WEDNESDAY 4TH OCTOBER 2023

Historic Moment as Kevin McCarthy, US House Speaker is Ousted By Vote of 216 against 210

The United States House of Representatives voted yesterday, to oust Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker – a historic moment that threatens to plunge House Republicans even further into

chaos and turmoil. On the vote, the yeas were 216, while the nays were 210. The resolution was adopted. Without objection, the motion to reconsider was laid on the table. The office of

Speaker of the House of the United States House of Representatives was thereafter declared vacant. The House would now need to elect a new speaker, but there is no clear alternative who would

have the support needed to win the gavel, the CNN reported.

In the meantime, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is the interim speaker.

before been ousted through the passage of a resolution to remove them.

The fight over the speakership

No House speaker has ever Continued on page 10

Tinubu Replaces El-Rufai, Appoints Balarabe, Two Others as Ministerial Nominees... Page

www.thisdaylive.com

FG: 8,406

Confirmed Cases of Diphtheria in 19 States... Page

Aiyedatiwa: Ondo Assembly Drags Judge to NJC over Alleged Compromise Directs CJ to constitute panel despite court injunction

Fidelis David in Akure

The Ondo State House of Assembly has dragged a Federal High Court Judge, Justice Emeka

Nwite, before the National Judicial Council (NJC) for allegedly compromising his office and violating the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Relatedly, the Assembly issued a fresh directive, yesterday, to the state Chief Judge, Olusegun Odusola, to immediately set up a seven-man panel to investigate

Deputy Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa over allegations levelled against him. The Assembly described an ex-parte injunction granted by

the Federal High Court, Abuja, on September 26 restraining the state legislature from impeaching Aiyedatiwa, as “unconstitutional and clearly malevolent”.

It resolved that Nwite should be investigated for alleged “abuse of ex parte injunction and/or

Continued on page 10

Labour to FG: There’ll Be No Warning Before Next Strike If You Renege on Agreement

Insists there’s trust gap between Nigerian leaders and the masses Says crisis not over yet, some pensioners earning N5,000 Explains reasons for suspending industrial action

Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Emmanuel

Addeh in Abuja

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), yesterday, warned that there would be no further warning before the next strike in 30 days if the federal government did not keep to its current agreement with NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

Speaking on ARISE News Channel, THISDAY’s broadcast arm, National President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, stated that enough time had been given to the President Bola Tinubu administration to take appropriate action to cushion the suffering in the country and avoidable deaths among the masses occasioned by the harsh economy, but the government continued to ignore labour.

NLC had suspended its planned indefinite strike on Monday night.

It said the industrial action was

Continued on page 10

ADESINA BECOMES GROUND COMMANDER ORDER OF GAMBIA...

L-R: Wife of the President of African Development Bank Group(AfDB),Grace

Barrow, during the conferment of the Grand Commander of the Order of

International Investment Partners Access Bank on $60m Trade Finance On-lending Facility for Five African countries... Page 6

Ousted Speaker, Kevin McCarthy

78TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY...

L-R: Executive Vice President of Communications, IHS, Colby Synesael ; President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; and IHS Towers’ Executive Vice President and Chief Human

in a private session at a side event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during the 78th session of the United

Officer,

AGF, Women Affairs Minister, Police, 36 States' DPP Brainstorm on Eradicating Gender-based Violence

Mull creation of mobile court for prosecuting offenders

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy, have urged Nigerians to come up with solution that would put an end to the increasing menace of Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) in the country.

Beside the two ministers, others who spoke at an ongoing three-day conference on SGBV in Abuja, while calling for stringent measures against perpetrators, also raised concerns regarding the rehabilitation of victims.

The conference which was organised by the Office of the AGF in collaboration with EUUN Spotlight Initiative, has as its theme, “Promotion of Rule of Law, Access to Justice and Enhancing the Criminal Justice Pathway to Addressing Violence against Women and Girls.”

Fagbemi, in a keynote disclosed that the federal government was ready to review the National Policy on Justice, 2017, so as to encapsulate SGBV matters.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary and Solicitor General of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Justice, Beatrice Jeddy-Agba noted that the move was aimed at providing a sustainable framework to address the problem.

“Though the task ahead appears enormous, I called on all various states, stakeholders, state actors and international development partners to commit to the effective implementation of all policies programmes and laws relating to SGBV," she said.

Meanwhile, in a goodwill message, the Minister of Women Affairs, Kennedy, disclosed plans to create mobile courts across the country for the prosecution of anyone caught in the act of female genital mutilation and other gender-based offences.

"It is high time we stopped all this administrative talks and go straight to address issues. We talk but no implementation, and always base issues on sentiments.

"We must tell Nigerians the truth and cannot continue speaking grammar. Gender-based offences have become worrying and of grave concern.

"I have applied to President Bola Tinubu, we have to create a mobile court to address the issue of female genital mutilation," she said. She pointed out that report showed that a total of 24,720 cases of gender-based violence had been laid, with only 306 cases prosecuted, while others had been probably forgotten or swept under the carpet.

Besides, the minister revealed that a total of 975 fatal rape cases abound, assuring that her Ministry would do everything humanly possible to ensure that perpetrators

were brought to book while the victims get justice.

In his opening remarks, the Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP), Mr Simon Ridley, said the interventions under the EU-UN Initiatives rooted in a victim-centred modality, norms and international standards reflected its shared com-

mitment to creating a safer and more equitable world. Other stakeholders at the occasion who shared their views and expectations included the

UK, US to Partner Nigeria to Develop Marine, Blue Economy

The British and the United States governments have both expressed their willingness and readiness to partner the Nigerian Government towards developing the newly created Marine and Blue Economy Ministry in order to support the West African country's economic growth.

The representatives of the two countries made this known yesterday, during their separate meetings with the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, at his office in Abuja.

According to a statement, the US delegation was led by Amb. Jessye Lapenn, the Senior Coordinator for Atlantic Cooperation, while that of the British was led by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery.

Speaking during the visit, Lapenn, who noted that the minister was the first person she was visiting after the ministerial meeting for Atlantic Cooperation, which was convened by the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken on the

margins of the 78th United Nations General Assembly, UNGA in New York, said the US government was willing to offer technical support to the ministry with a view to supporting Nigeria's economic growth through the sector.

She further said the two countries would also be exploring technology to solve some of the challenges in the Marine and Blue Economy sector.

On his part, Montgomery, expressed the government's desire to partner with the Nigerian Government to tackle challenge of illegal fishing in Nigeria's waters, just as he applauded the decision of the minister to embark on a PPP arrangement in terms of investment in the sector.

He noted that the British Government was willing and ready to share information and precautionary lessons with Nigeria with a view to partnering it to protect its marine resources.

The minister while separately thanking the teams for the visits,

Shettima to Open Second Non-oil Export Conference

James Emejo in Abuja

Vice President Kashim Shettima

is expected to deliver the keynote address and declare open the second national conference on non-oil export in Abuja, today in Abuja.

Other dignitaries expected to grace the occasion include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, Governor of Benue State, Dr. Hycinth Alia, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Dr. Doris Anite and her counterpart in the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Senator Saidu Alkali as well as Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Hon. Zaphaniah Jisalo.

The two-day conference, with the theme: “Building a Sustainable

National Economy through Nonoil Export,” was organised by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and offers stakeholders the opportunity to take stock of the state of the non-oil export sector, recharge and reignite actors in the non-oil export value chain to live-up-to, and surpass their expectations as well as proffer solutions to the country’s emerging economic and trade challenges.

Addressing journalists about the event, Executive Director, NEPC, Dr. Ezra Yakusak, said the theme aptly reinforces the need to keep the conversation on the revitalisation of the economy on the front burner. He said, “Expediency dictates that the vagaries and vulnerabilities around oil which have placed un-

Today

certainties on what future it beholds, means that Nigeria must seek other ways of diversifying her economy.

“In this regard, consistent stakeholder engagement, using the conference as a pivot for galvanising policymakers, economic pundits, development partners, and more importantly the exporting community is key to proffering solutions to some of the challenges affecting the sector, especially in the area of trade facilitation, access to affordable finance and the issue of the infrastructural deficit.”

The maiden edition of the conference was held in April 2022, with the theme: “Export for Survival: Optimizing Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Potential,” after which a 19-point communique was issued.

Yakusak said, “I am glad to inform you that the Council has worked tirelessly to implement the issues raised in the communique. For example, the council has established and launched additional three Export Trade Houses (ETHs) in Lome, Togo, and Nairobi in Kenya, and just recently in Hunan Province in China.

“Similarly, a Trade in Services Division has been established under the Office of the Executive Director in line with recommendations of the last conference.”

However, the conference would be the first direct public engagement of NEPC with the highest echelon of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu since it took over the reins of government.

noted that Nigeria through the new ministry, would be willing to develop coastal tourism and create a conducive atmosphere for businesses to thrive.

He expressed Nigeria's commitment to implementing the Atlantic Cooperation initiative declarations. "We are committed to rehabilitating our ports for efficiency. I am particularly excited about the desire to partner with us to tackle the challenge of illegal fishing in our

waters.

"We believe that marine fishing will support our economic growth and create job opportunities, especially for our youths. We will equally be leveraging the UK's Blue Planet Fund, aimed at supporting developing countries like us to protect the marine environment and reduce poverty, especially now that there is a Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in place in Nigeria," Oyetola added.

Barau Offers Scholarships to 870 Additional Students in Kano

Sunday

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, yesterday, commenced the second phase of his scholarship programme with 870 students of the Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano (YUMSUK).

The students, who were selected from Kano North Senatorial District, where the lawmaker represents, were given N20,000 each.

This was contained in a statement by his media aide, Ismail Mudashir, made available to journalists in Abuja.

The Deputy President of the Senate, who represented him at the occasion, Prof. Muhammad Ibn Abdullahi, said the scheme was conceived by Senator Barau to support students from his constituency.

He said the scholarship scheme started in August with 628 students of the Bayero University Kano (BUK).

According to him, the scheme would be extended to all students from Kano North Senatorial District in all tertiary institutions in the country.

He said, "Each of the students will receive N20,000 courtesy of Senator Barau and every student from Kano North who is studying in Nigeria

will benefit from this scheme.

"We started in August with the students of BUK and today we are in YUMSUK for the second phase."

He urged the beneficiaries to take advantage of the gesture and study hard for them to excel in their academic pursuits.

One of the beneficiaries, Ummussalam Haruna Yusuf, a level 300 student thanked the Deputy President of the Senate for the gesture.

"The biggest challenge we are facing now is transportation and the food to eat while at school. This gesture from our Senator will assist us in this regard," she said.

Another student who also benefited from the scholarship, Nafiu Adamu said, "At this trying time students are in dire need of this kind gesture."

"We will pay for transportation, buy food at school and even buy books to support our education.

"This kind of encouragement we are getting from the Senator is motivating. It is one of the reasons why we are studying today.

"He has been doing it for many years. We have appreciated and thank him for this and we wish him the best in his political career," he added.

Inspector General (IG) of Police, Kayode Egbetokun and Director General National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP), Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi.

Aborisade in Abuja

Resources

Ayotade Oyinlola

Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York…recently

A tete-A-tete PlenAry...

L-R:

British International Investment Partners Access Bank on $60m Trade Finance On-lending Facility for Five African Countries

The British International Investment (BII), the United Kingdom's Development Finance Institution (DFI) and impact investor has announced a $60 million trade finance facility for Access Bank Plc in Nigeria and five of its pan-African subsidiaries.

The partnership was expected to strengthen import and export capabilities amongst local businesses and plug the foreign currency supply gap.

A statement yesterday, explained that the programme supports Access Bank’s strategy to enable continental trade and deepens BII’s commitment to bolstering financing environments in fragile economies.

BII estimates that the loan

programme would stimulate African trade volumes by $90 million.

According to the statement, the agreement reinforced BII’s ongoing relationship with Nigeria’s largest commercial bank by assets and facilitates the provision of systemic liquidity during a period characterised by a challenging macroeconomic environment.

It noted that higher inflation and rising cost of capital have placed downward pressure on currency performance, both domestically and in the programme’s target markets of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zambia.

“Intervention at this critical

juncture underlines the key role of BII, and development finance institutions in general, in extending countercyclical support to build economic resilience.

“Between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of world trade is estimated to rely on the availability of trade credit, according to the World Trade Organisation.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, that financing gap stood at $82 billion in Africa, and it is increasing. Recognising the positive ripple effects of robust trade flows on economies and livelihoods, Access Bank is aiming to provide 15 per cent of trade finance across Africa, by growing the trade books

of its subsidiaries.

“Currency instability in Nigeria can hinder the wider proliferation of dollar denominated trade loans across African markets, constraining countries’ ability to capitalise on opportunities opening up under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.

“By specifically targeting import dependent economies – many of which will mark the first engagement with BII’s Trade programme – the improved availability of US dollar denominated trade loans will ensure availability of key commodities and manufacturing inputs for the production and export of goods,” the statement added.

ICAN President Urges Accountants to Demand Accountability from Govt Officials

The 59th President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Dr. Innocent Iweka Okwuosa, has charged accountants to demand accountability from government functionaries in the course of their professional service so as to enhance transparency in the management of public finance. Okwuosa, gave this charge yesterday in Lagos, when he delivered the keynote address at “ICAN Accountability Index Assessors’ Training.”

The ICAN Accountability Index (ICAN-AI) is the institute’s annual publication that provides a framework for assessing public finance management and public governance practices across Nigeria’s three tiers of the nation’s public sector in order to ensure transparency and accountability.

He said: “We as accountant are not asking for enough accountability of those charged with governance. Imagine what will happen if each and every accountant demand for accountability from those charged with governance and what will be the impact? But we do not do that. We accept the status quo.

“The way the institute (ICAN) has come to ask for accountability is through this ICAN-AI. That is

why we invest so much in it. The reliability of the ICAN-AI depends on what you people do as assessors and coordinators on the field. We will not like to get to a point where people will begin to challenge our output. We decided to organise this training because we do not want that situation.

“We believe that this training will bequeath us with the necessary skills to do the work that we are charged with.”

Okwuosa, stated that ICAN has started to create some narratives around its accountability index, which include enabling government to deliver on their mandate.

“Those governments that do well in ICAN-AI will be associated with being more accountable and transparent in governance. And as such the citizens will vote for such people when they put themselves up for election,” he said.

The other narrative, according to him, was that governments that do well in ICAN-AI are likely to be the ones that the World Bank would listen when they approach it for loans.

He added that “the Pan African Federation of Accountants has also come to recognise the ICAN-AI. It has been noted as professional accountancy organisation intervention to ensure good governance in Africa.

“What we are doing is already having impact in Nigeria and spreading outside the country. Therefore, we must take the training very serious. We need to build a relationship that enables us to get information that we need.”

In his opening remark, the Chairman of ICAN-AI Technical Subcommittee, Mr. Oladele Oladipo, said, “this training event marks a significant milestone in our ongoing journey towards a more transparent, accountable, and responsible governance system.

“Accountability is not merely a word; it is the cornerstone upon which the very foundations of our

democracy rest. It is the principle that ensures that those in positions of power answer to the people they serve. Today, we gather here as torchbearers of this principle, as guardians of a brighter future for our nation.

“The role you are about to undertake is one of immense responsibility. Your assessments will shine a light on the state of accountability in our government and institutions. They will identify areas of strength and areas in need of improvement. But beyond the numbers and scores, your work will foster a culture of openness, transparency, and trust.”

It pointed out that the key outcome would be improving livelihoods and preserving jobs for the employees of importers and exporters with limited access to foreign exchange trade loans.

With the loans channelled into companies in construction, manufacturing and FMCG, the programme would directly contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 8 (Decent work and economic growth) and 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure).

Simultaneously, it noted that the facility would improve inclusion.

“Qualifying under the 2X Challenge, aimed at strengthening female participation and leadership in business, Access Bank will ensure the allocation of loans is designed deliberately to advance its gender commitments.

“In addition, the facility will contribute to BII’s BOLD programme, dedicated to enhancing the availability of finance at more affordable rates to Black, Africanowned businesses,” it added.

Commenting on the transaction, the Executive Director, African Subsidiaries at Access Bank, Seyi Kumapayi, remarked: "Access Bank is on a purposeful mission to scale intra-African trade and position the continent as a viable market for global trade.

“Hence, we are thrilled about the tremendous potential that this trade finance facility with the BII affords us across our pan-African subsidiaries. This strategic collaboration not only strengthens our import and export capabilities but also expands our resources to

support local industries – especially women-owned businesses – and ultimately drive economic growth.

“By stimulating trade volumes, we will be playing a key role in fostering long-term economic resilience for the continent, while increasing its attractiveness for increased foreign investments.”

Also, the Director and Head of Trade and Supply Chain Finance at BII, Admir Imami, noted: “Access Bank is a long-standing partner of BII’s and our new partnership is a significant step closer to narrowing the trade finance gap in Africa, particularly in countries such as the DRC and Rwanda.

“Access to finance in fragile states is hugely constrained, often these countries are buffeted by macroeconomic events far beyond their control. BII and Access Bank share a conviction that building the resilience of these businesses by ensuring affordable access to foreign exchange is vital to keep intra-African trade moving and support the growth of inclusive economies.”

For his part, Head of Office & Coverage Director for Nigeria, BII, Benson Adenuga said: “Our latest commitment to Access Bank reiterates our assurance to this leading multinational institution and to Nigeria. It comes at a time when Nigeria’s fragile economic situation needs additional funding, particularly from counter cyclical investors like development finance institutions.

“Our funding will help bolster the economy and ensure the availability of staple goods, medicines and food across Africa.”

Tinubu Replaces El-Rufai, Appoints Balarabe, Two Others as Ministerial Nominees

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

President Bola Tinubu has nominated Abbas Balarabe as a ministerial nominee.

He will replace former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai in the federal cabinet.

El-Rufai was earlier nominated as a minister but his appointment

was not confirmed by the Senate. The replacement was conveyed in a letter read by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, at the plenary yesterday.

Balarabe’s name was read alongside Dr Jamila Ibrahaim and Ayodele Olawande as Minister of Youths and Minister of State for Youths respectively, who

were earlier nominated by the president.

Balarabe, a former Secretary to the Kaduna State Government was in April appointed to lead a 65-man transition committee ahead of the swearing-in of Governor Uba Sani.

The Senate had in August refused to confirm the nomination

of El-Rufai alongside former Nexim Bank, Managing Director, Stella Okotete (Delta State) and Abubakar Danlandi, a nominee from Taraba State over security clearance.

The president had earlier sent 48 nominees to the Senate out of which 45 we're confirmed ministers.

Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio in a warm handshake with the Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, while Sen Abdulhamid Malam- Madori Ahmed looks on before yesterday's Senate plenary

PHOTO: SeNATe PReSiDeNT MeDiA Office

Dike Onwuamaeze

SAFETY, SECURITY AND ENVIRONMENT FORUM...

L-R: Provost, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Prof. Mrs. Olayinka O. Omigbodun; Group Head, Corporate Banking and Manufacturing, First Bank Nigeria Ltd, Mrs. Aina Dele-Adegbola; General Manager, Safety and Environment, Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Company, Mrs. Elozino Olaniyan; Mr. Adekoya Oladipo, representative of the Chairman of the Occasion and CEO/MD, Nigeria LNG, Dr. Philip Mshelbila; MD/CEO Fortnum Consulting Hub; Dr. Dorothy Bassey; Deputy Managing Director, Prime Atlantic Safety Services Ltd, Mrs. Folake Soyannwo; Mrs. Titi Osuntoki; and Chief Executive Officer, Richardson Oil and Gas Ltd, Mr. Akin Osuntoki, during the opening of the exhibition at the 15th Edition of the PSRG-RICHARDSON Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Forum held in Lagos...recently

FG: 8,406 Confirmed Cases of Diphtheria in 19 States

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The federal government has revealed that 8,406 cases of Diphtheria were confirmed in 114 Local Government Areas in 19 states and the Federal Capital Teritory (FCT).

It also put the number of

suspected cases of Diphtheria at 13,204.

The Director General of National Primary Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, who disclosed this yesterday, at the Diphtheria Outbreak Response Press Conference, in Abuja, said six states accounted

Osun Govt to Enact Law on Six Months Maternity Leave for Nursing Mothers

Yinka

Kolawole in Osogbo

Osun State government under the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke, yesterday, disclosed plan to enact the law on six months maternity leave for nursing mothers in government workplaces.

This was made known by the Special Adviser on Public Health to Governor of Osun State, Dr. Akindele Adekunle, at the one-day symposium on celebrating enabling breastfeeding environment for working mothers held at the local government service commission, Abeere.

Akindele, stated that in line with the World Health Organisation’s recommendations and in concerted effort with the Wives of Nigerian Governors’ Forum advocacy for approval of six months paid maternity leave for nursing mothers, Adeleke was set to send a bill to the House of Assembly and domesticate enabling laws to this effect.

“I'm happy to inform all our nursing mothers in our different offices that as a listening and people-loving Governor, Senator Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke has promised to send a bill to the House of Assembly to enact enabling laws to make maternity leave six months for nursing mothers in a bid to allow them tend to their babies and encourage them to breastfeed their babies exclusively for six months as recommended by the WHO.

“But I will plead and advise this gathering and the entire public that whenever there's any public hearing by the House of Assembly concerning the bill, all stakeholders must raise their voice in support of the bill."

Akindele, further assured of the governor's readiness to carry out a face-lift of the primary and secondary health facilities across the length and breadth of Osun State.

"Let me also state that in the effort of the current administration to ensure profound infrastructural face-lift across the length and breadth of the state and the commitment of Governor Ademola Adeleke to revamp the health sector.

“Our government will soon commence the infrastructural facelift of our primary and secondary health care facilities across the 30 local governments and area councils and this, is in addition to other robust health palliatives already being planned for the good people of Osun State by the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke."

Akindele applauded all the development partners for their efforts in supporting various health initiatives in the state and equally appreciated the office of the wife of the Governor for her concerns for the health of the state and the role she was playing that Osun comes first in the comity of states when it comes to health matters.

for 97 per cent of all reported diphtheria cases in the country.

He listed the affected states as Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Borno, Kaduna and Bauchi.

While regretting that Diphtheria, a preventable disease, was posing a major health challenge for communities, especially children who have become more vulnerable, Shuaib said the agency has launched rapid and comprehensive vaccination campaigns across the affected regions.

“These campaigns have been meticulously planned and executed, with a laser focus on

the epicenter of the outbreak.

“Kano, as the epicenter of this outbreak, has been at the forefront of our vaccination efforts. Working with the state governments, we implemented rounds 1 and 2 of the vaccination campaign in five high-burden local government areas in February and April 2023 respectively.

“Subsequently, round 3 was integrated with routine immunisation intensification, further bolstering our response. An additional 8 LGAs in Kano underwent reactive vaccination exercises in the last week of August,” he explained.

Speaking further, he said: “Today, we stand united in the face of a public health challenge that demands our unwavering attention and swift action.

“Diphtheria, a preventable disease, has cast a dark shadow over our communities, particularly impacting our most vulnerable citizens, our beloved children.”

Shuaib added that the national diphtheria taskforce had been deployed National Rapid Response Teams (NRRT) to Kano, Yobe, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Jigawa and Zamfara to support

the outbreak response in the State across all pillars.

He said for the first time in any outbreak, the government made DAT and now IV erythromycin available using its resources through the REDISSE funding and also supported by partners including World Health Organisation (WHO).

"These have resulted in significant reduction in case fatality rate from about 40 per cent during the earlier part of the outbreak when access to DAT was highly limited to about six per cent now," he said.

Nigeria @63: Refugee Commission Distributes Palliatives in Three Abuja IDP Camps

As part of activities marking the 63rd Independence anniversary of Nigeria, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons has distributed palliatives and learning materials worth millions of naira to vulnerable persons.

The distribution was done at three Abuja Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs’) camps namely Durumi, Wassa and Karshi.

The federal commissioner, Tijjani Aliyu Ahmed who led the team as part of his first official assignment since resumption to office on September 19, noted that neglecting those in displacement could have

profound social and economic consequences for both the displaced and their host communities.

He added that in the face of protracted displacement crises that often affect IDPs, it became needful to ensure access and assistance during such times.

"Our purpose is to distribute critical support in the form of

Firm Unveils New Solution to Empower SMEs, Streamline Operations

James Emejo in Abuja

Indigenous mobile solutions firm, Olivia, has introduced an application designed to streamline business operations and payments systems landscape.

The Olivia App emerges as a game-changer in an era where efficiency, convenience and access to information are crucial to bridging retail solutions, merchant services, and agency banking.

Founder/Chief Executive, Olivia, Mr. Wisdom Ibanga, said, "Olivia is more than just an app; it's a solution, it’s a complete package to aid businesses grow rapidly.

“Our aim is to simplify the

complexities of business management and payments, empowering businesses especially small and medium enterprises to thrive."

He told THISDAY that the app's ability to simplify transactions, empower business owners and provides data-driven insights remained innovative in the payments and business landscape. He said the all-in-one business solution would redefine how businesses handle transactions, manage their operations, and monitor growth.

Among other things, the key features of the solution include the Olivia Web which is a web application where businesses can

set up and manage their retail shops, and made up of over 20 amazing modules to aid business growth as well as the mobile app application that mirrors the setup done on the web application and can be used by cashier and office managers.

Essentially, Ibanga said the app was designed and built by professionals who have years of payment experience to simplify payment and improve approval rates; allows users to send and receive money with ease, thereby eliminating the complications often associated with financial transactions, and putting the power back into the hands of business owners.

agricultural inputs, educational supplies, and food care packs.

"As our nation celebrates its 63rd Independence Day, we renew our unwavering commitment to addressing the pressing needs of IDPs.

"Neglecting those in displacement can have profound social and economic consequences for both the displaced and their host communities.

“In the face of protracted displacement crises that often affect IDPs, ensuring access to assistance during such times is of utmost importance.

"In keeping with the Commission's sustainable solutions strategy and our dedication to the well-being of host communities, we are proud to announce the provision of essential agricultural inputs.

“These initiatives aim to empower our displaced population, many of whom are skilled farmers, to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

"Furthermore, we are equally committed to providing educational supplies to ensure that IDP children and adolescents have access to learning materials facilitating their educational growth and development.

"Additionally, we are distributing food care packs to alleviate immediate hunger’and provide much-needed sustenance to those in need" he said.

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

Governor’s wife pledges to ensure affirmation of the agenda

Concrete Pavements Better Than Asphalt, Umahi Insists

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi yesterday reiterated that concrete road pavement is far better, cheaper and will last longer than asphalt pavement in the construction of roads in some parts of the country, considering the terrain.

He stated this at a meeting with directors of the ministry, held for purposes of clarification

by the minister that the use of concrete was not a cast in iron, a statement signed by the Director (Information), Press & Public Relations Unit, Blessing Lere-Adams stated.

At the meeting which took place at the ministry’s conference room on October 3, Umahi maintained that the use of concrete had been tested to be better than asphalt.

The minister noted that there

were a lot of advantages using concrete in road construction, stressing that roads built with concrete can last for 50 years without having issues of portholes or washout.

In addition , he stated that concrete roads have a longer lifespan, can withstand heavy traffic loads, has low maintenance and is less affected by temperature fluctuations .

“A lot of advantages accrue to

the use of concrete to construct roads. Concrete roads last longer compared to asphalt roads, reducing the need for frequent repairs and maintenance. It’s stronger and can withstand heavy traffic loads, it also has low maintenance,” he stated.

Umahi pointed out that nobody was insisting that all ongoing road construction in the nation should be changed to concrete, but explained that it can only

Judge Issues Gag Order after Trump’s Comments on Court Clerk in Civil Trial

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial issued a gag order on Tuesday after the former president made comments about the judge’s clerk.

“Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff,” judge, Arthur Engoron, said yesterday.

“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate and I will not tolerate them in any circumstances.

“Failure to abide by this order will result in serious sanctions.”

The second day of Trump’s trial got off to another combative start after Trump branded the case a “fraud” and a “scam” and pledged to take the stand in his own defense.

Asked if he would testify in the case, Trump said: “Yes, I will. At the appropriate time I will be.”

But Trump’s comments about Engoron’s law clerk, the attorney Allison Greenfield, proved a step too far. Over lunch Trump attacked Engoron’s clerk in a social media post, linking to a picture of her with the Democratic Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer. He called her “Schumer’s girlfriend” and said she “is running this case against me. How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately.”

The post on Trump’s Truth Social

his office to gratify the Ondo State Deputy Governor, and if found liable, the National Judicial Council should mete out the appropriate sanction against him as required by the dictates of judicial fidelity and the protection of the rule of law and our nascent democracy.”

In a petition addressed to the NJC chairman, and signed by Speaker of the Assembly, Mr Olamide Oladiji, the legislature accused Nwite, who made the order, of allegedly compromising his office and violating the constitution.

The lawmakers alleged that Nwite heavily compromised his office to grant an unconstitutional ex parte application in favour of the embattled deputy governor.

The petition partly read, “As the Speaker of the 10th Ondo State House of Assembly, and on behalf of the entire members of the House of Assembly (hereinafter referred to as ‘ODHA’), I write your lordship to formally lodge a complaint against Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite of the Abuja Judicial Division of the Federal High Court, for compromising his office and violating the extant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), ignoring judicial decisions of the appellate courts and extant Practice Directions and/or relevant Circulars of the Federal High Court, to grant an unconstitutional, clearly malevolent, and ostensibly procured ex parte order on 26th September, 2023 in Suit FHC/ ABJ/CS/1294/2023 restraining ODHA as an arm of government from exercising its constitutional powers.”

Oladiji recalled, in the petition, that on “September 2023, Eleven (11) members of the Ondo State Assembly presented a notice of allegation(s) of gross misconduct (impeachment notice) against

platform was deleted on Engoron’s orders, according to The Guardian.

The case threatens to dismantle parts of the former US president’s business empire and sharply curtail his ability to do business in New York.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is accused along with his two sons and nearly a dozen business associates of inflating the value of his assets by billions of dollars to secure more favorable loan and insurance terms.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and his lawyers have said they would appeal.

The Democratic state attorney general, Letitia James, is seeking at least $250 million in fines, a permanent ban against Trump and his sons Donald Jr and Eric from running businesses in New York and a five-year commercial real estate ban against Trump and the Trump Organisation.

On Tuesday the court heard from Donald Bender, Trump’s longtime accountant and formerly at Mazars USA. Prosecutors made their case that the Trumps had withheld information from their accountants as they inflated the worth of their assets. Bender said he became aware that “there were certain appraisals

the deputy governor of Ondo State, His Excellency, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, to me as the Speaker, in line with Section 188(2) (a) & (b) of the Constitution. I hereby attach a copy of the notice as Annexure ODHA.

“As your lordship would observe, annexure ODHA contains 14 allegations, many of which relate to alleged financial improprieties running into hundreds of millions of naira.

“My Lord, as a ranking member of ODHA and based on the benefit of a detailed legal advice, which the House has sought on the subject matter, I know as a fact that impeachment is a purely legislative affair.

“Section 188 (10) of the constitution clearly provides that: ‘No proceedings or determination of the House of Assembly or an Impeachment Panel or any matter relating to such proceedings or determination shall be entertained or questioned in any court.

“However, in spite of the above provisions of the constitution, the deputy governor approached Justice Emeka Nwite with an ex parte application on 21st September, 2023, just a day after I received Annexure ODHA1 (the notice of allegations of gross misconduct) against him at the plenary of the House, to procure an order to stop the legislative process of his impeachment.

“My lord, as a Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice Emeka Nwite knows or ought to know that there are extant Circulars and Practice Directions prohibiting Federal High Court Judges from granting ex parte injunctions in political cases and/or taking cases that did not originate from their immediate Judicial Divisions.”

Meanwhile, the Assembly issued a fresh directive to the

we hadn’t seen for certain years”.

The trial comes a week after Engoron ruled that Trump committed fraud and canceled business certificates for companies that control the crown jewels of his portfolio, including Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street in Manhattan. Engoron said he would appoint receivers to oversee

prompted by mass suffering following the removal of fuel subsidy, and crisis in foreign exchange market and its ripple effect on Nigerian workers.

The suspension of the planned nationwide strike followed the signing of a 15-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two main labour centres and the federal government.

Ajaero disclosed that NLC initially decided to return to the negotiating table after shunning all talks with the government due to pressure from many Nigerians, who also raised issues about the likely negative effect the proposed strike would have on the underprivileged and vulnerable countrymen and women.

He stated, “When we had the first meeting with them, we went back to our organs. And even when our

state Chief Judge to set up a seven-man panel to investigate Aiyedatiwa following the allegations levelled against him.

It accused the deputy governor of failing to respond to the notice of allegations of gross misconduct against him within seven days.

Oladiji, who gave the directive during plenary, emphasised that the constitution stipulated that the Assembly should wait for seven days for the deputy governor to respond, which had now lapsed.

their dissolution.

Trump attended the trial on Monday, entering the courtroom with his trademark glower and a retinue of Secret Service agents after being waved past police who hand-searched the bags of reporters and members of the public in attendance.

ultimatum expired, we still went back. That’s where we draw our power and mandate.

“If at the end of the one month, for all that was agreed, we are not satisfied, we will get back to the same organs and get a fresh mandate because it’s important that we understand that an activity that was suspended is not called off.

“We do not need to give a fresh ultimatum (to the government). We will go back and re-evaluate what we had achieved and the level of compliance and efforts made so far in ensuring that the agreements are honoured.”

Ajaero said by now, if the political will actually existed, the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses should have been ready, while salary awards and the promised cash transfer ought to have been implemented.

The labour leader stressed that the results of the CNG programme, for instance, should have been trickling in by November. He explained that this was clearly stated in the agreement that had not been implemented.

“On the issue of refineries, what we said was that there would be a joint visitation to the Port Harcourt refinery to look at the state of preparedness for it to be in operation by December,” Ajaero stated.

He said labour rejected the N25, 000 announced by Tinubu before N35,000 was eventually approved across board, and pointed out that

HISTOrIC mOmenT AS kevIn mCCArTHY, uS HOuSe

marked a major escalation in tensions for a House GOP conference that has been mired in infighting — and it comes just days after McCarthy successfully engineered a last-minute bipartisan effort to avert a government shutdown.

The New York Times noted that the ousted Speaker was unable to manage a bitter power struggle within the Republican Party.

Democrats joined with a small group of hard-liners in McCarthy’s own party to strip the California Republican of the speaker’s gavel. His removal underscored the bitter Republican divisions that have festered all year, and capped an epic power struggle between McCarthy and members of a far-right faction who tried to block his ascent to the speakership in January.

They have tormented him ever since, trying to thwart his efforts to keep the nation from defaulting on its debt and ultimately rebelling over his decision over the weekend to turn to Democrats for help to keep the government open.

A tense scene played out on the floor as lawmakers voted to oust the speaker the same way they vote to elect one: by sitting on the House floor and rising one by one in an alphabetical roll call by conducted by the clerk.

A vacancy in the speaker’s chair

happen under certain conditions. He stated that the conditions include that all roads constructed with asphalt pavement must be on concrete shoulder; must have alternative design on the road shoulder while there will be no shoulder on roads with surface dressing.

“Nobody is insisting that all ongoing jobs will be on concrete, but anyone that wants to continue with asphalt can continue under the following conditions: no shoulder on surface dressing, alternative design on shoulder all road of asphalt pavement must be on concrete shoulder,” he said.

He added that some of the contractors were still working with obsolete and old machines, while it was hard to get up to 50 per cent of needed machines and personnel to carry out the projects.

He encouraged the directors to feel free to come to him for any suggestion or logical arguments, saying that the mission of the Tinubu’s administration was to improve on the road

the government assured that the wage award would exist until a minimum wage law was signed into law in about six months.

He queried, “There were some other elements that came in, like what happens to the lower income bracket and the pensioners. Because there are some pensioners that earn N5, 000 to N10, 000. So, how do you classify this if you are talking of the poorest of the poor?”

Ajaero said with the commitment from the government, jubilation had erupted in the workers’ camp because for decades what they were able to negotiate was just minimum wage of N30, 000 while within 24 hours, the union was able to work out an award of N35, 000.

The NLC president pointed out that the labour movement was now looking at a way of operationalising the moderate gains to go round the private sector, local government and state workers since the federal government could not dictate to the other tiers of government.

He said even though the 46-yearold NLC had a lot of powers, it usually did not deploy them for obvious reasons, promising that workers power will always be used with a lot of restraint.

He stated that although the responsibility of the labour union was to its members, if the CNG programme and the Value Added Tax (VAT) begin to work, it will benefit all Nigerians.

Ajaero stated, “The first meeting on Friday, we decided not to be part

infrastructure across the nation for the good of all. “I am appealing to our consciences to see ourselves as people going in the same direction and pursuing the same agenda for the betterment of all. All those in the field are the same with people in the office. Services in the office are what is keeping the services on site,” he told the directors.

of it because we have discovered the attitude of Nigerian government holding meeting on the eve of our ultimatum.

“But pressure came and Nigerians started talking about the economy and the effect it would have on the common man. So we had to even meet on a Sunday and a public holiday.”

He said the strike was suspended to watch the level of progress, stressing that whatever is agreed must be registered in court so that the parties understand their obligations.

According to him, “The crisis is not over because of the era of broken promises and because of the trust gap between Nigerian leaders and the governed. Now, it is difficult to close that gap by mere promissory notes.

“If you listen to the president, you will discover that all were promises and promissory notes. We could have dismissed that, but we have decided how we can turn those promises to reality.

“It’s not as if the promises will be accomplished in 30 days’ time, but during that time, there are some of them that can be achieved.”

Ajaero also said the unions insisted that copies of the MoU signed between it and the federal government should be deposited at the courts so that neither of the parties could renege on the agreement without judicial consequences.

He said the Nigerian people had gone through a lot of pain and anguish in the past five months.

essentially paralyses the House until a successor is chosen, according to multiple procedural experts. That promises to incite another potentially messy speaker election at a time when Congress has just over 40 days to avert a government shutdown.

The two parties are holding party meetings to decide what to do next. Both will have to choose nominees for speaker. It is unclear whether McCarthy would try to win back his post. It takes a majority of Republicans in their conference to put forward a nominee, who must then win a majority of the votes in House chamber to take the gavel.

There is no clear replacement for Mr. McCarthy. “I think there’s plenty of people who can step up and do the job,” said Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee, one of the rebels who voted to push McCarthy out, adding that he did not know who he had in mind for the job instead.

Ahead of the vote, a surreal Republican-against-Republican debate unfolded on the House floor. Members of the hard-right clutch of rebels disparaged their own speaker and verbally sparred with Mr. McCarthy’s defenders, who repeatedly accused the hard-liners of sowing disarray to

advance their own political interests and hoard attention. Democrats sat and watched silently.

“He put his political neck on the line knowing this day was coming,” said Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma and a McCarthy ally. “Think long and hard before you plunge us into chaos,” Mr. Cole implored the speaker’s detractors, “because that’s where we’re headed if we vacate the speakership.”

McCarthy’s detractors savaged him for what they characterised as a failure to wring steeper spending cuts out of the Biden administration and a lack of leadership. “Chaos is Speaker McCarthy,” Mr. Gaetz declared. “Chaos is somebody who we cannot trust with their word.”

Democrats had wrestled in recent days with whether to help McCarthy survive, or at least to stay out of the effort to oust him.

But in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader, instructed fellow Democrats not to do so, citing Republicans’ “unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism.” Democrats did not participate in the floor debate.

McCarthy, an inveterate optimist who prides himself on never giving up, stayed confident until the end

about his ability to survive. “If you throw a speaker out that has 99 percent of their conference, that kept government open and paid the troops, I think we’re in a really bad place for how we’re going to run Congress,” he said on Tuesday morning.

The proceedings that played out on Tuesday have taken place only once before in the House of Representatives, in 1910. Back then, progressive Republicans tried to remove then-Speaker Joseph Cannon, a conservative known as “Uncle Joe,” for refusing to bring their priorities to the floor for a vote. He survived that vote, but was weakened as a result. Mr. McCarthy is the first to be removed.

Speaking to his constituents on a telephone town hall meeting, New York Times quoted Representative Ralph Norman, Republican of South Carolina, to have said that his party needed to move quickly to vote find a new speaker.

“Who that speaker is I have no idea,” Norman said, noting a number names have been floated.

He added, “Since we only have a four-seat majority, we’ve got to stick together, and that’s gonna be the dilemma — that we’ll have to come up with somebody that’s a conservative and somebody who will do what they say.”

OnDO ASSemblY DrAgS JuDge TO nJC Over AllegeD COmprOmISe

SpeAker

Umahi

welcome reception held by civil servants for abiodun...

BUA: Housing Minister Says Lowering Cement Price Will Ease Burden on Potential Homeowners

emmanuel addeh in Abuja

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, yesterday said BUA Cement Plc's recent decision to reduce the price of cement to N3,500 from about

N5,500 would ease the burden on potential homeowners.

Dangiwa, stated that the proactive gesture would reduce the cost of cement, which is a major cost in housing construction. He stressed that the move supports the ‘Renewed

Hope Agenda’ of President Bola Tinubu to provide affordable housing to Nigerians.

The minister who applauded the company, made the remarks in response to BUA Plc’s October 1 official announcement reducing

the price of cement in Nigeria.

According to a statement from the ministry, Dangiwa noted that the move by BUA Cement underscored that the soaring cost of cement had led to a drastic increase in house prices, making them unaffordable

FG Pledges to Harness Potential of Country’s Aging Population

michael olugbode in Abuja

The federal government has promised to harness the potential of its aging population, assuring of its commitment to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of Nigerians.

The assurance was given yesterday, by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, while delivering an address at the International Day of Older Persons ceremony at the UN House in Abuja.

Speaking at the event with the theme: "Fulfilling the promise of the universal declaration of human rights for older persons across generations,” which was organised by the UN and the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC), Edu, commended the establishment of the NSCC by the NSCC Act 2017 to promote mainstreaming of older persons in the delivery of positive outcomes for the aged.

She assured of President Bola Tinubu's move to reposition the ministry demonstrated by the government's political will to develop mechanisms and achieve the desired goals.

Edu, said such would ensure sustainable systems to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of Nigerans, as well as progressively lift 133 million Nigerians out of poverty.

She noted that: "The NSCC remains the veritable agency to consolidate opportunities for the older population, in partnership with the various Ministries, Department and Agencies through multi-sectoral coordination.”

Edu promised that: “The present administration will ensure adequate support; persuasion of the state governments to domesticate the NSCC Act , VAPP Act, Persons with Disability Act and National Health Authority Act.

"The present administration will

focus on harnessing the potential of an aging population, combat ageism and negative stereotypes and close the gaps and inconsistencies in data.”

She added that the administration would focus on research, human capital development and continue to create systems capable of supporting older persons, including age friendly environments, universal health coverage and long term care systems.

On his part, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mr Matthias Schmale, reassured of the global body's support for Nigeria in the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons.

Schmale, commended the event

for being tailored to provide opportunity for reflection on the impact of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the protection of the rights of older persons.

He said: "It is my sincere hope that today’s dialogue will allow for reflections on effective promotion and protection of older persons in Nigeria, focusing on their contributions throughout their life, for the knowledge and expertise they can pass on to younger generations.

"As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the UN in Nigeria is committed to supporting Nigeria’s efforts towards enhancing the promotion and protection of

the rights of older persons.

"Especially, older persons living in vulnerable situations and making the promise of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights a reality for all Nigerians.”

The Director-General of NSCC, Dr. Emem Omokaro, identified universally declared rights of older persons to include right to life, liberty, and security of person, freedom from discrimination, abuse, violence and torture, right to work and education; and right to participate in cultural, social, and political life of their country and right to economic empowerment, access to justice, disability and age friendly environment.

for the average Nigerian.

The minister added that BUA Cement Plc’s decision represented a substantial stride towards easing the financial burden on aspiring homeowners.

Dangiwa emphasised that since assuming office, he had made promoting the delivery of affordable housing as a top priority in line with Tinubu’s mission to ensure more Nigerians are sheltered.

“The escalating prices of building materials, especially cement, have placed a daunting obstacle on the path to home ownership for many Nigerians. BUA Cement Plc’s decision to reduce the price of cement to N3,500 is highly commendable.

“It reflects their understanding of the struggles faced by ordinary Nigerians and is a positive step towards making housing more affordable and attainable for all.

“I commend BUA Cement Plc for their socially responsible decision to reduce the price of cement. Accessible and affordable housing is a fundamental right, and this move by BUA Cement Plc will undoubtedly alleviate the challenges faced by our citizens.

“It demonstrates a shared commitment to improving the lives of our people and furthering the goals of sustainable urban development," he noted.

The minister further stated that BUA Cement Plc’s initiative would not only benefit individual homeowners but would also stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and lift many Nigerians out of poverty by fostering affordable housing construction and infrastructure development. Accordingly, Dangiwa encouraged other industry players to emulate BUA Cement Plc’s example, urging them to consider the social impact of their decisions.

The minister expressed the belief that collaborative efforts between the government and private sector entities were essential in overcoming the challenges related to housing affordability and ensuring the realisation of decent living conditions for every Nigerian citizen.

BUA, one of Nigeria’s leading cement producers, had announced a reduction in the price of its cement to N3,500 per bag, effective from Monday, October 2, saying that the price reduction was a commitment made by the company to spur development in the building materials and infrastructure sectors.

“BUA Cement Plc wishes to announce and inform our esteemed customers, stakeholders, and the public that, effective October 2, 2023, we have decided to bring the price reduction forward.” the statement said.

Obaseki Inaugurates 34 SSAs, 152 SAs, Charges Them on Grassroots Devt

adibe emenyonu in Benin City

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has appointed 34 Senior Special Assistants (SSAs) and 152 Special Assistants (SAs) in five local government areas of Edo South senatorial district.

Inaugurating the appointees, Obaseki charged them to be bearers of truth and complement government’s efforts at driving development in the grassroots.

Obaseki, said the appointees were selected from Ikpoba-Okha, Oredo, Ovia South West, Ovia North East, and Orhionmwon local government councils in Edo South Senatorial District, noting that appointees from other two local government areas that make up the senatorial district will be announced soon as the party finalises on the selection of credible members that are worthy of the appointments.

The governor disclosed that, “Out of the seven local government areas from Edo South, we are appointing SSAs and SAs from five local

government areas. The reason is that we are trying to foster unity and inclusiveness in our party so that all are given the opportunity to participate.

“Those local governments we have not accepted their list are those local governments where work is still in progress. We are insisting that the leaders must agree and confirm that the people who are nominated are people who are faithful, worked for the party, and have the capacity to work for the governor.

“One of the key criteria for appointment is that you must be resident in that local government as you can’t be a political appointee in absentia. Gone are the days when you get an appointment and go abroad, it can't happen again.

“You have to be resident in your local government. You need to be there to know what is going on so as to help us develop the local government and State.”

He further noted, “You all are my appointees, you work for me not the local government. We are working

in all the wards in Edo State; we have teachers, health workers, and many others as we work together to develop the State.

“We want people on the ground to communicate to the people what we are doing and also want feedback from them.

“This is not a fancy appointment but involves real work this time around. You have SSAs who you work with and will coordinate your activities and give me a monthly report of what is going on.

“You must show me your contacts and relationship with the people and show me the medium of communication to ensure a real impact in all the wards.

“You all belong to our party as your appointment is based on the fact that you belong to our party and must show commitment towards that. You must promote the interest of the party. The people have decided to follow our party and it showed at the last local government election in the State.”

According to him, “I am passionate

about the poorest of the poor in the State, let me know those who can’t feed and eat in your various local governments to enable the government to send palliative measures to them as we must care for our people.

“We must know those children that can't go to school. We must know the state of our schools. We pay civil servants to work and want you to be our eyes to know those who are really working.”

The governor added, “We want unity in our party because we are in charge and the party to beat. Election is coming and politicians will throw all sorts of lies to discredit our party.

“Your role is to put things in the right perspective as you are the bearers of the truth of what the government is doing and make sure you are there to correct any lies they put out there. You must counter all the lies they put out on social media. I have faith in you to do well and accomplish the goal set out for you.”

On his part, the Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party

(PDP), Dr Anthony Aziegbemi, while congratulating the newly inaugurated appointees said: “You have been appointed at a very crucial time as we head into critical and serious political times starting from next month. It's not a mistake that you are inaugurated at this time from five local government areas as you have your work cut out for you.

“If you were SSAs or SAs in the last dispensation, the work is different this time around because there is a lot of work to do for the party. We know that you are ready to help the party to win the governorship election next year.

“The interest of the party is towards the 21st of September next year.”

Other guests at the inauguration ceremony included Secretary to Edo State Government, Osarodion Ogie; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Hon. Osaigbovo Iyoha; Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA), Hon. Blessing Agbebaku, and other party leaders and members across the State’s 18 local government areas.

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Engr. Olayiwola Abiodun; Head of Service, Peter Olayiwola Fagbohun; Governor Dapo Abiodun; his Deputy, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele and Deputy Chief of Staff, Dr. Oluwatoyin Taiwo at a welcome reception held by civil servants for the governor at Oke Mosan on Tuesday after his Saturday's victory at the Election Petition Tribunal.

PreSentAtiOn Of fOOd iteMS tO inMAteS...

Targeting Yari, Others amid Impeachment Threats, Senate Changes Rules

Bars

first-time senators from seeking presiding offices Creates additional nine committees

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

In what seemed like a veiled aim at a former governor of Zamfara State, Abdul-Aziz Yari, and a subtle move to quell the simmering impeachment plots against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Senate, yesterday, amended its standing rules to stop first time senators from contesting the position of either Senate President or Deputy Senate President.

The amendment, which was sequel to a motion sponsored by Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, also saw the creation of additional nine standing committees by the senate leadership.

The amended rule stipulates that any senator contesting the positions of Senate President and Deputy Senate President must have spent a minimum of one term in the senate.

Prior to the amendment, all the 109 senators, irrespective of ranking, were free to contest the presiding positions.

Rule 3 of the Senate Standing Order stated that nomination for presiding officers shall be in accordance with the ranking of senators.

It stated, "In determining the ranking, the following Order shall apply: (i) senators returning based on the number of times re-elected;

(ii) senators, who had been members of the House of Representatives and

(iii) Senators elected as senators for the first time."

The senators, yesterday, amended

Rule 3 to state that any senator vying for the positions of Senate President and Deputy Senate must have served

at least one term in the senate.

The amendment came months after a fierce contest for the 10th National Assembly leadership positions on June 13.

Akpabio was elected to the position in a keenly contested poll shaped by intrigues, acrimony and high-wire politics, and which many described as a heavily monetised due to the stakes in the race. He polled 63 votes to defeat his lone challenger, Yari, a first time senator, who secured 46 votes.

The senate president had shortly before the senators proceeded on their annual recess in August announced the composition of 74 standing committees.

But some senators, who did not vote for him during the inauguration of the 10th Senate had said the arrangement was lopsided, thus, eliciting the alleged impeachment plot against him, among others concerns.

The purported impeachment of the senate president was being considered in view of the certificate crisis against President Bola Tinubu, which some of his loyalists reckoned might be difficult to manage if someone not in their camp assumed the senate presidency.

It was against these extrapolations that insiders considered the new rules as a way to shut out potential threats to the senate presidency and also tame the simmering impeachment plots in the senate, with the larger goal of protecting Tinubu.

Akpabio announced the amendment of the senate standing rules after

majority of the senators supported it through voice vote at plenary. The motion was earlier considered and passed at the Committee of the Whole.

Majority of the senators also supported the motion, when it was raised at plenary.

Presenting the motion on amendment of the senate standing order, Bamidele explained that there were a number of rules that required amendment in order to give legislative support to more committees. He said the amendment notice had been circulated to the senators in accordance with the existing Order

109 Rule 2 of the senate standing orders.

The senate subsequently amended its rules to create additional committees.

The new committees are Committee on Atomic and Nuclear Energy; Committee on Federal Capital Territory Area Council and Auxiliary Matters; Committee on Federal Capital Territory; and Committee on Sports Development.

Others are Committee on Youth and Community Engagement; Committee on Mines and Steel Development; Committee on Tourism; and Committee on Culture and

Creative Economy.

As shown in the motion, the senate created the Committee on Atomic and Nuclear Energy, which would oversee the Nigeria Nuclear Energy Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, and their annual budget estimates.

The senate also split Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) into two different standing committees, namely, Committee on FCT and Committee on FCT Area Councils.

The senate resolved that the Committee on FCT would oversee matters affecting the FCT, Planning and Development of the new Federal

Capital Territory and control of development within the Federal Capital Territory and its annual budgets. It resolved that Committee on FCT Area Councils would oversee Area Council Mandate, Area Council Service Commission, Area Council Staff Pension Board, Auditor-General for the Area Council, and other agency or department under FCT. The senate divided Committee on Sports into two standing committees, Committee on Sports Development and Committee on Youth and Community Engagements.

NDLEA: We are Planning Alternative Strategies to Nullify Drug Cartel

Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) has disclosed said the agency was planning alternative development strategies that will take drug cartels out of business and protect the environment from the damaging effects of illicit drug cultivation and production.

The NDLEA boss disclosed this while outlining efforts by Nigeria to curb menace of substance abuse

and illicit drug production and trafficking in his presentation at the third committee session of the ongoing 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, USA on Monday

The spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, in a statement yesterday, quoted Marwa to have said: “Cartels involved in illicit drug cultivation are causing deforestation, resulting in environmental degradation.

“In search of a lasting solution, we are working to implement an alternative development plan. This

IPAC, CSO Hail Tribunal’s Verdict on Ogun 2023 Governorship Poll

James Sowole in Abeokuta

The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) yesterday hailed the judgment of the Ogun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which affirmed the return of the State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, as the winner of the March 18,1023 poll.

The IPAC described the verdict of the three-man panel as victory for democracy, which must be embraced by all peace and progress loving people and all stakeholders of the state.

IPAC’s position was expressed at a news conference addressed by leaders of the advisory council, in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Addressing journalists, the

Chairman of IPAC, Ogun State, Mr. Samson Okusanya, slammed a group, that described the judgment as a charade as faceless and political neophyte.

Okusanya, also described the statement credited to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the judgment, which discredited the verdict, as docile and out of crass ignorance from political merchants.

Okusanya said contrary to the claims made by the PDP’s candidate, Ladi Adebutu and his team of lawyers that the verdict of the tribunal was based on technicalities, the rulings were predicated on fairness and objectivity on the point of law.

He said, "Ogun State IPAC wouldn't have dignified this beer

parlour publication laced with deliberate falsehood or considered it necessary to react to such an epistle of personal bitterness, ignorance and complete unintelligent outburst from those political traders, buccaneers, scavengers, emergency democrats, political predators, misfits and pedestrian politicians, but for the benefit of the few in the public who may innocently be misinformed by this ethically rusty and morally depraved social misfit and miscreants.

"We find their arguments empty and blind, where they claimed they were perplexed by the Tribunal's reliance on technicalities involving procedural issues and semantics of the interpretation of words over the substance and core realities

of the case.

"Ladi Adebutu and his team of lawyers ought to have known that law and facts are not based on technicalities but rather on fairness and objectivity of the legal process which stipulates that the petitioner ought to have front-loaded certain information in the petition.”

He added: "Or did our laws not state emphatically that ‘he who alleges must prove?

"The tribunal's verdict on Ladi Adebutu's petition clearly revealed that the petition contained so many procedural flaws with antecedents' interpretation of words. The subsequent dismissal of the substantive suits is therefore right in the eyes of the law."

will provide cannabis farmers with better options, like agricultural loans and improved seedlings.

“The increasing online activities of drug traffickers, particularly on the dark web, after the COVID-19 pandemic have become a great source of concern. “This will require collaboration and capacity-building to neutralise the growing threat. Nigeria is also strengthening its legal framework through on-going amendments to relevant drug laws.

“Our bilateral and multilateral cooperation efforts have been expanded through the signing and renewal of memoranda of understanding with countries and agencies. This has helped to deepen intelligence sharing, exchange programmes, joint operations, and capacity building, among others.”

Marwa also said the Nigeria’s premier anti-narcotics agency would continue to identify gaps and build bridges, both in dismantling drug trafficking cartels and providing access to treatment and counselling services.

He said: “More policies to protect vulnerable groups such as women, children, and displaced persons will be implemented. To maintain a clear lead over drug trafficking groups, we will continue to engage in thoughtful regulations and targeted strategic law enforcement that are intelligence-led and human rights-centred.

“We will also leverage stakeholder collaboration as we make progress in the implementation of the SDGs. No stone must be left unturned,

and no community, group, or individual must be left behind. “We must extend the fight against drugs on all fronts and ensure that our communities are safe, healthy, and peaceful”, he told the global gathering.”

He added that Nigeria was adopting a whole-of-society approach to countering the challenges of drug trafficking in line with the 2030 SDG agenda, which seeks to promote the rule of law, health, peace, and justice.

“Therefore, while ramping up law enforcement efforts to halt the illicit supply of drugs, we are equally promoting evidence-based drug prevention, treatment, and care programmes,” he added.

Marwa, while stating that Nigeria was concentrating efforts on mitigating the challenges of narcotic drugs, he declared that, “the drug demand reduction strategies are also helping to address the problem of stigmatisation and discrimination against people with drug use disorders.”

“This includes the introduction of a 24/7 toll-free call centre where people can call from the comfort of their homes to access quality counselling, treatment, and care,” he added.

He noted further that: “Remarkable progress has also been made in early prevention programmes in schools and communities. This is in accordance with SDG 3, which seeks to promote good health and well-being.

L-R: ASC Sama’ila Ladan Shata; DCC Abubakar Ladan; DCC Rechard Yashen; Wife of Kebbi State Governor, Zainab Nasare Nasir Idris; Wives of Kebbi State Deputy Governor, Aisha Umar Tafida and Maryam Umar Tafida and Wife of Secretary to the State Government, Asma’u Alkali, at the celebration of Nigeria's 63rd Independence Anniversary and presentation of food items to inmates of the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Birnin Kebbi…Monday

As Nasarawa Tribunal’s Split Decision Sacks Gov Sule...

Plot to unseat Governor abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State was hatched by the Peoples Democratic party shortly after the Returning Officer for the March 18, 2023 Governorship Poll in the State, Prof. Tanko Ishaya, declared the incumbent governor re-elected, reports Igbawase Ukumba

On March 20, 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Abdullahi Sule as winner of the March 18 governorship election in Nasarawa State. This was even as the incumbent governor and the deputy governor, Emmanuel Akabe, had both lost their Akwanga and Doma Local Government Areas, respectively, to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the governorship poll.

However, Governor Sule won in seven of the 13 Local Government Areas of the state, scoring a total of 347,209 votes whereas, his closest rival, David Ombugadu of the PDP, scored a total of 283,016 votes during the poll.

Sule had won in Keana, Awe, Lafia, Wamba, Keffi, Nasarawa and Toto Local Government Areas in the results declared by the INEC Returning Officer. His closest competitor, David Ombugadu of the PDP won in six Local Government Areas of Akwanga, Doma, Obi, Nasarawa Eggon, Kokona and Karu.

Not satisfied with the governorship election result declared by INEC, PDP governorship candidate, Ombugadu, approached the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to nullify the election of Sule and declare him winner.

Consequently, the tribunal commenced hearing of the petition filed by Ombugadu over the declaration of Sule as winner of the governorship election in the state.

Legal fireworks began in earnest as the state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal began hearing of the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the PDP challenging the declaration of Sule as winner of the March 18 governorship poll.

The three-man panel of justices led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi listened to arguments and counter-arguments canvassed by counsels to Governor Sule, the APC and INEC. The arguments centered on the admissibility or otherwise of documents and witnesses tendered and called by the complainants.

During the sitting, the petitioner, through his counsels led by M.J Numa, tendered documents including voters registers, list of adhoc staff, result sheets from several Local Government Areas, among others, to substantiate his claims. Counsels to the respondents, however, objected to the admissibility of the documents, but reserved their arguments to the final written addresses.

Ruling on the issue, Justice Ajayi reserved ruling on the propriety of the admissibility of the documents or otherwise, but allowed the petitioner to tender evidences brought before the tribunal.

When adopting their final written addresses, counsel to INEC, the APC, and Nasarawa State Governor, Isiaka Dikko, Hassan Liman and Wole Olanikpekun, all prayed for the tribunal to dismiss the petition by the PDP and its gubernatorial candidate for lacking in merit.

Counsel to the INEC, Dikko, called on the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit. According to the INEC counsel, the petitioners have failed to prove their allegations of reduction of votes, cancellation of votes of the election of Ashige Electoral Ward and exclusion of votes in Alwaza Electoral Ward in Lafia and Doma Local Government Areas respectively, where the petitioners alleged over voting in four polling units.

Dikko added that his client, INEC declared Sule winner who led the petitioners’ with 64,193 lawful votes, stating that the petitioners’ allegation of leading with 4,130 votes entirely contradicts the deposition of their witnesses who changed position to now claim they were leading with 841 votes.

The INEC counsel, therefore, prayed for the tribunal to dismiss the petition because the petitioners have failed to establish the allegation of exclusion or wrongful deduction of votes.

On his part, Counsel to Governor Sule, Wole

Olanikpekun, told the tribunal that their job has been narrowed down and made easy, because certain witnesses tendered by the petitioners have no business appearing before the tribunal.

Relying on the recent verdict of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, Olanipekun said the position of the law made it clear that PW7, PW8, PW11, PW12 and PW13, as well as exhibits attached to them namely: IG3, FB36, VB1 to VB207, SP01 to SP310, IG28, SUB305, IG9 to IG14, SUB306, IG3, SUB38 to 43 and LZ, were unlawfully obtained.

According to the senior learned silk, the law is very clear that the tribunal has no jurisdiction to have countenance and sneaked those witnesses and exhibits they tendered. He opined that the petitioners’ star witness, PW22 made conflicting claims, adding that the tribunal cannot compute figures for the petitioners.

Contrary to the claim by the petitioners, Olanipekun argued that the petitioners have dumped BVAS machines and IREV records at the tribunal without showing what was contained in the records.

He continued that the petition by the PDP and its gubernatorial candidate has suffered a shipwreck, even as he insisted that the petitioners have failed to show where they scored 25% of the votes in any Local Government Area. He, therefore, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit.

Similarly, Dr. Hassan Liman, counsel to the APC, while adopting their final written address, prayed the tribunal to dismiss the petition on grounds that it was lacking in merit, describing it as “waste of resources for the good people of Nasarawa State”.

Relying on some documents admitted as exhibits before the tribunal, Liman said Sule led the election with 64,193 votes, adding that electoral matters are valued on figures, arguing that the petitioners have determined the matter against themselves.

“I submit that in the four polling units where the petitioners alleged over voting, they did not refer to Voters Registers at all, or BVAS machine demonstration, nor did they even call witnesses in those four polling units where they alleged over voting,” he said.

According to Liman, the said over voting has not been proven and that the contention of the respondent is that the 1,780 votes in those polling units be retained as votes declared in the election. He averred that retaining the 1,780 votes would swallow the alleged margin of 841 votes, adding that with this,

Consequently, on October 2, 2023, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, in a split decision by two of the threeman panel sacked Governor Sule. Delivering the over fourhour judgment virtually, chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ajayi declared David Ombugadu of the PDP as the lawfully elected governor of Nasarawa State. The tribunal chairman maintained that the evidence presented by the petitioner indicated that Ombugadu scored majority of the lawful votes cast during the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state. Justice Ajayi therefore directed INEC to issue a Certificate of Return to David Ombugadu of the PDP.

the petitioners would lose the election by 939 votes. He, therefore, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition.

Consequently, on October 2, 2023, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, in a split decision by two of the three-man panel sacked Governor Sule.

Delivering the over four-hour judgment virtually, chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ajayi declared David Ombugadu of the PDP as the lawfully elected governor of Nasarawa State.

The tribunal chairman maintained that the evidence presented by the petitioner indicated that Ombugadu scored majority of the lawful votes cast during the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state.

Justice Ajayi therefore directed INEC to issue a Certificate of Return to David Ombugadu of the PDP.

There was, however, a dissenting judgement delivered by Justice Ibrahim Mashi, a member of the panel.

In his dissenting judgement, the number two member of the panel dismissed the petition filed by the PDP candidate for lacking in merit. Justice Mashi affirmed that the petitioner had failed to prove his case and therefore upheld the declaration of Governor Sule of the APC as the winner of the governorship election conducted in the state.

Addressing a mammoth crowd of supporters who turned up at the Government House in Lafia shortly after the tribunal gave its judgement, Governor Sule directed his legal team to appeal the ruling of the tribunal which had upturned his election.

He maintained that those who would take responsibility of the appeal are the legal people. He detailed the legal team to continue with their work.

According to the governor: “I am calling on the good people of Nasarawa State to understand that this first judgment is the tribunal. It is not the judgment of the Supreme Court. Therefore, don’t bother yourselves getting angry or getting upset with anybody. I still remain Governor until the final determination of the case at the Supreme Court.

“I remain the governor until I appeal, and the law permits us to appeal again. And no matter what happened at that moment, I still remain the governor until we go to the Supreme Court.”

Sule

Optimising Nigeria’s Blue Economy Potentials through Hydrography

Given that the Blue Economy is centered on trade and actions around large bodies of water ranging from rivers to oceans, Chiemelie Ezeobi writes on the import of hydrography in optimising it and efforts by the Nigerian Hydrographic Society, as well as the Nigerian Navy Hydrography unit

The Blue or Marine Economy is the ecosystem of economic activities centred on trade and actions around large bodies of water ranging from rivers to oceans. When this is managed effectively, it yields better dividends given that over 90 per cent of the world’s trade is conducted by the sea, and this is by far, the most cost-effective way to move large quantity of goods and raw materials around the world.

Globally, the economy of nations have been hugely dependent on various maritime activities. Daily, about 180,000 vessels take to sea and 30 million tons of goods are ferried across the world; ports are built, coastal infrastructure are developed, coasts are defended, marine environmental plans are implemented.

Import of Hydrography

For all these things to happen, hydrography is key as without the services by providing charts and other nautical publications, voyages through the sea would have become a nightmare to captains of ships who need to move goods and services from one part of the world to the other in a safe and economical way.

Essentially, hydrography is the science of the measurement, description, and mapping of the surface waters of the earth, with special reference to their use for navigation.

However, hydrography not only deals in understanding the physical features of water bodies, but also plans economic development, security and defence, scientific research, and environmental protection related to it and this is done through making of charts to aid navigation by mariners.

Aim of Nigerian Hydrographic Society

The body in charge of hydrography in Nigeria is the Nigerian Hydrographic Society (NHS) and its president is Rear Admiral Ayo Olugbode, who also doubles as the Hydrographer of the Nigerian Navy (NN).

According to him, the aim of the NHS is to provide a non-political, non-profit, national forum for Hydrographic Surveyors and other scientists interested in hydrographic surveying, for the effective application of hydrography and related sciences to national and international development.

Thus the objectives of the association include to promote and coordinate Hydrographic Surveying activities in Nigeria; promote and encourage the training and education of persons engaged in, or intending to engage in Hydrographic Surveying activities, and to advice on curriculum development in Hydrography; and promote

the Development of hydrographic sciences and techniques in Nigeria through, inter alia, seminars, workshops, symposia, publications and continuing education of personnel in hydrography generally.

Others include to set and maintain the highest standards of professional conduct, ethics and discipline amongst its members; seek and protect the welfare and interest of members of the Society, and to foster public interests in matters affecting hydrography; foster cooperation between, and promote unit of purpose and action among Nigerian Surveying and Mapping Associations and other related professions; and maintain close collaboration with the International Hydrographic Organisations (IHO); and other related

national and international organisations.

Collaboration to Optimise Blue Economy Potentials

Harping on the importance of collaboration, Rear Admiral Olugbode said it would go a long way to engender optimisation of the blue economy potentials in Nigeria.

While conferring with members of the society in a seminal gathering aimed at advancing the hydrography profession in Nigeria, at Apapa Boat Club in Lagos, the NN Hydrographer said it was aimed at advancing the hydrography profession in the country.

Part of the interactions were centered on ways and means to deepen multidimensional collaboration within hydrography professional clusters and cohorts towards enabling the full optimisation of the blue economy potentials of the country.

The gathering therefore provided a platform

to rekindle the commitment and enthusiasm of NHS members and concerned stakeholders in the development of the functional and operational knowledge of hydrography in the country.

This is pertinently so due to the enabling role hydrographers must play in enhancing Nigeria’s maritime aspirations, particularly with the recent establishment of the Federal Ministry of Marine Resources and Blue Economy.

He stated that the key issues revolves around the need to restructure and rebrand NHS for enhanced hydrographic service delivery in Nigeria, adding that the key issues at the event revolved around the need to restructure and rebrand NHS for enhanced hydrographic service delivery in Nigeria.

“It was also agreed that there’s the need to improve NHS’ visibility on social media platforms with a view for NHS to become more proactive in hydrographic advocacy in Nigeria and within the wider Gulf of Guinea sub-Region. Additionally, proposals were made for NHS’ 2024 Fiscal Year, making it imperative for members to resolve all outstanding issues before the end of December 2023.

“In view of this, plans were also concluded on the need to hold an NHS Annual General Meeting sometime in 2024. Different responsibilities were thus given to members towards building collective approaches on how to move the Society forward, with clearly defined expected timelines and deliverables."

The hydrography president also assured members of his unwavering dedication to move NHS to greater heights and affirmed the unflinching support of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, towards improving Nigeria’s hydrographic capacity for improved maritime safety and security towards enhancing Nigeria’s national economic growth and prosperity.

The meeting ended with participants agreeing that the event would become a significant turning point for NHS, as robust plans had been articulated to usher in a new era of dedication and commitment to quality hydrographic service delivery in Nigeria to forge a resilient, progressive and united NHS.

But prior to the above meeting, Rear Admiral Olugbode had taken time to strengthen hydrographic ties pertaining to capacity building, as well as Research and Development (R&D) with the University of Lagos (UNILAG) by paying a courtesy call on the Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof Folashade Ogunsola.

UNILAG Vice Chancellor, Prof Folashade Ogunsola with Rear Admiral Olugbode

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla with the Nigerian Hydrographic Society President, Rear Admiral Ayo Olugbode during the CNS visit to the Navy Hydrography Office in Lagos

Rear Admiral Olugbode with members of the Nigerian Hydrographic Society after a recent meeting

The Blue or Marine Economy is the ecosystem of economic activities centred on trade and actions around large bodies of water ranging from rivers to oceans. When this is managed effectively, it yields better dividends given that over 90 per cent of the world’s trade is conducted by the sea

The Global Peace Agenda for Women

Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that at the sidelines of the recently held 78th United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, in New York, the agenda for global peace was championed extensively by women at the First Ladies High Level Forum

In 1981, the United Nations General Assembly declared third Tuesday of September as International Day of Peace. This year, the day coincided with the opening day of the annual sessions of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The purpose of the day is to strengthen the ideals of peace and harmony around the world.

Essentially, the Peace Day is a call to action that recognises the individual and collective responsibility to foster peace which contributes to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

First Ladies High Level Forum

This year, Nigerian First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu; Pastor Folu Adeboye; Pastor Folu Adeboye, Founder, African Missions Global, and other African First Ladies, called for global peace at the First Ladies High Level Forum at the 78th sidelines of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at Salvation Army Auditorium, International Justice Commission, New York.

Themed "Gender Actions for Peace: Ambition for Women Leaders as a Key Players on Global Peace", it was championed by Prof Ada Okika, Africana Women Working Group at the UN; Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani; Framazaz Foundation and others.

Prof Okika of the African Women Working Group of the UN said since 2010, they have continued to advance the course of women in leadership positions through the program, First Ladies Becoming High Level Forum on SDG 16 and Targets to bring global awareness on the most needed roles of Fist ladies of Nations on women and peace.

Delegation

The high delegates at the event include Dr Monica Sanchez, CEO/Chief UN Representative, Miss CARICOM International Foundation; Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, Vice President of the Association of World Citizens and President of the Federation of World Peace and Love; Dr. Danny Glover, UNICEF Humanitarian Ambassador; Ambassador of African Union

to the USA; and Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella First Female Deputy Commissioner, New York Police Department.

The first ladies at the event were Mrs. Angeline Ndayishimiye, First Lady of the Republic of Burundi/ President of African First Ladies Peace Mission; Hilda Suka-Mafudze; Madame Antoinette Sassou Nguesso, First Lady of the Congo; Mrs. Ann Marie Davis, First Lady of Bahamas; Madam Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone; Madam Constancia Mangue de Obiang, First Lady of Equatorial Guinea; Lady Nei Meme, First lady of Kiribati; and Madam Kristale Ivezaj-Rama, the First Lady of Prishtina.

Nigeria's first lady was accompanied by wives of governors including that of Lagos and Imo, Dr. Ibironke Sanwo-Olu and Chioma Uzodinma, respectively.

Bell of Peace

Beyond the several sessions that held, the first ladies marked the 2023 UN Day of Peace with prayers and ringing of the Peace Bell. The Bell of Peace symbolises The Desire for World Peace.

At the 2023 UNGA, the women rang for three things; "global sustainability, love and peace, as well as the world as one".

Role of Women as Peace Makers

While wishing for Divine Peace

for the world at large as the 517th person that rang the World Peace Bell, Mrs. Tinubu earlier in her speech, urged the women to make use of their soft power in advocating for peace and pursuing democracy, urging them to contribute in reducing underage violence.

She said: "The journey towards a lasting peace requires dialogue, engagement and empowerment of all members of society, in particular women in leadership roles. Women bring unique perspectives, qualities, compassion and experience which can play transformative roles in conflict resolution, peace and sustainable development.

"As peace keepers, we contribute to reducing underage violence. As mediators, trauma killing counsellors and policy makers, women work to transform relationships and address the root of violence. Finally, as educators and participants in the development process, women contribute to build in the capacity of their communities and nations."

Also speaking, Founder, African Missions Global, Pastor Folu Adeboye, urged the First Ladies not to let their husbands cause trouble for their respective countries or go to war.

She used Biblical references to highlight the importance of a woman or wife to a leader in the peace and development of a society.

Also speaking in one of the sessions Mrs. Ijeoma Ogalla, President of Naval Officers' Wives Association (NOWA), who was ably represented by the Vice President, Mrs. Zainab Akpan, wife of the Chief of Policy and Plans, Rear Admiral Joseph Akpan, said peace will not come unless people make it happen.

She said: "Today, we remember that women

have been the major victims of wars, conflicts and inequalities. But women are more than just victims; they are also powerful agents of peace.

"As I ring this bell, we honour all women who are working tirelessly to build a more peaceful world.

"Let us all commit to creating a world where all women and girls can live free from violence and discrimination, and where they can fully participate in building and sustaining peace."

Presentation of the Shadow Report

At the event, the Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, also presented the SDG 16 Nigeria 2022 Shadow Report 2023 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

The report was prepared using a Transparency International global template which helps for cross chapter comparison amongst countries and was produced by CISLAC as TI Nigeria under the project which seeks to improve democratic accountability of public institutions and anti-corruption deficits by Strengthening Accountability Networks among Civil Society (SANCUS) which is supported by the European Union.

He said the report, which is the 6th edition of a series of annual shadow reports, seeks to measure Nigeria’s progress on SDG 16 specifically targets 16.4 which deals with anti-money laundering, 16.5 which looks at beneficial ownership and 16.10 which looks at access to information.

In this year’s report, CISLAC noted an improvement in two indicators- policy area of Beneficial Ownership and political party & Campaign Finance provision enacted under the Electoral Act on 25th February 2022.

Rasfanjani further posited that achieving the SDGs will become most challenging where there is no solution to the aforementioned challenges of tackling corruption. He however hoped that the recommendations in the Shadow Report be followed through by the appropriate authorities to guarantee the protection of the lives and freedom of Nigerians as well as reduce corruption within the government.

The journey towards a lasting peace requires dialogue, engagement and empowerment of all members of society, in particular women in leadership roles. Women bring unique perspectives, qualities, compassion and experience which can play transformative roles in conflict resolution, peace and sustainable development

Executive Director, CISLAC, Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, presenting the SDG 16 Nigeria 2022 Shadow Report 2023 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions to Senator Tinubu

Prof. Ada Okika, Africana Women Working Group at the UN; Founder, African Missions Global, Pastor Folu Adeboye; Nigerian First Lady, Senator Remi Tinubu and Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, President of the Federation of World Peace and Love

Cross section of African first ladies at World Peace Day at the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly Senator Tinubu with Vice President of Naval Officers' Wives Association, Mrs. Zainab Akpan

Borrowing is not bad if the money is put to good use, writes

JOSEF OMOROTIONMWAN

STILL BORROWING TO FINANCE FRAUD

People look at loans and borrowing as things that are abhorring, disdainful and sometimes offensive. Even in the Christendom, it is not unusual to hear Christians asking God to make them lenders and not borrowers, particularly in their New Year Resolutions.

We think that such people are simply shortchanging themselves by constricting themselves to the smaller spaces. Unknown to them perhaps, most viable projects in this world are financed on borrowed money. At the point of success in the big thing, people would pray to God to provide them with people that would lend them money. Which contractor on winning a good contract, will not rush to the Priest to conduct a High Mass for him to get a worthy financier of that contract?

Indeed, they finally left but not before borrowing us into infamy.

Then came the Fourth Republic. By the time the President Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration arrived in 1999, Nigeria had burned to the limits and all avenues to further borrowing had become blocked.

As if that was not enough, Nigeria’s main revenue sources were also closing up fast. The Obasanjo administration soon found that the only way to go was debt forgiveness, if we must survive. Emissaries were dispatched to our creditors around the globe to seek forgiveness of our debts.

In the end, the world redirected that Nigeria must be allowed to breathe. Alas, all the major debts were written off, thanks to the benevolence of the world out there!

Alas it was to be the beginning of yet another reckless borrowing spree! We have been borrowing to finance fraud. The more we borrowed the more we owed. The more we borrowed, the more we produced looting governors, some of whom were richer than the states they governed. The more we borrowed, the more we had bigger thieves in high places; the more we borrowed, the more we had government officials who single-handedly lifted hundreds of billions off our treasuries. The more we borrowed, the more schools and health systems became comatose; the more we borrowed, the more our highways became deathtraps. Alas, development died!

SONNY ARAGBA-AKPORE argues that open internet will facilitate communication and unfettered access to information

A CASE FOR OPEN INTERNET

On Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Bucharest, Romania, 193- member nations of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) converged for the ITU plenipotentiary conference (ITU PP).

The election of a new Secretary General was the high point of the meeting. Elections were not new to ITU members but this was a different one. This particular one was going to be given ideological slant especially as the Cold War between Russia and the United States (USA) continued to play out one more time.

The source of this war was the administration of the internet. Russia and its allies were rooting for a democratization of the internet that will enable individual states have unblemished control and regulations thereto.

But the USA said a central and harmonized control was the way to go because there will be no restrictions about access to the internet. It should be open to all.

So in going into the election, Russia nominated Rashid Ismailov while the US fielded Doreen Bogdan-Martin .

Despite all the intrigues and horse-trading

Essentially, there is no harm in borrowing. There is blessing in getting a lender at the point of need: But there is harm in borrowing and not repaying, and there is harm and shame in not putting the borrowed money to the purpose for which it was borrowed. Put differently, if you borrow, you must repay and the borrowed money must be applied to the purpose of the borrowing.

Our founding fathers understood this most perfectly. We remember Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1912-1966), the first Prime Minister of Independent Nigeria! In his time, the late Prime Minister secured a World Bank loan of USD $209 million for the purpose of constructing the Kainji Dam with one quarter of this amount used to resettle people displaced by the construction of the dam and its reservoir, Kaiji Lake. The loan was judiciously applied to that project and it was completed, and tirelessly so.

The Kainji Dam has been extremely useful in its catchment area of Niger State and in a good part of Northern Nigeria, for energy provision and for irrigation purposes. The loan has repaid itself perhaps a thousand times over and today, it is as alive and as useful as when it was provided in the First Republic.

That loan stands out as the only one that Nigeria ever got and put to proper use, courtesy of the Abubakar Administration.

There is something peculiar with habit. Once formed, it must be nurtured. That’s one way of explaining why the successive military juntas that came after the Balewa administration still embarked on reckless borrowing and squandermania - despite coming at the oil boom and at a time when “Money was not Nigeria’s problem but how to spend it” - putting it in the elegant phraseology of a leader in that era.

But not to worry. Things were not yet off hand. In spite of the squandermania of the succeeding military juntas, they could still point out a few infrastructure they provided during their years of occupation. Those fly-overs all over Lagos; the National Arts Theatre; the FESTAC Jamboree and the associated environment, sea and airport development and expansions, could be pointed out as some of the things they were leaving behind.

We borrowed and borrowed, and so even, we have borrowed our way into shame - the point at which we no longer call a loan by its real name. We are now at the point where we must spend 98% of our revenue for debt-servicing and the end is not yet in sight!

Recently, as the exchange rate of the Naira to the dollar was heading for the rooftops, we quickly ran to the Afreximbank for a bail out. We got a $3 billion facility to cushion the effect of the exchange rate unification, whatever that means. The federal government quickly issued a statement that the Afrexim Facility was not a loan. After all, we were going to repay with our crude oil.

If that is not a loan, what is it? Is crude oil not money? For us, a loan by any other name is still a loan! We have now borrowed ourselves into an embarrassing situation; and if we must survive, we must continue to find lenders. It is a terrible situation, and that’s putting it mildly. Nobody can even say for sure, how much we are now owing.

Where exactly did the bottom fall off in all this? Corruption and total lack of accountability. An Accounting Officer would heave N180 billion off the public-till. Nobody is called to answer the supplementary questions - how did he carry it? In how many trailers did he convey that money? Did he carry it alone? Or was it such that he could arrange it in a briefcase and by some magic, simply walk away? The truth is that the man is today walking our streets in unfettered freedom! The moral message is that crime pays in Nigeria; and if you must do it, just do it big!

In Nigeria, corruption is pervasive. There is the strong belief out there that those big haulage in government may not really belong to the identified thieves. They may be acting as mere agents to some unidentified principals. That is one way of explaining the difficulties in prosecuting and punishing the offenders.

In and out of office, the big principals, permanently have their fingers on the protection buttons of the agents. That’s why the agents act with raw impunity.

that ensued, the United States candidate was elected Secretary-General of ITU with 139 votes out of the 172 Member States present and voted and the winner required majority 83 votes to win.

Rashid Ismailov of the Russian Federation received 25 votes.

Though Bogdan-Martins won, the victory was for the global citizens who now have unfettered access to the internet.

But there are still access gaps as 2.6 billion of the global population remains unconnected to the internet and this population remains a part of the challenges facing the ITU as the race for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) continues to 2030.

In 2019 , Huawei , China Mobile, China Unicom, and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), did something strange. They submitted a proposal to the ITU for a standard called New IP (New Internet Protocol, the standard that helps glue our modern communications together). The entities behind New IP reasoned that it was needed because existing protocols didn’t include sufficient quality-of-service guarantees, so netizens will struggle to handle latencysensitive future applications, and also because current standards lacked intrinsic security, they claimed.

But the global community saw this as controversial especially since ITU did not oversee IP. That’s the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)’s job which is a multi-stakeholder organization that accepts ideas from anywhere and harmonises same for the good of humanity.

Besides, the ITU is a United Nations body so represents nation-states in that regards.

Secondly the New IP proposed many Networks – or ManyNets – approach to global internetworking, with distinct, individual networks allowing to set their own rules on access to systems and content.

Some of the rules that were anticipated under the New IP could require individuals to register for network access, and allow central control – even shutdowns – of traffic on a national network. Analysts saw this as bizarre and censorship taken too far.

New IP was of interest to those who like the idea of a “sovereign internet” such as China’s, on which the government conducts pervasive surveillance and extensive censorship of its citizens and thinks it can do as it pleases within its borders.

And if the New IP had gathered support, it would have potentially made some of the controls China uses on its local internet part of global protocols.

Russia, being a part of this thinking, was manifestly so because it was not particularly tolerant of free speech before its illegal invasion of Ukraine and has since implemented sweeping censorship across its patch of the internet.

The Internet Society, the non-profit organization that promotes open internet development, was also very worried about the proceedings at the ITU event then saying Plenipotentiary-22 could be a turning point for the Internet.

The organization said “The multistakeholder Internet governance model and principles were being called into question by some ITU Member States and there were multilateral processes aiming to position governments as the main decision-makers regarding Internet governance.”

The society said “Internet technical standards must remain within the domain of the appropriate standards bodies, such as the IETF, where work that intends to update, amend, or develop Internet technical standards must be presented.”

In following closely the election of the new secretary-general, therefore, the society said it was opposed to “any policies, measures, or movements that harm the Internet’s essential characteristics – open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy.”

The campaign for a decentralized administration for the internet has been on since 2012 but it was put to rest at the Plenipotentiary conference in Bucharest in 2022.

And so when Nigeria hosted the open internet conference in Abuja last week it was in line with the global reality.

The ITU technically set the Open Internet standards by the elections of September 2022.

The Open Internet (OI) is seen as a fundamental network (net) neutrality concept in which information across the World Wide Web (WWW) is equally free.

So OI is essentially made available without variables that depend on the financial motives of Internet Service Providers (ISP).

Experts say “the OI is a dominant form of modern communication that has been in place throughout Web history. It is championed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as an emergent technology principle.”

Aragba-Akpore is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA

Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

EDITORIAL

BETWEEN GOVERNORS AND THEIR DEPUTIES

There is need to define the roles of a deputy governor

Perhaps nobody expected the cordial relationship between Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and his deputy Philip Shaibu to sink this low. In the buildup to the 2020 governorship election, both men exhibited an enviable alliance by confronting their former boss and then All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, to win. But such is the acrimony between the duo that Shaibu was recently locked out of his office in Government House and shoved into the street. Even though the relationship has been patched after Shaibu tendered a public apology, no one can predict what will happen next as the state approaches its off-season gubernatorial election.

But Edo State is not alone on the crisis between governor and deputy. Such feuds are commonplace across the political space with dire implications for governance. In neighbouring Ondo State, for instance, mutual suspicion between Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa may lead to the impeachment of the latter. The trouble started in June when it became imperative for Akeredolu to seek medical solution abroad for his failing health. As demanded by law, Akeredolu duly handed over the reins of government to his deputy. But while away, the rumour mill was abuzz that Aiyedatiwa had started fancying his prospects of becoming the governor, with his media team reportedly flying kites. He was also said to have procured a N300 million bullet-proof sports utility vehicle (SUV) for extra security. Now that Akeredolu is back to the country, his loyalists in the House of Assembly have vowed to impeach Aiyedatiwa. Since the return of democracy in 1999, several states have had the history of threats or outright impeachments of deputy governors, due to the rivalry with their principals. From Ondo, Kogi, Abia to Adamawa, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Plateau, to Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Taraba, Oyo, Osun, Enugu, Imo, Kano

OLALEYE, OBINNA CHIMA MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR ISRAEL IWEGBU CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN THE OMBUDSMAN 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, 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

and Lagos, deputy governors were either impeached or forced to resign, some on cooked up charges. For instance, President Bola Tinubu’s two terms in office as governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, experienced the sacking of Kofoworola AkereleBucknor, and Femi Pedro, who were variously his deputies, just as pioneer fourth republic governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah and his deputy, Chris Ekpenyong had their problems. The frosty relationship between Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and the immediate past Deputy Governor, Rauf Olaniyan, lasted for about two years before the latter was impeached. The current APC national chairman and immediate past governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje also had problems with his erstwhile deputy, Hafiz Abubakar.

At the heart of the conflicts between states’ chief executives and their deputies is succession, and schedule of duties. Very few governors assign their deputies supervisory roles over certain government ministries and agencies. The deputy governor is at the mercy of his governor to be politically relevant as the 1999 Constitution as amended assigned no duty to them, prompting the derogatory phrase of their position as “spare tyre.” Section 193 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, for instance, states that “The Governor of a State may, in his discretion, assign to the Deputy Governor or any Commissioner of the Government of the State responsibility for any business of the Government of that State, including the administration of any department of Government”.

The office of deputy governor thus becomes only relevant when the office of governor becomes vacant by reason of death, resignation, impeachment, or permanent incapacity. As many suggest, the way out of these persistent frictions is the need to define the roles of the deputy chief executives of states. But we believe that the moment our politicians understand the whole essence of public service, which is about seeking the good of the people, the frictions will reduce.

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

ADDRESSING THE NSE LINGERING CRISIS

The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), the umbrella organisation for the engineering profession in Nigeria, established in 16 February 1958, was founded with a primary objective “to promote and advance science, engineering and technology as major drivers of national development and international competitiveness”.

Over the years, it has played a significant role in advancing the nation’s economy through its scientific and technological expertise. However, recent developments have raised concerns about the organization’s leadership and its commitment to professionalism and growth. On December 9, 2021, the NSE conducted its 2022 National Executive Committee Members’ election through an online platform. Unfortunately, this election encountered issues related to data manipulation through hacking. Some people were said to have hacked the database of the organisation to manipulate the outcome of the election.

At the time, the sitting President, Engr. Babagana Mohammed, delegated the task of informing the Annual General Meeting (AGM) about the situation to the then Deputy President, now the current President, Engr. Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari-Wudil, that is after encouraging Wudil ‘to continue the process to its logical conclusion because it is a matter of integrity not only for NSE but the Nigerian nation’.

After heated debates among members and former Presidents such as Engrs. F.A.Shonubi, Olumuyiwa Alade Ajibola, Adekunle Mokuolu, and Mustapha Balarabe Shehu, who all expressed disapproval of the irregularities, the consensus was that the election should be cancelled.

Therefore, the NSE’s election held on December 9, 2021 was cancelled by its immediate past President, Babagana Mohammed, over an alleged “criminal cyber breach”. Since its inception in 1958, the annulment of the elections was the first time the NSE was enmeshed in controversy of such. While some members protested, the election results were eventually announced, albeit without the signatures of many candidates’ agents. Affected members were directed to appeal to the NSE Election Appeal Committee.

In response, aggrieved contestants and disenfranchised members filed appeals. However, the appeal panel, led by the late Engr. Charles Mbanefo, chose to uphold the election results without adequately addressing the appeals, citing adherence to the Society’s Memorandum and Articles of Association ( MEMART).

This decision had received strong support from Engr. H.A.Gumel, but a minority report challenging this decision was submitted to the Council of the Society by Engr. Adekunle Mokuolu, a member of the appeal panel.

To the surprise of many members, some past Presidents, who initially condemned the election irregularities, began supporting the results because this favoured their preferred candidate for the deputy president position. In the aftermath of the 2021 AGM, the President, Babagana Mohammed invited the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate and prosecute the hackers via letter dated December 13,2021 Ref : NSE/HQ/ES/174/VOL.7 signed by the late NSE Executive Secretary, Dr.Okopi Alex Momoh. However, the DSS, after conducting an investigation, allegedly failed to submit a report or take action against the hackers.

NSE’s leadership’s support of the controversial 2021 election results, despite pending legal matters in the Abuja High Court, has raised questions about its commitment to transparency.

In the same year, the Council appointed one of the past Presidents, Engr. Kashim Abdul Ali, as the Chairman of the Election Committee. This move has sparked concerns as Engr. Kashim Ali, as past President of COREN (Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria), his appointment is seen by many members as an attempt to influence the election in favor of another past COREN President, Engr. A.A. Rabiu.

Adebola Onyeakachi, Abuja

The moment our politicians understand the whole essence of public service, which is about seeking the good of the people, the frictions will reduce

DEPUTY EDITORS WALE

Banks’ Borrowing from CBN Hits N2.68tn on Liquidity Pressure

Kayode Tokede

There are indications that banks and merchant banks are increasingly depending on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for liquidity as their borrowing from the apex bank intensified in September 2023 to the tune of N2.68trillion.

Analysts believe consistent monetary policy tightening has led to low liquidity in the banking sector stressing however that illiquidity may not necessarily indicate that the banks are stressed or unstable.

The financial sector in August had borrowed N1.77trillion from the CBN, representing an increase

of 51.24 per cent Month-on-Month (MoM).

In the last nine months of 2023, banks and merchant banks have borrowed N15.62 trillion from CBN, representing 100.34 per cent increase from N7.8 trillion reported in nine months of 2022.

Deposit money banks and merchant banks access lending from the apex bank using the Standing Lending Facility (SLF) window and deposit cash with the apex bank using the Standing Deposit Facility window (SDF).

According to findings, banks and merchant banks during the first nine months of 2023 accessed the SLF

window against the backdrop of CBN’s tightening monetary policy stance.

The apex banking regulating body has the SLF, a short-term lending window for commercial banks and merchant banks, to access liquidity to run their day-to-day business operations.

The CBN data obtained by THISDAY showed that between January and June this year, banks and merchant banks borrowed N10.25trillion from the CBN via the SLF window, an increase of 138 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) from N4.3trillion borrowed during the corresponding period of H1 2022.

The CBN data showed that the first quarter figure, which stood at N4.95trillion, was higher than the half-year data for 2022.

The monthly breakdown revealed that commercial banks and merchant banks in January borrowed N528.16billion from the CBN but the figure dropped to N453.7billion in February 2023.

In March, it rose significantly by 776.22per cent to N3.98trillion, the second highest after the N4.47trillion recorded in April 2023.

However, the CBN data showed a N590.29billion and N235.06billion borrowing for May and June 2023.

In addition, SLF’s figure stood

at N908.43billion in July 2023.

The CBN data also revealed that in September 2023, banks and merchant banks deposited N601.57billion, representing a decline of 18.5 per cent from N738.03 billion in August 2023.

SDF so far this year has witnessed significant patronage as banks and merchant banks deposit reached highest peak of about N876.87billion in July 2023, highest so far this year.

The applicable interest rate on SDF moved to 15.75per cent at an asymmetric corridor of +100/-300 basis points around the 18.75 per cent MPR in July 2023.

The Monetary Policy Committee

of the CBN unanimous narrowed the asymmetric corridor from +100/-700 to +100/-300 basis points around the MPR.

However, the CBN has over the years maintained that strong patronage at the SDF confirm healthier liquidity in the banking system.

CBN had maintained that the strong patronage at the SDF confirmed healthier liquidity in the banking system, stressing that banks and merchant banks were in search of better yields.

To Access Credit Interventions, FG Urges SMEs to Formalise Operations

James Emejo and Aisha Kabiru in Abuja

The federal government has urged small businesses still operating in the informal sector of the economy to formalise their operations in order to take benefit from the government’s ongoing financial interventions.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris UzokaAnite, gave the advice at the opening of the 18th Abuja International Trade Fair with the theme: “Sustainable Financing and Taxation as Drivers for the New Economy.”

She said a key focus for her was

to drive consumer credit reforms to enhance access to affordable credit for SMEs.

The minister pointed out that consumer credit could provide SMEs with the necessary financial resources to invest in new equipment, hire additional staff, or develop new products and services.

She said credit facilities could also bridge temporary gaps in working capital or cover unexpected expenses adding that this flexibility will help businesses maintain smooth business operations and seize growth opportunities, expand their workforce, and create new

job opportunities.

Represented by the ministry’s Director, Commodity and Export, Kaura Irimiya, Anite however, said poor integration in the financial system could be tied to low business planning and formalisation, stressing that it was important to design financing policies that are tailored to the needs of MSMEs and support their growth and development.

She said businesses showcased at the trade fair embodied the structure and realization of the action plan of the present administration as they are all registered companies that have their paperwork in order.

The minister said, “We want to help ensure more companies are structured in this way. As a government, we are working hard to organise the disorganised SME market, and enable greater organisation and formalisation.

“We are ready to invest in SMEs. Our investment will be coordinated, targeted, and generous. Financing can also be used to provide MSMEs with the necessary capital to invest in new technologies, research and development, and sustainable practices.”

She said the government is currently dismantling growth

impediments including multiple exchange rate systems, and fuel subsidies, and ramping up the country’s Ease of Doing Business programme.

The minister said the government will continue to drive investment into infrastructure development, encourage access to low-cost financing, and provide fiscal incentives to companies wishing to manufacture products for sale including three to five years of tax holidays for enterprises in pioneer industries; tax-free operations and capital allowances for agriculture, manufacturing and engineering

within the free trade zones among others.

Among other things, she said the government had announced a plan to support small businesses and startups in response to the country’s current economic challenges.

Anite said, “We intend to spend N75 billion by March 2024 to strengthen the manufacturing sector. We also intend to provide small grants to micro businesses in each of the 774 local governments of the federation.

NDIC Disburses N16.18bn

Depositors of 20 Failed Banks

James Emejo in a buja

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has commenced the disbursement of N16.18 billion as liquidation dividends to depositors, creditors, and shareholders of 20 banks in liquidation.

The declaration followed impressive recoveries from debtors and realisation of assets of the closed banks.

The corporation has, therefore, begun verification and payment of stakeholders covered by the declarations within 30 days, starting from

September 28, 2023.

In a statement, NDIC Director, Communication and Public Affairs, Mr. Bashir Nuhu, said the ongoing payment is sequel to earlier payments of various sums, which cumulatively amounted to N45.45 billion as liquidation dividends in respect of the 20 banks as of July 2023.

Relevant stakeholders have been requested to visit any of the NDIC’s offices closer to them or go to the claims page on the corporation’s website to download, complete and submit the verification form

with prescribed supporting documents to the dedicated email for the purpose.

The statement added that the liquidation dividend represented an amount in excess of the insured sums paid by the NDIC to depositors of a closed bank from recoveries made from realisation of assets of failed financial institutions.

It also covers the amount paid to creditors and shareholders of closed banks after full payment to depositors of such defunct banks.

The closed banks covered

by the exercise are Liberty Bank, City Express Bank, Assurance Bank, Century Bank, Allied Bank, Financial Merchant Bank, Icon Merchant Bank, Progress Bank, Merchant Bank of Africa (MBA), Premier Commercial Bank, North South Bank and Prime Merchant Bank. Others are Commercial Trust Bank, Cooperative and Commerce Bank, Rims Merchant Bank, Pan African Bank, Fortune Bank, All States Trust Bank, Nigeria Merchant Bank and Amicable Bank in-liquidation.

DMO Announces FGN Savings Bonds Offering With12% Interest

Nume Ekeghe

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has offered for subscription the two-year and three-year Federal Government of Nigeria bonds for October with an interest rate of up to 12 per cent.

This announcement was made in a statement on the DMO’s official website.

The subscription period is set to last for four days, running from October 3rd to October 6th, 2023. The bonds will mature on October 11, 2025, for the two-year and three-year bonds.

Under the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act 2003 and the Local Loans (Registered Stock and Securities) Act, CAP. L17,

LFN 2004, the DMO on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria is offering these savings bonds.

The interest rate for the two-year bonds stands at 11.074 per cent per annum, while the three-year bonds offer an interest rate of 12.074 per cent per annum. The settlement date for both bond offerings is October 11, 2023, with

coupon payments scheduled for January 11, April 11, July 11, and October 11. These bonds will accrue interest payments every quarter.

The DMO outlines the units of subscription as “N1,000 per unit, subject to a minimum subscription of N5,000, and subsequent multiples of N1,000, with a maximum subscription limit of N50,000,000.”

Elan Orris Unveils Corhagton

Terraces & Apartments in Abuja

Kayode Tokede

Elan Orris, a Lagos-based top-notch real estate developer, has stormed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in a bid to redefine the concept of luxury living in the city.

Following its recent expansion into the federal capital, Elan Orris, has unveiled its first project in the city of Abuja.

The project tagged; “The Corhagton Terraces & Apartments,” in Lokogoma, is regarded as the biggest

project the company has ever embarked on.

Elan Orris, known for developing several luxury residences such as The Duban Creek, The Brookland, The Comfort Chateau Terraces, The Creeksrone, The Montfort, The Porthaven, and The Greenwich Bungalows, all in Lagos, is set to break its record with the introduction of The Corhagton Terraces & Apartments to the Abuja property market.

The Head of sales, Emmanuel Ononye described The Corhagton as a project that follows the company’s

legacy of providing novel housing solutions with the highest industry standards that satisfy every luxury need of home buyers while yielding significant returns for investors.

“The Corhagton Terraces & Apartments, Lokogoma - Abuja, is a sustainable residential estate, tastefully designed as a solution to the high demand for shelter in the F.C.T. It hosts several blocks of 4-bedroom terrace-duplexes, 3-bedroom apartments; all built with space, splendor, serenity and access to top-

grade facilities in mind.

“The Corhagton is built differently. We want our customers to enjoy a home detailed with welcoming anteroom, spacious sitting room, large dining area, fascinating bedrooms (all en-suite), kitchen, storage, guest toilet, family lounge, private balconies & adequate parking lot,” she explained.

She noted that the Corhagton promises to redefine luxury living while offering investors an unparalleled return on their investment.

Ebere Nwoji

Underwriting firm, Universal Insurance Plc, said it achieved outstanding financial performance for the year ended 31st December, 2022, with profit for the year appreciating by 341 per cent from N161,147 million in 2021 to N667,814 million in 2022.

The Chairman of the company, Jasper Nduagwuike disclosed this to shareholders at the 56th Annual General Meeting of the company held in Lagos.

According to him, the company achieved 63 per cent growth in gross premium written from N3.473 billion in 2021 to N5.7 billion in 2022.

He informed the shareholders that there was an outstanding 84 percent increase in total revenue from N2.644 billion in 2021 to N4.868 billion in 2022.

He further told the shareholders that the company’s strength to take more risks showed in the 84 percent increase in earned premium having moved from N2.403 billion in 2021 to N4.432 billon.

He said notwithstanding the challenging operating environment, the group achieved a significant 320 percent growth in Profit before

tax from N162,234 million in 2021 to N682,177million in 2022, He said the group’s earning per share was 3.87kobo, during the period under review from the previous earning of 2.36kobo.

Speaking on behalf of the Shareholders, former National Coordinator Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Sunny Nwosu said, “I am impressed with what I see today, especially when you look at where they were coming from in 2018, you will see that they have done very, very well. We appreciate the board and management of the company. Even the half year 2023 result was impressive and we are optimistic that they will pay dividend at the next AGM.”

Responding to the shareholders’ comments, Nduagwuike said, “With increased profitability, the future of our company, Universal Insurance Plc, shines brighter than ever. We are steadfast in our commitment to delivering sustainable results, undeterred by the challenges that may lie ahead. Our solid financial foundation and strategic approach position us confidently to navigate the dynamic landscape and continue providing value to our customers and stakeholders.”

Leadway Assurance said it has entered into strategic alliance with the leading digital travel technology facilitator, Tune Protect EMEIA (“Tune Protect”) for the purpose of providing various travel and lifestyle assurance products via the digital business-to-business (“B2B”) channel in Nigeria. The travel facilitator, Tune Protect’s activities cuts across Europe, Middle East, India and Africa and is collaborating with a reinsurance giant Tune Protect Re of Malaysia in the partnership.

Leadway’s Managing Director, Tunde Hassan-Odukale, said Leadway Assurance was the first B2B partner for Tune Protec Re and Tune Protect EMEIA within the African continent that focuses on Travel B2B with more than 10 travel and lifestyle assurance

propositions being offered. The digital travel technology firm said based on the above strategic partnership, Tune Protect EMEIA rendered the travel technology solutions of White Label Ltd, Malaysia (“White Label”), the insurtech arm of Tune Protect Group based in Malaysia to Leadway Assurance.

“We are delighted to announce our entry into the Nigerian market, marking a strategic move to extend our presence within the broader African market. Our collaboration with Leadway, through Tune Protect Re, and supported by White Label serves as a pivotal milestone, leveraging our profound expertise in travel & technology. We are confident in our ability to effectively cater for the evolving demands for travelers, not only in Nigeria but also across other African nations.

Ebere Nwoji

L– R: Head SME Products and Segments, Union Bank, Ayokunumi Abraham; Senior Programs Manager & Head Growth & Alumni Services, Fate Foundation, Oluwaseun Oshoniyi; Executive Director, Fate Foundation, Adenike Adeyemi; Chief Brand and Marketing Officer, Union Bank, Olufunmilola Aluko and  Head Retail Segments and alpher, Union Bank, Chioma Nwokike during the 8th edition of the FATE Foundation Alumni Conference held in Lagos... recently

At 63, Nigeria’s Insurance Sector Still at Infancy

The Nigerian Insurance sector after 63 years of independence is said to have remained at infancy stage in terms of growth and development, with operators still preaching their usual gospel on the need for both government and the people to embrace insurance as a way of mitigating risks.

Nigeria is said to be the largest economy in Africa; however, in South Africa, life insurance alone accounts for 81 per cent of all insurance premiums in the country. Also, other African countries like Namibia, Mauritius and Botswana have their life insurance well developed likewise their general insurance.

The World Bank collection of development indicators compiled from officially recognised sources in 2020, said in South Africa, insurance assets contributions to the GDP was 60.14 per cent.

In Namibia, the report put insurance contributions to the GDP of the country at 38.42 per cent while in Botswana, the same report put insurance contributions to GDP at 10.55 per cent.

In Nigeria, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBC) in its Q1, 2023 report put the insurance sector contribution to the National GDP at 5.35 per cent.

StAte of INSurANce Sector

While some sectors of the economy have recorded significant achievements since Nigeria became a sovereign nation, the insurance sector lags behind. Operators have continued to lament the dearth of knowledge and value of insurance, insisting that government at all levels pay lip service to insurance patronage, while the people see no value for insurance.

The operators noted that although in their day to day living, risks that insurance would have mitigated surround Nigerians and despite efforts by insurers to prove that insurance is real and insurance claims payment realistic, many Nigerians still hold their false belief that insurance operators are fraudulent people and as such resolved to carry their risks.

At a recent forum of the organised private sector (OPS), the Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Sunday Olorundare Thomas, told Nigerians that there was no economy that could attain financial stability without insurance.

Also, experts who converged at the 2023 edition of the Insurance Stakeholders’ Consultative Forum, with the theme, ”Rethinking Insurance as a Critical Economic Growth Strategy,” organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), urged the government, businesses and individuals in Nigeria to embrace insurance as a hedge against risk.

They also said the major challenges of the sector could be attributed to poor knowledge of the advantages of accepting insurance products to mitigate risks.

They were concerned that Nigerians are so averse to insurance that even the five compulsory insurances made by law are not working as very few Nigerians patronise them.

The experts lamented that although insurance of public building and building under construction were among the compulsory insurances stipulated by the insurance Act 2003, only about 5,000 public buildings have so far been insured across the country, “which is very insignificant compared to several public buildings in the country. Yet cases of collapsed buildings, including public buildings abound in the country.”

expertS’ reActIoN

Against this backdrop, President of LCCI, who is also former President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers, Dr Michael Olawale-Cole, looking at the whole scenario concluded that the Nigerian insurance industry, despite its huge potential, was at its infancy stage and far behind its African peers, judging by key growth indicators.

He said that the insurance industry played a substantial role in the Nigerian economy through several transmission points, including mobilising domestic savings, facilitating the conversion of accumulated capital into productive investments, minimising risks, fostering financial stability and stimulating trade.

He complained that the huge expansion seen in the financial services sector over the last decade had not been replicated in the insurance industry.

Citing the global insurance market report, Olawale-Cole, said the insurance penetration rate in Nigeria was 0.5 per cent while that of South Africa was 12.2 per cent.

“Without doubt, the insurance sector has a potential for development due to various alterations in the regulatory framework, necessitating future modifications in the operational practices,” he said.

He said the future of the sector hinges on the extent and speed of digital transformation since it has the potential to enable the industry participants to secure a significant market share.

Corroborating the LCCI’s view, the Commissioner for Insurance Sunday Thomas, stressed the need to educate the public on the need for insurance.

Thomas, who attributed the need for insurance to the development of the economy, said the sector was very important for the government, businesses, the economy and individuals.

“When you are talking about preserving existing assets, insurance comes to the fore; on the relationship with the outer world and sustaining confidence in foreign direct investment (FDI), it comes to the limelight. It has become important that without insurance, planning cannot be sustained,” he said.

Speaking also at the programme, the Chairman of the Insurance Group of the LCCI, Gboyega Olanbiwoninu, urged insurance operators to rethink, re-engineer and remodel the way insurance products are marketed to Nigerians.

operAtorS’ effortS

In their bid to overcome the problem, the operators have found solace in collaboration tactics among themselves in order to work for one single purpose and in embracing digitalisation in insurance distribution.

The various arms of the industry, namely; the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA), the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance brokers. (NCRIB); the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), the Institute of Loss Adjusters of Nigeria (ILAN) and Association of Insurance Agents (ARIAN) have agreed to work together to create awareness

As Nigeria celebrates its 63 years independent anniversary, stakeholders in insurance critically examined the sector, concluding that insurance in Nigeria is still at infancy, e bere Nwoji reports

Jaiz Takaful Insurance Disburses N152m Underwriting Profit to Participants

James Emejo in abuja

Jaiz Takaful Insurance Limited has approved the sharing of N152 million in underwriting profit to participants and brokers who didn’t make insurance claims during its 2021 financial year.

Speaking at the 2021 surplus distribution event, the company’s Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. lbrahim Shehu, said the sharing demonstrated one of the unique takaful propositions and “proves to be another medal on our chest, being one of the leading takaful operators in the country with a reputation for the highest

levels of transparency and disclosure”.

He said the distribution of surplus to participants was of great importance and reflected the company’s professional commitment to the basic principles of takaful, which it considered a duty towards the clients.

Shehu explained that the mechanism to distribute and allocate the surplus and profits to each participant takes into consideration Shariah considerations, equity among participants, as well as the practicality of the distribution.

He stressed that apart from the modest achievement in underwriting profits, the

company has also been instrumental in achieving the federal government Financial Inclusion Strategy (FSS 2020), thereby deepening insurance penetration in the country.

Chairman, Jaiz Takaful Insurance Limited, Hajiya Zainab Abdurrahman, described the distribution of surplus as a remarkable milestone in the company’s journey. She said, “We have come a long way since our inception, and it is a testament to the dedication and trust our participants have bestowed upon us that we can gather here to distribute a surplus of N152 million.

“The surplus we are

Sterling Convenes, Harps Collaboration for Improved Cybersecurity

Nume Ekeghe

distributing today is not just a financial transaction; it is a symbol of our commitment to our participants and the values that guide us. It signifies our ability to efficiently manage our resources and deliver on the promise of mutual help and support. It underscores the success of our business model and the trust you have placed in us.”

The Commissioner for Insurance/Chief Executive, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr. Sunday Thomas, commended the company for promptly paying claims, pointing out that this remained the main essence of insurance.

Heirs Life Insurance Rewards Winners of 2023 School Essay Championship Competition

Ebere Nwoji

Heirs Life Insurance has rewarded winners of its 2023 Heirs Life Essay Competition Championship with the sum of N2.8 million.

The life underwriting firm said the overall winner of this year’s competition was one Kentimfon Ndanyongmong, a 14 year old JSS 3 student from Beulah International School, Akwa Ibom.

The company said he would go home with the grand Prize of N2000,000 while his school will

receive books and educational materials worth of N500,000.

Also on the honorees’ list, is Samuel John, of Knightdale Middle College, Lagos, and Ameenah Jimeta, Prime College, Kano, who emerged the first and second runners-up, receiving N150,000 and N100,000 respectively.

Organised by Heirs Life Assurance (HLA), the competition attracted national interest and participation with over 5,000 entries submitted in its second year.

Participants at the 2023 Heirs

Life Essay Championship were tasked to draft a 500-word essay on the topic, “My Dream Career,” with Heirs Life commissioning a committee of specialists led by a Professor of English Language to assess and grade all entries. The organisation also conducted interviews in collaboration with the grading committee with shortlisted participants to ensure originality of the submissions.

Speaking on the impact and importance of the essay championship , MD/CEO, Heirs Life Assurance Limited, Niyi Onifade, said, “At Heirs

Life and across Heirs Insurance Group, we believe in securing more than just finances. This Essay Championship is a testament to our commitment to nurturing the intellectual and creative capacities of our nation’s youth. This competition is not just about words on paper, but about inspiring the next generation to shape a brighter future.” He said Heirs Life Essay Championship was an initiative of Heirs Life Assurance, a member of Heirs Insurance Group.

Sterling Financial Holdings Company has said that it is actively driving collaboration and partnerships with regulators, infrastructure providers, operators, and other financial services providers to bolster the security of the Nigerian consumer and improve the safety of the financial ecosystem.

Executive Director and Group Chief Operating Officer of Sterling Financial Holdings, Olayinka Oni stated this during his speech at the recently held Sterling Thought Leadership Series for Information Technology, themed, “The State of FI Consumer Security.”

Oni said: “This session, which will be the first of many, will seek to enhance our collective knowledge and inspire collaborative endeavors aimed at fortifying the digital realm,

especially as an increasing number of customers turn to digital channels for value delivery.”

He underscored how this platform facilitates the exchange of ideas among thought leaders, challenges traditional norms, and charts a course toward a more secure digital environment, further describing the event as a platform to anticipate the evolving threats, adapt strategies, and promote a safer digital world marked by technological advancements and heightened cyber threats.

Oni added: “This gathering represents a convergence of ideas, experiences, and visions that will drive advancements in securing the digital finance industry as our contributions and eventual decisions will have a direct impact on consumer rights, trust, and the continuity of our businesses.”

Union Bank Partners Fate Foundation to Empower SMEs

Nume Ekeghe

Union Bank of Nigeria recently sponsored the 8th edition of the Fate Foundation Alumni Conference, which focused on expanding opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises in the country. The conference, titled “Strategically Positioning Your Business: Opportunities in the New Dispensation,” held recently was well-attended event provided an exceptional opportunity for the bank to partner with Fate Foundation to align their mutual objectives of fostering SME growth and enabling success for small

business owners within Nigeria. In a statement, Chief Brand and Marketing Officer, Union Bank Olufunmilola Aluko said:

“Union Bank is truly excited to be part of this exceptional event dedicated to empowering Nigerian entrepreneurs because this conference aligns with our organisational mission of enabling success for entrepreneurs. This year’s conference is not just timely but a call to action. Entrepreneurs are the catalysts of change, innovation, and progress in a rapidly evolving world. Therefore, it is important to gather to discuss ways to move forward”.

BII, Access Bank to Extend $60m Trade Finance Facility in Africa

Kayode Tokede

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s Development Finance Institution (DFI) and impact investor, has announced a $60 million trade finance facility for Access Bank Plc and five of its pan-African subsidiaries.

In a statement, BII said the funds will strengthen import and export capabilities amongst local businesses and plug the foreign currency supply gap.

“The programme deepens BII’s commitment to bolstering financing environments in fragile economies and supports Access Bank’s strategy to enable continental trade. BII estimates the loan programme will stimulate African trade volumes by $90

million. The agreement reinforces BII’s ongoing relationship with Nigeria’s largest commercial bank by assets and facilitates the provision of systemic liquidity during a period characterised by a challenging macroeconomic environment. Higher inflation and rising cost of capital have placed downward pressure on currency performance, both domestically and in the programme’s target markets of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Zambia, “it said.

The Executive Director, African Subsidiaries at Access Bank, Seyi Kumapayi in a statement said, “Access Bank is on a purposeful mission to scale intra-African

trade and position the continent as a viable market for global trade. Hence, we are thrilled about the tremendous potential that this trade finance facility with the BII affords us across our pan-African subsidiaries.

“This strategic collaboration not only strengthens our import and export capabilities but also expands our resources to support local industries – especially women-owned businesses – and ultimately drive economic growth. By stimulating trade volumes, we will be playing a key role in fostering long-term economic resilience for the continent, while increasing its attractiveness for increased foreign investments.”

Sanlam, Allianz Secure Approval For Joint Venture in Non -Banking -Financial Services

Ebere Nwoji

Sanlam, Africa’s largest nonbanking financial services provider, and Allianz, one of the world’s leading insurance and financial services providers have received regulatory approvals for a joint venture that will create the leading Pan-African non-banking financial services company with presence in 27 countries in Africa. The joint venture will operate as SanlamAllianz.

SanlamAllianz’s ambition is to be among the top three players, in both market share and profitability, in the markets where the company will operate.

The joint venture, the firms said in a statement, is expected to have a combined

group equity value (GEV) of approximately R35 billion.

“We are confident that SanlamAllianz will create significant value for clients, shareholders and other stakeholders. The combined expertise and resources of our respective companies will enable us to provide innovative solutions and services to meet the everevolving needs of our clients on the African continent,” said Sanlam group’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Paul Hanratty.

Also speaking, Allianz SE board member, Christopher Townsend said: “SanlamAllianz has the capability to gain leadership positions in all key markets in both general insurance and life segments. With this power-

ful partnership, we want to unlock the potential of multiple fast growing African markets and access a wider range of customers, particularly in the corporate segment. Allianz is deepening its commitment to the vibrant continent and is building on our 100-year legacy here.”

According to the two insurance giants, the priorities of SanlamAllianz in the deal are: Driving financial inclusion, focusing on the number of lives touched by providing greater access to products and services through digital innovation; and leveraging their telecommunications and bancassurance partnerships to create new opportunities across the Africa region.

TGI Inaugurates Dairy Production Facility in UAE

NUTRIDOR Limited, a subsidiary of Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group, a Nigerian based conglomerate, will make history in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today when it commissions its state-of-the-art dairy production facility in the Dubai Industrial City.

The factory, which will produce over 120,000 litres of liquid dairy daily, is believed to be the first factory to be commissioned by a subsidiary of any Nigerian business in the UAE.

The production facility, which will complement TGI’s

existing commodity trading and investment holding office, was established under the UAE’s ‘Foreign Investment Liberalization Scheme.’

Senior Emirati and Nigerian Officials are expected to attend this historic commissioning.

The factory’s operations will intensely focus on clean energy and zero waste practices, leveraging automation/ advanced technology, digital acceleration, sustainability initiatives, skillset development, and local value addition.

Nutridor Dairy Manufacturing LLC, Dubai, UAE

(“Nutridor”) is a subsidiary of Tropical General Investments (“TGI”) Group, a global conglomerate operating in 13 countries across Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

TGI operations commenced 43 years ago in Lagos, Nigeria, and today, it has investments in various sectors, including Food and Beverage Production, Chemical Manufacturing, Poultry Farming, Marine Aquaculture (covering both fish farming and deep-sea trawler operations), Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, Real Estate, Agribusiness and Banking.

Winco Foam Rewards Loyal Customers In Abuja

Nigeria’s largest indigenous manufacturer of mattresses and pillows, Winco Foam Industries Limited, has rewarded its loyal customers with five trucks to aid logistics in transporting their products. Disclosing this at a ceremony to present the state-of-the-art vans to the beneficiaries in Tunga Maje, Abuja, the general manager, Winco Foam, Abuja, Mr. Dickens Ekong, who handed the keys over to the distributors, urged them to work hard towards achieving their set goals. Ekong represented the chairman of Winco Foam

Industries, Chief Godwin Okafor, at the event.

Also, the operations manager, Winco Foam, Abuja, Mr. Paul Ezeadi, appreciated the beneficiaries of the trucks and restated the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction. He added that Winco Foam will do more to continuously put smiles on their faces.

One of the beneficiaries, Arthur Nato, also thanked Winco Foam for the kind gesture and promised that they will remain loyal customers to the company.

He also stated that selling Winco mattresses and pillows

L–R: Client Technology Lead, FSI, Microsoft Nigeria, Wole Odeleye; Convener, Insurance Meets Tech (IMT) and Chief Executive Officer, Modion Communications, Odion Aleobua; Chief Digital & Innovation Officer, AIICO, Olusanjo Shodimu and Chief Executive Officer, Casava Insurance, Bode Pedro, during the Executive Dialogue on ‘Digital and Tech Innovation in Insurance: What is Nigeria Missing?’ at the second of edition of Insurance Meets Tech (IMT) held at  Victoria Island, Lagos… recently

Money

has been one of the easiest businesses he has ever ventured into, as no customer has ever complained or expressed dissatisfaction about the products for many years since he ventured into the business.

Meanwhile, Ekong has urged the federal government to ease the processes involved in importing raw materials into the country. According to him, the manufacturing sector survives basically on the raw materials imported into the country, stating that the manufacturing industry is helpless if the government doesn’t ease the processes.

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $97.48 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $97.08 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basrah Medium (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

Demand for BUA Cement, 23 Others Lift Stock Market by N213bn

KayodeTokede

Market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) yesterday gained N213 billion to start a new week on a positive note amid investors’ demand for BUA Cement Plc and 23 others.

The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) gained 388.83 basis points or 0.59 per cent to close at 66,770.97 basis points. Also,

market capitalisation rose by N213 billion to close at N36.544 trillion.

Accordingly, the Year-to-Date return settled at 30.3per cent.

The upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; BUA Cement, Beta Glass, UAC of Nigeria (UACN), Oando and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO).

However, market breadth was negative, as 27 stocks lost

relative to 24 gainers. BUA Cement emerged the highest price gainer of 9.94 per cent to close at N94.00, while Beta Glass and FTN Cocoa Processors followed with a gain of 9.93 per cent each to close at N66.95 and N1.66 respectively, per share.

Oando rose by 9.55 per cent to close at N8.60, while UACN appreciated by 8.50 per cent to close at N10.85, per share. On the other side, Linkage Assurance led others on the losers’ chart

with 10 per cent to close at 72 kobo, per share.

CWG followed with a decline of 9.94 per cent to close at N7.79, while Red Star Express shed 9.86 per cent to close at N2.65, per share.

Tantalizer depreciated by 9.38 per cent to close at 29 kobo, while UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust dipped by 8.97 per cent to close at N3.55, per share. The total volume traded increased by 24.4 per cent to 364.32

million units, valued at N3.85 billion, and exchanged in 7,537 deals. Transactions in the shares of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance led the activity with 71.536 million shares worth N94.676 million. Fidelity Bank followed with account of 33.222 million shares valued at N272.335 million, while Oando traded 26.190 million shares valued at N219.648 million.

GTCO traded 21.441 million shares worth N752.682 million,

while Access Holdings traded 19.916 million shares worth N318.622 million. This week, United Capital Plc said, “we expect to see investors taking positions in anticipation of the Q3, 2023 earnings season. Investors will continue cherry-picking activities around fundamentally sound stocks with a preference to companies that have posted strong results in the first half of the year.”

PRICES FOR SECURITIES TRADED ASOF OCTO b ER /3/23

A Mutual fund (Unit Trust) is an investment vehicle managed by a SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) registered Fund Manager. Investors with similar objectives buy units of the Fund so that the Fund Manager can buy securities that willl generate their desired return.

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

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is an investment vehicle that allows both small and large investors to part-own real estate ventures (eg. Offices, Houses, Hospitals) in proportion to their investments. The assets are divided into shares that are traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

GUIDE TO DATA:

Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 29Sept-2023, unless otherwise stated.

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

Bid Price: The price at which Investors redeem (sell) units of a trust or ETF.

Yield/Total Return: Denotes the total return an investor would have earned on his investment. Money Market Funds report Yield while others report Year- to-date Total Return.

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND

Boosting Scholarship, Bursary Administration Process to Ensure Education of Indigent Students

Abdul Rahaman Lekki is the Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Scholarship Board. In this interview with select journalists, including Funmi Ogundare, he explained the efforts the agency has put in place since his appointment in July 2022 to ensure a seamless and transparent scholarship and bursary administration process that the private sector could key into so that indigent students of the state descent can complete their studies

The Lagos State Scholarship Board was established in 1968 with the mandate to award scholarships and bursaries to indigenes of Lagos State studying in any part of the country. Since then, the state government has subsidised education, utilising bursaries and scholarships to assist indigenes and residents in achieving their educational aspirations.

The board’s Executive Secretary, Abdul Rahaman Lekki, explained that since he came on board on July 15, 2022, his office saw the need to review its activities, ensure proper documentation and actionable data of beneficiaries, and expand its relationship with the organised private sector.

To achieve this, he stated that the board decided to separate some functions within the agency and create a structure that will relate more with the private sector to boost the 2022 scholarship budget, which stands at around N1.95 billion, to impact education funding effectively.

“Before now, when students apply for scholarships or bursaries, we have a scholarship department which advertises it, and people apply for it. They do the processing and the four levels of verification: indigenship, studentship, academic status and assessment in the case of scholarships,” said Lekki. “All of that is conducted by the bursary department, which is very cumbersome. So we felt a need to separate the auditor from the accountant to make the process more tidy.”

The board also created the partnership and assessment department, saddled with the responsibility of handing over the applicants’ processed documents to a separate department that will carry out assessment for verification.

Lekki added, “So when they finish the verification, they will hand it over to another department to continue managing them. The department has been fully approved by the Head of Service and currently in operation. As we speak,

we have the bursary, partnership and assessment departments. They handle assessment and verification and we are trying to build with organised private sector, governments and organisation to see if they can partner with us as far as scholarship and bursary is concerned.”

The executive secretary added that the board had to complete the digitisation process of application that would ensure that students can apply, pay and complete their application processes online compared with the old analogue processes.

“We are happy that students don’t have to come here again for the processes but they can finish the whole process within one hour online. We also introduced virtual application process to ensure that the system has some levels of integrity,” he explained.

“Before now, students bring their results

here for verification, but we agreed that as a board, we will not go through that route to avoid fake results being brought , but verification will be done by the school directly. So the schools send us reports of all of them.”

He disclosed that once “we complete our automation process, some schools such as LASU and UNILAG told us that they were Application Programming Interphase (API) ready,” indicating that “if we want to complete our verification process, we don’t need to send mail. Our system is connected to theirs. The system verifies the candidate and sends it back to us that you are a student.”

Other initiatives that the agency has put in place, the scholarship board boss noted, include the area of inclusion and youth development under the THEMES agenda of the current administration.

“Under it, we came up with the special scholarship category. We inaugurated a special scholarship for people with disabilities and multi-dimensionally poor and vulnerable. We have sent that to the Ministry of Economic Planning,” Lekki stated. “This year, there will be a budget for it if the government decides to do a reordering of its budget.”

Lekki said the board has a social register of the multi-dimensionally poor and vulnerable domiciled in the Ministry of Planning and Budget, adding that it was compiled with the support of the World Bank, which carried out multi-layer enumerations to determine those who are poor and vulnerable.

“They went to communities and slums to gather the list of all of those people, and from there, we would be able to mine directly the people who are poor and vulnerable. We will also do our own check because there may be some other persons who may not have been captured who are equally poor and applied for the award,” said Lekki.

He also mentioned that there “are other layers of verification which we are trying to put in place. We want them to submit their BVN and tax returns, which is a declaration of what your income is. The third layer is like designing a technology platform where we can do an assessment of the students.”

The board is also working with the office of disability affairs to ensure that people with disabilities benefit from scholarships and bursaries as much as possible, as the executive secretary noted that many rules around this scholarship will be relaxed.

“For you to get a scholarship, you must have a distinction or first class. We will continue to pay you once you satisfy all the requirements, such as being a student and maintaining your CGPA, then you now become a subsequent beneficiary, but for the poor, we have to relax the rules. Someone who is poor may have intellectual capacity, but they may be hindred because of the condition that they find themselves in,” the board’s executive secretary.

“We would continue to support them and relax the rules for them to enable them benefit from government scholarship,” Lekki stressed.

He, however, expressed optimism that by next year, the governor will make funds available for the special categories of scholarships that the board plans to introduce to enable indigenes access education.

“The governor prioritises social services. The size of education funding, as of today, should not be less than N30 billion, but about 50 per cent of students in tertiary institutions are not able to fund their education,” Lekki added. “If you want to support them to fund their education, you need a huge resource base to do that and that is one of the reasons we established the partnership and assessment department to look at how can we bring in the private sector to be a part of it.”

British Council Launches Capacity Building Programme for Filmmakers

Uchechukwu Nnaike

British Council has launched Film Lab Africa, a three-year programme dedicated to empowering emerging filmmakers and TV producers starting from Nigeria.

According to the Country Director of British Council Nigeria, Lucy Pearson, the programme is a testament to the British Council’s commitment to nurturing talent, promoting cross-cultural collaboration, and driving economic growth through the creative economy.

She said Film Lab Africa will provide aspiring filmmakers and TV producers with the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to craft compelling narratives and make their mark on the global stage. “Through comprehensive

capacity-building initiatives, technical training, mentorship, and workshops, participants will embark on a journey of self-discovery and creative exploration.

We will emphasise the art of mobile phone cinematography, delve into the intricacies of short film production, and navigate the complex terrain of the film and TV industry’s business aspects.

“We envision a future where Nigerian filmmakers and TV producers are celebrated on the global stage, where their voices resonate far and wide, and where their stories inspire change,” Pearson stated.

Briefing journalists on the launch of the programme, Brenda Fashugba,

the Head of Arts, Nigeria and Regional Lead Creative Economy SSA, said the programme was developed in response to some of the identified challenges in Nollywood and movie industries across Africa.

Fashugba was accompanied by Chikodi Onyemerela, the Director of Programmes, and Farai Ncube, Regional Arts Director, Sub-Saharan Africa.

She noted that there are no film schools in Nigeria and no clear path for filmmakers to develop a career.

Other challenges include policy, enabling environment and education. So, the Film Lab will tackle issues around ethics, contracts, intellectual property, and access to market and trade.

She said the programme is targeted at 60

emerging filmmakers and will entail a 10week virtual learning session, after which the participants will be given the opportunity to pitch for grants to help them make short films, TV contents, and mobile phone cinematography.

She said the programme will focus on policy, education

She stressed that the programme is meant for people already working in the film industry, not those intending to work in the industry.

She said the Council hopes to support about 20 participants with a grant of up to 5,000 pounds.

She added that the grant winners will be assigned mentors who will help them shape the making of their short films.

After the short films, she said there would be an exhibition across the world.

UNN Don Bemoans Inequity, Inequality in Malnutrition Cycle

A professor of Pediatrics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Agozie Ubesie, has expressed concern that while the country has grappled with the cycle of undernutrition for a long time, the rising incidence of overnutrition is creating the double and triple burdens of childhood malnutrition in Nigeria.

He said this while delivering the 191st inaugural lecture of the university at the Enugu Campus titled ‘The Burden of Childhood Malnutrition and the Bane of a Developing Economy: Breaking the Barriers to Ending a Cycle’.

He said the situation is a huge threat to child health and national socio-economic development and should be urgently addressed.

Ubesie revealed that the negative impact of malnutrition starts in utero and may persist the

rest of adult life and even spill over to subsequent generations. He noted that malnutrition is a cycle process because women stunted in childhood tend to have stunted children, creating an intergenerational cycle of poverty and reduced human capital that was difficult to break.

According to him, over 820,000 children’s lives could be saved yearly among children under five years if all children from 0-23 months were optimally breastfed.

He explained that optimal breastfeeding included initiating breastfeeding within an hour of birth, exclusively for up to six months, and breastfeeding a

child for up to two years.

Ubesie, who hails from Achi in Enugu State, said that since Nigeria was struggling with childhood undernutrition and, like many developing economies in transition, facing rising incidence of overnutrition, adequate nutrition was a cost-effective intervention that holds the key to preventing a lot of communicable and non-communicable diseases which is connected to national development and growth.

He maintained that as the health care paradigm shifts from treatment to preventive, cost-effective measures like appropriate breastfeeding practices, maternal and infant nutrition, and adequate complementary diet can significantly reduce childhood morbidities and mortalities.

The don commended the university administra-

tion for introducing the inaugural lecture series in 1976, saying it is a huge boost to learning and academic excellence.

He said it gave him the platform to bring to the public discourse the persistent burden of malnutrition in the nation despite years of economic boom.

The lecture was attended by members of the academia from within and outside the country, including the Chief Medical Director of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Prof. Obinna Onodugo, former provost of the College of Medicine, UNN, Prof. Ernest Onwasigwe and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Enugu-Campus, Prof. Daniel Nwachukwu who represented the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Charles Igwe.

Lekki

ProPerty & environment

AfDB Launches Reports on Africa’s Climate Change, Green Growth Financing Needs

Bennett

Oghifo

Ahead of the 28th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 28), the African Development Bank Group has launched country-by-country economic reports to guide African policymakers in their discussions at the global event.

According to a statement by AfDB, the new Country Focus Reports (CFRs) provide analysis and policy recommendations to strengthen countries’ active participation at COP 28, which takes place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 30 November to 12 December. The theme of the reports is “Mobilising private sector finance for climate and green growth in Africa.”

The reports foster policy dialogue on macroeconomic performance and outlook and provide insights on mobilising private sector and natural capital finance to drive the continent’s climate resilience and green growth policies.

Chief Economist and Vice President of the African Development Bank Group, Prof Kevin Urama, said they would help evoke “sound, practical and implementable policies” to enhance private sector financing for climate change and green growth.

“As countries prepare for COP28, the reports provide each African country with independent, verified analysis and recommendations for evidence-based negotiations during the global conversation on climate finance and green transitions,” Urama said.

The reports contain several short, medium, and long-term policies to accelerate African countries’ economic growth and build resilience to shocks. They provide governments and potential investors with up-to-date, accurate data to inform policy and investment decisions.

With climate change identified as one of the most pressing existential threats to Africa’s inclusive growth and sustainable development, this year’s country reports explore opportunities to leverage private sector resources and natural capital to close the climate finance gap. This, in turn, will support the transition to inclusive, strong, and sustainable green growth.

The African Development Bank’s Acting Director of Country Economics, Ferdinand Bakoup, said the Country Focus Reports 2023 build on the African Economic Outlook 2023, which was launched in

May, and the subsequent Regional Economic Outlooks launched in July.

He said: “The CFRs’ detailed country-level analysis and policy recommendations will impact policy design and future projects and programmes in African countries.”

Through these continental, regional, and countryspecific reports, the African Development Bank Group seeks to reduce the information imbalances that result from generalising about countries across a very diverse continent.

The document highlights how governments can strengthen macroeconomic performance and outlook and catalyse private sector and natural capital finance to support climate action and green growth initiatives in the country. These include green bonds, debt for climate swaps, green banks, blended finance, carbon markets, and several other innovative financing instruments.

The African Economic Outlook (AEO) 2023 and the Regional Economic Outlooks reports highlight the resilience of several African economies despite a series of compounding shocks in recent years: the COVID-19 pandemic, persistent impact of climate change, global conflicts, financial market

volatility, rising debt vulnerabilities, and more. The Country Focus Reports give more specific insights for each African country.

Urama noted: “Expanding private sector participation in green growth markets requires several policy interventions, including strengthening the capacity

to develop long-term green growth strategies.”

He added that this includes the development of appropriate regulations and incentives, supporting project preparation and development, and developing more robust capital markets to support easy entry and exit for domestic and global

investors.

“It will require greater use of blended finance, the use of de-risking facilities at scale, and the development of platforms that allow the private sector to invest in a portfolio of green projects, rather than individual projects, to diversify and manage risk,” Urama said.

NIOB to Assist Lagos Implement, Enforce Planning Law

Fadekemi Ajakaiye

The Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Building has said it would collaborate with the Lagos State Government in implementing and enforcing the Lagos State Development Planning Law, 2019 that was conceived to check defective construction.

Chairman, NIOB, Lagos State Chapter, Mr Lucky Isename stated this during a press conference, recently, to announce the 32nd Lagos Builder’s conference and Annual General Meeting slated to hold from October 11 to 12.

The conference, with the theme: “Safe and Sustainable Building Production Management in Nigeria,” he said, was chosen to correct errors and x-ray how far the neglect of the law had affected construction in Lagos State. It would also focus on issues of sustainability in construction to mitigate building collapse.

“We have Carefully chosen this topic as a follow up to last year’s conference that was a great success. Striding on the success, we intend to educate the populace on the importance of engaging.a professional builder to

execute your construction project,” he said.

Mr. Isename said, “The collaboration with Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development is to make sure that the Lagos State Physical Development Planning Law 2019, is fully enforced to mitigate building collapse in the state.

“The construction industry through safe and sustainable building production management plays a vital role in the development and growth of the nation.

“However, it is imperative that we focus not only on the speed and efficiency of

construction but also on the safety and sustainability of our built environment.

“We cannot discuss construction and building without touching Sustainable Development Goals.”

He said at the conference, experts would discuss functions of registered builders, expectations, ethics, rights of clients, government regulation and other vital issues that would nip building collapse in the bud.

“Panelists will discuss safe and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the progress made to meet the deadline of achieving

the sustainable goals as it affected the building construction sector in Lagos State,” he said.

The Honourary Secretary, NIOB, Mr Abiodun Ogundare, said the theme was in line with Goal 17 of the SDG, which advocates sustainability in construction, hence the emphasis on use of registered builders.

The Vice Chairman, NIOB, Mr Adeoye Thomas, said a building could be safe for a short time but engaging professionals would help it last longer.

He said all stakeholders in the construction value chain

Blakskill to Empower Sub-Saharan Africa’s Workforce

Fadekemi Ajakaiye

In an era of rapid technological advancements and evolving workplace dynamics, Blakskill Limited has taken a bold step forward in equipping Sub-Saharan Africa’s talents with the competencies required to excel in today’s global talent market. According to a statement by officials of the company, “As part of its vision to empower the region’s workforce, Blakskill Limited introduces Blakskill Academy, a pioneering initiative set to redefine the career trajectory of talents across

Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).”

Blakskill Academy is not just an educational institution; it is a dynamic force designed to cater to the growth and development of professionals in Nigeria. With the goal of enhancing employability and fostering career progression, Blakskill Academy focuses on providing the essential skills needed to thrive in the ever-changing landscape of the global talent marketplace.

Mr. Olugbenga Omojola, CEO of Blakskill Limited, shared his insights on the academy’s vision, stating,

“Blakskill Academy is a testament to our commitment to personal and professional growth in SubSaharan Africa. We believe that by investing in skills development and nurturing talents, we can unlock the region’s potential and drive positive change.”

At the heart of Blakskill Academy lies the Blakskill School of Employability Studies (BSES). This flagship programme is strategically designed to cater to the needs of university and polytechnic graduates, particularly those that are currently unemployed or underemployed. BSES aims

to equip these graduates with the critical competencies essential for securing, retaining, and excelling in gainful employment opportunities globally.

Mr. Michael Alasa, COO of Blakskill Limited, expressed his enthusiasm for the BSES project, saying, “BSES is not just about acquiring skills; it’s about transforming careers. We want to provide young professionals with the tools they need to accelerate their careers and stand out in a competitive job market.

The impact of the BSES project extends far beyond individual careers. By

cultivating a skilled and empowered workforce, Blakskill Academy’s initiative aligns seamlessly with Nigeria’s and SSA’s broader economic development goals. A highly skilled workforce not only attracts investment but also fuels economic growth and innovation, ultimately contributing to the region’s prosperity. To apply for the BSES programme, kindly visit https://blakskill.com/ academy.

Blakskill Limited’s journey is more than just a business venture; it is a commitment to social responsibility. Through

including manufacturers, the professional builders, artisans, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), among others, must begin self assessment on doing things right.

“We need to come together to reduce this issue of building collapse. With this I believe we will reduce it to the barest minimum,” he said.

Immediate past chairman of the Lagos Chapter of NIOB, Mr Sunday Wusu, said the sub-themes of the conference were carefully selected to cover a wide range of topics and issues causing building collapse.

initiatives like Blakskill Academy, the company seeks to create lasting and positive change, leaving an indelible mark on the communities it serves.

As Blakskill Academy gears up to launch its maiden Graduate Employability programme, BSES Cohort 1, in October 2023, the stage is set for a transformative revolution in the career paths of young professionals. This initiative promises to be a game-changer, offering a brighter and more promising future for talents in Nigeria and across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Head of Investigation & Fraud Risk, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Ms Rekia Eletu; Deputy Director, Conservation & Ecology, LASG Ministry of Environment & Water Resources, Mr Olabode Adeola; Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Dr. Demola Sogunle; Director General of Nigerian Conservation Foundation, Dr. Joseph Onoja; and Head of Sustainability, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Ms. Tosin Leye-Odeyemi, at the flagoff of 30,000 tree planting at Lekki Conservation Centre… recently

FOREIGN DESK

US House Removes McCarthy as Speaker of House

For the first time in US history, US lawmakers voted Tuesday to remove the Speaker of the US House of Representatives from power.

Republican Kevin McCarthy was removed from his position as speaker in a 216-210 vote triggered by a rare challenge from his own party.

Republican Representative Matt Gaetz filed a motion late Monday to force a vote on removing McCarthy, expressing frustration in McCarthy’s leadership after McCarthy failed to pass a government funding bill last week with conservative spending priorities.

The slim Republican majority in the House meant that Gaetz needed only a handful of Republicans to vote along with Democrats to oust McCarthy. The majority of Republicans voted to keep McCarthy in leadership.

“Think long and hard before you plunge us into chaos because that’s where we’re headed if we vacate the speakership,” Representative Tom Cole warned fellow Republicans on the House floor Tuesday.

India Orders Canada to Remove 41 of 62 Diplomats

India has ordered Canada to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country, a Canadian official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Tuesday.

Tuesday’s action by India, first reported by the Financial Times, follows both countries’ ousting each other’s senior diplomats.

The expulsion follows what Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an Indian expatriate living near Vancouver. India denies any wrongdoing.

Top officials in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government have said that Nijjar’s role in a Sikh separatist movement that shook the nation in the 1980s made him a terrorist. The movement sought to establish an independent nation called Khalistan. New Delhi has long accused Ottawa of harbouring pro-Khalistani extremists.

A spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs had previously called for limiting the number of Canadian diplomats in India, claiming that India had fewer diplomats in Canada.

Trudeau recently told reporters that Canada is “not looking to provoke or escalate.”

Trudeau and Modi had frosty run-ins during last month’s G20 conference in New Delhi — days before Canada cancelled trade talks with India scheduled for this fall.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with India’s foreign minister last week and said Canada-India relations were brought up at the meeting.

US Senators Hoping to Meet with China’s President Xi

A bipartisan group of US Senators visiting China next week hope to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Mike Crapo are among those set to make the trip.

Schumer’s office said last month the trip would also include stops in Japan and South Korea.

The tour comes at a time when US officials have boosted engagement with Chinese officials, including visits to China by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

In addition to expressing the need to have open lines of communication, US officials have also highlighted a need to address issues such as trade and challenges that US businesses face operating in China.

Three Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Physics

Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for giving us the first split-second glimpse into the superfast world of spinning electrons, a field that could one day lead to better electronics or disease diagnoses.

The award went to French-Swedish physicist Anne L’Huillier, French scientist Pierre Agostini and Hungarian-born Ferenc Krausz for their work with the tiny part of each atom that races around the centre and that is fundamental to virtually everything: chemistry, physics, our bodies and our gadgets.

Electrons move so fast that they have been out of reach of human efforts to isolate them, but by looking at the tiniest fraction of a second possible, scientists now have a “blurry” glimpse of them and that opens up whole new sciences, experts said.

“The electrons are very fast, and the electrons are really the workforce in everywhere,” Nobel Committee member

Mats Larsson said. “Once you can control and understand electrons, you have taken a very big step forward.”

L’Huillier, of Lund University in Sweden, is the fifth woman to receive a Nobel in physics.

“For all the women, I say if you are interested, if you have a little bit of passion for this type of challenges, so just go for it,” L’Huillier told The Associated Press.

Biden Assures Allies of Continued Ukraine Support

US President Joe Biden called key Western allies on Tuesday to reassure them of continued American military support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia after hardline right-wing congressional Republicans over the weekend forced the exclusion of immediate new funding for Kyiv.

The White House said Biden spoke with the leaders of Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, Britain, and the European Union and NATO, along with the foreign minister of France.

“President Biden convened a call this morning with allies and partners to coordinate our ongoing support for Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.

Later, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Biden reaffirmed the strong commitment of the United States to supporting Ukraine as it defends itself “for as long as it takes, as did every other leader on the call.”

Kirby said the leaders discussed efforts to continue providing Ukraine with the ammunition and the weapons systems that it needs to defend itself and to continue strengthening Ukrainian air defences as they prepare for more attacks on critical infrastructure.

Kenyan President Welcomes UN Resolution on Haiti Intervention

Kenyan President William Ruto has welcomed a new resolution approved Monday by the UN Security Council authorizing a foreign security mission to intervene in Haiti.

Ruto said he hopes the so-called Multinational Security Support Mission his country is leading will provide a different footprint in the history of international interventions in Haiti.

In a taped speech shared with the media Tuesday, Ruto said he hopes the mission will make a difference in the lives of Haitians.

“I welcome the resolution as an overdue and critical instrument to define the multinational mission,” he said. The mission is a fundamental intervention to provide the necessary conditions for Haiti to consolidate its development and governance.”

Ruto said it is essential that resources, as well as the operational scope available to the UN team, be appropriately reinforced.

This comes after the UN Security Council voted late Monday to authorize a foreign security mission to intervene in

Haiti, a year after the Caribbean nation requested help to quell violent gangs.

Kenya offered to lead the operation in Haiti two months ago, saying it is willing to deploy one thousand of its police forces. On a recent visit to Kenya, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin lauded the plan.

Cameroon, Chad Agree to Combat Boko Haram, Armed Gangs Jointly Defence ministers and security experts from Cameroon and Chad are meeting in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, to map out ways of jointly combating growing security threats along their border.

Officials say a day hardly goes by without cases of Boko Haram terrorist attacks or cross-border crimes, including armed gangs attacking civilians and wildlife, reported on both sides of the border between Cameroon and Chad.

The two central African states say they share a more than 1,100-kilometer porous land border that facilitates the escape of armed gangs and Boko Haram terrorists to either Cameroon or Chad when chased by government troops.

Joseph Beti Assomo, Cameroon’s defence minister, said Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno and his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya, have ordered the militaries of the two states to jointly monitor and protect their borders from violence perpetrated by the Islamist radicals and armed gangs.

Assomo said keeping Cameroon and Chad safe from rebels, terrorists, and armed gangs is synonymous with contributing to stability in sub-Saharan Africa in particular and Africa in general.

Assomo also said tens of thousands of Cameroonian citizens who fled bloody battles between fishers and herders in northern Cameroon last year are still in Chad.

Chad’s government says the displaced persons are refusing to return to their communities in Cameroon because of frequent conflicts between herders and fishers.

Pakistan to Begin Deportation of 1.7 Million Undocumented

Afghans Pakistan has ordered all undocumented immigrants, including 1.7 million Afghans, to leave the country by November 1, vowing mass deportations for those who stay.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar approved the plan Tuesday at a high-level meeting of his top civilian and military officials in Islamabad.

“All illegal immigrants residing in Pakistan have until November 1 to return to their countries voluntarily,” Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti told a post-meeting news conference. “And if they fail to leave by the deadline, all our state law enforcement agencies will unleash an operation with full-throttle to deport them.”

Bugti did not share any numbers for

undocumented immigrants in Pakistan, but he estimated that more than 1.7 million Afghans are among them. He said the officials have also decided that Afghans may enter Pakistan only with a valid passport and visa starting November 1.

The “one document regime” policy will replace the decades-old practice of granting special travel permits to individuals with divided tribes straddling the nearly 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Ghana Opposition Tries to Oust Bank of Ghana Governor

Members of Ghana’s major opposition National Democratic Congress took to the streets in the capital, Accra, on Tuesday to protest what they allege is mismanagement by the central bank governor, the high cost of living, and high inflation. It follows last week’s three-day protest over the lingering economic crisis in the West African country.

Clad in red and black — colours that signify a state of sorrow in Ghanaian culture — hundreds of protesters chanted revolutionary songs and carried placards bearing inscriptions such as “President Akufo-Addo is wicked,” “We cannot buy medicine,” “We are dying,” “Save Ghana now” and “Fix the country.”

Dubbed “OccupyBoGProtest,” the protesters demanded the resignation of Ernest Addison — the governor of the central bank known as the Bank of Ghana or BoG — over hyperinflation in the West African country.

Heavily guarded by riot police, the demonstrators accused the head of the treasury of overprinting money to fund the government’s alleged profligacy that has led to economic hardship.

Hunter Biden Pleads Not Guilty to Three Gun Charges

Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to three federal firearms charges filed after a plea deal imploded, putting the case on track toward a possible trial as the 2024 election looms.

His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in court he plans to file a motion to dismiss the case, challenging their constitutionality.

President Joe Biden’s son faces charges that he lied about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days.

He’s acknowledged struggling with an addiction to crack cocaine during that period, but his lawyers have said he didn’t break the law. Gun charges like these are rare, and an appeals court has found the ban on drug users having guns violates the Second Amendment under new Supreme Court standards.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys are suggesting that prosecutors bowed to pressure by Republicans who have insisted the Democratic president’s son got a sweetheart deal and that the charges were the result of political pressure.

90th Birthday CeleBration for Mrs adejuMo...

Oyedele: Despite Clamour for Local Refining, Operational Inefficiencies May Make Nigeria’s Petrol Most Expensive Globally Says

james emejo in Abuja

The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Policy and Fiscal Reforms, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, has said the resuscitation of the country’s ailing refineries may not deliver petrol at cheaper costs to Nigerians or alleviate the current economic hardship resulting from the recent removal of subsidy. He said even if crude oil was refined in the country, the operational inefficiencies often associated with the management of the refineries would make Nigeria’s petrol the most expensive in the world.

Oyedele spoke at the Platform NG 2023 event in Lagos on Monday.

He said unless effectively addressed, inefficiency in the

operation of the refineries could make Nigerians change their minds towards having functional refineries for local refining.

Citing National Assembly sources, he said the country had spent over N10 trillion to maintain the moribund refineries without producing anything.

Oyedele said, “Nigerians who say if only our refineries are working, they would be fine; nothing can be further from the truth than that.

“In fact, Nigerians should come together and say please make sure that our refineries don't work. We should sell them.

“Maybe you have not been following this story - the National Assembly said we have spent over N10 trillion maintaining our

refineries even when they have not produced anything.”

He added, “The time when they were producing, the GMD of NNPC at the time, who is now the CEO of NNPC Limited, said and I quote, ‘We have to shut down the ones that we're producing because the two crude of $100 and produced refined product of $97’.

“And I have not added the overhead. My point is if Nigerian refineries produce crude oil, unless we deal with our inefficiency, one litre of petrol will be the most expensive in the world. You would have succeeded in replacing the subsidy at the pump with the subsidy at the refineries.”

The presidential committee chairman also said the removal of fuel subsidy had been a painful

particularly lower middle-class

sacrifice that Nigerians have had to make as life has become impossible. He said though the policy was necessary, the government needed to, “react and respond in a way that is robust enough so we can take some of that pain off our people.”

He insisted that, “every single naira we save” from subsidies should be “spent on the people 100 per cent”.

He argued that rather than target the upper-class, government’s interventions should focus on the lower middle-class particularly the vulcanisers, mechanics and apprentices among others - who have been hard-hit by government’s policies and unable to support their families at this critical time.

Oyedele, said interventions

Police Arrest Killers of Female Justice in Benue

Force, PCRC, others unite against criminality in Rivers

George okoh in Makurdi and Blessing ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Police in Benue State have arrested and paraded four suspects in connection with the murder of Justice Margaret Igbetar rtd, who was killed in August 2023.

The State Commissioner of Police (Compol), Bartholomew Onyeka, who disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Makurdi, yesterday, said the suspects had since confessed to the crime.

The decomposing body of Justice Igbetar was found with deep cults on her back inside her kitchen on Aug. 24, and the police consequently arrested one Joseph Aondohemba, her nephew.

“The suspect confessed to have planned and recruited other people to help him kill his aunty and led a team of detectives to Adikpo in Kwande Local Government Area, where two others were arrested,” the CP said.

“The two arrested at Adikpo were Igbazenda Gbidye (63) and Dzungwenen Ukor (40). These suspects admitted that Aondohemba reported to them that his father died and left a lot of property in the hands of his aunty (the deceased) and she had refused to hand the said property over to him. They agreed to join

him in eliminating her so he could have access to his property.

“One Akuhwa Barnabas (32), driver to the deceased, corroborated their statements and admitted that he gave the gang access to the house and manned the gate until they finished the assassination process,” Onyeka said.

The police commissioner added that the four suspects would be arraigned after the completion of investigation.

He told newsmen that between July and September, police in Benue arrested 85 persons in connection with kidnapping, armed robbery, culpable homicide, cultism, rape and unlawful possession of firearms.

The police recovered 12 locallymade pistols, four AK47 riffles, four single and double barrel guns, 160 ammunitions and four cartridges, during the period, he said.

Onyeka assured the people that police would soon secure the release of Benue Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Mathew Abo, who was kidnapped recently

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Police Command, Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) and other stakeholders have officially launched the "Rivers Zero Crime", an initiative that united all stakeholders in the

fight against crime and criminality in the state.

Speaking during the launch held in Port Harcourt, yesterday, the Commissioner of Police, Emeka Nwonyi, said the programme was aimed at reducing crime to zero level in the state, adding that it could only be achieved by concerted effort.

He stated that some of the suspects

linked to the killing of SP Bako Angbashim (Ahoada Divisional Police Officer) were arrested was as a result of credible information given to the police by residents of the state.

In his remarks, state Chairman of PCRC, Mr Voke Emore, said zero crime was possible if the people could partner the police.

should be directed to areas where they could make the most impact on the vulnerable people.

He said quality data mining was particularly key to achieving positive outcomes.

House Urges FG to Establish Special Taskforce on Borno Farmers’ Killings

juliet akoje in Abuja

The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to establish a special task force dedicated to addressing the security challenges in the Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza Constituency area of Borno State with a mandate to protect the lives and property of the farmers.

The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance on the Need to stop killing peasant farmers in Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza constituency and provide safe and reliable security for farmers to harvest their hard-earned farm produce moved by Hon. Ahmed Jaha at plenary yesterday.

The House also urged the security agencies to intensify intelligence gathering and surveillance activities in the constituency to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of attacks on farmers and has also urged the federal government, in collaboration with the state and local governments to deploy additional security personnel and resources to the Chibok/ Damboa/Gwoza Constituency to

provide adequate protection to farmers and their farms.

The lawmakers further urged the government to provide financial assistance and support to affected farmers, who have suffered losses due to attacks, to help them recover and sustain their agricultural activities.

Jaha, while presenting the motion said, "I rise today to bring to the attention of this honorable House the urgent and critical issue of the continuous killing of peasant farmers in the Chibok/Damboa/ Gwoza Constituency.

“The farmers in our constituency, who work tirelessly to provide food for our nation, are facing grave threats to their lives, hindering their ability to harvest their hard-earned farm produce. It is our responsibility as representatives of the people to address this issue with utmost urgency and ensure the safety and security of our constituents.

"The fact that agriculture is the backbone of our economy and the main source of livelihood for the majority of our constituents, we cannot afford to overlook the constant attacks on our farmers."

HURIWA Demands Tinubu's Disqualification, Resignation over Alleged Identity Theft

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has called on the Supreme Court of Nigeria to disqualify President Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office or compel him to resign over his alleged identity theft and certificate forgery.

HURIWA made this call in a press statement issued yesterday, Tuesday, October 3, 2023, following the revelation that the academic record from South-West College, which Tinubu used in gaining admission into Chicago State University (CSU)

belonged to a woman.

The society civil group said the documents released by CSU to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was challenging Tinubu's victory in the February 25 presidential election in a US court, showed that Tinubu was enrolled as a female student with the name, Bola Adekunle Tinubu.

HURIWA described this as a shocking and shameful case of identity theft and certificate forgery, which has exposed Tinubu as a fraud and a liar, who has deceived Nigerians for decades.

The human rights group said

Tinubu has no moral or legal right to continue to occupy the highest office in the land, having violated the constitution and the electoral laws of Nigeria.

They also accused Tinubu of being involved in other criminal activities such as drug trafficking and money laundering, citing some documents purportedly obtained from the US authorities that linked him to these offences.

The Human Rights group, therefore, urged the Supreme Court not to act like Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ by allowing this malfeasance to be sustained.

The group said the apex court has a duty to uphold justice and protect the integrity of the electoral process and the democratic values of Nigeria.

HURIWA warned that if Tinubu was not disqualified or made to resign, Nigerians would lose faith in their leaders and institutions, and might resort to civil disobedience and mass protests to demand accountability.

The group also called on Nigerians to rise up and reject Tinubu as their president, saying he was a potential embarrassment and danger to Nigeria and its international reputation.

L-R: Senior Special Adviser to the President on SDGs, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire,; First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu,; Celebrant, Mrs Bamidele Adejumo and First daughter of the Celebrant/Convener, Arise Women, Dr Siju Iluyomade during the reception for the 90th Birthday ceremony of Mrs Adejumo at Eko Hotel, Lagos... on Monday

Chuks okocha in Abuja

every naira saved from subsidy removal must be spent on Nigerians,

GlOBuS BaNK’S cOurteSy vISIt tO eNuGu GOverNmeNt...

Defence Chief Seeks Budgetary Support for Armed Forces

Army probes allegations of troops’ poor feeding

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Christopher Musa, yesterday, sought more budgetary allocation for the Armed Forces to enable it discharge its constitutional responsibilities.

This came as the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, has launched a probe into allegations of poor feeding of troops in the North-east.

Musa made the appeal during a courtesy call on the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, in his office in Abuja., where he requested for budgetary appropriation to enable the completion of the armed forces complex permanent site.

He also called on the minister to assist the AFN to sort out accommodation deficit in the barracks and military bases by ensuring budget allocation for that purpose.

The CDS further assured the minister of the commitment of the armed forces to rid the country of criminals and make Nigeria and Nigerians safer.

In his response, the minister thanked Musa for the visit and congratulated him on his appointment.

He appreciated and commended the AFN for their pivotal role in stabilising security in the nation and for rising to the overall security challenges despite some constraints.

He assured the Armed Forces of Nigeria of his ministry’s support, while adding that budget cycle must consider critical security challenges.

A statement by the Director, Defence Information (DDI), BrigGen Tukur Gusau, said Badugu

also expressed confidence in the ability of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to surmount all the security challenges bedeviling the country.

Meanwhile, Lagbaja, launched a probe into allegations of poor feeding of troops in the North-east.

A statement by the Army Spokesman, Brig-Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, said the Nigerian Army took the allegations seriously, and that Lagbaja, had "directed immediate investigation into the complaints to ascertain its veracity and unravel the circumstances.

"The Nigerian Army wishes to assure the public and all Nigerian Army personnel that a thorough investigation will be conducted to get to the bottom of these claims."

According to the statement, the army was "committed to transparency and accountability, and will not condone any form of negligence or misconduct. If any culpability is detected, it will attract appropriate disciplinary action. Immediate corrective measures to ensure that such incidents do not recur in the future will be taken."

It said the Lagbaja-led leadership of the army priortised welfare of troops.

"The Nigerian Army has always prioritised the welfare of troops, including their nutrition. There is a comprehensive system in place to ensure that troops receive adequate and balanced meals, especially those serving at the frontline and the meals are prepared under strict quality control measures. We, however, acknowledge that there may be isolated incidents where lapses occur, and we are determined to squarely address them.

"An internal investigation has already been initiated to ascertain the truth behind these allegations. We will thoroughly examine the supply chain, the quality of food provided, and any other factors that may have contributed to this situation," it said.

The statement called on personnel to report any issues they may have with regards to their feeding to the authorities.

"We also encourage Nigerian Army personnel to report any grievances or concerns they may have regarding their feeding ar-

rangements. We have established channels for feedback and will take prompt action to address any legitimate complaints.

"The Nigerian Army remains resolute in the fight against insurgency and other security challenges. Consequently, we will ensure that

our gallant soldiers are provided with the necessary support and care they require to carry out their duties effectively. "We are committed to ensuring that our troops are well-fed, motivated, and equipped to defend our nation," it said.

PAP Clears Air on Sylva Deputy's Amnesty Record

Says he received unconditional pardon from late president

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

The controversies surrounding the ineligibility of the All Progressive Congress (APC) deputy governorship candidate, Joshua MacIver, to contest the November 11th governorship poll might have been laid to rest as the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), has issued an apology for denying that he received ‘unconditional pardon’ from the late former President, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

In a letter by the Interim Administrator of PAP, Major General Ndiomu (rtd), and sent through the office of the (SGF), the federal government admitted to the fact that due to the urgency of the confirmation, the Technical and Data Unit of PAP provided information hastily, thereby providing misrepresentation of the presidential pardon status of MacIver.

According to the letter, upon thorough investigation by the federal government, it has been identified that there was an oversight in the

records regarding MacIver’s PAP beneficiary status, while regretting any confusion or inconvenience caused by the oversight.

A female governorship aspirant of the APC, Ikisima Johnson, has challenged the eligibility of Maciver and sought his disqualification as the party’s running mate on the grounds that he was an ex-convict, who was sentenced to 10 years prison term for terrorism and sea piracy but escaped from prison without completing his sentence.

In suit number FHC/YNG/ CS114/2023/, the APC was listed as the first defendant, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Chief Timipre Sylva, and Joshua MacIver as second, third and fourth defendants respectively.

The PAP letter read: “I am writing in response to your letter with Reference: SGF.19/S/105/178 dated 7 July 2023, as well as this organisation’s reply under Reference OIA/PAP/IAO/VOL V/417 dated 7th July, 2023, concerning Mr. Joshua MacIver’s status as

Rivers Explosion: ‘I Didn't Know My Brother Is Involved in Illegal Bunkering’

Blessing

Ibunge in Port Harcourt

A relative of one of the victims of the fire incident at an illegal oil refining site in Ibaa community, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State, has lamented that he didn't have the knowledge that his brother was involved in the illicit act.

The man, who gave his name as Pastor Henry Iyenatebo and a native of Bayelsa State, told journalists at the site of the incident that he was called by a neighbour informing him that his younger brother was a victim of the incident.

According to Iyenatebo, when he arrived the scene, his brother, who is welder, had already died. He revealed that on identifying his corpse, he was immediately evacuated for a burial.

He said: "My name is Pastor

Henry Iyenatebo. I am from Brass Local Government Area in Bayelsa state. My relation is lying there as well. I don't know what happened, because these are not the things I accommodate as a pastor.

"I advised every person to keep themselves away from such situations but coming to hear that this happened to my own person, I was surprised. I was in the church before I had a call that I should come to this community that something was going on.

"I asked what was going on and they said my younger brother was lying there helplessly. I asked what happened they said he went for Kpo fire business.

"I didn't have a clue that Eric was into this kind of business because if I knew I would have stopped him on time. I am surprised to

see this because that is not how he was brought up. We trained him on welding", Iyenatebo cries.

The incident, which occurred Sunday night, claimed the lives of two pregnant women, a fresh graduate, and over 25 other persons who were burnt beyond recognition.

Paramount Ruler of Ibaa community, Jonah Wobodo Jonah has expressed fears that the casualty figure could rise.

Speaking with journalists, the monarch said a search party was in the bushes searching for persons that were still unaccounted for.

Wobodo said: “Right now we don’t know the exact number because you know it was not at home, it was in the bush. Some of them do these things (bunkering) in the forest. People are still searching for their people, many of them burnt

beyond recognition.

“Many people were found dead, some people wounded. I heard that one of the victims is the son of the person doing the bunkering. That he also sustained wound and he lost his own son.

“It is a catastrophe and I am not happy about it. It is a sad day in the community. Nobody is happy.”

He expressed regrets that illegal oil activities were still going on in the community despite his repeated warnings on the inherent dangers.

“After hearing all my warnings and so on, I even sent town criers to go round the nook and crannies of the community several times. I even set up a taskforce and announced that there should be a stop to oil bunkering in Ibaa. That anybody who goes on bunkering, if he is caught, will be dealt with because it is bad.

a beneficiary of the Presidential Amnesty Progromme (PAP).

“I would like to mention that due to the urgency of the confirmation, our Technical and Data Unit provided information hastily, as indicated by the dates of both the received letter and our response.

"Upon thorough investigation, we have identified an oversight in our records regarding Mr. Joshua MacIver’s PAP beneficiary status. It has now been established that Mr. MacIver received an unconditional pardon from the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

“We deeply regret any confusion or inconvenience caused by this oversight. Rest assured, we have taken corrective measures to rectify our records and prevent future discrepancies.

“We apologise for any misunder-

standings and any inconvenience this misrepresentation may have caused. We remain steadfast and committed in maintaining accurate records for all PAP beneficiaries. Please accept as always, my highest assurances and esteemed regards.” Reacting to the development, MacIver, said he had always been confident because he was innocent of the allegations levelled against him by the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and urged supporters of the APC to remain steadfast and united against all odds.

He further challenged Governor Douye Diri, to prove his capacity to Bayelsans by engaging his principal and governorship candidate of the APC, Chief Timipre Sylva, in a public debate at least twice before the election.

Fintiri: No Victor, No Vanquished as Tribunal Upholds His Election

Daji Sani in Yola

Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu

Umaru Fintiri, has said there was no victor and no vanquished from the governorship eletion tribunal, which upheld his victory in the March 18, 2023 governorship poll.

Fintiri had reacted to the Monday verdict, which dismissed the petition by Dr. Umar Ardo, the governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) against him for lack of merit.

Speaking yesterday shortly after his arrival from Abuja at the Yola International Airport, he thanked God and the people of the state for giving him their mandate to run the state for another four years.

He also expressed confidence on the judiciary for its courage and doggedness towards upholding the decision of the Adamawa people, first held by the Independence Electoral Commission (INEC).

He, however, reassured the state of his unflinching commitment to delivering dividends of democracy.

His words: “We are grateful to Almighty God for giving us the victory and thanking the judiciary for doing its job, ensuring that it consolidates on what God has done in Adamawa through the good people of Adamawa State.

“The only assurance we will give is that there is no winner, no vanquished. Adamawa project is first. We will continue to ensure that we deliver the dividends of democracy to make our people happy and develop the state to the level that is expected.”

Fintiri, also, expressed optimism that the remaining cases awaiting judgement at the tribunal would speak the will of the people, because according to him, the election that produced him as governor was free, fair and credible.

L-R: GM, Enugu State Housing Development Corporation, Gerald Asogwa; Chairman, Board of Internal Revenue, Emmanuel Nnamani; Accountant General, Tony Okenwa; Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah; MD/CEO, Globus Bank, Elias Igbinakenzua, Executive Director, Sunday Ilegar; and Zonal Head, South East, Alex Anonyei, during a visit to the governor at the Government House after the inaugurating a branch of Globus Bank in the state capital… yesterday

PROMOTiNG TECHNOLOGy aNd iNNOVaTiON…

L-R:Chief Information Officer, Sterling BankPlc, Taiwo Aluko; Chief Executive Officer, Future Africa, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, FITC, Chizor Malize; SpecialAdviser to the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Strategy and Innovation, Iklima Musa, and Executive Director, Wholesale Banking, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Obaro Odeghe, at the FITC Tech4growth Techathon launch in Lagos…recently

OAU Students Protest Tuition Fee Hike, Shutdown Institution

yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, yesterday besieged the entrance gate of the institution and shut down the school over the refusal of the management to reduce the recently increased tuition fees.

The protesting students expressed their determination to continue the protest until the school authorities revert to their

previous fees, stating that the fee increase shows a lack of empathy.

The students also asked the federal government to allocate the funds from subsidy removal towards education instead of allowing an increase in school fees.

Led by the leadership of the Great Ife Students’ Union, Abbas Akinremi, the students who shut the entrance gates in and out of the school, preventing workers from accessing the campus,

Mohbad: Police Arrest Naira Marley in Lagos

Rebecca Ejifoma

Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command yesterday arrested Afrobeats star, Azeez Fashola, Naira Marley over the death of former signee Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mobhad.

The State Police Spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, shared the development via his X account last night.

He tweeted: “Azeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley, has been taken into custody for interrogation

and other investigation activities.”

Naira Marley’s arrest comes less than an hour after he took to Instagram, officialnairam1, to announce his arrival in Lagos.

“I’d like to share that I’ve just arrived back in Lagos, Nigeria, to assist the authorities with the ongoing investigation.

“It’s important I do my part for Imole. I’ll be meeting with the police with hopes for the truth to be uncovered and for justice to prevail,” he expressed.

Human Trafficker Bags 12 Years Jail Term, N24m Fine in Edo

adibe Emenyonu in benin-city

A High Court in Benin-city, capital of Edo State, yesterday sentenced a human trafficker, Mrs. Felicia Osaigbovo (alias Mama Masha) to 12 years imprisonment and a fine of N24 million.

Osaigbovo, who resides in Okuarobo Street, Off St. Saviour Street, Upper Sakponba Road in Benin-city, was arraigned on July 1, 2021, on a 24-count charge of assisting the activities of persons engaged in trafficking

called for a 50 percent reduction on the original fee and installment payment activation.

While speaking, Akinremi said: “We have demanded the 50 percent reduction in our fee from the school management and this is what we are standing on, and we threatened

that if our demands are not met, we will make sure we shut down the activities of the school and also shut down the activities on our federal roads and even state roads as far as Osun State is concern.

“So we met with the school management last week Monday,

and after stating our demands, it was stated that we can only achieve 15 percent reduction which is far beyond what we demanded, so at the moment, Great Ife students are out here to protest and show our dissatisfaction and displeasure on this school fees increment because

it isn’t affordable for anybody provided that aside from the school fees, the accommodation has also gone up and there are hundred thousand professional levies that have been mandated or imposed on student of the College of Health Sciences and Pharmacy.

Police Arrest Six Suspects for Alleged Abduction of Businessman in Kwara

Hammed shittu in Ilorin

Kwara State Police Command yesterday said it has arrested six suspects in connection with the alleged abduction of a charcoal dealer, Sikiru Bosere, and his assistant, Philemon, in Jebba town, Moro Local Government Area of the state.

The duo were abducted by armed men last week at Bosere’s Camp Life residence in Jebba town at about 10a.m. During the operation, Philemon was also injured and hospitalised in a health facility in Jebba town.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on the arrest of

those allegedly behind the abduction, the spokesman of the state Police Command, Mr. Okasanmi Ajayi, disclosed that Bosere was also successfully rescued by the security team on a search-and-rescue operation.

He said an investigation into the abduction was ongoing,

in a bid to get to the root of the matter.

According to him, “Pressure mounted by the combined team of security agencies, the police, local vigilantes and hunters resulted in the kidnappers abandoning the abducted victim, Bosere, and their motorcycle in the bush.

Bayelsa Poll: Sylva Loses More Loyalists, as Seibarugu, Supporters Dump APC

Olusegun samuel in yenagoa

As the campaign for the November 11 gubernatorial poll intensifies in Bayelsa State, the state All Progressives Congress (APC) has suffered another major blow following the defection of the Seibarugu Political Dynasty to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

in persons contrary to Section 13(4) c TIPPEA, 2015.

The convict was also accused of organising foreign travels, which promote prostitution contrary to Section 18 of TIPPEA, 2015 for 12 victims currently in Belgium.

She, however, pleaded not guilty to all the counts, but the prosecution in proof of the counts called a total of three witnesses, including a Belgian police officer, Mr. Jimmy Wellem Hendrik, who flew in from Brussels to Nigeria on May 31 to testify.

One Feared Dead as Church Building Collapses in Benue

George Okoh in Makurdi

A Dunamis Church located at Mission Ward North Bank in Makurdi, the Benue State capital has collapsed.

It was gathered that the incident, which occurred in the early hours of yesterday left a pastor dead as the building gave in. The cause of the incident is, however, unclear. According to sources, four individuals including the pastor were observing prayers at the church building before the

incident occurred. The other three individuals escaped the wreckage. Residential buildings and electricity infrastructure around the building were affected by the collapse.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer for the Benue State Police Command, Anene Sewuese Catherine, said she was not aware of the incident.

However, police operatives from the C Division, North Bank were seen at the scéne.

The influential group in the APC, comprising thousands of members across the state, is led by a former acting Governor of the state and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Chief Werinipre Seibarugu.

This is as the state Governor, Senator Douye Diri, approved the re-engagement of sacked staff of three state-owned tertiary

institutions.

The re-absorbed 704 persons, who were disengaged in 2018, were staff members of the Niger Delta University, Amassoma (644); Isaac Jasper Adaka Boro College of Education, Sagbama (48), and the College of Health Technology, Otuogidi (12).

Speaking in the Government

House, Yenagoa, when he received the report of the committee set up to look into the disengagement of the staff, Governor Diri said he approved its recommendations, which include re-engagement of the majority of those sacked based on the needs of the institutions as well as the payment of their salary arrears and other entitlements.

APC Chides Abia Govt for Boasting about Favourable Tribunal Verdict

The Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has expressed dismay at the audacity of the state government to predict that

the outcome of the petitions filed against Governor Alex Otti at the tribunal would be in his favour.

In a statement signed by the Chairman of Abia APC, Dr Kingsley Ononogbu and the Secretary, Chief Chidi

Avaja , the party noted that the state government was undermining the integrity of the judiciary by making suggestive statements ahead of the tribunal judgment slated for October 6.

The Special Adviser to

Governor Alex Otti on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, had during a press conference accused the main opposition parties(APC and PDP) of Instigating violence and insecurity in the state.

LG Poll: Oyebanji, APC Leaders Welcome PDP Defectors in Ekiti

Gbenga sodeinde inadoekiti

Ahead of the December 2 local government elections in Ekiti State, the state Governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, last Monday joined the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Paul

Omotoso , and other prominent leaders of the party to welcome about 200 card-carrying members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Efon Local Government Area of the state who officially defected to the APC.

The defectors received at

the APC secretariat in the local government area included former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Femi Ige; former PDP Women Leader in the LGA, Hon. Lucia Adetunji, and the PDP House of Assembly candidate in the last

Assembly poll, Stephen Olusola, among others.

Receiving them at the APC secretariat in Efon Alaaye, Governor Oyebanji welcomed and congratulated them for joining the ruling party with an assurance that they would not regret their action.

Residents Accuse LASTMA of Killing Driver, Pregnant Woman in Lagos

Rebecca Ejifoma

Operatives of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), yesterday have been accused of killing a pregnant woman and a tricycle operator.

The incident also injured two children after a bus driver being chased by LASTMA operatives knocked them down.

According to eyewitnesses, the officials gripped the steering wheel while the driver was on motion.

He was said to have rammed into the fully-loaded tricycle and the pregnant woman with her two children. In a rage, residents mobbed the LASTMA official, who was said to have escaped.

The angry mob erected a bonfire.

They disrupted vehicular movement within the area.

Meanwhile, in a press release on its official X page, LASTMA claimed its personnel apprehended a driver for driving in a direction prohibited by Law (One-way).

Provide Adequate Teachers, Infrastructure for Nomadic Schools, Govs Urged

JohnshiklaminKaduna

The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE), Prof. Bashir Usman, has called on the governors of the 36 states of the federation to provide

adequate teachers and infrastructure for nomadic primary schools.

He made the call yesterday in Kaduna while declaring open a three-day workshop on skills acquisition and sustainable livelihoods for nomadic youths and women.

Usman stressed that concerted efforts should be made to ensure that all out-of-school nomadic children totalling 3.5 million are enrolled in school.

He said as part of efforts by the NCNE to promote the delivery

of relevant and functional skills, education, and services to the various nomadic communities across the country, the commission conducted a participatory needs assessment and identification of trainees for skills acquisition training.

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Real Madrid End Napoli’s UCL 14-game Unbeaten Run at Home

Arsenal, Man Utd beaten Bayern survive Copenhagen with late winner

Victor Osimhen and his Napoli teammates were stunned 3-2 by Real Madrid in their Group C game of the UEFA Champions League clash at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples last night.

The Nigerian international was effectively caged by the tight markings of Madrid’s backline marshalled by Camavinga, Nacho, Rudiger and Carvajal.

Interestingly, it was the hosts Napoli that went in front first in the 19th minute when defender Leo Ostigard reacted quickest to head in after Natan's effort came back off the crossbar.

But Vinicius Jr levelled for Real when he was played through on

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

goal by Jude Bellingham. The England midfielder made it 2-1 lead at half-time when he carried the ball from 40 yards out, charged deep into Napoli's defensive and then proceeded to weave his way through their backline before curling a shot cutely into the bottom right corner Osimhen’s efforts however yielded a penalty following a VAR review that was converted by Piotr Zielinski from the spot. French Referee Clement Turpin did not initially give the penalty when Osimhen's shot was blocked

NPFL Introduces Random Dope Tests for Players

The Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) has moved to curb possible existence of drug abuse by players in the league.

NPFL Chairman, Hon Gbenga Elegbeleye, announced yesterday that random dope tests would be conducted in the weeks ahead following the acquisition of testing kits from the United Kingdom.

Elegbeleye was in Port Harcourt to lend support to Rivers United in their CAF Confederation Cup qualifier against Etoile Filante, alongside President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau.

"We are committed to join the NFF, CAF, FIFA and the global campaign for eradication of illicit substance use in sports and this will commence soon with random tests of our players", Elegbeleye told NPFL Media after the last gasp win by Rivers United to reach the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium.

"We are poised to arrest and stamp out illicit drugs use in the league where it exists and we

plan to collaborate with relevant government agencies to launch an enlightenment campaign which will include displays on our MatchDay stadium boards and media channels", declared the NPFL Chairman.

The NPFL boss was accompanied by the Chief Operating Officer, Davidson Owumi, who disclosed that a memo is going out to the NPFL Clubs with a notice of two weeks for the commencement of the tests.

Owumi disclosed that training on the operation of the kits is ongoing towards the commencement of random tests in another two weeks.

"There's an ongoing training of personnel on the use of these kits, so players have the next two weeks to detoxify themselves to get rid of any illicit substance in their system as those who fail the tests will be subjected to the full applicable sanctions", Owumi warned.

He charged medical teams of the clubs to begin sensitising their players on banned substances and how to avoid consumables that contains such substances.

Abdulrahaman Takes over from Adesanya as NNL COO

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has deployed Dr. Ayo Hameed Abdulrahaman to the Nigeria National League (NNL) as the chief operating officer, to take over from Mr. Emmanuel Adesanya who has retired from the Federal Civil Service after attaining the age of 60 years.

Abdulrahaman, who holds a doctorate degree in physical and health education, has robust sphere and

institutional experience in football organization and administration. He is a deputy director in the Federal Civil Service.

Before his deployment, Dr. Abdulrahaman worked as deputy director in the NFF Competitions Department. He had also worked for many years previously as chief operating officer of the NNL, and also in the same capacity in the Nigeria Women Football League.

Kwara Vets Win 2023 Independence Day Basketball Tourney

Kwara Vets on Sunday at the Dolphins Indoor Sports Hall, Punch Estate, emerged winners of the 2023 Independence Day Veteran Basketball competition.

In a highly competitive encounter, the side from Kwara narrowly edged out ANBB Philippines 46-43 to emerge winner of this year's edition of the competition.

To qualify for the finals, Kwara Vets defeated VOA Abuja 43-36, while the Philippines side got the better of OBV Oyo, 39-38.

Hoops Dream team from Ibadan was also on ground to take on Dolphins in an exhibition match which ended 22 to 17 in favour

by Nacho Fernandez.

Real grabbed the winner with just over 10 minutes left when Federico Valverde's thunderbolt of a shot cannoned off the crossbar and

went in via the back of goalkeeper Alex Meret.

The victory puts Carlo Ancelotti's side at the top of Group C with six points from their opening two games, having beaten Union Berlin 1-0 in their first outing. Napoli - who had gone 14 games

unbeaten at home in the Champions League - are second and only clear of third-placed Braga on head-to-head after beating the Portuguese side 2-1 last month. Braga came from two goals down to win 3-2 at Union Berlin earlier on Tuesday. French side Lens came from

behind to shock Arsenal 2-1 in the Champions League last night.

Elye Wahi's first-time finish into the bottom left corner from a Przemyslaw Frankowski cross in the 69th minute saw the home side seal a notable success.

Elsewhere at Old Trafford, Manchester United's woeful season lurched from one damaging loss to another as Galatasaray took advantage of some calamitous defending to record a comeback 3-2 Champions League win at Old Trafford. A late Mathys Tel winner ensured that Bayern Munich left Copenhagen with all three points in their Group A clash while the defeat of United has dropped the Erik ten Hag men to the bottom of the table.

RESULTS

Copenhagen 1-2 B’Munich

Man Utd 2-3 Galatasaray

Lens 2-1 Arsenal

PSV 2-2 Sevilla

U’Berlin 2-3 SC Braga

Napoli 2-3 R’Madrid

Salzburg 0-2 Sociedad

Inter Milan 1-0 Benfica

TODAY

Atletico v Feyenoord

Celtic v Lazio

Dortmund v AC Milan

Newcastle v PSG

C’Zvezda v Young Boys

Leipzig v Man City

England international, Jude Bellingham (centre) sandwiched between Napoli’s defenders Nathan (left) and Leo Ostigard during the UEFA Champions League Group C clash in Naples last night. Madrid won 3-2

R’Antwerp v Shakhtar

FC Porto v Barcelona

Super Falcons Players, Pinnick, Others Extol Falode for Her Role in NWFL Growth

Duro Ikhazuagbe

In appreciation for her efforts in turning around the Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) and also giving wings to the professional careers of several Nigerian players in foreign leagues around the world, Aisha Falode yesterday received praises from several football personalities in Lagos.

At a ‘Thank You Brunch’ Falode organised for select football personalities, sponsors and sports journalists at the Radisson Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, the NFF board member was praised for her role as game changer for the women’s game in the country.

Super Falcons trio of Rasheedat Ajibade (Atletico Madrid), Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona Femeni), Chiamaka Nnadozie (Paris FC), and Monday Gift (UDG Tenerife) joined eminent football administrators like FIFA Council Member, Amaju

of the host.

According to one of the organisers and CEO of Hoops Dream, Damola Awosika, the Independence Day Basketball Tournament is a competition of veteran basketball players which started about eight years ago, involving teams from Nigeria and Ghana.

"Its an opportunity for us as older players to network and keep fit. The Ghanaian team have not missed a single edition since we started the competition, which shows the love and commitment they have for the game. To add to the glamour of this year, a filipino side is also participating," Awosika said.

Melvin Pinnick, former NFF First Vice-president, Seyi Akinwunmi, former Green Eagles Captain, Segun Odegbami, former AIPS President, Michell Obi, and CEO of Brila FM, Larry Izamoje, to pour plaudits on Falode for her contributions to football development in the country and Africa.

In her contribution sent via video on projector, Oshoala said Falode gave the NWFL a big boost that strengthen the female national team with budding stars.

“Many players came up from the league and they were so talented and hungry for glory. The league witnessed a rebirth under Madam Falode. I wish her luck in her future endeavors,” observed the Nigerian international.

Ajibade on her part, stressed that Falode was a game changer in the history of women’s football in the country just as goalkeeper Nnadozie

said she was proud to be one of the products of the Super Six which Falode introduced during her time as the NWFL chairperson.

Gift stated that Falode’s dedication stood her out and it empowered many young talents to develop into super stars today.

Pinnick who as President of the NFF appointed Falode to superintendent the women’s league praised her industry, tenacity and eyes for details in ensuring that he was not disappointed in her choice for the job.

“Aisha (Falode) is a gift to humanity for her excellence, loyalty and dedication in the discharge of her duties to the federation. She won in where others failed. We are very proud of her achievements in the women’s game,” observed Pinnick who flew into Lagos for the event from Ghana where he led a FIFA delegation to find solutions to the

country’s FA problems.

He said he will not be surprised if Nigeria’s women’s senior team wins the World Cup before the men because of the quality of work put in by the likes of Falode.

Dr. Izamoje also stated that the testimonies of the players were enough as scorecard of the five-year sojourn of Falode in the NWFL.

In what appears a scorecard of her five-year sojourn in the women’s league, Falode said: “We met the women’s league at point zero because there was no structure, hence teams were not turning up for even their home matches.

“After we took over and started paying referees, teams took our league seriously and we moved on till we managed to attract sponsors.

“I thank Amaju Pinnick for his assistance and also all those who supported me while in office as NWFL chair person,” she recalled.

Torgah Edges Rivals at Star-studded 2023 Lakowe Classic

Ghanaian golf professional, Vincent Torgah, over the weekend emerged winner of the 2023 Lakowe Classic in an event that featured some of West Africa’s best professional golfers.

Torgah shot 74, 68, and 65, totaling nine-under par, which gave him five strokes edge at the 54-hole invitational tournament in Lagos.

“I want to thank God for this victory. Lakowe Lakes is one of the most challenging courses around,

and returning -7 in the closing round here is not a mean feat. I think it worked out well for me today, apart from the players on course for this event driving me to be my best as well.”

He picked the N2 million winner’s cheque for the event, which also contributed to his team lifting the grand prize at the event. Other members of his team included; Jummai Abdullahi, Frances Omaruaye, and Adetunji

Adebayo. They all amassed a 118 net score.

Deji Ali, Chairman of Mixta Africa, the host and a major sponsor of the event, said the tournament has lived up to one of its objectives by being able to pull interest beyond Nigeria to the facility for the event.

“The event has proven what a belief in Nigeria can achieve. As it coincides with the celebration of Nigeria’s independence anniversary,” he further noted.

Other winners at the event include Francis Epe, Nigeria’s best-ranked professional golfer, whose four-under finish at the event gave his teammates, Funke Oguntonnade, Lanre Shagaya, and Kingsley Okunbor a second-place finish at the three-day event. United States-based Samba Niang, from Senegal, said he was happy to be back in Nigeria, where his professional golf experience took shape.

MISSILE

Poultry Farmers to Maize Importers

“About 30 to 40 per cent of big poultry farmers in Lagos State have closed down their farms because they make losses on daily basis. We are calling upon the government to please help in the insurance of soya and other ingredients that will make us have cheaper products so we can produce well to the whole citizenry. It is also sad that a lot of jobs are being lost.” - The Lagos State Chapter of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) faulting the 200% price increase by maize importers while warning that the nation’s poultry industry might collapse if the federal and state governments fail to take urgent steps to protect the sector.

Kayode Komo LA fe

A Tale of October 1 in Two Lands

The Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Peoples Republic of China share the same National Day, October 1. Perhaps, one other thing that Nigeria shares with China is a relatively large population. Nigeria has the largest population in Africa while until it was recently overtaken by India, China was the most populated country in the world. China with a population of 1.425 billion is now second to India with a population of 1.428 billion.

On October 1, the Chinese people celebrated their National Day with a high degree of pomp. According to the China Global Television Network, colourful activities were staged in many places in the country. Chinese aboard the world’s highest and longest plateau railroad, the Qinghai-Xizang railway, sang praises of their nation. Remarkably, parents took their children on “patriotic tours of museums, memorials and former revolutionary sites.” One of such sites is the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Museum located in the eastern Jiangxi Province. For the first time, two neighbouring cities, Shenzhen and Hong Kong SAR, joined hand to organise a drone light show to commemorate the day.

In China, October 1 of every year marks the beginning of the “Golden Week,” a 7-day holiday featuring state-organised festivities such as fireworks, sports events, cultural shows and concerts.

The Chinese engage in these activities not because China is a paradise. Indeed China has multi-dimensional problems. There are sustained pressures for political reforms. China, as one of the greatest polluters in the world, faces immense ecological dangers. Despite its celebrated economic expansion, gross inequality is still a huge social challenge. The vast country is certainly not an Eldorado of unlimited prosperity.

Yet, October 1 is not a day of lamentation in China; it is a celebration amidst reflection on the past and making a prognosis about the future.

For China, the significance of October 1 is far from receding in the nation’s collective memory. The people and their leaders still remember that on October 1, 1949 the great Chinese revolutionary leader, Mao Zedong (Chairman Mao) declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China. Without hesitation, the Chinese honour the memories of Chairman Mao and other great nationalists and revolutionaries in their history. For instance, some western observers are still puzzled that despite the right-wing prejudiced vilification of Mao’s legacy, the Chinese people and their leaders have a more judicious view of their history. They are more conscious than foreigners of the errors of their founding fathers. But in their estimation, these errors have not erased the heroism of Mao and others from the pages of history. This is the same way Thomas Jefferson remains an American hero despite owning over 600 slaves. The Chinese are wise to deploy useful ideas from their past in China’s development journey. This is in spite of the dark spots of their history.

That is the tale of October 1 in one land.

The foregoing could be contrasted with the perpetual “low-key celebration” in another land. This was case during the 63rd independence anniversary in Nigeria on the same October 1. For many years, the negative refrain has been that of “no cause for celebration” because of the mounting socio-economic problems in the land. Emeritus professor of communication, Olatunji Dare, captured the attitude of Nigerians towards October 1 in his last Tuesday column in THE NATION. In a piece entitled “Countdown to October 1,” the eminent professor summed things up as follows: “It is that time of year again when Nigerians, contemplating their country’s troubled

past and uncertain future, engage in an orgy of collective self-flagellation tinged with self-pity, if not self-loathing; when an anniversary that should be an occasion for rejoicing and renewal breeds, instead, resentment and recrimination.

“It is the time we rue the road not taken as well as the road actually followed; an occasion that stirs up wrenching lamentations about what might have been if the right people had taken charge and pursued the right policies.

“For every ten persons who dismiss the occasion as unworthy of celebration, there is at least one person who regards it a great achievement worth remarking in and of itself that Nigeria has not gone the way of former Yugoslavia or the former Soviet Union.”

In this October 1 season, the question often glibly asked is this: “what is there to celebrate about the Nigeria?” This is quickly followed by a litany of woes. It is as if the day is specially set aside for a competition among sharp-tongued critics to talk down on Nigeria. Hence, October 1 has been turned into a day of lamentation about unfulfilled expectations of the nation. It is almost forgotten now that it is actually a day to celebrate Nigeria’s freedom from the shackles of colonial rule. It is specifically an occasion to reflect on the challenges of nation-building. October 1 is a day to remember those who fought for freedom and their dreams of building a great nation. It is a gross historical misnomer to say that Nigeria got her independence “on a platter of gold.” Fighters for freedom were brutalised, imprisoned and persecuted. For the great inspirations embodied in it, the story should be told and retold of the enormous sacrifice and nationalism of the youths of the colonial era who made the anti-colonial struggle in many theatres their respective careers. The story should be told for the great inspirations embodied in it. For instance, some members of the Zikist Movement were in

their teens and twenties when they made history. The movement was named after the nationalist leader, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. The Zikists operated in very difficult terrains. Without tools, their various activities and voices constituted a dynamo in the anti-colonial struggle. At a point the young men even became impatient with the more pragmatic approach of their eponymous hero and inspirer, Azikiwe, who they simply called Zik. Today’s youths who yearn for progress should be familiar with the nationalist exploits of the Mokwugo Okoyes, Anthony Enahoros, Raji Abdallahs, Za’adu Zungurs, Kola Baloguns etc.

It was , therefore, fitting that President Bola Tinubu devoted the first few paragraphs of his October 1 message to the real purpose of the occasion as he acknowledged the heroism of the founding fathers. He also appropriately stressed the “bonds of intangibles” which should join Nigerians together despite their differences. These bonds, according to the President are those of “peace,” “progress” and “prosperity” with “justice” as the bedrock of all things concerning Nigeria. Really, as some commentators have rightly observed, the National Day message from the President should be in a class of its own. It is not necessarily another opportunity to give an account of stewardship or to articulate policies in the various sectors and departments of national life. The ministers and heads of agencies and departments are expected to be doing policy articulation all the time. They should be explaining the policies to the public. It is an imperative of accountability to do so every time. The National Day message should be deliberately made that of hope. Such a message should be imbued with what constitute national values, virtues and goals. Useful values that could be inherited from the past should be reinvigorated and promoted for the generation waiting to take the mantle of leadership in the various sectors.

To summon the Chinese example again, the trajectory of the development of China is still largely modulated by its specific history, culture and the intangibles of values and virtues. Two American scholars, Christopher Marquis and Kunyuan Qiao, drew attention to this trend in a recent book entitled “Mao and Markets: The Communist Roots of Chinese Enterprise.” The kernel of the empirical findings of the authors is that China’s universally acclaimed economic success is shaped by values and virtues inherent in the communist legacy of Chairman Mao. In their views, “a spectre of Mao” still hovers in Chinese institutions. In other words if you want do business in China you may need to study Mao on discipline, respect for the party and institutions, subordinating private interest to national interest, preference for the collective purpose etc. In short, the Chinese patriotism and nationalism cannot be ignored in their business behaviours. Those who approach China by first denigrating its past may not fully understand the system. The Chinese leadership, of course, detests this approach which they label as “historical nihilism.”

These are some of the values the Chinese celebrate on October 1 so that the succeeding generations of leaders would learn from the legacy of their forbears.

For clarity, criticisms of the government in power are legitimate. In fact, it is a patriotic duty to criticise those in power. This should, however, be distinguished from hate speech, which is destructive. As former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once put it: “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”

Churchill made a lot of criticisms of the government of his country, but he did so with a lot of logic. He was prime minister twice. First, he was in the saddle during World War II, from 1941to 1945, and secondly from 1951 to 1955. On another occasion while he was out of power Churchill said: “When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.” Churchill seemed to have made a fine philosophical distinction between patriotism (love for one’s nation) and nationalism (loyalty to the country). Both virtues are essential elements for nation-building. And historically patriotism is an older virtue than nationalism, which arose in the West only 18th Century.

The point at issue is that the National Day is not an occasion to denigrate the nation in the name of criticising those in power.

The National Day is an occasion for soul-lifting messages even amidst deep reflection. It should not be reduced to a moment for recounting only the woes of the nation.

Above all, Afropessimism, the unscientific proposition that the black man is doomed on the path to human progress, should have no place in a season when freedom from colonial bondage should be celebrated. The tone of the season should be that of optimism despite the challenges of development.

The Nigerian variety of Afropessimism is particularly toxic. In the world of the pessimists, Nigeria has made no progress at all since October 1, 1960. That is, of course, empirically false. Progress has been made; but it is definitely far from being enough given the missed historical opportunities. At least, one indisputable gain of independence is that of freedom and national dignity. Those who lived under the indignities of colonial Nigeria would probably appreciate better the historical significance of October 1.

“The National Day is an occasion for soul-lifting messages even amidst deep reflection. It should not be reduced to a moment for recounting only the woes of the nation”

President Bola Tinubu

Chinese President Xi Jinping