MONDAY 24TH APRIL 2023

Decade of Gas: NCDMB Advocates Annual Reporting of Implementation Status

NMDPRA finalising on domestic gas prices, tariffs in support of initiative

As Nigeria progresses with the implementation of the Decade of Gas

Programme of the federal government, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote,

FG: Amid Global Dynamics,

has advocated for all parties involved in the project's execution to provide annual status reports of the successes, issues, support required, and target

Economic, Trade

completion dates of the plan. Similarly, as part of the steps towards the realisation of the Decade of Gas plan, the Nigerian Midstream and

Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has said it was finalising on domestic gas prices and tariffs in consultation Continued on page 5

with key stakeholders in line with the Petroleum Industry PIA (PIA) and

Alliances Crucial for Nigeria’s Prosperity...Page 8

EID: OBI CELEBRATES WITH MUSLIMS IN ONITSHA…

As exclusively reported by THISDAY yesterday, the Secretary of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. James Faleke has confirmed that the president-elect, Bola Tinubu,

Obi Meets Muslims, Says Nigeria is One, Only Divided By Politics

Declares he’s never discriminated against anyone on religion basis Bwala queries exclusion of Igbo from Tinubu’s inauguration c’ttee Says it signposts marginalisation, lack of vision APC dissolves presidential campaign council

Chuks Okocha, Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja and David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) and former Anambra State governor, Mr Peter Obi, has stated that despite tribal and religious difference and diversity, there is a deeper unity that Nigerians share

in the country. Obi regretted that politics was the only thing dividing the people.

The LP presidential candidate made the assertions yesterday in Onitsha at a meeting with the Muslim community in Anambra State during the Eid-el-Fitri break. He said he had

Continued on page 5

EID LUNCH WITH SHETTIMA…

Vice President-Elect, Senator Kashim Shettima (right) and Governor Babagana Zulum, during a Sallah lunch organised by Zulum in honour of the VP-elect in Maiduguri…Friday

FG Pledges to Evacuate Nigerians Back Home from Sudan in Next Two Days...Page 12

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

Peter Uzoho

Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, (4th from left) atCentral Mosque, Onitsha celebrating the

AuGF Report: SERAP Urges Buhari to Probe Missing 149m Barrels of Crude Oil in 2019

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a presidential panel of enquiry to probe allegations of over 149 million barrels of crude oil that got missing, as documented in the 2019 audited reports by the Auditor General of the Federation and Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

SERAP also urged the president to ensure the effective prosecution of anyone suspected to be responsible for the plundering of the country’s oil wealth and the full recovery of any proceeds of crime.

According to the 2019 audited report by the Auditor General, over 107 million barrels of crude oil were lifted as domestic crude without any document or tracing.

NEITI had also reported missing 42.25 million barrels of crude oil in 2019.

In the letter dated April 22, 2023, that signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation stated there was legitimate public interest in ensuring justice and accountability for these very serious allegations.

SERAP noted that recommended steps could be taken between now

and the end of the president’s term of office in order to set the tone for the next administration.

The letter read in part: “SERAP notes that you have repeatedly promised to combat corruption. As you go into the final weeks of your term of office, the missing crude

oil allegations present yet another opportunity to demonstrate your commitment and to uphold your oath of office both as President and Minister of Petroleum Resources.

“As the President and substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources, you and your

government should prioritise getting to the bottom of these allegations and use the remainder of your term of office to ensure justice and accountability for these serious crimes against the Nigerian people.

“Investigating the allegations

and naming and shaming and prosecuting those suspected to be responsible for the missing crude oil would serve the public interest and end the impunity of perpetrators.

“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are

OBI MEETS MUSLIMS, SAYS NIGERIA IS ONE, ONLY DIVIDED BY POLITICS

never discriminated against anyone on the basis of religion, and would never do so.

Obi’s statement came as the camp of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, raised concerns over alleged non-inclusion of the Igbo in the 13-man list recently submitted by the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, as members of his inauguration committee. A spokesperson of the PDP presidential campaign, Daniel Bwala, who commented on his Tweeter handle, wrote, "May I kindly ask, is there a single Igbo man in Tinubu’s 13 man Inauguration committee? Hmmm okay."

Bwala added that Tinubu should have demonstrated the vision of a unifier in his first appointments, as such mattered a lot.

In a related development, the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)

dissolved its Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) following the conclusion of the 2023 general election.

Obi spoke at the Central Mosque, Onitsha, Anambra State, where he visited Muslims in the city to felicitate with them on the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. He regretted that some politicians in the country, who wanted to sow seeds of discord, just to win election, played divisive politics.

He told the Muslim community, “I'm here today to celebrate with you on this year's occasion. Nigeria is one country. I'm one Nigerian, who believes in Nigeria, and also that we are one, irrespective of tribe and religion. I have never discriminated against anyone on the basis of religion, and I will never do that.

"The only thing that brings division among us is politics. Once it's time for election, some politicians engage in divisive campaign, but it should not be so. One of my businesses is

FALEKE CONFIRMS TINUBU’S RETURN TODAY, MOBILISES WELCOME

will arrive Nigeria today, after a one-month rest in France ahead of his inauguration on May 29, 2023.

Tinubu left the country for France on Tuesday, March 21 to rest and plan the transition programme ahead of his inauguration on May 29.

However, in a short statement yesterday, Faleke informed members of the PCC and the ruling party of Tinubu's arrival today.

Faleke stated: "It's official. My dear brothers and sisters of this unique family. I wish to inform and request of us all that anyone in Abuja and Nasarawa is invited to join in receiving our Peoples President and First Lady-elect tomorrow by 2pm at the Presidential wing of the International Airport.

Departure Time:2pm

"Departure Venue: The Campaign Office.

to boost investment in the gas sector.

The duo of Wabote and the Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, stated these during their presentations at the just concluded sixth Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES) held at the International Conference Center (ICC) Abuja, with the theme: "Global Perspectives for a Sustainable Energy Future."

The Decade of Gas agenda is an ambitious programme of the federal government launched in 2021 by President Muhammadu Buhari and the immediate-past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva to help Nigeria achieve industrialisation, economic prosperity and tackle energy poverty by using gas as an enabler.

The programme is to run from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2030, and being powered by the government in conjunction with a broad team of stakeholders from the Nigerian oil and gas industry and other linkage sectors.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), Dr. Phillip Mshelbila had expressed optimism that the Decade of Gas policy would enable the country to catch up with the developed and industrialised countries of the world if successfully implemented as planned.

But speaking on "Building Local Content and Capacity for the Realization of Nigeria’s Decade of Gas", Wabote suggested that the status reports would be prepared by agencies, entities and stakeholders that are responsible for the various projects and initiatives identified in the 10-year gas programme and presented at the NIES every year.

Accreditation time: 12pm. Buses will be provided.

Only Accredited persons will be allowed at the Airport for security reasons."

THISDAY yesterday exclusively reported that the president-elect was expected to return today.

Tinubu’s Media Office had in a statement in March, explained that he travelled to France to rest and plan his transition programme after a very exhaustive campaign and election season.

The president-elect had left the country through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.

According to the statement, the president-elect decided to take a break after the hectic campaign and election season to rest in Paris and London, preparatory to going to Saudi Arabia for Umrah (Lesser

He challenged stakeholders not to get distracted or lose steam in the implementation of the programme even as a new administration was set to assume office on May 29, 2023.

While calling for the continuity of the Decade of Gas programme, he hinted that, “it is possible that the incoming government will give the programme a new name but we must not lose focus on the importance of gas to our energy needs and economic development.”

The executive secretary also highlighted eight focus areas the board was utilising to drive the realisation of the Decade of Gas initiative of the federal government.

These, according to him, include Human Capacity Development, Construction of Industrial Parks, Public-Private Partnerships and Nigerian Content Intervention Funds, Research and Development, Regulatory Framework, Regional Collaboration, and Enabling Business Environment.

Dwelling on the capacity building programmes required to enhance the training and re-training of capable workforce for the industry, Wabote explained that NCDMB had “delivered close to 14 million manhours of training for acquisition of various skill sets required to explore, develop, operate, and maintain hydrocarbon facilities.”

He listed some of the Board’s Human Capacity Development tools and programmes to include the Expatriate Quota Management System, STEM Education, Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), Institutional Strengthening, ICT Centers, and Training Certifications.

He stated that the Board’s capacity-

run by a northerner from Kano, and the business is doing well.

"You all are my brothers, and I am your brother. Today is not for politics but for celebration. I came after election because if I came during politics, people would have said it is because I am running to be president.”

Obi, a Catholic, recounted his relationship with the Muslims in the state when he was governor.

He stated, "No one has supported the Muslim community in Anambra like myself. This mosque was demolished at some point, but when I became governor I rebuilt it the way it is today.

“We see you as part of us, and I want to assure you that no one can stop you from living here and carrying out your businesses.

"I live here in Onitsha, and if there is any need to contact me, always do so. If you need me in the area of healthcare and education, feel free to

call on me, because those are areas I'm very passionate about."

Earlier, Chief Imam of Onitsha Central Mosque, Alhaji Abdulraman Imam, praised Obi, saying he is the only governor in the state, who has visited members of the Muslim community at every celebration to felicitate with them.

Imam said, "This mosque was rebuilt by you when it was demolished years back. You visited us in Army barracks, when we had problem then. All the years you were governor, you always visited us during celebrations like this, so you are not new to us.

"For the eight years you were governor, you sponsored a lot of our members to Mecca. You did all these, even though you are a Christian. That is why we say we are with you, even as a Christian."

taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”

that witnessed great social media attacks.

According to the PDP campaign spokesman, "Tinubu should have shown a sense of a unifier in his first appointments, as such issues matter a lot. This is his first problem and must show that he is a true Nigerian."

He also referred to the appointment of members of Tinubu's legal team, stating that the president-elect’s legal team was from one section of the country. The same, he said, was the case with the Labour Party's presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Bwala said it was only Atiku that appointed his legal team from the six geopolitical zones.

Hajj) and the Ramadan Fasting.

The statement also added that while away, the president-elect would also use the opportunity to plan his transition programme.

"He has directed all the senior aides and campaign staff to also go and observe a short rest. He is expected back in the country soon. We enjoin the media to stop publishing rumours and unsubstantiated claims and to always seek clarifications from our office,” his media office reportedly said.

One of the burning issues that Tinubu would be confronted with on his return to the country is the zoning of National Assembly leadership which has polarised the two chambers of the parliament along regional and religious lines. With the South-west and North-east already occupying the

building programmes were impactful and acknowledged internationally, adding that the survey carried out by African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) to assess the standards in training institutions on the African continent rated Nigeria as one of the top countries with credible institutions for training the required manpower for the oil and gas industry. Giving updates on the construction of oil and gas industrial parks, Wabote said the board has commenced issuance of allocation letters to credible investors in readiness for the commencement of operations within the NOGAPS Industrial Parks located in Bayelsa and Cross River states.

He informed that, “the NCDMB Gas Hub at Polaku is fully dedicated to domiciliation of gas related enterprises such as Pressure Reduction and Metering Station, CNG mother stations, LPG cylinder manufacturing plant, Gas processing facilities, power plant, and other similar facilities.”

Commenting on the theme of the summit, Wabote said the challenges of energy transition “has brought to the fore the need for every nation to leverage its own comparative cost advantage by developing the energy resources that it has in relative abundance

“Most countries including Nigeria have a mix of these resources, and they must apply local content investments to realise sustainable energy future.”

He described local content development as a philosophy that seeks to encourage the utilization of local resources such as humans, goods, services, oil, gas, wind, hydro, or solar while at the same time promoting in-

positions for the president and vice president-elect, the North-west, is seeking compensation in the new dispensation for delivering the highest votes to Tinubu.

However, the emergence of a Senate President from the Northwest would create a Muslim Senate President, which would be unacceptable to the South-east and the South-south, given the fact that both the president-elect and the vice president-elect are Muslims.

The position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is also in contention. Tinubu is expected to rally the leaders of his party and the members-elect of the two chambers of the National Assembly to resolve these issues by zoning the positions of the principal officers of the parliament to balance regional and religious interests.

country domiciliation of value-adding activities.

He further remarked that narratives around energy transition have shifted significantly from energy swap to energy mix and that this was because of the factual recognition that all forms of energy were important rather than demonising one form of energy against the other, simply because some nations have depleted their reserves of certain energy sources.

He also noted that the European Union had re-classified gas and nuclear energy as Green-energy in 2022, while “coal production and consumption are on the resurgence as discussions are now about how to make it cleaner rather than referring to coal as ‘dirty fuel’.”

In his presentation at the summit, Ahmed said NMDPRA was finalising on domestic gas prices and tariffs in consultation with key stakeholders in line with the Petroleum Industry PIA (PIA) and to boost investment in the gas sector, noting that this was part of the steps towards the realisation of the Decade of Gas plan Represented at the event by the Executive Director, Distribution System, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA, Mr. Ogbugo Ukoha, Ahmed said the use of natural gas as Nigeria's transition fuel was one of the 21st Century's strategic programmes of the federal government of Nigeria that was being implemented through the 2021 to 2035 Strategic Framework known as Decade of Gas. He explained that the policy was tailored towards accelerated

Secretary of the Hausa community in Onitsha, Mahmud Imam, declared the community’s continued support for Obi and his presidential ambition. He said Obi’s capacity to lead was not in doubt.

The Hausa community spokesperson stated, “We know what you are capable of, you did it here while you were governor. We (Hausa community) are the highest registered voters in Odoakpu ward 4 here, and we voted for you, and we have no regret about that.

"We saw you during campaigns, visiting interior parts of the north, places that presidential candidates that are of northern extraction feared to go to. We are happy that you represented very well, and you vindicated us, through the messages we always sent back to our people that you were the best for the position."

Bwala Queries Exclusion of Igbo from Tinubu’s Inauguration Committee

A spokesman of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, raised apprehensions about alleged exclusion of the Igbo from the 13-man presidential inauguration committee list recently submitted by the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

A member of the PDP presidential campaign, Daniel Bwala, who raised the concern on his Tweeter handle, wrote, "May I kindly ask, is there a single Igbo man in Tinubu’s 13-man Inauguration committee? Hmmm okay."

Bwala said Tinubu had relegated the Igbo and shown lack of unifying vision in his first appointments.

Tinubu had recently forwarded a 13-member list to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and chairman of the Presidential Transition Council, Mr Boss Mustapha. Although, the list was sent on the request of the council, to be integrated into the sub-committee of the inauguration committee of the council.

However, speaking to THISDAY to further shed light on his concerns, Bwala said the action of the president-elect raised serious concerns about the fate of the Igbo in the coming government.

Bwala alleged, “There is no name of a single Igbo man or woman in the 13-man committee. Ordinarily, the Igbo is expected to have at least two members, bearing in mind that we have six geopolitical zones. But here is a 13-man committee, without a single Igbo name."

Bwala said he hoped that the neglect was not a carryover of the bitter election struggle between the Igbo and the Yoruba during the presidential and Lagos State elections

Insisting that the president-elect ought to have shown leadership with his first appointments, Bwala said Tinubu was constitutionally bound to appoint ministers from all the 36 states, but since the taste of the pudding is in the eating, "There is the likelihood that the next senate president might come from the South-south."

APC Dissolves Presidential Campaign Council

Following the conclusion of the 2023 general election, All Progressives Congress (APC) dissolved its Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).

The PCC was inaugurated in September 2022 with the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, as Director General, and James Faleke as Secretary.

The dissolution of the PCC was contained in a statement jointly signed by Lalong and Faleke.

The PCC expressed its appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for his support and leadership throughout the campaign, saying the party could not have achieved its current level of success without his single-mindedness, commitment, and forthrightness.

The council also thanked party members, leaders and supporters for working assiduously for the victory of the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

The statement said, “Since the campaign council began in September 2022, we have witnessed an unprecedented, relentless, and engaging mobilisation of our members nationwide and in the diaspora towards securing the majority popular votes for the Tinubu/Shettima presidential ticket.

"The journey has been a worthy one with our hard-won victory. The credit goes to all our members, particularly, the leaders and members of the various campaign directorates.

“However, we have concluded that it is in the best interest of the campaign and its stakeholders for us to dissolve our council with immediate effect. This has become necessary to re-tune us towards the May 29, 2023 inauguration of the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

"The process of transitioning into a new era of a Renewed Hope is underway and all our energies and activities must reflect the principles underlying this process.

“We hope that you will all continue to stay involved in Nigeria’s political process and to advocate for issues that you believe in. Our democracy is stronger, when we all participate in the political process with patriotism. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again for your support, dedication, and hard work."

CELEBRATING EID-AL-FITR THE OKOYAS WAY…

Nigeria Tops as Africa Records over $6.5bn Venture Capital Investment, Sees Marginal Dip

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Nigeria still remained top in 2022, as venture capital investments in Africa dipped slightly to $6.5 billion, but avoided the sharp drop seen in most other global regions, data released by an industry group has shown.

The investments, spread over 853 deals, representing a one per cent decline from 2021 - a record year in Africa - according to the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), which promotes private investment on the continent. The figure compared to a 32 per cent contraction in global venture capital.

"When evaluated against any year other than the stratospheric 2021, industry activity in Africa's venture capital ecosystem was very strong," AVCA wrote in a report accompanying the data.

Venture capital investments hit a record in the first half of 2022 and would go on to make up two-thirds of deals by value for the year, offsetting an anaemic second half, a Reuters report said.

While African start-ups still attracted just a small fraction of the $445 billion invested globally, the continent has seen steady growth, propelled largely by investments in financial sector companies.

The sector accounted for 31 per cent of deal volume and 42 per cent of deal value in 2022, the data showed.

Overall, the median deal size across all investment stages was $2 million, though 15 large deals in companies attracted a combined $2.2 billion.

Sun King, a provider of off-grid solar energy products in Africa and Asia, raised $260 million in a series D funding round. Africa-focused fintech

firm, Flutterwave raised $250 million. And d.light, a Kenya-based off-grid solar company, brought in $238 million in venture debt.

West Africa remained the most active region for venture capital investments, propelled by Nigerian start-ups, the report stated.

“Overall, 2022 was undoubtedly a

challenging year for VC investment globally, with total global venture capital climaxing at $445 billion for the year. Venture capitalists put $100 billion more to work last year than they did in 2020, despite tighter investor purse strings and an increasingly unfavourable funding climate in 2022,” the AVCA report

noted.

“While the global venture market experienced significant contractions in start-up funding to varying regional degrees, Africa’s venture ecosystem was relatively stable and only experienced a funding drop of less than $50 million compared to 2021,” the report added.

Comparatively, Latin America saw the biggest year-on-year decline in start-up funding to the tune of 59 per cent, followed by Asia which saw contractions of 35 per cent.

Consequently, the funding gap between Africa’s closest socioeconomic comparator, Latin America, saw a near-fivefold decrease from

$14.8 billion in 2021 to $3.1 billion in 2022.

“Although the volume and value of venture capital in Africa is relatively small compared to other regions such as North America and Asia, it has been growing steadily in recent years and shows potential for further growth in the future,” AVCA said.

African Petroleum Producers Give Conditions for Foreign Participation in Proposed Energy Bank

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The African Petroleum Producers' Organisation (APPO) led by Nigeria’s Omar Farouk, has listed the conditions for the participation of foreign interests outside the African continent in the proposed African Energy Bank (AEB).

Farouk, while speaking at the just-concluded Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja, explained that the drying investment in hydrocarbons posed a major challenge to the exploitation of fossil fuels on the continent, stressing that Africa has to take its destiny in its own hands.

With proven reserves of over 100 billion barrels and trillions of Standard Cubic Feet (SCF) of gas, Farouk maintained that the proposed bank which will help fund the production of the commodity, will be highly regulated from interests outside Africa.

Noting that Africa has always depended on foreign technology and expertise to produce the

resource, Farouk pointed out that any sovereign entity outside the continent that intends to take part, must have a shared vision of how the financial institution will work.

“Africa has not been able to develop a market for its resources as it is always relying on foreign markets. These challenges have been the focus of APPO in the last three years. We have come to the conclusion that the future of the African petroleum industry lies in the hands of Africans,” he stressed.

The APPO secretary general added that negotiations on the charter, establishment agreements and governance of the bank’s projects have already reached advanced stage.

“Very soon a decision will be taken on where to locate the headquarters of the bank and set a date for its takeoff. It is important that I mention that given African’s experience with other institutions, we are making sure that APPO member countries' interests are always protected.

“Shareholding shall be open to all African oil companies and their

national companies as well as other investors.

“Their banks shall work out participation of entities outside Africa. But no sovereign outside of the African continent or any investor outside of Africa shall be allowed to participate who has no shared vision of the bank,” he said.

Farouk’s comments came as the global push for energy transition from fossil fuels gather momentum and countries as well as activist investors mount pressure on financial institutions abroad to cease the funding for petroleum-related projects.

Highlighting the need for the continent to develop the market for its oil and gas resources to address the prevalent energy poverty, Farouk pointed out that the future of the African petroleum industry lies in the hands of Africans who must develop its own market.

According to the APPO chief, the global paradigm shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energies must send a signal to member

countries whose governments on crude oil on the current threats.

“On the challenge of markets, for our oil and gas, we believe that the coming into effect of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA), provides an excellent opportunity to work on developing cross-border and interregional energy infrastructure.

“We believe that with the level of energy poverty in Africa. We can use up all the energy we can produce and still need more. We are promoting the development of cross-border, regional infrastructure. We see this as critical to making energy accessible to our people.

“We want to banish the mind-set that our people are too poor to buy energy. So we have to look for those with the purchasing power to buy our energy.

“That mind-set entrenches the poverty cycle in Africa. We have to break that cycle by empowering the people to have access to energy with which their productivity will increase manifold, and with it, the

growth of the national economies, of our continent,” he said.

Revealing that the organisation would soon launch the AEB, he pointed out that already, the organisation was partnering the Afreximbank to establish the financial institution.

He further posited that there were indications that international oil companies would do away with the continent’s oil and gas as soon as they find alternatives to Africa’s resources “Those who have in the last 75 years or so provided the finance and technology in the market will dump us as soon as they can find alternatives. And they are working hard to find those alternatives.

“What is APPO doing about this? For the funding of oil and gas projects across the continent, we have gone into partnership with the Afreximbank to establish the African Energy Bank. Its primary objective is to finance oil and gas projects in the continents,” he added.

NNPC, Shell, NLNG, TotalEnergies, Others Bag Oil Industry Awards at Energy Summit

Kyari, Okunbor, Technoil MD win industry personality awards

Peter Uzoho

The just-concluded sixth Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES) held between April 15 and 20, 2023 with the theme: "Global Perspectives for a Sustainable Energy Future," has produced multiple award winning oil and gas companies and industry personalities.

At the summit's award dinner held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) won two awards including the Best Downstream Company of the Year, which was won by the NNPC Retail Limited as well as the Energy Innovation Company of the Year, won by the group. Also, the Group Chief Executive

Officer of NNPC Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, bagged the Oil and Gas Diplomacy of the Year 2022.

At the award ceremony, Shell emerged the highest winner with seven different awards including Upstream Company of the Year 2022 (SPDC); Best Offshore Oil and Gas Development Facilities Company (SPDC); and Best Exhibitor 2022 (SPDC).

Other awards won by Shell included Best Gender Support Company in the Energy Space (SPDC); African Oil and Gas Policy Advocate and Shaper of the Year, won by the Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Gas, Mr. Ed Ubong; and the Energy Personality of the Year bagged by the Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria/Managing

Director, SPDC, Mr. Osagie Okunbor.

Also at the event, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) won two awards including the Gas Infrastructure Project Company of the Year for its Train 7 Project; and the Local Content Company of the Year.

On the other hand, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited won the Best Fully Integrated Company of the Year for 2022.

First E&P Company Limited, one of Nigeria's excellent independent oil and gas producing firms, emerged winner of the Best Independent Petroleum Producer of the Year 2022.

More so, Schlumberger Nigeria Limited won the Oil Service Company of the Year for 2022, while the Group Managing Director

of Technoil Limited, Mrs Nkechi Obi won the Oil and Gas Industry Lifetime Achievement Award for 2022.

Commenting on the awards won by Shell, Okunbor said the awards confirmed the energy company’s leading position in Nigeria’s energy industry.

Described by the organisers as, "an inspiration to many and a champion of the oil and gas industry that has consistently demonstrated thought-leadership and the award is in recognition of these attributes," the elated Okunbor expressed gratitude to the industry and NIES organisers.

“I am immensely grateful for the recognition and honour. We are very pleased to win these excellence awards as they are recognition of

Shell’s deliberate strategy to power progress for Nigeria and Nigerians", Okunbor said.

He said Shell companies in Nigeria were further challenged to be relentless in making significant contributions to the industry and towards the socio- economic development of Nigeria.

Reacting to the awards won by the NLNG, the company's Managing Director, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, said the awards were testaments to NLNG’s unwavering commitment to building human capital and local capacity.

He said further that the awards affirmed the company’s belief in the immense potential of Nigerians.

“As we continue to drive growth and create opportunities for our

nation, we remain steadfast in our resolve to empower local players, nurture talent, and foster innovation. Only by investing in building capacity in the country can we truly build a brighter and more sustainable future.

“By the award of Gas Infrastructure Project of the Year 2022 for Train 7 project, we are once again reminded of our duty to not only push the boundaries of what is possible but to do so in a manner that safeguards our environment and uplifts our communities,” Mshelbila said.

He added that the recognition fueled the company’s determination to continue championing initiatives that contribute to Nigeria’s burgeoning economy and give Nigeria a competitive edge in the global energy landscape.

L-R: Alhaja Rasheedat Okoya; Chief Executive Officer Eleganza Industrial City Limited, Mrs. Folashade Okoya; Alhaja Kuburat Okoya; Chairman, Eleganza Group of Company, Chief Rasaq Akanni Okoya and Alhaji Tajudeen Okoya, during Eid- al- Fitr Festival party held at Oluwanishola Estate Ajah, Lagos ... recently MUBO PETERS

UNVEILING OF GOLF TOURNAMENT COLLABORATION…

FG: Amid Global Dynamics, Economic, Trade Alliances Crucial for Nigeria’s Prosperity

Says with AfCFTA, partnership with China will broaden economic integration, improve living conditions for Nigerians NEPC launches export trade house in world’s second largest economy

James Emejo in Abuja

The federal government has said with emerging global events and dynamism, economic and trade alliances have become strategic for Nigeria’s prosperity.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Niyi Adebayo, stated this at China (Changsha) –Nigeria Investment, Economic and Trade Promotion Conference, which was held over the weekend in Abuja.

The minister also said Nigeria remains open to collaboration with China, adding that with the endorsement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, the former was better positioned for broader economic integration and trade enhancement that would improve the lives of Nigerians.

He said Nigeria had continued to be China’s number one trading partner in Africa, stressing that the

volume of trade between both countries stood at over $12.03 billion in 2021, representing an increase of 7.1 per cent compared to the transactions in 2020.

Represented at the meeting by Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Evelyn Ngige, Adebayo said the maiden conference would provide another platform for the identification of areas for mutual cooperation and trust for economic growth and prosperity.

However, the meeting coincided with the launch of the Export Trade House (ETH) in Hunan Province, China by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) as part of efforts to increase the export of Made-in-Nigerian products in the Southeast Asian country.

The Executive Director/Chief Executive of NEPC, Dr. Ezra Yakusak, explained that the ETH was targeted at improving

sustainable trade inflows between Nigeria and China, increasing the share of Nigerian products in target markets as well as increasing foreign exchange inflows into the economy among others other benefits.

Nonetheless, Adebayo said the relationship between Nigeria and China has so far been cordial and mutually beneficial, pointing out that diplomatic relationship between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the People’s Republic of China, was established in 1971 while both countries have enjoyed mutually beneficial bilateral trade and economic cooperation in various sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, education, health, tourism, industry and services, construction, mining, and skill development.

He said the federal government remained committed to providing a sustainable platform for cooperation, which will help to collectively

Bilateral trade hits $12.03 billion in 2021

achieve its common goals for the mutual benefit of Nigeria and China.

The minister informed the gathering that as part of efforts to ensure ease of doing business in the country, President Muhammadu Buhari, recently signed the Business Facilitation Bill into law, to strengthen ease of doing business and remove bureaucratic constraints to doing business.

He said the conference would provide a platform to further strengthen Nigeria – China collaborations and investments, especially in sectors including agriculture and agro-allied industries, mining, and investments in gas development as well as the digital economy.

In his remarks at the conference, the Deputy Mayor of Changsha Municipal People’s Government and Chairman of Changsha Federation of Industry and Commerce introduces Hunan Province, China, Mr. Kang

Keyamo’s US Home: Atiku’s Aide Urges Senate to Publish

N52bn Special Works Report

Dares Keyamo to make asset declaration form public

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, yesterday called on the National Assembly to publish the report of its investigation into the N52 billion Special Works Programme implemented by the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo.

Shaibu said this in a statement while reacting to Keyamo’s admittance to the acquisition of a house in the United States allegedly at the cost of over $300,000.

In 2021, the federal government in a bid to ameliorate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, approved the sum for the hiring of 774,000 Nigerians across all the local government areas in the country for three months.

The 774,000 Nigerians were hired to take on menial jobs such as clearing of drainages, sweeping of markets, cutting grass and other community services.

Shaibu said that Keyamo specifically orchestrated the sacking

of the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Nasiru Argungu, insisting that he was in charge of the N52 billion project which the National Assembly noted was a flop.

He added that both the Senate and the House of Representatives had stated that many of the beneficiaries of the funds did not get anything, while others who got did not do any job.

“The National Assembly had described the special works programme as a sham and also questioned how the funds were spent. Keyamo had, in the last two years, defended the shambolic implementation of the programme.

“With his open confession that he has acquired houses in the US, I hereby call on the National Assembly to publish its report on the failed project. I also call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately probe the finances of Festus Keyamo, who only became a senior advocate two years before becoming a minister.

“It is public record that Keyamo was an activist and a prosecutor for the EFCC, doing mostly pro bono cases before taking public office.

However, he now boasts of being a real estate mogul after becoming a minister. This is laughable and an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians.

“In any case, Keyamo’s time as minister of state for labour and employment witnessed the highest level of unemployment, which KPMG says is about to hit 40 per cent.

“Under Keyamo, universities also witnessed prolonged strikes, as ASUU proceeded on 10 months strike in 2020 and eight months industrial action in 2021. Keyamo clearly failed as a minister but grew wealthier in the process through his so-called real estate business. He thus needs to be investigated with immediate effect,” Shaibu added.

Keyamo had said that by letters dated March 6, 2019, before he was appointed a minister, that he wrote to the relevant government agencies, informing them of the closure of his foreign accounts and the repatriation of his funds to the country since Nigerian law does not allow public officials to operate foreign bank accounts.

“My assets declaration is there for all to see. Some of us don’t need government funds or patronage

to get by. Whatever we do and whoever we support is out of our deep convictions,” he stated.

But Shaibu dared Keyamo to publish his asset declaration form as submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in 2019.

He said since Keyamo had boasted many times about being an EFCC prosecutor and an anticorruption champion, he ought to be bold enough to make his asset declaration forms public to prove that he was telling the truth.

“Keyamo has one month left of his tenure as minister, which means he will need to declare his assets before the CCB next month. Let him make public his asset declaration forms, before and after office, to prove to Nigerians that he did not steal.

“The truth about Keyamo is that... he pretends to be on the side of the masses but is only after his stomach. He started as a disciple of the great Gani Fawehinmi but has since strayed from Gani’s ideals by serving as spokesman for a man who was anathema to Gani and who Gani had accused of forgery and fraud - Bola Tinubu,” he

Zhenlin, expressed hope that the engagement would open a new starting point through which China could further deepen communication and friendship with the Nigerian government, entrepreneurs, and investors, and strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit and a win-win situation.

He said, “We sincerely invite all guests to meet on the banks of Xiang River in June to write a new chapter of China-Nigeria and China-Africa economic and trade cooperation and to create a new future of China-Nigeria and China-Africa cooperation together.”

Kang said Nigeria remains one of the top three trade partners of the Hunan Province with Africa, adding that the construction of the Hunan Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Nigeria was started in 2021. He said in 2022, the trade volume

between Hunan and Nigeria was $1.08 billion, an increase of 66.12 per cent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Ambassador to China, Baba Ahmad Jidda, said ETH remained a strategic tool that would address the challenge of dwindling revenue from oil given that the world is moving away from oil to renewable energy. He said, "The launch of the Nigerian ETH is indeed a great foundation on which to strengthen and sustain the bilateral relationship existing between both countries.”

With the opening of the China ETH, the NEPC has now launched and operationalised a total of four ETHS which are located in Cairo, Egypt, Lome in Togo, and Nairobi in Kenya.

According to Yakusak, China was third on the list of top 10 Nigerian export destinations with a total export valued at $375.185 million.

Group Urges NDDC to Move Planned PPP Summit to Niger Delta

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Community Development Committees of Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas (CDCNDOGPA) has prevailed on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to move its planned Public Private Partnership (PPP) summit slated for Lagos State to any of the Niger Delta states. The group stated that though the summit was necessary, fixing the hosting venue outside the Niger Delta region where the stakeholders would not feel and observe the challenges in the area, does not make economic and business sense.

CDCNDOGPA, in a statement issued yesterday and signed by its Executive Chairman, Board of Trustees, Joseph Ambakederimo, noted that the Niger Delta region would have been most appropriate place to host the summit noting that the money to be expended would have stayed in the area to stimulate the economy.

"The Niger Delta region would have been most appropriate place to host the summit. The money to be expended would have stayed in the region to stimulate the economy.

“Business owners in the region that would have made monetary gains would be denied such patronage if it holds in Lagos as scheduled.

"Hosting the summit outside of the Niger Delta region does not make any economic and business

sense altogether. While we have been agitating for many years calling for relocation of the headquarters of the international oil and gas companies the region with no success, hosting the summit in Lagos by NDDC will reinforce their non challant attitude towards our demands," he said.

The group therefore called for the cancelation of the summit by the commission adding, "it is our wish that the PPP summit been organised by the NDDC should be called off at this time. In as much as we applaud the initiative the timing and host city is wrong."

CDCNDOGPA also noted that organising the summit, at this time, was a misplaced priority, stressing that the summit ought not to have been conceived in the first instance.

"It is not well thought out. Therefore, the summit must be suspended until first things are done," he added.

The group maintained that what should be of concern to the leadership of the NDDC, at this time, was how best to redeem the image of the commission that have been battered over the years.

"The mention of NDDC leaves a repugnant taste in the mouth. Now the reality in the Niger Delta region, in the upland creeks, the inter land and even worldwide is a general feeling of apathy and indifference to the workings and vision of the NDDC.

stressed.

L-R: Professional Golf Development Tour Media Director, Sam Emehelu; eTranzact Group Head, Payments, Abimbola Reis; Managing Director/CEO, Niyi Toluwalope; Deputy Managing Director, Hakeem Adeniji-Adele;and Head, Operations, Gabriel Aghomi , at the media briefing to unveil golf tournament to promote business collaborations by eTranzact in Lagos… recently ETOP UKUTT

ENCOURAGING WOMEN IN BUSINESS…

L-R: Chairman Programmes Committee Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Tajudeen Ahmed; CEO Sterling One Foundation, Olapeju Ibekwe, and Deputy President NBCC, Ray Atelly, at NBCC's 2023 International Women's Day session held in Lagos... recently

NERC: Nigerians Entitled to Compensation for Wrongful Electricity Disconnection

Authorises Discos to cut off customers who refuse to grant access to meters

Emmanuel

Addeh in Abuja

Nigerians who are wrongfully disconnected by electricity

Distribution Companies (Discos) would henceforth be entitled to compensation through the issuance of energy credits, a new regulation signed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has indicated.

The new rule endorsed by the Chairman of the power sector regulator, Sanusi Garba, tagged: “Customer Protection Regulations,” further highlighted that the compensation will be calculated on the basis of the number of days that the premises is removed from the source of power.

According to NERC, the portion of the regulation will be implemented given that the customer has fully discharged his obligation by paying the Disco fully or has an arrangement to offset the debt in instalments.

In addition, NERC in the document signed on March 29,

exempted premises that have life support facilities from being disconnected, where the Disco is aware of the presence of the machines.

“A distribution company shall not disconnect a customer's supply of electricity for non-payment where the customer has paid the amount billed or where the customer has entered into a payment arrangement with the distribution company and payments are being made in accordance with that arrangement,” the NERC rule stated.

Besides, the regulator stated that a customer cannot be disconnected when he or she has filed a complaint on the unpaid bill in accordance with the commission's customer complaints procedure and the complaint remains unresolved.

It added: “A distribution company shall not disconnect electricity supply to any premises where, it is aware, that a life support machine is in use.

“Customers that have life support machines installed at

Fidelity Bank Launches Nationwide Food Bank Initiative

As part of its initiatives to reduce poverty and alleviate hunger in the society, Fidelity Bank Plc, recently launched a corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme tagged the Fidelity Food Bank.

According to a statement yesterday, through the initiative, the bank would partner with carefully selected charity organisations across Nigeria to provide food items to members of the society monthly.

At an event held to officially launch the project at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Victoria Island, Lagos, MD/ CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, was quoted to have said, “According to the Global Hunger Index, an estimated 2.4 billion people, which represents more than 30 per cent of the world’s population, faced severe food insecurity in 2022. In Nigeria, data published by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2022, stated that over 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor and the major issue is hunger.

“We recognise that one of the ways we can continue to touch lives and give back to the communities we serve is by the introduction of The Fidelity Food Bank initiative.”

The launch ceremony had in attendance clergy from the church, led by the Parish Priest, Reverend Father Julius Olaitan, as well as Executives and staff of Fidelity Bank Plc and climaxed with the official handover of the food packs to the church who is one of the bank’s partners in the food bank initiative.

“It is often said that if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with people. This is the philosophy behind our partnership with Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church and other Fidelity Food Bank Partners across the country.

“Our partners will assist in the distribution of food items to people across their various locations,” Onyeali-Ikpe explained.

The Fidelity Food Bank project comes under the bank’s Health and Social Welfare CSR pillar. Other pillars in the CSR strategy are Education, Environment and Youth Empowerment.

Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged customer commercial bank operating in Nigeria with over 7.5 million customers serviced across its 250 business offices and digital banking channels.

the premises shall enter into an acceptable arrangement with the distribution company for the settlement of their bills and the distribution company may seek to recover any debt due from these customers by other legal means.

“Customers that are disconnected in contravention of these regulations shall be compensated by the distribution company. Customers shall be compensated with energy credits, that are equivalent to their average daily consumption computed on the basis of their consumption or bills for the last three months, for each day the wrongful disconnection lasts,” it stressed.

A Disco, it said, shall reconnect electricity supply to a customer's premises within the period stipulated in the regulations where a customer disconnected for non-payment of electricity bill pays all its charges as approved

by the commission. While listing the conditions under which a distribution company may disconnect a customer's electricity supply without notice, NERC said that one of them is a situation where the customer is connected to the Disco’s network in an unauthorised manner.

In addition, NERC mentioned a situation where the customer's connection is considered to be dangerous to the integrity of the network and/or affects the quality of supply to other customers or where the Disco is not granted access to read a meter that is located within the customer's premises. Customers who request for supply of electricity, may also be declined, according to NERC, where the customer refuses to provide an acceptable means of identification and/or refuses to pay the security deposit requested by the Disco.

Whenever a customer requests a Disco to disconnect electricity supply to his premises, NERC added that it shall disconnect the supply after confirming that the customer's request will not impact on other customers in the premises that require continued supply.

“The Disco shall ensure that it is able to monitor consumption to the premises of the customer, that has requested a disconnection that was not effected due to the impact on other customers in the premises, to assess the customer's consumption.

“A Disco shall not bill a customer for any period after the date on which electricity supply should have been disconnected in accordance with section 23(1)” NERC stressed.

In calculating the amount of the payment under an arrangement which includes advance payment for future bills, NERC said that a Disco shall not under any

circumstances inflate the value of the payments above the amount the customer would ordinarily be expected to pay.

Also, where it is established that a Disco has not complied with the commission's approved methodology for billing unmetered customers, the industry regulator said the Disco shall refund the excess charges to the customer at the next billing cycle.

“A customer dissatisfied with the outcome of the handling of his complaint(s) by the CCU of the distribution company may refer his complaint(s) to the Commission's Forum Office (CCO) at the expiration of the maximum allowable period of 30 days.

“Where the distribution company and the customer are unable to agree on a resolution to a complaint either party may refer the complaint to the commission’s forum office” it stated.

Oando Harps on Accelerating Energy Transition in Nigeria, Africa

Advises national oil companies to proritise attracting investments into the petroleum sector

Peter Uzoho

Oando Energy Resources has stressed the need for Nigeria and other African countries to redouble their efforts towards achieving the continent's energy transition task in order to avoid being left behind by the rest of the world.

The Nigerian independent energy major also advised national oil companies (NOCs) in Africa, such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), to focus their attentions more on attracting investments into the oil and gas industry so that they could be able to extract the huge hydrocarbon resources the continent is blessed with.

The duo of Oando Energy Resources' Chief Operating Officer and the Senior Economist, Dr. Ainojie Alex Irune and Ms. Ololade Olubi, respectively, stated these at their separate panel sessions at the just concluded sixth Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES), held at the International Conference Center (ICC), Abuja.

Speaking during the CEO

Roundtable, with the topic: "Building Energy for Tomorrow", Irune urged African countries to "act fast and act now."

Africa's energy transition has been projected to cost an estimated $100 billion annually between 2020 and 2040, presenting a huge task for the governments and industry players across the continent to achieve.

Sharing his thoughts on creating a sustainable energy future, Irune said, “For the first time in the history of the world, we are going to see energy growth and demand outstrip average economic growth across the world, in a time where the energy mix is still being contended; contended because the primarily developed world has a view of what this mix should be, and Africa has a different perspective.

"Against the backdrop of our youth population, poverty index and intra-African collaboration, we need to get impatient about delivering value and development to our people. The molecule of oil in our ground must be excavated with urgency; I’m talking about oil; we must create the balance sheet that

will fund the transition."

Noting that the Petroleum Industry PIA (PIA) had come to make that journey a little less tortuous and that whilst the PIA was not perfect, it was a starting point, he added that it was also understood that the PIA could quickly become obsolete because of the pace of change.

Also touching on gas as a transition fuel, Irune said the stakeholders had recognised gas as a transition fuel.

With Nigeria being the leader in the discourse because of its status as a gas province with a little bit of oil, and by investing in developing gas, Irune said that would be, "the lever for developing our industry, kickstarting our economy and taking us into the age where we can genuinely compete with the rest of the world."

In another panel session, Olubi stressed the need for national oil companies (NOCs) in Africa, such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to focus their attentions more on attracting investments into the oil and gas industry so that they could be able to extract the huge hydrocarbon

resources the continent is blessed with.

She said the NOCs should also focus on strengthening their operational business models, adding that NOCs have to play a huge role in ensuring that business models were optimal.

"And when I mean optimal, it's really speaking to cost optimisation and ensuring returns for shareholders across the value chain, and ensuring that you're doing this in a sustainable manner.

"So when we speak to attracting investments -how do they go about funding these projects and how do they go about attracting investments, would it be in form of equity or in form of debt? Or in form of partnerships? I do think we have to have the right mix. Attracting capital is not going to be as easy as before as companies transition to cleaner fuels," she said.

Olubi pointed out that the oil industry was going to rely a lot on the African focus development banks and companies that were still into investing in the traditional fossil fuel space.

LAUNCH OF THE GUIDELINES FOR ALTERNATIVE CARE OF CHILDREN…

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Edo State Ministry of Social Development and Gender Issues, Mrs. Barbara Osobajo; Permanent Secretary, Directorate of Cabinet, Mr.

Asemota; Commissioner for Security and Public Safety, Omololu Ojehomon; representative of the Edo State First Lady, Mrs. Maria Edeko, and representative of the Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development and Deputy Director, Child Development in the Ministry, Musa Aliu, during the official launch of the Guidelines for Alternative Care of Children, at the Government House, in Benin City.

Immigration Faces Succession Crisis as Officers to Take over from Jere Due for Retirement

Chinedu Eze

Crisis may be brewing at the headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Abuja with the retirement of the acting Comptroller General, Isa Idris Jere, as those to succeed him are also due for retirement in the next few weeks, THISDAY learnt yesterday Jere was last Wednesday, directed by the Governing Board of NIS to proceed on retirement which took effect from April 24, 2023.

In a memo, the board cited the expiration of the one-year extension of service granted by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), directing the CGI to hand over to the most senior Deputy Comptroller General.

Spokesman of NIS, Tony Akuneme did not response to the

calls and WhatsApp messages sent to him by THISDAY to throw more light on these issues.

However, the NIS list of officers and men due for retirement in 2023 made available to THISDAY, revealed that the three Deputy Controllers of Immigration (DCGs) who may succeed Jere are also due for retirement between April and May this year, which is less than six weeks from now.

The first is Mr. Haliru Abdul Mumini Ishaka, who is due to retire on May 6, 2023, while his second in rank, Mrs. Adepoju Carol Wura-ola, would be proceeding for retirement on May 31, 2023. In the same vein, the third in rank among the Deputy Controllers of Immigration, Mr. Muhammed Aminu Muhammed would be due for retirement on April 20, 2023.

There are eight Assistant Controllers General (ACGs) who are also due for retirement or have retired this year and these include: Mr. Asogwa Dominic Obeta, 28 June, 2023; Mrs. Esekhaigbe Angela Obehiaghe, May 10, 2023; Mrs. Inok Elizabeth Inyang, who was due for retirement on March 1, 2023; Mr. Osisanya Olakunle Gabriel, who was due on January 4, 2023; Mrs. Ejiogu Evangeline Chinyere who was due on January 27, 2023; Mrs. Hassan Sadat who would be due on December 12, 2023; Mr. Aliyu Ismaila Abba, who was due January 13, 2023 and Mr. Abdullahi Usman Musa who was due on March 30, 2023.

NIS officials that spoke to THISDAY on conditions of anonymity, requested that the federal government should appoint an officer

Food Business Owners Cry Out over FX Scarcity, Over Regulation

Oluchi Chibuzor

Food entrepreneurs in the country are lamenting the crunching effects of scarce foreign exchange and the intimidating regulatory activities of government agencies on their business.

According to them, these challenges are crippling their businesses. They, however call for more monitoring along the food business value chains by allowing consistent policy.

Speaking at a maiden business food summit with the theme, ‘Building a Sustainable Food Business: Opportunities and Key Drivers', the convener, Mr. Razak Oke said until all stakeholders in the industry understands issues affecting the sector, it would not bloom.

He stated that at Fooddotcomacademy, they want to substantially reduce the number of Small and Medium Business Enterprises in the food sector that fail and are not sustainable beyond five years in Nigeria.

According to him, “In recent times, experts have argued in favour of well-rounded discussion on building sustainable food business as a panacea to reducing poverty and equipping our restive youths and change the focus of our fresh graduates from social vices.

“At this 2023 edition of the Business of Food Summit, experts and professionals will dissect opportunities and key drivers to sustaining any food business of our choice while also proffering solutions to SMEs failure like stressing the importance of having a simplified business plan which is essential to the success of any business."

Giving her opening remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, COMSIA Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Olusola Adesokan, said the event provided experts the opportunity to share their experiences on better ways to build a sustainable food business while highlighting the various challenges along the route and how to surmount it to achieve a greater success.

According to her, it was instructive to note that “our gathering here today is to find an appropriate response to all the myriads of challenges confronting us as food entrepreneurs and potential investors and to proffer reasonable solutions to them."

She added, “Permit me to highlight some of the problems those SMEs in Food Business in Nigeria are confronted with daily; lack of clear succession plan; fluctuation of Forex, perceived intimidation by regulatory authorities; Insecurity and Political Instability, Bad and

Inconsistent government Policy, multiple taxation and lack of Market Information and Data."

He stressed that regulatory compliance was key to food business survival and sustainability across all categories of business levels within the food industry.

Making her presentation the Director, The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in Nigeria(NAFDAC) Lagos State Office, Dr. Monica Eimunjeze, advised, “that any intending food business owner must understand complying with regulatory framework remains key to attaining profitability.”

“We as an agency always strive to ensure checks and balances across the food value chains so that necessary compliance frameworks are met by the industry in line with global industry."

But for the Assistant Director, Scientific Investigation, Research and Development(SIRD), Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency, Mr. Lucas Raheem, the state would not tolerate unwholesome distribution of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in unlabelled repacked forms.

“We have warned and will continue to discourage those who circumvent regulation to sell unwholesome FMCG in the state. We will not tolerate it."

that has about two years or more to stay in service in order to avert a crisis in the agency.

They emphasised that there could be internal strife, scheming and scrambling by officers if anyone that would succeed Jere has few weeks to be in service.

They also noted that such scrambling could have adverse effect on the job of those involved and the overall delivery of the Nigeria Immigration Service.

They also called on the federal government to appoint an officer who would sanitise the agency, disclosing that in the last few years a lot of corrupt practices have been taking place in the agency.

“There is serious lacunae in the NIS because the officers that will replace the retired CGI are due for retirement in the next few weeks and this may give rise to crisis so we want to have a clean sweep.

“Give us an officer that has two years or more to spend in service. We also want somebody that will sanitise and reposition the Service now because corruption has eroded our system and we need somebody that will return the agency to its glorious days,” a senior official told THISDAY.

THISDAY also learnt that corrupt practices which were reported some months ago are still prevalent, as it was alleged that Passport Control Officers (PCOs) pay heavily to be allowed to head passport offices and when they are appointed “they brazenly rip off applicants who are made to pay extra for their passports.”

To obtain a new passport, an applicant is expected to go online at the Nigerian Immigration Service portal and apply, make payment, select the particular passport office and date, but THISDAY learnt that after the application, some applicants could be asked to come for capture within average of three months.

This is because of the high demand of passports by Nigerians, many of whom are leaving the country in the well-known japa syndrome.

THISDAY’s investigations revealed that many applicants who wished to acquire new passports or renew existing ones find it extremely difficult to wait for that period so, they meet canvassers who run business centres around passport offices and who also represent senior Immigration officials

These canvassers act as go-

between for Immigration officials and collect money on their behalf and issue passports to these applicants within few days.

THISDAY also learnt that NIS has been striving to reduce the period its takes through the normal process to obtain passport but the demand for passport is increasing every day.

A business man who came to collect passport for his wife and children at the Passport Officer, Festac, Mr. Hillary Eze, told THISDAY that they applied for the passports in November last year but just collected theirs on Friday.

“It took time but we followed due process and it took us almost five months. But we have collected them.

We are relieved,” he told THISDAY.

Besides the alleged corruption, some senior officials of NIS accused the retired CGI of not distributing over 200 vehicles he announced was delivered to the agency for distribution to senior officials.

“When he was newly appointed, Jere told us during his welcoming ceremony that over 200 vehicles have been acquired by Immigration for distribution to senior officials of the Service. Where are they now? He has retired and the vehicles have not been distributed to anyone,” he said.

Edo Guber 2024: Esan Okpa Initiative Moves to Lobby North, South Senatorial Zones

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

Ahead of next year’s governorship election in Edo State, the Esan Assembly last weekend reached a resolution to lobby the other two senatorial district of Edo North and Edo South to get them concede the governorship contest to persons of Esan extraction.

In view of this, the Esan Okpa Initiative (EOI), the umbrella sociocultural organisation, has set up a 24-man Mobilisation and Contact Committee to carry out the task.

According to information released by EOI’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Tony Iyare, the committee which is headed by the pioneer Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Mr. Mathew Egbadon, is composed of former Edo State Governor, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor; frontline business man, Chief Leemon Ikpea; former President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr. Peter Esele; a retired Army General, Cecil

Esekhaigbe; former President, Association of Esan Professionals (AEP), Mr. Efe Akhigbe; former Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Post Primary Education, Dr. Roseline Etiti Okosun; and Iyare, former Special Adviser, Media & Publicity to ex-Governor Adams Oshiomhole, among others.

Apart from engaging prominent leaders of the two zones, the committee is also to have sessions with leaders of the political parties particularly the major ones: All Progressives Congress (APC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) as well as traditional rulers, women and youth organisations.

In the strong move to put forward their best hands for the forthcoming governorship contest of Edo State, the Esan ethnic nationality, located in the Central Senatorial Zone, has also listed criteria that aspirants from the zone must meet to enjoy

overwhelming support.

This they argued was to ensure that only viable and capable aspirants who would equally elicit support of the Northern and Southern Senatorial Zones of the state, would be endorsed to angle for the number one seat of the state as Governor Godwin Obaseki’s eight-year term winds down in November 2024.

Rising from a meeting of the Esan Assembly under the auspices of the EOI and attended by some Esan groups in the country and the Diaspora, it endorsed the criteria presented by a six-man sub-committee headed by a Constitutional Law Scholar, Prof Mike Ikhariale, which makes the possession of a bachelors degree, as opposed to the constitutional provision of a secondary school certificate, as the minimum for persons of Esan extraction contesting for any political offices.

Osagie

SANWO-OLU TOURS SITE OF COLLAPSED BUILDING IN BANANA ISLAND…

L-R: Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development,

and his Special Adviser on Works and

FG Pledges to Evacuate Nigerians Back Home from Sudan in Next Two Days

Preparations in advance stage to receive them in Egypt, says Onyeama Air Peace expresses willingness to offer service free of charge

Michael Olugbode in Abuja and Chinedu Eze in Lagos

The federal government has assured that Nigerians trapped in crisisridden Sudan would be evacuated between the next two days.

This was just as the Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, yesterday, expressed willingness to evacuate Nigerians who are stranded in Sudan, saying Nigerian students and others stranded in the nation have urgent need for help.

The federal government also

disclosed that talks were in advance stage with the Sudanese government to allow a safe passage from the country.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Godfrey Onyeama gave the assurance during an interview on Channels TV, yesterday.

Onyeama, who said stranded Nigerians may be transported from Sudan by road into Egypt, revealed that already Nigerian Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, was making arrangements to receive them.

The Minister said at the moment airlifting the stranded citizens from Sudan had been ruled out because of the large contingent of 5,500, insisting that some of the countries who have started airlifting their citizens have far smaller citizens as low as 100.

Onyeama, who argued that no one saw the crisis degenerating to the present level said: “No country evacuated from Sudan before two days ago,” insisting that there is crisis in some African countries as well and that does not mean citizens should be immediately evacuated

from them.

He argued that should Nigeria resort to airlifting a paltry 100 people from the large contingent, it would be seen as favouring some citizens over others.

He noted that what was delaying the evacuation was the need to receive the assurance of the Sudanese government so as not to put the lives of the Nigerians at risk during their transportation from the country into Egypt.

He said: “We need the assurance of the Sudanese government to

FG: Why ASUU, Others Are Yet to Get New Pay Rise

NECA to commence action on private sector component

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The federal government has explained the reasons why members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other categories of public sector workers were yet to receive the approved 40 per cent pay rise by the government.

Also, in a bid to ensure that the cushioning impact of the new pay rise cuts across all sectors of the workforce in the country, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said it had written to the Nigerian Employers Consultative Assembly (NECA) on the need to encourage its members to take similar steps to grant pay rise to workers in the private sector.

Federal government had said that the new pay rise known as special, peculiar allowance was meant to ameliorate the economic hardship being borne by workers.

However, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige said ASUU members were not part of those being paid because of the ongoing litigation at the court.

Ngige, who clarified issues to THISDAY yesterday, said it was right to say that government excluded ASUU or the university workers from the new pay rise.

On whether ASUU and other categories of university workers were going to benefit from the new pay rise, Ngige said all of them would be included.

However, the minister gave reason why ASUU members may not be paid at the moment, saying that their matter was still in court for adjudication.

He said nothing would be done until the court case was resolved.

"ASUU is court and hearing on the case has been fixed for May 2nd and 4th. So when the court finishes

with the matter in dispute then a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will be set in motion to approve their own pay rise," he said.

Ngige also explained that federal government has adopted a gradual process in the execution of the pay rise, adding that every public sector employee will receive the special allowance package as approved for their establishment.

He also said his ministry had written to NECA to help galvanise actions towards implementing similar pay increase for workers in the informal sector.

When asked to confirm if payment of the 40 per cent pay increase has commenced Ngige said: "Yes, government has started paying 40 per cent pay rise to civil service workers.

“We have started the implementation of 40 per cent peculiar allowance to workers on

CONScale in Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

"It is special allowance meant to cushion the effects of the current economic difficulties and we are doing it gradually to get to everybody".

Ngige also said payment of similar special allowance to doctors, nurses and all other workers in the health sector would soon commence.

The minister had earlier March disclosed that the federal government had approved a pay raise for all categories of civil servants in the country.

He also said that the pay rise had been included in the 2023 budget and that it would take effect from January 1, 2023.

Ngige further disclosed that the payment would take effect from January 1, 2023, and will be applicable to all workers from level 1 to 17.

Adamawa Guber Poll: INEC

Writes Police, Seeks REC’s Probe

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The police high command, weekend, said it received a letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) calling for the investigation of the fleeing Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari.

The REC, had in a brazen move, announced the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, also known as Binani, as the winner of the recently concluded

Adamawa governorship election while collation of results was still in progress.

A statement by Force Headquarters said the police was in receipt of the letter seeking the probe of the fugitive REC. INEC had last week declared that Yunusa-Ari was at large.

The statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer and Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the IG expressed determination of the police to expedite action on the probe.

"The Nigeria Police Force is in receipt of a letter dated 18th April 2023 from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), detailing the alleged impropriety of the actions of one Barr. Hudu Yunusa-Ari, the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), during the recently concluded supplementary elections and calling on the police to investigate and possibly prosecute the REC for his actions.

"The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has directed

an investigative team to work in collaboration with INEC to expedite action on the contents of the letter," it said.

The statement said the IG, while expressing the commitment of the NPF to uphold democratic values, assured Nigerians and the international community that the police would leave no stone unturned in unraveling the remote causes of the unwholesome conduct of the REC as well as ensure that all persons fingered in the course of investigations were brought to book.

take them out to the border of our choice. If they are attacked on the road without assurance from the Sudanese government, we would be blamed.”

He ruled out any military operation in Sudan to get the stranded Nigerians out, stating that, “we would cross that bridge when we get there.”

He insisted that no one taught the crisis was going to degenerate to its present level as it was merely seen previously as a misunderstanding between the Sudanese President and his Vice President.

He argued that the Nigerian government was yet to see any reason that could lead to Nigerians being targeted by the fractions.

He also assured Nigerians of their safety in any country they may be residing, stating that the Nigerian government has a robust plan to protect its citizens in whatever country they are residing.

He said: “We engage with their host nations to see they are protected.”

Meanwhile, Chairman and CEO of Air Peace, has expressed

willingness to evacuate Nigerians who are stranded in Sudan.

The Air Peace chairman said if the Nigerians could be moved to a neigbouring country the airline would fly there and evacuate them, as Sudan’s airspace is presently closed from civil aviation flights.

Onyema said he was compelled to help because Nigeria cannot afford to lose her citizens in that country, adding that it would be his own commitment to make sure that stranded Nigerians in the war-torn country are safe.

He said everything must not be left for government alone, especially as the situation calls for urgency and immediate action.

“Again, Air Peace is willing to evacuate Nigerians stranded in Sudan free of charge if government can get them to a safe and secure airport in any of the neighbouring countries bordering Sudan. Everything must not be left for government and government alone. It will be a privilege and honour of tremendous pride that we will be out there to give every Nigerian stranded in Sudan a sense of pride and oneness in their country.

AbdulRazaq, Saraki

Laud Ilorin Emir at 83

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin.

Kwara State Governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has lauded the state chairman of Council of Chiefs and Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari for successfully etching his name in gold with his commitment to the welfare of his people, development of the state, and his statesmanly handling of public issues.

Also, former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, joined all wellmeaning indigenes of Ilorin both at home and Abroad to congratulate the Emir.

In a statement issued in Ilorin, over the weekend, the governor said the reign of the monarch also continued to witness peace since assumption the throne of his forefathers.

The congratulatory statement which was signed by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye stated: "I join the people of Kwara State, especially sons and daughters of Ilorin Emirate, to congratulate the Mai Martaba on this occasion as well as thank the Almighty Allah for His unqualified grace to the Emir and Ilorin under

his watch.

"During his reign, Ilorin has gone through different phases of positive socioeconomic and political developments that have earned it respect and qualified it as a centre of excellence, peace, and harmony.

"I pray Allah, the Lord of the worlds, to look after the Emir of Ilorin and his household, and grant him good health as he continues to serve the people and our community with everything that he has got."

On his part, Saraki’s Press Officer on Local Matters, Mr. Abdulganiyu Abdulqadir, Saraki, felicitated the royal father and prayed to God Almighty to bless him with good health, continued grace, and happiness in all his endeavours.

He said: "Today, my family and I join the entire Ilorin Emirate and the people of Kwara State to honour and celebrate the remarkable life of our royal father, HRH, the Emir of Ilorin, Alh. (Dr.) Ibrahim Sulu Gambari on his special day.

"May we all continue to be inspired by his commitment to leadership and service to his people, and may Almighty Allah (SWT) continue to bless him with great health and happiness."

Engr Tayo Bamgbose-Martins; Special Adviser to the Governor on E-GIS and Planning Matters, Dr. Olajide Babatunde; Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu

Infrastructure, Engr (Mrs) Aramide Adeyoye during the Governor's visit to the site of collapsed building in Banana Island on Saturday

Can Labour Upstage APC in Imo Gubernatorial Race?

Amby Uneze examines the political undercurrents in Imo state as primaries of the parties to elect their governorship candidates gather momentum ahead of the November 11, 2023 gubernatorial poll in the state.

It is no longer news that the 2023 general elections for the presidential, governorship, national assembly and States house of assembly ended with the supplementary election held last weekend. The rest of the battle has been shifted to the judiciary for possible adjudication of grey issues.

However, about three states where the governorship election was not held on March 18, 2023 would have their own gubernatorial poll on November 11, 2023. The states are Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo.

In Imo State, the contention seems to be more serious considering the level of political awareness among the citizens. Again, the state appears to be the cynosure of all eyes in the country because indications are rife that it would follow the trend of the neighbouring State, Abia, in going the way of the Labour Party.

Quite frankly, if going by the way Imo people voted for the Labour party during the presidential and national assembly elections, it would be a work over for the party in the November, 2023 governorship poll.

But going by the events of March 18, State house of assembly election where the State government was accused of conniving with INEC officials and the security agents, to deny the electorate their choice of electing their preferred candidates, extra vigilance has to be placed on the State by the monitoring authorities.

Gladly, the three political parties, All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) have just concluded their respective governorship primaries.

While the APC and PDP returned the incumbent governor Hope Uzodimma and Senator Samuel Anyanwu (Samdaddy) unopposed, the Labour Party had to slug it out with over 15 aspirants.

Uzodimma did not have anybody to contend with in his party, not because he is exceptionally wonderful in governance but because his style of politics has made it impossible for him to tolerate opposition.

In PDP, the choice of Samuel Anyanwu was somehow accidental in the sense that his closest rival, Hon Emeka Ihedioha, decided to bow out from the race. Prior to Ihedioha’s exit from the governorship race, he remained the nightmare for both Uzodimma and Anyanwu.

The Labour Party has been a formidable platform to wrestle power from the incumbent governor. Unfortunately, the party is currently experiencing some form of internal crises in the State. With too many aspirants, the party has been engulfed with divisions which had snowballed into court actions by different interests.

Curiously, the governorship primaries

held last Saturday, April 15, witnessed pararel camps each holding her own primary. On one hand, the camp supervised by the Caretaker committee led FBI Onyekwulisi returned Sir Basil Maduka as the governorship candidate while another camp led by Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie returned Senator Athan Achonu as her own candidate.

According to FBI Onyekwulisi’s counsel, Greg Anyanwu, the National Working Committee of the party on March 6, 2023 dissolved the former State Working Committee (SWC) led by Ambrose Onyekwere having completed her required tenure and appointed another SWC led by Onyekwulisi for initial three months in the first instance with the mandate to conduct the Imo State LP Governorship Primary election, to elect a Governorship Candidate for the November 11th 2023 Governorship poll Anyanwu said, “among the mandate given to the Onyekwulisi’s committee were: to carry out the revalidation of members of LP; to conduct the Adhoc Delegates election to elect the Delegates for the Governorship Primary Election; to conduct the Imo State LP Governorship Primary election; to elect a Governorship Candidate for the November 11, 2023 Governorship Election; and to organise and conduct Ward, LGA and State Congresses to elect Party Officers from Ward to State.

“On March 7, 2023 the newly inaugurated State Working

Committee arrived Imo State and went straight to the State Party Secretariat to take over and on March 8, the Ambrose Onyekwere-led State Working Committee that was dissolved handed over the properties of Labour Party in their possession to the FBI Onyekwulisi-led State Working Committee.

“Surprisingly, on March 10, 2023, two persons who are not members of the dissolved executive of LP filed a suit in an Owerri High Court, followed same with an ex-parte application seeking for a restraining Order, but in a twist and contrary to their permutations the Court in its wisdom ordered for the maintenance of ‘status quo’.

“It is pertinent to go a little bit further, without sounding immodest, there are two known types of ‘Status quo’ in the legal parlance first, ‘Status quo ante bellum’ which means the state of things before the outbreak of the hostility that gave rise to litigation, and second ‘Status quo” which means the state of things before embarking on the litigation,” he stated.

Anyanwu went further to state that in the instant case “even a layman knows that the state of things before the Suit was filed in Court is that the FBI Onyekwulisi-led State Working Committee of Labour Party appointed on March 6, 2023 and inaugurated same day, took over on March 7, 2023 and was handed over on March 8, 2023, that is the ‘,Status quo’ before the litigation started on the March 10, 2023.

Therefore the State Working Committee in Imo State is known to Law which every reasonable person will be safely protected before the Law, is the current State Working Committee led by Comrade F.B.I Onyekwulisi. Any act or omission done by it is lawful, legitimate and a good act or omission.

“This goes to the Primary election of

In Imo State, the contention seems to be more serious considering the level of political awareness among the citizens. Again, the state appears to be the cynosure of all eyes in the country because indications are rife that it would follow the trend of the neighbouring State, Abia, in going the way of the Labour Party.

Quite frankly, if going by the way Imo people voted for the Labour party during the presidential and national assembly elections, it would be a work over for the party in the November, 2023 governorship poll

March 15, 2023 to elect Labour Party Governorship Candidate, one conducted by the State Working Committee in exercise of the powers and assignments given to its members and clearly spelt out which powers and assignments they were sent to execute were not withdrawn wherein Basil Maduka emerged as winner scoring 198 votes and the one conducted by a Steering Committee led by Awuzie produced Senator Attan Achonu emerging after scoring 135 votes, which of the two Candidates can be said to be legal in the present circumstance?”

Governor Hope Uzodimma, who last Friday polled 63, 618 votes from 64,667 accredited delegates drawn from 305 Electoral Wards and 27 Local Government Areas in Imo State to sweep the All Progressives Congress direct primaries held in Owerri that produced him as the Party’s candidate for the November 11, 2023 governorship election, dedicated his victory to God Almighty for making the day possible and for touching the hearts of APC leaders and its members to unanimously choose him as their Governorship candidate for second tenure.

He thanked the delegates from the 305 wards in the State and the 27 LGAs and all Party members who came out to vote and for following the laid down regulations.

Governor Uzodimma who was excited over the victory and trust by his party promised not to betray the confidence reposed in him.

He expressed gratitude to the party members and reminded all to see Imo State as their own, noting that “we have no other State we can call our own.”

He told his party faithful that “democracy is the best form of government and we cherish democracy because it is the only Government that is for the people that we can call our own.”

Uzodimma recalled how he prayed to God before coming to contest and emerging as Governor of Imo State, saying “from that date till now, God has never disappointed me.”

He expressed confidence in what God can do, noting that “on assumption of office I met some challenges but God in his infinite mercy handled the challenges in his own way.”

Recall that in 2015, the trio of Hope Uzodimma (Imo West), Samuel Anyanwu (Imo East) and Athan Achonu (Imo North) were elected to represent the State in the Senate, but Achonu could not serve his tenure to the end as court removed him.

In the present circumstances, Imo State Labour Party is likely to settle their matter in court.

Until then, the coast is clear for Uzodimma and Anyanwu, that is the APC and PDP.

Uzodinma

Anyanwu Achonu

Horrific Tale of Southern Kaduna Crises

Sunday Ehigiator chronicles the age-long killings in Southern Kaduna which have claimed thousands of lives, defiling every reasonable effort targeted at ending the needless bloodshed

The crisis in Southern Kaduna has been summarided as an ethnoreligious crisis due to the different turn of events and shapes the crises have taken over the years.

The people are not just being killed, but are raped, physically and psychologically tortured, abducted, massacred, executed, mobbed, rendered homeless, and neglected by the government whom they voted in to protect and give them a sense of belonging, security and safety.

To get a better understanding of the origin of the crises would mean first understanding the demographics of the Kaduna State itself.

Kaduna Demographics

The city of Kaduna, the capital of Kaduna State, is one of the largest in northern Nigeria and is viewed by some as the symbolic capital of the north.

While the north of Nigeria is predominantly Muslim, Kaduna has a significant population of Christians, from around 30 ethnic groups based mostly in the southern part of the state, sometimes referred to as the South Kaduna minority tribes.

According to some estimates, close to half the population of Kaduna may be made up of Christians. The majority of the population in the northern part of Kaduna State are Muslims from the Hausa/Fulani ethnic groups. Kaduna differs from other northern states in that although some areas are dominated by particular ethnic groups, these different groups have also lived side by side in the same areas for many years, especially in Kaduna town.

Kaduna has a different mix of populations from other northern states, as its capital is one of the more developed cities in the north and has become host to people from many ethnic groups from different parts of the country, including Christians from other states.

Background of Crises lose

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international non-governmental organisation that conducts research and advocacy on human rights, over several decades, Kaduna, like other states of Nigeria, has experienced outbreaks of violence and fighting between different groups.

Most often, this has pitted Muslims against Christians, although the fundamental causes can be traced to political and economic rival-

ries, rather than religious differences. In recent years, however, religion has come to the fore as one of the aspects with which people have identified most readily and which

has enabled leaders to stir up violence whenever it suited their purposes.

Since 2000, in particular, the religious dimension to the tensions in Kaduna emerged more explicitly, as conflicts began to centre

around the extension of Sharia to criminal law, one of the most divisive issues in Nigeria in recent times.

Three of the most serious outbreaks of violence in Kaduna State occurred in 1987, 1992 and 2000.

In 1987, a dispute erupted between students from different ethnic and religious groups in Kafanchan, and the violence spread to several other towns and areas.

In February and May 1992, in what became known as the Zangon-Kataf crisis, there were clashes in Zangon-Kataf between the Hausa and the Kataf (a predominantly Christian ethnic group), initially sparked off by a dispute over the relocation of a market. Killings of Hausa by Kataf were followed by reprisal killings of Christians by Muslims, including in several other parts of Kaduna State.

Rise of Violence

The three notable incidents quoted above only indicated the rise of violence in Kaduna as they brought to the fore several factors which have consistently fueled the violence in the state to date.

These factors included ethnic differences, religious bigotry and farmers and herders striving for land dominance.

In February and May 2000, in some of the most serious inter-communal violence that Nigeria has seen, at least 2,000 people, and possibly many more, were killed in fighting between Christians and Muslims in Kaduna.

Some commentators have described the 2000 Kaduna riots as the single worst outbreak of violence in Nigeria since the 1967 to 1970 civil war.

The Sharia Factor

In the year 2000, fighting began following the debate around the proposed introduction of Sharia in Kaduna State.

Sharia had existed in northern Nigeria for many years, but until 1999, it had only been applied to personal and domestic law. From 1999 onwards, in a move which was popular among many Muslims but highly controversial in the broader Nigerian federation, several northern state governors began extending its application to criminal law and other areas that had not been previously regulated.

Zamfara state was the first state to do so;

Attacks by gunmen on rural communities of southern Kaduna are increasingly becoming frequent and are always deadly. Nigerian authorities have failed to either end the violence or bring the perpetrators to justice

Burial Procession of the victims of onenof the numerous attacks in Southern Kaduna

Photo credit: Google

Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai

Horrific Tale of Southern Kaduna Crises

others soon followed, and by 2001, most of Nigeria’s 12 northern states had adopted some form of Sharia in criminal law.

Although designed to apply only to Muslims living in these states (non-Muslim criminal suspects are not tried by Sharia courts), its application has been strongly opposed by Christians, who find themselves directly or indirectly affected by it in different ways; for example in some states, the sale and consumption of alcohol are prohibited, and women are prohibited from travelling with men in public transport vehicles.

Aside from these practical effects of Sharia, many Christians have strongly opposed its application for reasons of politics and principle, arguing that its spread is a way of perpetuating the historical dominance of the Muslims in the north.

Given Kaduna’s large Christian population, the possibility of introducing Sharia in Kaduna State was always likely to attract more controversy, and more protest, than in other northern states.

Realities of Southern Kaduna

Being an area largely occupied by Christians and those considered to belong to the minority tribe in the state, residents of Southern Kaduna have had to contend with a lot of violent attacks that have spanned decades.

Communities in the predominantly Christian area of Southern Kaduna have continued to experience a different spate of kidnappings for ransom, violent attacks and needless killings on an almost daily basis.

According to Amnesty International, in 2020 gunmen killed at least 366 people in the villages of the southern part of Kaduna State in multiple attacks between January and July 2020.

“More than 100 people were killed in July 2020 during 11 coordinated attacks in Chikun, Kaura and Zangon-Kataf local govt. areas. At least 16 people were killed in Kukum-Daji on July 19, 2020, in an attack that lasted for five minutes, when attackers shot sporadically at villagers.

“Over 100 people have been killed in Southern Kaduna from December 2022 to date; the latest is Saturday night when gunmen invaded the Sankwab community of the Atyap Chiefdom of Zango-Kataf LGA.

“Attacks by gunmen on rural communities of southern Kaduna are increasingly becoming frequent and are always deadly. Nigerian authorities have failed to either end the violence or bring the perpetrators to justice.

“Between January and July 2020, gunmen killed at least 366 people in the villages of the southern part of Kaduna State in multiple attacks. Many families were burnt in their sleep. Children slaughtered.

“In December 2022, Gunmen killed 38 people in southern Kaduna, in March 2023, Gunmen killed 25 persons, and in April,

they killed 47 persons. Nigerian authorities must end the frequent deadly attacks on southern Kaduna.”

Latest Attack

At least 33 people were killed on the night of Saturday, April 15, 2023, and several others were injured after gunmen launched an attack on Runji village, Sankwab community of Zango Kataf Local Government area, Kaduna State.

According to the LGA Chairman, Francis Sani, over 40 houses were also burnt down by the attackers while seven persons sustained injuries and are presently receiving treatment at the hospital.

The attack occurred barely three days after eight people were killed at Atak Njei village of the same LGA.

It was gathered that the attackers stormed the community some few minutes to 10 pm on Saturday and started shooting sporadically, killing and razing houses while the occupants scampered to safety.

Sources from the area said local guards keeping vigil were able to engage the invaders but it took the swift intervention of military operatives to repel the attacks.

Victims get Mass Burial

Following the recent attack, the 33 victims of the attack were given a mass burial amidst tears by relatives and members of the community, who gathered to witness the funeral service.

The residents called on the security agencies and the government to urgently stop the lingering insecurity in the southern part of Kaduna before they are completely wiped out.

Complicity of Silence

A community leader of BirninGwari in Kaduna State, Zubair Abdurra’uf, said the killings in Southern Kaduna have persisted

because the government and other people who should talk and act on the issue have remained silent.

Abdurra’uf, who spoke on a National Television Station on Wednesday, said that the people of Southern Kaduna have lost faith in the security agencies, adding that they were always found wanting when terrorists attack them.

According to him, “There is the complicity of silence by both the government side and also some people. It’s just because it’s Southern Kaduna that this is happening. A lot of people who are supposed to talk on this issue are not talking.

“And why people are losing faith in the security agencies is because even when we call security agents to come to the rescue in a particular place, they will wait for orders either from Kaduna or Abuja or from whatever.

“Therefore, when you have this kind of situation, you have an attack by these terrorists and you are trying to see how best these people can come to the rescue and these people are not forthcoming and people are being killed every day. So, therefore people will react and say, 'We don’t want any people, let us defend ourselves when it’s necessary'.”

Impact of Crises

According to the Kaduna State government, in 2021, over 1,192 people lost their lives in the state to banditry and terrorism. At least, 406 of the deceased were killed in the restive southern part of the state.

Non-state actors killed 645 people between January and June 2022.

The state’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, in a statement disclosed that about one-third (234) of those killed were killed in Southern Kaduna.

“In the first six months of 2022, 645 people lost their lives in such circumstances across the State; 234 of these occurred in the Southern Kaduna area.

“Besides the loss of life and limb, there are the grim socio-economic effects of violence, eroding the viability of affected communities.

Food insecurity is a close reality in frontline areas where farmers are threatened and

attacked by bandits.

“The situation also presents a persistent threat to education; students and teachers have been attacked in several incidents over the last 18 months. Healthcare delivery has been affected, as health workers and facilities in frontline locations face the threat of marauding bandits.

“All of these portend the near-total collapse of the local economy in frontline areas, which is mainly sustained by crop and livestock farming. Residents have been dispossessed of their foremost means of sustenance. Vibrant weekly markets have been disrupted.”

Way Forward

The abiding narrative of the southern Kaduna crises constituting a communal conflict between farmers and herders occasioned by climate change and competition for resources, such as land and water, which is still favoured by many in the international community has not only been rendered obsolete by its evolution, which now includes the presence in the area of recognised terrorist factions; it has also prevented any meaningful international interventions or representations to the Nigerian state or federal governments to ensure assistance for communities that essentially remain defenceless.

The human costs of the insistence on this outdated narrative include the remorseless loss of lives and damaged psyches of targeted southern Kaduna communities.

Similarly, the muted response, both locally and internationally, to the death, destruction and displacement occurring in southern Kaduna is both lamentable and unacceptable.

Communities indigenous to the area are under constant and increasing threat, and the finances of the state and families are haemorrhaging due to repeated payments of exorbitant ransoms by families who have little or nothing to return to afterwards.

This is not to mention the humanitarian crises which the situation has caused with several people in the community currently displaced and lost their means of livelihood.

It is therefore time for the state government, the federal government and international communities to recognise the severity of the situation in the area and urgently come together to engage the community with the hope of finding a lasting solution to the crises and needless killings.

There would be a need for purposeful crises de-escalation engagement with the community members by the state government, while it also collaborates with the federal government to encourage resources and mandate security services, enabling them not only to tackle the perpetrators of these inhumane acts comprehensively but also to provide immediate and effective protection for communities whose plight has been neglected for far too long.

Images of Mass Burial of Victims in Southern Kaduna Crises

Map of Southern Kaduna

It is therefore time for the state government, the federal government and international communities to recognise the severity of the situation in the area and urgently come together to engage the community with the hope of finding a lasting solution to the crises and needless killings

SUDAN: NO TO EVACUATION OF AFRICANS

The Sudan debacle requires Nigeria’s intervention like it did in ECOWAS, argues VICTOR C. ARIOLE

REPOSITIONING NIGERIA’S ‘ENGINE ROOM’ FOR EFFECTIVE DELIVERY

See page 21

SEPLAT ENERGY

AND CORPORATE ISSUES

Arbitration and sound corporate governance will enable Seplat to remain competitive, argues CHIDO NWAKANMA

Across the world, countries have embarked on a quest to ensure that they are able to deliver public goods and services to their citizenry. This is at the core of the social contract that foregrounds the relationship between the state and society. Achieving this task is largely dependent on the public and civil service which remain the engine room of the public sector. In the case of Nigeria, since gaining independence in 1960, the public and civil service has continued to play pertinent roles in ensuring the functionality of the Nigerian state. Plagued with several challenges, such as corruption, redtapism, bureaucratic bottlenecks, underfunding, and unprofessionalism in some instances, to mention a few, the quality of the public and civil service has declined over the years.

Several attempts have since been made by previous administrations to reposition the public and civil service

the need for reforms, including the reorganisation of public institutions at the federal level, as evidenced through the recommendations of the Oronsaye report, shortly after Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, heralding the commencement of its Fourth Republic.

the critical drivers of these supposed reforms – Nigeria’s public and civil servants.

See page 21

EDITORIAL

The state’s structures and institutions which are required to deliver public goods, do not work outside the purview of individuals who collectively remain understanding is at the heart of the AIG Public Leaders Programme (PLP). An initiative run by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, in partnership with the Blavatnik School of Government (BSG), University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Founded by Aigboje and Ofovwe AigImoukhuede, the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, is a public sector-focused philanthropic organisation with the goal of improving the lives of Africans through transformed publicservice delivery and access to quality healthcare. The BSG which remains committed to leadership and public policy education is reputed as a global school with a vision of a world that is better led, better served, and better governed.

Now in its second year, the PLP brings together public and civil servants from across Nigeria to the Federal Capital

Territory (FCT) for two separate intensive residential weeks. Prior to this, participants undergo a competitive screening and selection process. Part of which includes having at least seven years of professional experience in the public or civil service and not exceeding 51 years of age. It is pertinent to also note that those selected are not limited to public and civil servants at the federal level but includes those at the state level as well. Successful applicants are then invited to participate in the programme itself which lasts for a total of six months, beginning with four days of online classes delivered by leading scholars from the BSG, with the support of Teaching Assistants (TAs). Following this, participants embark on a fourweek self-paced asynchronous learning journey through an online learning platform. During this time, the TAs are always available to answer questions in addition to monitoring the progress of from the expertise of practitioners who are invited to speak to them during the programme.

This is in addition to acquiring a range of vital leadership skills, conceptual frameworks, and practical tools. Put together, this knowledge and life-transforming experience empowers them to lead their organisations in challenging times, characterised by today’s increasingly complex and dynamic world. Some of the courses taught include organisational technology, integrity in public life, and decision-making under pressure. As of the time of writing, the call for applications for the third cohort of the PLP is ongoing.

A distinguishing feature of the PLP is the individual capstone projects embarked upon by the participants which draw on either

one or a combination of the courses taught during the learning sessions. Participants are given a four-month period to work on their projects during which they are expected to get the buy-in of their immediate supervisors or line managers and by extension the management of their organisations. It is expected that these projects which within their units or departments with the potential of scaling them up in the future. An example of one such which sought to address the challenges with the lag in the timely operations and delivery of services across the 33 branches of the National Library of Nigeria through the adoption of technologically driven processes. As a result, the purchase of 50 computers and multipurpose printers, scanners and copiers was made by the management and distributed to various relevant departments across these branches. The impact has since been an improvement in operations and delivery of services. Similarly, the creation of a Dossier Management System (DMS) by a participant in the second cohort has helped to improve the regularity processes of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

During the four-month period,

clarity and guidance where needed. At the second residential week in Abuja, participants in the PLP present among themselves in small groups and then select a project which is presented to a Panel of Judges drawn from the private and public sectors, on behalf of each group. They are also awarded graduation ceremony, formally marking Oxford.

As Nigeria prepares to usher in a new administration, following its recently concluded general elections, the public and civil would remain critical engine rooms in public service delivery. The promise of a functional public sector that guarantees shared prosperity for citizens is only made possible through a strengthened public and civil service. Given its remarkable success and impact in such a short time, the PLP is poised to play a central role in helping to achieve this.

The Public Leaders Programme is committed to strengthening the public service through public leadership, writes FOLAHANMI AINA

The Sudan debacle requires Nigeria’s intervention like it did in ECOWAS, argues

VICTOR C. ARIOLE

SUDAN: NO TO

EVACUATION OF AFRICANS

France, in colonial era, had understood what Sudan represented in the occupation of Africa as a struggle between the Arab and the West.

Hence to distance itself from unwholesome struggle, it tagged the sub-Saharan Africa, from Mauritania through Mali and Burkina Faso to Niger and Chad, Western Sudan. It consolidated in appropriating them while leaving the main Sudan that borders Egypt toward the Mackreck, not Maghreb, for the Arabs. Though British intervened.

ally or those who still believe that NATO strategically has a great plan that France has decided to subsume its interest in, so as to recover the wholesomeness of the Sudan for a freer Sudan – whether South, Western or Mainland Sudan - after exhaustion of Russian strength. It happened at independence when Sekou Touré of Guinea, Modibo Keita of Mali and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana followed that step.

The current Sudan debacle requires Nigeria to plan more for intervention like it did in ECOWAS with ECOMOG than calling for evacuation. As it is now, even the President of Chad is being alerted that they are aiming at getting to Chad with Wagner in CAR. In all sincerity, a war in any African soil is a war against all Africa just like Boko Haram and bandits have created more refugees and displaced people migrating to neighbouring countries like Niger, Chad, Cameroon and of Sudanese people in Nigeria than elsewhere and they would be easily accepted as refugees or incorporated as Nigerians like some Mandigo/Mandinka Liberians and Sierra Leoneans are now part of Nigerians. The same distance from Sokoto to Mali applies also from Borno to Sudan.

that as intelligence report reached him, with obviously his contingent that wanted to visit Mecca, to stop in Sudan and reverse the journey. (Read Green Toby, 2020)

The point I want to make here is that Arabs came to Africa before the West though their treatment of Africans was harsher than that of West, and it made some intelligent Africans, then, stop their journey towards Mecca in Sudan. The Bade, Bole and Duwai people in Nigeria including the ancestors of Nigeria’s current Senate President and his Machina contender of Senate seat, by history, know what such harsher treatment of the Arabs looked like which was recently enacted in Maghreb –Tunisia, as they started deporting Africans who are also of Western Sudan origin. That deportation and the current incursion of the Russian mercenaries–Wagner group to be precise - are all part of operational and tactical moves to derail failed France’s strategy of having a strong association with Africans for resources found in Africa, inclusive of the Region of the Great Lakes mishandled by France, Switzerland and Belgium.

France, like the Africans it had intended to protect from harsher treatment of greater sharks of this world became also a victim trying to latch on NATO for face-saving grace as from the Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy

against Jacques Chirac alternative search that made him the enemy of USA and Britain as the onslaught on Iraq took place. Today, Macron is lost in either obeying NATO’s command or EU stability or jettisoning African subSahara for Mediterranean consolidation with the Maghrebian Arabs. And this is where the Sudanese debacle of either leaving Sudan to the Arab-Russian new ally formation as it has done in Western Sudan (Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and of course, tangentially Niger Republic with its Tuareg–Arab Presidency as the majority Hausa group remain aloof). Sudan, whether ‘Western Sudan’ or mainland Sudan is certainly an African are divided interests in Africa struggling to align more with the new Russian–Arab

As long as Nigeria is not a member of BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, it should be in better position to mediate between a Russian-backed General and UN-backed Commander in Chief, as if Russia is already exempted from UN, General Abdel-Fattah al Burhan (C-in-C) and General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo alias Hemedti. Of course Omar al-Bashir is in the image of Abdel-Fattah al Burhan while Hemedti is like a shua Arab in the Nigerian context or even the Bade, Bole, Duwai Nigerians or like that there are also Nigerian Yemenites.

Like it is noted, “Sudan is in the middle Chad, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia and northward Egypt, and sideward to Indian Ocean/Red Sea, Eritrea leading to Yemen on the other side. Yemen is cited because people who look like Sudanese - brown or black - are also there being maltreated and could be sympathetic to the Hemedt-led insurgents.

It is an African problem that must be solved dimension. And it is a lesson to Nigeria to remain steadfast as par understanding that fractionalising Nigeria between north and to further encroach on African soil by the Janjaweeds. And as I have always advocated, collaborating with France or a larger NATO remains a better solution for sustainable peace in Africa than opting for Russia and China. Not necessarily that France and NATO are good allies, but essentially to adopt the posture of the “devil you know is furthermore, to approach it the Japanese way by acknowledging that the perpetrator of your downfall who had made immense wealth out of it, could be more sympathetic to your being reinstated to what insurers call the “state you never partook in the damage, done initially, and who could feel unconcerned; and could prefer being seen as a saviour for further damaging adventure.

Ariole

is a Professor of French and Francophone Studies, University of Lagos

Arbitration and sound corporate governance will enable Seplat to remain competitive, argues CHIDO

NWAKANMA

SEPLAT ENERGY AND CORPORATE ISSUES

Stakeholders in Corporate Nigeria and followers of its evolution must be apprehensive about the internal war at a leading player, Seplat Energy. The business community in Lagos and London has watched with bemusement and trepidation the unedifying statements and counterstatements emanating from the respected Seplat Energy since February 2023. Interested parties dragged internal corporate matters around management and corporate governance from the boardroom of the highly and social media. To what end, analysts ask?

Seplat’s crisis took an international human resource management dimension with the expulsion of its British chief executive Mr Roger Brown on the grounds of non-compliance with Nigerian immigration laws. A laundry list of allegations trailed Brown: alleged favouring expatriates. Backed by Nigerian authorities, the complainants succeeded in

scored a perfect 10. In fact, no controversies of any kind were found in any area and the company received the top mark of 10 on 28 of the 26 metrics assessed.

Why does Seplat Energy matter?

Seplat Energy is a home-grown Nigerian independent oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges. It took root in 2009, with headquarters in Lagos.

Its share price on 10 April 2023 was NSE 1150.00 NGN and LSE 104.00GBX. Seplat Energy trades on the Nigerian Stock Exchange under the ticker SEPLAT and on the London Stock Exchange under SEPL.

Seplat Energy focuses on onshore assets in the Niger Delta. Its portfolio of assets includes interests in seven blocks in the Niger Delta covering an area of approximately 2,100 square kilometres.

The company’s production is primarily from OMLs 4, 38, and 41. Seplat operates them with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Seplat Energy’s production is sold domestically in Nigeria and exported to international markets.

In addition to its oil and gas production activities, Seplat Energy is also involved in power generation through its ANOH Gas Processing Company (AGPC) subsidiary.

The AGPC is developing a gas processing and distribution infrastructure project in the Niger Delta region to supply gas to power plants and industrial customers in Nigeria. corporate success story in the critical oil and

removing Brown, for now.

Outsiders can discern two groups engaged in the struggle for the soul of Seplat Energy. Pioneer chairman and cofounder Dr ABC Orjiako leads one group, while current independent chairman Basil Omiyi leads the other.

Seplat’s Board backs the current chairman, Omiyi. In one of its statements, the company claimed that the opposing side comprised only

contrast, “the company has received messages of support for Mr. Brown from shareholders representing more than 50% of Seplat Energy’s deployed the Seplat Women’s Awesome to speak for Roger Brown, attesting that he promoted equality, inclusion, and diversity. dismay the misleading and distasteful public propaganda against our CEO, Roger Brown, owing to the blatantly false allegations contained in certain Petitions to the Ministry of Interior and the Federal High Court.

Curiously, we are unable to identify any of the individuals alleging these falsehoods as our fellow employees – past or present. It is therefore concerning that persons outside our employee population can purport to speak purposefully and publicly on our welfare. The unfortunate (but perhaps intended) consequence of these corporate champion and steadfast cheerleader while diverting the much-needed time and resources of our Ministry of Interior and Courts away from legitimate concerns requiring their

respected and independent ESG ratings agency, published a report on Seplat in January 2023. It found not one issue of the type made against Mr Brown and the Board. In fact, in the area of diversity and discrimination, the company

enough processed gas to generate 30% of company to earn the int ISO 55001:204

The company envisions that “the greatest opportunity ahead of us is to supply the right mix of energy for Nigeria’s young and rapidly growing population and drive Nigeria’s transition to cleaner, more

The Securities & Exchange Commission stepped in on 28 March with a statement to investors. SEC said: ““In line with its core investor protection mandate, the Commission has sought and obtained explanations from Seplat through its Board of Directors and the NGX, the primary exchange on which it is listed.

The Commission notes that the Board has remained united and that the reported of Seplat. However, the Commission dialogue with all stakeholders in dealing with the issues. The Commission will continue to work with the Board of Seplat measures to preserve the integrity and Dialogue. Dispute resolution. The SEC approach to the Seplat Energy imbroglio is the right path. Board disputes begin as tiny matters that could cause a major causes of Board challenges, including personality clashes, competing objectives, decision deadlocks, and inexperience.

Nwakanma is the columnist for The Public Sphere on Enugumetro.com, author of Media Relations Playbook, and Training Coordinator at Front Foot Media Initiative

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA

Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

EDITORIAL

THE END OF RAMADAN

May the lessons of the holy month of Ramadan endure

In his Eid-el-Fitr message to mark the end of the 30-day Ramadan fasting season last Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari enjoined Nigerians not to “forget the important lessons of the Ramadan which includes improving our bond with the underprivileged and poor members of society.” According to the president who has less than 40 during the fasting period had made it possible for us to appreciate the situation of those who go without eating every day.”

We agree with the president. Even though the month-long fasting has now come and gone, its lessons must endure. By paying attention to the plight of the poor as was amply demonstrated during Ramadan, we invariably place the welfare of our neighbour as important as ours. By allowing others to partake of our wealth or material possessions, we honour the One who

to be at the heart of all religions, but a virtue hardly imbibed by many in Nigeria today. and self-denial otherwise known as Ramadan was a period of self-emptying without which no spiritual being can have a truly rewarding relationship with his or her maker. And while the season lasted,

enabled those with means to empathise with the poor, the needy and the less privileged. For all Muslims, it was an opportunity to rededicate themselves to the teachings of the faith and the cause of mankind. Altogether, it was a period of man and his neighbor on one hand, as well as man and his God on another.

Meanwhile, the Ramadan period was marked

KAYODE KOMOLAFE

T H I S D AY 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 OGEDENGBE 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

Letters to the Editor

in Nigeria (as elsewhere in the world) by private and group prayers, and abstinence from all forms of worldly comforts and pleasures. The aim was to enhance spiritual growth and foster charity and brotherly love. Clearly, there has never been a greater need for sharing with the less privileged and the needy of our society than exists now when millions of Nigerians can hardly make ends meet. Since the Ramadan fast, like the other four pillars of Islam, was aimed at promoting both the spiritual and material wellbeing of man, it stands will of God than merely pleasing himself. When and greedy accumulation of wealth, man is more liable to make his society a better place to live in, not only for himself but also for his neighbour. That for us was one of the most enduring lessons of Ramadan which we hope many would have imbibed.

It is noteworthy that fasting as a spiritual exercise is advocated by all religions ostensibly with the notion that the man desires would be a better person both for himself and the larger society. As one expert puts it, besides abstention from food and drink, fasting helps the faithful “from looking at the provocative, from hearing the mischievous, and from uttering the obscene...to avoid slander and from thinking about

All said, the nation’s leaders, political and otherwise, have much to take from the lessons of Ramadan. If only they can curtail their materialistic tendencies and pay more attention to the yearnings of the people, the country will certainly become a much happier place to live in. We therefore urge our leaders to imbibe the lessons of Ramadan.

To adherents of Islam, Eid Mubarak. May Allah

Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-300 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 (750- 1000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive. com along with photograph, email address and phone numbers of the writer.

LETTERS

WHAT NEXT FOR AISHATU BINANI DAHIRU?

rial election had been subdued, the two big contenders - Aishatu Dahiru and Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri will have the opportunity to retrospect, and to strategize for their next steps. moment. Second, make a U-turn to a new path.

The fact is, the actions of the now-suspended Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Hudu Yunusa have ‘dented’ Binani’s public sympathy, especially outside Adamawa. The REC’s actions have put the APC on the edge. So, Binani her next moves may make or mar her political future. She has three options.

First, continue to insist that she is the Governor-Elect, as declared by REC, Hudu Yunusa Ari. In this case, Binani will approach the tribunal with a sole demand - the court to proclaim her Governor-Elect, based on Section 149 of the Electoral Act 2022, which states that: ‘Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, any defect or error arising from any actions taken by

pursuance of the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act, or any rules made thereunder remain valid, unless otherwise challenged and declared invalid by a competent court of law or tribunal.

The second option for Binani is to pursue her cause through the tribunal while completely ignoring Hudu’s bizarre actions. She can reinforce her case by hammering on the alleged irregularities in some local government areas, during the 18th March 2023 gubernatorial election. Places like Governor Ahmadu Umaru’s village - Madagali LGA, which claimed a whopping 42.2% voter turnout Binani’s third position is to retreat- congratulate Fintiri, discard the option of any litigation and move for the future.

These three options have implications for Binani, Adamawa politics, and the Nigerian polity. If Binani and her team decide

will be good for democracy, as the court will interpret the section, INEC will do whatever possible to save its face. The Tinu-

bu government may be interested as well, because it may want to distance itself from Hudu’s actions to show the international community and Nigerians that the election which brought Tinubu to power was fair and that the umpiring was not jungle-like. Binani taking this option means that many heads will roll, as Hudu may spill the beans. Binani may also continue to lose support because Hudu’s actions were a ‘third-rate’ action in politics, (elections are best won at the polling units). REC Hudu’s action has attracted many observers even outside Nigeria.

For the second option, Binani has good advantages over Fintiri, if she can assemble an excellent legal team, alongside experienced politicians, political experts, and intellectuals from idence to back up the claims of irregularities during the elections. Binani has a bright chance of winning the case based on technicalities, while Fintiri will face a lot of hurdles here. This option is very expensive and requires both political and individual commitment from Binani’s team.

Zayyad I. Muhammad, Abuja

By paying attention to the plight of the poor as was amply demonstrated during Ramadan, we invariably place the welfare of our neighbour as important as ours

RATES AS AT APRIL 20,2023

Ghana Default: Access, Zenith Bank, GTCO, 2 Others Provide N463.8bn as Impairment Charges

Report N44.77bn loss

Kayode Tokede

In response to the Government of Ghana’s sovereign bond default, five Tier-1 banks with subsidiaries in the West African country have made provision of about N463.8billion net impairment charges in 2022 financial year as against N236.05billion net impairment charges in 2021 financial year.

The Teir-1 banks are; Zenith Bank Plc, Access Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Holdings Plc (GTCO), United Bank for Africa Plc and Ecobank

Transnational Incorporated (ETI). THISDAY analysis of the banks’ 2022 financial reports showed that Access Holdings recorded N197.79 billion net impairment charge on financial assets in 2022 from N83.21billion in 2021, while Zenith Bank declared N123.25billion net impairment charge on financial assets and non-financial assets in 2022 as against N59.9billion reported in 2021.

In the same vein, ETI reported N84.56billion net impairment charge on financial assets in 2022 from

N89.13billion in 2021 while GTCO posted N35.94billion net impairment charge on financial assets in 2022 from N760.8million announced in 2021.

In addition, UBA declared N22.3billion net impairment charge on financial assets in 2022 from N3.01billion in 2021.

Besides making provision, Access Holdings, GTCO, Zenith Bank and UBA reported N44.77billion loss in 2022 from their Ghana subsidiaries as against N65.38billion profit declared in 2021 financial year.

In 2022, the Government of Ghana announced the suspension of all Debt Service Payments on its External Debt, a move that was made to restore the country’s macro-economic stability, amid the country’s economic and financial challenges.

On 5th Dec 2022, the Government of Ghana launched a voluntary Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), an invitation for the voluntary exchange of approximately $15.99 billion of existing Domestic Notes/Bonds

held by various local investors, for a package of new bonds with extended payout dates and reduced coupon rates.

The DDEP was the first step of the Country’s Debt Restructuring Exercise, which was a pre-condition for a $3billion bail-out, that the government had sought from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), due to its unsustainable debt levels (with public debt at over 100 per cent of GDP, and debt service costs absorbing 70 per cent- 100 per cent of revenues).

In responding, Zenith Bank, on February 14, 2023, said it exchanged N123.6billion (GH 2,675,754,659) of its existing Government of Ghana bonds for a series of new bonds with maturity dates commencing from 2027 to 2038 under the Ghana Domestic Debt Exchange Programme. “The new bonds were successfully settled on the February 21, 2023 and have been allotted on the Central Securities Depository.

The story continues online on www.thisdaylive.com

Q1 2023: Foreign Investors’ Participation in Stock Market Drop to N53.71bn

Kayode Tokede

Amid political tension, high inflationary pressure and scarcity of foreign exchange, foreign investors’ inflow in stock market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) dropped to N53.71billion in the first quarter of (Q1) 2023 from N128.91 billion reported in Q1 2022, a report by the NGX has revealed.

The report titled, “Domestic & Foreign Portfolio Participation in

Equity Trading,” disclosed that foreign investors’ outflow decreased to N35.59 billion in Q11 2023 when compared to N73.58 billion in Q1 2022 as foreign inflow closed Q1 2023 at N18.12 billion from N55.33 billion in Q1 2022.

The report revealed that the stock market in the Q1 2023 witnessed slow exposure of domestic and foreign investors as N530.23billion transactions were carried as against N692.20billion in Q1 2022.

Domestic investors still dominate the stock market, controlling 89.87 per cent transactions, while foreign investors stood at 10.13per cent.

While responding to factors contributing to foreign investors existing the domestic market, the Director-General, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda at the first capital market committee (CMC) said, “No matter how attractive the domestic capital market is, a foreign investor

will always factor in the ability to transfer their domestic earnings into foreign exchange so that they can repatriate this foreign exchange to their countries.

“Now at the moment we all know that we are having some challenges with the foreign exchange situation in Nigeria. That is international investors who are invested, you know, reporting some delays in assessing foreign exchange for the repatriation of

their dividends or their capital.

“So because of this, you are seeing a reduced proportion of foreign investors in the Nigerian Capital Market relative to what this Market has been used to.

That is a situation that is not permanent. We expect the foreign exchange situation in this country to substantially improve.”

“There are a lot of economic developments in the country today that actually are laying

the foundation for a much more vibrant foreign exchange in the country. We do use a lot of our foreign exchange to import refined petroleum products. We know at the moment that the Dangote refinery in Lekki once it comes on stream, it will have the capacity of 650,000 barrels per day of refined petroleum products, lubricants, and the rest.

The story continues online on www.thisdaylive.com

Nigerian

Breweries Records Over 40% Rise in Adv ertising Spend

Raheem Akingbolu

Nigerian Breweries Plc has announced that it spent N57 billion on advertising in 2022 financial Year, just as it announced the decision to seek shareholders’ approval for €110 million inter-company loan to enable it settle its overdue payables.

Speaking at a Pre- annual general meeting of the company in Lagos, its Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Hans Essaadi, said the loan would ensure that there would be no stoppage of production or any other disruption to the company’s operations.

He pointed out that the interest rate and the tenor of the loan were better and more flexible than other alternative sources.

He noted that notion of further excise tax increases, including significant ones that are being rumored at this point in time would have a devastating effect on the company’s business.

According to him, forex loss was a major impact on the company’s profitability in 2022.

“Access to forex has continued to be an issue for Nigerian Breweries. The increase in our trade payables has been driven majorly by

outstanding payments to our foreign trade partners as a result of the unavailability of enough forex at the official windows,” Essaadi said.

Meanwhile, according to the company’s consolidated financial statement, advertising and sales promotion expenses rose from N40,530,114,000 in 2021 to N57,068,804,000 in 2022.

The company experienced a 26 per cent sharp rise in revenue, growing from N437,195,534,000 in the 2021 financial year to N550,477,627,000 in 2022.

The CEO also disclosed that despite the economic headwinds and the highly competitive business landscape, the company remained resilient in delivering value to its customers while ensuring increased profitability.

He added that despite the volatility of the business environment caused by the issue of forex scarcity, inflation, insecurity, and energy crisis, the company remains committed to mitigating the impact of the current economic crisis.

“We have the right processes in place, whether there is digitalization in the route to

consumers. We found out how to optimize our marketing department to ensure we are a leading business moving forward. One of the challenges is poverty in this market. Although we have been in the market for 76 years, the challenges will continue to be in 2023. Hyperinflation will continue to happen and will put pressure on disposable income. This will affect economies including our business.

“We will continue to show leadership in this market. We will find ways to mitigate the challenges by being as effective and efficient as possible. We would continue to listen to what the next generation of consumers wants and look at how we can make a difference. We remain committed to creating value for our shareholders. We have the right strategy in place to weather the storm and to continue to be successful.

“The biggest hit trade partner is IBECOR, a Belgian company (also part of the Heineken group) that supports us in the sourcing and procurement of critical raw and packaging materials required for our operations.”

Rack C entre Begins Construction of Additional 12MW IT Load Data Centre

Emma Okonji

Having reached full capacity of its existing Data Centre, Rack Centre, a connected Tier III Carrier and Cloud-neutral data centre in West Africa, has commenced the construction of a new 12MW IT Load Data Centre in Lagos, in other to expand its business frontiers.

The Chief Operating Officer at Rack Centre, Mr. Ezekiel Egboye who disclosed this at a media parley and data centre tour of its Lagos head office, said the new build would be part of efforts to expand the company’s capacity ten folds and consolidate its leadership as a

major digital infrastructure hub in West Africa.

The new build known as Rack Centre LGS 2 data centre, which is in the heart of Ikeja, with easy access to the main commercial areas of Lagos, will be situated on a 20,000 square metres green field site and sits at over 30 meters above sea level. With this expansion, Rack Centre would have a net lettable space of 3240 sqm and IT load of 13.5MW as against the current data centre, LGS1, which has an IT load of 1.5MW and a net lettable space of 1094 sqm.

According to Egboye, the company is delighted to be a part of

CPS: Understanding Roles of Pension Fund Administrators

the ongoing digital transformation on the continent, especially as more African businesses need more internet capacity to support their operations, ascertaining the company’s readiness to enable digital infrastructure by hosting a large number of Hyperscalers, content and cloud delivery networks, internet service providers at its facility.

Briefing the journalists, he said, “The Lagos Campus data centre has grown to be the largest carrier and cloud neutral digital infrastructure hub in West Africa, and with this expansion, we intend on further growing our thriving ecosystem.’’

9mobile Invests over N70bn on Network Modernisation

Emma Okonji

9mobile has invested over N70 billion on its ongoing network modernisation, a development that has put the telecoms company on the path of resurgence.

The enormous investments into its network operations, is a strong commitment by the board and management to aggressively reclaim market share.

Chief Executive Officer of 9mobile, Juergen Peschel stated during the company’s annual Channel Partners Conference held in Lagos. According to Peschel, “9mobile

has invested over N70 billion for its ongoing network modernisation. The addition of 600 new sites, equipped with 4G LTE facilities for enhanced operations and market competitiveness, being deployed alongside new broadband services to enlarge our fibre network across some Nigerian cities, amongst other technical, digital, and organisational upgrade, demonstrate 9mobile’s core values of Innovation, Quality of Service, and Customer-centricity.”

Speaking on the theme, “Reengage to Succeed”, Peschel said: “9mobile is on the path of resurgence. We are taking back lost territories in the market and forging

ahead to reclaim our innovative position and industry leadership.”

Also speaking at the Channel Partner Conference, Chief Sales Officer at 9mobile, Victor Nwaobia, emphasised the impact of the unique relationship 9mobile has enjoyed with its committed channel partners, adding that this has aided in driving the company’s growth over the years. “That we have sustained or retained almost 75 per cent of our channel partners over the years is a massive testament to your love and commitment for our business, which is in its fifteenth year and going strong,” Nwaobia added.

Air Peace Expands Operations, Begins Flight Service to Maiduguri

Chinedu Eze

Nigeria’s major carrier, Air Peace, has added Maiduguri to its network with four flight frequencies weekly.

The airline operated its maiden flight to the Borno State capital on April 21, 2023.

With this new route, Air Peace said it now services 21 domestic routes. According to the airline’s Spokesperson, Stanley Olisa, this is yet another big stride in the airline’s route expansion drive.

“We are very glad to be commencing flight services into Maiduguri, Borno State. It clearly demonstrates our commitment to the provision of increased connectivity for Nigerians. Air Peace is filling the gaps in Nigeria’s air travel, giving the flying public more network options. With the support of the state government, under the visionary leadership of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum CON, whom we are very grateful to, Air Peace is promising the people of Maiduguri

While Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) are saddled with the responsibility of managing pension funds, Pension Fund Custodians (PFCs) are responsible for the custody of the funds. These Pension Fund operators are licensed, supervised and regulated by the National Pension Commission (PenCom). Therefore, understanding the role of PFAs will provide further insight into the workings of the CPS. The following are the roles of PFAs under the CPS:

REGISTRATION OF CONTRIBUTORS

The PFA is responsible for opening a Retirement Savings Account (RSA) for any interested employee. The PFA issues an employee a Personal Identification Number (PIN) upon opening the RSA. To open an RSA, the employee has to complete the RSA registration forms and provide other necessary documentation. It is noteworthy to state that selecting a PFA is an employee’s exclusive right.

CREDITING OF INDIVIDUAL RSAS

PFAs are responsible for crediting RSAs with monthly pension contributions. The employer deducts the monthly pension contributions and remits them to the PFC with an accompanying schedule containing the employees’ names, RSA PINs and other details. The PFC, in turn, advises the PFA upon receiving the contributions and schedules.

TAKING INVESTMENT DECISIONS

provides all required documentation at least six months before retirement. The PFA is also responsible for obtaining necessary approvals from PenCom and issuance of instructions to the PFC to disburse retirement benefits.

PROVIDE CUSTOMER SUPPORT TO RSA HOLDERS

The PFAs provide various customer support services to the RSA holders, including issuing RSA statements at least once every quarter. In carrying out this function, PenCom ensures that PFAs have sufficient branches to serve locations with a significant number of registered RSAs under their management. In addition, PFAs must have the necessary technology that facilitates access to their services for RSA holders.

RENDER RETURNS TO PENCOM

PFAs maintain proper books of account and render off-site returns to PenCom. The off-site returns assist PenCom in supervising the PFAs adequately. The returns include the daily valuation reports on investment and monthly and quarterly returns on various aspects of PFAs’ operations. In addition to the off-site reviews, PenCom conducts routine on-site examinations annually and special investigations whenever needed.

and its environs seamless air travel.

“As we kick off scheduled flights into Maiduguri from Lagos and Abuja today, be assured that this new route will be optimally serviced, and Nigerians, especially Maiduguri people, will benefit from it immensely”, he said.

The airline promised to work with all the key stakeholders and, of course, the state government to ensure the benefits of air travel are maximised and the impact sustained.

The PFA pools the pension contributions in individual RSAs into a fund that invests in various allowable asset classes. The PFA is responsible for making investment decisions to ensure safety and fair returns for the benefit of contributors. These investment decisions must be in accordance with the Investment Regulations issued by PenCom. All incomes earned are exclusively for the benefit of contributors. Consequently, the PFA exercises investment decisions on trust as a fiduciary duty on behalf of contributors.

PAYMENT OF RETIREMENT BENEFITS

The main objective of the CPS is to ensure the payment of retirement benefits as and when due. The PFA is, therefore, responsible for processing the retirement benefits of a retiree under the CPS. Benefits payments include ensuring the retiree

APPOINTMENT OF PENSION FUND CUSTODIAN

As noted earlier, the PFA and PFC carry out the management and custody of pension funds, respectively. Therefore, the PFA is responsible for appointing a Licensed PFC to provide custody and safekeeping for the pension funds under its management. The PFC is responsible for executing all transactions as instructed by the PFA, provided that such instructions are in accordance with the Investment Regulations issued by PenCom. In conclusion, PFAs are licensed by PenCom after satisfying rigorous licensing criteria. Currently, there are 20 PFAs managing pension fund assets on behalf of RSA holders. PenCom reiterates its commitment to effectively regulating and supervising all PFAs in Nigeria.

The successes attained since the advent of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in Nigeria over the years are often ascribed to the fundamental structures upon which the system was built. A vital feature of the scheme is the separation of management and custody of pension funds.

PENCOM DG, Aisha Dahir-Umar

Trade, Other Receivables Plod Nestle’s Revenue

Kayode Tokede

Nestle Nigeria recorded highest trade and other receivables in over five years and its impact reflected in its revenue growth in financial year ended December 31, 2022 result and accounts.

The multinational Fast-moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company in 2022 reported N82.24billion trade and other receivables as against N43.3billion reported in 2021.

Major contributing factor to trade and other receivables was N55.54billion advance payment to suppliers in 2022 from N19.92billion in 2021.

The company closed the year under review at N446.82billion, representing an increase of 27icnrease from N351.82billion reported in 2021 financial year.

Nigeria remains revenue drive for Nestle Nigeria, followed by Ghana.

In 2022, revenue from Nigeria increased to N443.41billion from N346.54billion in 2021, while revenue from Ghana dropped to N2.74billion in 2022 from N2.75billion in 2021.

The cost of sales lines are input expenses, which rose ahead of sales revenue at 32.3per cent to N291.05billion in 2022 from N219.99 billion in 2021.

The company closed 2022 with N155.76billion gross earnings, an increase of 18.15 per cent from N131.84billion reported in 2021.

Nestlé Nigeria’s management is showing a lot of caution on the side of operating expenses

in order to avoid a repeat of 2021 pattern where virtually all the gains in revenue were consumed by cost increases.

The company’s administrative expenses and Marketing and distribution expenses were under full management’s control.

In 2022, the company reported N68.87billion total operating expenses, an increase of 15.6 per cent from N59.59billion reported in 2021.

The administrative cost was at N11.54billion in 2022 from N11.49 billion in the 2021, while marketing and distribution expenses increased to N57.33billion in 2022 from N48.1billion in 2021.

It reported N20.53billion finance cost in 2022 from N12.08billion reported in 2021. Finance income closed 2022 at N1.99billion in 2022 from N646.55million in 2021

The big news for Nestle Nigeria in 2022 was a significant in finance cost, driven by N12.68billion interest expense on financial liabilities and N7.85 billion net foreign exchange loss.

The company declared N71.11billion profit before tax, an increase of 15 per cent from N61.88billion reported in 2021.

With 1.4 per cent increase in tax expenses to N22.14billion, Nestle Nigeria closed 2022 with N48.96billion profit after tax in 2022 from N40.04billion in 2021.

The directors recommend the payment of a final dividend of N 36.50kobo (2021: N25.50 kobo) per share having earlier declared an

interim dividend of N25.00 (2021: N25:00) from the profit of 2022 on the issued share capital of 792,656,252 (2021:792,656,252) ordinary shares of 50kobo each.

The proposed final dividend of N 36.50kobo is from the after tax profit for the year ended 2022. If the proposed final dividend of N 36.50kobo is approved by the shareholders, it will be subject to deduction of withholding tax at the applicable rate and the total dividend paid for the year will be N61.50kobo.

GROWTH IN REVENUE REFLECTS ON ASSETS

As Nestle Nigeria was able to drive its revenue performance, its balance sheet position emerged stronger, closing 2022 at N415.04billion, representing an increase of 34 per cent from N310.24billion reported in the full year ended 2021.

As total non-current assets rose by 17 per cent to N124.53billion 2022 from N106.3billion reported in 2021, as total current assets hits N290.5billion in 2022 from N203.9billion reported in 2021.

In addition, total equity of Nestle Nigeria rose significantly by 42 per cent to N30.29billion in 2022 from N21.38billion in 2021.

On liabilities, it increased by 23 per cent to N384.75billion in 2022 from N288.86billion in 2021 financial year.

CONCLUSION

The Managing Director and CEO of Nestlé Nigeria, Mr. Wassim Elhusseini, in a statement said, “I congratulate and thank everyone, especially our staff and managers whose unwavering commitment, dedication and ingenuity drove the excellent results achieved in 2022.

“I am extremely proud of the team’s ability to continue to achieve so much even under the current challenging business environment, enabling us keep our commitment to deliver value for our shareholders, our consumers and the communities in which we operate. This is proof that success is built into the DNA of our organization and that working together, we can thrive and even excel in the most trying environments.”

“In 2023, we will continue to work to ensure the availability of affordable nutrition for the individuals and families who depend on us to nourish their families daily. We know that it will be a challenging year, with the general elections and the associated charged political environment as well as the disruptions in economic activities experienced with the change of some denominations of the Naira.

“We are also faced with the increasing cost of doing business – especially the high cost of inputs, and therefore, remain flexible and resilient in our operations”.

“Our priority will remain the wellbeing of our people, our consumers, our communities and our planet as we unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone today and for generations to come”.

At $19.25m Market Cap, NGX Leads Other W’African Exchanges in ETFs

Kayode Tokede

Currently, at $19.25million or N8.87billion, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has disclosed that it currently leads other West African Exchanges in the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) market capitalisation.

This was disclosed by Chief Executive Officer, NGX,

Mr. Temi Popoola during the recently completed ETFs conference themed “ETFs in the Nigerian Capital Market: Opportunities and Challenges.”

He noted that the market is still in its nascent state, compared to the South African ETF market with a $7.11billion capitalization and the market would see a renewal as four new ETFs were

in the pipeline.

According to him, “There has been a dearth of new ETFs listings on the NGX in recent years, however, there are bright spots on the horizon with 4 new ETFs listings in the pipeline. It is incumbent to state that current macro-economic challenges resulting in the exit of Foreign Investors, impacted the ETFs

space which resulted in a sharp dip in the ETFs market Cap from 2020 highs of N24.5billion.

“We are hopeful that the policy tilt of the new administration would impact positively on our market.”

Also speaking at the event was the Executive Commissioner, Operations, Securities and Exchanges Commission

(SEC), Mr Dayo Obisan, who also touched on the challenges in the market but expressed confidence in the ability of experts to proffer solutions. He urged all stakeholders including the Fund Managers Association, NGX, and other institutional investors to extend the message of ETFs in order to deepen the market and make the asset class more vibrant,

thereby driving growth in the capital market.

The Executive Director, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, Adeyinka Shonekan who spoke on the CSCS’s developmental efforts in the ETFs market, said the CSCS is using technology to improve the onboarding of retail investors into ETFs.

FMN Rewards Dealers with Redistribution Trucks to Drive Supply Chain Efficiency

As part of its commitment to nurturing sustainable partnerships, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN), rewarded B2C top-performing dealers with distribution trucks to further boost supply chain efficiency. The presentation of the trucks took place at an event held

at the FMN headquarters, in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the Managing Director, of the Foods Division, Mr. Devlin Hainsworth expressed his gratitude to the partners for their dedication and hard work. He noted that their contributions have played

a significant role in the growth and success of the company, and the gifting of the trucks is a way to further strengthen the partnership.

He said, “We appreciate the hard work and commitment of our partners in helping us achieve our business objectives. As we continue

to grow and expand, we recognize the importance of having a robust distribution network, and that is why we are gifting these trucks to our partners. We look forward to a golden future.”

He also stated that Flour Mills of Nigeria remains committed to

supporting its distributors and creating an enabling environment for their businesses to thrive.

Thanking FMN for the handover of trucks, another recipient, Opeyemi Idris, the Manager of Fulcrum Golden Heritage said:

“Seeing this truck today, I am

very happy, I wasn’t expecting this big truck, I was expecting the smaller one. I am proud of FMN and we are very grateful to FMN for this gift of a truck, we believe it is going to stimulate our efforts in regard to the distribution of FMN products.

FMAN Sensitizes UNILAG Students on Investment Opportunities in Capital Markets

In a bid to boost capital market awareness and inclusion, especially among young people in Nigeria, the Fund Managers Association of Nigeria (FMAN) sensitized the penultimate and final year students of the Faculty of Management Sciences of the University of Lagos (UNILAG)comprising six departments- Accounting, Business Administration, Finance, Employment Rela-

tions and Human Resources Management (ER&HM), Actuarial Sciences, and Insurance , on the need to invest in the plethora of legitimate opportunities available in the Nigerian capital market. Over a thousand students attended the event, which was held at the Tayo Aderinokun Hall. The leadership of FMAN was represented by the President Mr. Aigbovbioise

Aig-Imoukhuede, the Vice President, Ms. Adaku Ijara, and the Chairperson of the Technical and Enlightenment Committee (TEC), Mrs. Fadekemi Obasanya, while the principal officers of the institution were represented by the Sub-dean of the faculty, Dr. Ekundayo Badejo. The event was also attended by several licensed fund managers, including Stanbic Asset Management, United Capital, Anchoria, Apel

Capital, Emerging Africa, STL Asset, Lotus Capital, Cardinal Stone, Chapel Hill, etc.

The event featured a variety of sessions, one of which was a 30-minute presentation by Mr. Ahmed Banu CFA on the subject of “Now You Are Here, What Next.” Mr. Banu exhorted the students to start investing in the capital market, leveraging on mutual funds as a viable means given the ease that it offers and

since some of them might have little or no knowledge about the market. With mutual funds, he says, “you can sleep soundly at night knowing that your money or funds are in safe hands and with skilled professionals who are trained in the art of navigating the market.” Mr. Banu further emphasized the advantages of beginning to invest at a young age, using Warren Buffett as an example.

He advised the students to conduct a thorough study before investing and to avoid Ponzi Schemes and other illicit money-doubling schemes.

Commenting on the event, the President of FMAN, Mr. Aig-Imoukhede rationalized the event underpinning it to the need to democratize wealth for everyone, especially through knowledge of the capital markets.

This Week In Tech

Solanke: Wealth Tech is the Future and Critical to Our Existence

Oluwatomi Solanke, the founder and CEO of Trove Finance, talks about the wealth tech sector, an overview of his company, the future of wealth tech in the country and other issues. Nosa Alekhuogie presents the excerpts

What is Trove Finance about?

We are a wealth tech company. Some people call it ‘invest tech’, but what that means essentially is the marriage of two words, wealth and technology. We leverage technology to help people build wealth. If I were to be a lot more granular about what we do, I would say we have products, mostly mobile apps, and web products, that pretty much allow people to invest in financial markets like stocks, bonds, Exchange-traded funds ( ETFs), globally irrespective of where you stay. As a Nigerian, you can invest in local stock markets and local bonds, and you can invest in foreign markets too. You could own stocks in Google, Facebook, Amazon etc.

Who is your target audience?

Primarily, it is individuals that are looking to grow wealth. And what I mean by that is having a salary or some form of disposable income and you want to put it to work to an extent, or you want to be able to benefit from growth on that capital in the long term. So, it is anybody that has disposable income, mostly upwardly mobile youth, but we also have older people too that use it as well. If I was to put it within the context of numbers, most of our customers are between 18 and 40 years of age.

How long have you been in operation, how has the progress been so far, and how have Nigerians embraced wealth technology?

We have been in operation for about four years. There is a mission side to everything and to what we do. Africa is the second most unequal continent in the world and by unequal, it is in terms of how much wealth is held in the hands of very few. There is inequality everywhere in the world around finances, but Africa is one of those interesting cases where one per cent or even less than one per cent holds most of the wealth. If you think of places like South Africa, for example, one per cent of South Africans own eighty-five per cent of all the stocks and bonds in the country. If you think of Nigeria too as well, it is a similar story where a tiny amount of people owns a huge percentage of all the financial assets or financial instruments in the country.

Before, if you wanted to invest in Google, Facebook, or any of those things, what you would have to do is go through a big investment bank. For example, in Nigeria, you would have to open an account with a company or a financial institution that has a Pan-African or global presence outside of Nigeria, like Stanbic. Either that or you open an account with a big American bank, a JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, or Bank of America.

The problem with that was it was an elite solution. It was very elitist in the sense that most of them would say you needed to have an account of N10 million, N20 million naira or $100,000. Different heavy numbers are being thrown around. But what we did to a considerable extent was democratise access to wealth-generating opportunities. What we pioneered is allowing the common man, and by the common man I mean with as little as N5,000 or N7,000, you could begin to own assets the same way the wealthy people do. So, a student that is 19 years old can take N5,000 and invest in stocks the same way somebody that has N5 million would do with easy-to-use technology and just make that process simple in Nigeria or in the Nigerian financial markets. That same person could invest in the US the same way a wealthy man in Nigeria would be able to do by virtue of his relationship with a big investment bank. What we did is that, instead of the requirements being a $10,000 opening balance, people started participating in financial markets with N2,000, N5,000, and N10,000.

We levelled the playing field and made it as simple as downloading the app from the Play Store to buy stocks and bonds in a very straightforward, easy manner without having to leave your house, and it is not about just buying stocks locally. You could also invest in American companies and Chinese companies from the comfort of your home. The same opportunity that was available to people with millions of naira are now available to people that you know, to students, people that just got their first jobs and people that are trying to build wealth the same way a millionaire or a billionaire would want to.

Can you tell us a bit about the wealth tech sector?

Some people call it ‘invest technology’, wealth technology or fintech in general. Fintech is like an umbrella which has things under it, there is payment processing under it, there is ‘insure tech’ under it, and there is also lending under it. So, in the same way, you have ‘insuretech’, which is insurance technology,

a company using technology to innovate around the insurance space, people typically would say about any company that is helping people grow wealth, trade stocks or anything, and call them invest-techs which is investment technology, some say wealth tech which is using technology to help people grow wealth but it is not the same as wealth management, they are different things. We just give you the opportunity to invest or grow your wealth freely. It is self-directed in the sense that you pick the opportunities, we provide you with educational resources and then teach you more about how to grow wealth, investing terminologies, things that wealthy people know, all those terminologies, money terminologies, we teach you all of these things inside the app using technology. But then, ultimately, what you decide to do is your own prerogative.

Trove Finance has carved a niche in this sector. What is the future of wealth tech in Nigeria?

It is a critical sector and something that needed to be done. It is one of those things that needs to exist. I say that because at the heart of any economy have to be vibrant human beings, and what I mean by that is how productive we are and how productivity now transcends us and starts to affect the population in general. Nigeria has a very youthful population, and by virtue of that, there would be a lot of productivity that would come out as a result of that and like I said earlier, at the heart of all of these things are people that their productivity, to an extent has to transcend them and affect the general populace. When you think around it, when you have money, what is the next thing you will do? You must deploy or grow that capital.

So, while this revolution is happening with Nigeria, the country becoming a world power, becoming all the remarkable things that we anticipate or what we are trying to make it to be, and we hope it will be in the nearest future. What you would see happen is what happened in China or India whereas the economy continued to grow, a lot more people began to get a lot wealthier. You see a lot more people building companies, and with this new wealth, what do you do? How do you sustain wealth for the long term? Without access to wealth-generating opportunities, quality investments or what people can invest in, I don’t mean random investing

but regulated financial markets.

For example, people say the stock market is at the heart of every economy. America has the biggest or the largest stock market in the world, and that is why it is one of the most vibrant economies in the world. Those things add to value creation, and while people are creating the value, they have to sustain that value. Even for people that are more bottom of the pyramid, another important thing for them is how they can escape that bottom and the only way to escape is by trying to grow your wealth in a very sustainable, secure, regulated and in a long-term manner. So, across all cadres of life, whether its from bottom of the pyramid or people that start to fall into wealth, it is important to grow wealth and again sustaining wealth is also important.

How do you see this space evolving in Nigeria in the next two years?

People make projections on the baseline, they would say that the economy could grow by 5 per cent, others will say by 3.5 per cent. What does that mean? I think currently, there is a good chunk of the population that needs services within this sector. And when I say a good chunk of the population, Nigeria is a very youth-heavy population, and in terms of mobile penetration and data penetration in Nigeria, it has fair numbers too as well. In terms of banking, how many people use banks? If you look at the statistics on how many people have sim cards or bank accounts, it will fall to tens of millions of Nigerians. Right now, there is a strong opportunity to ramp up a lot of activities around a good percentage of these people which is like 20 to 30 per cent. In the long term, as there is a lot more value creation, the economy will grow by about five per cent. I think that the ripple effect will set the stage for a growth of about five to 10 per cent annually over the next couple of years as well.

Right now, probably 20 to 30 per cent of the market, mostly the banked, tech-savvy to a large extent, and people that have some exposure to sell technology like data, probably, 25 to 30 per cent of that which will grow incrementally probably 5 to 10 per cent almost in tandem with projections around the economy like economic growth. The World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that Nigeria should grow by 3.5 per cent. I think the growth in the sector would

move in sync with how the economy is doing. As people create more wealth, it will trickle down into the sector. So as the economy continues to grow, people continue to get richer, build a lot more wealth and create value.

Are you in partnership with any institutions or banks?

Yes, we are. Regulation is at the core of what we do. Everything we do, to a very large extent, has some regulatory oversight into it, whether it’s a license that we have or by virtue of partnerships with a third-party entity, a broker, or a bank. We only work with regulated counterparties, or we hold the license ourselves. We being able to allow people to trade stocks online, for example, the Nigerian Stock Exchange. There has to be some oversight by the Nigerian SEC, which controls that space. By virtue of allowing people to invest in bonds, there must be some oversight by a regulated entity or counterparty. It depends on the kind of instrument, but what we do is all the opportunities that are available to people, and to a very large extent, either has some regulation which might be direct regulation, direct license for a third party. There are a couple of people that we work with if you aggregate different financial products in one place. For example, in the US, our counterparty is regulated by the SEC and FINRA. In Nigeria, it depends on what we are doing, but all our products in one way, whether by direct or by third-party affiliation, have regulatory oversights by certain people. Mostly in the SEC, deposits are insured under NDIC insurance, which is the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) coverage. We work with several people to bring all these things together both locally and internationally as well.

What steps has Trove put in place to onboard Nigerians into these investment opportunities, especially people not tech-savvy in Nigeria?

So far, I will say we have done a decent job. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. We have over 300,000 registered people, mostly of Nigerian descent, and that is a couple of steps in the right direction. The question is, how do we grow from 300,000 plus to three million plus registered customers? We have employed a lot of the use of high tech like smartphone technology to help people with access. The next question for us is how we can lower that barrier even further. Are there technologies that are familiar to people that reside within certain areas and can we take advantage of those kinds of technologies or is there a scenario where there is a hybrid between a technology-type platform and a traditional type platform just to further our mission? Obviously, we are spreading the word and having conversations with people that help propagate that mission or that have shared values around what we are trying to do. Some people are intrigued by what we do. We have conversations with them, and they reach out to us every now and then to help propagate the word a bit.

More importantly, a lot of the growth is attributable to the people that the product has to a large extent, influenced, shaped their own lives, or helped shape their own finances. It is also a lot of word of mouth that we see and anticipate as we continue to create a lot more value and build a lot more resilience around the product and as people continue to achieve and break barriers by virtue of what we have done, by leveraging on what we have done, I think the top is almost limitless. We would continue to see a lot of people-driven growth. Like I said, word of mouth has been a very huge part of our growth and then we anticipate that it is going to continue to be as people continue to crush their goals as the country continues to grow, as the economy continues to grow and as people continue to achieve greatness by leveraging on what we have done.

What is your advice to anybody looking to enter the wealth tech sector?

It is the future and is very central to our existence as human beings. It is the left, right and centre of any burgeoning economy that has productive people. The two important things are value creation and how to maintain that value. How do you make sure that the value does not get eroded? If you create wealth, the next thing is how do you grow wealth or at the least, maintain it? The sector is super important. It is at the heart of a lot of the growth that we would see. If, for example, somebody has N1 and he can grow that N1 to N2 and that extra N1 is being deployed to something more, he can maybe build a new company, start an NGO, or increase the quality of life for himself. It has a ripple effect affecting a lot of other things.

Solanke

L-R; Corps Public Education Officer, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Bisi Kazeem; Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila; and Corps Marshal, FRSC, Dauda Ali Biu, during a ‘thank-you’ visit to the Speaker by the FRSC team in Abuja…recently

L-R: Marketing Director, Reckitt Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzim Rezwan; General Manager, Reckitt Sub-Saharan Africa, Akbar Ali Shah; and Category Manager, Reckitt Sub-Saharan Africa, Zara Adoki, during the relaunch of Dettol 5 Degree Cool soap in Lagos…recently

L-R: President of the Bartender’s Guild of Nigeria, Judge Emmanuel Oyira; Founder, The ONA Lagos, (a Chef), Judge Obehi Ekhomu-El Herfi; winner of the Bord Bia Irish Mixers Club Mixology Contest Season 2, Donald Obirode; West Africa Regional Manager of Bord Bia, Ese Okpomo; and Co-founder and Managing Director, R.S.V.P and SLoW, Judge Nahi Halabi, during the grand finale of the Bord Bia Irish Mixers Club Mixology Contest Season 2 at the Lagos Irish Pub, Lagos…recently

L-R: National Secretary, Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Yomi Oyinloye; General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Sam Aboyeji; and Guest Speaker, Head of Living Seed, Gboko, Nigeria, Brother Gbile Akanni, during the International Conference for Ministers and Leaders (ICML) tagged: ‘Morality and Integrity in Ministry’, held at the Foursquare Camp Ground, Ajebo in Ogun State...recently

L-R: Family members, Mr. Femi Banjo, Mr. John Sada; celebrant, Mrs. Esther Odunsi; and a guest, Mr. Olusegun Odugbesan, during the 70th birthday of Odunsi in Abeokuta, Ogun State…recently

The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier-General Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed (right), presenting a death benefit cheque to Mr. Oluwafemi John Aina (right), for late corps member, Juliana Oreoluwa Aina, who died in BRT bus/train accident in Lagos last month, during the DG’s visit to the bereaved family in Abuja…recently

L-R: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Unified Payments, Agada Apochi; President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Bisi Adeyemi; Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Africa, Segun Ogunsanya; Vice President, Service Delivery, CWG Plc, Ireti Yusuf; FSI Business Director, CWG Plc, Olatunji Kehinde; Director, Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Femi Adeniran, at the April edition of the NBCC Sharing Experience series in Lagos…recently

HOMES & DESIGN

Stock Exchange Tower Bullish in Central Lagos

Lagos Island is home to sturdy highrises, some from pre-independence days. The Nigeria Stock Exchange Tower

dwarf other tall buildings on that axis. Bennett

The Nigeria Stock Exchange Tower is strategically located on Custom Street, Lagos Island, right next to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The huge concrete tower shields the street from the sun’s harsh rays, keeping it cool. This building is home to the stock exchange, a very vital organ of the nation’s economy, and this was the reason it was built to exude confidence, particularly in those that trade within it.

The tower is an impressive architectural feat designed and constructed to last several lifetimes in its safe location. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), now the Nigerian Exchange Group, was founded in 1961 in Lagos. As of November 2019, it has 161 listed companies, with eight domestic companies on the premium board, 144 companies on the mainboard, and four on the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM) board. In the Fixed Income market, the NSE has 84 FGN bonds, 21 state bonds, 27 corporate bonds, one supranational bond, and 53 memorandum listings.

The NSE’s mission is to enable businesses and investors to have reliable access to capital and provide secure saving systems and structures for effective and efficient business operations.

The NSE was founded as the Lagos Stock Exchange on September 15, 1960. The LSE is the oldest existing

stock exchange in West Africa. There were seven subscribers to the exchange’s Memorandum of Association: R.S.V. Scott, representing C.T. Bowring and Co. Nigeria Ltd.; Chief Theophilus Adebayo Doherty; John Holt Ltd; Investment Company of Nig. Ltd. (ICON); Sir. Odumegwu Ojukwu; Chief Akintola Williams; and Alhaji Shehu Bukar. Operations began officially on August 25, 1961, with 19

securities listed for trading. However, informal operations had commenced earlier in June 1961. Operations were initially conducted inside the Central Bank building with four firms as market dealers: Inlaks, John Holt, C.T. Bowring, and ICON (Investment Company of Nigeria). The volume for August 1961 was about 80,500 pounds, and it rose to about 250,000 pounds in September

of the same year, with the bulk of the investments in government securities.

In December 1977, it became known as the NSE, with branches established in some of the major commercial cities of the country. In 2021, the NSE launched a new brand identity into what is today known as the NGX Group, following its demutualisation and the resulting creation of the non-operating holding company NGX Group Plc.

invokes a rich memory. The tower’s girth and height

Oghifo writes

Access Corporation: Reaping Benefits of Aggressive Continental Expansion

Access Corporation Plc (Access Holdings), last week presented its first quarter 2023 earnings on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), which reflected positive trajectory.

The first quarter financial performance was released same day as the bank’s full year 2022 financial results.

However, the first quarter 2023 results established that the bank got off on the right foot and may end the year 2023 better than its 2022 performance.

Precisely, the first quarter 2023 unaudited results showed that the Holding Company’s (Holdco) gross earning maintained its upswing as it increased to N424.917 billion in the review period, higher than the N295.736 billion recorded in the first quarter of March 2022. Its profit after tax which declined marginally at the end of 2022, improved in the first quarter of 2023, to N71.636 billion, compared to N57.825 billion it realised in the first quarter of 2022.

Also, Access Corporation’s total assets increased to N15.742 trillion as at the end of March 2023, up from N14.998 trillion recorded at the end of December 2022, loans and advances grew to N5.038 trillion in the review period, from N5.108 trillion as at December 2022, and customer deposits of N9.941 trillion as of March this, higher than the N9.2 51 trillion recorded at the end of December last year.

Interestingly, the bank’s full year results also released same day did not fall short of investors’ expectations, despite the harsh operating environment.

Access Holdings’ total assets as at December 31, 2022, stood at N15 trillion, while its gross earnings crossed the N1 trillion mark to hit, N1.388 trillion, stronger than that of its peers in the league of tier-one banks.

Additionally, deposits from its customers increased to N9.25 trillion, higher than N6.955 trillion in 2021, while loans and advances to customers also went up to N5.557 trillion, from N4.446 trillion as at full year, 2021. The management also proposed a final dividend of N46.21 billion, representing N1.30 per share to its shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2022. However, the Group’s profit before tax declined by 5.1 per cent from N176.8 billion in 2021 to N167.7 billion in 2022.

Clearly, at the end of the day, the massive continental expansion which the Herbert Wigwe-led financial institution embarked upon few years back appears to have started yielding the expected benefits. Wigwe, who is the Group Managing Director of Access Corporation, also appears not be slowing down on his mission to position the financial institution as the gateway to Africa.

From Nigeria to Rwanda, South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Zambia, among several others, the expansionist adrenaline rush in Wigwe saw him last month securing final regulatory approval for Access Bank Zambia Limited, a subsidiary of its flagship subsidiary, Access Bank Plc, from the Central Bank of Zambia for the acquisition and merger of African Banking Corporation Zambia Limited (Atlas Mara Zambia) into its existing operations.

In a string of expansion across the African continent, Wigwe had said he intends to leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) to expand its footprint to 20 countries across the continent. Africa has been at the receiving end of many labels for several decades, most of which, sadly, are laced with prejudice and stereotypes — projecting our stories through a single-sided lens.

These labels — whether true or false — have served as shrouds that muddied perceptions and kept the continent draped in unfavorable narratives: ‘A continent of persistent unrest, consistent downturns, and immense human capital potential doomed to remain unharnessed without increased foreign aid’.

Altering these narratives require dogged optimism and unparalleled determination to set up structures that will catalyze development, strengthen existing systems, and provide platforms for untapped potential to be uncovered and developed.

It also requires strategic foresightedness in establishing partnerships and coalitions that will serve the African continent and capture the attention of the global community — all which Access Holdings has successfully driven through its over 20 years of impact.

Access Holdings restructured itself towards an ecosystem orchestrator involving 5 verticals – the bank (Access Bank), Lending Company (LendCo), Payment Company (PayCo), Insurance and Pensions. Wigwe, understands that without embracing change and having foresights, Access Corporation would not be able to compete and would be left behind by their peers. This, would definitely impact customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and

Wigwe revenue growth negatively. This was why in line with its tradition, the financial institution recently unveiled a new five-year strategic plan, in which it outlined plans to deepen financial services across Africa and extend its services to the continent’s large unbanked population.

Over the years, Access Corporation, under the leadership of Wigwe, has launched and sponsored several initiatives aimed at developing the continent’s economic and social ecosystems across diverse touchpoints.

Furthermore, the institution has stood firm on its commitment to deliver on its promise of social responsibility, strong corporate governance, financial value for stakeholders, a positive and gender-balanced workplace environment, all while setting the pace with the introduction of innovative products and services.

One might be tempted to ask, “In what way is the Corporation redefining the African narrative?” Well, by investing in strategic pillars in the continent’s socio-economic landscape, and there are a few examples to show:

SUSTAINABILITY

Globally, there are very few institutions that show commitment to sustainability like Access Corporation. The Corporation has played a crucial role in redefining the image of Africa by challenging negative perceptions of the continent and presenting it as a hub for sustainable development. One of the ways in which the financial powerhouse has achieved this is by focusing on renewable energy projects, which have helped to reduce the carbon footprint of the institution and its subsidiaries while promoting sustainable economic growth in Africa.

Specifically, it has been actively involved in promoting gender equality and financial inclusion, having launched several initiatives to empower women entrepreneurs and increase their access to finance, helping to reduce gender inequalities across the continent. Additionally, Access Corporation has invested heavily in digital banking technology, which has helped to increase financial inclusion by providing affordable banking services to underprivileged communities in Africa. These efforts have helped to redefine the image of Africa by showcasing the continent’s potential for sustainable development, economic growth, and aiding the cause to challenge negative stereotypes about the region. Through its various sustainability initiatives, the Corporation has impacted over 700 million lives.

THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY

Recognising the potential that exists in the African creative industry, Access Corporation has invested in various initiatives of wide-scale impact. Some of these include Art X, African International Film Festival (AFRIFF), Born in Africa Festival, amongst others.

Through the Access Bank Art X Prize, it has been able to ensure that spotlight is given to some of the best creatives on the continent and the diaspora, while providing access to mentorship in order to ensure their potential is fully realised. On the other hand, the AFRIFF partnership has culminated in thousands of budding, indigenous filmmakers being trained and movie projects funded and presented to a global audience.

Meanwhile, Africa’s creative industry boasts some of the continent’s most impressive exports that have attracted global attention, resulting in a continued spike in the industry’s contribution to the continent’s cumulative GDP. Exciting as this sounds, it has not always been the case. The lucrative boom in the creative industry has come on the heels of the positive outlook garnered through projects powered with unrelenting investments by forward-thinking organisations like Access Corporation.

SPORTS FOR IMPACT

In two decades, Access Corporation has altered the face of sports in Africa through landmark initiatives like the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon and Access Polo Tournament.

With roots established in Kaduna, Nigeria to ensure that children in Nigeria get access to quality education, the impact of the polo initiative is now being felt on a wider scale as the Corporation has extended its reach to South Africa. Cumulatively, over $1 million has been raised to build and equip over 100 classrooms in Nigeria and South Africa, impacting thousands of underprivileged children within Africa. Through the Marathon, on the other hand, Access Corporation has provided a globally acclaimed platform for indigenous athletes, refugees and persons living with disability to compete in a race of global repute. Leveraging the Marathon’s prestige and reach, the Corporation has used the Gold-Label-Status marathon as an avenue to improve the economic standing of several athletes through the prize money offered while offering essential training for aspiring elite athletes.

Furthermore, the Corporation has used its involvement in sports as an opportunity to impact the health and well-being of individuals within its host community. For instance, in the last edition of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, active steps were taken to move the needle regarding the spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, setting up an HIV testing initiative during which over 5,000 individuals got tested.

COVID-19 RESPONSE

With no prior experience on how to deal with a pandemic the scale of COVID-19, the most developed countries in the world grappled and failed at curtailing the disease’s spread. To ensure lives were saved and a positive story is told about the continent’s response to the spread of the virus, the Group CEO, Herbert Wigwe, teamed up with other private sector stakeholders to form The Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID).

Through the collective efforts of members of the Coalition, spearheaded by Access Bank and the Aliko Dangote Foundation, CACOVID raised over N43 billion to help Nigeria in combating COVID-19, through the provision of treatment, testing, training and isolation centers across the country. The Coalition also donated medical equipment and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to existing centers while supporting the most vulnerable with palliatives to make the enforced lockdowns, which became necessary to contain the spread of the disease, easier to bear.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Diversity, inclusion, and equity have become buzzwords in the global community today, but to Access Holdings, they are pillars on which drive the way they operate. Whether internally or within its host communities, empowering and supporting women has been tirelessly prioritised.

For instance, the W Initiative, one of the flagships of the banking group provides mentorship and training programs designed to prepare women for leadership positions in the corporate world, and health support services that target critical health issues like breast cancer and female genital mutilation. Presently, this initiative has impacted over 150,000 women across Africa, fostering inclusivity and breaking deeply entrenched societal stereotypes.

Also, through the W initiative, Access Bank has also made local and international fertility treatments and natal support easily accessible to hundreds of women across Africa through the Maternal Health Service Support (MHSS) Scheme. Since the launch of the Scheme, the Bank has disbursed over N211million, impacted 145 women with its low-cost health financing scheme and recorded the birth of 78 babies.

The Access Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton is another initiative through which the Bank has engendered inclusivity and equity, providing businesswomen in Africa with world-class business training and substantial financial injections. With the Pitch-A-Ton, the Bank has impacted over 250 women in Africa with free mini-MBA certifications and financial grants to the tune of over $21,000.

AWARDS

All these laudable feats have not gone without recognition from local, regional and global stakeholders as the Corporation has amassed over 300 awards since it found new ownership 20 years ago. Some notable bodies that have recognised the corporation’s efforts across finance, sustainability, women empowerment, customer service and digital innovation include, World Finance, The European Organisation for Sustainable Finance, The Banker, The Global Sustainable Finance Network, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and more. With subsidiaries spread across the major trading blocs in Africa, Access Corporation enables and empowers all Africans in its ecosystem with the privilege of a connection to the rest of the world.

Indeed, “There’s more to Africa”. As the continent continues to grapple with changing the many negative narratives that exist, Access Corporation will continue to play its part in redefining Africa’s global image and ensuring that Africans are proud of their heritage.

Therefore, its customers, partners and stakeholders across Africa should expect more from Access Corporation as it steadily moves towards its target of having presence in at least 26 countries and in at least three organisations for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries supporting trade (United Kingdom, France & United States of America).

Access Corporation has consistently outperformed the market on the growth of key metrics and its recently released financial results did not fall short of investors’ expectations, write Oluchi Chibuzor

Assessing BOI’s Financial Scorecard

President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his confidence on the board and management of the Bank of Industry (BOI) when he approved the reappointment of Mr. Aliyu AbdulRahman Dikko and Mr. Olukayode Pitan as the Chairman and Managing Director/ CEO of the BOI respectively on March 11, 2022. Their reappointment for another term of five years that started counting from May 27, 2022, was communicated in a letter that was signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, and dated March 11, 2022. Expectedly, the duo did not disappoint the confidence showed on them by President Buhari. This was clearly testified to by the BOI’s 2022 financial score card, which revealed that the total assets of the BOI’s Group hit N2.38 trillion and delivers a profit before tax of N71.99 billion in 2022, despite the microeconomic headwinds experienced within the year under review.

The BOI also made a bold development impact in 2022 by disbursing N210.7 billion to 418,436 beneficiaries.

A detailed study of the score card showed that BOI delivered yet another outstanding financial and developmental performance result in the year that ended on December 31, 2022, despite the slow, albeit sustained economic recovery, following the COVID-19 induced recession in 2020.

The bank sustained its consistent trend in reporting appreciable growth in major financial indices on a year-on-year basis, thus consolidating its position as Nigeria’s largest and most impactful development finance institution.

For the year under review, the group’s total assets crossed the N2 trillion in 2022 to N2.38 trillion, indicating a 39.2 per cent growth when compared with the preceding year. This significant leap was achieved following the successful conclusion of three landmark capital-raising transactions in the year, worth €1.85 billion (about $2 billion) from the international financial markets.

The bank’s financial statement showed that gross earnings grew by 15.4 per cent to N212.96 billion in 2022 from N184.55 billion in 2021. In the same vein, interest income from both customer loans and investments improved by 21.1 per cent in 2022 to N212.96 billion from N175.83 billion in the previous year. This growth was attributed to income from both customers’ loans and investments.

Also, profit before tax rose by 15.6 per cent to N71.99 billion in the year, from N62.28 billion in 2021 due to remarkable growth in interest income and other income lines; alongside the reduction in impairment charges that facilitated the achievement of the appreciable growth.

Total equity grew by 11.7 per cent to N429.83 billion from N384.85 billion in 2021, while loans and advances improved by 3.2 per cent to N805.46 billion from N780.48 billion in 2021.

In its developmental impact, the bank disbursed the sum of N210.7 billion to 418,436 beneficiaries in the year, through both its direct and indirect lending platforms, as well as through funds it manages on behalf of its strategic partners.

The three key capital-raising transactions in the year from the international financial market included the bank’s maiden Eurobond of €750 million, which was concluded in February 2022. It was the first of its kind in several ways to the bank, the country, and Africa. The deal was the bank’s first Eurobond transaction, as well as the first Euro-denominated Eurobond transaction in Nigeria.

The transaction was also the first Eurobond

Pitan transaction that was covered by Nigeria’s sovereign guarantee and also represents the first of its kind by a national development finance institution in Africa.

The transaction earned the bank the Agency Bond Deal of the Year award at the 2023 awards event of the Bonds, Loans, and ESG Capital Markets in Capetown, South Africa.

The second was the €1 billion guaranteed senior loan facility, which was concluded in August of 2022. The deal also represents the first of its kind, by any Nigerian financial institution, both in terms of its size and structure.

Through the transaction, the bank was not only able to raise liquidity but was also able to diversify its funding sources by attracting new lenders, even though the international capital markets were prohibitively expensive and shut to many borrowers at the time.

A €100 million line of credit from the French Development Agency (AFD) was also concluded in August 2022. Through the credit facility, the bank expanded its financing interventions in environmentally friendly and green projects.

A grant of €2.5 million was also included in the deal to support capacity building for both staff and customers.

According to the bank, its intervention programmes in the year, which traversed several sectors and segments of the Nigerian economy, did not only contribute significantly to national goals of economic recovery and job creation but also empowered Nigerian businesses, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises to remain in operations sustainably.

The 2022 financial score card has also shown that the BOI is living up to its stated development mandate that is orientated towards supporting quality projects with high developmental impact such as job creation and poverty alleviation to enhance the socio-economic standard of Nigerians.

Indeed, BOI’s developmental mandate is

geared towards supporting projects with the capability to generate considerable multiplier effects, such as business linkages, job creation and poverty alleviation that positively impact the socio-economic condition of Nigerians.

The BOI is also playing appreciable role in improving Nigeria’s business environment by channeling funds to investments that could improve the state of infrastructural development. According to Pitan, in his interview with the International Banker, one of the enduring challenges of sustainable economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa is the state of its infrastructural development.

He said: “Nigeria’s business environment is rapidly evolving as we speak, yet there are a number of issues that are not being addressed or are at a slow pace. Special Economic Zones (SEZs) provide space where the business environment is at its optimal level.

“These zones can help provide the necessary conditions that businesses require to thrive or that investors may seek. These could include adequate infrastructure, an educated and skilled labour force, local input suppliers, tax incentives, etc.

“By encouraging manufacturers, suppliers, service providers and firms to co-locate, share common facilities and build well-developed industrial clusters, these and other industries are able to reduce overhead costs through economies of scale and raise innovation, productivity and global competitiveness.

“The bank’s focus on SEZs is hinged on its mandate to support Nigerian businesses. This makes it easy for us to provide a tailored bundle of financial and non- financial services, including capacity building to MSMEs (micro, small and medium-sized enterprises).”

The good financials of the BOI did not come as a surprise to key stakeholders in the Nigerian economy, especially in the manufacturing sector. The President of the Nigerian Employers’

Consultative Asociation (NECA), Mr. Taiwo Adeniyi, who is also the managing director of Vita Foam, told THISDAY in an interview in 2022, that the BOI is one of the few federal government agencies that know how to use its mandate to promote enterprises and job creation.

Adeniyi said: “We cannot say that totally we are not doing well in some areas. I will tell you a small story. In 2010 an organisation that I had worked for wanted to establish a factory in Sierra Leone. It approached the BOI for N750 million. The BOI requested a bank guarantee from the organisation. That organisation went to one of its banks and requested for a bank guarantee but its request was turned down. The organisation went away disappointed because the money did not come out.”

However, the narrative changed following the constitution of a new executive for the BOI by President Buhari’s administration. When the organization went back to the BOI many years after it met the new executives at the bank that facilitated its loan request.

According to Adeniyi, “the same organisation went back to ask for loan from BOI. The personnel’s of BOI guided the organisation in putting its documents together that by the time it got to the bank it will not be rejected.

“The BOI became intentional and were ready to give out the money. The organiation ended up getting N4 billion against the initial request of N750 million.

“I know a number of other organisations that have also benefitted from that because the government was deliberate about it by changing the governance structure in BOI and measuring the bank based on the number of loans it granted to support industries.”

Adeniyi’s view was corroborated by the chief executive of the BOI who said that as the foremost development finance institution (DFI) in Nigeria, the BOI has come a long way in addressing its mandate.

Pitan said in 2019 that “there are about 40 million MSMEs in Nigeria. We have supported thousands of enterprises and have facilitated the creation of millions of jobs.

“However, there is a lot to be done. Over the past four years, the bank has more than tripled its support for SMEs from 7.4 billionin 2015 to 32.8 billion in 2018, and we will do even more in 2019. One of our targets is to increase the share of our loan book in favour of MSMEs as opposed to large enterprises.

“The enterprises we have supported over the years have cut across several sectors, from agroprocessing to creative industries, engineering, technology, fashion, renewable energy, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

“In the creative-industries sector, for example, we supported the likes of Filmhouse Cinemas, Silverbird Cinemas, Terra Kulture Arts and Studios Limited. Today, these companies keep growing so big and continue to provide employment for young Nigerians.”

On September 14, 2022, Fitch Ratings affirmed the BOI’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at ‘B’ with a stable outlook and national long-term rating at ‘AAA (nga).’

Fitch said: “BOI’s long-term IDR is driven by potential support from the Nigerian authorities, as reflected in BOI’s Government Support Rating (GSR) of ‘b’. It is equalised with Nigeria’s sovereign rating and the Stable Outlook on BOI’s Long-Term IDR mirrors that on the sovereign.”

The Bank of Industry put its best foot forward in 2022 and the result is a remarkable financial score card, writes Dike Onwuamaeze

FOREIGN DESK

39 Bodies Dug Up in Kenyan Church’s Fast to Death Crusade

Thirty-nine bodies have been found on land owned by a pastor in coastal Kenya who was arrested for telling his followers to fast to death.

Malindi sub-county police chief John Kemboi said that more shallow graves have yet to be dug up on the land belonging to pastor Paul Makenzi, who was arrested on April 14 over links to cultism.

The total death toll is 43 because a further four people died after they and others were discovered starving at the Good News International Church last week.

Police have asked a court to allow them to hold Makenzi longer as investigations into the deaths of his followers continue.

A tipoff from members of the public led police to raid the pastor’s property in Malindi, where they found 15 emaciated people, including the four who later died. The followers said they were starving on the pastor’s instructions to meet Jesus.

Police had been told dozens of shallow graves spread across Makenzi’s farm, and digging started on Friday.

Makenzi has been on hunger strike for the past four days while in police custody.

The pastor has been arrested twice before, in 2019 and March of this year, concerning the deaths of children. He was released on bond each time, and both cases are still proceeding through the court.

Local politicians have urged the court not to release him this time, decrying the spread of cults in the Malindi area.

Cults are common in Kenya, which has a largely religious society.

Russia Looking to Recruit 400,000 Volunteers to Fight in Ukraine

Russia is looking to recruit “real men” to fight in its invasion of Ukraine, the British Defence Ministry said Sunday in its intelligence update posted on Twitter.

The ads for the new campaign on billboards, TV, and social media sites also feature the financial rewards of signing up for the Russian military, but it is “highly unlikely” that Russia will meet its target of 400,000 volunteer recruits, the British ministry said.

Ukraine announced new sanctions against individuals or legal entities who support or invest in “Russian aggression.”

In his nightly video address Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv has sanctioned 322 companies that manufacture weapons and military components for Russia’s military against Ukraine.

Additional sanctions have been imposed against “individuals and legal entities that help circumvent sanctions against Russia,” he said.

“The task is to remove any opportunity for Russia to circumvent sanctions,” he added, “the tougher the sanctions against the Russian war economy, the faster the end of the aggression will be.”

So far, Western sanctions against Russia have not dampened the wealth of Russian billionaires.

According to Forbes World’s Billionaires list, the wealth of Russia’s billionaires rose to about half a trillion dollars in 2023.

President Lula Seeks Way to Build Peace Between Ukraine, Russia

Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Saturday he did not want to “please anyone” with his views about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after provoking criticism in the West for suggesting Kyiv shared the blame for the war.

Speaking in Lisbon at the start of his first visit to Europe since being elected president, Lula said he aimed to “build a way to bring both of them (Russia and Ukraine) to the table.”

“I want to find a third alternative (to solve the conflict), which is the construction of peace,” he told a news conference.

Last week he said the United States and European allies should stop supplying arms to Ukraine, arguing that they were prolonging

the war.

“If you are not making peace, you are contributing to war,” Lula said.

The White House accused Lula of parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who accompanied Lula at the news conference, said their countries’ stances on the war were different.

Portugal is a founding member of the Western NATO defence alliance and has sent military equipment to Ukraine. Rebelo de Sousa said Ukraine had the right to defend itself and recover its territory.

India, Russia to Strengthen Trade Ties

A 50-member Indian business delegation starts a four-day visit to Russia Monday as both countries seek to deepen economic ties that have grown in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

India and Russia are also in talks for a free trade deal, ministers from the two countries said earlier this week during a visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov to New Delhi.

In recent months, Moscow has become India’s largest supplier of crude oil as sanctions-hit Russia seeks more trade with Asian countries.

New Delhi has not joined US-led Western sanctions on Moscow or condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine outright but has been calling for a negotiated resolution.

It is also continuing to step up its economic engagement with Russia despite Western calls to distance itself from Moscow gradually.

The Indian business delegation headed to Russia is expected to meet buyers in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Women Ignore Iran’s New Hijab Surveillance System

Iran’s new domestic surveillance program for enforcing its mandatory hijab law is having a shaky start, with many women appearing to ignore it, lawyers sharply criticizing it, and activists observed to be plotting to subvert it.

Iranian state media said the program went into effect on April 15. A week earlier, Iran’s national police chief, Ahmad Reza Radan, said it would employ advanced surveillance capabilities, including street cameras, to identify women violating the law requiring them to wear a hijab to cover their hair in public in accordance with an Islamist dress code reviled by secular Iranians.

A video posted Monday on the state-run Tasnim news site used animation to show how part of the program works. It said women caught on camera not wearing a hijab inside vehicles would receive text message warnings from police and could see their vehicles impounded if they ignored those warnings.

How many new cameras were installed for the surveillance programme and where was unclear. Iran had been using street cameras to record traffic violations.

Many women in Iran appear undaunted

by the increased surveillance. Over the past week, VOA Persian has observed a series of what it deems to be credible social media videos showing women in different parts of the country walking unveiled in public in defiance of the hijab law.

Britain Tests-run Emergency Alert System on Millions of Phones

The UK conducted its first test of a new emergency alert service on Sunday, with millions of mobile phones emitting a loud alarm and vibrating.

The national system, modelled on similar schemes in Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States, aims to warn the public if there is a danger to life nearby but has generated criticism over “nanny state” intrusion.

The alert was due to go off at 3:00 pm (1400 GMT), although some phones sounded the alarm before the scheduled time and others minutes later.

Some users on social media complained that they had not received the warning at all.

The alarm was accompanied by a message reading: “This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.”

Emergency services and the government hope to use the system to alert people to issues such as severe flooding and fires. The 10-second alarm, which sounded even if phones were on silent, rang out at entertainment and sporting events, including Premier League football matches.

Organizers of the World Snooker Championship paused play just before the alert, while the Society of London Theatre advised its members to tell audiences to turn off their phones.

Drivers were warned not to pick up their phones during the test, and people who did not wish to receive the alerts were able to opt out in their device settings.

Top Election Official in Myanmar Assassinated by Guerrillas

A top election official in Myanmar was fatally shot in his car in Yangon, the country’s commercial capital, in the latest attack attributed to militants opposed to military rule.

Sai Kyaw Thu, deputy director-general of the military-appointed Union Election Commission, was shot multiple times on Saturday, according to the military’s information office, media reports and a statement of responsibility from an urban guerrilla group.

The information office on Sunday said the attack was carried out by the People’s Defense Force, the loosely organized armed wing of the pro-democracy National Unity Government, an underground group that opposes the military-installed government that was established when the army seized power two years ago.

Many opposition forces, including local People’s Defence Force groups, operate

autonomously from the National Unity Government, but the military labels them all as “terrorists.”

A resistance group calling itself “For The Yangon” said it carried out the attack on Sai Kyaw Thu, a former lieutenant colonel. It declared “Mission: Accomplished” in a Facebook post on Saturday evening, illustrated with three photos of their target.

Special Ops Forces Evacuate US Embassy Staff From Sudan

US special operations forces early Sunday successfully evacuated American diplomats and their families from the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, but other countries were facing more difficulty in getting their people out of Sudan amid continued fighting between warring military factions.

U.S. officials said it took less than an hour to safely evacuate about 70 Americans, sending in MH-47 Chinook helicopters from a U.S. base in Djibouti.

“We did not take any small arms fire on the way in and were able to get in and out without issue,” said Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, the director of operations at the military’s Joint Staff.

Other Americans could be travelling on overland routes out of Sudan. Chris Maier, an assistant secretary of defence, said the US military might use drone or satellite imagery to detect any threats to them or position naval assets at the Port of Sudan to aid Americans arriving there. Britain also announced it evacuated diplomatic staff and their families from Sudan.

Serbs in North Kosovo Boycott Local Elections

Serbs in northern Kosovo boycotted local elections on Sunday in protest that their demands for more autonomy have not been met, in another sign that a peace deal signed between Kosovo and Serbia last month is not working.

The main political party in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, Serbian List, called on Friday on the Serb community not to vote on Sunday.

“Except in some rare and very few cases, Serbs are boycotting the elections,” an official from the central election commission, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters on Sunday.

Serbia and the Kosovo Serbs are demanding the creation of an association of Kosovo Serb municipalities, in line with a decade-old EU-brokered deal with the Kosovo government in Pristina, before they take part in the vote.

Fearing possible violence on Sunday, the central election commission abandoned plans to put voting booths in schools and instead set up mobile huts at 13 locations, while NATO troops from Latvia and Italy, part of a more than 3,000-strong peacekeeping force in Kosovo, patrolled roads in voting areas.

Election officials in Zubin Potok, a municipality inhabited mainly by Serbs, were on standby in case any voters showed up.

COMPILED

RESUSCITATING ABUJA CULTURAL VILLAGE...

L-R: Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Olusegun Runsewe; Director, Special Duties, Office of Dire

Society of Nigerian Artists, Mr. Muhammed Suleiman, during a press briefing on the plan to resuscitate

Nnamani: Obi Knew He Couldn’t Win Presidential Election Yet

Says his petition dead on arrival, ego-driven, joke carried too far Advises ex-Anambra gov to withdraw case, align with Tinubu

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

A former Governor of Enugu State, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, yesterday, said the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, knew he could not win the 2023 presidential election,

because he neither had the spread nor the requisite national appeal.

Nnamani who described Obi’s petition as dead on arrival, ego-driven, and a joke carried too far, however, advised him to withdraw his case, and align with the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Ogun: APC Slams Adebutu over Comments on Election Petition

James Sowole in Abeokuta

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Ogun State, has slammed the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the just concluded election, Hon Ladi Adebutu, over his comments boasting that his petition on the 2023 governorship election would succeed.

The APC, however, asked Adebutu, to desist from his alleged bullying of the judiciary and cyber-stalking of the Dapo Abiodun Administration.

The APC statement came against a viral video in which Adebutu, had assured his people that his petition would succeed at the election petition tribunal.

Spokesperson of the APC, Tunde Oladunjoye, said having submitted their “wobbly petition, the PDP and its loquacious candidate should allow justice to take its course. You cannot be a petitioner and judge at the same time. Election petition is not won on the social media.”

In the press statement titled: “If wishes were horses, losers will win,” the APC remarked that, “Adebutu’s persistent bullying of the judiciary, peddling of lies against the government and inciting the citizens, is the worst version of what defective petitioners do to give non-existent hope to gullible followers to keep them in check and securely warehoused.”

The statement described Adebutu’s

appeal for pity as a devious tactic, saying the PDP candidate was raising fear, where there was none by alleging that some civil servants were being victimised because of their voting preferences.

Pointing out that Adebutu’s hallucinations and bloated sense of self-worth was hinged on the supposed power of his pre-packaged N10,000ATM cards that he felt must give him victory, Oladunjoye wondered how Abiodun could have punished any voters when voting was done in secret.

He challenged Adebutu to show how and when Abiodun assumed supernatural powers to identify those who voted for him and those who did not.

He said, “It is indeed funny that a gubernatorial candidate credibly accused of violation of the Electoral Act through documented and unprecedented vote buying is not content with submitting a flawed petition to the Election Petitions Tribunal, but is taking actions that are clearly subjudice; loading the public space with videos purveying vile propaganda.

“The petition they are hyping is nothing but foul smoke that will be blown away with the wind. They fantasised about votes to be deducted from APC votes! This is laughable. They have been deceived by rookie statisticians who came up with all manner of strange allegations, expecting their one-winged petition to fly.

The Senator, who is representing Enugu East in the National Assembly, in a statement personally signed, urged Obi and his supporters "to align with the ebullience and conviviality welcoming Tinubu's victory to the office of the president of the greatest black nation on earth."

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa/NEPAD, alleged that what Obi

was doing with the petition was "bad belle, petulance and demarketing, "adding that, "Obi knows he has neither spread nor national appeal to win the presidential election.

"His Petition is dead on arrival. He does not have the spread or national appeal. His appeal to non electoral matters is to demarket the president-elect and besmirch his reputation. He does not have

near spread and national appeal. His petition is ego-driven, joke carried too far. His attempt to highlight on non-electoral issues is trying to embarrass President elect.

"Obi needs to come down from his high horse to allow sedate minds to negotiate on behalf of the Igbo and South East for safe landing to include our stake in the national Palavar and Share of the accruals

of the commonwealth.

"We must join the main stream and participate in the making of a new Nigeria. We are not going any where. We dey kampe and ready to bargain for our own share. It is a common knowledge that others are doing the same. Igbo have to confront reality now or be consigned to the backwoods of history. Time to align is now," he stated.

World Earth Day: Edo Govt Urges Stakeholders to Support Campaign to Protect Environment

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

The Edo State government has urged stakeholders to support initiatives and implementation of reforms that would ensure a cleaner, greener and healthier environment.

Speaking during a sensitisation programme to commemorate the 2023 World Earth Day, Edo State Commissioner for Environment and Sustainability, Engr. Osasere Evbuomwan, was quoted in a statement to have urged stakeholders and groups to support campaigns to enlighten members of the public on their roles in achieving a sustainable environment.

He said the sensitisation should focus on the need for proper disposal of wastes, activities that discourage deforestation and other practices that degrade the environment.

The commissioner said the damages to the environment through everyday practices and livelihoods had resulted in a drastic climatic change, which necessitates the need for taking proper care of the environment.

He noted, “The climate has already changed. When it rains we should desist from doing things the way we are used to because once it rains

and the gutters become unable to take the water out, the water will come back to your homes which will lead to serious damage, loss of lives and properties.

“We encourage people to clear gutters in their neighborhoods and ensure your surroundings remain clean and green.”

On his part, Permanent Secretary,

Ministry of Environment and Sustainability, Joel Edionwe, added that the state government was investing in the environment in all its facets to make Edo clean and green.

Also, the president of nongovernmental organisations in Edo state, Abiola Daisy, appealed to stakeholders for the concerted effort to achieve a clean, healthy

environment.

He added: “Please let's keep our environment clean. Let's join hands to make sure the environment is clean. Let us desist from dumping our refuses in gutters and other unauthorized/illegal dumpsites. A clean environment ensures better health for everyone and it starts with you and I.”

Expert Harps on Human Capacity Building to Drive Economic Growth

Emma Okonji

Founder and Group Managing Director of SystemSpecs Holdings

Limited, Mr. John Obaro, has called on Nigerian universities to take the lead in grooming a new generation of leaders who can compete with their foreign counterparts in the digital age.

Obaro made the call while delivering a keynote address on:

‘Raising a New Generation of Leaders in a Digital Age: The Role of the Nigerian Ivory Towers’, at the 5th Matriculation Ceremony of Trinity University, Yaba, recently. Obaro, emphasised the

DECADE OF GAS: NCDMB ADVOCATES ANNUAL REPORTING OF IMPLEMENTATION STATUS

industrialisation of Nigeria, sustainable creation of wealths and jobs for investors and populace and optimal exploration and utilisation of the country's abundant resources.

Other objectives of the Decade of Gas plan, according to him, were ensuring Nigeria's energy security amid global energy supply and demand changes, enhancement of technology adaptation and development of key energy infrastructure, and achieving Nigeria's commitment to netzero.

Ahmed maintained that the programme also aimed at diversification

of Nigeria's revenue sources from export of only crude oil as well as realising the overall economic development of the nation.

He stated, "This programme was launched by the honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources in 2021 and it's fully supported by the oil and gas industry and all necessary institutions of government.

"NMDPRA is committed to ensuring that the clear and compelling aspirations of the programme are fully actualised by providing leadership, authority resource, office space for the project

team and all other requirements for successful execution of the programme.

"Success of the Decade of Gas, however, depends on the following: establishing right pricing and tariffs for gas molecules and services; availability of critical transportation and distribution infrastructure; sufficient domestic gas supply and delivery; robust and strategic utilisation infrastructure; payment securitization for deliverable molecules; payment of legacy gas debts; incentivising and de-risking critical investments.

"We are making steady progress

on all of the above. First, NMDPRA is finalising on gas prices and tariffs in consultation with stakeholders as required by the PIA. Secondly, NNPC and other investors are progressing on critical infrastructure."

Ahmed also informed that NMDPRA and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) were ensuring that all current and projected domestic gas demand was met, whether volumes, quality, prices and business rules through the instrument of the Domestic Gas Delivery Obligation (DGDO) and the

importance of human capacity building towards creating a strong foundation of talent that could thrive in the face of technological advancements and solve local problems to drive economic growth in Nigeria.

He urged Nigerian universities to develop a curriculum that equips students with necessary skills to create and use technology to solve local problems and instil essential attributes such as flexibility, effective communication, emotional intelligence, and collaboration in the next generation of leaders.

Obaro, highlighted the importance of collaboration

National Gas Transportation Network Code (NGTNC).

He added that the Authority was making effective regulations and relevant facilitation for the establishment of strategic gas utilisation facilities such as methanol plants, gas distribution systems, Autogas programme, almond others.

According to him, NMDPRA and other relevant stakeholders like the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission were putting in mechanisms to ensure payment to strategic sectors was secured and

between the academia, industry, and government in developing the next generation of trendsetters and urged universities to partner with relevant stakeholders to ensure that their curriculum is relevant to the needs of industry and society.

“As we evolve into a digital age, it is critical that our universities play a leading role in developing young leaders who can navigate and thrive in this new era. Nigerian universities must review and revamp their curriculum, strengthen their research capabilities, and encourage critical thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship to develop the minds of the youth," Obaro said.

assured for gas-to-power and that the GSSF was activated and hundred per cent effective.

He stated further that discussions were ongoing with the Commission and the Federal Ministry of Finance on workable plans to clear legacy gas supply debts.

Ahmed also disclosed that the Midstream/Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund was being activated to incentivise and de-risk investments into critical and strategic gas projects in the midstream and downstream sectors.

ctor General, NCAC, Mr. Gerald Adewole, and President,

Abuja Cultural Village i n Abuja ... recently ENOCK REUBEN

ITPN STAKEHOLDERS RETREAT FOR TOURISM PROFESSIONALS...

Service Chiefs Fete Wounded Troops at Sallah, Say Welfare of Personnel Top Priority

Troops kill seven bandits in Zamfara 94,655 insurgents surrender to troops

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya and his counterpart, Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Isiaka Amao, weekend, feted wounded troops

of the North-east Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, on order to boost their morale in the critical stage of the ongoing counter terrorism and insurgency operations.

2023 Polls: NILDS, WFD, IPAC Lament Poor Number of Elected Women

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, (NILDS), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), and the InterParty Advisory Council (IPAC) have described as unacceptable, the unimpressive figures of women who got elected at the just concluded general elections.

Despite their huge population, women did not produce a female governor, got just three seats the Senate, 15 in the House of Representatives and 55 seats in the various State houses of Assembly, at the end of the recently conducted general election.

Participants at a one-day Dialogue on Inclusive Practices of Political Parties in Nigeria organised by NILDS in conjunction with WFD in Abuja at the weekend, described the development as unacceptable.

The forum had in attendance, representatives of the 18 registered political parties in the country.

Speakers at the event, he blamed the development, partly on the inadequate representation of women, Persons With Disabilities (PWD) in the administration of political parties in Nigeria.

They challenged the women, who formed half of the nation's voting population, to tackle the men in subsequent elections in the country.

They noted that the low number of women among the executive of the various political parties in the country led to their poor outing in the last general election.

They attributed the poor outing of women in the last election to their inadequate representation in the executive of political parties.

The NILDS and WFD insisted that a situation where only 55 women

got elected into the various state Houses of Assembly, three into the Senate and 15 into House of Representatives at the end of the recently conducted general elections, were grossly inadequate.

The Director for Democracy and Development in NILDS, Dr. Adewale Aderemi, said the trend must be changed ahead of the 2027 general election.

Issues of inclusivity he explained, must be factored in future elections to protect the vulnerable.

He said, “Political parties are the fulcrum of any democracy. We’ve spent so much in training political parties and very little has come back. We’re trying to come up with a new approach on how to address the issue of making political parties more vibrant.

"This dialogue is about inclusivity. There are cries that women, youths and disabled are not well represented within the political space. We’ve conducted a research to find areas of weaknesses in the system of our political parties.

"Anything that will sustain the political parties, we will be part of it. We need to fix the problem of inclusivity. Are there mechanisms within the political system that accommodate the underrepresented?”

In his own submissions, Country Director of WFD, Adebowale Olorunmola, noted that there were over 30 million disabled people in the country, but wondered why they were not well represented in the affairs of political parties.

Olorunmola said, “The essence of this gathering is to deepen democracy. If we look at the records in recent times, not very encouraging.

"Over 30 million Nigerians have different forms of disabilities based on United Nations definition. We need to open the space.

This is as troops of Operation Hadarin Daji have vanquished seven terrorists and destroyed several bandits camps in Zamfara State.

The combined salah luncheon, said a military statement, availed the service chiefs the opportunity to commemorate and celebrate the spirit of the Eid-el-Fitr with troops of Operation Hadin Kai especially, the Muslim faithful.

Also, the Theater Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, Maj Gen Ibrahim Ali, said military operations forced more terrorists to surrender, adding that, so far, 94, 655 insurgents had surrendered to troops.

The service chiefs, who were visibly impressed with the performance of the troops, reaffirmed their commitment to their welfare during a Sallah luncheon organised in honour of the troops by the Headquarters Theatre Command at the Maimalari Military Cantonment, Maiduguri, Borno State.

The duo maintained that welfare of troops remained top priority.

In his remarks, Yahaya stated that those wounded in action would continue to receive the support and special vocational training to help them cope with their new health status and overcome psychological trauma.

He also added that he embarked

on mass housing development project to assuage the housing challenges faced by personnel after retirement.

Yahaya noted that due to the introduction of reasonable discounts by the Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL) in favour of its personnel, the project would provide the necessary succour of post-retirement housing.

The COAS reiterated that the initiative was in line with his cardinal mission of making the welfare of personnel a priority to transform the Nigerian Army as aptly captured in his vision. He added that this had partly informed his drive in the construction and rehabilitation of numerous facilities across army formations and units, ranging from living accommodations, office complexes, training schools, and other support facilities in the barracks.

On his part, Amao represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans COPP (NAF) Air Vice Marshal Idi Lubo commended the theatre commander, all officers and men of OPHK for their hardwork, dedication to duty, loyalty, patriotism and sacrifice in the conduct of operations to defeat the insurgents and bringing about lasting peace to our country.

He said successes recorded were not only a clear indication of the desire of the Armed Forces

of Nigeria to build capacities in defence of the country but “also a testimony that my vision for the Nigerian Air Force which is to enhance and sustain critical airpower capabilities required for joint force employment in pursuit of national security imperatives is already yielding positive result.

"Our collective effort has ensured that BHTs/ISWAP fighting elements in the region have no breathing space. Your efforts are yielding the desired results and I urge you not to rest on your oars," he said.

In his congratulatory message, the Governor of Borno State, Prof Babagana Zulum, represented by the Acting Head of Service, Mallam Fannami, thanked the service Chiefs, Theatre Commander, soldiers and officers of the Operation HADIN KAI, 7 Division, Nigerian Army for organising the sallah luncheon for wounded soldiers and personnel of the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air force.

Meanwhile, the Theater Commander, Operation Hadin Kai, Maj Gen Ibrahim Ali, has said military operations had forced more terrorists to surrender, and that some 94, 655 insurgents had surrendered to troops.

Ali assured the people that, "We would not be complacent to avoid a reversal of the gains already made, rather, we would continue to be more decisive and intensify

the strangulation strategy, which encompasses kinetic and non-kinetic efforts against the terrorists."

While stating the significance of the occasion, the theatre commander noted that it afforded the service chiefs the opportunity to appreciate huge sacrifices by troops in restoring peace and normalcy to the entire North-east region, and thanked the service Chiefs for their very visible concern for troops’ welfare in Operation Hadin Kai.

"It has indeed spurred us to strive for more successes. We are indebted to your many visits to the theatre, which have come with definite benefits to the theatre in terms of heightened troops morale, equipment support and provision of strategic guidance for operational activities."

In a related development, troops of Operation Hadarin Daji, have vanquished seven terrorists and destroyed several bandits camps in Zamfara State.

A military statement said troops conducted clearance Operations in Birnin Tsaba, Tsanu, Lamba, Gabas, Gidan Kaso, and Dumburum Forest in Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State and made contact with terrorists.

It said troops neutralised seven terrorists, destroyed several bandits camps and recovered seven motorcycles, two empty AK 47 magazines and one Baofeng radio.

Makinde on 2nd Term: We'll Not Relent Until We Achieve Our Goals

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

Oyo State Governor, 'Seyi Makinde, yesterday, declared that his administration would not relent until it achieves its set goals as itemised in the roadmap for sustainable development of Oyo State, 2023-2027.

The governor, while speaking yesterday at the special thanksgiving organised in his honour and to celebrate the 89th birthday of his Aunt, Chief (Mrs.) Victoria Modupe Alo (Mama Akure), reassured the people of his dedication to the growth and development of the state.

The thanksgiving witnessed by members of the Makinde and

Omorege families as well as top government officials was held at the Rehoboth Cathedral, Victory International Church, Complex, Oluyole, Ibadan.

Makinde called on religious leaders and residents of the state to continue to pray for his administration, stating that people in government needed divine wisdom to navigate through the treacherous and slippery political terrain.

Accordimg to him, his administration was able to achieve close to 80 per cent of its set goals under Omituntun 1.0, and that he would not relent until he achieved all the set goals itemised under

Omituntun 2.0.

While congratulating Mama Alo at 89, the governor prayed that she would continued to enjoy good health and long life.

"After the March 18 (governorship election), this is an opportunity to also appreciate you for giving us the mandate for another four years. For the first term, we have achieved 80 per cent of what we promised to do for the people of Oyo State. This second term, I would like to assure us that we will do more.

“People do say that second term governors don't perform effectively, but we already came up with a roadmap for sustainable development

of Oyo State, 2023-2027, and we will not relent until we achieve what we have itemised in the document.

"Let me also say you need to continue to pray for us as we need divine wisdom so that we can be able to navigate through the treacherous and slippery political terrain."

Earlier, in his sermon, titled "Divine wisdom," the Presiding Bishop of the Victory International Cathedral, Pastor Taiwo Adelakun, admonished political office holders and leaders to always seek divine wisdom, while praying for the success of the governor's second term in office.

L-R; Director, Ogun State Ministry of Culture & Tourism, Mrs Seun Tokunbo Peters; Special Adviser, South West, Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria, Mr. Charles Ukomadu; State Coordinator of the Institute, Hon. Abolaji Kelani; Ogun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Hon. Motunrayo Adijat Adeleye-Oladapo and Vice President, Southwest Zone of the institute, Otunba Ayo Olumoko during the Stakeholders and new members retreat for Ogun State Chapter of the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria in Abeokuta....recently.

ABIODUN AJALA

FIDELITY BANK LAUNCHES FOOD BANK…

L-R: Parish Priest, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Victoria Island, Lagos, Rev. Father Julius Olaitan; Executive Director/Chief Operations and Information Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mr. Stanley Amuchie; Managing Director/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, and Assistant Parish Priest, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Rev. Father Oscar Obi John, at the launch of the Fidelity Food Bank in Lagos…recently

Kidnap: Police Rescue Victim, Neutralise One Suspect in Ebonyi

Police Command in Ebonyi yesterday rescued a kidnapped victim and killed one suspect in the state.

Spokesperson of the Command, SP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, in a statement in Abakaliki, said the officers and men also arrested two suspected kidnappers and recovered three riffles.

According to the statement, “today(yesterday) being April 23,

the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Faleye Olaleye, received a distress call that a clergy had been kidnapped.”

“He immediately went into action by mobilising the tactical teams and the Divisional Police Officer of Ebonyi Division to cordon and barricade marked out areas.

“The Department of State Service was equally involved in getting the location of the

Don’t Allow Elections to Divide Us, Cleric Urges Political Leaders

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The National Amir of the Daaru-r- Rahmat (DARMAT) Islamic Organisation, Sheikh Musibaudeen Olawale, has advised political leaders in the country not to allow the just concluded general election to divide the country, rather to cement the country’s unity, peace and progress.

This is just as the organisation fed about 500 people during the just concluded Ramadan fast while five persons, including non-members, were empowered through its Zakat outreach so as to reduce poverty in the society.

In a statement issued in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to mark the celebration of the Eid-el-Fitr, Sheikh Olawale stated

that: “Nigeria is our country; we don’t have another country, and we must be united to move the country forward.”

According to the statement, “No doubt, the election is over and we have all learnt one or two lessons to reshape the future of such.

“The methods of the ecosystem would be of our benefit where everyone comes together as a unit to address our challenges in an effort of an individual to create a serene environment and nip in the bud any unruffled or vices of destruction.

“All our leaders should remember that this life is a sojourn for all of us and we shall account all our deeds before the Creator of universe.”

Group Tasks Tinubu on Restructuring

James Sowole in Abeokuta

A group, Yoruba Commitment Leaders (YCL), has tasked the incoming administration of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu to make the issue of restructuring of the country a top priority in his programmes.

The group, which made the call in a statement signed by its Convener, Mr. Tayo Onayemi, and made available to journalists in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, noted that the tendon holding the country together has suffered so much trauma in the last 60 years, stressing that “it is only by restructuring the country that its continued existence can be guaranteed.

Others, who signed the statement included Chief Buky Tunde, Oshunrinde, Mr. Akeem Aponmade, and Mrs Sola Maja

The group said the stand of the Yoruba Commitment Leaders on Yoruba Nation freedom agitation is irreversible despite the election of Tinubu as the president-

elect, saying his election is not synonymous with the group’s demand.

He added that “long before the election of Tinubu, many Yoruba sons and daughters have not only noticed the lopsidedness in the Nigerian federation but have in fact experienced the harsh injustice it has produced. It is this experience and the need to put an end to it that gave birth to the Yoruba determination consciousness.

“We want Nigerians to know that this consciousness predated the formation of any Yoruba determination group, as an idea must come before any action.

“It is an idea borne out of the reality of a slavery-like relationship, where one tribe acts like a lord and others are treated as second-class citizens.

“It is an idea that seeks emancipation and equality as the only way in which the federating units should continue to live together as an entity. It is an imperishable idea.”

victim.

“The kidnappers were intercepted along Ndofia Ishieke and Edupfu Egbu Ishieke in Ebonyi Local Government Area, where they abandoned the victim

and took to their heels while exchanging gunshots with the Police to pave way for their escape.

“Unfortunately, they were over-powered by the superior fire power of the Police, which led

to one of them being neutralised and the arrest of two principal suspects,” Onovwakpoyeya explained.

The Spokesperson noted that two AK 47 rifles and one lar rifle

were recovered as well as two vehicles, including that of the victim were also recovered. The command warned criminals in the state to lay down their arms or leave the state.

Abe Supports Relocation of Rivers Election Tribunal to Abuja

Blessing IbungeinPortHarcourt Governorship Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe, has commended the relocation of the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal from Port Harcourt to Abuja.

Abe, who spoke in Port Harcourt, said the relocation was in the best

interest of the people of the State. He said it would have been difficult for opposition political parties and their candidates to appear before the tribunal if it had sat in the state capital.

The gubernatorial candidate of SDP in the March 18 election alleged that members of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers were forced to adopt the governorship

candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Siminalaye Fubara, as the candidate of the state.

He said: “I think that anybody who has been watching developments in Rivers State will see that there was really no way the tribunal could sit in Port Harcourt.

“Even the opportunity for members of the opposition parties to access INEC Office in

Port Harcourt and be able to get materials or information from INEC to enable them present their petitions before the tribunal was physically and violently resisted.

“People were beaten up; nobody could go near the INEC Office. The place was kept under siege and the police allowed this to go for days. Nothing was done to bring it under control.

Omo-Agege Urged to Congratulates Delta State Governor-elect

Sylvester Idowu in Warri

The immediate past Secretary of Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Nick Ovuakporie has urged the defeated candidate of the party, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to be a statesman by congratulating the Governorelect in the State, Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori of the Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP).

Ovuakporie, who defected to the PDP on January 24, few weeks to the Presidential and Governorship elections made the call weekend while speaking with journalists in Warri, Delta State. He urged the Deputy President of the Senate to be statesman enough and make the call to congratulate the

governor-elect rather than wasting energies on election petition that will lead him nowhere.

“For me, Senator OmoAgege should congratulate the Governor-elect. He should congratulate His Excellency in the waiting, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, the Governor-elect. Senator Omo-Agege should congratulate him. He cannot

appeal or challenge the verdict of the electorates especially in a situation where the election was conducted in a freest manner.

“Let him be a statesman enough and make the call to congratulate the winner, and join hands with him to move the State forward. There is no need for unnecessary bickering. Senator Omo-Agege should congratulate the winner,” he said.

Labour Leaders, Students, Others Laud Imo Charter of Equity

A cross section of the society has lauded the Imo State Charter of Equity for rotation of power among the three Senatorial zones formalized and adopted by the Imo State Council of Elders.,

Among those who have hailed the action of the elders are labour leaders, traders,

civil society organisations and students.

The Imo Charter of Equity unanimously adopted by the Imo State Council of Elders is meant to clear the way for smooth transfer and rotation of the office of governor among the three Senatorial zones of Okigwe, Orlu and

Owerri.

The various groups have also okayed the re-election bid of Governor Hope Uzodimma, who they said had done so well to deserve another term.

State President Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Imo State, Richard Eze, stated:

“On the issue of Charter of Equity, we are also in support that after his (Uzodimma’s) eight years, by the Grace of God, the power should shift to Owerri Zone, and when Owerri Zone takes care of their eight years, it should also go down to Okigwe Zone.

Projects Concession to Raise N180bn Revenue, Says ICRC

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), has said that the approval of the concessioning of its two projects by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) would attract N180 billion revenue to Nigeria.

A statement issued in Abuja yesterday by Acting Head, Media and Publicity, ICRC,

Ifeanyi Nwoko, said the projects included the Cassava Bio-mass and Bio-ethanol Value Chain and National Fire Detection And Alarm System (NAFDAS).

Nwoko said the concessioning was to create wealth, reduce poverty, improve food security and nutrition, provide jobs and renewable

energy, and reduce carbon footprint.

“While the NAFDAS project will generate a total of N75 billion in the 15-year concession period, the cassava bio-ethanol value chain will generate a total revenue of N105 billion within the five-year concession period.

“The cassava bio-ethanol value chain, which will be done

on a pilot phase, aims to build a Bio-technology Industrial Park on a 20-hectare plot across 20 universities, academia and research and development institutes.

“In the pilot phase, 5,000 special hybrid cassava (TME 419) stems will be planted per hectare, (totalling) 100,000 stems for the 20 hectares,” he said.

A’Ibom Gov Pledges Peaceful Transition

Okon Bassey in Uyo

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, has reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring a peaceful and seamless transition to the incoming administration. He stated this at the weekend

when he took delivery of the report of the Transition/ Handing-over Notes Drafting Committee during an enlarged State Executive Council meeting.

The governor, who presided over the meeting at the Executive Council Chamber,

Government House in Uyo, pledged continuous support for the incoming administration for its smooth running of the state.

According to him, “It is going to be a very peaceful, seamless transition. That’s why our transition report is

early enough so that they can understudy, and the committee he is going to set can advise him accordingly on how to go about it in its implementation.

“We owe the incoming administration all the support and all the explanations to help them succeed.”

COURTESY VISIT TO UZODIMMA…

L-R: President, Nzuko Umunna (NU) Prof. Chika Moore; in-coming Executive Secretary, NU, Dr. Uju Agomoh; Planning Committee member, Iyom Josephine Aneni; in-coming President, NU, Prof. Chinedu Nebo; Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma; Leader of Delegation and Chairman of Committee, Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu; member, Planning Committee, Prof Maurice Iwu; in-coming Vice President, NU, Prof Emeka Ezeonu, and Secretary, Planning Committee, Dr. Kachi Nwoga, during a visit to Uzodimma in Owerri…recently

Lesser Hajj Pilgrim Arrested at Lagos Airport with 14.4kg Cocaine

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, a widower, Ariyibi Olaseinde, and a divorcee, Silifat Akanbi, with 14.4 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in lace and

Ankara fabrics while attempting to take it to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.

According to a statement issued by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, Ariyibi was intercepted last Thursday at the screening point of MMIA Terminal 2 during outward clearance of

Five-storey Building Collapses in Lagos

Rebecca Ejifoma

A five-storey building under construction at 45 Ladipo Oluwole in the Apapa GRA, Lagos State, yesterday collapsed. This tragic incident is coming barely 72 hours after a sevenstorey building caved in on the Banana Island area of the state.

According to the Lagos State Government, the developer ignored the ‘stop work and seal up orders’ of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).

The physical planning

incident management had flagged the incident on its platform yesterday evening.

“This triggered immediate preliminary inquiries that showed that officers of LASBCA had issued a number of contravention notices: ‘stop work and seal up orders’, which the developer ignored and carried on with construction without any recourse whatsoever to the authorities,” the statement added.

While there was no casualty record, the agency has cordoned off and taken over the site.

NGO Launches Project to Help Boy Child

Yetunde Bello

An non-governmental organisation(NGO), Elizabethan Humanitarian Life Foundation has launched a project called ‘Rescue The Boyz’ to help boy child draw the world’s attention to the neglect areas that could cost them the essence of humanity.

Speaking at the launch last week in Lagos, the Founder of the NGO Mrs. Oyinade Samuel Eluwole, Lagos said one of the reasons why the project was designed was to identify and prepare young adults to be their best in the

society.

She said the foundation is a life cycle-based intervention for male gender at all levels.

According to her, the foundation is a passionate one who silently and carefully studied the environment, listening to people and wanting to be there for all if possible, explaining that over the years, she had seen and she is still seeing people going through things that made them lose their sense of belongings, which invariably created bitterness towards society at large.

Finalists Emerge in Nigeria Info’s Debate Tournament

After weeks of intense debate sessions on a broad spectrum of socio-political and economic issues, Ruth Okorocha, a 15-year-old student of Kingsway College, and Ramadan Oladipupo, a 15-year-old student of the Federal Government College, Ijanikin, have emerged as the finalists of Nigeria Info’s I Beg to Differ Student Debate Tournament.

Ruth and Ramadan

Qatar Airways passengers travelling from Lagos via Doha to Medina, Saudi Arabia, when his carry-on bag was checked, four sets of white lace material with

linings of substance that tested positive to cocaine weighing 11.5 kilogrammes were discovered.

Babafemi said the suspect, who claimed to be a widower

and an advertising practitioner, disclosed that his original plan was to ingest the drugs but had to change his mind after failed attempts to swallow bitter cola,

which he was using to practice the process. He is expected to be paid N1.8 million upon successful delivery of the consignment in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Six Dead As Bus Bursts Into Flames Near Kara Bridge in Lagos

About six persons died yesterday following an auto crash around the popular Kara Bridge along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

According to Channels Television, the incident happened in quick succession from the bus somersaulting to it bursting into flames leading to the fatalities.

Eyewitnesses said the dead victims were the bus driver, two

children, and three women.

The Lagos Sector Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) confirmed the accident.

The Lagos Deputy Corps Commander (Operations), Lucas Oguntade explained that while some casualties were recorded, some victims were rescued and had been taken to the hospital for medical attention.

“As we speak, the rescue operation is not yet concluded. There are some deaths, while some are rescued and have been taken to the hospital,” Oguntade said.

On the cause of the crash, he stated that the idea of speeding is from a layman’s perspective.

The official, however, explained that the Commission has begun

a probe into the incident with a view to avoiding a reoccurrence soon.

“From the look of things, we know that the vehicle somersaulted and resulted in this high level of casualties. “Meanwhile, the investigation must be concluded before we can now give a holistic appraisal of the incident,” he added.

A’Ibom Monarch Expresses Satisfaction with State Map Law

Okon Bassey in Uyo

The Paramount Ruler of Eket Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Edidem Etim C. D. Abia, has expressed satisfaction that with the state Map Establishment Law 2023 passed by the state House of Assembly into law, the state now has its official map.

He said: “What was circulated in the past was not an official map, it was something someone drew and the people used it and that map created a lot of problems.”

The monarch explained that the unity and peaceful coexistence would be engendered following the Akwa Ibom State Map Establishment Law official

2023.

Fielding questions from journalists in his palace in Eket, the king noted that the state map was important as it would bring an end to years of disputes over boundaries between neighbouring communities.

According to him, “We couldn’t have continued as a state without having a map,

an official gazetted map.” He commended the Governor, Udom Emmanuel, for his courage and determination in ensuring that the state had an official map, which he described as a vital tool for ensuring peace and stability, adding: “This map is expected to show clearly where the boundary of each local government area is and bring to an end all the fights.

Enugu Polytechnic Business School to Improve ICT Innovation in Nigeria

Gideon Arinze in Enugu

Executive Director of the Enugu State Polytechnic, Iwollo Business and Innovation School (EBIS), Roland Ediawe, has said that the institution will further contribute to the growth and development of the information communication technology (ICT) sector in Nigeria.

Ediawa, who made this

known yesterday in Enugu, during the official inauguration of the school, said that the school intends to organise a boot camp for secondary school students that would expose them early enough to technology.

He noted that the school, which is based on a Public Private Partnership between the Enugu State Polytechnic and a

firm, Preziko Investment Limited, would begin its academic activities in May with selected courses.

Ediawa explained that the initiative would not have come at a better time than now when the world is fast moving towards technology which has continued to disrupt different sectors, including the business world.

“We have discovered that

modern business skills are lacking among the graduates, artisans and informal sector, hence this school is developed to bridge that gap, train the existing business owners on how best to manage their businesses, leveraging on modern technology and prepare graduates on challenges of the modern-day employment market,” Ediawe said.

JAMB: Registration Continues after 2023 UTME, National Census

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

successfully defeated Deborah Pamzat, a 16-year-old student of the Lagos State Model Senior College, and Tanvita Koushik, a 15-year-old student of Avi-Cenna International Student, at the semi-final stages as they debated on the topics entitled “Religious Leaders and Institutions Should Stay Out of Politics” and “Insurance Is a Viable Product for Developing Countries” respectively.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that it will be postponing the continuation of its Direct Entry (DE) registration, which was scheduled to close on April 20, 2023, but was extended by one week to continue on May 6, 2023, when the 2023 UTME

and the national census exercise would have ended.

The Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, disclosed this in a statement issued yesterday.

The statement said: “This development is to accommodate the conduct of the Board’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination(UTME) billed to

start on April 25, 2023, and end on May 3, 2023, while the national census is scheduled to start on May 3, 2023, and end on May 5, 2023.

“Candidates desiring to register for the DE exercise are, therefore, directed to ensure that they obtain their DE ePINs from designated vending outlets on or before April 30, 2023, when ePIN vending

would be closed. Candidates are then expected to proceed to the Board’s offices from April 6, 2023, to May 13, 2023, to complete their registration procedure. The Board assured all candidates desirous of DE registration that none would be denied the opportunity to register provided they comply with the Board’s directives and within the stipulated time frame.

Compensate North-west Region with Senate Presidency, Group Urges President-elect

Segun James

The Support Group for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the North-west region has urged the president-elect to consolidate on the electoral gains he made in the North-west region and should not compromise in compensating the region.

The group made the call in a statement signed by the youth leader for the All Progressives Congress (APC) North-West, Hon. Abdulalmid Umar, saying the president-elect would be building on the strong political base he had achieved during the last election in the Northwest by compensating the zone with the

Senate presidency.

“If side stepped, the zone which had returned greatest votes for the president-elect would be discouraged, and see no reason to work as hard or harder in the next election,” the group said, adding that the group might be tempted to go for a Northern candidate in the next election if one

is fielded. Umar who attested to the hard work put in to deliver huge votes for the president-elect in spite of formidable opponents in the zone from other political parties said it would only be proper to compensate them with zoning the Senate presidency to the North-west zone.

BACKPAGE CONTINUATION

AMUTA, PETER OBI AND THE ‘OBIDIENT’S’ THRIVING TYRANNY

Vice President Atiku Abubakar was declared by governors of the 19 Northern states to be the political leader of the North by virtue of being the region’s highest elected official. It was not a partisan effort because ten of the Northern governors were PDP members while the other nine were ANPP members. Some of them, such as Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, were fiercely critical of the Obasanjo federal administration but they still agreed that Atiku should be anointed the leader. This time around, the 19 Northern governors are scattered in three political parties, not two. After May 29, thirteen of them will be APC, five of them will be PDP and one of them will be an NNPP member. During the 2023 election cycle, APC lost Kano, Plateau and Zamfara States but it recaptured Sokoto and Benue States, for a net loss of one state. PDP lost Sokoto and Benue states and recaptured Plateau, for a net loss of one state, while NNPP captured Kano, its first ever state. Will the 19 of them re-enact the tradition of 2000AD and anoint a “Leader of the North” in succession to Atiku? Interestingly, there was no such ceremony to anoint Architect Namadi Sambo as Northern leader when he was Vice President in the Jonathan Administration. We do not yet know why. Southern Nigerians do not appear to think in the same way. During the Second Republic when Dr. Alex Ekwueme was Vice President of the Federal Republic, there was no event or even a newspaper article that I remember, where he was declared to be the leader of Southern Nigeria. The political environment at the time had something to do with it, because with overwhelming political leaders such as Chief Obafemi

Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe still on the scene, no one could easily lay claim to being the leader. Professor Yemi Osinbajo has also been Vice President for the last eight years but no one declared him to be the leader of the South either, or even of the Southwest.

Even though Northern Region ceased to be a single political entity 56 years ago, the relative political unity it generated during its life span has proved difficult to erase, despite five state creation exercises, excision of FCT, many socio-religious fissures and many political frictions. More tangibly, the Northern states inherited institutions that they sought to run together. Many of these institutions have been lost over the years. Some, such as Ahmadu Bello University, New Nigerian Newspapers, Kaduna Polytechnic, Broadcasting Corporation of Northern Nigeria [BCNN, since split into Radio Nigeria and Nigeria Television Authority, NTA], Ahmadu Bello Stadium and ABU Teaching Hospital, were all taken over by the Federal Government at different times, and one was later returned. Others, such as Bank of the North, were privatized along the way while still others, such NNDC, NNIL and Arewa Hotels are still owned by them, however in a comatose state.

One of General Murtala Mohammed’s first acts when he came to power in 1975 was to dissolve ICSA, the Interim Common Services Agency that was maintaining joint Northern assets. He also dissolved ESIALA, the Eastern States Interim Assets and Liabilities Agency that was its old Eastern Region counterpart. The pull of Northern unity was so strong however that military governors of the Murtala/ Obasanjo era soon reenacted ICSA as

HOW DEMOCRACY CRUMBLES: THE NIGERIAN CASE

The third stage of dismantling democracy is disregarding rules—actions and reactions fuel losing faith in democratic institutions. The interpretation and actions of INEC on the position of the Electoral Act on the use of technology, specially Bimodal Voter Accreditation( BVAS) and INEC Results Viewing Portal( IRev) is the core of diminished trust the people have in INEC. It is also the plausible reason we have too many disputes about the declared results. INEC is generally believed not to respect constitutional provisions and its regulations. The dismantling of our democracy implies that Nigerian voters may have no reason to act rationally but will rely on primordial and survivalist sentiments to deal with future elections. If Nigerians believe their votes do not count, what is the point of elections? If we allow the prevailing feeling of disenfranchisement to continue, our democracy will become a mere nomenclature and not reality. In that case, there is virtually no reason to think our votes will change anything. There is also no reason to behave rationally. We will act emotionally and vote only based on ethnicity, religion, and other base sentiments. We will disconnect voting and elections from governance since voting does not decide who leads. Therefore, there is no reason to change our beliefs regarding electoral politics. As a result, people will continue to vote for whatever politician or party is closest to their emotionally determined beliefs. In other words, there’s no reason for people to vote rationally; instead, sticking to their biases or emotions is much more comfortable. Understanding this reality is essential since our democratic system assumes that rational voters are in the majority. And this is a danger to our democracy! At the extreme, if we don’t find ways to sanitise the electoral process further and, by extension, democracy, we would incentivise popular revolt to redefine democracy in the image of the people’s wishes.

Suddenly, our democracy is tainted with politicians who reject the rules of democracy. They often are suspicious of elections and their results and sometimes rail against the laws and constitutions of Nigeria for their selfish reasons. They discredited their political opposition and sometimes tagged them as enemies of the state. They tolerate and encourage violence in elections and brag about their link to the mafia, militant groups men of the underworld. They quickly

INEC Chairman, Yakubu

desire to reduce the civil rights of people, institutions, and protesters and actively silence the media.

We have seen too many cases where results were declared under gunpoint, and the opposing parties and INEC appeared helpless. This gave rise to the insertion of Section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022, which stated that: “The commission shall have the power, within seven days, to review the declaration and return where it determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and

Northern Governors Forum meetings. The military governors of the Buhari, Babangida, Abacha and Abdulsalami eras as well as the civilian governors of the Second, Third and Fourth Republics inherited the Forum and carried on with it. It is however noticeable in recent years that the forum’s meetings have become less frequent, perhaps because they have fewer joint assets to manage. They however still have many common problems that they ought to tackle together.

If and when his formal anointment as Northern Leader takes place, incoming Vice President Kashim Shettima looks very fit for the task. If, as in 2000AD, the ceremony takes place in Kaduna, it is a terrain he knows very well, having worked there as a young banker in the 1990s. More than that, for four years between 2015 and 2019 when his tenure as Governor of Borno State ended, he was Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum, NSGF [the name was changed because its earlier acronym, NGF, conflicted with that of the Nigeria Governors Forum, which only came into being in 2000 AD].

Not only that. The newly anointed Leader of the North has good knowledge of most of the region’s intractable problems. He knows the region’s top economic activity, agriculture, with his two degrees in the field. He knows education, having started his career as a university lecturer and who, as Governor of Borno State, built the best model schools and brought a lot of innovation into them from India. He knows about insecurity, having governed Borno, the Ground Zero of Boko Haram insurgency at the peak of the crisis. He knows about IDPs, having housed, fed and tried to resettle millions of them. He knows about reconstruction,

having rebuilt many destroyed communities [with current Borno Governor, Prof Zulum, as his Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement]. He knows administration, having been Commissioner of Finance, Health, Education and Local Government. Kashim Shettima also knows politics, as an opposition party governor in 2011 to 2015 and as a ruling party governor in 2015 to 2019. We now begin to see why President-elect Tinubu picked him as running mate.

The position of Leader of the North in this dispensation is symbolic, but it is a walk in the park. Unless President Tinubu himself is present, no social gathering anywhere in the North will be complete without the Vice President’s presence, including the turbaning of traditional rulers, major wedding ceremonies, major disaster events, condolences on the passing of important figures and major religious events. His presence at political gatherings however will be restricted to those of his own party; PDP, NNP and other parties will not invite him to their events and he will not attend even if they do.

Then there are the more concrete issues. If the incoming Tinubu Administration makes much headway in ending Boko Haram, kidnapping and banditry, minimizes inter-communal conflicts, greatly reduces the number of out-of-school children, ends the phenomenon of Almajirai, revives the dormant industrial estates of Kano, Kaduna, Gusau and Gombe, completes the Great Green Wall to stop the Sahara’s southward march, undertakes key infrastructural projects and refills Lake Chad, the National Leader and the symbolic Northern Leader will reap endless accolades in the North.

gubernatorial candidate as the winner, but INEC changed course in a few days to announce the PDP candidate as the winner, leaves a sour taste to most Nigerians. It killed our democracy a little. Interestingly, both INEC and President Buhari have authorised the REC’s suspension from office, his investigation and possible prosecution by the police, but to give confidence to the citizens, it will be imperative to make the findings public.

Another embarrassing interference in the electoral process is what happened in Rivers State during and after the elections. How INEC conducted the governorship and state assembly elections in that state can earn her a spot in the Guinness Book of Records of electoral heist. The orchestrated mob action and drama that followed the attempt by APC to inspect and collect from INEC RVS certified true copies of electoral materials is a big dent in the electoral process. The fact that all the drama happened in the presence of security agencies and INEC officials makes it difficult to dispute the conspiracy theory that followed.

Even the lawyers preparing to fill election appeals were molested, arrested, and manhandled. The supposed guardians of democracy raised no voice to condemn what happened in Rivers State. Although “the protesters” trying to stop opposition parties in Rivers State from inspecting and collecting true certified copies of INEC materials used for the elections were at the INEC office for days, no single arrest was made, nor was anybody invited for questioning. Our democracy is the victim of these shenanigans; we are all casualties. No doubt these anti-democratic forces are emboldened.

guidelines, and manual for the election.”

Going by what transpired in the March 18 and supplementary elections, this challenge is still very much around.

Two strings of incidents in recent times have raised the red flag on the efficacy of the electoral process. The latest wave of electoral malfeasance is the Adamawa case. Too many inconsistent stories and conjectures are flying around. INEC owes us the obligation of full disclosure of what happened. A situation where the INEC REC, flanked by the commissioner of police in the state, unilaterally declared the APC

These trends are laying the foundation for the complete demise of our democracy. All lovers of democracy must not allow these anomalies to continue unchecked. We must protect our democracy and bequeath it to posterity. We should not take things for granted simply because our democracy has survived the shenanigans so far. Democracy remains the only system of government that will lead our multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-language and heavily diverse country into meaningful growth and prosperity. Let us defend it!

•Dr. Peterside is a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)

United Beat Brighton in Tense Shootouts to Set up Clash with ‘Noisy Neighbours’

Manchester United set up a first FA Cup final against Manchester City after beating Brighton 7-6 in a tense penalty shootouts at a rain-lashed Wembley Stadium.

In a match that finished goalless after extra time it fell to United defender Victor Lindelof to score the decisive spot-kick after Solly March sent his effort high over the bar.

The result means Erik ten Hag's side have reached their second domestic final of the season, having won the Carabao Cup in February.

In a scrappy semi-final that fell short of expectations, both goalkeepers excelled with David de Gea making several fine saves and Brighton's Robert Sanchez brilliantly turning away Marcus Rashford's deflected effort in extra time.

March's miss came after 12 success-

ful penalties, before Lindelof stepped up to set up a mouth-watering all-Manchester encounter back at the national stadium on 3 June.

With City’s form this season, the pair with the Red Devils may be seen in some quarters as, perhaps, a good omen for their ‘Treble Chance.’ It however remains to be seen how United who got bumped off the Europa League by Sevilla last week will easily give up another chance to win the cherished FA Cup, knowing that the Premier League title was out of their reach.

Pep Guardiola's side are potentially now as few as 12 games away from a remarkable Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup triple - and they would become just the second English team to achieve the feat.

...Step up Osimhen Interest even as Others Lurk in the Wing

With the on-going football season entering its home stretch Manchester United have stepped up their interest in luring Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen from Napoli to Old Trafford in the summer transfer window.

United along with Chelsea, Arsenal and lately, Bayern Munich have shown interest in the former Lille of France forward but reports in UK’s Daily Starindicate that the Red Devils are even more desperate than before after another scouting trip to Italy last week.

Reds representatives were in Naples on Wednesday for the Serie A leaders’ Champions League quarter-final second leg clash against AC Milan. Although Napoli went down 2-1 on aggregate, Osimhen was on target in the second leg, which ended 1-1. That made it 26 goals in 31 games this season for the Super Eagles top striker.

With the current price tag on Osimhen by Napoli put at £150m, the club is yet to open talks on a new deal with the Nigerian international, who has two years left on the contract he signed in September 2020 on his £70million arrival from Lille.

The delay, according to the tabloid, comes down to aggressive pursuit of the star by the Manchester United with the Italians not against the idea of cashing in now.

And the fact Erik ten Hag and staff are still monitoring Osimhen’s form so closely indicates they view him as an authentic alternative to their top target Harry Kane this summer.

United are expected to lead the chase for England and Tottenham all-time record goal-scorer Kane - should he refuse to extend his contract in N17 and force the North Londoners to sell rather than lose him on a free a year later.

But the Reds are wary that Spurs Chairman, Daniel Levy, could drag his heels on any transfer negotiations as he holds out for at least £100million.

Ten Hag’s need for a prolific world-class striker is clearer than ever after last week’s Europa League disaster and, whoever owns United come June, they will need to get the Dutchman one.

Kane may guarantee goals galore but, at 31, he is entering the twilight of his career. That makes Osimhen, who will cost a similar amount, a more attractive long-term investment.

But, at the same time, unlike in the hunt for Kane, the Old Trafford hierarchy face fierce competition from all their big rivals - home and abroad - for the African sensation. Which is why Champions League football next season is imperative for Ten Hag’s troops, whose only route left to qualify for Europe’s premier cup competition is via a top-four league finish.

United still reeling from last week’s Europa League quarter-final thumping at Sevilla. However, the Carabao Cup winners were sitting fourth in the Premier League table coming into the weekend. They also survived a shoutout with Brighton to set up a Manchester Derby FA Cup final with City on June 3.

Tanzania’s ‘Yanga’ Dent Rivers’ Pride in Battle for S’final Ticket

Femi Solaja with agency report

Nigeria’s last team standing in continental football this season, Rivers United face elimination from the CAF Confederation Cup after going down 2-0 to Tanzania’s Young Africans at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo yesterday.

Yanga’ as the Tanzanian side are fondly known were resolute in defence to shut out Rivers United who did not record a single shot at goal.

It was however Congolese striker, Fiston Kalala Mayele, who grabbed a second-half brace for the visitors

Nuhu: Nigerian Runners Ready to Smash Barriers at 9th Okpekpe Race

Renowned distance running coach, Stephen Nuhu, said at the weekend that he expects the first ever sub-30 minutes run for men at the 9th Okpekpe International 10km Road Race scheduled to hold next month in Okpekpe, Edo State.

Nuhu, who is in Pankshin, one of the coldest cities in Plateau State preparing the athletes for the World Athletics gold label race said the performances in training have convinced him this will be the year Nigerians will see a sub-30 minutes run for the men.

“We are in Pankshin preparing for next month's Okpekpe international 10km road race and I can tell you we are ready to break the 30 minutes barrier for men and 34 minutes for

women,” began Nuhu.

The coach insisted that he is not only encouraged by the performances in training but also how the athletes have fared in recent competitions they have participated in around Nigeria, especially the first National Cross Country race in February.

“The cross country race has helped in the training of the athletes and some of the athletes who took part in the race in Jos have been registered for the Okpekpe race,” he revealed.

Plateau State duo of Kefar Williams and Blessing Solomon made history as the first winners of the first National Cross Country race held at the Rhino Golf Course in

Jos last February.

Kefar ran 31:38.30 to win the race ahead of 2022 National 3000m steeplechase champion, Stephen Joshua (31:51.69) and Emmanuel Gyang (32:01.77) who came second and third respectively.

Nuhu is confident that any or all of the trio who made it to the podium in Jos, running through that barriers can run inside 30 minutes in Okpekpe.

“Running 31 minutes in a cross country race is not easy and when they run on an almost even surface, you can expect a faster time,” said the coach.

Nuhu also pointed to the performances of the athletes at the eighth edition of the race in 2022.

“Last year, Ismail Sadjo ran 31:12 to come in as the first Nigerian man at that edition. In fact, two of them ran inside 31.20 at the race and this is a marked improvement from what we have been seeing in previous editions. This has given me confidence this year will witness the breaking of that 30-minutes barrier which can put them in the podium.”

Last year Ethiopia's Yasin Haji ran 29:05 to win the men's race while the women's race was won by Anchinalu Dessie also of Ethiopia who ran 33.09.

Okpekpe road race is the first World Athletics label road race in West Africa and the first 10km road race in Nigerian to be awarded a gold label status.

eTranzact Golf Classic to Promote Business Collaborations

Nigeria’s super fintech company, eTranzact has reaffirmed its commitment to facilitating more business collaborations within the public and private sector in Nigeria through the company’s sponsorship of the eTranzact Golf Classic in Lagos.

The eTranzact Golf Classic is a three-day Pro-AM golf tournament scheduled to hold from Thursday, April 27 to Saturday, April 29, 2023 at the Lakowe Lakes Golf Estate, in Lagos.

when he broke the deadlock on 74 minutes, before he doubled his haul nine minutes from time.

Rivers United will need to score three goals without conceding any in the reverse fixture to scale through to the lucrative semi final of the Confederation Cup. The return leg will take place next week Sunday at the Benjamin Nkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

The winners of the contest will face Gallants FC of South Africa or Egypt’s Pyramids in the semifinals. Gallants drew 1-1 away with Pyramids yesterday.

Elsewhere, US Monastir and ASEC Mimosas played out a goalless draw.

It will feature registered professional golfers from across Nigeria and other countries slugging it out for the fun and glory while gathering ranking points on the Professional Golfers Development Tour.

Over 200 professionals and category one amateur golfers have already registered for the tournament.

Speaking at a media session to herald the tournament in Lagos at the weekend, Managing Director of the company, Niyi Toluwalope, said that eTranzact, as the pioneer fintech firm at the forefront of connecting businesses and agencies in Nigeria, has taken on the responsibility to create more avenues for productive business to business collaborations and they have found the game of golf most suitable for this.

“We are a super fintech working

Operations, eTranzact International Plc, Gabriel

Managing Director/CEO, Niyi

Media Director, Professional

at the media briefing at the weekend to unveil the eTranzact Golf Classic in Lagos with businesses and governments to facilitate seamless trade and exchange of value while also working with other fintechs to drive successes across sectors. It is therefore not unexpected that we want to create more platforms for business leaders to network and drive more collaborations.

“Golf is a precision game that develops the minds of its players, teaches spontaneity, focus and concentration while also encouraging strategic thinking and creative problem solving. These are all qualities that successful business

leaders must possess regardless of age and experience.

“Therefore, having identified the role the sport plays in our society, we have chosen it as our way of connecting business leaders and professionals who have embraced it to relax and refresh their minds to face the rigours of creating more innovative ideas that will grow African economies,” he said.

In his own comment, the Deputy Managing Director, Mr Hakeem Adeniji-Adele, described the forthcoming classic as a launching pad for greater involvement of the

company in promoting sports and the general wellbeing of Nigerians.

Speaking on behalf of the organisers of the eTranzact Golf Classic, the Media Director of PGD Tour, Sam Emehelu, said that the partnership offers the Nigerian golf community a new vista, especially one that assures that professional golf as a career is one that is still a viable pursuit.

“Nigeria has some of the most talented athletes and this is the same for golf. This ties to what we always sought on the PGD Tour, where golf talents are exposed and nurtured for global performance.”

Manchester United’s stars burst from the halfway line to celebrate their qualification for the FA Cup final shortly after Lindelof scored the final kick of the shootouts with Brighton...yesterday. United won 7-6 after regulation and extra time ended goalless.

PHOTO: AP

L-R: Head,

Aghomi;

Toluwalope; Group Head, Payments, Abimbola Reis; Deputy Managing Director, Hakeem Adeniji-Adele; and

Golf Development Tour, Sam Emehelu,

Confident Golden Eaglets Land in Algeria for U17 AFCON

Five-time world champions

Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets were scheduled to arrive in the Algerian city of Constantine early hours of Monday for their final preparations for this year’s Africa U17 Cup of Nations.

Following complications that arose in the process of securing entry visa into Germany for a planned final training camp in that country, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), opted to send the squad earlier to Algeria for the

final build-up, and Constantine, the renowned city where the Eaglets will play Morocco, Zambia and South Africa in Group B, is the choice.

The wards of FIFA Cadet World Cup -winning Captain, Nduka Ugbade, swept all before them to win the WAFU B U17 Championship in Cape Coast, Ghana 10 months ago, and have put on display tremendous firepower in their preparations for the continental showpiece.

After resuming camp mid-March following the break for the general

elections, the Eaglets played 12 friendly matches at their NFF/FIFA Goal Project, Abuja base, winning 11 of the matches and drawing the other one. They scored a total of 66 goals and conceded 14.

“We are going to Algeria with confidence but with level heads. We’re the champions of WAFU B, but in essence, nothing has been won. What matters now is winning a ticket to the FIFA World Cup and also winning the Africa Cup. I believe we have the boys to do

the job,” Ugbade said before the team left Nigeria yesterday.

Eaglets will launch their campaign for honours at the 12team continental championship on Sunday next week, against Zambia at the 22,000 -capacity Stade Mohamed Hamlaoui. They will then take on Morocco and South Africa in other matches in Group B. The top four-placed teams in Algeria will qualify to represent Africa at the FIFA U17 World Cup finals scheduled for later this year.

Shaibu Gifts 50 Bendel Insurance Fans Free Jerseys

Adibe

After watching Bendel Insurance return to winning ways against El Kanemi in a Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) Match-day 15 Clash at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City at the weekend, Edo State Deputy Governor, Phillip Shaibu, in his usual magnanimity, ordered free Insurance jersey gifts for the first 50 fans at the game.

The win was the second round first maximum three points for Bendel Insurance who played five consecutive draw games even as they were yet to lose any match since returning to the Nigerian topflight this season.

Shaibu who watched the entire duration of the game with some top government officials, was obviously excited with the win and directed that the first 50 fans at the match to be gifted Bendel Insurance jerseys.

Second half goals from the Benin Arsenal second striker Sarki Ismael and highly experienced Austin Ogunye changed the complexion of the game to give both the proprietors and the home fans of the hosts something good to take home as sallah gift.

Ismail Sarki gave Bendel Insurance

fans Eid-el-Fitri gift with his fifth goal of the season in the 55 minutes of the game before substitute Austine Ogunye added the second four minutes later to return Insurance to winning ways with a 2-1 win over El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri who managed to reduce the deficit via a penalty kick brilliantly taken by Mohammed in the 67 minute of play.

Insurance went into the game eager from the blast of the whistle to outwit their relegation threatened visitors. But all efforts to get the matter settled in the first half proved abortive as the Group A table toppers could not get the finishing touches around the opponents' goal before the sound of half time break.

Monday Odigie made two quick changes in the second half when he sent in Saturday Meelubari in the place of Osas Okoro and Austine Ogunye in for Imade Osarenkhoe in the 46th minutes, to strengthen his attack.

The substitutes made quick impact on the game with promising attacks and breathtaking furray which enabled Sarki Ismael beat Hassan Abubakar to an aerial contest to head home the deadlock breaker following Efe Enabulele's cross from the flank

in the 54th minute.

Four minutes later, Deputy Echeta paced down the left wing and cut back a pass for a well-positioned Austine Ogunye who hit home the second for his team.

The visiting Elkanemi Warriors in the 68th minute of play sent fears down the spines of Bendel Insurance faithful as they pulled one goal back through Muhammed Hussaini from the spot kick after Austine Ogunye had been penalised for climbing over an Elkanemi Warriors player in the box.

The 2-1 home win keeps Bendel

RESULTS

B’Insurance 2-1 Elkanemi

Enyimba 1-1 Remo Stars

Plateau Utd 1-0 Nasarawa

Shooting 3-0 Gombe Utd

Doma Utd 2-1 Bayelsa Utd

N’Tornadoes 3-0 Abia War

Sunshine 1-0 Lobi Stars TODAY

Akwa Utd Vs Kwara Utd

Dakkada Vs Rangers Int'l Wikki Vs Rivers Utd (PP)

Zenith Bank Sponsors Inter-school

Swimming Gala at Ikoyi Club

The annual Zenith Bank sponsored Inter-School Swimming Gala is scheduled to take place on April 29that the Ikoyi Club 1938 Swimming Section.

This year’s edition, which is the sixth in the series, will see young swimmers from secondary schools compete for honours on Saturday.

The invitational event will involve students in age categories of 11 years to 12, 13 to 14 and 15 to 16 years in both the boys and girls’ cadre.

A member of the organising

committee, Folusho Olaiya, said at the weekend that all arrangements have been concluded for the swimming gala which promises to be highly thrilling and interesting.

Olaiya added that events would be competed for by the boys and girls in the 33.3m and 66.6m categories of Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle. They will also compete in the Freestyle Relay, Mix Medley Relay and the Mix Freestyle Relay.

On the level of registration so far,

Olaiya said: “We are still collating registration as this closes later in the week. We cannot give an accurate figure for now because we are still in the process.”

Chairman of the Swimming Section, Ikedichi Kanu, also expressed readiness of the elite club to make the event memorable for the junior swimmers. In the 2022 edition, 15 secondary schools attended the event in which 184 swimmers competed for honours in 24 individual and four relay events.

Richard Odoh (HB Football Academy)

Yahaya Danjuma Lawali (Mahanaim FC)

Emmanuel Michael (Simon Ben Football Academy)

Haruna Abdullahi (Kurfi Tigers Academy)

Tochukwu Joseph Ogboji (Purple Crown Academy)

Jeremiah Oluwaseyi Olaleke (Ablaze Football Academy)

Umar Abubakar (Devine Football Academy)

Abubakar Idris Abdullahi (Jega United)

Precious Tonye Williams (HB Football Academy)

Ifeoluwa Adewale Olowoporoku (Triple 44 Academy)

Charles Adah Agada (Mavlon FC)

Hope Yusuf Linus (E.E. Sporting Club)

Jubril Opeyemi Azeez (Right Vision Choice Academy)

Anongu Isaac Aondoakaa (FC Bathel Sporting)

Israel Nwachukwu Usulor (Real Sapphire FC)

Temiloluwa Oluwayimika Adelakin (Box2Box Academy)

Simon Karshe Cletus (Mavlon FC)

Tochukwu Simeon Ogbadibo (Jossy United)

Light Chijioke Eke (C&C Football Academy)

Favour Oluwasegun Daniel (G12 Football Academy)

Chijioke Julius Linus (Triple 44 Academy)

Quadri Oluwatobiloba Adewale (Nathaniel Boys FC)

Gift Ukeh Adie (Paul E Football Academy)

Musa Oluwaseyi Akinfenwa (Real Sapphire FC)

Usman Ajibola Owoyemi (Triple 44 Academy)

Matthew Awodi Kingsley (Brook House Academy)

Newcastle Massacre Spurs 6-1 to Consolidate Top Four Pursuit

Newcastle United humiliated Tottenham Hotspur with five goals in 21 stunning first-half minutes as they ran out easy 6-1 winners in what was billed as a showdown for a top-four spot.

Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak each scored twice and Joelinton added another as Newcastle scythed through a porous visiting defence that was already under the spotlight from last week's defeat against Bournemouth.

Harry Kane pulled one back in the second half at St James' Park but Callum Wilson added a sixth to complete the rout shortly after coming off the bench.

Speaking after the match, New- castle boss Eddie Howe insisted that Murphy has become a key member of his side, having previously been on the periphery. "It's not often you have a start like that in a game, especially one of such importance," Howe said.

RESULTS

Insurance on top of Group A with 31 points from 15 games. They remain the only team with unbeaten record so far this season.

Insurance are to next face Abubakar Bukola Saraki FC on Wednesday in the Round of 64 of the Federation Cup in Lagos before heading to Gombe to play Gombe United on Match day 16 of the NPFL season.

The embarrassing defeat is a significant blow to Spurs' dwindling hopes of securing Champions League qualification - but in contrast the Magpies are now in a commanding position to finish in the top four as they climb to third.

Inspired by an electric atmosphere, Newcastle started with pace and ferocity, taking just 62 seconds to open the scoring.

Joelinton drove inside from the edge of the box and his low shot was parried weakly by Hugo Lloris into the path of Murphy, who was there to smash in the loose ball.

Winners Emerge in AwoofGames

Online Raffle Promo

AwoofGames, an online lotto-tech startup that is revolutionizing the online interactive gaming community, has announced winner of its flagship raffle promo ‘Awuufcribs’ which lasted a duration of five months.

According to Awoof Games in a press statement, the draw ceremony was streamed live with the physical presence of a National Lottery Regulatory Council (NLRC) official.

Amongst the winners was Mr Olamilekan Odunsi with ticket number “1542-AWFS1-553” who

emerged winner of a one bedroom apartment located in Bakare Estate, Agungi, Lekki Lagos.

In the words of Rotimi Elegba, one of the co-founders of the online gaming platform, the Season 2 of AwoofGames has been scheduled to start in May 2023.

“We will be launching our other online competitive lottery games to our subscribers in May. Games like andAwuufCars,AwuufAppliances

AwuufExperience would be launched,” observed the co-founder.

AwuufCribs is a game changer competition hosted online on the AwoofGames platform: https:// awoofgames.com and promoted via their social media channels on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook in one of Africa’s biggest real estate markets (Lagos, Nigeria).

The idea is to give the average Nigerian the opportunity to own a home and enter the luxurious real estate market at a fraction of the cost through via online competition promo.

Ambitious Golden Eaglets in a group photograph shortly before their departure for Constantine, Algeria...yesterday

L-R: CTO Cofounder, Mr Rotimi Elegba; One of the winners’ with ticket number “1542-AWFS1553”, Mr Olamilekan Odunsi; and AwuufCribs Season 1 winner, Mr Lanrewaju Ladipo, during the meet and greet session with winners in Lagos... recently

Emenyonu in Benin City

THE 26 PLAYERS IN ALGERIA:

MISSILE

NLC to Federal Govt

“Nigeriansmustnotbeallowedtodiein Sudanbecauseofnegligence.Noeffort shouldbesparedinensuringtheirsafetyandultimatelyevacuationtoNigeriaifthe warpersistsandescalatesintoafull-blownwar.Itremainsthedutyofthegovernment andweurgetheFederalGovernmenttomakethishappenunlesstheywanttotellus thattheselivesarenotasimportantasthelivesofthechildrenofthoseinauthority anddonotdeservetobeprotected?”–NLCPresident,JoeAjaero,urgingtheBuhari-led governmenttoactfastandevacuateNigeriansfromthe war-torn Sudan.

VIEW FROM THE GALLERY

The New Top Northerner

When the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu Administration is inaugurated on May 29, most national and international eyes will be on the new President. In Northern Nigeria however, many local and regional eyes will be stealing glances in the direction of Kashim Shettima, who will be inaugurated at the same date and time as Vice President of the Federal Republic.

Northerners are used to having a leader, since the days of the overwhelming Sardauna Sir Ahmadu Bello. The great historian Professor Afigbo wrote that “the evolution of the North into one political entity was entirely due to the personality and activities of Ahmadu Bello between 1954 and 1966.” Despite dissolution of the old regions and five state creation exercises since 1967, much of this feeling of one North still endures in the political arena, as does the search for a “Northern leader.” As many Northerners see it, other regions and movements were luckier because their great First Republic leaders survived for decades after the tumultuous events of

Shettima

1966. Chief Joseph Tarka lived until 1980; Malam Aminu Kano lived until 1983; Chief Obafemi Awolowo lived until 1987; Chief Denis Osadebay lived until 1994;

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe lived until 1996; and Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye lived until 2005.

But who could fill Sardauna’s shoes? Not only Sardauna, President of the Northern Peoples’ Congress [NPC] was killed on January 15, 1966; NPC’s First Deputy President Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was also killed on the same day. The next top ranking NPC leader, Defence Minister Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, had died in 1965. However, the Second Deputy President of NPC, former Northern Regional Finance Minister Alhaji Aliyu Makaman Bidda, survived until 1980 and played a pivotal role in seeing to Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s rise to the Presidency in 1979, as Shagari himself testified.

With their passing, Northerners began to look up to a collection of old First Republic ministers, politicians and top civil servants as “Sardauna’s successors.” They did not always like the role, especially when young folks began to blame them for the region’s problems of low educational attainment, low industrial capacity, millions of out of school children and frequent eruption of violent inter-communal conflicts. Malam

DAKUKU PETERSIDE

GUEST

Liman Ciroma told me in the 1990s that unlike those said to be his successors, Sardauna had governmental power, so he could follow up on his vision with quick and vigorous implementation. The more appropriate people to be called Sardauna’s successors, he said, are the Northern state governors, now 19 in number. I agree that two heads are better than one, but I am not sure about 19 heads being better than one, with all the differing visions and motivations, disparate personal characters and often conflicting motives.

In 2000AD, the Northern governors themselves found a solution to this dilemma. The Northern leader, they declared, should not be a collective of governors but the highest political office holder from the region. That happened to be the Vice President of the Federal Republic, Atiku Abubakar, Turakin Adamawa [since elevated to the higher traditional title of Wazirin Adamawa].

That year, there was a lavish ceremony at Ahmadu Bello Stadium in Kaduna where

How Democracy Crumbles: The Nigerian Case

Democracy, by its design, nature, and practice, is not a light toggle switch that is turned on and off. It is not a wall that crumbles in one fell swoop. Democracy is always a process, both in its growth and demise. History is replete with how democracies collapsed in other climes. Disregarding the rule of law is the root of all the cases. The most consequential disregard for the rule of law is the one that affects the entire population, and that is when they lose faith in the electoral process. It often led citizens to conclude that there is no difference between democracy, authoritarian rule, and other forms of government. Using electoral fraud to decimate democracy is far easier than any other means. Every attempt to compromise the electoral process makes it harder for the people to believe in democracy.

In almost all nations where democracy crumbles, they followed the same playbook - whether in Peru under Alberto Fujimori( 1990-1992), Hungary under Viktor Orban, Venezuela under Hugo Chavez or Chile under Salvador Allende/ Augusto Pinochet(

1979). Destroy or compromise the institutions of the state, the police, judiciary, military, security apparatus, parliament, and most importantly -the institution and mechanism of the electoral process and democracy begins to crumble.

The 2023 general election is a watershed in our electoral history, and all see the reverberation of its impact. Never in Nigerian history has the people been highly committed to an election with hope, optimism and great expectations. The final verdict of the outcome of the electoral process is yet out because the process has not concluded, but some came out disappointed in the structures and procedures of the election. Most of the political actors became Machiavellian and threw caution to the winds in their pursuit of electoral victory. Some politicians bought the electoral victories with pain and blood. The strategy was to win at all costs and care less about the consequences on our democracy. Little wonder there is a mixed feeling of progress with our democracy yet high despondency and frustration among many Nigerian post-elections.

Nigerian political class seems unmindful of the consequences of some of its actions and inactions. The politicians who ought to guard democracy are inadvertently investing in destroying the guard rails of democracy. Politicians compromise judges, corrupt electoral officials, buy up security personnel and buy votes. This is after investing in the mass impoverishment of the populace and weaponising poverty.

Our democracy seems to be unravelling in front of us. The gradual dismantling of our democracy is in seemingly random events, sometimes isolated and unrelated, but when pulled together, it shows our descent into anarchy or autocracy. The last general election witnessed three stages of dismantling Nigerian democracy by politicians, political parties, and their sympathisers.

The first stage is known as capturing the referees. If you wanted to rig a football, one of the first things you would do is ‘capture’ the referees and get them to rule in your favour. In the last election, evidence suggests that politicians and their cronies captured INEC officials, and in time we

will know whether they captured the judges in the many court cases that are still ongoing.

The second stage is side-lining the opposition players. Their opponents entirely stifled the political opposition in some parts of the country. And not given a level playing field to compete in the elections. They were denied opportunities to campaign in some states and were molested, beaten, and arrested for no just cause. Some politicians told opposition members not to come out and vote unless they wanted to die. Opposition politicians and their supporters were subjected to various inhuman treatment, often in the open and where you have security operatives. They were blackmailed, and their supporters were ethnically profiled and denied their franchises. Unfortunately, society did nothing about it, and the perpetrators have gone without punishment or consequences. They are emboldened by their victory to keep brutally raping our democracy and dismantling it bit by bit.