardly did a day go by without reported attacks across the area, adding that many had been killed, maimed and kidnapped.

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Hurricane Ida Makes Landfall in Louisiana Hurricane Ida moved north over Southeastern Louisiana yesterday , finally weakening to a still dangerous 125 mph Category 3 storm seven hours after it made landfall. As of 8 p.m. ET, the storm was moving over Mathews, Louisiana, and moving slowly north through the state at 10 mph.

The storm made landfall at 12:55 p.m. ET as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm with 145 mph winds at Port Fourchon, Louisiana. The National Hurricane Center warned throughout the day about catastrophic storm surge, extreme winds and flash flooding in southeastern Louisiana.

In a visit to FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden said his administration has prepared resources, including equipment and response teams, that will be needed after Hurricane Ida passes.

“This is going to be a devastating, devastating hurricane,” the president said.

Although the center of the storm on Sunday night remained 45 miles southwest of New Orleans, the city was already feeling the effects, including widespread power outages. New Orleans Lakefront Airport reported sustained wind of 58 mph,

and a roof had already blown off a building in the French Quarter.

The storm hit Louisiana on the 16th anniversary of when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. New Orleans

Ten kidnappers in military uniform reportedly killed one person in an attempt to abduct the owner of a hotel at Mandala area in Alapa village, Asa Local Government Council Area of Kwara State.

THISDAY checks revealed that one person was also reportedly kidnapped during the incident.

Sources close to the village told journalists yesterday in Ilorin that the suspects were armed with dangerous weapons and shoot sporadically when they invaded the hotel.

They also said that the owner of the hotel eluded the suspected kidnappers by running into the bush.

The State Police Command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, confirmed the incident that “happened on

Orleans, will remain in the dark last night as crews continue to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ida, regional energy provider Entergy said in a statement.

All eight transmission lines

that deliver power into the city are out of service at this hour, according to Entergy.

This triggered “a load imbalance in the area and resulted in generation in the area coming offline,” the

energy provider said.

Entergy has provided back-up generation to the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board but cautioned that power to the city will not be restored Sunday night.

SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION…

L-R: Executive Chairman, Borno State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Dr. Shettima Bukar Kullima; Zonal Head, North-east and Jigawa, Unity Bank Plc, Mr. Mustapha Mohammed; Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum; Zonal Head, Abuja and North-central, Unity Bank Plc, Mr. Nuruddin Mohammed Bashir; and Chief of Staff to Governor of Borno State, Prof. Isa Marte Hussaini, at the official inauguration of the Borno SUBEB Office complex donated by Unity Bank Plc ...recently

Kidnappers Kill One Person, Abduct Another in Kwara Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

officials insisted the city’s levees system, which had failed during Katrina and flooded the city, had been fortified since then.

All of Orleans Parish, including the City of New

Saturday at 10.00 p.m. when about ten armed men in military uniform invaded a Zulu Abeje hotel, Mandala via Alapa in Asa Local Government Council Area of the state.

“In an attempt to abduct the owner of the hotel, one Zulu (sic) and shots were fired by the invaders and one Aro Radaq of Oloje Ilorin, was hit and he died at the front of the hotel.

“The target of the kidnap who happens to be the owner of the hotel escaped with injuries.”

Okasanmi explained that the kidnappers abducted one Abdulhakeem Aminu’ of Anifowoshe area of Ilorin.

He said: “The command immediately dispatched its tactical units on receipt of the information and also co-opted local hunters, vigilantes and the OPC in the search and rescue endeavor.”

APC States Align with FG on 15% Annual Allocation to Healthcare Services Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja The All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled States have stated their resolve to align with the federal government on the declaration of 15 per cent annual allocation and release to healthcare services.

They have also resolved to undertake the establishment of sustainable healthcare financing

systems such as health insurance and health emergency trust fund.

The position of the APC states was contained in a communique issued yesterday and jointly signed by the Kwara State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Raji Razaq and the Director General of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Dr. Salihu Lukman, following the meeting

of Commissioners of Health and Executive Secretaries of Primary Healthcare Development Agency of APC Controlled States on Improving Primary Health Care Delivery.

The meeting was held on Thursday, August 26, 2021, at Ilorin, Kwara State, with the theme “Improving Primary Health Care Delivery in APC State”.

The objectives of the meeting included Identifying challenges of primary health care delivery; Proffering sustainable solutions aimed at tackling the identified challenges confronting primary healthcare delivery; Facilitating the adoption of uniform implementation of policy initiatives on primary healthcare delivery across all APC states, among others.

Dangote’s $2bn Petrochemical Plant to Produce 77 Grades of Polypropylene Goddy Egene Dangote’s $2 billion Petrochemical Plant located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State will produce 77 different high-performance grades of polypropylene, drive investment in the downstream industries, generate employment, huge value addition, tax revenue,

reduce foreign exchange outflow and increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, stated this while giving an update on the project.

He added that the

petrochemical plant, which is nearing completion, would also embark on the production of polyethylene products in the nearest future.

Edwin said: “The Dangote Petrochemical plant is being built alongside the refinery. Primarily, the Dangote Petrochemical Plant is going to produce polypropylene products. We are

thinking of adding polyethylene products at a later stage. We have 77 types of polypropylene, which can go for different usage that we can produce from our petrochemical plant.

Currently, the plant is capable of producing about 900,000 tonnes of polypropylene per annum.

Our Petrochemical plant should be the biggest in Africa.”

Enugu Begins Second Phase of COVID-19 Vaccination National Council of Women Affairs The Enugu State government was performed on behalf of wearing of facemask, regular the state government achieved has flagged off the second phase Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, by washing of hands with soap and 100 per cent coverage in the Honours CBN Governor of the administration of Moderna his deputy, Hon. Mrs. Cecilia running water and observing first phase of the AstraZeneca Okon Bassey in Uyo The Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen, has conferred an Excellenve Award on the Governor of Central Bank (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, for championing the issues of women, children and persons living with disability in the country.

The “HeforShe Excellence Award’ on the CBN Governor and other eminent Nigerians was given as part of activities to mark the 21st National Council Meeting on Women Affairs, which ended last weekend in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State’s capital.

Tallen had during a

Ministerial dinner with development partners and stakeholders in women sector held at Watbridge hotels, Uyo, identified women empowerment as a solution to myriads of problems bedeviling Nigeria.

She said security problems could be addressed by women empowerment as the positive effect of that would trickle down to homes.

“Most of the problems we are facing in Nigeria today such as insecurity could be addressed by women empowerment, addressing them from the family. Most of these problems are because of the breakdown of family values.

and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines on the people of the state, in collaboration with Development Partners.

The flag-off ceremony, which took place at the ESUT Teaching Hospital Parklane, Enugu,

Ezeilo, who conveyed the governor’s message, enjoining the people of Enugu State to get vaccinated and also observe the non-pharmaceutical methods of preventing the spread of the virus. The methods include:

of social distancing protocol, among others.

In his address, the Executive Secretary, Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ENS-PHCDA), Dr. George Ugwu, revealed that

vaccination.

Ugwu disclosed that the state government has received 60,060 doses of Moderna vaccines to take care of those who did not receive COVID-19 vaccination in the first phase.

Airlines Prepare for Automated Passenger Check-in at MMIA Chinedu Eze International airlines that operate in Nigeria have started integrating their facilities to the new Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) operated

by RESA three months after SITA, which hitherto provided the service, pulled out.

This means that very

soon, the airlines would resume automated passenger facilitation after several weeks of manual check in that caused delays and security breach.

This was disclosed in Lagos at the weekend by the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Captain Rabiu Yadudu, who added

that in the next two weeks all international airlines operating in Nigeria would resume automated passenger facilitation.

According to him, “We have made progress on passenger facilitation. The director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) wanted to see and inspect what is

happening, so we decided to do a joint inspection. We saw that some airlines like KLM, Air France, British Airways, and Delta Airlines were already onboard and have had their cables linked to RESA equipment.

“The DG even asked specifically of Delta Airlines, and he was shown the process.

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‘Nigeria Squandered over $400bn Oil, Gas Earnings in 60 years’ Peter Uzoho The Co-founder and Vice Chairman of Platform Petroleum Limited, Mr. Austin Avuru, has bemoaned Nigeria’s inability to use over $400 billion earned in the oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the last 60 years in the country to transform Nigeria and make life meaningful for the citizens.

Avuru also stated that oil and gas companies operating in the country spent over $40 billion on the oil-producing Niger Delta communities through the funds to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other channels between 2001 and now, with no positive impact on those communities.

This is just as the Managing Partner at Olaniwum Ajayi LP, Prof. Konyinsola Ajayi (SAN), called on Nigerians to be moderate in their expectations from the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), warning that the law would be meaningless if it fails to impact on the life of ordinary citizens.

The two experts spoke in Lagos at the maiden edition of the National Petroleum Day organised by Platform Petroleum, where a book written in honour of Avuru was publicly presented.

The book entitled: ‘Laws on Oil and Gas Exploration and Production in Nigeria: A Text

in Honour of Austin Avuru’, which comprised 41 chapters and 1,103 pages, was collectively put together by 43 young lecturers from different institutions.

Avuru, who is also the chairman of AA Holdings, made

these comments while giving a summary of Ajayi’s lecture at the event, which was centered on ‘Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the Rest of Us’.

He said so many ills had derailed the Nigerian economy

and plunged the country into the unfortunate situation it is today, noting that some of those ills included poor governance at all levels of government, and the acceptance and celebration of mediocrity in the country.

He said those ills had resulted to the squandering of the over $400 billion oil and gas proceeds since the last 60 years.

Avuru said: “I’m sure that everybody that saw the title of the lecture in the programme

would have thought he (guest lecturer) would come here and dissect the PIA and explain all the sections of the PIA so that you would leave here with the full understanding of the Petroleum Industry Act.

NICE TO SEE YOU…

L-R: Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Musa S. Nuhu receiving Nigeria’s Coat of Arm souvenir from ECOWAS Trade Promotions Organisation (TPO) Network President, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo in Abuja…recently

Cholera Outbreak: Lagos Court Upholds FRSC’s Power to Impose Fine on Erring Motorists Put Residents on Alert Segun James Following reports of the outbreak of cholera in some parts of the country, Lagos State Government has alerted residents to be wary of a possible outbreak in the state.

The government in a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tunji Bello, said residents must not wait until the state records cholera outbreak before they take preventive measures.

He noted that the present administration is very mindful of the large population of the state, and has embarked on several sensitisation campaigns to enlighten residents on the dangers of a cholera outbreak.

Bello added that since cholera only thrives in unhygienic conditions, all practices such as open defecation, drinking untreated water from unclean sources, improper disposal of refuse and not washing hands with soap always must be stopped.

The commissioner appealed to members of the public to own the process by ensuring that proper toilet facilities are provided in residences, and when outdoors, public toilets or mobile toilets must be used.

Bello added that all tenements and property owners must prevent exposure of loose refuse and that they are not only properly bagged but disposed through approved PSP operators to prevent flies from feasting on them.

Wale Igbintade Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has upheld the powers of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to impose fines on motorists for alleged traffic offences without first prosecuting them in a court

of law.

Justice Taiwo in his judgement delivered on August 27, 2021, in suit number: FHC/ABJ/ CS/1167/2019 filed by Dr. M.Y Suleiman against the FRSC also dismissed the plaintiff’s request for N10 million as damages.

The plaintiff in his originating

summons dated October 2, 2019, had prayed the court to determine whether the detention of his car by the FRSC and the practice of issuing tickets for fines without any form of trial does not violate the rule of fair hearing as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.

He also sought a declaration that the defendants lacked the competence to detain his Toyota Picnic car for the fulfillment of the condition of proving his innocence of the violation of any of the provisions of the FRSC Act, 2010 and or the Federal Road Safety Rules, 2012.

Troops Rescue Three Kidnap Victims in Kaduna The Kaduna State Government said that troops from Operation Safe Haven have rescued three travellers from armed bandits along the Gidan WayaGodogodo road, in Jema’a Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, made this known in a statement issued

yesterday in Kaduna.

Aruwan said the travellers were abducted by bandits who barricaded the road to force other road users to stop their movement.

“Troops responded to a distress call, and pursued the bandits, rescuing the victims.

The rescued travellers’ vehicle, a Peugeot 307, was also recovered.

Responding to the report of the

rescue, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, commended the troops for the swift response,” Aruwan said.

He said the Governor thanked them for their determined efforts in rescuing the three commuters, and their sustenance of searchand-rescue operations in the area.

In a related development, Aruwan also said security agencies had also reported to the state government that two

persons were killed by bandits in Makoro Iri village, Kajuru LGA. According to the report, bandits invaded the remote village and shot dead the two victims.

Aruwan said El-Rufa’i who sent condolence messages to the families, noted with sadness the report of the attack in Makoro Iri village of Kajuru LGA, and prayed for the repose of the victims’ souls.

have Strategy to Create 1,000 Millionaires Every Year, Says Okonkwo Reinstated Ekiti Chief Hails IDavid-Chyddy that from the celebration of his 2021 N143 billion Anambra November 6.

Eleke in Awka candidate said he 100 days in office as governor, State budget), which is hitherto Judiciary for Defending the Poor The candidate of Zenith Labour hasTheoutlined a graduates/ the process of recruitment into hidden, unaccounted for

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

Following his reinstatement after being deposed by Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, the Edemo of Ado Ekiti, Chief James Bamidele Aduloju, has described the Nigerian judicial system as very strong and reliable.

Aduloju said the manner of his reinstatement was a testimonial that there is still true justice in the country.

The reinstated chief, who described the judiciary as the last hope of the common man, said the people, irrespective of their status and background, can still get the justice they deserve in Nigerian courts of law.

He stated this after a

Thanksgiving service held at The Christ The King Catholic Church, Ado Ekiti, for his reinstatement as the Edemo of Ado Ekiti, by the Supreme Court.

The apex court had in May 2021 reversed the action taken

by Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adejugbe, who removed Aduloju as Edemo of Ado Ekiti, and installed one Dayo Fajemilua as replacement.

The court in the judgment delivered by Justice Samuel Oseji affirmed Chief Aduloju as the authentic Edemo of Ado Ekiti, and declared as a nullity “the nomination and appointment of Dayo Fajemilua as Edemo of Ado-Ekiti by the Ewi of Ado during the pendency of a court action.”

Party (ZLP) in the forthcoming Anambra State governorship election, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, has stated that he has perfected a template to enable his administration create 1,000 millionaires in the state every year, if elected governor on

apprenticeship empowerment initiative that would take care of that, and that the millionaires will emerge three each from all the 326 wards in the state.

In a statement made available by the Publicity Secretary of ZLP, Afam Ofomata, Okonkwo stated

the initiative would have been concluded.

He said: “With prudently managed resources of Anambra State, the scheme will draw from a dedicated N1billion from the state annual budget (representing 0.7 percent of

and wasted by the current administration.

“The scheme is targeted at raising three millionaires each from the 326 wards and additional 21 from the 21 local government areas and one representing the state.

Borno Agrees to Accept 3,000 Repentant Terrorists At a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the current security situation in Borno State, state, community leaders in the state yesterday agreed to accept the repentant Boko Haram terrorists into their communities.

The Borno Government had confirmed that at least 3,000 persons who were members of the armed opposition group

have laid down their arms and surrendered to the Nigerian military.

However, at stakeholders’ meeting Governor Babagana Zulum, disclosed that apart from the 3,000 ex-terrorists currently in the custody of the government, another 900 confirmed members of Boko Haram have surrendered to

the Cameroonian forces.

Governor Zulum noted that the meeting became necessary following the mixed reactions that recently trailed the mass surrender of former Boko Haram fighters.

He said the government needed to involve all stakeholders in Borno in the decision-making process on

how to deal with the repentant insurgents. It was gathered that various stakeholders at the meeting, which lasted five hours, presented their views on how the former terrorists should be accepted and treated in society.

They, however, gave conditions that must be met before the remorseful terrorists are accepted into various communities.

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NDLEA Arrests Drug Kingpin for Ingestion of 87 Wraps of Cocaine Michael Olugbode in Abuja A Nigerian, Ibeh Ejike, who was returning from Kigali, Rwanda, has been arrested for alleged ingestion of 87 wraps of cocaine by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The 41-year-old suspect, described by the spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, in a statement yesterday as narcotic-trafficker, was arrested on August 25, 2021, upon his arrival on board an Ethiopian Airline flight 911 from Kigali via Addis Ababa.

He was taken in for secondary check during which he tested positive to ingestion of illicit substance, and while under observation, he excreted 87 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.884 kilogrammes.

Ejike, who was said to import cloths for sale, hails from Owerrizikeala village in Orumba Local Government Area of Anambra State.

In another clampdown, a Lagos-based drug dealer, Eze Okorie, has been arrested following the interception of 4.15 kilogrammes of methamphetamine consignment going to London, the United Kingdom, at the

NAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, on August 13.

According to Babafemi, the drug was concealed in tins of tomato branded ‘sunripe’ and

packaged for the driver of a freight forwarding company to deliver at the airport export shed for onward movement to the UK. He said though the freight company’s driver was

initially arrested; follow-up investigations and subsequent sting operation led to the arrest of the kingpin behind the consignment, Eze Okorie, at his Coker, Surulere, Lagos home on August 25, 2021. He

hails from Isu village in Onicha LGA of Ebonyi State.

The NDLEA spokesman said in the agency’s continuous raids of drug joints across the states last week, in Cross River State, one Anietie Attauba was

arrested at Idundu community with 9.9 grammes of cocaine, while 23-year-old Joy Odey was picked up at Nasarawa Bakoko Area of Calabar Municipality LGA on August 27 with 500 grammes of skunk.

AGRIBUSINESS COLLABORATION…

L-R: Director General, Premier Agribusiness Academy (PAA)/Project Director, Soy Excellence Centre (SEC), Nigeria; CSP Toromade Francis; Assistant InspectorGeneral of Police, Aishatu Abubakar Baju and MD/CEO, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Business Incubation Platform (BIP), Frederick Schreurs, during a collaboration meeting between Nigeria Police Force (NPF), PAA and IITA in Ibadan, Oyo State …recently

FG Raises Team to Investigate Former Presidential Aspirant Urges FG to Bridges, Building Collapses in Withdraw Amnesty for Bandits Imo, Jigawa, Others interview on ARISE NEW local vigilante groups. groups is very important,” Chinedu Eze Emmanuel Addeh and Miracle Chukwu in Abuja The federal government has set up a committee to investigate the incessant collapse of infrastructure in different states across Nigeria, including Jigawa, Anambra, Imo and Bauchi.

The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, who made the disclosure while speaking at the 2021 Engineering Conference and annual general meeting organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Abuja branch, stated that the engineering industry was in dire need of competent professionals.

Two weeks ago, 21 persons, including 11

disqualified military recruitment applicants, died in Gwaram Local Government Area of Jigawa State in a bridge collapse in the area.

Earlier in the month, three persons died after a bridge collapsed in Bauchi State due to a heavy downpour which lasted several hours in Malka village, while in Anambra State, two buildings collapsed in different locations in Amikwo, Awka South, and another two-storey building in Oko, Orumba LGA. In July, the second inland bridge caved in in Imo State, leading to the blockage of the entrance into the affected road to avert human and vehicular disaster because of the danger posed by the incident.

Nasarawa Earmarks N1.5bn for Flood Control Igbawase Ukumba in Lafia The Nasarawa State Government last Saturday said it has earmarked about N1.5 billion to control flood in the state.

The state government, however, said it was leveraging on the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) to mitigate the flooding menace in the state.

The state Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Musa Ibrahim, disclosed this in Lafia, the state capital, shortly after the monthly environmental sanitation exercise for the month of August.

The commissioner said: “We leveraged on the presence of

NEWMAP and awarded contract of almost N1.5 billion to get those gully places controlled.

We received no objection for five sites found in Lafia, Doma, Keffi, Karu, Nasarawa and Toto Local Government Areas of the state.

“One site has been awarded, and it is one of the major sites where all flood water will be channelled to, and we are going to have a flood-free Nasarawa State.”

Moreover, the state environment commissioner disclosed that major compensations have been carried out on affected people where the projects were located in terms of farms and lands.

Former Presidential aspirant and the Convener of Movement for New Nigeria, Dr Abubakar Alkali, has urged the federal government to withdraw amnesty for bandits.

Speaking during an

Channel, the broadcast arm of THISDAY Newspapers , Dr Alkali said that government should route out bandits out of Nigeria and for this to be achieved, government must efficiently equip and motivate the military and also set up

“The setting up of vigilante groups is very important because in some parts of the country, especially around the border of Zamfara and Katsian states, there is no presence of security operatives, so the setting up of local vigilante

he said.

He said the vigilante is expected to provide intelligence to security operatives and should work with the military and the police and be paid salary to motivate them.

NMA’s 21-day Ultimatum Violates MoU, Says FG Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja The federal government has described the 21-day ultimatum issued by the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) as a negation of the Memoradum of Understanding (MoU) it signed at the recent conciliatory meeting held in Abuja.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, who was reacting to the 21-day deadline given by NMA for the Implementation of the Memoradum of Agreement reached with all its affiliates, said that part of the MoU gave a minimum of two months timeline to execute.

NMA had at the end of her

National Executive Council meeting in Benin City , Edo State resolved to give the federal government 21 days notice to fully resolve all the issues contained in the various agreements signed with the doctors.

In a statement signed by the NMA president, Prof.

Innocent Ujah, and Secretary General, Dr Philips Uche

Ekpe, the association said: “After due consideration, NEC puts the federal government on a 21-day notice to fully resolve all the issues contained in the various agreements signed with Affiliate members of the Nigerian Medical Association (including MDCAN, MEDSABAMS and NARD).”

Imo Warns Opposition against Causing Security Crisis Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Imo State Government yesterday warned the opposition against engaging in acts capable of setting the state on fire. It also warned that it will unleash the law on anyone who for selfish and political reasons engages in seditious

acts that would trigger security crisis in the state.

The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon Declan Emelumba gave the warning while reacting to the cloning of a Thisday publication alleging that Governor Hope Uzodinma plans to marry out imo daughters to the Fulani

herders.

Describing the act as criminal and the height of desperation by the opposition, Emelumba vowed that the perpetrators of the forgery and perjury would not go unpunished.

He noted that but for the timely intervention of the management of Thisday

newspaper which disowned the publication, Imo State would have been on fire by now.

The commissioner said the despicable act was intended by the opposition to ignite crisis between imo people and a section of the country such that the collateral damage would have been unimaginable.

Economist, Chizea Advises against Removal of Subsidy before Dangote Refinery Goes Live Chinedu Eze Renowned economist and development consultant, Dr. Boniface Chizea, has advised the federal government not to remove fuel subsidy before the multibillion dollars 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery goes on stream.

Chizea, who gave the warning

yesterday in an interview with ARISE NEWS,channel, the arm of THISDAY Newspapers, said the removal of subsidy would have devastating impact on the poor Nigerians “because it would trigger inflation, as the prices of essential commodities and services would go up again.”

He stated that when Dangote

Refinery becomes operational, the prices of petroleum products are expected to come down because Dangote would buy crude in naira and sell the product in naira, so the availability of the product would no more be subjected to the fluctuations of the foreign exchange and attendant high cost of importation.

Chizea said besides buying the product in foreign currency, “there is cost for the importation, cost of demurrage, import duty payments and others,” disclosing that due to the critical importance the federal government attached to the availability of petroleum products, 30 per cent of forex is dedicated to fuel importation.

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South Korean Minister Holds Talks with Amaechi, Magashi, Dada on Trade, Others Troubled by the dwindling trade between Nigeria and South Korea, the South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister, Mr. Choi Jong-gun has visited Nigeria and held high-level meetings with senior Nigerian ministers.

A statement yesterday explained that Jong-gun was in the West African country during a recent visit to three African countries - Morocco, Senegal, and Nigeria between August 14th and 19th 2021. This visit was the first visit of the Korean Vice Minister in West Africa.

It noted that in a series of engagement with Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir

Magashi (rtd); Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Zubairu Dada, on August 19, 2021, the discussions focused on ways to develop bilateral relations, including cooperation on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.

“The two sides agreed to further expand economic cooperation while agreeing that there is a great potential for cooperation between Korea, which has technological prowess, and Nigeria, which has population and resources.

“During the sessions, both

sides agreed on the need to reorganise all agreements, such as the double taxation prevention agreement and the revision of the investment protection agreement, under the common recognition that it is important to prepare an institutional basis for expanding economic cooperation,” it added.

According to the statement, the Korean official emphasised the need to conduct business in a friendly environment by resolving difficulties faced by Korean companies that had invested in Nigeria.

On his part, Amaechi pledged to resolve the outstanding issues in order to fundamentally resolve

Ugwuanyi Visits Hospitalised Survivors of Adulterated Kerosene The Governor of Enugu State, Mr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has visited the ESUT Teaching Hospital, Parklane, Enugu, to empathise with survivors of the unfortunate fire incidents caused by adulterated kerosene that was sold in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of the state.

Ugwuanyi, in a statement earlier issued by the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Nnanyelugo Chidi Aroh, commiserated with the families that lost their loved ones and those that suffered bodily injuries and loss of property

as a result of the adulterated petroleum product He also ordered thorough investigation into the sad incident to fish out those responsible for importing and distributing the harmful product in the state.

The governor announced that his administration would bore all medical expenses for the treatment of the victims.

He also directed the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Obi, and the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr. Ifeanyi Agujiobi,

to ensure that all those who suffered bodily injury were effectively provided with the best available medical care at the expense of the state government.

Ugwuanyi, who was received at the hospital by the Chief Medical Director, ESUT-TH Parklane, Enugu, Prof. Hyacinth Onah and the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Health, Dr. Ifeanyi Agujiobi, was accompanied by the State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Augustine Nnamani.

the problem faced by Korean companies operating in Nigeria.

“Despite the huge investments made into the country over the past decades, Nigeria is yet to benefit from the global conglomerates’ skills and technology transfer as well as the foreign investors’ huge investment potentials because the government has not given them all the necessary incentives and support to these companies already in the country.

“The issues faced by foreign investors in Nigeria is not just limited to Korean companiesfor instance Africa’s biggest grocery retailer and South Africa-owned chain of stores, Shoprite announced its exit from Nigeria after 15years of operations,” the statement added.

Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo in April, had

lamented that the trade between both countries had slumped by 74 per cent from $5 million in 2018 to $1.3 million in 2019.

It pointed out that with the visit of the South Korean First Vice Foreign minister to Nigeria, it was expected that the Nigerian government would address the challenges facing the South Korean companies operating in Nigeria.

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) is one of the global conglomerate and reputable investors from South Korea that has established a presence in Nigeria. SHI established its subsidiary, Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria Limited (SHIN) 10 years ago and made an investment of over $300 million dollars in Nigeria to construct West Africa’s most advanced fabrication and integration yard.

The company has made

contributions to the Nigerian economy since its establishment, by creating jobs, helping Nigerians to acquire skills and opening up the Nigerian economy.

“Through Egina project, Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria employed over 3,000 Nigerians and spent 560,000 man-hours training locals with no prior experience in shipbuilding and welding industry. It is widely known that over $1.6billion economic contribution was made through the project.

“The past 10 years has not been a smooth sail for SHIN as the company is not insulated from the challenges in the Nigerian operating environment.

Despite the challenges facing its operations, SHIN has remained undaunted due to its faith in Nigeria and its long-term commitment to the country.

Anambra: LP Candidate Promises Enabling Environment for Business Rebecca Ejifoma The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Anambra State forthcoming election, Obiora Agbasimalo, at the weekend vowed to create an enabling environment for business and services to thrive in the state, if elected governor of the state.

Agbasimalo stated this at the campaign ground in Onitsha, Anambra State, at the weekend ahead of the governorship elections taking place on November 6 this year.

He noted that: “The business of any government is to create an enabling environment for businesses and services to thrive as well as attract private sector

investors to grow the economy and promote the welfare of the people.

“My government will invest heavily in critical infrastructure like roads, power, housing, water supply, and waste management among others; not only to enhance the ease of doing business but also to make life and living more meaningful.”

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MONDAYSPORTS

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

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

L-R: Ukraine's Oliinyk Natalia; Bose Omolayo (Nigeria) and Vera Muralova of Russian Paralympic Committee shortly after receiving their medals... yesterday

Omolayo Wins Team Nigeria’s Second Para-Powerlifting Gold Duro Ikhazuagbe Nigerian Para-Powerlifter, Bose Omolayo, won Nigeria’s second gold medal of the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in Japan yesterday.

Competing in the -79kg category, Omolayo, proved too tough for her co-competitors, setting a new Games record

of 141kg to claim the precious gold medal.

Ukraine’s Oliinyk Natalia who lifted 133kg settled for the silver while Muralova Vera of Russian Paralympic Committee got the consolatory bronze medal with 125kg lift.

Interestingly, Omolayo won the gold medal with her very first lift of 135kg which none of the

FIBA Afrobasket: D’Tigers Lose to Côte d’Ivoire

Nigeria’s senior men’s basketball team, D’Tigers will be heading for the drawing board after losing 68-77pts to Côte d’Ivoire in their last Group C game and failing to pick an automatic FIBA Afrobasket quarter final ticket in Rwanda.

The game which was the group’s decider saw Nigeria struggling for the better part of the crunchy encounter.

D’Tigers struggled with their shooting, averaging 41.8% field goal conversion with 29.6% shooting accuracy from the three point line.

The game watched by the Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness, Aminu Ado Bayero alongside members of the royal house, Bayero Isa Sanusi and Bayero Ujudud Sanusi alongside the caretaker Chairman of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Engr Musa Kida lived up to expectations.

A very physical Ivorian team also dominated defensively as they out rebounded D’Tigers 44-30.

Benjamin Emelogu led the team in scoring with 13pts, 2stls and 5 rebounds.

Uzodinma Utomi had 12pts, TK Edogi recorded 10pts while Gombe Bull’s Ibe Abuchi Agu

was solid defensively, helping with 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 5pts.

Nigeria will play the third placed team in Group D in their quest to secure a quarter final ticket.

Tracing the genesis of the painful loss, Coach Mike Brown said the team did not play harder and together like a team that wanted a win.

“We didn’t play hard or play together and that is a recipe for disaster against a good team. You have to give Ivory Coast credit.

They were extremely physical and confident and they were together the entire game”.

He congratulated the Ivorians for playing better and harder.

“They played harder than us today. They played smarter than us today and they got the win.

In my opinion, the best team won the game today. You have to give a lot of credit to Ivory Coast. They did a heck of a job”.

All hope is not lost for a medal finish and Coach Brown is eager to see how the team bounces back from this minor setback.

“It will be interesting to see how our guys respond after the loss. We still have an opportunity to go again and we will see how that turns out in the next game.”

TO KYO 2 0 2 0 PA R A LY M P I C S other two Para-powerlifters could match with their first attempts.

According to reports from the Tokyo International Forum venue of the event, Omolayo’s closest rival, Muralova Vera of Russian Paralympic Committee went for 132kg which she also lifted well while Ukranian Oliinyk Natalia did 125kg.

To catch up with Omolayo, Murelova went for 136kg in her second attempt but failed.

Oliinyk chose to apply caution.

She went successfully for 130kg and looking like content with a possible bronze medal finish,

she merely added 3kg more to lift 133kg in her third attempt.

Seeing Murelova’s challenge, Omolayo increased the gap by entering 138kg in her second attempt and did it smoothly.

Murelova opted for 138kg in her third attempt even when she failed 136kg earlier. She failed again in the third attempt and it was game over.

Omolayo with the biggest lift was not satisfied and proceeded to do 141kg in her third attempt which she did successfully to set a new Paralympic Games record.

The Nigerian further attempted to break the world record with a 144 booking but had a bad lift.

Murelova’s attempt to chase Omolayo however cost her the silver to settle in bronze as she ended with the 130kg in her first and only successful attempt.

Oliinyk who was more cautious and respectful of Omolayo’s superiority overtook her for the second place with the 133kg in her last attempt.

Speaking after the medal’s presentation, Omolayo said she was determined right from the training camp in Nigeria not to concede the gold to any opponent.

She however admitted been

shaken by Innocent Nnamdi’s lose and Lucy Ejike’s drop to a bronze finish the day before her event.

“Winning the gold is exciting enough and doing so by setting a new Paralympic record is just great,” she quipped with excitement.

Earlier on Saturday, Latifat Tijani won Team Nigeria’s first gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Team Captain, Lucy Ejike dropped down from gold medals at the last Games in Rio Brazil to settle for a bronze while, Olaitan Ibrahim also won a bronze in the women’s - 67kg category with 119 best lift.

Ndidi, Iheanacho, Iwobi, Three Others amongst Early Arrivals as Eagles Camp Opens Femi Solaja Ahead of the World Cup 2022 qualifying matches beginning from this Friday, the camp of the Super Eagles in Lagos bubbled into life with the arrival of three English Premier League players, Kelechi Iheanacho, Wilfred Ndidi and Alex Iwobi.

Other early early birds in camp include South Africabased Daniel Akpeyi and home-based Abia Warriors’ Adekunle Adeleke.

According to Super Eagles Media Officer, Babafemi Raji, most of the invited players are expected to arrive camp today.

All eyes were initially on invited players from the English Premier League and others in the United Kingdom after authorities of the league body declined to allow players from the topflight to travel to play

W O R L D C U P Q UA L I F I E R S international games for their respective nations due to hike in Coronavirus Delta variant.

But with assurances from the Nigerian federation not to risk these stars in the Match-Day 2 fixture of the Qatar 2022 qualifiers against Cape Verde, the likes of Kelechi ‘Seniorman’ Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester City and Alex Iwobi of Everton promptly arrived Lagos yesterday after playing for their respective clubs on Saturday.

The Super Eagles camp officially opened yesterday with team officials including backroom staff to receive the players on arrival.

“The coach is very much in touch with all the invited players and all their travel details have been sorted out and what we

expect now is total victory for the team as we look ahead to the matches at hand,” an official of the team disclosed yesterday in a telephone interview with THISDAY. The official also confirmed that the likes of Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun who were part of Rangers’ hard earned win against rivals, Celtic yesterday evening won’t arrive camp until Tuesday or Wednesday due to protocols they will have to undergo after the match.

The same scenario applies to the duo of William TroostEkong and Oghenekaro Etebo who were part of the Watford side that lost against Tottenham Hotspurs yesterday.

The NFF’s Plan B is still much alive owing to the likelihood of

most of the players from the United Kingdom to return to their clubs after Nigeria’s home match against Liberia in Lagos this Friday.

“This was partly the reason why the coach had to spread his dragnets to virtually other European leagues to get the other Nigerian players not encumbered by the stiff Covid restrictions on players that traveled to countries on risk list to isolate for 10 days on return to England,” observed the official.

According to the plan put together by NFF, the match at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos on Friday, 3rd September will kick-off by 5pm while the rest Eagles not based in UK and Italy will have to travel to the island of Mindelo to tango with the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde on Tuesday, 7th September.

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SPORTS

Spurs Hammer Watford to Maintain Perfect Start to New Season

Son Heung-min marked his 200th Premier League appearance yesterday with the winning goal as Tottenham Hotspur maintained their 100% start to the season against Watford.

The result means Spurs will top the table heading into September's international break, while Watford are 12th.

It also sees Nuno Espirito Santo become just the second Tottenham boss to win his first three league games in charge of the club, with the last man to accomplish that feat being Arthur Rowe in 1949.

But they were made to work hard for their victory by an accomplished Watford side who were unfortunate to concede when Son's inswinging free-kick deceived goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann and found the bottom-right corner.

While Harry Kane was unusually quiet on his first top-flight start this term for Tottenham, Steven Bergwijn, Eric Dier and Dele Alli all had chances for the hosts.

However, Xisco Munoz's side offered plenty of attacking threat of their own.

Juraj Kucka twice failed to capitalise on good

PREMIER LEAGUE opportunities to score and Nigerian international Emmanuel Dennis also gave

Spurs some uncomfortable moments.

Elsewhere, Patrick Bamford capped a dream week with a late equaliser as Leeds extended Burnley's

his first England call-upthis week just days after signing a new long-term contract, stabbed in Jamie Shackleton's effort with time running out.

TRANSFER NEWS appearances last season but is yet to feature this term.

Before Arsenal's 5-0 defeat by Manchester City on Saturday, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said he "didn't know" why Willian's time at the club had not been more successful.

Negotiations will continue between Arsenal and Willian's representatives before the transfer deadline on Tuesday.

Willian...set to return to Brazil

Zouma Completes Permanent West Ham Switch French defender Kurt Zouma has left Chelsea for fellow London club West Ham United after signing a four-year contract.

West Ham announced the signing on their official website on Saturday night.

Statement from the Hammers read:”West Ham United is delighted to announce the signing of France international Kurt Zouma until the summer of 2025.

“The 26-year-old central defender joins for an undisclosed fee from Chelsea,

NIGERIANS IN EUROPEA *Bundesliga: Awoniyi *Rangers’ Balogun Grabs Winner as Union Named MoTM, Aribo Berlin Record First Victory in Action at Celtic Former Nigerian Under-17 international, Taiwo Awoniyi, 24, scored his third goal of the Bundesliga season as Union Berlin defeated Monchengladbach 2-1 yesterday to record their first victory of the new campaign.

Awoniyi got Union Berlin’s second goal in the 40th minute after Niko Giesselmann opened the scoring on 22 minutes.

The gangling forward has now scored a goal in each of Union Berlin’s opening three games in the new Bundesliga season.

Also, he has scored five goals in six appearances in all competitions for his side so far this season.

points with a predatory finish against his old club, turning home Matthew Lowton's shot from close range.

But Bamford, who earned

Tottenham Hotspur players celebrating Son Heung-min (2nd right) winning goal against Watford...yesterday

Arsenal Working on Agreement to End Willian contract

Arsenal are working on a mutual agreement to terminate Willian's contract before a free transfer to Brazilian club Corinthians.

The deal could save the Gunners millions of pounds as the Brazil midfielder still has two years left on a three-year contract, reported to be worth more than £200,000 a week.

Willian, 33, joined Arsenal from Chelseaon a free transfer last summer.

He made 25 league

winless home run to 12 games by pinching a point in a feisty 1-1 Premier League affair at Turf Moor.

Chris Wood had looked set to earn Burnley all three

Taiwo Awoniyi

Leon Balogun was named man of the match after his impressive display in Rangers’ Old Firm clash against Celtic at Ibrox on Sunday.

Balogun was deployed as a right-back in the fiercely contested derby and was his side’s top performer in the game. he Nigeria international was in action for 90 minutes in the game.

His international teammate Joe Aribo also featured for the entire duration of the encounter.

Sweden defender Filip Helander netted the winning goal for Rangers in the 67th minute.

Leon Balogun

where he accumulated two Premier League titles, one UEFA Champions’ League

winner’s medal and one EFL Cup winner’s medal during a seven-year career.

Zouma...leaves Chelsea for West Ham

N LEAGUES *Troost-Ekong, Etebo, Dennis in Action as Watford Fall against Spurs Super Eagles trio of William Troost-Ekong, Oghenekaro Etebo and Emmanuel Dennis were in action for all 90 minutes yesterday as Watford fell to a 1-0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur in their Premier League clash.

Etebo caught the eye with his impressive performance for the Hornets in the game however, the day’s honour went to Korean Heung-min Son who curled in a wicked free-kick cross that bamboozled the Watford defence and goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann three minutes before the break.

He marked his 200th game in he English topflight with the goal.

Tottenham Hotspur secured top position on the table following the win, while Watford sit in 12th with three points.

William Troost-Ekong

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MONDAY, ͻ͸˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

SPORTS

Messi Makes PSG Debut But Mbappe Takes the Shine Lionel Messi made his Paris StGermain debut as a 66th-minute substitute in a 2-0 win at Reims in Ligue 1.

The Argentine, wearing his new number 30 PSG shirt, received a standing ovation as he replaced his friend Neymar in front of a sell-out crowd.

It was the first club game of his career for a team other than Barcelona.

"He is still far away from his best form but he has been training well and he will be fit in the next two weeks," boss Mauricio Pochettino told Amazon.

"We are waiting for the best from him. I'm very happy that he made his debut. It was very important for him.

"He was good, from his first touches he gave the team peace of mind. It's good for him to start with a win.

"It was good to hear the crowd cheering for him, not just our

LIGUE 1 supporters, it's something Leo has earned."

Kylian Mbappe scored both goals on what could be his final appearance for the club, with Real Madrid keen to sign him before Tuesday's transfer deadline.

Real Madrid have made a 160m euro (£137m) bid to sign the 22-year-old, who has now scored 135 goals in 175 games for PSG. His first goal was a header from an Angel di Maria cross and for his second he swept home Achraf Hakimi's cross.

"Kylian is our player and you know that in football and in business there is always gossip and rumours," Pochettino said.

"I think our president and our sporting director were very clear and he is still here. I am really happy to have Kylian.

Lionel Messi...makes long awaited debut in PSG colours against Reims

MoroccanStarFocusesonLeaving Lagos with Aisha Buhari Cup Morocco defender, Hanane Ait El Haj, has backed her side to emerge victorious at the upcoming Aisha Buhari Invitational Tournament taking place in Lagos, Nigeria scheduled for between September 13th and 21st, 2021.

The Atlas Lionesses are drawn against Mali and Nigeria in Group A of the six-nation competition.

The former Zaragoza star is excited about her team's chance to test themselves against women's football powerhouses in Africa.

"For us, it's a good opportunity to know first, our level, what we should improve on and also the level of the teams that we may likely play at the Women Africa Cup of Nations," El Haj, who recently helped ASFAR win the UNIAF Women's Champions League title said at the weekend.

"We play against Mali a lot of times, so we know each other.

But it will be our first game with Nigeria and we know they are a big and strong team that always fight for titles,” she noted.

On their ultimate goal at the competition, the 26-year-old said: "Our ambition is to win this tournament and improve ourselves.

"It will be a very exciting competition with big teams competing in it, thanks to everyone who organised this tournament."

El Haj will aim to inspire the 2022 Women Africa Cup of Nations hosts to success in Nigeria, who are the Cup holders and nine-time African

champions.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s Black Queens Head Coach, Mercy Tagoe-Quarcoo, has invited 30 players to camp in preparation for the maiden edition of the Aisha Buhari Invitational Tournament taking place in the City of Lagos.

Ghana will play in Group B of the tournament against Cameroon and South Africa.

In the roster, there are 22 home–based professionals and eight foreign-based players, including team captain Elizabeth Addo and Grace Asentawaa of Spanish club, Real Betis.

Gafaar Charges Participants to Unlock Potentials with Lagos Sports Summer Camp Director General, Lagos State Sports Commission, Oluwatoyin Gafaar has charged the 120 children aged between nine and 14 who participated at the Phase 2 of the Lagos Sports Summer Camp held at Oriwu College in Ikorodu to make good use of what they learned at the camp.

The campers that were exposed to 60 per cent of sports and 40 per cent of life skills during the seven days life changing activities powered by the Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Sports Commission were divided according to sports and life skills of their choices.

The sports and life skills includes, Athletics, Basketball, Board Games such as (Chees, Monopoly, Scrabble), Ayo, Darts , Volleyball and Fives.

The life skills activities includes; tie and dye, hat making, tile and brick making , power bank and power bank battery making among others.

According to Gafaar the campers having been exposed to different sports and life skills of their choices are expected to unlock their potentials after this educative and informative seven days Lagos Sports Summer Camp powered by our sports loving Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. " By attending this camp, you have all unlock your potentials through your participation in various activities deliberately designed to unlock your potentials. " If you look through the key that we gave you, it symbolizes

future success. " With this key, your potentials would be unlocked". He said.

"Although, you spent only six days here for different activities, go back home to extend what you have learnt to others in your communities and your household.

By doing that , it's going to give us a good society." Gafaar stated.

Given her pep talk on day five of the camp , Aminat Idrees Matepo, Team Lagos Taekwondo gold medalist urged the campers to make use of the rear opportunity given to them

by Governor Sanwo-Olu and the Lagos State Sports Commission.

The Phase 3 of the three phases of the camp will hold at Surulere, from September 5-12 representing the Lagos Central Senatorial District.

uLessonPartners Free Cricket Camp for Kids

Hanane El Haj...Morocco’s star player dreams winning the Aisha Buhari Cup in Lagos

Leading EdTech App, uLessonwas a major part of the three-day Cricket Camp that held simultaneously at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval in Lagos, and the Moshood Abiola ‘Package B’ Cricket Oval in Abuja last week, with Nigeria’s premium cricket blog, The Middle Stump as the facilitators.

The camps taught kids on the three key skills of the game; Batting, Bowling and Fielding alongside other life skills, between Monday August 23rd and Wednesday August 25th and had the backing of the Nigeria Cricket Federation.

Tayo Sowole, Vice President,

Distribution and Marketing at uLessson, said “we see strong correlation between physical activity and the mental readiness of kids to learn.

“Investing in sports and education fits perfectly into our purpose. Physical well-being is a foundational part of knowledge building.”

According to him, “the number of children we had and the excitement shown by the kids at the different centers speaks volume to openness of the kids to new learning, especially ones that grows their psychomotor skills.

This to us is very crucial hence our resolve to back the initiative.”

One of the coaches at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Centre, Ruth Ayonnaike-Lamina praised the effort of all the parties that put the Summer Cricket Camp together saying, it had a strong impression on the kids especially those that were coming in contact with the sport for the very first time.

Olumide Akintokun, The middlestump’s coordinator for the event says that Cricket in Nigeria and the recent upward trajectory that the immediate past executive committee of the Nigeria Cricket Federation had helped the sport gain, leaves stakeholders with no choice than to band together with them to promote it further.

Monday August 30, 2021

TR

UT H

& RE A SO

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Price: N250

MISSILE

Ortom to FG

“If the government has power to stop Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu, why don’t they have the power to stop bandits?

All we hear is unknown gunmen.”

––Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, accusing the federal authorities of pampering gunmen terrorising Nigerians.

ALEXOTTI OUTSIDE THE BOX

alex.otti@thisdaylive.com

Towards Preserving the Value of the Naira “Without the opinion of an expert there’s no such thing as certainty.”

–Joanna Ruocco

5,000 doctors from Nigeria because they know the high performance of Nigerian doctors. With the proper policies, the Government can earn FOREX through fees from foreign employers and taxes from the expatriate workers (which will be used to fund public education in Nigeria) apart from the remittances of these expatriates. Nigeria should leverage the potential of the Knowledge Economy to boost her FOREX earnings.

As long as our government continues to import Fuel our FOREX Supply will always be less than the demand, and our Naira will continue to depreciate while investment will be drying up in the country due to rising inflation. The government has to stop this madness of fuel importation! The government should design and implement viable policies that will increase refinery capacity and make Nigeria self sufficient in refined petroleum products (even, an exporter of refined products as was envisaged in the 3rd or 4th National Development Plan).

Even with the best of Political Will, coordinated macroeconomic policies, regular electricity supply, improved local production and infrastructure amongst others, a sustained reversal of Naira’s depreciating trend will still take some years of consistent and purposeful efforts, from the Nigerian authorities (and Nigerians).

W

e opened a debate here on July 5, 2021, on the loss of value of the Naira. Subsequently on August 5, we published one of the feedbacks we got from Mr. Eustace Odunze an economist, banker and lawyer. Since then, we have continued to receive interesting reactions from readers from across the world and we feel highly honoured that this matter is generating a significant level of interest and we are gratified that the column enjoys very wide global readership. Today, we will publish another reaction this time around, from Prof. Ifeanyi Uzoka, who we can deduce from his name, is a Nigerian, and a Professor of Economics at the Pilon School of Business, Sheridan College, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. We thank Prof. Uzoka for writing in and enjoin others who have useful contributions on this important topic to follow suit.

RE: THE DEPRECIATION OF THE NAIRA, BY PROF. IFEANYI UZOKA

The value of the Naira is just a manifestation/ symptom of the deteriorating state of affairs in Nigeria. The current low international value of the Naira did not happen overnight (it started in the 1980s), and rectifying it will require sustained purposeful efforts that go beyond the obvious imbalance between the Demand and Supply to addressing the following: a. the drivers of the FOREX market forces (Demand and Supply), b. purposeful integration and coordination of Monetary, Foreign Exchange and Fiscal Policies and c. Political Will (to fight corruption and other societal ills).

On the Demand side, we should deal with the Psychology (behavioural tendencies) driving our FOREX Demand. As long as most Nigerians continue to value foreign products more than local products (that address their needs better), forex demand will continue to exceed supply and Naira’s depreciation will not stop. How do you explain that most Nigerians prefer processed foreign food to their own natural/organic food? How do you explain that a Nigerian will prefer to send his child to a foreign University (that grants a next-to-worthless degree certificate without any employability skills) just to brag that his child is schooling abroad? A Nigerian parent terminated his child’s education in a Nigerian Federal University, only to send the child to a West African country where the child graduated with a ‘First Class’ Degree. When the child applied for a master’s degree and submitted transcripts for evaluation, the Degree was adjudged to be less than a Canadian Bachelor’s degree.

We need to deal with the inferiority complex, that makes many Nigerians feel that everything foreign is better than what is obtainable locally, if we must curb this insatiable demand for FOREX. There is also a need to cease treating the different Macroeconomic policies as Silos (like it happened sometime ago when the Finance Minister was pleading with the CBN Governor to reduce interest rates in order to boost Aggregate Demand, and the CBN Governor, standing on the same podium, said that CBN will be raising interest rates to fight inflation). Nigeria’s Macroeconomic policies must be designed and coordinated to support one another to advance the economic wellbeing of Nigerians.

In this regard, there is need to design and implement fiscal policies that will incentivise economic agents to make decisions that support

REACTION FROM ALEX OTTI

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele the effectiveness of our Monetary and FOREX policies. For example, beside increasing IGR and boosting local production of cars, such policies like PROGRESSIVE ROAD TAX on (Private/ Luxurious) vehicles will go a long way in curbing our inordinate desire to spend FOREX on imported Luxury cars and frivolities. If there is a quarterly Road Tax of N500,000 on private Luxury vehicles with Engine Capacity of 3.0 liters, manufactured in the last 5 years, how many of us will still be willing to have a fleet of luxury cars in Nigeria?

Our expectations drive our choices!

Rather than banning Foreign undergraduate studies from accessing FOREX, the Government can impose a graduated Foreign Education Tax, exempting some Medical Science courses. This can range from 5% to 20% - the higher range being for Secondary Schools. Failure to pay the tax when due will attract penalties. The income generated from this will be applied to public education in Nigeria. Similar treatment for medical tourism could be imposed.

Beyond the introduction of Policies, there must be a Political Will to implement them and, a revitalised independent Judiciary to try alleged offenders. These kinds of Policies, addressing the psychology that drives FOREX Demand, will do more to curb our insatiable demand for FOREX than the current knee-jerk reaction called Monetary and FOREX Policies.

On the Supply side, I agree that there is a need to increase supply of FOREX. Much of our supply is driven by Oil revenue and Remittances. In addition to increasing our FOREX earning potentials through exports of other commodities, we should also actively pursue the export of Services, especially, in the form of Human Capital. We have an abundance of it. All we need is to add more value to our Human Capital through re/training to enhance their employability skills.

According to Philippine Statistics Authority, Philippines’ remittances in 2019 was $35.17bn from 2.2m migrant workers. About 40% of these migrant workers were in Elementary Occupations, while about 17% were Technicians and Professionals*.

Imagine the upsurge we will have on remittances to Nigeria if we have a policy to re/train some of our youths and professionals to meet labour demand abroad? Recently the UK Govt came calling for

I want to thank Prof. Uzoka once again, for his feedback which I must confess is very germane and helpful in the debate. Just like any other economic subject, addressing the matter of the depreciation of the currency does not have, nor require, any silver bullet. Just one month since we started this debate, the Naira has lost over N20 in the foreign exchange market. This situation is distortionary and makes planning virtually impossible. The Central Bank has so far responded by cutting out one set of middlemen, the Bureaux De Change operators, from the official market and asking their customers to henceforth approach the banks instead for their needs. The banks have also responded by restating their ability to meet demands. The truth, however, is that the banks can only handle documented transactions. There are many undocumented transactions which customers have inevitably resorted to the parallel market to fund. It is this pressure that has pushed the rate at that market beyond N520 per dollar, as at last Friday, August 27.

Prof. Uzoka was spot on in his recommendation on the alignment of fiscal, monetary and foreign exchange policies. The risk with not doing this is that sometimes, an adjustment in one area could undo the gains or even stability of the other. For instance, monetary policy may dictate increasing interest rates to deal with speculative attack on the Naira while the same action would discourage borrowing leading to reduction in productivity, reduction in GDP and increase in unemployment.

This is the challenge of economic policies, managing the interplay of the ‘unholy trinity’, namely free movement of capital, an independent monetary policy, and a fixed or managed exchange rate policy.

On the issue of the penchant of Nigerians to patronise foreign goods, foreign education and medical tourism, I believe that these require further debate. While it is agreed that moral suasion is one of the instruments available to monetary authorities (central banks), I believe that being rational economic beings, desired results can be achieved if backed by sound economic policies. I have always held the view that once the forces of demand and supply are distorted through government action or inaction, rational reactions cannot be guaranteed.

If exchange rates are subsidised one way or the other, it becomes cheaper to consume imported products and may actually lead to the unintended consequence of discouraging local production, since the market is driven by competition and profit.

Therefore, the question to ask is whether the local

currency is appropriately priced. On education, I am of the view that greater attention needs to be paid on the quality and quantity of education in our country. The educational standards in Nigeria have dropped quite badly and continue to drop on a daily basis. Recently, videos were circulated on the social media on the state of the facilities in some of our premier universities. Those videos were such a sorry sight, but not much action seems to back up the outrage that followed the viral circulation. The curricular and the quality of the teachers cannot meet up to what we expect in the 21st Century global environment. Most of our graduates are unable to compete in the emerging scenario of globalisation, robotics, artificial intelligence and 3D printing. In the light of all these, it will be difficult to sustain the argument of discouraging Nigerians who can afford it, from sending their children for education abroad. I believe the same argument goes for medical tourism. There are very few hospitals that can boast of state of the art medical and diagnostic equipment in the country today. Yes, our medical personnel remain well sought after and that is why England and very recently Saudi Arabia have been engaging in massive recruitment drive from Nigeria. It is also difficult to ask someone who is poorly (or even hardly), paid not to jump at the opportunity for greener pastures. Patriotism comes after the stomach is full.

Just like Mr. Odunze, Prof. Uzoka believes that the supply of forex can be enhanced by remittances from Nigerians in the diaspora. While this is not debatable, we must also understand that many of our people may not fit into the jobs that are available abroad. Those who fit into the profile have either left or are in the process of leaving. These are the highly trained professionals and skilled workers who still have age on their side. The kind of skills and temperament Filipinos have is difficult to find in many of our people. I know some of us would feel upset and might want to debate this and they are welcome. Instead of exporting poorly skilled and trained people, can we not properly train them and productively engage them for the growth of our economy. It is agreed that our level of economic activity and therefore productivity is very low. Over 33% of our labour force are not contributing anything to our GDP. Over 60% are contributing less than their potential. I implore that we be deliberate for a change and sit down and say we want to get everybody doing something that will add to our productivity. That is where the political will comes into play. For starters, we can decide that no matter what it takes that we want to double our electricity generation capacity in one year and double that in another year. This is not rocket science! This singular action would make hitherto unprofitable economic activities become viable once again. The admonition about importation of refined petroleum products could not have been better put. Just like in the power sector, the neglect of this sector is not excusable.

While it is laudable to refine our petroleum products locally as it will cut the logistics cost of exporting crude and reimporting the refined version of the same product and create employment, it must be noted that this will not necessarily improve the supply of foreign currency. This is because the share of the crude that would be refined locally would not be available to be sold offshore.

Having said all these, this column still believes that less attention should be placed on the foreign exchange market. We should see forex as a product just like any other product. Forex should be sold and bought by the central bank and other participants just like any other product where demand and supply determine price. With more productivity and production, foreign exchange earnings would naturally improve and foreign exchange demand to fund imports would reduce. This interplay would determine price at the equilibrium level.

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