MONDAY 4TH OCTOBER 2021

Aiteo Slams $2.5bn Suit against Shell over Sale of OML 29 Claims oil multinational breached a fundamental term agreement for assignment Alex Enumah and Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited has instituted a legal action against Shell Petroleum

Development Company of Nigeria, seeking the sum of over $2.5 billion compensation over the sales of Oil Mining Licence 29.

Aiteo in the court action dated July 27, 2021 as accusing

Shell of selling two Marginal Fields – Kugbo West and Okiori to it when it, “knew or ought to have known that the defendant had handed over the wells to the federal government of Nigeria\

Nigerian national petroleum corporation for which the defendant received valuable consideration in or about 2009 prior to the agreement for assignment.

The plaintiff in the

suit marked, FHC/ABJ/ C8/738/2021, and filed by its lawyer, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, is claiming that the defendant breached a fundamental term of the agreement for assignment dated October 17,

2014 as set out in schedule 1 part 3 – wells, in relation to the Kugbo West and Okiori oil well s listed in schedule 1 of the agreement for assignment.

Continued on page 56

Irabor: This is Our Most Challenging Period in Nation’s History...Page 56 Monday 4 October, 2021 Vol 26. No 9674. Price: N250

www.thisdaylive.com TR

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Unapologetic Frontrunners Emerge for PDP’s Ticket Chuks Okocha Last week’s zoning of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman to the north, which brightened chances that the presidential ticket of the party could go to the south, has thrown up five possible presidential frontrunners. And they are unapologetic to any vested interest or godfather.

The five PDP presidential hopefuls are the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; Continued onpage 56

Igbokwe’s House, DSS, FRSC BOARD VISITS OSINBAJO...

Buildings Torched IPPG L-R: Director, Midwestern Oil & Gas, Charles Odita; Chairman IPPG & Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, Abdulrazaq Isa; Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN); Chief Executive, First E & P Dev. Company, Ademola Adeyemi-Bero; and Chief Executive, Seplat Energy, Roger Brown, in Anambra... during courtesy call of Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) Board on the Vice President at the State House, Abuja... recently Page 59

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NEWS

Group News Editor: Goddy Egene Email: Goddy.egene@thisdaylive.com, 08033506821, 08097777322

GOVERNORS' FORUM AND IGR...

L-R: Representative of Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme, Mr. John Okon; Chairman, Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum, Dr. Betta Edu; Executive Director, Strategy and Research, Nigerian Governors Forum, Alhaji Abdulateef Shittu; Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr. Muhammad Nami and Commissioner of Finance Jigawa state, Alhaji Ibrahim Umar, during the Nigeria Governors' Forum 7th Internally Generated Revenue Peer Learning Event and inauguration of Tax for Service Policy KINGSLEY ADEBOYE Research in Abuja.. Yesterday

CBN: $2bn Spent on Wheat Importation Annually Moves to boost local production, address challenges in commodity value chain Says eNaira will boost monetary policy transmission, others, caps transactions Cashless policy: Court rejects alleged discriminatory bank charges imposed by CBN James Emejo, Sonia Mayomi in Abuja and Emmanuel UgwuNwogo in Umuahia The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday revealed that the importation of wheat costs the country about $2 billion annually, thereby exerting pressure on the country's food import bill.

This is just as the CBN has stated that the much-awaited Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), known as the eNaira would improve monetary policy effectiveness and enhance government’s capacity to deploy targeted social interventions and boost remittances through formal channels.

Also, in what appears to be a setback for the country’s cashless policy, a Federal High Court in Awka, has said it was not proper for the CBN as a federal institution to adopt discriminatory policies in its operations.

Commenting on the country’s food import bill, the central bank stated that wheat was its second highest contributor with over five million Metric Tons (MT) imported yearly.

The apex bank however, restated its commitment to addressing the existing challenges in the wheat value chain as part of efforts to shore up the country’s foreign reserves.

This was made known by the CBN Director, Development Finance Department, Mr. Philip Yila Yusuf, at the Wheat Conference and Stakeholder Engagement, with the theme: “Improving and Sustaining the Wheat Value Chain Development in Nigeria,” in Abuja.

He noted that the wheat value chain had enormous potential for ground-breaking impact in the agricultural sector, adding that the central bank would focus attention on the commodity value chain for 2021/2022 dry season planting following the sustainable progress made across the rice and maize value chain.

The CBN director, further estimated that only one per cent or 63,000MT of wheat, out of the 5-6 MT consumed annually, was produced locally.

He said the CBN intervention

had become critical due to the high demand for wheat in the country as well as the inability to meet that demand.

He said, "The CBN plans to address key problems in the value chain through financing massive production of wheat in Nigeria and seeks to facilitate sustained availability of high yield seed variety in country and improve general productivity.”

While admitting the enormous challenge before the bank, which would require concerted efforts to address, he assured stakeholders of the CBN's readiness in changing the narrative in the sector by working with relevant industry players.

However, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Abubakar, expressed dismay that the country’s wheat

importation had continued to increase in recent years, urging stakeholders to collaborate to reverse by investing more in the value chain.

Also speaking at the occasion, Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, charged stakeholders in the wheat value chain to be transparent in their dealings and to commence preparation for both farming and production of wheat.

The governor commended the CBN for its efforts in boosting the commodity value chain and encouraged the bank to expedite action in releasing funds.

Represented by the Kano State Deputy Governor, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, Ganduje emphasised that partnership among stakeholders in wheat production value chains remained critical in boosting the country's

quest to be self-sufficient in the production of wheat.

Earlier in March, CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had indicated that the bank remained committed to improving local production of wheat and reducing importation by 60 per cent over the next two years.

CBN: eNaira to Boost Monetary Policy Transmission, Others On the eNaira, in its Regulatory Guidelines obtained by THISDAY, the apex bank said the initiative would improve monetary policy effectiveness and enhance government’s capacity to deploy targeted social interventions and boost remittances through formal channels.

The bank explained that that

eNaira wallet was required to access, use and hold the digital currency.

The CBN also tasked the deposit money banks (DMBs) to facilitate prompt placement of restriction on eNaira wallets in the event of valid report of loss, theft of device or compromise, hack of a user eNaira wallet.

According to the Regulatory Guidelines on the eNaira, the apex bank further directed banks to ensure that customers are able to report via USSD channels, internet banking platforms, customer care phone lines, and in-branch customer care where there is any compromise in the eNaira transactions.

The CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had said in unveiling the digital money, the bank does not downplay potential risks, adding however that the

apex financial regulatory body had put in place appropriate mitigation mechanisms for safer operation.

He said, "We are not going to pretend that there are no risks in opening your system up. We will look at the various products, determine the risks, determine the best way to mitigate the risks before opening it up.

"But it is a journey that we are determined and decided that we will start on October 2021."

The planned unveiling of the CBDC originally slated for October 1, 2021, was put on hold due to other key activities lined up to commemorate the country’s 61st independence anniversary.

However, the CBN, in the framework for the operation of the eNaira further set the Continued on page 58

Governors’ Illegality Has Crippled Local Governments, NULGE Alleges Fidelis David in Akure The National President, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Ambali Olatunji, has alleged that the illegality perpetrated by governors has crippled the local governments system across the country.

Ambali, in company with Presidents of NULGE from the six south-west states, stated this while speaking with journalists in Akure, Ondo State.

According to him, the root of insecurity as well as socioeconomic challenges bedeviling the country was traceable to the mismanagement of the local government system by state governors.

He said: "As at today, you can no longer move from one state to another without initially asking if you will get home safely. Insecurity in the south, east, west and north. This is not

the Nigeria of our dream. We are bedeviled by abject poverty, joblessness, hopelessness, threat to the nationhood.

"Everybody now result to ethnic agitation. We have come this far because Nigeria is no longer working. The nation has failed the masses. At 61, Nigeria has abandoned her constitutional role in guarantee security and peace in the country.

"This can be traced to the systematic decay and destruction at the local government level.

Local government system is the most strategic, most relevant, most popular and most acceptable tier of government in the country.”

While calling for local government autonomy, Ambali further alleged that the Joint Account Allocation Committee was a conduit pipe for stealing money meant for the third tier of government.

"For us we believe to have qualitative leadership of local government and that is why we are calling for direct funding of local government. Allowing state governments to be in charge of local government fund is synonymous to giving same food to a lion and a dog and you ask them to go and share them.

“When the lion finish eating the food, it will go for the dog and even eat it out the dog.

That's what we are witnessing presently in Nigeria."

He said the appointment of surrogates and political jobbers into leadership positions in the councils was not acceptable.

Ambali said, “We need a politically-free and financially dependent local government administration. The local government has been raped over time; it has witnessed systematic destruction as a result of misrule and stealing of

local government funds, thereby militating against progressive development at the grassroots level.

“No wonder, as of today, we are bedeviled by insecurity and poverty. We are deprived and also encumbered by unemployment, homelessness just because we have a failing system in the local government."

The NULGE leader stressed the need to fix the local government administration in the country, noting that council elections should not be conducted by state electoral bodies.

Ambali said the polls conducted by the state agencies were not acceptable to Nigerians, describing the exercise as a charade.

"As at today, you can no longer see visibly local government performing her role. This is not deliberate; it is as a result of force seizure

of local government allocations by political state activists and denial of Nigerian people to freely choose their own leaders at the local government level.

"It can be traced to use of instrumentality of law to corner the internally generated revenue of local government. When you look at our constitution, under residual list, the collective use of local government revenue is clearly itemised.

“But as today, we've seen governors using State Houses of Assembly as a lacuna to promulgate illegally, surplus at the state that are contrary and contradictory to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“It was fostered on the local governments by state political actors led by the governors in this country. Monies meant for growth and development, and dividends of democracy were diverted," Ambali added.

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NEWS

THE CHANGE MAKER ROTARY PRESIDENT'S INVESTITURE...

L-R: Guest Speaker, Balogun Gaphar Ojetola; Mr. Lukman Olawuyi; The Change Maker President, Rotarian Abinibi B. Olawuyi; District Governor, Rotary District 9110, Nigeria, Rotarian Remi Bello, and Asiwaju Olasunkade Azeez, at the investiture ceremony of Abinibi as the 10th President of Rotary Club of lkeja GRA, District 9110

France Banks on Nigerian Businesses to Boost Trade, Dodge ‘Sahel Trap’ Dangote, Adenuga, Rabiu, Chagoury, Elumelu, Wigwe meet Macron at Elysée event Hamid Ayodeji with agency report France President, Emmanual Macron is aggressively pushing to increase business ties between his county and Nigeria as well as with some other countries in Africa.

This is in the area of culture, art, history, financial flows, memory, the circulation of ideas, people and goods.

Building on the Versailles summit last June, which had Nigerian business leaders such as the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman of the BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu; Chairman of Heirs Holdings and the United Bank of Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu; Group Managing Director, Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe and Globacom Chairman, Mike Adenuga, Macron at the weekend, once more hosted same set of Nigerian billionaires at the Elysée event.

The Elysée event was a way for Macron to keep the Franco-Nigerian Business Council active, and keep up momentum ahead of the France-Africa Summit holding in Montpellier on October 8.

According to The AfricaReport, the forthcoming summit would attempt to bring new voices into what is an occasionally fraught relationship with weighty colonial baggage and current day flash-points over the role of French security forces in the Sahel, and the role of France’s central bank in the management of previous currency regimes.

The high-level networking was already yielding fruits with the deal sealed between Mike Adenuga’s Globacom and French satellite communications group EutelSat. A partnership between the two companies would see the deployment of 500 Wi-Fi relay stations to far-

flung rural areas, for connection to a EutelSat satellite.

Likewise, French group Vocalcom, which already manages the software for Glo’ call centres in Nigeria, is hoping to cement a new deal in the mobile-money sphere with Glo. Similarly, Elumelu’s UBA is believed to be pushing to transform its own Paris representative office into a full banking licence.

Elumelu was quoted to have said: “The central bank has a mandate,” during one of the meetings.

In the same vein, French petrochemical group, Axens, had signed a multi-billiondollar contract to provide the technology for the BUA refinery.

Also, Wigwe had announced the negotiation of a French banking licence for Access Bank, which would allow the bank to open a full service bank in Paris, not just a representative office.

Wigwe had said: “We want to be the Citibank of Africa” For France, the homage to Nigeria marks greater engagement with a wider slice of the continent.

In May, a conference on the financing of Africa’s economies was held in Paris. It saw the announcement of debt relief for Sudan and a separate event held in support of Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, allowing Sudan to better re-integrate into the global economic system.

France took the opportunity to push for a new deal for the continent, asking for redistribution of the money generated from the recent disbursal of the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) regime by the IMF. Macron, it would be recalled spent formative months as an intern at the French embassy in Abuja, which is why he is leveraging on his

relationship to better connect French companies into the vast economy that is Nigeria.

His plan blends oldfashioned economic diplomacy with a wider goal of 'fixing' the oft-fraught relationship between France and its former colonies; through restitution of looted artworks, the Africa2020 cultural season, and the upcoming France-Africa summit, The AfricaReport added.

“Either we see these young people as a potential threat, or we see this as a huge opportunity for Nigeria and Africa to succeed,” Macron

had said.

“This is a huge opportunity both for Nigeria and France, and I think Nigeria is involved in very new challenges, in finance, in fintech, in digital, but also in culture, with movies and so on,” he added.

“This ecosystem is very inventive and we have a lot of cooperation to build [on].”

Macron had also pointed to how several Nigerian businessmen were becoming new African ‘business angels’, which dovetails with his own project to invest in youth entrepreneurship on the continent.

“You have a generation that is both disruptive and resolute – it is [at a] crossroads, not just for Nigeria but for us. Either we see these young people as a potential threat, we try to build walls and so on – [which] will be a mistake and a failure – or we see this as a huge opportunity for Nigeria and Africa to succeed, and even for us [France]; because they bring energy, they bring a new vision,” said Macron.

“It is about building universalism of the 21st century […]: letting Europeans have access to major African works of art, letting Africans [not

only] have access to their own art but also European art…”

Macron’s yardstick for success is signed deals.

“It is about building the universalism of the 21st century,” says Macron, who sees a new beginning in the restitution of artworks looted by the French to Benin.

“Letting Europeans have access to major African works of art, letting Africans [not only] have access to their own art but also European art; it can’t be a separation, Africa has a right to universal culture, and that means European artworks going the other way.”

Winner Emerges in Impact Africa Elevator Pitch Competition Hamid Ayodeji WAFUNDA, a social tech enterprise based in South Africa has emerged overall winner of the first Impact Africa Elevator Pitch Competition.

This was disclosed in a statement yesterday.

WAFUNDA is a start-up, focused on the use of digital technologies to facilitate the delivery of tertiary education to people regardless of their financial background. According to the statement, it was followed closely by SEAKA, who won the second prize.

SEAKA is a Nigerian digital ecosystem that brings together service providers, customers and potential investors, on one platform.

The Impact Africa Elevator Pitch winners were announced as part of the closing ceremony of the virtual Impact Africa Social Entrepreneurship Summit 2021, held recently.

In her acceptance remark, Sophia Campello Beckwith, who made the pitch on behalf of WAFUNDA described her excitement to have won given the quality of the other

submissions to the competition.

In their acceptance remark, SEAKA talked about how the company evolved out of the identification of the problem of pairing the right traders/ service providers with the right customers mainly to help scale the challenge of trust in the marketplace.

The winners, WAFUNDA South Africa, walked away with a prize fund of £5,000 while the second prize of £3,000 went to SEAKA Nigeria.

“Both companies while expressing their gratitude to the organisers and judges, confirmed that their cheques would be used to expand their activities for the betterment of the communities and countries they operate in,” the statement added.

Head-Judge, Nashilu Mouen-Makoua, who is Head of Growth Strategy at Clay.

Run in New York, described the process of filtering through all of the submissions as “hard work - there were so many really strong submissions. Each judge was assigned a quarter of the submissions to review and each judge had to choose

2 pitch ideas that stood out for them and up to 3 runners-up.

“We were all really impressed by the thoughtfulness and the care that went into preparing the pitches and expressing their ideas.”

For Tom Barnes, the cojudge, who is a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the UK, “the process was educational for me to learn about some of the challenges that the businesses were trying to tackle and the hugely positive impact they could have on their communities, which really came through in the submissions.

“We talk a lot about social enterprise at BCG and in the industry but in the challenging times that Covid has presented to everyone, particularly in rapidly developing economies, any entrepreneurship flair can have a social impact and can make a real difference in the lives of the owners themselves also their employees, consumers and the wider public. So, seeing so many examples of this was really inspiring for me.”

The judges created another

category of winners in recognition of the transformative potential of their pitch ideas The Judge’s Special Recognition Award – this award went to GAIA Gas Energy of South Africa and Afrotoons of Ghana.

Lucy Pearson, Country Director British Council Nigeria, in presenting the prize cheques and recognition awards to the four companies noted that the competition was fierce, “we could not get down to recognising just the 2 winners so the Judges Special Recognition Award had to be created.”

The first Impact Africa Elevator Pitch Competition was sponsored by Afreximbank and FSDH Asset Management.

Acting Managing Director at FSDH Asset Management, Toyin Owolabi, said it as an honour to sponsor such an event to motivate the development of more social entrepreneurs across the continent.

In his closing remark, Executive Director at Ashoka Africa, Pape Samb, congratulated the winners and encouraged the many participants that did not make it.

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COMMENT

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

A FIGHT FOR THE SOUL OF THE PDP

Dele Olowu writes that the PDP zoning disposition for party offices is producing massive anxieties

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which once flaunted itself as the largest party in Africa has been out of Presidential power for six years now.

As it controls 13 states it cannot be considered to have been in the wilderness. Surely it has been provided with adequate political oxygen over time and since it continues to count on titans like Atiku Abubakar and Dr Bukola Saraki it should look up to the future with hope and courage.

It is suggested these days that even though the party was much vilified for dismaying indiscretions at a time, the tide of public opinion has turned in its favour and the PDP may now be in a fit fighting mood. However, having managed to roll with the punches during its stretch of adversity, it now seems much less capable in exploiting its era of acceptance to optimum advantage.

They have been reports of growing tension and disagreements within the entity. Perhaps the loudest voice in all this clamour has been that of Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State. Well served by the generous oil receipts the state enjoys, Nyesom Wike has become the new Czar of the opposition party. Apocryphals insist that Wike is as much a danger to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as he is to his own PDP. The floor of his jurisdiction is littered with the political blood of those who tested his will. Secondus, once Wike’s friend is a noted example. Chairman Secondus of the PDP now stands on uneasy legs for standing up to the Port Harcourt Czar.

Some have argued that some unpublished ambition is at the base of all this tremor. The evidence is beginning to show.

In Nigeria, because of our ill-managed plurality, various parts of our political community tend to complain every now and again about marginalization or non-inclusion. Some groups also fear that because of their smallness they needed special protection. The zoning principle was a response to these anxieties and became fashionable under President Shehu Shagari and Vice President Alex Ekwueme but fell into official infamy when General Muhammadu Buhari ended the democracy honey moon on the 31st of December 1983. It remained that way until the Olusegun Obasanjo years when it enjoyed a resurgence. In fact the PDP enshrined it in its constitution

THE COMMITTEE IN MAKING ZONING ANNOUNCEMENT SAID IT WOULD HAVE NO BEARING ON ELECTING NOMINEES FOR EXECUTIVE OFFICES. THIS HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO ENTIRELY CALM FRAYED NERVES

to regulate the distribution of party offices. Article 7.2 of the party constitution states that in pursuance of equity, justice, and fairness the party should adhere to the policy of zoning and rotation of party and public executive offices.

The PDP recently unfurled its zoning disposition for party offices and it is already producing massive anxieties. The Chairman of the PDP zoning Committee and Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi said that offices occupied by Southerners would be taken over by northerners and vice versa. Under this regime the north provides the national treasurer, the national woman leader, national organizing secretary, national legal adviser and national youth leader while the south will provide the national secretary, national publicity secretary, national financial secretary, national auditor and national woman leader.

The committee in making zoning announcement said it would have no bearing on electing nominees for executive offices. This has not been able to entirely calm frayed nerves. Some have alleged that zoning initiative has been weaponized for use against the political interest of some unnamed political heavyweight. A highly polemical pamphlet being distributed by the Arewa Defence League fronted by Alhaji Abubakar has been more vivid. It says the PDP has been hostile to the north, alleging that of the 16 years in which the PDP has been in power at the center, the north’s incumbency was for only two years. The south had 14 years. The pamphlet urges that for a region which produced preponderant electoral support for the PDP, this recompense was disrespectful.

Increasingly voices and clamour are coming from different parts of the PDP political sky. Wike’s growls are continuing while Governor Tambuwal continues to oil his electoral machinery. Atiku Abubakar, a veteran of many campaigns and by far the most visible political product on that side of the divide, is reported to be under the pressure of people and the burden of history to join the contest. In which case, the zoning protocol would merely have provided the mood music for the fight for the soul of the PDP. Olowu is a veteran journalist

WILL THE PENSION INDUSTRY ATTAIN FULL POTENTIAL? Yes, when necessary measures are put in place and the right steps taken, argues Paddy Ezeala

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he inflation rate is still in double digits; way above 17%. Combined with the continued nosedive of the naira, investors are their wits’ end as to how to navigate the situation. This is not the best of times globally. Most economic indices are pointing downwards in the face of a protracted global Covid-19 pandemic. Great economies are usually those that, among other things, have relatively high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and solid financial cushion or at least inhere the capacity to conjure one when the need arises. But that has not been the case with Nigeria.

Nigeria has had in addition to the pandemic a rising and seemingly intractable security challenges and internal schisms spearheaded by centrifugal interests. The summary is that the economy is shaken, unemployment and underemployment are at unprecedented levels. This situation is not helped by the overdependence on crude oil as the major export commodity.

Nigeria is currently at a critical juncture. It is either the right decisions are taken and the right things done or we take an irretrievable plunge economically. For decades, we have been hearing of the need to diversify the economy. It has almost become a cliché. But the truth of the matter is that economic diversification is not done by fiat and cannot be issued as a decree. There must be a well-laid-out plan to incentivize the development of non-oil sectors. In other words, investment in them must be made attractive and products therefrom internationally competitive.

This brings us to the challenges of infrastructure which is a major impediment to the diversification of the economy. The infrastructural deficiencies of the country are acknowledged and well-documented and the negative impact on productivity glaring. Our mineral resources would not have a competitive price tag if the cost of production remains prohibitive because of lack of basic infrastructure and necessary incentives.

The same goes for agriculture which produce rots away owing to inadequate storage facilities. We should see infrastructure beyond buildings, roads, electricity, running water, etc. It should also include the necessary policy framework to drive growth.

Following the drop and/or volatility of oil prices

in recent times and the concomitant large-scale funding gap in recent budgets, the federal government is obviously stretched and in fact stressed in its search for alternative sources of funding to bridge the deficit. Massive borrowing has continued which servicing has continued to put undue pressure on budget implementation. As it stands, huge capital projects are difficult to embark upon by the government without resort to external borrowing.

What is the way forward?

As hinted above, great economies include those with huge financial backbone. The Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) has the potential to provide the necessary financial cushion in our drive to build a solid economy beginning with addressing our infrastructural deficiencies. From a deficit of more than two trillion naira in the old defined benefit scheme before 2004, the CPS is closing in on N13 trillion in the amassment of pension funds even when a greater percentage of this is illiquid as pension funds don’t lie idle in bank accounts. This is even with far less than 10% market penetration in the pension industry. In other words, less than 10% of Nigerian workers in the formal and informal sectors of the economy have enrolled in the CPS. This explains the great potential and immense possibilities of the industry. While savoring the excitement generated by the remarkable success of the CPS, it is important to note the marked difference between it and the old defined benefit scheme. This is because the word pension in Nigeria has acquired a pejorative connotation as a result of the runaway corruption that characterized the old scheme and still persists.

While the CPS has been sustained for 17 years and is seen as a success, most Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders, especially retirees do not see it as such. This is because they are not satisfied with the real value of their programmed withdrawal prompting an argument that it should be ‘dollarized’.

Why has the new Contributory Pension Scheme not attained its full potential? One of the reasons is that there is the tendency for inflation to over time erode the value of savings. Another is poor market penetration. The subnational tiers of government have been reluctant to key into the scheme. Some are not even up to date in the payment of salaries.

While these tiers of government are quick to seek alternative sources of revenue, they see pension contribution for workers as additional burden; a liability. Assets under Management (AuM) in the CPS would have been triple the current figure if there were optimum participation by the various levels of government. Even more humongous would have been the figure if appropriate coercive measures were applied to fully drag in the private sector.

Interestingly, the various tiers of government have been eyeing the pension funds as a possible source of funding for infrastructure and other development projects. This includes some states that have yet to comply with the Pension Reform Act 2014, by putting the necessary structures in place and enlisting in the scheme. The federal government has yet to wield the big stick to bring every state and every worker into the scheme.

Also, for the CPS to reach its full potential, there must be an airtight policy framework for investment to ensure that risks are reduced to the barest minimum. Pension funds are held sacrosanct in view of the fiduciary relationship that exists between the RSA holders and the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs). It should be reiterated that pension funds are well-positioned to play a critical role in economic development in Nigeria. However, excitement must give way to reason to ensure proper application of the funds. It is gratifying that the investment portfolio in the pension industry has since 2010 been diversified to allow investments in infrastructure funds and bonds as well as other asset classes such as supranational bonds and private equity funds. Before then, The National Pension Commission (PenCom) regulation on the investment of pension assets only allowed investment in ordinary shares, money market, corporate bonds and open-and close-end funds. All these are core asset classes.

The question now remains how funds in this subsector can be mobilized without the necessary prudential safeguards watered down or even compromised. The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola advocated, sometime ago, the use of pension funds to address the infrastructural deficiencies of the country. This is being done, anyway. In fact, the minister stated

that Nigeria should take the lead in Africa in using people’s funds to drive inclusive growth. Said he: “I see a future for Africa led by Nigeria, using the resources of the people to build a future that include the people.” Such optimism has been palpable not only in Nigeria but in other countries in Africa including South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, where pension funds are witnessing tremendous growth. But there are many issues for consideration and structures to be put in place before the desired results can be achieved.

It should be noted that PenCom has done considerably well in the regulation of the CPS; ensuring strict compliance with the ground rules of the industry as laid out in the Pension Reform Act 2014. An unswerving oversight mechanism has to be established to ensure all-round compliance not only with the policy framework for investment but also the actual rendition of the project. This is to guarantee the retirement of whichever instrument has been used in the investment. Also, regulatory approaches must be consistent.

It is also important to note that the investment of pension funds in infrastructure development requires some measure of capacity building to achieve the desired results. We have to shore up our expertise across the entire chain. We can achieve this through specialized training and collaborative efforts with countries that are way ahead of us in this regard. For instance, more than USD100 trillion is owned by institutional investors including pension funds in Europe alone. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is already sharing their Policy Framework on Investment with 30 countries including seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa while the Southern African Development Corporation (SADC) is working with OECD towards developing a Regional Investment Policy Framework.

With the necessary measures put in place and the right steps taken the pension industry will reach its full potential and provide the solid backbone required to jumpstart our economy beginning with massive infrastructural development.

Ezeala, a strategic and development communication specialist, is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Development Agenda magazine

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EDITORIAL

THE $9BN LOSS TO ILLEGAL MINING The authorities must do more to curb the costly menace

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n what has become a familiar recourse to lamentation when concrete action was needed, Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Uche Ogah, recently accused private jet owners of aiding and abetting gold smuggling in the country. “Gold smuggling in Nigeria is often done using private jets. That is the very reason private jet ownership and operations need to be streamlined in the country,” he said without providing any evidence about those responsible and how they would be bought to account. Yet, according to him, over $9 billion is lost annually to illegal mining in the country.

Nigeria’s solid minerals sector is private sector driven.

Through a cadastre-like system, the government allocates mineral titles to investors and subsequently provides oversight functions through policy direction and regulations. The country’s law in the sector also specifies who could be in possession of or purchase minerals and establishes Minerals Buying Centre (MBC) which according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) are currently 103 across the country. But from ILLEGAL MINERS DO Osun to Zamfara and NOT ONLY STEAL FROM elsewhere, illegal mining is now the name of NIGERIA AND DENY HER the game, though this REVENUE FROM THE has a long Pan-African EXCAVATION AND SALE background and OF HER SOLID MINERAL DEPOSITS, BUT EQUALLY Nigeria must learn lessons from other SET OFF OCCURRENCES countries.

OF INSECURITY THROUGH In the mid-1960s, BANDITRY AND RIVAL Senegalese and Malian WARS small-scale miners were arrested on the Congo-Uganda border with coffins accompanied by wailing women. The coffins were said to be carrying dead bodies for burial among relatives.

These ‘dead bodies’ crossing the border were however wraps containing diamond and other precious metals.

In the Central African Republic, Seleka militants were reportedly receiving AK47 guns from Indian traders in exchange for diamonds and uranium dug from locations

Letters to the Editor

in which village communities had been slaughtered and dispersed. Similar accusations were made against Rwandan and Ugandan military officers landing helicopters in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following their defeat by Zimbabwean, Angolan and Namibian troops defending the independence of post-Laurent Kabila’s DRC.

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

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learly, illegal miners do not only steal from Nigeria and deny her revenue from the excavation and sale of her solid mineral deposits, but equally set off occurrences of insecurity through banditry and rival wars. This thriving trade has left many to wonder whether some state governments are not encouraging illegal mining of solid minerals within their jurisdictions; it equally raises questions about their longevity and patrons of the illicit trade.

Even with the available information on the mineral resources’ sites, government at all levels have found it extremely difficult to curb illegal mining of these resources. In most places, illegal mining activities are being carried out by the locals in connivance with the affluent in the society who perpetrate these crimes by involving foreign nationals. Government would need to beef up security in all the mining sites by involving the military as well as other security agencies in adequately securing the mining sites.

To the extent that illegal miners remain potent dangers to our economy and national security, the relevant authorities must move quickly to halt their illicit acts.

More disturbing is that except for Botswana perhaps, African political and business groups have shown little interests in adding local value to raw materials or minerals excavated from the continent’s earth for domestic and export consumers. Nigeria which is huge in solid mineral deposits has equally seen an influx of questionable interests. The spate of illegal mining activities in Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, and even in Kogi, and Niger have already thrown up security challenges, with reported cases of banditry and widespread community unrest in these states. No reasonable country should allow such brazen challenge of its territorial authorities.

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

DANGOTE, PIA, NNPC AND OTHER MARKETERS

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he Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is expected to open the Nigerian oil and gas industry to more opportunities and investment, especially for local players, regional, and international stakeholders.

Many individuals and organizations will enjoy the new life PIA will offer, while some individuals and organizations will be knocked out of business.

One entity that may benefit most from the PIA is Aliko Dangote, with his 650,000 barrels per day integrated refinery, which is Africa’s biggest and the world’s biggest single-train facility. The refinery has 1,100 kilometers of pipeline to handle three billion Standard Cubic feet of gas per day.

It has power plants with a combined capacity of about 400MW. Section 317 (8) of the Senate version of the Act, noted that petrol importation license will be restricted “only to companies with active local refining licenses”. This clause and the unmatched prowess occasioned by the refinery is a formidable edge for Dangote. Though, there are some reports that the federal government has reversed these exclusive petrol importation rights.

Dangote can have absolute control of both the downstream and the midstream sectors of the petroleum industry.

How? Dangote can acquire the numerous idle fuel stations scattered nationwide or take over one of the established major retail marketers, though most of these idle stations are not strategically located. However, Dangote can revive and utilize them using the price advantage- by setting an

unbeatable price, and a litre is a litre strategy, employment of the best domestic manpower in the downstream sector and optimizing modern technology for service delivery in these stations.

The petroleum retail industry is growing in Nigeria.

The growing number of fuel stations across corners of the country is a proof of this. But there remain operational and logistical gaps in the blooming industry like bad roads coupled with the use of old trucks, poor remuneration of drivers, and lack of modern technology. Thus the industry is losing billions of Naira due to shortages when truck discharge petroleum products at fuel stations, and the rising disputes between drivers and station managers. Furthermore, some of the marketers have poor welfare systems for staff and they have not put in place some feasible plans for the realities that will accompany the arrival of the PIA. Many of them may end up operating in the dark. For any marketer to survive the new regime, they must set-up a PIA think-tank or a special unit in their R&D departments to ‘look’ at the future, opportunities and threats that PIA will come with.

With his current economic capacity, Dangote can exploit these lapses to implement backward integration in the petroleum industry. The $100 million Dangote-Sinotruck plant in Lagos will give Dangote an advantage in the logistics and operations sector. The plant assembles trucks and cars in Nigeria for local use and export; it is 65 percent owned by Dangote and 35 percent by Sinotruck. To have

new petroleum-distribution trucks and well-trained and wellpaid drivers will not be difficult for Dangote. The Dangote Refinery will give him the required volume of products and enough loading bay for trucks to load. The refinery covers 2,635 hectares of land, it is six times the size of Victoria Island, Lagos. Scarcity will not be a challenge for Dangote if he ventures into the retail business. Dangote can tap from the domestic manpower to employ the best hands in the downstream sector. With access to funding and resources, Dangote can deploy massive Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) skids at once in as many stations as possible to also prepare for the future.

As earlier mentioned, if Dangote acquires these thousands of idle fuel stations or any of the established major marketers, the brand can offer mouthwatering prices at these stations that can make customers travel even 5km just to purchase petroleum products at a Dangote station.

Furthermore, these prices can knock many competitors out of the market. However, some of them can still survive as third-party partners to Dangote. However, the NNPC can take advantage of its $2.76billion stake in the Dangote Refinery and form a kind of partnership with Dangote to redevelop and expand the NNPC Retail business.

As it is now, Dangote has the advantage, anyone coming in will need the next 10 years to catch-up. The bigger, the more advantageous, it seems!

Zayyad I. Muhammad, Abuja

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ADVERTORIAL

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Group Politics Editor NSEOBONG OKON-EKONG

POLITICS

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

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

Will Buhari Name, Shame Terrorism Sponsors?

Udora Orizu writes that President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent disclosure that a member of the National Assembly is one of the sponsors of self-rule agitators, has renewed calls for the identities of these financiers

Buhari

Malami

Mohammed

Adesina

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n his lengthy speech to mark Nigeria’s 61st Independence Anniversary, President Muhammadu Buhari, disclosed that one of the sponsors of the two main agitators for self-rule is a serving member of the 9th National Assembly. But he did not name the person.

Buhari’s recent disclosure is one of the many claims by the Federal Government that some sponsors of terrorism have been identified. These, at best, have remained phantom claims.

His administration over the years has faced public criticism over failure to name the sponsors of terrorism in the country.

The recent disclosure without naming the culprit(s) again, has fueled calls in various quarters for government to reveal the face(s) being the crime.

The hint at sponsors of terrorism in the President’s 61st Independence Anniversary speech is a rehash of similar statements by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, presidential spokespersons, Mrlessrs Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, who have at different times mentioned that the FG had knowledge of sponsors of terrorism in the country. P The resurgence of separatism in Nigeria, has always been seen as a consequence of the Federal Government’s failure to provide security in the face of multiple threats. The escalating insecurity and com-

munal violence across the country, appear to be strengthening separatist movements.

From Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east, widespread banditry in the North-west, farmer-herder clashes in the Middle-belt and militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta, the unrest being witnessed nationwide is adding to the list of violent conflicts pulling at the unity of Nigeria.

Separatist sentiments in the Southern part of the country is driven by the region’s perceived “marginalisation”.

It feeds on nostalgia for the rebel republic of Biafra, which broke away in 1967 and fought a bloody 30-month war for independence.

Many Igbos feel as if they are treated as second-class citizens for many decades. This sentiment they say has been aggravated by a perceived notion that President Buhari favours his northern Muslim constituency, than other ethnic groups in the country.

In recent months, a Yoruba separatist group has appeared, calling for the creation of an independent state known as the ‘’Oduduwa Republic’’.

The republic would include all Southwestern states of the country, including the country’s economic capital, Lagos.

Main Separatist Leaders in Nigeria While there are numerous advocates

The President in his Independence anniversary speech, disclosed that recent arrests of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo, and the ongoing investigations being conducted have revealed certain high-profile financiers behind these individuals. Indicting, a serving member of the National Assembly as one of the financers, he said that these financiers are vigorously being pursued

of separatism, the two most popular are Nnamdi Kanu, founder of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), and Sunday Adeyemi aka Igboho of Yoruba Nation. The two share similar goals and a common enemy in the Federal Government, have been declared as terrorist organizations, leading to eventual clampdown and arrest of their leaders and some supporters. Following Kanu’s detention, IPOB members called for weekly sit-at-home protests each Monday across the South-east, freezing business activity in cities, towns, and even village markets. The latest pressure tactic being exerted by IPOB to secure Kanu’s release include a ‘Ghost Monday’, business are in the South-east East are expected to shut down. Though the IPOB leadership claims to have moderated it to take place only on days that Kanu is brought to court, certain elements in the organisation have continued to forcefully insist on observation of the Ghost Monday. IPOB stopped formal celebrations of Nigeria’s 61st Independence Anniversary in the South-east. The group has threatened to halt all economic activities in the region for one month if Kanu is not allowed to go home on his next court date, October 21. In the last couple of days, the spate of killings and arson on public buildings have shot up, particularly in Anambra State, where a governorship election is due on November 6. While, these atrocious activities have been mainly ascribed to unknown gunmen, the Federal

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021

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MONDAY DISCOURSE

Abaribe

Government continues to point accusing fingers at the IPOB. Calls for Name, Shaming Terrorism Sponsors Overtime, various stakeholders, including the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) among others have challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to name the sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria to vindicate himself.

Recently, the U. S. government offered to help the Federal Government identify the sponsors of Boko Haram, which has waged an insurgency war on Nigeria in the last 12 years.

While Nigeria is foot dragging over naming sponsors of terrorism, authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a couple of weeks ago, named six Nigerians with ties to insurgent group Boko Haram as terrorist financiers.

The UAE Cabinet issued Resolution No 83 of 2021, designating a total of 38 individuals and 15 entities on its approved list of persons and organisations supporting Boko Haram and other terrorist cause.

Nigerians on the UAE’s terrorism list were Abdurrahaman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad.

The six persons have been previously tried and sentenced in UAE. Last March, the Nigerian government arrested 400 Bureaux De Change operators for allegedly funding Boko Haram insurgency in the country, saying the suspects were transferring money to the terrorists. But their identities were not disclosed because government continues to insist that doing so will jeopardize ongoing investigations.

The suspects are reportedly held in military and DSS facilities in Abuja and other cities.

Nigerians have since been asking the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to disclose the identities of the suspects, a request the government has repeatedly ignored.

Malami said the government was sticking to its plan to put the suspects on trial and secure their conviction before naming them. He said, “Trials are judicial processes and not about media sensations. Naming and shaming in the Nigerian context must be rooted in constitutionalism. We must strike a balance between constitutional presumption of innocence and evidential proof of reasonable ground for suspicion in making disclosures associated with terrorism funding and financing.

“Where reasonable grounds are established, suspects must be naturally taken to court at which point their identity must be disclosed and the naming becomes apparent. Shaming, on the other hand, is the product of conviction at which point the public is equally judicially put on notice.

In essence, naming and shaming within the context of Nigerian law are judicial functions which commence with arraignment and terminate with convictions.”

The operation which received the approaval of the President was carried out by different agencies including the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), and in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Financial

Ologbondiyan

Kanu

Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The opposition party, PDP, has said that the Federal Government is not interested in naming and shaming sponsors of terrorism.

A statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP spokesperson, said the Buhariled government has “always failed to forcefully condemn acts of terrorism in our country.”

“The refusal by the Buhari Presidency to expose the names of sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria vindicates its position that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government has been providing official cover for terrorists and bandits pillaging the nation,” Ologbondiyan said.

“The PDP holds that the decision of the APC-led government to cover the identity of sponsors of mindless mass killings, maiming, raping, kidnapping of our compatriots as well as the endless violent marauding of our communities under the APC watch, validates our stand that such individuals have connections with the APC. “This unpatriotic stance by the Buhari Presidency raises serious national anxieties of high-level complicity in the administration and further explains the reported compromising of our security system in the escalated killings and acts of terrorism in our country in the last six years under the APC. “Nigerians can see why the APC-led administration has failed to take decisive steps to tackle terrorism, why it prefers to negotiate with terrorists and even makes case for them, instead of apprehending and prosecuting them, as witnessed in the beheading of rice farmers in Borno state.

“The PDP had always alerted of a connection between the APC and terrorists ravaging various parts of our nation and how the APC, as a party, had always failed to forcefully condemn acts of terrorism in our country.”

Ajulo Urges Naming of Terrorism Sponsors Dr. Kayode Ajulo, a legal practitioner, has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s Independence Broadcast to the nation, urging him to name all sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria.

The president in his broadcast on Nigeria’s independence at 61 on Friday, said: ”The recent arrests of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo (Ighogho) , and ongoing investigations being conducted, reveals certain

high-profile financiers behind these individuals.

“We are vigorously pursuing these financiers including one identified as a serving member of the national assembly.”

In a swift reaction, Ajulo, a former National Secretary of the Labour Party (LP)said that it had become imperative that sponsors of insecurity in our midst must be specifically identified.

He said the sponsors should be named, apprehended and made to face the full weight of the law.

The former LP chieftain also urged Nigerians to support the president in tackling security challenges nationwide.

“We need to name and deal with them accordingly, within the ambit of law.

“Since the inception of this administration, the citizenry has been assured of government’s utmost attention to security, which the Federal Government has vigorously pursued.

“We need to be reassured, hence the need to name and deal with terrorism sponsors accordingly ,” he said.

He said security agencies must be assisted by all to dominate the nation’s security space against invasion by terrorists and other criminals.

Buhari’s New Disclosure The President in his Independence anniversary speech, disclosed that recent arrests of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Adeyemo, and the ongoing investigations being conducted have revealed certain high-profile financiers behind these individuals.

Indicting, a serving member of the National Assembly as one of the financers, he said that these financiers are vigorously being pursued.

Buhari who expressed readiness to take decisive actions against secessionist agitators and their sponsors who threaten national security, described the development as a clear example of how people abandon their national leadership positions for their selfish gains.

According to him, instead of preaching unity, they are funding and misleading the youth to conduct criminal acts that sometimes lead to unfortunate and unnecessary loss of lives and property.

He lamented that the seeds of violence are planted in people’s heads through words and reckless utterances, leading to loss of many innocent lives and destruction of properties.

He said the so-called leaders run abroad to hide, while the innocent youths are misled and left in the streets

The PDP had always alerted of a connection between the APC and terrorists ravaging various parts of our nation and how the APC, as a party, had always failed to forcefully condemn acts of terrorism in our country

Adeyemo

to fight for their senseless and destructive causes.

He assured that his government will continue, in collaboration with international partners, to improve the security architecture, reduce enabling environment for criminality to thrive and eliminate opportunities for terrorism financing.

Buhari said, “As our economy continues to open after the COVID-19 related lockdowns, we have also seen the resurgence of insecurity in certain parts of the country. In the last four months, the gallant men and women of the Military and Security Agencies have made tremendous progress in addressing these new security challenges.

We are taking the fight to our enemies from all angles and we are winning. In the North-east region alone, over eight thousand Boko Haram terrorists have surrendered.

“To support our surge approach to fighting banditry, the Nigerian Armed Forces have recruited over 17,000 personnel across all ranks. Furthermore, I have also approved for the Nigerian Police Force to recruit 10,000 police officers annually over the next six years. I am also pleased to note that most of the Air Force platforms we acquired over the past three years have started to arrive in Nigeria. These will positively impact our security operations in all parts of the country.

“That said, our hope is not to fight for peace. We can always settle our grievances peacefully without spilling any blood.

We must all come out and speak against the lies being peddled. At this point, I would want to sincerely appreciate the large number of our Traditional, Religious and Community leaders as well as other well-meaning Nigerians who, in their various fora are openly spreading the message of peaceful co-existence and conflict settlement through dialogue in their respective communities. Nigeria is for all of us. Its unity is not negotiable. And its ultimate success can only be achieved if we all come together with a common goal of having peace and prosperity for our nation.”

Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe who was one of the guarantors for Nnamdi Kanu has said that the identity of gun totting killers on the loose in the South-east are not known.

Will Buhari Name, Shame Terrorism Sponsors?

Nigerians have since been asking the Buhari-led government to disclose the identities of the suspects, a request the government has repeatedly ignored.

However following the recent disclosure by the President, Nigerians have renewed calls for name shaming of terrorists. Activist and Buhari’s critic, Reno Omokri in his analysis of the President’s independence anniversary speech said, “Buhari says a leading member of the National Assembly is a sponsor of terror. Let him name that person. It is not enough to make allegations.

Name names the same way his government exposed forex defaulters.”

With this new no name disclosure about a serving lawmaker being one of the sponsors of agitators, the question which remains on the mind of many is, ‘why keep the identities of these persons away from the public?

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FEATURES

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

Nigeria@61: A Nation Torn between Unity and Secession Threats After surviving a three-year civil war, series of military coups, and now in a democracy, Nigeria's political skyline remains beset by dark clouds of secession at 61. In this report, Yinka Olatunbosun, Sunday Ehigiator and Chiamaka Ozulumba examine the trends from post-independence to date and how they raise questions about national unity

President Buhari

Kanu

Igboho

T

he atmosphere of celebration was gleeful- as hopeful Nigerians watched the British flag lowered whilst the Nigerian flag was hoisted amidst the cheering audience gathered at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos. Expectations were high. The energy was infectious.

Nigerians had secured the right to rule themselves in their own way. Prior to this beautiful day, a new constitution established a federal system with an elected prime minister and a ceremonial head of state.

The NCNC- headed by Azikiwe- formed a coalition with Balewa’s NPC after neither party won a majority in the 1959 elections.

Balewa served as the prime minister, a position he had held since 1957, while Azikiwe took the largely ceremonial position of president of the Senate.

On November 16, 1960, Azikiwe became the first governor-general of a federation of three regions: North, East and West, with Lagos as the federal capital. Each region was headed by a premier with a governor as ceremonial head.

With the UN-supervised referendum, the northern part of the Trust Territory of the Cameroons joined the northern region in June 1961. In October, Southern Cameroon united with Cameroon to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.

On October 1, 1963, Nigeria became a republic.

Azikiwe became president of the country.

Meanwhile, as Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, from 1960 to 1961, functioned as Foreign Affairs advocate of Nigeria. In 1961, the Balewa government created an official Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations ministerial position in favour of Jaja Wachuku, who became, from 1961 to 1965, the first substantive Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations, later called External Affairs.

Balewa was murdered in a military coup on January 15 1966, as well as his old companion Sir Ahmadu Bello. The circumstances of his death remain unresolved, setting a template for how many deaths in politics would pan out for decades. His body was reportedly discovered at a roadside near Lagos six days after he was ousted from office. Buried in Bauchi, the news of his assassination sparked violent riots throughout Northern Nigeria and ultimately led to the bloody counter-coup of July 1966.

The Civil War and the Unfinished Business The civil war was indeed a product of ethnic rivalry that got out of hand, to put it mildly. Five weeks after its secession from Nigeria, the self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra is attacked by Nigerian government forces. It

over power as the head of state on July 30 until his assassination on February 13 1976.

Lieutenant General Olusegun Obasanjo, a Yoruba, succeeded Murtala Muhammad.

As chief of staff of Supreme Headquarters, Obasanjo was Murtala Muhammad's deputy and had the support of the military from 1979 to 1983 with Alhaji Shehu Shagari.

The military regimes of Murtala Muhammad and Obasanjo benefited from a tremendous influx of oil revenue that increased 350 per cent between 1973 and 1974, when oil prices skyrocketed, to 1979, when the military stepped down. Increased revenues permitted massive spending that, unfortunately, was poorly planned and concentrated in urban areas. A minor recession marred the oil boom from 1978 to 1979- the year Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari became the first democratically-elected president after the transfer of power by the military head of state Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo in 1979, giving rise to the Second Nigerian Republic.

Federal troops was reported that some Hausas in northern Nigeria began massacring the Christian Igbos in the region, prompting tens of thousands of Igbos to flee to the east, where their people were the dominant ethnic group.

The Igbos believed that Nigeria’s military government was oppressive, repressive and lacked the ability to develop the region or even allow it to survive. On May 30, 1967, Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, nicknamed the warlord and other non-Igbo representatives of the area, established the Republic of Biafra, comprising several states of Nigeria.

After diplomatic efforts by Nigeria failed to reunite the country, a war between the country and Biafra broke out in July 1967.

The survival of Biafra would have meant the loss of Nigeria's largest oil fields. hTo make the secession work, Ojukwu’s forces made some initial advances, but Nigeria’s superior military strength gradually reduced Biafran territory. Biafra was gradually overcome- lost its oil field, which accounts for its chief revenue. Without the funds to import food,

Sowore

an estimated one million of its civilians died due to severe malnutrition. There are different accounts of this civil war, with many pointing accusing fingers at the international community.

The United Kingdom and the Soviet Union backed the Nigerian government, while France, Israel, and other countries supported Biafra. On January 11, 1970, Nigerian forces captured the provincial capital of Owerri, one of the last Biafran strongholds, and Ojukwu fled to the Ivory Coast. Four days later, Biafra surrendered to Nigeria. Thus, the Biafran nation became a dream. There was no proper reconciliation to reintegrate the breakaway group or any recorded effort to address the lasting trauma left by the deadly war on the aggrieved citizens. And that was the unfinished business.

Failed Attempt at Democracy After ensuring that Nigeria remained as one, Gowon remained in government till 1975 when Murtala Mohammed, another major player in the war, took

Just when Nigeria is struggling to meet the international standards of democratic rule, a new breed of secessionists have emerged, registering anger and fanning yet again embers of wars

Buhari, Babangida and the Cry for Democracy Gen. Muhammadu Buhari became head of state after a coup d'état on December 31 1983, ending the Second Republic. Gen. Ibrahim Babangida overthrew his vicious regime in a coup d'état on August 27, 1985. Babangida served as military head of state from 1985 until 1993, when he "stepped aside" amidst widespread protests against his annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

June 12 carries huge significance for older Nigerians. On this date, a presidential election was held for the first time since the 1983 military coup. The results of the election were never released. But unofficial results gathered through the various polling stations by civil society groups across the country indicated broad national support for the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola.

Despite his popularity and the turnout, the election results were annulled. Babangida justified the annulment claiming it was necessary to save the nation. In the 1999 presidential election – the first democratic election in 16 years – Obasanjo decided to run for president as the Peoples Democratic Party. Obasanjo won the election and was reelected in 2003.

Umaru Yar’Adua, also of the PDP, assumed power in 2007 and ruled for three years. He died in office aged 58. He was succeeded by then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan.

Jonathan completed Yar'Adua’s term and won a substantive term in 2011. He failed to secure reelection in 2015 after the dictator-turneddemocrat Buhari defeated him.

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FEATURES

Late Ojukwu addressing Biafran soldiers during the civil war

Renewed Calls for Secession Just when Nigeria is struggling to meet the international standards of democratic rule, a new breed of secessionists have emerged, registering anger and fanning yet again embers of wars.

One of them is Sunday Adeniyi Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho.

Nicknamed after his hometown, Igboho, he first gained public attention following his role in the Modakeke-Ife communal crisis in 1997, where he played an active part. After several years of being almost invisible, Igboho came back to the limelight last year, when he used the country's Independence Day celebration on October 1, 2020, to call for the creation of an independent Yoruba Republic.

Although he was widely ridiculed for the idea at the time, today, he is taken more seriously. He has become a lightning rod for grievances related to land rights. He courted more popularity this January when he gave an ultimatum to Fulani herders in Ibarapa to vacate the land after the killing of Dr. Aborode and enforced the same.

In early July, Igboho fled the country after authorities violently raided his home in Ibadan on July 2, 2021, as the authorities cracked down on separatist figures. He was arrested in the neighbouring Benin Republic on July 20

by Benin security agency, allegedly trying to travel through the country’s airport without the right documentation.

Nigeria demanded his extradition to Nigeria while accusing him of stockpiling arms, which he categorically denied.

Held by Benin authority, his legal representatives continue to battle against his extradition to Nigeria vehemently.

Igboho has gained support and sympathy from a wide range of notable Nigerians.

The Nigerian-British Nnamdi Kanu is a pro-Biafra separatist and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader. Kanu founded IPOB in 2014 to restore the separatist state of Biafra, which existed in Nigeria's Eastern Region during the Nigerian Civil War. As the director of a United Kingdom-registered radio station named Radio Biafra, Kanu propagated Biafran separatism. On October 14, 2015, Kanu was arrested on treason charges in Lagos and detained for more than a year, despite various court orders demanding his release.

When in court, Kanu appeared regularly wearing a Jewish prayer shawl and head covering. He said in court that he "believes in Judaism" and considers himself a Jew and oftentimes has led his Biafran people to various Jewish prayers and religious observances.

April 28, 2017, Kanu was released from prison on conditional bail. Within the period of his release, Kanu jumped bail and fled overseas.

He said this was in response to the invasion of his hometown by security forces and the subsequent death of his parents in that incident.

While abroad, Kanu played a major part in the insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria, as the

Nigerian security forces attempted to quash IPOB's armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN), resulting in a low-level conflict in early 2021.

Despite the fighting, Kanu maintained that IPOB was interested in a peaceful solution and achieving Biafran independence without violence. On June 27, 2021, news of Kanu’s arrest spread across all social media platforms. According to the report, he was arrested by Interpol in Kenya and repatriated to Nigeria. He has since been in detention and facing a trial.

Kanu's arrest sparked anger among Biafran separatists and other Nigerians supportive of his cause. The World Igbo Congress (WIC) described the arrest as an "illegal abduction and international gangsterism." Following his arrest, questions had been raised over what was termed "Kanu's disregard of the Nigerian constitution" to abscond bail in 2017.

On the occasion of his arraignment in court on June 29, 2021, Kanu told the presiding judge that the Nigerian military forced him to flee the country in 2017, following attempts to assassinate him after sending his parents to their early grave. Kanu’s continued detention has continued to fuel unrest in the eastern parts of the country, with IPOB members continually declaring sit-at-home orders on several occasions in various eastern states, including a sit-at-home order already declared for October 1, 2021.

Often, these orders have been accompanied by violence and bloodshed, resulting in the loss of lives of innocent citizens, some of whom flaunted the order.

Omoyele Sowore has gained both popularity and notoriety as a Nigerian human rights activist. A US permanent resident, his building blocks for the prodemocracy campaign started with his days as a student union leader. A former presidential candidate, and a critic of the Buhari administration, Sowore has survived military rulers and is determined to fight to be heard even if he would end up behind bars- alone.

The Sahara Reporters founder and leader of the #RevolutionNow movement, Sowore, was arrested by DSS on August 3, 2019, ahead of a planned nationwide #RevolutionNow protest. Several notable

Nigerians, such as Femi Falana (SAN), Prof. Wole Soyinka, Oby Ezekwesili and many other activists condemned the arrest, accusing the government of violating his human rights. He was later charged with "conspiracy to commit treason and insulting President Muhammadu Buhari.”

On September 24, 2019, Sowore was granted bail by the Federal High Court Abuja on the condition that he surrenders his international passport within 48 hours, which he complied with. However, the DSS refused to release Sowore, claiming ignorance of the court order. The DSS' refusal to release Sowore led to protests at the UN Plaza in New York, led by Sowore's wife and sparked a global decry on Nigeria's failed democracy.

On September 29, 2019, Sowore made his first appearance in the media since his detention. He spoke on his poor treatment while in custody, including being locked up in a dark room without the sunlight. He also alleged that Boko Haram top commanders engaged in high-level terrorism, whom he had encountered in custody, had access to telephone, TV and even cable in their cells, which he did not enjoy.

The court, however, set Sowore free on December 5, 2019, confirming that he had settled his bail terms. However, there was a wind of change on December 14, 2021, when DSS operatives evaded his premises and re-arrested him. He was then released on December 24, 2019. On December 31, 2020, Sowore was re-arrested in Abuja and four other activists following a small demonstration denouncing police and other human rights violations.

This time, he was charged with unlawful assembly, criminal conspiracy, and inciting a public disturbance. But, on January 12, the Chief Magistrates Court in Abuja ordered his release on bail, and the police complied.

The court set Sowore's bail at N20 million, with his passport still being withheld and a condition that he remain within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until the case is determined.

The Question of National Unity While millions of Nigerians at home and in the diaspora are unsure about

This country is ours, whether we are press, politicians or religious people, the country is ours, and we must do everything to ensure that the country remains safe, secure, and united, and this so important

the future of Nigeria's democracy with the renewed calls for secession, prominent Nigerians have warned against a sad repeat of history.

For instance, Vice President Yemi Osibanjo addressed these concerns recently at a press conference.

“This country is ours, whether we are press, politicians or religious people, the country is ours, and we must do everything to ensure that the country remains safe, secure, and united, and this so important," said Osinbajo. “I thank you for your civic vigilance, for the very kind words you have spoken about Nigeria, and for remaining steadfast in your belief for the rule of law and press freedom in the country.”

He added, “As I keep saying, the elite in our country, those of us who have had the benefit of education, positions and all of that, we owe millions of our people who are poor, who have no access and have no voice, a duty to ensure that we don’t let things become worse for them. It is important for us to continue to emphasise that the unity of this country is crucial because if the country breaks up in any way or becomes the subject of what some people will like it to be, all of us will lose out. Obviously, the elite will survive in any way, but the vast majority of our people will not.”

But former Vice President Atiku Abubakar seemed to share a different sentiment.

“I find it amusing when people declare Nigeria’s unity as fixed and non-negotiable while doing everything in their power to destroy that fragile unity. A marriage cannot be declared as non-negotiable while doing everything to sow seeds of discord in that same marriage," said Atiku. "Nothing in the relationships among peoples is fixed for eternity. You cannot declare your marriage as non-negotiable while doing everything to sow seeds of discord in that same marriage.

You can whip groups of people into forming a country, but you cannot whip them into forming a nation. Nations are built through conscious or even unconscious agreement by peoples who believe that being together is, on balance, more beneficial than being apart.”

On several occasions, Obasanjo had acknowledged that Nigeria is severely challenged.

“Any Nigerian who does not feel concerned about the challenges of this country is a human being without being human. The fact that we are not making Nigeria what God wants it to be is not the fault of God but our fault, particularly the leaders," the former president noted. "It is better for Nigeria to remain as one indivisible nation than for each tribe to go its separate way. I am a strong believer of one Nigeria, but not one Nigeria at any cost, but one Nigeria where every Nigerian can feel proud that he or she has a stake in this country."

At 61, the nation certainly needs more than mere flashes of optimism, prayers and fresh political posters to address the thorny issues at the core of our national unity.

24

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

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BUSINESSWORLD R A T E S MONEY MARKET

A S

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Group Business Editor Eromosele Abiodun Email oriarehu.eromosele@thisdaylive.com

08056356325

S E P T E M B E R

S & P INDEX

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EXCHANGE RATE

OBB

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Value of Highly Capitalised Stocks on NGX Down N475bn on Double-digit Inflation, Others

Darasimi Adebisi On the heels of foreign investors exit, double-digit inflation rate and investors renewed interest in money market instruments, value of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) top 10 highly capitalised stocks dropped by N474.95billion in nine months, THISDAY findings has revealed.

The top 10 highly capitalised stocks on the NGX are Dangote Cement Plc, MTN Nigeria Plc, Airtel Africa Plc, BUA Cement Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc, and GTCO Plc. Others are; Zenith Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, NB Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc. Based on sector representation,

Industrial Goods and Financial Services sectors both have three representations each while the ICT and Consumer Goods Sectors accounted for two each.

The decline in these companies value is based on drop in their stock prices between December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2021.

The mixed performance by these high- capitalised companies contributed to the decline in market capitalisation by N107.99billion in nine months of 2021, THISDAY had reported.

As of September 30, 2021, the top 10 companies by market capitalisation accounted for about N17.3trillion of the total market capitalisation of N20.96trillion.

This represents 82.4 per cent contribution to the NSE market capitalisation.

According to Vice President, Highcap securities Limited, Mr. David Adnori, the weight of highly capitalized stocks listed on the NGX do contribute immensely to the performance of the NSE ASI on daily basis.

According to him: “More importantly, this weighty contribution to the performance is more reflective in the market breadth position recorded in any trading day activities. Despite a negative market breadth, a positive movement in the share price of any of the highly capitalized stocks could lift the NSEASI to close in the positive territory and sometimes,

reverse is the case.”

With highest foreign investors participation on NGX, Dangote Cement, MTN Nigeria and Lafarge Africa recorded increase in value traded by investors in nine months, while others recorded decline to undermined investors sentiment trading on these companies in the period under review.

Total value investors stake on Dangote Cement in the nine months of 2021 was N598.12billion when its market capitalisation moved from N4.17trillion it opened in 2020 to N4.77trillion as at September 30, 2021.

MTN Nigeria also appreciated by N101.77billion when its market capitalisation moved from N3.46trillion to N3.56trillion as at September close

of trading activities on NGX. In addition, Lafarge Africa that opened the year at N21.05 per share closed on last Thursday at N22.90 to move its total stake by investors to N29.8billion in market capitalisation.

Adnori explained that investors reacted on these three companies half year ended June 30, 2021 impressive performance, stressing that their fundamentals in the period attracted most especially foreign investors.

A check revealed that Dangote cement recorded 52 per cent increase in profit to N191.63billion in H1 2021 from N125.14billion recorded in H1 2020, while MTN Nigeria grew profit by 49,5per cent to N141.83billion in H1 2021.

The telecommunication giant also

declared interim dividend per share of N4.55 kobo.

Vice President, Highcap securities Limited explained that Dangote Cement stock price appreciated because of the company’s shares buy-back.

The Africa’s largest cement producer in July announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had approved the renewal of its share buy-back programme until January 21 2022.

He noted that significant H1 2021 results by MTN Nigeria and Lafarge enhance investors’ positive sentiment trading on their stocks on NGX. Continued on page 26

Nigeria at 61: OPS Hails Telecom Reform as Most Successful, Says Manufacturing Still Nightmarish Dike Onwuamaeze The members of the organised private sector of the Nigerian economy have identified the reforming of the telecommunication subsector as the most successful economic reform in Nigeria.

They, however, stated that manufacturing in the Nigerian economy, especially for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), has remained

a nightmare for operators.

They also lamented that the government initiates economic reforms belatedly and often undermines their benefits with contradictory policies.

These views were expressed by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), and the Centre for the Promotion of Private

Enterprises (CPPE) in their respective messages to commemorate Nigeria’s 61 years independence anniversary. .

In her remark, the Director General of the LCCI, Dr. Chinyere Almona, said, “the transformation in the telecommunications sector stands out as the most successful reform story in the economy. Many sectors have leveraged the transformation in telecoms to make significant progress through the use of ICT, especially in

the services sector. Today, we have tech-enabled platforms supporting healthcare delivery, agriculture, education, transport, etc.”

Almona, however, noted that the risk of investing in the manufacturing sector of the country’s economy has grown progressively in recent decades largely because of the poor quality of infrastructure.

She said: “Unless there is effective and sustained protection and sup-

port for the sector, and a dramatic improvement in infrastructure, the outlook for the sector will remain gloomy, particularly for the smallscale industries. Most SMEs are yet to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that struck last year.

“For most manufacturing SMEs, it is a nightmare. Yet production is critical to enduring economic and social stability. The way forward is to

address the fundamental constraints to manufacturing competitiveness in the Nigerian economy. Perpetual protectionism without supported mass local production cannot fix this problem.”

The National President of NACCIMA, Mr. John Udeagbala, said that the celebration of Nigeria at 61came with mixed feelings as the country Continued on page 26

M A R K E T D ATA A S AT T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 2 1 FGN BONDS DESCRIPTION 12.175 FGNSB 10-OCT-2021 11.244 FGNSB 16-OCT-2021 10.296 FGNSB 13-NOV-2021 13.390 FGNSB 14-NOV-2021 9.091 FGNSB 11-DEC-2021

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100.23

3.76

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NTB 14-Oct-21

3.76

3.77 0.00

100.32

3.82

0.00

NTB 28-Oct-21

3.88

3.89 0.00

100.74

4.06

0.00

NTB 11-Nov-21

4.00

4.02 0.00

101.13

4.07

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NTB 25-Nov-21

4.12

100.93

4.32

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NTB 13-Jan-22

4.53

CONTRACT TENOR (MONTH) 1

Contract

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NGUS OCT 27 2021 420.93

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NGUS NOV 24 2021 422.38

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NGUS DEC 29 2021 423.83

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NGUS JAN 26 2022 425.28

4.59 0.00

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NGUS FEB 23 2022 426.73

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CMBL CP XV 11OCT-21 UBNP CP VIII 18OCT-21 CMBL CP XII 31OCT-21 CMBL CP XVII 15-NOV-21 FSDH CP III 16NOV-21

7.16

7.18

0.00

8.78

8.82

0.00

4.97

4.99

-0.01

5.94

5.99

0.00

7.30

7.37

0.00

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSWORLD

NEWS

CELEBRATING WORLD MARITIME DAY…

L-R: Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh, Representative of Chairman, House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration, Babatunde Hunpe; Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr Magdalene Ajani; Representative of Lagos State Governor, Mr Oluwadamilola Bukola Emmanuel; Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechii and Representative of Chairman Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Tolu Odebiyi, during the commemoration of PHOTO: ABIODUN AJALA the 2021 World Maritime Day celebration in Lagos… recently

Climatic Change Risks Poses Global Challenge as Nigerian Insurers Prepares for Climate Induced Damages Ebere Nwoji Insurers and their investors across the globe now see climatic change related risks as big challenge.

While many have continued to avoid the risks, others have gone into intense study on how best to improve on the risk and slow down frequency of claims coming from the line of business.

Other related risks, which claims are causing headache to insurers and their reinsurers especially at this period of insecurity and incessant civil unrest is Property and Casualty insurance.

Property and casualty insurance, or P&C insurance, is an umbrella term to describe a bunch of different types of insurance, covering personal property It refers to insurance of personal belongings.

Property insurance is also popular insurance policy for business owners and protects the business property in the case of vandalism and theft, covering the structure, and its contents.

Casualty insurance refers to insurance that covers the legal responsibility for losses stemming from damage to another’s property or an injury to another person.

It is a common insurance policy for small business owners since it protects a company from liabilities in the situation that a worker is hurt on company property.

The frequency of risk occurrence from these policies now positions it

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

as businesses with frequent claims and as such not many insurers delight in the business at the current period.

This is why insurers are advised to prepare ahead of risks emanating from these businesses.

Here in Nigeria, Vice President Professor Yomi Osinbanjo recently advised insurers to prepare for the systematic nature of climate-

induced damages.

“While there will obviously be opportunities for new insurance products and solutions, especially in the property and casualty segment of the business, insurance companies must also be prepared for the systemic nature of climate induced damage, with the possibilities of market failures and more system-wide destabilization, “he

told Insurers at the recent 47African Insurance Organisation Conference held in Lagos.

According to the Vice President, the growing intensity of flooding and damage to vast agricultural acreages might have a knock-on effect on other areas of the economy.

Further slump in the economy is bad for everyone, even insurers, “he said.

At the west African sub regional level, the West African Reinsurance Corporation (WAICA Re), said it has Strategised to fight the effects of climatic change and other emerging risk across the African continent through sponsorship of an annual competition that would require people to provide practical solutions to ending these emerging disaster on the continent.

The corporation said it has taken the responsibility of funding the winning project.

The WAICA Group Chief Operating Officer, Dr Abiba Zakariah, said the corporation came up with the initiative as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to end drought, flood and deforestation across Africa, especially, West African region.

FAO: COVID-19 Pandemic Sets Back Efforts to Achieve Agenda 2030 Oluchi Chibuzor The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has stated that COVID-19 has set back progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In a report, FAO said its findings show that the pandemic is undermining decades of development efforts enshrined in the UN’s Agenda 2030.

The report titled, “Tracking progress on food and agriculture-related SDG indicators 2021” focused on eight of the SDGs 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 12, 14 and 15, which were adopted

at a UN Summit in New York in 2015.

FAO Chief Statistician, Pietro Gennari in the report said the pandemic is an alarming picture, in which progress on many SDG targets has been reversed, with a significant impact on all aspects of sustainable development and, “making the achievement of the 2030 Agenda even more challenging.”

According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic might have pushed an additional 83 to 132 million into chronic hunger in 2020, making the target of ending hunger even more distant and an

unacceptably high proportion of 14 percent food is lost along the supply chain before it even reaches the consumer.

It stated: “Agricultural systems bear the brunt of economic losses due to disasters, Small-scale food producers remain disadvantaged, with women producers in developing countries earning less than men even when more productive.

“Food price volatility has increased, due to the constraints placed by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, Progress remains weak in maintaining plant and animal genetic diversity for food and agriculture, Gender

inequalities in land rights are pervasive,.”

Other areas in which the world is falling behind, according to the report were that discriminatory laws and customs remain obstacles to women’s tenure rights, water stress remains alarmingly high in many regions thereby threatening progress towards sustainable development.

However, the report also points to several areas in which progress is being made. “These include: implementing measures against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; sustainable forest management; eliminating agricultural export subsidies; investment

to boost agricultural productivity in developing countries; and duty-free access for developing and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) particularly for agricultural products” The FAO’s report coincides with this week’s UN Food Systems Summit, which aims to raise global awareness and spur actions to transform food systems, eradicate hunger, reduce diet-related diseases and heal the planet.

The report also includes a special chapter on measuring the contribution to the SDGs of the private sector, which FAO regards as playing a key role.

NIGERIA AT 61: OPS HAILS TELECOM REFORM AS MOST SUCCESSFUL, SAYS MANUFACTURING STILL NIGHTMARISH is still facing numerous economic and social challenges.

Udeagbala said that the Nigerian economy today is faced with a high inflation rate, high unemployment rate, low growth rates, mounting local and foreign debt, and a depreciating currency while still largely being import-dependent.

He attributed the current state of the economy to the government’s habit of initiating and implementing reform policies too late and coun-

teracting their positive effects with different policies Udeagbala said that an example of belated policy intervention was the long time it took the government to package and commence the implementation of its Economic Sustainability Plan to counter the impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown measures on the Nigerian private sector.

He added: “An example of the second is the current implementation

of policies in the foreign exchange market that totally negate any benefits or relief that may have been obtained by the implementation of the ESP.” An Economist and the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, acknowledged that some sectors of the Nigerian economy, like the telecoms, have been significantly transformed over the past 61 years.

Yusuf stated that the telecoms’

reform has boosted the number of telephone lines in Nigeria from 300,000 to 200 million currently.

He said: “The economy has also witnessed considerable changes in the ICT sector and this has impacted many sectors through the digitalisation of their processes and systems.

We have seen increased traction in IT applications in many sectors of the economy.”

Yusuf noted that the country’s macroeconomic management

framework has continued to pose serious challenges to investors in the economy and recommended that, “the international trade process needs to be reformed to prioritise trade facilitation. Therefore, the orientation of the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, the shipping companies and the terminal operators and the security agencies at the ports need to change in favour of investment-friendly international trade processes.”

VALUE OF HIGHLY CAPITALISED STOCKS ON NGX DOWN N475BN ON DOUBLE-DIGIT INFLATION, OTHERS THISDAY gathered that Airtel Africa and BUA Cement of the 10 companies recorded the highest decline in value traded by investors in the period under review, while Zenith Bank recorded the lowest.

The drop in GTCO, Zenith bank, Stanbic IBTC Holdings contributed to drop in NGX banking index by 5.6 per cent when its NGX All-Share Index opened the year at 370.85 basis points to close last Thursday at 393.02 basis points.

For instance, the drop in GTCO stock price by to N28.05 as at September 30, 2021 from N32.35 it opened this year led to market capitalisation dropping to M825.5billion from N952.01billion it opened in the year.

In the same vein, Stanbic IBTC

Holdings market cap dropped by N65.43billion to N505.85billion as at September 30, 2021 from N570.76billion it closed 2020, Zenith Bank with about per cent drop in stock price to N24.8 show its market capitalisation dropping to N736.25billion from N778.6billion the stock market opened for trading in 2020.

On decline in banks Index, Adnori explained that drop in stocks of GTCO or Zenith bank definitely impacted on the banking Index.

According to him: “Anything that affects GTCO or Zenith will drag the banking index downward because these are the two main leaders in the banking industry.

Their H1 2021 audited results was not impressive despite paying

shareholders interim dividend. The two banks struggled to improve on profit and it demand surge dump in their prices which affected the overall banking index.”

Meanwhile, Airtel Africa market capitalisation has dropped by N514.12billion when its stock market dropped to N66 as at September 30, 2021 from N77.35 it opened this year. The company’s market capitalisation moved from N3.2trillion to N2.69trillion as at September 30, 2021.

BUA Cement also dropped by N384billion from N2.62trillion to N2.24trillion as at September 30, 2021, while Nestle Nigeria dropped

by N19.82billion to N1.17trillion from N1.19trillion it opened 2021.

The multinational company’s stock

price in nine months dropped by nearly two per cent to N1,480.00 from N1,505.00 it opened this year for trading activities.

In addition, the market capitalisation of Nigerian Breweries also dropped by N51.98billion to N398.85billion from N447.83billion it closed 2020.

Commenting also, analyst at PAC Holdings, Mr. Wole Adeyeye said: “Most stocks actually experienced decline during the period - Zenith Bank and GTCO are among those stocks. The reason for this is that most foreign investors dropped these stocks due to persistent depreciation of Naira, insecurity and lack of confidence in the country.

“However, the rebound we

witnessed in equities market in the third quarter of 2021 may extend to the fourth quarter of the year as we expect domestic investors to increase the equity portion of their portfolio due to slight reduction in yields in fixed income market.

“In addition, the higher crude oil price is expected to have positive impact on Naira in FX market. This may likely attract foreign investors into the country. However, the insecurity in the country remains a major issue.”

The Managing Director, APT Securities and Funds Ltd., Malam Garba Kurfi, attributed the decline in GTCO and Zenith bank to investors’ marking down of both banks interim dividend for half year.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

27

BUSINESSWORLD

STATUS REPORT

Red Star Express: Growing Assets Quality for Improved Performance

Darasimi Adebisi

D

espite the numerous challenges that bedeviled the courier industry during the Covid-19 lockdown, Red Star Express Plc, the number one listed courier and package delivery company in the country in its audited result and accounts for full year ended March 31, 2021 recorded growth in assets quality.

Although Redstar recorded a decline in its profits, its percentage growth in the balance sheet has given an edge as a company that is succeeding.

The negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic can be seen in the company financial performance and yet the management declared dividend.

However, the company’s balance sheet improved on the heels of investment in proprieties as the need to drive profit and grow dividend demand proactive actions by the management.

The company has been consistent with growth trajectory, investments and innovations over the years.

Analysis of the company’s performance in the 2021 financial showed that it is viable, stable, and profitable enough to warrant a monetary investment which is expected to drive share price and dividend payout to shareholders going forward.

In the company’s financial year ended March 31, 2021, the Board of Directors proposed a dividend payment of 15 kobo per share (five kobo cash payment and 10 kobo bonus in proportion of one new share for every 33 shares previously held.

The amount translates to a total dividend payment of N139 million for 2021 financial year.

Since financial health is one of the best indicators of a business potential for long term growth, one can categorically say that the company is financially healthy, given the evaluation of the Red Star business despite the thick and thin that stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic within the period under review.

Shortly before the pandemic, Red Star Express raised N1.3billion by way of Rights Issue, part of which was used to shore up its asset base to improve efficient service delivery.

SUCCESSFUL RIGHTS ISSUE

At the Board of Directors’ meeting last year, the Board passed a resolution to raise additional capital through right issue through creation of additional 336,855,291 ordinary shares of 50kobo each issued at N4per share.

The company’s initial authorized share capital was N7million comprising of 7million ordinary shares of N1.00 each and subsequently increased at various stages.

The shares were sub-divided into ordinary shares of 50 kobo each in 2006, then in January 2020 when the company raised capital by allotment of 336,855,291 shares. Presently, the company’s

total allotted shares stand at 926,352,051 ordinary shares of 50kobo each.

However, for the period under review, the listed courier company on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) grew total assets by nearly three per cent to N7.5billion in 2021 from N7.33billion recorded in full year result and account for period ended March 31, 2020.

The company’s investment in Property, plant & equipment rose by 87.1 per cent to N2.55billion in 2021 from N1.36billion recorded in 2020 to contribute 34 per cent to the company’s total assets.

The breakdown of total assets revealed that total non-current assets with the contribution of property, plant & equipment closed 2021 at N3.05billion, 56.3per cent increase against N1.95billion in 2020 as total current assets dropped by per cent to N4.49billion in 2021 from N5.38billion recorded in 2020.

PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL ASSETS

The company’s principal financial asset comprises trade and other receivables, cash and short term deposits that arise directly from its operations; while the principal financial liabilities comprises of lease liabilities, trade and other payables and borrowings.

During 2021 financial year, the Red Star Express recorded N89.09million and N76.2 million as short-term lease expense for the Group and the company respectively, compared to N136.5million and N107.

87million recorded in 2020.

Similarly, N719.45 million and N250.7million were recognized as an expense for inventories carried at net realizable value in 2021 compared to N729.6million and N237.9millon in 2020 respectively.

Also, Red Star Express’s investment in property is N95.8million in 2021 compared to N98.1 million in 2020. Its investment in shares in 2021 is N3.44million compared to N2.99million in 2020. FGN Bond in 2021 is N585.45million compared to N547.4million in 2020.

On liabilities position, Red Star Express recorded 12 per cent increase in total liabilities to N3.31billion in 2021 from N2.95billion in 2020.

The breakdown of total liabilities showed that Total current liabilities gained three per cent to N2.72billion in 2021 from N2.64billion in 2020 while non-current liabilities closed 2021 at N586million from N308.8million in 2020.

However, total equity dropped by 3.3 per cent to N4.23billion in 2021 from N4.38billion in 2020. The major factor Red Star Expressed recorded decline in total equity was the group’s six per cent decline

in retained earnings to N2.33billion in 2021 from N2.48billion recorded in 2020.

EXPANDING FREIGHT BUSINESS

The report reviews the scorecard of Red Star Express for the year ended March 31 2021 as it maintained revenue despite completion in the courier. Generally, the performance of the 2021-year out-weighed the performance of the previous year despite the COVID-19 effects.

Prior to the outbreak of Coronavirus, the logistics industry was one of the fastestgrowing sectors in the country. According to the 2018 Logistics and Supply Chain Industry Report, Nigeria’s logistics sector value was capped to be around N250 billion.

However, like many other industries in Nigeria, the logistics industry was faced with some challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Business lines contributing to the Group revenue are Courier services, mail management services, Freight services, Logistics, Ware housing and general haulage.

In the year under review, Red Star Express recorded revenue of N9.46billion as against N10.55billion recorded in prior year.

Analyzing revenue for 2021 indicated that courier services closed at N5.3billion from N6.29billion in 2020 while Logistics dropped to N1.39billion in 2021 from N1.49billion in 2020.

Other breakdown of revenue showed that freight moved from N1.27billion in 2020 to N1.28billion in 2021 as Support services dropped to N1.46billion from N1.49billion in 2020.

In a move to drive revenue, the management of Red Star Express in the year under acquired lands for logistics business, addition of significant number of trucks and trailers to its fleet and acquisition of over 300 new motorbikes.

Cost of sales dropped by 9.4 per cent to N7.12billion in 2021 from N7.86billion in 2020 to position gross profit at N2.34billion in 2021 from N2.69billion reported in 2020.

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES

From the profit & loss figures, administrative expenses dropped by 2.01 per cent to N1.98billion in 2021 from N1.48billion recorded in 2020.

On finances, finance income dropped to N12.63million in 2021 from N17.79million in 2020 as finance expenses closed 2021 at N40.89million from N60.5million in 2020.

The company recorded a Profit Before Taxation (PBT) of N220.79 million in 2021 from N750.08million I 2020. A total of

N150.07million was reported as the Profit After Tax (PAT) for the year ended which was lower than the N468.99million recorded in preceding year.

The company recorded basic Earnings Per Share (EPS) of 16kobo per 50 kobo share, which is 77 per cent lower than the preceding year.

Commenting on the company’s performance, the Group Managing Director Red Star Express, Dr. Sola Obabori stated that : “The strengthening of our core businesses with capacity for revenue generation and higher profitability remains our short-medium term strategy in the face of rising costs of operation and continuous devaluation of the Naira.

“Our post-COVID-19 mantra centres on ‘Accelerated Recovery and Growth’ which will be driven through service optimization, cost minimization, asset utilization and revenue generation. A blueprint was developed by all the subsidiaries, departments and the group as a whole, to monitor and execute the plan.

“In addition, resourcing our new growth platforms such as the e-commerce business unit through rapid customer acquisition and onboarding, is being aggressively driven whilst we are also expanding our partnerships for the General Services Agency with the airline industry.

“Expansion of trucking activities for large manufacturing companies, improved brand expression and brand enhancement initiatives; Staff realignments, motivation and trainings and Customer Loyalty Programmes are also some of the tools being deployed accordingly,” he said.

He added that: “further to the successful Rights Issue completed in 2020, the investment in a new warehouse facility at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), The Vehicle Service Centre on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the investment in our ICT infrastructure would have been fully actualized in the new financial year with more visible impact on productivity in the medium-long term.”

On future outlook, he said: “A recovery in global trade after the recession last year, offers an opportunity for emerging markets and developing economies to bolster economic growth.

“Trade costs are on average one-half higher among emerging markets and developing economies than advanced economies and lowering them could boost trade and stimulate investment and growth. We will also continue to pursue initiatives to cut carbon emission by adopting eco-friendly initiatives and strategies.

“Just as our company has always delivered on its promises, we would not relent in our commitment, dedication, ethical business dealings and promotion of your business. Together, we shall succeed on these qualities and take the business to greater heights.”

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Maritime Security: President Buhari Assures Deep Blue Project on Course President Muhammadu Buhari has assured that the plan to secure the country’s waters and the Gulf of Guinea through the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, also known as the Deep Blue Project, was being achieved promising that Nigerians and stakeholders

in the entire region would soon feel the impact.

The president stated this in his Independence Day speech to commemorate Nigeria’s 61th anniversary.

According to Buhari, “Earlier this year, I launched the Integrated National Security and Waterways

Protection Infrastructure, the Deep Blue Project, which is designed to secure Nigerian waters up to the Gulf of Guinea. I am happy to inform Nigerians that we have taken delivery of key assets for this project and very soon, its impact will be felt.”

The Deep Blue Project is the

security architecture conceptualized by the Federal Ministry of Transportation, which is domiciled with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

In his reaction, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, stated that the agency was

more committed to zero tolerance for insecurity in the country’s waters than ever before.

Jamoh also disclosed that the Agency was engaged in continuous collaboration with critical stakeholders in the pursuit of its mandates.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu

Gambo, has restated the commitment of the Nigerian Navy to the successful implementation of the Deep Blue Project, working with NIMASA. Gambo, who was represented by Rear Admiral Adaji, said this at an event in Lagos to commemorate the World Maritime Day.

NGX Harps on Need for Digital Transformation of Financial Services Space The Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Mr. Temi Popoola has stressed the need for digital transformation of the financial services space with a keen focus on the Nigerian capital market.

He stated this while speaking at the inaugural NGX TechNovation Conference held in Lagos. The virtual event with the theme, “Technology, Platforms and Markets,” featured critical discussions around technology, partnerships and innovation that can boost the advancement of the Nigerian economy.

According to Popoola, “The conference is particularly important to us at NGX because we have stepped into an era that signals a new horizon of opportunities. NGX is a technology powerhouse that leverages smart business models to deliver vertical platforms across capital formation, investment, capacity building, market development and a plethora of other services within the capital markets ecosystem. We are committed to developing innovative solutions that drive, not just internal efficiency at the exchange but that support wider efforts by various stakeholders at ensuring a full digitalization of the Nigerian capital markets.

We are extending our platform competencies in line with our strategic aspirations while leveraging best in class digital innovation to deliver value to our stakeholders and markets.”

In his goodwill message, the Director General, Securities and

Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda stated, “I would like to begin by commending Mr. Temi Popola, CEO, NGX and his team for putting together and event like this which shows our resilience as a people and ability to face challenges. The theme of today’s conference, Technology, Platforms and Markets indeed captures the mood in world today and the inevitable coming together of the three segments in view of the COVID-19 pandemic which has forced us all to stretch possibilities and adopt new ways of performing our functions. These recent shifts certainly pose a challenge and a huge opportunity to both financial sector regulators and conventional financial services providers like NGX. It is, therefore, important that we facilitate conversations like this to ensure we strike the right balance between innovation, integrity and protection of investors, without whom there will be no markets.”

In his speech, the Co-Founder and CEO, Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola noted, “As of today, we are in the information age where technology is leapfrogging every business model and infrastructure we can think about. This has of course facilitated growth that we see across the landscape in different terrains.

A key driver in the proliferation of technology solutions in Nigeria has been mobile penetration and we expect to see continued growth in this regard.

RMRDC Reaffirms Commitment to Value Addition for Raw Materials Devt Gilbert Ekugbe The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has restated its commitment to adding value on the nation’s raw materials to drive economic growth and development.

The move according to the council is to help Nigeria conserve its scarce foreign exchange spent on importing commodities the nation has competitive and comparative advantage of producing.

The Lagos State Coordinator, RMRDC, Tokunbo Habeeb, at the commissioning of Agape Great Grace Ventures’ bleached castor oil production facility in Nigeria located in Ogun State, said the demand for castor oil in Nigeria is huge, stating the Council’s resolve to supporting farmers with improved castor seeds to boost the production of castor oil in the country.

In his words, “We also have plans to revitalize all the raw materials in the 10 sectors of the Nigerian economy and once we identify a private sector showing interest in the nation’s raw material development, we will provide the data and information concerning the raw material requirement.”

According to him: “Castor oil is a major oil used in the cosmetic industry and it has been costing the country so much money importing this commodity. This is why we assembled the farmers to provide the seeds while also ensuring that we provide some vital equipment to enhance their agronomic practices.”

He said the council will also organise a buyers-sellers conference to expose the nation’s huge potential in castor oil production.

“We also took different strides to ensure that the seeds are available all year round to the manufacturer.

Castor seeds are produced in the northern part of the country, but we have assembled some farmers all over the Southwest and presented them with high quality seeds. We have also assured them that the company will buy their produce after the harvest.

“This is a pilot plant. We want the technology to be here first and after we get the technology, we would invite Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) to understudy the technology for local fabrication. Our interest here is to get the yields very high to be able to meet industrial standards,” he said.

MONTBLANC BOUTIQUE DEBUTS.…

L - R: Executive Director, Polo Luxury Group, Jennifer Obayuwana; Managing Director, Africa, Montblanc, Alain Dos Santos and Chief Executive Officer, Polo Luxury Group, John Obayuwana during the unveilling of the first stand alone Montblanc boutique in Nigeria at The Palms Shopping Mall Lekki

Stakeholders Urge FG to Engage Technology Service Providers to Boost e-Governance Emma Okonji The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other stakeholders who spoke at the 2021 Nigeria e-Government Summit in Lagos recently, have stressed the need for more meaningful engagement between the federal government and technology service providers, in order to enhance the delivery of e-Government services to the citizens.

The Executive Chairman, DigiServe Network Services, organisers of the summit, Mr. Lanre Ajayi, in his opening remarks, said technology service providers were not engaging government enough and that they were not coming up with adequate technology solutions that would enhance the delivery of e-government services to the citizens.

According to him, “Those who

suffer most from the lack of sufficient government engagement are the Nigerian citizens, because citizens no longer get quality service delivery from government. Citizens are not getting quality service from government because technologies are not efficiently deployed in government service deliveries. In order to bridge the gap, DigiServe decided to use its e-Government Summit platform to bring together, government and technology services providers to share experience on the way forward.”

In his keynote address, the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Chairman, Joint Tax Board (JTB), Mr. Muhammad Nami, spoke on the benefits of technology adoption by the federal government to enhance e-government service delivery.

Nami, who was represented by the Group Lead, Digital Support Group at FIRS, Mrs. Chiaka Ben-

Obi, said technology remained a key enabler, and the cornerstone of any nation’s development, thus providing huge opportunities for e-government service deliveries.

According to Nami, “The path to successful implementation of e-government is complex, sometimes requiring legislative support, effective design of administrative and technical procedures, and extensive consultation processes with key stakeholders. FIRS is ready to partner with Ministries, Departments and Agencies; Technology Companies and Multinational Organizations and other stakeholders, for e-government initiatives that will increase tax compliance, increase revenue generation and accelerate Nigeria’s economic growth.”

He however listed some of the challenges to technology adoption by government to include: Implementation of legislation to support the MDAs in achieving

its target; Multiple vendors and systems; High cost of technology adoption and Internal resistance to change, among others.

In another keynote address, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management at NCC, Adewolu Adeleke, said governments would function more effectively through the adoption of ICT, that would lead to the provision of speedy access to automated services in order to make public welfare services available to all citizens.

“The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been working assiduously with all stakeholders to deepen penetration of broadband infrastructure and services, which support the growth of e-governance and other critical digital economy objectives throughout Nigeria,” Danbatta said.

NIS, Huawei Technologies Strengthen Ties for Digital Migration Management Michael Olugbode in Abuja The Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS), has said that it will continue to strengthen its partnership with Chinese mobile technologies giant, Huawei, to provide a digital platform for seamless and effective migration management across national borders for internal security.

Speaking at an interactive session between the NIS and Huawei on immigration digital transformation, Acting Comptroller-General, (CG), of the NIS, Isah Idris, noted that a sustained collaboration between the

two agencies is key to bolstering efforts at securing Nigeria’s borders through ICT. He said the need for smooth deployment of relevant Information and Communication Technology, (ICT), has made it necessary for the NIS to continue to engage Huawei technologies to further the agency’s commitment at entrenching seamless operations and strategies.

Idris said the service has long realized that “Within the framework of the statutory obligations of the NIS and in furtherance of the overall commitment towards entrenching

effective and efficient Migration Management and Internal Security strategies in Nigeria, the deployment of relevant Information and Communications Technology (ICT) cannot be overemphasized.”

“Consequently, while contending with the reality of inadequate resources, the NIS had implemented several ICT platforms to guarantee seamless operations and effective and efficient service delivery.

Some prominent examples of such platforms which are at various stages of implementation include e-Passport Project, e-Payment for Immigration

facilities and Expatriate Residence Permit (CERPAC) Project.

“Others are e-Pass to check overstay, electronic passenger registration system (e-PaRS), automated Visa on Arrival (VOA), automated Temporary Work Permit (TWP), Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS), Public Key Directory (PKD) and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), a harmonization of data base command and Control entre in the NIS’ Technology Building and the deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered central database system among others,” he added.

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NCC Sensitises Telecoms Consumers over October 31 Deadline for NIN-SIM Integration Emma Okonji The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on telecoms subscribers to complete their NIN-SIM integration process before the October 31 deadline, to avoid disconnection.

The federal government had in the past, sensitised the public on the need to integrate their National Identity Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) and had set October 31, 2021 as deadline after extending the initial deadline severally.

NCC made the call during the Digital Signature (NDS) radio programme, which hosted the second episode of Telecoms Consumer Town Hall on Radio (TCTHR) live on a radio station in Lagos recently to discuss benefits of NIN-SIM integration.

In the studio during the TCTHR programme, were representatives of the NCC, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and officials of telecoms operators.

The live, phone-in programme provided opportunity for listeners to call and get clarifications on concerns and issues around NIN-SIM integration exercise.

Speaking during the live programme, Director, Public Affairs at NCC, Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, advised Nigerians to make use of the extension of the NIN-SIM integration exercise to October 31, 2021, to enrol with NIMC, get their NIN and link it to their SIMs. “Soon, people without NIN will be denied of necessary services that play vital roles in their lives including acquisition of driver’s license, international passport,” Adinde said.

Speaking on the benefits of the

NIN-SIM integration, Adinde said the exercise would significantly enhance national security as NIN is the primary identity for Nigerians, stressing that in line with federal government’s commitment to ensure that Nigeria deploys technology to improve service delivery, the NINSIM database will enhance citizens’ access to government services.

The Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau of NCC, Efosa Idehen, noted that most Nigerians were still using SIMs without unique identification, as they were yet to link their NINs to their SIMs, pointing out that “those SIMs without unique identification could be used to commit crimes that remain untraceable.”

While explaining that security should be the responsibility of all citizens and not be left in the hands of government alone, Idehen urged telecoms consumers to take advantage of the October 31, 2021 deadline to enrol with NIMC, get their NIN and link same with their SIM to avoid denial of essential services in future.

Also speaking on the programme, Regional Director, NIMC in Lagos, Funmi Opesanwo, said submission of NIN to a mobile network provider would help in providing a means of verifying an individual’s identity and safeguarding both identity and mobile line.

She explained that NIN would become the first layer of verifying everything about a citizen, stating that other relevant database in other sectors of the economy are being integrated into the NIMC database for proper harmonization.

“For instance, Bank Verification Number (BVN) is being harmonised with NIMC database. Therefore, BVN holders have automatically been allocated NIN and we advise BVN

holders to dial *346# with the mobile number linked to BVN to confirm their integration. However, NINs generated via BVN must be verified and validated by NIMC through proper registration and biometrics capture at an enrollment center,” she said.

Representatives of telecoms companies including Globacom, MTN, Airtel and 9mobile, who attended the programme also answered series of questions from the consumers on the phone-in programme.

TCTHR is a consumer outreach

programme of the NCC previously held in semi-urban areas but now modified to be radio-based, in order to reach every telecom consumer and as part of the Commission’s response to the efforts of the federal government to contain the spread of COVID-19

pandemic.

The first episode of the programme, aimed at empowering consumers through information sharing, education and protection initiatives, was held in Kano in August, 2021 on NCC Digital Signature.

L-R: Group Corporate Communications and Events Manager, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr.Tope Ashiwaju; Grand Prize Winner, Indomie Team Yourself Up Season 6, Lawal Oluwadarasimi, National Coordinator, Indomie Fan Club, Mrs.Faith Joshua Ogechukwu; and Executive Director, Media Reach OMD,Mr. Yinka Adebayo, at the prize presentation ceremony PHOTO: ETOP UKUTT for winners of the Indomie Team Yourself Up Season 6 in Lagos recently

Forex: MAN Lauds FG over Rebounding Andela Completes $200m of Production of Goods, Services Investment Financing Deal Led by SoftBank Emma Okonji Andela, the global network for remote engineering talent, has announced a $200 million in Series E financing that values the company at $1.5 billion.

Softbank Vision Fund 2 led the round with participation from new investor Whale Rock and existing investors including Generation Investment Management, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Spark Capital. Founding Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers and one of the most respected consumer technology investors in the world, Lydia Jett, will join Andela’s Board of Directors.

Andela helps companies build remote engineering teams by providing them with access to the best software engineers in the world.

Launched in Africa in 2014, the Andela network today represents engineers from more than 80 countries and six continents. Through Andela, thousands of engineers have been placed with leading technology companies including Github, Cloudflare and ViacomCBS. Speaking on the investment deal, the CEO and co-Founder of Andela, Jeremy Johnson, said: “Andela has always been the high-quality option for those building remote engineering teams. Now that the world has come to embrace remote work, Andela has become the obvious choice for companies because we can find better talent, faster.

“If you are a talented engineer, Andela opens up a world of possibilities for you, no matter where you are based.”

With a successful placement rate of 96 per cent, Andela has mastered the ability to evaluate the technical

skills and soft skills of engineers to match them to the teams they’ll be most successful in. With the new capital, the company will invest in developing products to simplify global hiring and make engineers’ lives easier. In addition, Andela will continue to expand its talent offering beyond software development to include new verticals such as design and data after launching Salesforce development earlier this year.

“Hiring remote technical talent is one of the top challenges that companies face today. We believe Andela will become the preferred talent partner for the world’s best companies as remote and hybrid work arrangements become the norm,” Jett said, adding, “We are delighted to support Jeremy and the Andela team in their mission to connect these companies with brilliant engineers, and in the process, unlock human potential at scale.”

Director of the Andela Learning Community, Agnes Muthoni, said: “This new round of funding enables Andela to strengthen our already extensive network of incredible talent in Africa and across the world, as we systematically connect the best software engineers with global opportunities.

“Being backed by a diverse group of renowned and experienced investors is a testament to the growing importance of remote work, and how Andela is at the forefront of helping companies scale their engineering teams at a rapid pace.”

A fully remote organisation with more than 300 employees around the world, Andela said it would be hiring top talent across the board, particularly in Product, Engineering, and Growth.

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin National President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Engineer Mansur Ahmed has lauded the federal government efforts at rebounding the production of goods and services in the country through the recent directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to withdraw supply of foreign exchange from the Bureau De Change.

Speaking in Ilorin, Kwara state capital during the 7th Annual General Meeting of the MAN, Ahmed noted that, “Its availability is intended to allow those that are producing good and services to bring in the necessary materials and equipment required in order to produce those goods and services at affordable prices is highly commendable and would assist the locally producing manufacturers

to increase their productivity. The decision by the CBN to withdraw supply of foreign exchange from the Bureau De Change is one that the manufacturing sector is fully in support of.

Foreign exchange is not a commodity that should be taken to the market and traded and Its availability is intended to allow those that are producing good and services to bring in the necessary materials and equipment required in order to produce those goods and services at affordable prices. So the art of getting foreign exchange in the market, to me it does not make sense..And yet we know that this process has indeed make huge sum of forex into the BDCs. “We do not see how that will help the economy. Certainly, if the foreign exchange is made available

to our manufacturing companies, more young people will be employed and the companies will operate at higher capacity and more industries will be created while lot of the raw materials needed to make run will be readily available. So, if you have to sell Forex to traders in the market as if it is a commodity, you are denying the manufacturing sector these vital resources.”

Ahmed added, “The law of forex at it was been done is not sustainable because according to the CBN report, the numbers of BDCs exploded between 2005 -11 from 74 from over 6,000. Assuming giving $20,000 to BDCs weekly, this will amount to over $600m of forex weekly going into the market instead of going into industries to produce good and services and create employment. Clearly, that action of

the CNB on foreign exchange is most welcome and we commend the federal government on that.”

He also called for the public interest in the development of manufacturing industries through provision of necessary facilities like loans, roads, electricity, and security among other so as to enhance the growth of businesses in the country.

Ahmed who lauded the giant stride of the Kwara branch of association advised them not to relent in its efforts in the bid to enhance growth of businesses in the state.

Also speaking, the Kwara /Kogi state branch of NMA, Bioku Rahmon expressed concern over the high amd fast rising debt profile of the country adding that, the development has weakened the government capacity to build the infrastructures required by local industries.

Stockbrokers X-rays Nigerian Capital Market at 61 Stockbrokers under the aegis of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) and Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON) have identified some challenges and the way forward for the Nigerian capital market at 61.

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, formerly Nigerian Stock Exchange was incorporated in 1960 but commenced business in 1961.

In separate statements, the two bodies explained that the market had contributed significantly to the growth and development of the economy but a lot should be put in place to operate optimally in the current tough environment.

The President, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Mr Olatunde Amolegbe in a statement explained that the market, relative to the economy was abysmally low.

“It’s not heartwarming to say that the Nigerian capital market, relative

to the size of the country’s economy, is still abysmally low, as the equity market capitalization to GDP ratio stands far below 20%, in contrast to the South Africa’s 348.3% and Brazil’s 68.4%.The ratios in the key developed economies are in excess of 100%.

The participation of Nigerians in the capital market is very low. Less than 5% of the country’s population are involved in the market as investors, while less than 1% of registered companies are listed. “ Despite the tough operating environment, the Nigerian Stock Market was adjudged the best in Africa and No.3 in the world in terms of Return to investors in 2017. Three years later, in 2020, the market was adjudged the best in the entire world, ”said Amolegbe.

The Institute therefore advocated a review of the enabling legal frameworks to encourage the local pension funds to significantly increase their

investment in the Nigerian equity market.

According to him, an institution like the CIS which is primarily responsible for training and certification of individual practitioners and propagation of capital market literacy across the country requires financial support such as grant from both government and market regulators to support the drive.

“The National Assembly should give expedited hearing and passage to the proposed Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment Market (CISIM) Bill which will properly update existing legislation to be at par with the realities of the global capital market, “he said.

Corroborating him, ASHON’s Chairman, Onyewenchukwu Ezeagu said the market challenges emanated from buy and hold attitude of many investors and the lack of synergy between the regulators and operators.

Ezeagu noted that buy and hold attitude of many investors was as old as the market, attributing this to ignorant of dynamics and benefits of investment in shares.

“The challenges of the Nigerian Capital Market runs in tandem with the challenges of the country giving credence to the belief that the capital market is a barometer of the economy of a nation. However, the market has stood the test of time despite the huge challenges of an underdeveloped country and some peculiar problems.

“The challenges emanate from Buy and hold attitude of Nigerians who are ignorant of the nature and benefits of the capital market. There were few investment outlets in the market at inception. There is a problem of poor internet data, lack of synergy between the regulator and regulated and government policy summersault, ”said Ezeagu.

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NNPC Begins Construction of 50MW Power Plant in Borno Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has commenced the construction of a 50-megawatt gas turbine power plant, the Maiduguri Emergency Power Project (MEPP), expected to generate electricity to the capital city and its environs.

The national oil company had announced a plan for the gas-powered plant in April as a long-term solution to the incessant attacks and destruction of power lines by the

Boko Haram insurgents, who had frustrated attempts to restore power to the beleaguered city.

It was learnt that China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC) and General Electric (GE) would handle the project meant to ensure supply to the state which had been cut off since January this year following the insurgents’ attacks on lines along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road at least on two occasions.

In August 2021, the NNPC signed an official contract with the CMEC

and GE on the project. The groundbreaking ceremony signifies the official commencement of the project as the contractors have since moved to site.

In his remarks at the ceremony to flag off the project, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, explained that the move was a result of a presidential directive to provide emergency intervention to the electricity supply to the area.

Kyari therefore assured the people of Maiduguri that the project will be delivered on schedule, adding that

it would further improve NNPC’s gas utilisation efforts for the socioeconomic benefit of Nigerians.

“NNPC as an enabler organisation is committed to the delivery of this project within schedule, and has already awarded the contract to General Electric Global (GE) for the supply of gas turbine, while Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) has been contracted to China Machinery and Engineering Corporation (CMEC),” Kyari stated, noting that the project

would be a model for other cities across the country.

Borno State Governor, Prof.

Babagana Zulum, in his comments, described the ground-breaking ceremony of the project as the happiest day of his life and a huge relief to the people of Maiduguri, who have been without power supply for nine months. According to the governor, NNPC’s commercial investments in the 50mw combined gas power plant will ultimately increase energy supply level to Maiduguri and environs,

thereby impacting the state’s economy positively, when completed.

He said the Borno state government will do everything possible to ensure that maximum security of lives and property are guaranteed for the project implementation team and residents of the state.

“I assure you that as a government, we will provide the much-needed security to ensure that this high pressure-scheduled project is completed on cost, scope and quality,” Zulum added.

Chevron’s GMoU: Aggrieved IRDC Members Protest ATCON, ALTON Partner DigiVation Network Missing N300m from Host Communities Account to CelebrateTelecoms Revolution Sylvester Idowu in Warri

Aggrieved members of Itsekiri Regional Development Committee (IRDC) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to direct investigation into alleged fraudulent withdrawal of N300million from the account domiciled at Keystone Bank by some executives of the Committee.

They also called on the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami to look into the fraudulent activities of some members of the Committee with the aim of bringing them to justice.

Counsel to the aggrieved members, Robinson Ariyo, at a press conference in Warri weekend said the call became necessary following the refusal of the Nigerian Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate a petition submitted in respect of the matter since 2020 under frivolous excuses.

He explained that IRDC was a creation of Chevron Nigeria Limited

(CNL) established as a framework under it’s Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) for the development of it’s host communities in Warri North, Warri South and Warri South West local government areas of Delta State.

Mr. Ariyo disclosed that Chevron paid about N2.1 billion into Keystone Bank, one of the several accounts operated by IRDC, until a dispute occured and a court ruling freezed the account pending determination of the case.

He however alleged that some of the defendants in the case fraudulently obtained ruling in another case instituted by them claiming settlement of the other cases amongst the parties involved.

The Counsel, said with ruling, the defendants in other suits, instituted by the aggrieved parties, including Itsekiri woman leader, Chief (Mrs) Rita Lori Ogbebor, fraudulently withdrew N300 million naira from the account, which became a subject of petitions to the Nigerian Police

and EFCC. He disclosed that both security agencies, saddled with the responsibility of investigating criminal cases, have refused to commence investigations since the petitions were submitted in November 2020.

“We are appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami to direct investigations into the fraudulent withdrawal of the said money by these people we considered very powerful with vast connections.

“We are suspecting that the judiciary, the police and EFCC have compromised and hence we want the intervention of the President and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice in this case, “he pleaded.

Ariyo said his clients have lost confidence in the way and manner the security agencies were handling the matter noting that the people of the host communities, whom the money was meant for the development of their areas are suffering.

Nosa Alekhuogie The two biggest stakeholders interest groups in the Nigerian telecom industry; Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), have partnered DigiVation Network, an awareness and digital solution firm to host an event to celebrate Nigeria’s telecom revolution at 20.

The essence of the event, which is scheduled to hold in Abuja is to celebrate the impact GSM and Information Communications Technology have made across all sectors of the Nigerian economy in the last 20 years since the liberalisation of the sector in 2001.

Tagged, “Two Decades of GSM it’s Impacts and Role on the Nigerian economy,” the event, which the organizers said already has the endorsement of the telecom regulator, Nigerian Communications

Commission (NCC), Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and all the telecom operators will feature awards and seminars.

In a statement signed by the CEO of DigiVation Networks, Dr. Bayero Agabi, on behalf of the three groups, he said Nigeria as a country had enjoyed mobile telecommunication, which has changed every other sector of the economy in the last twenty years. According to the statement, “Year 2021 marks two decades since the NCC held the GSM auction which led to the licensing of Econet Wireless Nigeria (now Airtel) and MTN Nigeria in February that year. Significantly, such twenty years landmark of an industry that accounted for helping Nigeria’s economic recovery from recession in the past year and with a contribution of 12.45 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the

fourth quarter of year 2020, cannot simply go unceremoniously.”

While noting that the industry has steadily evolved to enable innovations and help the country compete technologically on a global scale, the statement also disclosed that the event will bring telecommunications and Information Technology thought-leaders from across the world to celebrate with Nigeria and will follow up with an Award and Gala Night, which is designed to celebrate and recognise individuals, organizations, institutions and initiatives that have advanced the Nigerian/African telecoms/digital space in the past 20 years.

Part of the highlights of the day is the premiere of a special audio/visual documentary that will chronicles issues and development that have enabled conscious development of Nigeria and looking for better ways to putting Nigeria on the map of digital nations.

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T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

HOMES&DESIGN

ICONIC TOWERS VICTORIA ISLAND BY CRUXSTONE, LAGOS

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

HOMES&DESIGN

How Cruxstone, LSDPC are Lighting up Lagos Horizon Lagos’ landscape is transforming, rapidly switching what was considered serene low-density accommodation to multi-residency facilities that are rising skyward. Investors are seeking bungalows and storey-buildings less of a skyscraper in Ikoyi, and Victoria Island, turning them into highrises. The Lagos government is not unmindful of the imperative of maximising increasing scarce land in the state.

Cruxstone, a high-profile investor, is building 13-floor Iconic Towers from the ruins of some low-range buildings owned by Lagos State Development and Property Corporation. Bennett Oghifo writes

I

conic Towers Victoria Island are highend facilities developed by a real estate company, Cruxstone Development and Investment Limited, in collaboration with Lagos State Government, represented

by Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC).

The towers are developed on approximately 10,000sqm of prime land, and construction began in 2019 but stalled because of COVID-19.

The 13-floor towers, six of them, are rising from the ruins of some low range buildings, built by LSDPC on a sprawling piece of prime land on Sinari Daranijo Street in Victoria Island, behind the equally grandiose Zenith Bank headquarters.

The Iconic Towers are modelled after the five-star hotel concept, with the hotel Concierge to boot, to assist residents and guests with various needs. There will also be strict access control, particularly in the lobby.

According to the Managing Director of Cruxstone Development and Investment

Limited, Adetoro Bank-Omotoye, the towers are luxury development, and “for us, we have taken luxury development” to another level.

“As of last week, three residential towers have been built. These have one, two and three-bedroom flats, as well as penthouses of four bedrooms. The penthouses are on three floors, there is a two-floor three-bedroom called the maisonette and another type of three-bedroom apartment, in addition to the one and two bedrooms apartments,” Bank-Omotoye added. “The one-bedroom apartments are on the lower floors, and the two and three bedrooms are on the upper floors, as you go up.”

A major attraction of the towers is the panoramic view it presents of the whole of Victoria Island, including the lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean.

The Iconic Towers are constructed by BCL Engineering, which the Cruxstone managing director described as a “very

high-end, quality-driven construction company. For us, quality is the watchword.”

The development is in four phases, and the first phase has been completed and will be available for occupation in December this year. Also being built is a tower for extended-stay hotel apartments, which is called the Autograph.

“It is like home away from home, with hotel feel, at the Autograph,” said BankOmotoye. “You owned the unit, but it is not for you to stay, but for investment.

We manage it for you.”

The project’s second phase will be delivered next year, and the third and fourth phases will be done about the same time as the second phase next year.

“In the first to the second quarter of 2022, the project will be fully delivered,” disclosed the Cruxstone boss.

According to the managing director, the luxury towers will be fitted with high-end facilities and security systems, and these

will be powered 24/7 by an independent power project.

At the centre of recreation in the facility is the special care devoted to the all-round wellbeing of children. For parents, the environment is ideal for top-range networking on account of the stature of the expected residents.

There are adequate parking spaces for residents and guests.

Accommodation in the luxury towers ranges from N60 million for the one-bedroom apartments; two-bedroom is N100 million, three-bedroom, N150 million, a maisonette, N170 million, and the penthouse is about N350 million. On the joint venture, a representative of LSDPC, Mr. Kunle Samuel of the corporation’s Joint Venture, Business Development Unit, said, “This is just one joint venture development that is happening all over the state. What we have done is to look at our old property where we once had bungalows to maximise the land so that the returns will be high.”

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

BUSINESSSPECIAL

Editor: Obinna Chima obinna.chima@thisdaylive.com 08024557078

Kaduna, Ekiti, Kwara Lead in Transparency, Integrity Index

Obinna Chima

T

he Center for Fiscal Transparency & Integrity Watch (CeFTIW), a non-partisan organisation established with the aim of promoting accountability, transparency within public sector and ensuring good governance at all levels has ranked Kaduna, Ekiti and Kwara as the top three states in its 2021 Transparency and Integrity Index (TII).

The states were said to be in compliance with laws that mandates them to disclose their activities proactively.

The ranking was disclosed in a 107-page report.

According to the latest ranking, Kaduna State recorded the highest score of 76.67 per cent and was ranked first. The northern state was closely followed by Ekiti and Kwara states, with scores of 73.33 per cent and 65 per cent and ranked second and third respectively. Kano (60%), Oyo (60%), Taraba (58.33) followed in that order. Among the south-eastern states, Ebonyi led with a score of 35 per cent and took the 23rd position.

On the other Niger State with 20 per cent score was ranked 34th, followed by Sokoto and Zamfara States with 16.67 per cent score and jointly ranked 35th respectively. They were the bottom three states least complying with the TII variables.

The report showed that out of the 36 states, 33 have published budget allocations, 31 states have published

budgets implementation reports, and 30 states have published their financial audit reports.

It also revealed that 20 states published the list of its awarded contracts within 2016 -2020 period and 19 states disclosed the list of the contractors.

The findings also showed that 35 states have procurement institutions and laws.

“Despite the crucial importance of having anti-corruption laws and policies, our finding shows that only five out of the 36 states have enacted laws on anti-corruption and anti-bribery. Our findings also show that out of the 36 states, only three states domesticated the Freedom of Information (FOI) Law. “However, all the 36 states have communication channels (feedback forms and social media account(s) to facilitate citizens’ engagement.

“On local government transparency, out of the 36 states, eight published local governments’ budget, 19 states published reports of the accountant general on local government accounts, and two states published information on local government procurement,” it added.

Furthermore, the report showed that among the government institutions, the Family Homes Fund Limited was ranked the highest with a score of 34.92 per cent. It was ranked first because it was adjudged the institution most complying with the TII variables.

It was followed by nine other institution in the top ranking namely: Nigerian Extractive Industry Initiative, ranked second with 33.37 per cent score; Petroleum Product Price Regulatory Agency, third with 32.48 per cent score; Development Bank of Nigeria, fourth with 30.60 per cent score; the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, fifth with 29.74 per cent score; and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, sixth with 29.48 per cent score.

Others were the National Agency for the Control of Aids, seventh with 29.09 per cent score; Central Bank of Nigeria, eight with 28.95 per cent score; the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, ninth with 28.37 per cent score; and Nigerian Port Authority, 27.7 per cent score.

The report stated that the least effective institutions complying with the TII variables were: Federal Medical Center Ebutte Metta; National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency, W.U Federal Polytechnic Birnin Kebbi, and Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, jointly occupying 425th rank with 1.79 per cent score. According to the report, they were followed by the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, ranked 429th with 1.61 per cent.

In addition, it stated that institutions with complete non-compliance were the Directorate for Technical Cooperation in Africa; National Troupe of Nigeria; Federal College of Agriculture Ibadan,

Oyo State; Federal College of Wildlife Management, New Bussa, Niger; Anambra - Imo River Basin Development Authority; Benin - Owenna River Basin Development Authority; Cross - River River Basin Development Authority; Chad Basin River Basin Development Authority; and Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority.

It listed others to include Ogun - Osun River Basin Development Authority; Niger - Delta River Basin Development Authority; Gurara Dam Management Agency; Federal University Dutsin-ma, Katsina; Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko Delta; N.A Institute of Technology & Environmental Sciences; Project Development Institute; FCT College of Education Zuba and Institute of Archeology And Museum Studies and Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding In Nigeria.

The institutions jointly occupied the 430th rank, with zero per cent score.

“Generally, the performance of all the institutions is very poor. The score all the institutions is below average,” it added.

In ranking the ministries’ performance, the TII stated that Ministry of Aviation (23rd in the overall ranking) garnered the highest score of 23.25 per cent and was ranked first. It was closely followed by the Ministry of Health (29th in the overall ranking), which took the second position. The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (41st in the overall ranking) occupied the third rank with 19.92 per cent score.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

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BUSINESS SPECIAL

PERSPECTIVE

Und e r s t a n d i n g FX , Extern al Reserves and Naira Exchange Rate Mike Idi Obadan

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n recent months, developments in the Nigerian foreign exchange (FX) market have elicited reactions from stakeholders, some of which reflect understanding while others do not. This piece seeks to throw light on the issues relating to FX, external reserves and naira exchange rate instability.

FX is relevant in the context of world trade, payments and capital flows into and out of a country. It is the monetary instrument for the settlement of international transactions and for financing imbalances in a country’s external payments position vis-à-vis other countries.

FX forms a major component of a country’s external reserves which according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) consists of “official public sector foreign assets that are readily available to, and controlled by the monetary authorities, for direct financing of payments imbalances, and directly regulating the magnitude of such imbalances, through intervention in the FX markets to affect the currency exchange rate and/or for other purposes”.

In light of this, the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, Section 24, mandates the Bank to maintain external reserve assets in gold coin or bullion, balances in banks outside Nigeria, foreign short-term treasury bills and medium-term securities, Special Drawing Rights (SDR) of the IMF, etc.

These assets have the feature of liquidity and are represented by convertible currencies such as the US dollar, British pound sterling, Chinese Remnibi, Japanese Yen, etc. As at September 8, 2021, US dollar assets accounted for the lion’s share (72.04%) of Nigeria’s external reserve stock of $36.25 billion.

The shares of the other components of the external reserves were as follows: British Pound Sterling (0.75%); Euro (0.33); Chinese Remnibi (11.81%); SDR (15.05%); and Japanese Yen (0.02%).

The CBN Act 2007 enjoins the Bank to “use its best endeavour to maintain external reserves at levels considered by the Bank to be appropriate for the economy and the monetary system of Nigeria”.

In light of this, the CBN has strived to carry out this mandate by using supply and demand management strategies, particularly, FX conservation and control measures as well as measures to ensure adequate supply of foreign exchange.

This is particularly so because FX is a scarce resource that needs to be efficiently managed if the country is to achieve macroeconomic stability, and avoid chronic balance of payments and external reserve problems.

It must be stressed that it is only foreign exchange, in the form of convertible currencies or internationally acceptable currencies, and not naira, that can be used for international transactions.

The main sources of foreign exchange supply to a country include foreign currency receipts from exports of goods and services, monetary gifts and inflows of capital from abroad such as loans and investments. It is from these earnings that the demand for FX is met to spend on foreign imports of goods and services (including foreign travel, education medical treatment abroad), monetary gifts to foreigners, and loans and investments abroad. What is the implication of this?

It is that for Nigeria whose currency is not convertible or serve as international currency, she must necessarily earn foreign exchange through high productivity and export of goods and services, receipt of monetary gifts or receipt of foreign loans and investments in order to import needed goods and services aimed at the development of the economy and enhancing the welfare of the citizens.

Also, high levels of FX earnings and external reserves are the backbone of the naira exchange rate. They ensure stability of the rate while low levels weaken the naira. But then, it must be noted that the CBN does not produce FX; it is what is earned by the country that the Bank strives to manage and use to stabilise the exchange rate.

And achieving adequate amount of FX earnings requires developed domestic production structures, diversified economy and export orientation, and a conducive macroeconomic environment, among others.

For quite some time now, there have been issues about these which predate the present Administration. The genuine efforts of the federal government to achieve a headway on these have tended to be undermined by exogenous shocks in the past five years which pushed the economy into recession in 2016 and 2020. The shocks affected FX earnings, external reserves accumulation and exchange rate stability.

The first recession which lasted from the first quarter(Q1) of 2017 to the first quarter of 2017, was triggered by the collapse of crude oil prices in the global market. The price of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude oil declined continuously from US$ 62.22 in quarter 2(Q2) in 2015 to US$34.39 per barrel in Q1, 2016.

As at the second quarter, 2017 when the country exited recession, crude oil price per barrel stood at just US$ 50.21 per barrel. Due to the heavy dependence of the Nigerian economy on the oil sector, the impact of the oil market crash was severe on export earnings, foreign exchange reserves, government revenue and

other macroeconomic aggregates including economic growth.

External reserves declined from US$ 28.28.33 billion in Q2, 2015 to US$ 23.8 in Q3, 2016. The other external sector indicators similarly deteriorated: balance of goods and services, balance of current account, financial account, overall balance of payments, and external debt stock and debt servicing. The net FX inflow became negative, implying that the country paid out more foreign exchange to the rest of the world for importation of goods and services than it received. This implied that the demand for FX was higher than receipt of FX, and the pressure on forex and the naira exchange rate was very high.

This accounted for the devaluation/depreciation of the naira in relation to the US dollar at that time.

Secondly, the covid-19 pandemic-induced economic crisis in 2020 resulted in recession in the third and fourth quarters of last year. The pandemic containment measures in the form of economic lockdowns and restrictions on international travels and business resulted in recessions for countries in various degrees.

Again, the external sector aggregates of the Nigerian economy experienced serious deterioration due to the economy’s continued heavy dependence on the oil sector for export earnings and external reserves accumulation. Crude oil production reduced from 2.07 mbpd in Q1, 2020 to 1.61 mbpd in Q2, 2021.

Reports even indicate further decline to 1.27 mbpd in August, lower than the 1.38 mbpd achieved in July 2021 caused by difficulties in some oil terminals.

This decline in output partly explains why the observed increase in oil prices to about US$ 70+ per barrel has not impacted much on government revenue or foreign reserves accretion. This contrasts with US$50.43 per barrel on 4th January, 2021 and a low of US$14.67 per barrel recorded on 27th April 2020.

Although the price of the commodity is currently above the pre-pandemic level of US$67.20 per barrel recorded on 1st January, 2020, its impact on government revenue and FX reserves is further limited by the continued heavy importation of refined petroleum products for nearly all the domestic consumption needs. For example, in in July and August, the inflow of foreign exchange revenue from Crude Oil and Gas was zero.

Thus, the nature of challenges that the authorities currently face in the management of FX and exchange rate must be understood: net inflow of FX being negative in Q1 and Q2, 2021; current account balance was negative from Q1 2020 to Q2 2021; overall balance of payments was negative in Q1 and Q2, 2021; external reserves declined from US$ 36.5 billion in Q4 2020 to US$ 32.9 billion in Q2 2021 due to heavy forex demand pressures and weak forex inflow. It however increased to US$ 36.03 billion as at 13th September 2021 due to a lifeline allocation in August of SDR equivalent of US$ 3.35 billion to the country by the IMF. Foreign exchange required for external debt servicing has also increased, rising from US$ 289.45 million in Q4 2020 to US$ 1,003.41 million in Q1 2021.

All the above developments constitute some of the immediate triggers of the observed naira exchange rate depreciation such that the Investors and Exporters exchange rate (I & E rate) (the official exchange rate for investors, exporters and end-users) has, because of the external shocks and other fundamental factors, depreciated from US$ 385.55 in Q1 2020 to US$ 411.5 in August, 2021. In the I & E market,FX is traded (sold and bought) based on prevailing market conditions. Periodically, the monetary authority intervenes with supply in the market to ensure stability of the exchange rate.

The parallel market rate is determined mostly by speculators and rent seekers in a shallow and illegal market which constitutes a very tiny proportion of the foreign exchange market in Nigeria. Because the quantity of foreign exchange available in that market is very small in relation to the demand of the desperate economic agents that want to buy FX at any cost, the exchange rate is necessarily high. It cannot serve as reference for the naira exchange rate.

If it is so, then it is the case of the tail wagging the dog! The parallel FX market needs to be avoided by decent economic agents. It will continue to exist as long as the naira is not convertible, the productivity of the economy remains low and the country does not earn enough FX from export of goods and services and capital inflows.

Now, the nature of the exchange rate and its fundamental determinants also need to be clearly understood, the key among which is the undiversified nature of the economy. The value of a country’s currency is determined by the strength of the economy in terms of its production capacity and productivity, structure, and diversification of the export production base. A vibrant and diversified productive real sector of the economy saves a nation the disbursement of scarce foreign exchange for the import of finished goods and production inputs, especially where these could be produced locally, and reduces pressure on foreign exchange demand.

In the same way, an export-oriented production base contributes substantially to foreign exchange supply which in turn strengthens the local currency.

But in Nigeria, these desired attributes have not been achieved. Hence, the heavy dependence of the country on the oil sector for foreign exchange and government revenue creates instability in the naira exchange rate. There is a direct correlation between the oil market and the naira exchange rate. When the oil market is enjoying a boom, other things being equal, the naira exchange rate strengthens/appreciates. But when there is a slump in the market, characterised by low prices, accretion to external reserves drops and the naira exchange rate depreciates.

The industrial and agricultural sectors have also not been helpful in stabilising the exchange rate.

The manufacturing sector imports most of its raw materials and equipment but ends up with little value addition to GDP and insignificant export earnings. Although the agricultural sector contributes over 24 percent to the GDP, its contribution to

foreign exchange earnings is also very low. The production system is highly import-dependent. As the country’s capital goods industry is comatose, like the petroleum product refineries, nearly all machinery, equipment and spare parts used by the production sectors that are in-ward looking, are imported, thereby putting much pressure on available foreign exchange. Yet, the contribution of the non-oil sector as a whole to the pool of foreign exchange has remained low unlike in some other countries where it contributes the bulk of foreign exchange earnings.

Another fundamental factor is the excessive demand for foreign exchange in relation to supply. Since the introduction of the market-based exchange rate system under the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1986, excessive demand for foreign exchange has been one notable factor causing depreciation of the naira exchange rate. The naira has had a respite on the few occasions of boom in the crude oil market. The truth about excess demand for foreign exchange is that a sizable part of it is not genuine as it is aimed at transferring funds out of the country to enable the importation of unnecessary finished goods and promote capital flight – illegal financial outflows and money laundering. It is true that expansionary fiscal and monetary policies have a role to play in the instability of the exchange rate. Indeed, since SAP, expansionary fiscal and monetary policies have tended to put pressure on the exchange rate. This has intensified in the last two years of covid-19-induced health and economic crisis which necessitated increased spending by both the fiscal and monetary authorities across the world in their bids to counter the severe impacts of covid-19 on their economies. The Federal Government implemented a N2.3 trillion naira economic stimulus package through the Economic Sustainability Plan in response to the covid-19 exigencies while the Central Bank intensified its development finance interventions to boost growth, employment and poverty reduction and aggregate supply of goods to tame inflation from the supply side. It is expected that as the country and the world at large gets a good handle on the covid-19 pandemic, monetary and fiscal policies will chart their normal courses.

In conclusion, it is important to stress that considering that the naira is not a convertible currency, foreign exchange and exchange rate management over the years has been quite challenging and it remains so because foreign exchange earnings from oil have followed the boom and burst cycle of the world oil market and some of the past governments did not have the political will to save. Therefore, there is the strong need to move away from the flawed pattern of economic management of the past by considering the following, some of which are short-term while the others are medium/long-term: r 3FWJWBM BOE SFCVJMEJOH PG UIF QSPEVDUJWF TFDUPST of the economy to achieve higher capacity utilisation and productivity, and competitive manufactured exports; r 4USPOH HPWFSONFOU FODPVSBHFNFOU PG MPDBM refining of petroleum products for both domestic consumption and exports; r 4USPOH BOE FGGFDUJWF TVSWFJMMBODF PG UIF GPSFJHO exchange market by the monetary authority to check round-tripping of foreign exchange from the deposit money banks to the parallel market; r %VSJOH PJM CPPNT TBWF GPSFY BOE CVJME àTDBM buffers; r *ODSFBTFE TPVSDJOH PG MPDBM SBX NBUFSJBMT BOE revival of the capital goods industry; r 1SPNPUJPO PG àTDBM BOE NPOFUBSZ EJTDJQMJOF and harmony; r $SFBUJOH BO FOBCMJOH FOWJSPONFOU GPS QSPEVDUJWF capital inflows, especially foreign direct investment; r "DUJWFMZ QSPNPUF SFTUPSBUJPO PG DPOàEFODF JO the economy to check capital flight. A good handle on the current insecurity challenges along with macroeconomic stability will be very helpful in this regard; r 3BUJPOBMJTF JNQPSUT TUSVDUVSF UP NBOBHF EFNBOE for foreign exchange; r "T NBZ CF QFSNJUUFE CZ TVQQMZ DPOTJEFSBUJPOT use external reserves stock to support the exchange rate through increased funding of the foreign exchange market; and r 6TF NPSBM TVBTJPO UP FODPVSBHF /JHFSJBOT to patronize home-made goods and reduce their high propensity for disruptive trade and commerce.

Import only when it is absolutely necessary. They should also eschew unhealthy speculation in foreign exchange as well as rent-seeking behaviour and adopt positive attitudes towards ensuring a stable exchange rate for the naira. t 0CBEBO JT B 1SPGFTTPS PG &DPOPNJDT BOE $IBJSNBO (PMENBSL &EVDBUJPO "DBEFNZ #FOJO $JUZ )F XBT GPSNFSMZ UIF %JSFDUPS (FOFSBM /BUJPOBM $FOUSF GPS &DPOPNJD .BOBHFNFOU "ENJOJTUSBUJPO *CBEBO /JHFSJB 5FM & NBJM NJLPCBEBO!HNBJM DPN

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

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BUSINESS SPECIAL

FEATURES

Access Bank: Strengthening for the Future Dike Onwuamaeze writes on the recent successful issuance of a total of $1 billion Eurobond by Access Bank Plc

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inancial institutions have been the cynosure of all eyes since the outbreak of the COVID-19 which ravaged the global economy.

As the pandemic continues to rage, analysts believe that to be successful and maintain their market share, financial institutions need to build enough buffers to be able to embrace emerging technology, adopt evolving business models and meet all their customers’ needs.

Faced with changing business environment as well as changing consumer expectations, Access Bank is not resting on its oars as it continues to take steps to strengthen its capital so as to remain a dominant lender in Nigeria as well as the continent.

The bank last week announced that it had successful issued additional $500 million tier-1 Eurobond. This came less than two weeks after the bank successfully issued a $500 million Eurobond, bringing the total amount raised by the bank to N1 billion.

The commercial bank with presence in 11 African countries, Europe, Middle East and Asia, announced the fresh capital raising in a statement that was signed by its Company Secretary, Sunday Ekwochi.

It explained that the offering achieved a pricing of 9.125 per cent yield and coupon and was oversubscribed by two times it order book which peaked at over $1 billion.

According to the bank, the additional tier 1 Eurobond which was issued under its medium term note programme was a, “Basel III compliant perpetual non-call 5.25-year subordinated Note to be listed on the London Stock Exchange.”

It added: “The Eurobond may be called anytime from October 7, 2026, subject to conditions including the Central Bank of Nigeria’s approval.”

Commenting on the transaction, the Group Managing Director of the bank, Dr. Herbert Wigwe stated: “At Access Bank, we remain fully committed to the execution of our vision to become the ‘World’s Most Respected African Bank.”

According to Wigwe, the success of the transaction, which he said was the first in the Nigerian banking industry and the first of its kind in Africa outside of South Africa, would significantly enhance the bank’s tier 1 and total capital ratios ahead of Basel III implementation in Nigeria.

Additionally, the bank boss said the fresh capital would provide room for significant growth through ongoing execution of the bank’s strategic objectives.

“In particular, it follows our recently announced Group reorganisation which is aimed at capturing the strategic opportunities in payments, agency banking, and insurance across the continent which we expect will further enhance the growth profile and diversification of our business.

“Our growth and diversification strategy is also underlined by the recent expansion of our regional footprint where we continue to monitor opportunities. “This additional tier 1 Eurobond issuance, following our recently concluded $500 million Senior Unsecured Eurobond, underscores the formidable confidence of a diversified range of global and local investors in the bank’s strategy”.

Citigroup, JP Morgan, Mashreqbank and Renaissance Capital acted as Joint Bookrunners on the transaction; and Chapel Hill Denham and Coronation Merchant Bank acted as Financial Advisers and Joint Bookrunners.

Indeed, following the devastating impact of the COVID-19 on economies in the world, a growing number of proactive financial institutions are turning to the debt market to strengthen their balance sheets. Also, the urge for the international

Wigwe

debt market is buoyed by the need for banks to position for big ticket transactions, especially in a country like Nigeria that has wide infrastructure deficit.

Nigeria is a loan market and investors have been tapping into treasury bills and bonds issued by the country for a very long time. Additionally, the country remains a growing investment destination, attracting capital equity and debt investors, notwithstanding security and political risks that beclouds its outlook.

Traditionally, commercial banks have short-term deposits. So, if they want to lend long-term, if they use their current stock of dollar, it would be a mismatch. So, they try to lengthen the amount of liquidity they have by issuing debt instruments such as Eurobond.

“Remember, you can’t go to the international capital market without meeting very high standards of governance, which is why Access Bank must be commended,” a source said.

In its assessment of the recent Eurobond issuance by the bank, the International Financial Review(IFR), noted that Access Bank, “scored something of a triumph for itself when it became the first Nigerian lender to issue AT1 debt.”

According to the report, while Central and Eastern Europe Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) issuers sat on the sidelines hoping for a better market tone, Access Bank’s management held its nerve, deciding there was little to be gained from waiting.

“There wasn’t any benefit from waiting for a better window,” the IFR quoted a source at the bank to have said.

“We had gone through a marketing period. We had got specific feedback.

There’s still a lot of supply waiting to hit the market. I don’t think holding off would have been best,” That call proved to be on the money, even though no one could be sure how the session for financial markets would pan out.

Those away from the unrated deal, though, also supported the decision to go ahead.

“This is a very rarefied part of the market. I think it will go well,” said one banker away after books had opened.

“His view turned out to be correct.

After opening books at 9.5% area, leads were able to launch a $500 million perpetual non-call 5.25-year bond at 9.125%. The book at guidance was $1 billion, with the bond’s size at the top end of that targeted.

“It’s a pretty impressive book in this market, as they still managed to tighten prices aggressively,” said one investor.

Given the yield on offer, one thing in Access Bank’s favour was that it was less likely to become caught up in any rates volatility. “It’s well insulated from rates,” said a second lead.

Even so, given the poor performance of recent AT1s, albeit from very different credits issuing at very different yields, it was still a big decision to go ahead. Some investors

are sitting on their hands given the fickle nature of markets.

According to the review, the bank managed to get a broad buyer base, including some accounts that bought its $500 million 2026 senior bond at 6.125% just two weeks before. Others, though, were solely buyers of this AT1.

“Investors included real money and hedge fund accounts from various parts of the world, including the UK, Asia and the Middle East.

“Access is top-tier bank in Nigeria.

Africa is well liked,” said the first lead.

Despite the tougher market backdrop, the Access Bank trade showed that investors are still willing to engage in deals, especially as the emerging market asset class’s performance has been relatively poor this year.

September was one of the worst performing months for JP Morgan’s EMBI GD, which tracks the performance of hard currency bonds for sovereigns, since 2014.

The banker away expects one or two more niche AT1 trades from the CEEMEA region before the end of the year.

“The hunt for yield is definitely on and people are wandering off piste to get it,” he said.

Wigwe had said across Africa, there are opportunities for the bank to expand to high-potential markets, leveraging the benefits of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA).

He had said AfCFTA, among other benefits, would expand intra-Africa trade and provide real opportunities for Africa.

According to Wigwe, across Africa, there is an opportunity for the bank to expand to high-potential markets, leveraging the benefits of AfCFTA. He said AfCFTA, among other benefits, would expand intra-Africa trade and provide real opportunities for Africa.

He stated that the plan is for the bank to establish its presence in 22 African countries as well as some strategic locations outside the continent so as to diversify its earnings and take advantage of growth opportunities in Africa.

According to him, Africa has enormous potential and there are opportunities for an African bank that is well run, that understands compliance and has the capacity to support trade and the right technology infrastructure to support payments and remittances, without taking incremental risks.

“We believe that we are best positioned to basically do all of that.

Our focus is to become an aggregator in Africa and we are building a global payment gateway and providing trade finance support and correspondent banking across the continent. We are focusing on the key markets.

“The approach would always be that in the country we wish to go to, that we have the right skills.

We would not just be a drop in the country in which we are present, we would make sure that we have an impactful presence in each of the major countries in which we are present.

“In doing this, we are also mindful of the country we are going to so as to make sure that it is of benefit to the bank. As we do this, we are working with our friends and partners.

Clearly, with all these, Access Bank is positioning itself to become Africa’s gateway to the world and has strengthened its capital to support trade and payments across the continent.

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

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BUSINESS SPECIAL

INTERVIEW

Khemka: Lagos Free Zone Will Significantly Boost Nigeria’s Economy On the side-line of the signing ceremony for its debut N10.5billion 20-Year Series I Bond under the N50 billion Note Programme, Goddy Egene spoke with the Chief Finance Officer of Lagos Free Zone Company, Mr. Ashish Khemka, to discuss the strategy of one of the most active and pioneer private sector-led special economic zones and its benefits to the nation’s economy. Excerpts: corporate bond was an important milestone, as it diversifies our debt and equity funding sources to include domestic institutional investors, including pension fund administrators, insurance companies, asset managers and others. By ensuring broad investor participation in this Series 1 bond issuance, these same investors will be able to closely watch LFZC deliver on our infrastructure investment progamme in the zone and meet our financial obligations on the bonds, thus enabling follow-on debt and/or equity issuances in upcoming years.

This diversification of funding sources has boosted the confidence of Lagos Free Zone Company and our promoter Tolaram to ensure that all infrastructure developments remain fully on track, including the commissioning of the Lekki Deep Sea Port and all critical infrastructure works within the zone – e.g. the container terminal, roads, medical services, security, power plant, warehouses, piped natural gas, dry bulk terminal, etc.

The Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) recently noted that only 14 of the 42 licensed Free Zones in Nigeria are functional.

How has Lagos Free Zone Company ensured its continuous operation and growth, despite challenges undermining the operations of two-third of licensed Free zones in the country? hanks. A critical part of our success story is the commitment of our promoter, Tolaram, especially in ensuring consistent investment in world-class infrastructure that meets the need and expectations of global multinationals.

This early stage investment in critical infrastructure (e.g. roads, access to power, security, medical services, etc.) has literally brought the zone to life, enabling us to host a number of multinational industrial and consumer goods tenants. As a Free Zone development company, we understand and effectively deliver on our role as an enabler of business. More so, as one of the pioneer Free Zones in the country, we have a well-thought-out strategy that is diligently being implemented, with full financing and strategic support from Tolaram, which has operations in 12 countries in three continents.

We understand the critical role and significance of Free Zone to the industrialisation of many emerging markets and thus are keen to ensure the achievement of our objective of catalysing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow to Nigeria to stimulate industrialisation, enhance backward and forward integration relevant to developing the local supply chains and ultimately engender economic diversification and growth.

T

What is the unique attraction of Free Zones, and more importantly what does Lagos Free Zone offers that suggest its uniqueness and attraction for local and multinational brands?

Free Zones are special economic zones that offer tax incentives to attract foreign direct investments into the country. Besides this generic attraction, which most country’s Free zone provides, Lagos Free Zone provides convenience to investors seeking to explore the vast opportunities in the real sector of the Nigerian economy, offering them everything they need to grow their business and at the same time, live a comfortable life away from home. Lagos Free Zone Company provides world class infrastructure that ensures companies are able to focus on their core operations and ensure their global competitiveness.

With us, new industrial companies entering into Nigeria do not need to commit financial and management resources into generic infrastructures, which often times elongate the gestation period of entrants to new markets and can potentially become a major source of capital erosion, especially with the nuances that comes with such adventure. We have taken care of all of these infrastructures, providing an enabling environment conducive for business, thereby easing the cost of doing business in Nigeria.

What is even better is the high level of collaboration between Lagos Free Zone and government entities to further ease the operations and ensure the smooth establishment of new companies. Beyond all of this, the Lagos Free Zone is positioned to offer something which no other free zone has direct access to: the Lekki Deep Sea Port, which is being developed by Tolaram and other private and public stakeholders, with expected commissioning in Q4 2022.

Some Free Zones are mainly for oil & gas whilst some focus on agriculture, what are the target sectors for Lagos Free Zone?

Key target sectors for the Lagos Free Zone can be broken into three components, with Industrial being easily the largest, followed by the Logistics sector and the Real Estate sector. Within the Industrial sector are six (6) sub-groups, namely: Food & Beverages; Non-Metallic Minerals; Engineering; Pharmaceuticals; Chemicals & Downstream; Paper and other industries.

And within the Logistics component, the zone has the 90-hectare container terminal, dry bulk terminal, truck parks and warehousing facilities. Real Estate comprises a mix of commercial real estate for companies and service providers operating in the zone, along with residential development to make the zone a mixed-use development for work, live and play.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been at historic-low, what role can Lagos Free Zone and perhaps other Free Zones play in changing this narrative and what policy support is required?

Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic undermined global capital flows, it is pertinent to say that the compelling opportunity in Nigeria deserves much

Khemka more FDIs and indigenous capital formation than we currently experience. Notably, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics reported barely $78million foreign direct investment in the second quarter of the year, reflecting the low capital formation, high unemployment rates especially amongst youths and indeed an underlying reason for the perennial weakness of the Naira, as import bills remain elevated. A neighbouring country, Ghana, with less population and smaller GDP recorded $874 million FDI in the first half of the year, signifying the appetite of global brands in participating in the gradual industrial revolution that should redefine Africa in the near to medium term. Nigeria needs annual capital formation of at least 20 per cent of GDP to trigger the desired industrial revolution that can create inclusive growth and generate sustainable prosperity for the estimated 200milion Nigerians.

As you know, the world often sees Africa as one continent with many similarities and limited differentiation, hence each country within the continent needs to appropriately position itself as the best destination for capital flows.

This is exactly what Lagos Free Zone is doing and this is why we are making continuous investment in sustaining our world class infrastructure. We have attracted some of the world most famous brands, including, Colgate, BASF, China Harbour, Indofood, Arla and of course Kellogg’s, the world’s number one cereal manufacturer. Beyond the generic tax and levy incentives, we are offering globally competitive infrastructure that simplifies the entry of and operationalisation of new global brands and indigenous start-ups in the country, and more importantly our facilities enhance the productivity and competitiveness of companies within Lagos Free Zone, thus enhancing the returns on investment. We have a disciplined culture of execution and service delivery, thus investors are assured of a sustainable eco-system, as we advance our infrastructure development to bolster the influx of investors into the Free Zone, in addition to leveraging neighbouring infrastructures, such as the Lekki Port.

The government through the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) may advance the attractiveness of Free Zones through enhanced integration of policies on immigration, taxes, permits and licensing, with the objective of

ensuring seamless approvals and administration of the rights conferred on Free Zones and the companies operating within the Zones. It is also important to avoid proliferation of Free Zones, but rather focus on enhancing infrastructure development in viable Zones for national interest by facilitating the parallel development of critical linkage infrastructure (e.g. national road and rail networks), either through direct investment, tax rebate programmes or third party concessions.

Earlier in the day, you did a signing ceremony for your just concluded debut N10.5billion 20-year Fixed Rate Corporate Infrastructure Bonds Due 2041, the first 20-year in the history of the Nigerian debt capital market. What is the significance of this transaction and what’s would be your interaction with the capital market going forward?

Thanks. The transaction is a major milestone for us, as it signifies our strategy to democratise the investment opportunity in the Lagos Free Zone. It is a transformational journey that requires broader investor base, especially domestic institutional investors. With the success of this debut local currency bond, which has demonstrated the appetite and commitment of domestic institutional investors, especially pension funds, in investing in critical infrastructure, we have further matched our assets and liability profile by ensuring that our debt capital is long-tenored to match the long-term assets held by the zone and the predictable long-term cashflow pattern of the Lagos Free Zone.

We have set a new benchmark for the corporate debt market, being the first twenty-year corporate bond in the history of Nigerian capital market. We would further our engagement with stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market, as we hope to deepen our participation in the growth of the Nigerian capital market. This debut issue is the first series of a N50 billion Programme and we hope to list the bonds on both the NGX Exchange and FMDQ Exchange to ensure secondary market liquidity for the Bonds.

How do you see this capital raise impacting the progress of your infrastructure development and expectation of attracting more companies to the Lagos Free Zone.?

The successful issuance of Nigeria’s first 20-year

How vital was the guarantee of InfraCredit to the success of the transaction?

Having credit enhancement support from InfraCredit in the form of an unconditional, irrevocable guarantee to bondholders of the timely payment of principal and interest by Lagos Free Zone Company over the 20-year life of the bonds was vital to the success of the bond issue, which was well-oversubscribed. The guarantee enabled the Lagos Free Zone Company’s bonds to inherit InfraCredit’s AAA credit rating, reflecting full risk mitigation for investors especially given that this is the first 20 year corporate infrastructure bond they have invested in.

Based on the structure, investors in the Lagos Free Zone Company’s bonds are protected by both the underlying project, as well as InfraCredit’s guarantee in the highly unlikely event of any underlying challenges for the Company. Thus, InfraCredit’s guarantee increased the appetite of pension fund administrators and other investors to participate in the bond issue and price the debt instrument in a manner reflecting its ‘AAA’ credit rating.

What is the target investment in the Lagos Free Zone and how much of this have you realised over the past 13 years of your operation?

To date, we have developed 200 hectares of the 830-hectare zone, which is about one-quarter of the zone. The bulk of this development occurred over the past 24 months, after the Lekki Deep Sea Port project achieved its financial close in 2019. As such, we have 630 additional hectares available for further development over the next 10-15 years, which will host critical infrastructure, industrial companies, logistics firms and also real estate development.

What has been the benefits of Lagos Free Zone to the Nigerian economy and how does the government benefit from the Zone, given the tax waivers.

Even with relatively limited operations to date, Lagos Free Zone has already facilitated a dramatic increase in employment, both in terms of infrastructure works (e.g. roads, security, etc.) as well as by hosting major multinational companies which have established their base within the zone, including Kellogg’s, Arla, Colgate Palmolive, BASF and others.With the expected commissioning of the Lekki Deep Sea Port in fourth quarter (Q4) 2022, we will continue heavily investing in the infrastructure development of the zone, thus materially boosting employment and also extending from industrial tenants into logistics, commercial and real estate developments which will make the zone an attractive place to live, work and play.

For the Nigerian government, the dramatic increase in employment and quality of life will significantly boost collection of payroll and value-added taxes, while the facilitation of exportation of Nigerian-made goods will grow the export-earning capacity of the nation and reduce pressure on the national currency. In addition, the combination of the Lekki Deep Sea Port and our adjacent Lagos Free Zone will significantly drive down the cost of goods for Nigerian consumers, by de-bottlenecking the supply chain constraints which currently plague other ports and free zones.

MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021 • T H I S D AY

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T H I S D AY ˾ Ͳ, 2021

CITYSTRINGS

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A Call to Professionalism, Collaboration and Discipline Chiemelie Ezeobi and Precious Ugwuzor report that the recent visit of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya to the 81 Division of the Nigerian Army was a call for personnel to imbibe professionalism, collaboration with sister services and discipline in order to combat the present nationwide security challenges

Officers and men of 81 Division giving the hearty cheers to the COAS

The GOC presenting a plaque to the COAS

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School among others.

s part of his maiden operational visits to formations and units of the Nigerian Army (NA) after his appointment as the 22nd Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya recently toured the 81 Division Command.

Commissioning of NA Ordnance School During his maiden visit to Lagos, his first port of call was to the Nigerian Army Cantonment Epe where he commissioned the Nigerian Army Ordnance School (NAOS).

The Commandant of NAOS Major General Adeyemi Alabi, who conducted the COAS round the facilities explained that the school consists of 26 classrooms, one auditorium named after Major General OA Akintade and an administrative block. After the tour, the COAS also performed the foundation laying of the NAOS Sports Complex.

Meanwhile, the COAS, who interacted with the Traditional Ruler of Epe, the Oloja of Epe Land, Oba Kamorudeen Animashahun, advocated for mutual cooperation to combat security challenges in Epe and environs, adding that the NA will be readily available to assist and support whenever the need arises.

In his response, Oba Kamorudeen Animashahun commended the NA for its efforts at tackling security challenges across the country, just as he promised the community’s cooperation in the actualisation of the COAS vision.

Charge to Troops On the second day of the tour, the COAS visited 81 Division where the General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major General Lawrence Fejokwu briefed him on activities and challenges of the division.

Thereafter, the COAS and entourage moved to 65 battalion in Bonny Camp, where he addressed troops and charged officers and men of the division to always display professionalism, discipline and alertness in the discharge of their respective duties.

Urging officers and men of the NA to work harmoniously with the security agencies to actualise his vision, he assured victory over security challenges confronting the country, adding that all hands must be on deck to fight the myriad security challenges in the country.

Noting that the new rotation plan put in place would enable the army and sister services achieve more results, he reiterated that no single security agency can solve the challenges being faced by the country, just as he urged troops to work closely with other services to ensure criminals are warded off.

He said: “The enemy we are facing in terms of security challenges are within. They interact with the community, that is why we must remain professional and vigilant. No service or agency can do it alone. So, we must put hands together to do it. We should be more professional and relate well with other law abiding citizens who are doing their jobs well.

All organisations have areas of challenges.

What is important is the ability to improve and work on these identified areas and improve on them."

Charging the troops to improve on their operations, conducts and activities in order to scuttle plans by the enemies to interact with the community, he commending the battalion

COAS, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya and 81 Division GOC, Major General Lawrence Fejokwu and other senior officers during a courtesy visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for putting up good defence in various operations, just as he urged them to remain alert and vigilant especially in a cosmopolitan city like Lagos.

He said: "I appreciate you for the job you are doing and urge you not to rest on your oars, but improve on our operations, conduct and activities. I also urge you to continue to be professional soldiers working in harmony with other agencies and relating well with other law abiding citizens who are doing their jobs well.

“Lagos is cosmopolitan and a lot of people are here, it is a city with a lot of people, the more reason you should remain at alert and vigilant.h Therefore, we must continue to work in synergy with other services and other agencies because what we do not see, another element will see."

Assuring the troops of their welfare, the COAS said some of the challenges being faced like lack of electricity, inadequate accommodation and bed spaces were being looked into.

Yahaya further pledged that "we will look for more accommodation that we can provide for our troops. Kits and vehicles will be provided. I am pleased to be here with you and I ask you to remain professionals."

"I challenge the Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and senior NCOs to remind personnel that they have responsibility.

You have to be on time before you check somebody for late coming. I also urge you all to be your neighbours' keeper and always check up on one another to see how you can be of assistance to

them and their family," he added.

He warned against desertion, directing personnel to report colleagues they know who have deserted but were still hanging around the barracks.

On Operation Checkmate, he said that has been put in place to arrest deserters and those who run away from the military, reminding them they were not forced to join in the first instance and must follow the procedure to exit the service when they want to.

Yahaya also advised personnel to prove themselves in all areas to be eligible for promotion, noting that there were limited spaces at the top.

“That is why in a battalion, there is only one Lieutenant Colonel because there is a selection process for promotion so it will be wrong to promote everybody at once. So, that is why you have to work hard, earn a place, meet the criteria for promotion and you will be promoted,” he urged.

One of the highlights of the occasion was the presentation of a brand-new Hilux to Master Warrant Officer Aniekan Udoekpo, the 81 Division Regimental Sergeant Major, where the COAS assured officers and men of elevation as at when due in line with best practices.

Inspections Afterwards, the COAS inspected and commissioned some projects at various army formations in Lagos including Bonny Cantonment, NA Command Supply and Transport Apapa, Headquarters Nigerian Army Signals, Nigerian Army Signal

The enemy we are facing in terms of security challenges are within. They interact with the community, that is why we must remain professional and vigilant. No service or agency can do it alone. So, we must put hands together to do it

Boost for Logistics As part of the operational visit, the COAS commissioned the permanent site of the Nigerian Army College of Logistics at Ojo Cantonment.

He noted that with the inauguration of the college’s permanent site, the NA is better poised to surmount security challenges across the country, adding that with the current character of warfare, which is dynamic, the battle space is becoming increasingly unpredictable and volatile due to the fluidity of the operational environment.

He further said to conduct a successful counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations which is the main security challenge in the country at the moment, a sound and well-thought-out logistics support system is required.

COAS therefore urged the Commandant NACOL Major General Martin Enendu to reinvigorate efforts at training the required proficient manpower for the NA in the sphere of logistics planning and execution.

In another development, while pledging continuous loyalty to the presidency and Nigerians, the COAS inaugurated the seven newly refurbished Styr Trucks for uploading and backloading equipment casualty from the frontline to the rear line at the NA Special Retrofitting and Repair Workshop (NASRRW) Ojo Cantonment.

Touchdown at Ogun Touching down at Ogun State, which is also part of 81 Division's area of responsibility (AOR), the COAS commissioned the 81 Division Training School at Ajilete - Owode in Ogun State which coincided with the graduation ceremony of the student of the Infantry Basic Battle Course 1 who demonstrated their combatant readiness to wage war against insurgency and terrorism as well as other security challenges.

The COAS while rounding off the operational visit at 35 Artillery Brigade Alamala in Ogun State stated that the army will sphere no effort in dealing decisively with bandits and other criminal elements threatening the security of the country.

Noting that he was at Alamala to assess the operational readiness of the Brigade in tackling insecurity in the country, the COAS while interacting with officers and men of the of the Brigade, stressed the need for synergy with other security agencies in the country.

The Army Chief was also at the Palace of Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland His Royal Majesty Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo IV where he solicited for support and cooperation of the royal fathers towards an enduring peace and tranquility in the country.

The senior officers who accompanied the COAS for the visit included the Commander Training and Doctrine Major General Stevenson Olabanji; the Chief of Logistics Major General Omotomilola Akintade; Chief of Operations (Army) Major General Olufemi Akinjobi; Provost Marshal (Army) Major General Olumuyiwa Aiyenigba; the Chief of Military Intelligence, Brigadier General Danladi Salihu; the Chief of Staff to COAS, Brigadier General Aminu Umar and other staff officers to COAS.

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T H I S D AY ˾ Ͳ, 2021

CRIME&SECURITY NIGERIA @61

Role of Security in the Face of Increasing Internal Threats Gbolahan Samuel Moronfolu

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ecurity threat no doubt is a concern to Nations world over.

These threats could be social, such as aggression from a neighboring country, infiltration from a terrorist group or global economic trends that compromise the nation’s socio-economic activities. In other cases, threats could be natural phenomenal, such as hurricanes or viral pandemics. Either way, threats challenges a nation’s power and disrupts its well-being.

The notion of national security is to safeguards against such threats. National security is the protection of all citizens, other nationals, public and private infrastructures as well as the economic stability of nations. One of the core responsibilities of national security is identifying potential dangers and equipping for the right response.

Insecurity in Nigeria has recently assumed an alarming rate affecting every facet of Nigerian life with no end in sight.

Insecurity is not a problem unique only to Nigeria as other nations also face the challenges. Unarguably, insecurity has heightened leading to severe unimaginable social consequences which has blighted the socio-economic sphere of Nigeria’s life.

Without doubt, Nigeria has great potentials for greatness, especially with its large population made up of a dynamic work force, a growing economy, abundant natural resources, diverse raw materials, huge oil deposits and a reservoir of intellectuals. In spite of these indices for greatness, Nigeria still remains a developing country struggling most frantically to find her feet among the comity of nations due to the prevailing and divergent security challenges among others, that have continued to pose as a challenge to its development and growth.

Truth must be told, Nigeria is currently passing through turbulent and trying times, as echoes of not just insurgency but criminality have marred its nascent democracy. Crimes such as militancy, kidnapping, ritual killings, armed robbery, assassinations, destruction of public and private property and lack of relative peace appear to be on the increase in Nigeria.

It would appear dimensionally, that the pattern of insecurity in Nigeria has been regionalized. Militia group’s insurgency in the North, kidnappers in the Eastern and Southern part of the country, ritual killings in the West, and political and non-political assassinations across the nation have become a recurring decimal.

As a result of the increasing incidence and prevalence of insecurity and in order to ameliorate it, the Federal government has embarked on the criminalization of terrorism by passing the Anti-terrorism Act (2011), the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Installation of Computer-Based Close Circuit TV camera (CCTV) in some parts of the country, and broadcast of security tips in mass media.

Commendable as these efforts may appear, the level of insecurity in the country still remains high. Security is a necessary ingredient for the growth, progress and political stability of any society. Security is vital for survival. An insecure country cannot survive as a free and self-respecting member of the committee of nations.

Why is security vital for any nation?

Security is important because it is almost impossible to be truly productive if you (yourself, family, property, whatever) are not secure. Assuming you live in an insecure place, with constant threats to your person and your property, what do you spend most of your time doing in that case? You spend your time trying to defend yourself and your property - basic survival. What do you spend your time

Buhari doing? - Virtually anything else. You don't start a business, you don't go to school, you don't build anything and you don't pay your taxes (and your government isn't even collecting them because it, like you, is working to survive).

An insecure and dysfunctional nation has no infrastructure base, no economic base, no reliable workforce.

Its people may be starving, uneducated and unhealthy. It has no capital.

If it can't take care of its people and its own affairs, how can it defend its own sovereignty against neighboring states? If it can't even manage a basic subsistence economy, how can it eventually create a functioning export economy? A state must secure itself first and guarantee its own sovereignty before it can hope to become active and productive in international relations.

Without basic security, there is no state. And if there's no state, there's no basis for trade or diplomacy or anything else. A nation that cannot secure its borders and vital national interests will always feel threatened, exploited, dominated or worse. A nation that cannot secure itself against internal security threats will have no peace, law and order, unity, integrity or development.

Nigeria security over the years has been a source of concern for keen observers of the nation’s security situation. Of recent, the security situation of Nigeria has been called to question severally from political unrest to incessant religious and terrorist groups doing havoc on the nation.

The essence of this discourse is the

role of security agents in the face of internal security challenges in Nigeria.

To what extent are they relevant and effective in curbing the excesses of recurring threats and terrorist groups in Nigeria?

The idea of security or national security has received attention from every concerned citizen of our nation.

The primary role of every government is the provision of security especially with regards to life and property.

Taking into cognizance the importance of security to the wellbeing and development of any nation, the relevance of security agents cannot be over emphasized.

The role of these various security agents helps to bring about confidence in the minds of the people because security assurance brings about progress and development. An environment that is safe and conflict free brings about confidence and integrate the various sectors of the economy.

A feeling of happiness and general public contentment also springs up.

It attracts investment to the country.

No investor would want to invest in a trouble and conflict infested society.

Nigeria currently experience general insecurity in most parts of the country and citizens are generally apprehensive of their safety. This situation surely will not boost investors’ confidence or the general public. That is why the role of security agents in providing security is very important.

If an environment is well policed and secure or free from security crisis it tends to bring about economic development. This is because no society can develop where there are

Successful national security architecture begins with defining one’s national interest. Nigeria needs the confidence to design a homegrown national security strategy that involves all institutions, including both the state and non-state actors

violence and constant threats to peace and stability.

A cursory look at Nigeria during crisis situation will further give credence to the importance of security and its agents to the wellbeing of the Nigerian society. During the days of the Niger delta agitation by militants over the issue of resource control, the nation witnessed a steady decline in revenue, foreign investors shied away from investing in the area, but with renewed peace and confidence, investors are steadily returning.

This goes to show the importance of peace and a stable environment on the economic development of Nigeria. The continued provision of security and security agents’ reaction to stem down clashes and conflicts situations has been a great plus to economic progress of Nigeria.

Given the importance of security agents in safeguarding lives and property, government should do well in equipping our security personnel so as to help them brace up to the challenges of maintaining law and order in the society. Covert and advanced techniques in checking the activities of terrorist groups must be entrenched in our security practices.

This also calls for training and retraining to better equip them with modern sophisticated techniques of societal policing.

In spite of the economic perspective to national security, our security apparatus should be nurtured with highly mobile and professional armed forces to equip the non- military security needs of Nigeria.

Successful national security architecture begins with defining one’s national interest. Nigeria needs the confidence to design a homegrown national security strategy that involves all institutions, including both the state and non-state actors. Nigeria needs to commit to a reform of the defense and security sectors.

Though Nigeria’s defense budget is low, it can deliver much more impact than it currently does.

The country needs accountability in policies, processes, and restrictions to ensure higher impact from the available security budgets. The government (including the legislature, judiciary, and executive) should be effective in taking decisions, ensuring accountability of security personnel, coordination of multiple stakeholders, monitoring and evaluation of military operations and peace building initiatives.

Laws should be enacted to give impetus to security personnel as a back up to maximizing their full potentials when carrying out security operations around the country.

The security agencies should be adequately trained to handle violence, with needed equipments to manage crisis.

Vigilance should find a way to curtail the proliferation of small arms in the country.

The best hope this country could have today in its effort against criminal activities lies in preventing crime and not in apprehending offenders after their act.

One techniques of prevention is to analyze risk based on information or intelligence.

Without intelligence there is nothing to analyze. Good planning based on reliable intelligence pays off.

Every Nigerian has a role to play in tackling security challenges facing the country. There is need for a unified stance guided by an agreed national interest, irrespective of political, religious and ethnic affiliations. This national security architecture should significantly improve Nigeria’s chances of mitigating the spate of violence across the country.

-Moronfolu is a seasoned security consultant with many years of security and policing experience. FELLOW, Fourth Estate Professional Society (FFPS), he has also partaken in peace keeping operations within and outside the country and has flair for general security education.

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BUSINESS/MONEYGUIDE

BOI’s Disbursement to SMEs, Large Enterprises Hits Over N1trn in 6 Years Gilbert Ekugbe The Bank of Industry (BoI) has revealed that its disbursement to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises has reached over N1trillion in six years.

According to the Development Finance Institution (DFI), the feat was achievable through strong strategic partnerships with various institutions in the state, federal government agencies and private sector organisations.

The Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BOI), Oluwakayode Pitan disclosed this while speaking at the 37th Omolayole Management Lecture series themed, “African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)Prospects for African Youth Leadership,” organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

He said the BOI is at the forefront of industrialising the

Nigerian economy and would continue to take deliberate steps towards addressing issues related to financing gaps across all business segments.

According to him, in the last three years, over $3 billion has been raised through the international financial market in its objective to continuously improve its capacity to bridge the huge financing gap that exist in Nigeria’s industrial sector.

He added that there is a growing number of start-up businesses in Africa at present, as young people are embracing their entrepreneurial mind-set and technological skills, resulting in the rapid digital transformation of the continent.

He advised that to address this risk and realise the gains expected for a free trade area, there is a need for increased infrastructure investment in Nigeria, saying that one way to achieve this is through public-

private partnerships (PPPs), which should be significantly leveraged towards building sustainable infrastructural facilities across the country, while the Government provides an enabling governance framework.

“The newly established Infrastructure Company (InfraCo) will play a lead role in its implementation,” he added.

He added that despite making up a significant percentage of the continent’s population, the participation of young people in cross-border trade and trade governance matters is still very limited.

He said improving transparency and ease of doing business in Nigeria has a larger implication now that the AfCFTA has taken off, saying that this would enable foreign investors make informed decisions on where to site their manufacturing hubs within African nations that will provide them with more benefits.

Master Card Foundation, Sterling Bank Seeks IncreasedYouth Involvement in Agriculture Gilbert Ekugbe Worried over the aging population of Nigerian farmers in the country, Master Card Foundation and Sterling Bank of Nigeria have emphasised the need to get the youth actively involved in the nation’s agricultural value chain.

Indeed, the average age of farmers in the sector is 60 years, which implies that the sector is yet unattractive to Nigeria’s youthful population.

The clarion was made to stakeholders in the agriculture value chain to enhance the sector through mechanisation to increase attractiveness for the youth.

This was disclosed during the Sterling Bank Plc’s 2021 Agriculture Summit Africa (ASA) - a platform dedicated to increasing the value of agribusiness in Africa.

The event featured several panelists deliberating on the theme, “Building a New Agro Order.”

The key focus was to address the need for advanced and mechanised farming methods to replace subsistence farming, which is prevalent in many parts of Nigeria and Africa.

Speaking on the topic, “Food Security; Building a Resilient Food Production System,” Program Lead, Agriculture, Mastercard Foundation, Lois Sankey urged policy makers in the agricultural sector to enhance the sector through improved access to resources to make it more attractive to the youth because the subsistence approach does not hold much appeal for them.

She further emphasised that the agricultural sector if well managed could reduce the level of unemployment in the country by employing millions of youths along the value chain.

She explained that introducing forward-thinking end to end interventions will attract young people and will align

with the vision of Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works Strategy which is to find solutions to the youth employment challenge and reduce poverty in Africa by creating access to dignified and fulfilling jobs for women and youth.

“Youths should be encouraged to enter agriculture by creating solutions around technology and tools that are labour efficient and would help boost production.

This would be an effective way to curb youth apathy towards agriculture,” she stated.

She expressed her gratitude for the partnership between Mastercard Foundation and Sterling Bank Plc, which is focused on helping youth and budding agricultural entrepreneurs access affordable finances for their businesses. Key stakeholders at the summit expressed optimism that Nigeria can provide leadership in the region with a vibrant Agric-ecosystem.

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS Money Supply (M3)

38,779,455.43

-- CBN Bills Held by Money Holding Sectors

1,039,129.55

Money Supply (M2)

37,740,325.88

-- Quasi Money

21,779,302.69

-- Narrow Money (M1)

15,961,023.19

---- Currency Outside Banks

2,364,871.13

---- Demand Deposits

13,596,152.06

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,414,275.50

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

31,365,179.93

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

42,916,586.63

---- Credit to Government (Net)

12,304,773.44

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

0.00

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

0.00

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

30,611,813.19

--Other Assets Net

3,892,112.74

Reserve Money (Base Money

13,264,585.14

--Currency in Circulation

2,831,167.19

--Banks Reserves --Special Intervention Reserves

10,433,417.96 317,234.17

First City Monument Bank (FCMB), will today join the rest of the world to celebrate this year’s customer service week, with a commitment to continuously offer easy to use products and platforms, and to offer the very best customer experience, which will save their customers’ time, and increase their prosperity.

The Bank’s Executive Management team gave this commitment ahead of activities commemorating Customer Service Week, which holds from today to the 8thof this month.

This year’s theme is, “Power of Service,” which highlights the importance of customer service and of the people who serve and support customers on a daily basis.

In a statement, the Managing Director of FCMB, Mrs. Yemisi Edun, expressed gratitude to customers of the bank for their patronage and loyalty over the

years.

She said that the bank fully recognises the power of customers and service.

“Giving us the opportunity to provide you with our services is of great importance to us. We don’t take your patronage for granted, so we will continue to focus on delivering the very best products and services to meet your current and future financial needs, “Edun informs.

On her part, the Senior Vice President, and Head of Service Management, Ms. Felicia Obozuwa, said the best time of the year for the bank continues to be Customer Service Week.

While stressing that every day is customer service day at FCMB, she added that the bank is always excited at the extensive opportunity to honour service excellence during the week-long celebration. “This year is particularly important. We will not only celebrate our customers, we will

also celebrate the efficient, friendly, and helpful service, which our service champions across our branches provide every day. It’s always a pleasure to share our quality products and services with our customers, we can’t wait to do more, “Obozuwa disclosed.

FCMB, she stated, has lined up a series of exciting activities to celebrate and reward customers and employees during this year’s Customer Service Week. “They include a 10 per cent bonus for purchase of N500 airtime and above via the bank’s *329# USSD platform, transaction free day for business account holders on the Bank’s Business app and a game tagged, “Scavenger Hunt”.

There will also be a virtual customer engagement session with the bank’s Managing Director.

This session will allow customers to get direct information from the bank on salient issues and the opportunities available for personal and business growth.

˾ ÙßÜÍÏ ̋

Money Market Indicators (in Percentage) Month

FCMB Celebrates Customer Service Week, Says Customer Focus its CoreValue

(MILLION NAIRA)

JANUARY 2021

March 2018

Inter-Bank Call Rate

15.16

Minimum Rediscount Rate (MRR) Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)

14.00

Treasury Bill Rate

11.84

Savings Deposit Rate

4.07

1 Month Deposit Rate

8.82

3 Months Deposit Rate

9.72

6 Months Deposit Rate

10.93

12 Months Deposit Rate

10.21

Prime Lending rate

17.35

Maximum Lending Rate

31.55

˾ ÙØÏÞËÜã ÙÖÓÍã ËÞÏ ̋ ͯͱϱ

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE ˜ Ͱͷ

The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $78.37 a barrel on Tuesday, compared with $77.73 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey

45

T H I S D AY ˾ Ͳ˜ 2021

Stakeholders Urges Technology Industry Players to Leverage on Capital Market for Cheap Funds Darasimi Adebisi Capital market regulating bodies and other stakeholders have called on operators in the technology industry to leverage on capital market platforms to raise cheap capital needed for expansion.

The regulators made the submission during the virtual TechNovation Conference organised by the NGX with the theme: “Technology, Platforms

and Markets.”

The Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), Mr Temi Popoola, while highlighting the Exchange’s plan around technology, said that the drive was to ensure a multi-asset securities exchange, championing Africa’s sustainable growth and prosperity.

“Specifically, we are keen to democratise finance in Nigeria by leveraging current advancements in technology and relying

P R I C E S MAIN BOARD

F O R DEALS

on strategic partnerships and we will be doing this following our apex regulator, SEC.The second is the clear plan to use the exchange as a platform to accelerate innovation in technology and ICT in Nigeria.

“We are commited to making the exchange an avenue for capital formation for technology companies to raise capital and for those who invested to find liquidity for their investments.We are convinced

S E C U R I T I E S MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N )

that the driver for the next phase of Nigeria’s economic growth is through technology and we are committed as an exchange to help drive that growth by creating wealth for Nigerians,” he said.

In his goodwill message, the Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda stated: “I would like to begin by commending Mr. Temi Popola, CEO, NGX and his

T R A D E D MAIN BOARD

A S

team for putting together and event like this which shows our resilience as a people and ability to face challenges. The theme of today’s conference, Technology, Platforms and Markets indeed captures the mood in world today and the inevitable coming together of the three segments in view of the COVID-19 pandemic which has forced us all to stretch possibilities and adopt new ways of performing our

O F

functions.

“These recent shifts certainly pose a challenge and a huge opportunity to both financial sector regulators and conventional financial services providers like NGX. It is, therefore, important that we facilitate conversations like this to ensure we strike the right balance between innovation, integrity and protection of investors, without whom there will be no markets.”

3 0 / 0 9 / 2 0 2 1 DEALS

MARKET PRICE

QUANTITY TRADED

VALUE TRADED ( N)

46

T H I S D AY ˾ MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

DISCOURSE VAT CONTROVERSY: NEED TO AVOID FISCAL ANARCHY different State from where the output tax is charged and collected.

Akinyemi Ashade, FCA BACKGROUND he Federal High Court, Port Harcourt Division, recently delivered a judgement in the case between the Attorney General for Rivers State and Federal Inland Revenue Service (‘FIRS”) & Attorney General of the Federation, stating that the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) lacks the power to impose and collect taxes that are not listed under Items 58 and 59 of Part I of the Second Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) (“the Constitution”) You will recall that in October 2019, the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, in the Registered Trustees of Hotel Owners and Managers Association of Lagos v. A. G. Federation & Others while considering the validity of the Hotel Occupancy and Restaurants Consumption Law of Lagos State upheld the powers of the Lagos State Government to charge and collect Consumption Tax from hotels, restaurants and event centres within the State. The Court held that based on the Constitution and the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Act, the power to impose consumption tax was a residual power within the exclusive competence of States. It restrained the FIRS from imposing Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods and services consumed in hotels, restaurants and event centres as this was already covered by the Lagos State Law. The court proceeded to declare sections 1,2,4,5 and 12 of the VAT Act as being inconsistent with section 4(2),(4) (a) & (b), (7)(a) & (b) of the Constitution and consequently unconstitutional and invalid. The court granted perpetual injunction against FIRS from collecting VAT from hotels, restaurants and event centres in Lagos.

The constitutionality of VAT has always been an issue that keeps recurring and there are other cases that can be cited to support or oppose the current status quo including, Chukwuka Ukala v FIRS & A.G. Federation. A supreme court judgement in EKO Hotel vs Attorney General of Lagos State, made some pronouncements on covering the field in support of VAT Act and this has been referenced by some others in making their case for caution based on judicial precedence. This article will discuss the current issue with a view to making recommendations that may promote fiscal federalism and enhance ease of doing business.

RECOMMENDATIONS

T

THE EVOLUTION OF VAT IN NIGERIA:

VAT is a consumption tax that has been embraced and adopted by many nations across the globe because it is difficult to evade and relatively easy to administer. It was introduced through the VAT Decree No 102 of 1993 to replace sales tax operated under Decree No.7 of 1986, which was administered

by States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and has since addressed the administrative issues around the logistical challenge for companies with operations across the various States who were hitherto subjected to different sales tax regime across States in Nigeria. The tax remained 5% until it was increased to 7.5% through the Finance Act of 2020.

Although VAT is centrally administered by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), it has always been largely for the benefits of the states in Nigeria.

VAT pool is shared 15% to the Federal Government; 50% to states; and 35% to LGs (net of 4% cost of collection by the FIRS). The percentage of cost of collection remains an issue which the states has raised at Federation Account Allocation Committee (“FAAC”) meetings but continued to be neglected with impunity. The distribution of VAT amongst states and local governments recognizes the principle of derivation and Twenty per cent (20%) of the pool is shared on this basis.

About 30 states account for less than 20% of VAT collection while Lagos and Rivers states currently in the eye of the storm are estimated to account for over 70% of VAT pool in Nigeria with Lagos State as a standalone contributing about 55% due to high concentration of economic activities in the state because of its strategic importance as the commercial capital of Nigeria with a huge contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of our country.

The above analysis has always led to the call for equity and fairness in the distribution of the proceeds from VAT. The neglect of this call largely led to the introduction of Sales Tax by Lagos State Government which was later amended to Hotel Occupancy and Restaurants Consumption Law of Lagos State.

As a nation, we should always provide platform to discuss and address challenges facing our federation.

The call to accord Special status to Lagos has been

Ashade neglected and the current move by Lagos State to enact its VAT Law on the back of the victory of Rivers State in the Federal High Court of Lagos which declared the VAT Act unconstitutional may provide an opportunity to approach issue of fiscal federalism in a holistic manner.

The impact of the Judgement on States and Federal Government With Rivers and now Lagos State taking steps by enacting laws to implement VAT collection in their respective States, about 30 States in Nigeria may experience challenges in meeting their financial obligations as the federation account could lose revenue from VAT amidst dwindling revenue. The loss may be extended further if other taxes covered in the court ruling are assigned to states for collection.

In fact, the Federal Government which currently shares 15% of VAT pool may not be impacted negatively given that FCT generates the secondhighest VAT (after Lagos) in addition to import and non-import foreign VAT. Although, Rivers and Lagos States in their respective laws try to force importers to pay VAT before clearing their goods from the ports, it remains to be seen how this will be implemented as Nigeria Ports Authority has refused to cooperate with States currently collecting wharf landing fees and may frustrate any efforts by states to collect VAT at our ports.

The current altercation calls for strengthening fiscal federalism. The Federal Government should take the lead role in redistributing resources in a fair and equitable manner to reduce the constant friction on allocation of revenue. In our federation as typical with all others, a fiscally balanced federation is desirable so that no part is left behind for being poorer than others.

Canada, Mexico, Australia among others utilize one form of “equalisation fund” or the other to support States with lower capacity to raise revenue.

Belgium has the “national solidarity intervention” to support the regions where the average per capital yield of personal income tax falls below average. Germany as a federation has taxation exclusively under the federal government and the parliament passed a State law to ensure every States gets its fair share in a just and equitable manner.

COST OF REVENUE COLLECTION, A CASE STUDY OF VAT

A total of N171.76billion was taken as cost of collection by FIRS at a rate of 4% between 2013 and 2017 fiscal years out of N4.3trillion generated as VAT. A total of N146billion, representing 85% of N171.76billion cost of collection was borne by the states. Nigeria’s cost of collecting VAT at

4% is 4times higher than international cost of collection which is benchmarked at 1%. Findings have shown that the average cost of collection for comparable countries have declined steadily and currently hovers around 1% while that of Nigeria has been stagnant to the benefit of FIRS. It is quite interesting to note that VAT is very efficient to collect through introduction of technology, a fact which should noticeably reduce cost of collection.

Therefore, there is a need for caution by FIRS in its current pushbacks as some may argue that the huge benefits it derives from cost of collection at 4% may be an impediment to its objectivity.

Empirical data suggests that VAT is an easier tax to collect than other taxes such as income tax, CGT, excise duties etc. This means the cost of VAT collection should in fact be less than the average cost of total tax collection. It is a known fact that government (including States), Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Nigerian Customs Service, and Oil & Gas companies act as VAT collection agents accounting for over 40% of VAT collected yet the 4% is still applied to this portion. We should also not forget that VAT is based on self-assessment with only 3% of “VATable” entities accounting for 97% of VAT revenue in Nigeria according to a recent IMF report. The call for reduction of cost of collection to 1% or even less should be implemented now.

In general, there is an urgent need for a review of the cost of collection of various taxes and levies by FIRS, Nigeria Customs Services and other revenue generating agencies with a view to reducing them across board. Available data and comparable evidence all over the world show that the percentage of cost of collection in Nigeria is on the high side. In addition, as the revenue increases due to deployment of technology to enhance efficiency, the cost of collection should be reviewed downwards.

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

VAT is typically levied on supply of goods and services which are driven by business activities; therefore, it is trite that some States may contribute more to the VAT collections than others depending on their level of economic activities.

There are also potential administrative issues around the logistical challenge for companies with operations across the various States who would then be required to file different VAT returns for each of these States. The potential administrative challenges will be a drawback on the little gains made on enhancing ease of doing business and eliminating incidence of multiple taxation as goods and services moves across states borders in our country. Adequate consideration should be given to how the input and output VAT offset mechanism would work where the input tax is incurred and paid in a

The reactions from the states that stands to benefit from the current court ruling and the move by FIRS to amend the constitution by including VAT in the exclusive list and making tax legislation an exclusive preserve of the federal government without addressing fundamental fiscal federalism question is a call for fiscal anarchy.

At this critical time in the evolution of our federation being shaped by the judiciary lies the need for pragmatic leadership. All stakeholders should be consulted with a view to providing a win-win solution at this time.

Some of the recommendations that should be considered to push the boundaries in finding solutions include: 1) The utilization of platforms like the National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by the Vice President, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for engagements for the benefit of all stakeholders.

2) The current 20% derivation in VAT distribution should be increased to between 30% to 40% to make the VAT distribution more reflective of the contribution being made by States 3) Allocation should be done solely among states. The sharing ratio between states and local governments can be agreed and enforced by laws passed by States Houses of Assembly. This particular recommendation is very important due to the lopsided distribution of local governments to the disadvantage of some States.

4) The FIRS and Attorney General should be advised to take necessary steps to withdraw all litigations which are impeding the implementation of Hotel Occupancy and Restaurants Consumption Laws enacted by some States. This will improve collections of this class of tax by States, thereby enhancing their internally generated revenue (IGR). In addition, entities that are subject to this category of tax should be exempted from paying VAT. 5) The cost of collection which stands at 4% should be reduced to 1% with the gain of 3% made available to all states.

6) The current 15% shared by the federal government should be surrendered entirely to the pool since VAT remain a consumption tax 7) A mechanism should be established to ensure that states that prohibits alcohols and allied products are not allowed to benefit from same.

8) VAT collected on infrastructure contracts being executed by States Governments should be made to be tax VAT exempt.

This will allow the savings made by the exemption to be re-invested on infrastructure by the respective states.

The above recommendations are not exhaustive, but will go a long way in addressing the issues being raised by states that are being shortchanged by the current arrangement while providing a platform to support states that may end up holding the short end of the stick in the current crisis. As we engage, I will advise that rushing to amend the constitution as being proposed by FIRS is not an option that will promote fiscal federalism. We need to tread with caution. t "LJOZFNJ "TIBEF '$" JT B DIBSUFSFE "DDPVOUBOU BOE 'PSNFS )POPVSBCMF $PNNJTTJPOFS GPS 'JOBODF JO -BHPT 4UBUF

MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021 • T H I S D AY

47

48

MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021 •T H I S D AY

MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021 • T H I S D AY

49

50

MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021 •T H I S D AY

MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021 • T H I S D AY

51

52

˾ MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

Monday, October 4, 2021 ŽŵĞƐƟĐ ƋƵŝƟĞƐ DĂƌŬĞƚ͗ >ŽĐĂů ŽƵƌƐĞ džƚĞŶĚƐ ŝƚƐ WŽƐŝƟǀĞ WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ… ^/ ƵƉ ϯ͘Ϯй ǁͬǁ

THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 INDEX

/Ŷ ƚĂŶĚĞŵ ǁŝƚŚ ŽƵƌ ĞdžƉĞĐƚĂƟŽŶ͕ ƚŚĞ ůŽĐĂů ďŽƵƌƐĞ ĞdžƚĞŶĚĞĚ ŝƚƐ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ůĂƐƚ ǁĞĞŬ ŽŶ

Fundamental Performance Metrics for THISDAY AFRINVEST 40 Index

^ŚĂƌĞ /ŶĚĞdž ƌŽƐĞ ϯ͘Ϯй ǁͬǁ ƚŽ ϰϬ͕ϮϮϭ͘ϭϳ ƉŽŝŶƚƐ͘ DĞĂŶǁŚŝůĞ͕ zd ůŽƐƐ ŝŵƉƌŽǀĞĚ ƚŽ -Ϭ͘ϭй ĂŶĚ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ĐĂƉŝƚĂůŝƐĂƟŽŶ ƌŽƐĞ േϲϱϱ͘ϵďŶ ǁͬǁ ƚŽ േϮϬ͘ϵƚŶ͘ dƌĂĚŝŶŐ ĂĐƟǀŝƚLJ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ ĂƐ ĂǀĞƌĂŐĞ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ĂŶĚ ǀĂůƵĞ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƌŽƐĞ ϯϴ͘ϴй ĂŶĚ ϭϵ͘ϱй ǁͬǁ ƚŽ ϯϱϱ͘ϳŵ ƵŶŝƚƐ ĂŶĚ േϯ͘ϯďŶ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƚƌĂĚĞĚ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ ďLJ ǀŽůƵŵĞ ǁĞƌĞ ,KEz&>KhZ ;ϰϬϰ͘ϴŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ & E, ;ϯϮϯ͘ϯŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ͕ ĂŶĚ hE/s/E^hZ ;ϳϴ͘ϲŵ ƵŶŝƚƐͿ ǁŚŝůĞ & E,

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THISDAY AFRINVEST 40

1,655.29

0.59%

12.8%

65.5%

15.0%

3.5%

715.00

0.0%

28.3%

-16.1%

-16.1%

12.3%

4.4%

66.00

0.0%

10.3%

-14.7%

-14.7%

19.1%

11.2%

31.7x

6.0x

28.05

0.5%

8.7%

-13.3%

-13.3%

24.8%

3.9%

4.3x

1.1x

10.7%

23.4% 31.6%

1 Airtel Africa PLC 2 BUA Cement Plc 3 Guaranty Trust Holding Co PLC 4 Zenith Bank PLC

ŽƵƌ ĐŽǀĞƌĂŐĞ ĂƐ ϰ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ĐůŽƐĞĚ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ͕ ϭ ŶĞŐĂƟǀĞ ǁŚŝůĞ ƚŚĞ &Z-/ d ŝŶĚĞdž ƌĞŵĂŝŶĞĚ ŇĂƚ͘ >ĞĂĚŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ŐĂŝŶĞƌƐ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů and ŽŶƐƵŵĞƌ 'ŽŽĚƐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ

-5.4%

21.8%

2.9%

3.2x

0.6x

12.7%

44.7%

17.5%

14.1x

6.1x

6.4%

7.1%

174.90

-0.1%

5.4%

2.9%

2.9%

143.0%

12.4%

14.1x

17.8x

6.0%

7.1%

1,480.00

-0.6%

4.2%

-1.7%

-1.7%

143.5%

17.1%

30.0x

51.4x

4.2%

3.3%

22.90

0.7%

3.9%

8.8%

8.8%

9.9%

7.1%

10.3x

1.0x

4.4%

9.7%

9.15

0.0%

3.3%

8.3%

8.3%

18.3%

1.5%

2.5x

0.4x

9.3%

40.7%

10 United Bank for Africa PLC 11 FBN Holdings Plc

7.55

-0.7%

2.5%

-12.7%

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0.4x

7.3%

48.2%

8.05

0.0%

2.9%

12.6%

12.6%

10.6%

1.0%

3.8x

0.4x

5.6%

26.6%

12 Nigerian Brew eries PLC 13 Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC

49.50

1.5%

1.9%

-11.6%

-11.6%

5.6%

2.2%

41.5x

2.3x

1.9%

2.4%

39.00

0.0%

2.2%

3.3%

3.3%

17.4%

2.1%

8.4x

1.3x

10.5%

11.9%

-5.9%

-2.5%

8 Lafarge Africa PLC 9 Access Bank PLC

14 International Brew eries PLC 15 Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC 16 SEPLAT Energy PLC 17 11 PLC 18 Okomu Oil Palm PLC

(-Ϯϵ͘ϴйͿ͕ : Z' Z (-ϭϬ͘ϬйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ s E> Z (-9.9%) ůĞĚ ƚŚĞ ůĂŐŐĂƌĚƐ͘ /Ŷ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŵŝŶŐ ǁĞĞŬ͕ ǁĞ ĞdžƉĞĐƚ ƚŚĞ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ŵŽŵĞŶƚƵŵ ƚŽ ŐĂŝŶ ĨƵƌƚŚĞƌ ƚƌĂĐƟŽŶ

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26 Presco PLC 27 Unilever Nigeria PLC

1.3%

-19.3%

-19.3%

1.3%

15.0%

15.0%

710.00

0.0%

1.9%

76.5%

3.1%

1.7%

7.4%

3.2%

18.8x

0.6x

5.8%

5.3%

2.5%

1.1%

24.0%

24.0%

37.4%

23.6%

8.3x

2.8x

6.2%

12.0%

1.2%

0.7%

-2.0%

-2.0%

12.7%

1.2%

2.1x

0.3x

8.9%

46.6%

5.40

0.0%

0.7%

-10.0%

-10.0%

1.5%

0.1%

17.9x

0.2x

17.40

0.0%

0.6%

-1.1%

-1.1%

25.6%

12.1%

6.7x

1.6x

8.6%

14.9%

2.89

-0.3%

0.5%

-13.2%

-13.2%

1.47

0.0%

0.3%

-27.9%

-27.9%

8.9%

0.8%

3.7x

0.3x

3.4%

15.20

0.0%

0.4%

4.8%

4.8%

20.7%

5.9%

15.2x

3.1x

2.6%

6.6%

0.94

1.1%

0.4%

4.4%

4.4%

-1.3%

-0.3%

0.6x

1.1%

-2.3%

1.9x

2.7%

-4.2%

-2.7%

1.2x

80.25

4.2%

0.3%

13.1%

13.1%

13.20

-2.2%

0.2%

-5.0%

-5.0%

5.75

0.0%

0.2%

8.5%

8.5%

5.6%

5.2%

-3.6%

8.95

0.6%

0.4%

90.0%

90.0%

35.5%

4.2%

6.8x

2.2x

7.8%

0.0%

0.3%

55.8%

55.8%

1.7%

0.8%

51.3x

0.9x

1.6%

2.0%

6.70

0.0%

0.2%

14.5%

14.5%

24.7%

7.5%

3.3x

0.8x

8.0%

30.3%

21.6%

3.3%

4.0x

0.4x

0.95

0.0%

0.2%

-15.9%

-15.9%

192.00

0.0%

0.3%

47.7%

47.7%

24.30

0.0%

0.2%

37.9%

37.9%

18.3%

2.4%

4.9x

0.80

2.6%

0.2%

15.9%

15.9%

11.7%

0.7%

-2.0%

0.0%

-100.0%

7.5%

-0.6%

0.2%

39.7%

39.7%

2.1%

16.4%

0.8x

1.6%

20.4%

4.5x

0.5x

5.0%

22.0%

0.9%

5.4x

0.6x

5.1%

14.5%

2.6%

2.2x

0.3x

5.4x

0.7x

62.50

0.0%

0.1%

0.0%

0.0%

-38.7%

-9.5%

0.0%

0.1%

-4.4%

-4.4%

12.8%

8.7%

5.43

0.0%

0.0%

50.8%

50.8%

2.1x

-21.2% 2.0%

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V o l u m e P ric e C hg %

T ic k er

Vo lum e

P ric e C hg % 0.0%

1.23

9.8%

FB NH

53.8

2.35

9.8%

T R A N SC OR P

23.3

1.1%

M A YB A KER

4.88

9.2%

GT C O

19.4

0.5%

SOVR EN IN S

0.24

9.1%

WA P IC

18.3

0.0%

C H IP LC

0.57

7.5%

M B EN EF IT

15.3

0.0%

R EGA LIN S

0.44

7.3%

ET I

11.6

0.0%

D A N GC EM

280.00

7.3%

Z EN IT H B A N K

10.5

-0.2%

80.25

4.2%

A C C ESS

10.5

0.0%

0.80

2.6%

WEM A B A N K

9.3

2.6%

112.80

2.5%

M A N SA R D

9.0

-4.1%

T o p 10 L o s e r s T ic k er

P ric e

18.4%

0.9x

P H A R M D EKO

OKOM UOIL

18.5% 44.9%

UP L

WEM A B A N K

14.6%

24.8%

6.1x

52.95

P ric e

P R ESC O

27.0%

29.60

T o p 10 G a i n e r s T ic k er

-13.3% 5.5%

2.47

5.17

38 Notore Chemical Industries Ltd 39 Beta Glass PLC 40 Transcorp Hotels Plc

76.5% -100.0%

0.9x 0.7x

112.80

28 PZ Cussons Nigeria PLC 29 United Capital PLC

T o p 10 T r a d e s b y V a l u e T ic k er

Value

CHA M S

0.21

-8.7%

D A N GC EM

1127.6

7.3%

M A N SA R D

2.33

-4.1%

N EST LE

569.5

-0.6%

J A IZ B A N K

0.60

-3.2%

GT C O

544.3

0.5%

LIVEST OC K

2.17

-2.7%

FB NH

430.5

0.0%

UN ILEVER

13.20

-2.2%

NB

308.9

1.5%

J A P A ULGOLD

0.44

-2.2%

Z EN IT H B A N K

247.1

-0.2%

UB N

4.90

-2.0%

M TNN

199.2

-0.1%

H ON YF LOUR

3.76

-1.8%

WA P C O

196.5

0.7%

UB A

7.55

-0.7%

F LOUR M ILL

133.4

0.0%

1480.00

-0.6%

ST A N B IC

101.8

0.0%

N EST LE

Afrinvest West Africa Limited

0.0% 0.0%

0.0%

23 Sterling Bank PLC 24 NASCON Allied Industries PLC 25 Transnational Corp of Nigeria

ŐĂŝŶĞĚ ĂŐĂŝŶƐƚ Ϯϱ ůŽƐĞƌƐ͘ dŚĞ ƚŽƉ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵŝŶŐ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ

;нϮϬ͘ϱйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ E' D ;нϭϰ͘ϯйͿ ǁŚŝůĞ D E^ Z

4.80 29.90

19 Fidelity Bank PLC 20 Ecobank Transnational Inc

& E, ;нϳ͘ϯйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ E/d, ;нϮ͘ϲйͿ͘ KŶ ƚŚĞ ŽƚŚĞƌ

ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ǁĞƌĞ hW> ;нϮϬ͘ϲйͿ͕ W, ZD <

3.2%

14.3%

the Kŝů Θ 'ĂƐ and ĂŶŬŝŶŐ ŝŶĚŝĐĞƐ ŐĂŝŶĞĚ Ϭ͘ϵй ĂŶĚ

ĨƌŽŵ ϭ͘Ϯdž ƌĞĐŽƌĚĞĚ ƚŚĞ ǁĞĞŬ ďĞĨŽƌĞ͕ ĂƐ ϯϲ ƐƚŽĐŬƐ

15.3%

2.2%

-5.4%

36 Union Bank of Nigeria PLC 37 Oando PLC

;ĂĚǀĂŶĐĞͬĚĞĐůŝŶĞ ƌĂƟŽͿ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ ƚŽ ϭ͘ϰdž ǁͬǁ

5.5%

14.3%

E ^d> ;нϱ͘ϳйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ &>KhZD/>> ;нϭ͘ϵйͿ͘ dƌĂŝůŝŶŐ͕

/ŶǀĞƐƚŽƌ ƐĞŶƟŵĞŶƚ ƐƚƌĞŶŐƚŚĞŶĞĚ͕ ĂƐ ŵĂƌŬĞƚ ďƌĞĂĚƚŚ

0.7x

7.4%

34 Julius Berger Nigeria PLC 35 Wema Bank PLC

ϭ͘ϬйͿ͘

5.3x

Divindend Earnings Yield Yield

6.8%

32 AIICO Insurance PLC 33 TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeri

ƐĞůů-ƉƌĞƐƐƵƌĞ ŽŶ D E^ Z ;-Ϯϵ͘ϱйͿ ĂŶĚ // K ;-

P/BV

7.3%

ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ E' D ;нϲ͘ϳйͿ͕ t W K ;нϮ͘ϮйͿ͕

ŚĂŶĚ͕ ƚŚĞ /ŶƐƵƌĂŶĐĞ ŝŶĚĞdž ƐůŝĚ ϳ͘ϲй ǁͬǁ ĨŽůůŽǁŝŶŐ

P/E

-0.2%

ƌŽƐĞ ϲ͘ϳй ĂŶĚ ϯ͘ϰй ǁͬǁ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ďƵLJŝŶŐ

ĂƉƉƌĞĐŝĂƟŽŶ ŝŶ K E K ;нϳ͘ϯйͿ͕ d ZE ;нϰ͘ϵйͿ͕

ROA

23.45

30 Guinness Nigeria PLC 31 Custodian and Allied Insurance

Ϭ͘ϲй ǁͬǁ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƟǀĞůLJ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ďĂĐŬ ŽĨ ƉƌŝĐĞ

ROE

280.00

5 Dangote Cement PLC 6 MTN Nigeria Communications PLC 7 Nestle Nigeria PLC

21 Dangote Sugar Refinery PLC 22 FCMB Group Plc

WĞƌĨŽƌŵĂŶĐĞ ǁĂƐ ƉŽƐŝƟǀĞ ĂĐƌŽƐƐ ƚŚĞ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ƵŶĚĞƌ

Price Change Index to Date

Ticker

ďƵLJŝŶŐ ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ ŝŶ E' D ;нϭϰ͘ϯйͿ͕ E/d, ;нϮ͘ϲйͿ͕ ĂŶĚ & E, ;нϳ͘ϯйͿ͘ ĐĐŽƌĚŝŶŐůLJ͕ ƚŚĞ ůů-

Price Previous Current Change Price YTD Weighting Change

Current Price

P ric e C hg %

P ric e C hg %

Brokerage

Asset Management

Investment Research

Adedoyin Allen | aallen@afrinvest.com

Rombert Omotunde | romotunde@afrinvest.com

Abiodun Keripe |akeripe@afrinvest.com

Taiwo Ogundipe | togundipe@afrinvest.com

Christopher Omoh | comoh@afrinvest.com

Damilare Asimiyu | dasimiyu@afrinvest.com

MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021• T H I S DAY

53

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

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

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

floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

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

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

GUIDE TO DATA: Date: All fund prices are quoted in Naira as at 29Sept-2021, unless otherwise stated.

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

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

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

DAILY PRICE LIST FOR MUTUAL FUNDS, REITS and ETFS

MUTUAL FUNDS / UNIT TRUSTS

AFRINVEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD aaml@afrinvest.com Web: www.afrinvest.com; Tel: +234 818 885 6757 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Afrinvest Equity Fund 161.22 162.58 -0.42% Afrinvest Plutus Fund 100.00 100.00 7.55% Nigeria International Debt Fund 318.54 318.54 -15.98% Afrinvest Dollar Fund 106.73 107.78 -3.68% ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PARTNERS LTD info@acapng.com Web: www.acapng.com, Tel: +234 1 291 2406, +234 1 291 2868 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ACAP Canary Growth Fund N/A N/A N/A ACAP Income Funds N/A N/A N/A AIICO CAPITAL LTD ammf@aiicocapital.com Web: www.aiicocapital.com, Tel: +234-1-2792974 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AIICO Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.27% AIICO Balanced Fund 3.34 3.50 -1.81% info@anchoriaam.com ANCHORIA ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED info@anchoriaam.com Web:www.anchoriaam.com, Tel: 08166830267; 08036814510; 08028419180 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Anchoria Money Market 100.00 100.00 8.06% Anchoria Equity Fund 135.68 137.36 2.78% Anchoria Fixed Income Fund 1.14 1.14 -14.01% ARM INVESTMENT MANAGERS LTD enquiries@arminvestmentcenter.com Web: www.arm.com.ng; Tel: 0700 CALLARM (0700 225 5276) Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn ARM Aggressive Growth Fund 19.83 20.43 9.36% ARM Discovery Balanced Fund 435.55 448.69 8.79% ARM Ethical Fund 38.78 39.95 15.04% ARM Eurobond Fund ($) 1.09 1.09 -1.09% ARM Fixed Income Fund 0.98 0.98 -6.60% ARM Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 8.48% AVA GLOBAL ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED info@avacapitalgroup.com Web: www.avacapitalgroup.com Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AVA GAM Fixed Income Dollar Fund 106.48 106.48 4.69% AVA GAM Fixed Income Naira Fund 1,038.62 1,038.62 3.86% AXA MANSARD INVESTMENTS LIMITED investmentcare@axamansard.com Web: www.axamansard.com; Tel: +2341-4488482 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn AXA Mansard Equity Income Fund N/A N/A N/A AXA Mansard Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A CAPITAL EXPRESS ASSET AND TRUST LIMITED info@capitalexpressassetandtrust.com Web: www.capitalexpressassetandtrust.com ; Tel: +234 803 307 5048 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CEAT Fixed Income Fund 2.07 2.07 -5.28% Capital Express Balanced Fund(Formerly: Union Trustees Mixed Fund) 2.07 2.11 -4.99% CARDINALSTONE ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfunds@cardinalstone.com Web: www.cardinalstoneassetmanagement.com ; Tel: +234 (1) 710 0433 4 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn CardinalStone Fixed Income Alpha Fund 1.02 1.02 3.44% CHAPELHILL DENHAM MANAGEMENT LTD investmentmanagement@chapelhilldenham.com Web: www.chapelhilldenham.com, Tel: +234 461 0691 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Chapelhill Denham Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 8.69% Paramount Equity Fund 16.67 16.98 4.24% Women's Investment Fund 138.16 139.76 3.82% CORDROS ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmgtteam@cordros.com Web: www.cordros.com, Tel: 019036947 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Cordros Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.53% Cordros Milestone Fund 2023 120.61 121.40 Cordros Milestone Fund 2028 N/A N/A Cordros Dollar Fund ($) 107.77 107.77 CORONATION ASSEST MANAGEMENT investment@coronationam.com Web:www.coronationam.com , Tel: 012366215 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Coronation Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A Coronation Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A EDC FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED mutualfundng@ecobank.com Web: www.ecobank.com Tel: 012265281 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class A 100.00 100.00 7.57% EDC Nigeria Money Market Fund Class B 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 5.77% EDC Nigeria Fixed Income Fund 1,162.28 1,180.56 0.95% FBNQUEST ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD invest@fbnquest.com Web: www.fbnquest.com/asset-management; Tel: +234-81 0082 0082 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn FBN Bond Fund 1,423.01 1,423.01 11.65% FBN Balanced Fund 192.51 193.80 2.57% FBN Halal Fund 113.09 113.09 9.28% FBN Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 9.53% FBN Dollar Fund (Retail) FBN Smart Beta Equity Fund FCMB ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED Web: www.fcmbassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 462 2596 Fund Name Legacy Money Market Fund Legacy Debt Fund Legacy Equity Fund Legacy USD Bond Fund FSDH ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.fsdhaml.com; Tel: 01-270 4884-5; 01-280 9740-1 Fund Name Coral Balanced Fund Coral Income Fund Coral Money Market Fund

127.09 159.97

127.09 3.79% 162.12 5.82% fcmbamhelpdesk@fcmb.com

Bid Price 1.00 3.98 1.60 1.19

Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn 1.00 6.22% 3.98 2.78% 1.64 5.28% 1.19 4.75% coralfunds@fsdhgroup.com

Bid Price N/A N/A N/A

Offer Price N/A N/A N/A

Yield / T-Rtn N/A N/A N/A

GREENWICH ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gtlgroup.com Web: www.gtlgroup.com ; Tel: +234 1 4619261-2 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Greenwich Plus Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A Nigeria Entertainment Fund N/A N/A N/A GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED assetmanagement@gdl.com.ng Web: www.gdl.com.ng ; Tel: +234 9055691122 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn GDL Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A INVESTMENT ONE FUNDS MANAGEMENT LTD enquiries@investment-one.com Web: www.investment-one.com; Tel: +234 812 992 1045,+234 1 448 8888 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Abacus Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.65% Vantage Balanced Fund 2.83 2.90 -0.75% Vantage Guaranteed Income Fund 1.00 1.00 4.50% Kedari Investment Fund (KIF) 153.57 153.85 -1.24% Vantage Equity Income Fund (VEIF) - June Year End 1.30 1.35 3.48% Vantage Dollar Fund (VDF) - June Year End 1.10 1.10 4.21% LOTUS CAPITAL LTD fincon@lotuscapitallimited.com Web: www.lotuscapitallimited.com; Tel: +234 1-291 4626 / +234 1-291 4624 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Lotus Halal Investment Fund 1.45 1.47 6.25% Lotus Halal Fixed Income Fund 1,157.41 1,157.41 6.53% MERISTEM WEALTH MANAGEMENT LTD info@meristemwealth.com Web: http://www.meristemwealth.com/funds/ ; Tel: +234 1-4488260 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Meristem Equity Market Fund 11.55 11.58 10.17% Meristem Money Market Fund 10.00 10.00 9.18% PAC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD info@pacassetmanagement.com Web: www.pacassetmanagement.com/mutualfunds; Tel: +234 1 271 8632 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn PACAM Balanced Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Fixed Income Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Money Market Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM Equity Fund N/A N/A N/A PACAM EuroBond Fund N/A N/A N/A SCM CAPITAL LIMITED info@scmcapitalng.com Web: www.scmcapitalng.com; Tel: +234 1-280 2226,+234 1- 280 2227 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SCM Capital Frontier Fund 132.65 134.95 8.28% SFS CAPITAL NIGERIA LTD investments@sfsnigeria.com Web: www.sfsnigeria.com, Tel: +234 (01) 2801400 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn SFS Fixed Income Fund 1.06 1.06 10.07% STANBIC IBTC ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD assetmanagement@stanbicibtc.com Web: www.stanbicibtcassetmanagement.com; Tel: +234 1 280 1266; 0700 MUTUALFUNDS Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Stanbic IBTC Balanced Fund 3,422.46 3,459.42 6.57% Stanbic IBTC Bond Fund 233.37 233.37 3.79% Stanbic IBTC Ethical Fund 1.23 1.25 5.08% Stanbic IBTC Guaranteed Investment Fund 308.22 308.22 4.60% Stanbic IBTC Iman Fund 229.05 232.32 4.92% Stanbic IBTC Money Market Fund 100.00 100.00 7.45% Stanbic IBTC Nigerian Equity Fund 10,468.85 10,614.56 -0.26% Stanbic IBTC Dollar Fund (USD) 1.28 1.28 4.05% Stanbic IBTC Shariah Fixed Income Fund 115.82 115.82 4.27% Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund 104.13 104.13 UNITED CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD Web: www.unitedcapitalplcgroup.com; Tel: +234 01-6317876 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn United Capital Balanced Fund 1.31 1.33 2.41% United Capital Bond Fund 1.92 1.92 4.98% United Capital Equity Fund 0.88 0.90 10.46% United Capital Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 9.40% United Capital Eurobond Fund 120.59 120.59 5.34% United Capital Wealth for Women Fund 1.06 1.08 4.16% United capital Sukuk Fund 1.06 1.06 6.39% QUANTUM ZENITH ASSET MANAGEMENT & INVESTMENTS LTD service@quantumzenithasset.com.ng Web: www.quantumzenith.com.ng; Tel: +234 1-2784219 Fund Name Bid Price Offer Price Yield / T-Rtn Zenith Equity Fund 12.95 13.02 8.93% Zenith Ethical Fund 14.32 14.47 17.33% Zenith Income Fund 24.41 24.41 1.75% Zenith Money Market Fund 1.00 1.00 6.85%

REITS NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

124.98 53.37

10.62% 5.66%

Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

13.63

13.73

3.11%

123.62 98.19 17.27 18.19

126.69 100.33 17.37 18.29

2.81% -1.04%

Fund Name SFS REIT Union Homes REIT

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

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

funds@vetiva.com Bid Price

Offer Price

Yield / T-Rtn

3.84 5.64 17.66 1.00 19.97 157.62

3.88 5.72 17.76 1.00 20.17 159.62

1.77% -0.89% 8.77% 7.55% -2.65% -28.32%

NAV Per Share

Yield / T-Rtn

107.40

13.11%

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND Fund Name Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund

The value of investments and the income from them may fall as well as rise. Past performance is a guide and not an indication of future returns. Fund prices published in this edition are also available on each fund manager’s website and FMAN’s website at www.fman.com.ng. Fund prices are supplied by the operator of the relevant fund and are published for information purposes only.

54

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY

FOREIGN DESK

COMPILED BY BAYO AKINLOYE

Private Jet Crashes into Milan Building, Kills Eight A small private plane has crashed into an empty building in Milan, killing all eight people on board.

The plane took off from Milan’s Linate airport and was heading for the island of Sardinia, but it came down soon after on the outskirts of the city.

Witnesses described hearing a loud blast as it struck a two-storey office block and burst into flames.

One of those killed in the incident was a young boy, local media reported.

A thick column of smoke was seen rising in the air, though no one on the ground was reported injured.

Rai state TV reported that the passengers were French, although officials have not confirmed this.

No More Immigration, Says UK PM Boris Johnson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday he would not return to “uncontrolled immigration” to solve fuel, gas and Christmas food crises, suggesting such strains were part of a period of post-Brexit adjustment, VOA reports.

At the start of his Conservative Party’s conference, Johnson was again forced to defend his government against complaints from those unable to get petrol for their cars, retailers warning of Christmas shortages, and gas companies struggling with a spike in wholesale prices.

“The way forward for our country is not to just pull the big lever marked uncontrolled immigration, and allow in huge numbers of people to do work ...

So, what I won’t do is go back to the old, failed model of low wages, low skills supported by uncontrolled immigration,” he told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

“When people voted for change in 2016 and ... again in 2019 as they did, they voted for the end of a broken model of the UK economy that relied on low wages and low skill and chronic low productivity, and we are moving away from that.”

Shortages of workers after Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic have sown disarray in some sectors of the economy, disrupting deliveries of fuel and medicines and leaving more than 100,000 pigs facing a cull due to a lack of abattoir workers.

Kabul Mosque Bomb Blast Kills Several Afghan Civilians

A bomb blast outside Kabul’s main mosque Sunday afternoon killed and injured several Afghan civilians, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

It was the first such assault in the capital since late August, when an Islamic State-Khorasan Province suicide bomber killed around 200 people, including 13 US soldiers, near the Kabul airport.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday’s assault on the Eid Gah mosque in the centre of the city, and it was apparently targeted at a gathering offering special prayers for Mujahid’s mother, who recently passed away.

Qatar-based Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Mujahid was “safe” along with other colleagues because the blast happened away from the place where they were located.

Hamidullah, a member of the Taliban, said he was a mere three meters away from the suicide bomber in the mosque at the time of the blast.

“I was thrown back from the force of the blast,” he told journalists outside Kabul’s Emergency Hospital, where some of the victims were treated.

The Afghan Islamic State affiliate, also known as ISIS-K, has claimed a series of attacks in the country’s eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar in the last week, killing dozens of civilians and Taliban fighters.

Philippines’ President Duterte Says Daughter Running for Presidency

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter will run for president in the 2022 election, and her father’s long-time aide, who has filed his vice-presidential candidacy, will be her running mate, ABS-CBN news reported late on Saturday.

Sara Duterte-Carpio has previously said she would not run for national office next year.

ABS-CBN news based its report on an interview that president Duterte had with a broadcast journalist right after he announced that he was retiring from politics on Saturday while accompanying his closest loyalist Senator Christopher ‘Bong’ Go, to file his vice presidential candidacy.

He was asked: “So is it clear, SaraGo?” “It is Sara-Go,” Duterte said in response.

Go did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

While Duterte-Carpio is by far the most popular presidential prospect, according to successive opinion polls this year, Go, who was the president’s

long-time aide before he became senator, trails in opinion surveys on preferred vice presidential bets.

Duterte, 76, said on Saturday he was retiring from politics, a surprise move that fueled speculation he was clearing the way for a presidential run by his daughter.

Missile Test: North Korea Threatens UN Security Council

North Korea has warned the UN Security Council against criticising the isolated country’s missile programme in a statement Sunday that included unspecified threats against the international body, according to AP. During an emergency closed-door meeting of the top UN body Friday, France circulated a proposed statement that expresses concern over North Korea’s missile launches and calls on it to implement council resolutions that ban its ballistic missile firings fully.

On Sunday, Jo Chol Su, a senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official, warned the UN council it “had better think what consequences it will bring in the future in case it tries to encroach upon the sovereignty” of North Korea.

Jo also accused the UN body of a “double-dealing standard” because it doesn’t equally take issue with similar weapons tests by the United States and its allies, according to the statement circulated by state media.

After a six-month hiatus, North Korea resumed missile tests in September, launching newly developed missiles, including nuclear-capable weapons that place South Korea and Japan, both key

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FOREIGN DESK

Sex Abuse: Thousands of Paedophiles in Catholic Church, Says Report Thousands of paedophiles have operated within the French Catholic Church since 1950, the head of a panel investigating abuses by church members says.

Jean-Marc Sauvé told French media that the commission had found evidence of 2,900 to 3,200 abusers - out of a total of 115,000 priests and other clerics, BBC reports.

“That is a minimal estimate,” he added.

The commission is to release a lengthy report on Tuesday. It is based on church, court and police archives, as well as interviews with victims.

The independent inquiry was commissioned by the French Catholic Church US allies, within their striking distances.

The country still offered conditional talks with South Korea, in what some experts call an attempt to pressure Seoul to persuade Washington to relax crippling economic sanctions on it.

US Worried 93 Chinese Jet Fighters Flew into Taiwan Defence Zone

The US has said it is “very concerned”

by China’s “provocative” actions after Taiwan claimed some 93 Chinese military planes had flown into its air defence zone in the past three days.

The US state department called the actions “destabilising” and reiterated its “rock solid” commitment to Taiwan.

Taiwan has reported at least five incursions since Friday.

China sees democratic Taiwan as a breakaway province, but Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign state.

It has been complaining for more than a year about repeated missions by China’s air force near the island.

“The United States is very concerned by... China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilising, risks miscalculations and undermines regional peace and stability,” the US state department said.

“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan.”

in 2018, following a number of scandals in other countries.

Mr Sauvé, a senior civil servant, told France’s Le Monde newspaper that the panel had handed over evidence to prosecutors in 22 cases where criminal action could still be launched.

He added that bishops and other senior church officials had been told of other allegations against people who were still alive.

Commission members included doctors, historians, sociologists and theologians.

More than 6,500 victims and witnesses were contacted over two and a half years. The final report is 2,500 pages long.

On Sunday, Taiwan’s defence ministry reported that another 16 Chinese military planes had flown into its air defence zone near the Pratas Islands atoll.

On Saturday, a total of 39 Chinese military jets flew into the same area in two waves during the day and evening. It was the largest incursion

by Beijing to date.

On Friday, four H-6 bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, and an anti-submarine aircraft were among the 38 that flew in two waves over the course of the day.

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PAGE FIFTY SIX

Irabor: This is Our Most Challenging Period in Nation’s History Says armed forces proud of role in Nigerian project at 61 Optimistic of victory over insecurity Troops foil ISWAP attack on surrendered terrorists, families Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, at the weekend, said at no other time in Nigeria's history had members of the armed forces been so engaged in addressing the myriad of security challenges confronting the country and threatening the very foundation of her unity, security and wellbeing.

He however said that these notwithstanding, the armed forces remained proud of its critical role in project Nigeria as the nation marked her 61st independence anniversary celebration.

Speaking at a dinner organised by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) for members of the Armed Forces in commemoration of Nigeria’s 61st independence day anniversary celebration held in Abuja, Irabor said security forces were undaunted in spite of the challenges of insecurity and assured the citizens that the nation would be victorious.

This is coming as troops of Operation Hadin Kai, weekend, foiled an attack by fighters of the Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP), who attempted to free surrendered terrorists and their families in the North-east.

Eight thousand insurgents and their families have so far surrendered to troops.

Also, the Nigeria Army said it would today launch Exercises Golden Dawn, Enduring Peace and Still Water nationwide.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen. Faruk Yahaya, is expected to flag-off all exercises at the venue of Exercise Golden Dawn, billed to take place at Oye-Emene, Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.

At the dinner, where 24 officers and men of the armed forces were honoured for their gallantry in the war against insurgency, Irabor reiterated that the armed forces remained proud of its role in nation building.

"As we celebrate another anniversary of self rule, the Armed Forces of Nigeria is proud of its critical role and efforts in the Nigerian project.

At no other time in Nigeria's history have members of the armed forces been so engaged in addressing the myriad of security challenges confronting the country that threatened the very foundation of our unity, security and well being.

"Rising up to this challenge, the armed forces have made tremendous sacrifices. The Armed

Forces of Nigeria remains resolute and undaunted in the face of these challenges and we shall be victorious", he assured,” he said.

Further, the Armed Forces posthumously honoured the late Colonel Abu Ali, who paid the supreme price in 2016 while combating insurgents and terrorists in the the North-east.

Also honoured posthumously was the late Squadron Leader, Victor Uba, who paid the supreme price in the fight against banditry in the North-west.

The late officers alongside 20 other military personnel were recognised and honoured at the event held at Command Officers Mess, Asokoro, Abuja.

Minister of Defence, Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd), who was special guest of honour at the event, commended the leadership of the armed forces for observing the sacred military tradition, which sought to improve regimentation as well as fostering comradeship among senior and junior office.

He noted that regimental dinner was a platform for officers to interact and share ideas on how to solve critical challenges facing their commands and helping to fast-track the attainment of national security objectives of government.

Magashi, while commending the role played by the armed forces in the preservation and security of the nation since independence, noted that the “spectacular achievements of the security agencies in the fight against terrorism, insurgency, militancy and banditry amongst others are well recognised and appreciated.”

The minister assured the leadership of the armed forces of a sustained support in the provision of adequate logistics and equipment to aid the military in restoring lasting peace in the nation.

Meanwhile, a war update issued by the Nigerian Army Headquarters, said ISWAP, confronted with the obvious reality of defeat, had embarked on a desperate move to undermine the depletion of its fighting force, resorted to attacks on surrendered Boko Haram members and their families.

It said the insurgents embarked on a mission to "annihilate or capture Boko Haram terrorists, who surrendered in Damboa", but that, “The gallant troops of 25 Task Force Brigade Operation Hadin Kai, whose superior firepower forced the terrorists

to withdraw in disarray, ensured Damboa did not fall to their antics."

The statement claimed "the terrorists made futile attempt to access the facility housing the surrendered BHT members but retreated, when confronted with the superior firepower of own troops", adding that the ISWAP attack was designed to discourage more terrorists from surrendering.

"This antic of terror within terror is being employed by ISWAP to discourage intending surrendering terrorists in their ranks. The latest strategy is not unconnected with the frustration of the group as top ranking

commanders and members denounce violent agitation to embrace peace in recent times," the Army said.

The update signed by Army Spokesman, Brigadier-General Onyema Nwachukwu, reassured the people of Damboa and environs and urged them to go about their normal businesses as vigilant troops would proactively continue to provide security of lives and property.

"The general public are (sic) also enjoined to provide actionable and timely information on the activities of these criminal elements and their collaborators.

"The Chief of Army Staff,

Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, while commending troops for their doggedness, charged them to take the fight to the terrorists' enclaves to deny them freedom of action. He also reassured them of requisite support as they record more operational gains in Operation Hadin Kai", it said.

Also, a separate statement claimed the Nigeria Army would today launch Exercises Golden Dawn, Enduring Peace and Still Water nationwide.

Yahaya is expected to flag-off all exercises at the venue of Exercise Golden Dawn which will take place at Oye-Emene, Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.

"For all intents and purposes, it should be noted that these Field Training Exercises (FTEs) are routines conducted yearly by the Nigerian Army (NA), designed to effectively check all forms of criminality and allow for free movement of persons during the Yuletide.

"Additionally, the FTEs will equally provide a platform to sharpen the skill so f participating troops on the conduct of Internal Security Operations. The exercises will run concurrently in 2, 6, 81 and 82 Divisions Areas of Responsibilities(AOR) in the South West, South South and South East regions respectively," it said.

UNAPOLOGETIC FRONTRUNNERS EMERGE FOR PDP’S TICKET former Senate President and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ayim Pius

whoever wins it, the seat goes south.

According to a top figure in the PDP who does not want his name in print, “The point, is that PDP wants to choose one of its own from the south as a candidate. The north has indicated that it is not against power shift to south. So there is growing realisation that power will have to come to south.

Since the zoning of the PDP chairmanship to north, there have been talks among PDP leaders for a southern candidate and many of them believed they didn’t necessarily need a northern candidate to win the presidency.

Even though that narrative was being pushed by Chief Raymond Dokpesi, and other interested parties, who had their eyes set on the big prize - the presidency and had increasingly seen themselves as candidates from the north.

But the eventual zoning of the chairmanship to the north, has technically changed the equation, and illuminated the chances of these five southerners from the PDP.

Ayim; Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde; Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel and his Delta State counterpart, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.

These candidates have no blemish, nor have they been charged for corruption, which some analysts believe is a good thing that will give the PDP a clean start from all the corruption allegations its previous leaders faced in the hands of the All Progressives Congress when it took over from the PDP in 2015.

Should the parties zone the tickets to the south as the mood of the nation suggests, a likely scenario is that the two major parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP – would have candidates like these to compete for the tickets in their respective parties.

With the presidency most likely coming south at least following PDP's decision last week to zone Chairmanship to the north, these frontrunners have begun to see themselves as potential candidates for the PDP ticket.

For instance, a match-up from the two parties could throw up Nyesom Wike of the PDP versus Kayode Fayemi of the APC or Nyesom Wike versus Yemi Osinbajo of the APC or any of the other potential candidates.

Unfortunately however, a former Vice President and PDP presidential hopeful, Atiku Abubakar, might have been blocked in the party going by feelers from the PDP race and will be most likely unable to form another party, with what is currently on the card.

Relatedly, the APC might also field a southern candidate and

a Rivers court sacked him and paved the way for the current calculations in the party. Wike has proven himself worthy of the job, both in terms of politics and governance.

Udom Emmanuel The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, has shown capacity since he took over from his predecessor and Minister for Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio. This even became evident after he ‘parted ways’ with Akpabio, who joined the ruling party, allegedly in search for ‘security and staying power’ in the run-up to the 2019 elections.

With a stellar record of performance and a good hold on the politics of his state, Emmanuel, a banker-turned politician, boasts the kind of scorecard required for the nation’s top job. He is currently serving out his second term of eight years.

Ayim Pius Anyim

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has since assuming office in 2015, established himself as a force to reckon with. Not only is he considered a major financier of the party, he has been dubbed as Mr. Project, owing to his record of performance as governor of the oil rich state.

A major factor in the battle to have a southern president, Wike did everything humanly possible to push out his own man, Uche Secondus, who was PDP's national chairman until

One of the most experienced horses from the southern hemisphere is Anyim Pius Anyim, a former Senate President and erstwhile Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

He stands a good chance, from different vantage positions, including his network of friends across the country.

Having held key positions in both the executive and legislative arms of government, Anyim, a South-easterner, comes to the table with loads of experience, age, maturity and the temperament for the job. Besides, he was a major arrowhead for the Southern presidency and indeed, headed the group that insisted the

Plaintiff further claimed that as a result of the deceit, its expectations as it relates to the wells can no longer be achieved and that its financial position has been severely and adversely impacted upon.

Plaintiff averred that its inability to fully repay its alleged indebtedness to its financiers was directly attributed to the wrongful actions of Shell. While claiming that it paid the sum of $46.2 million for the wells, plaintiff argued if the money had been invested in other business ventures at the rate of 9.9 per cent interest rate per annum from 2014 till the commencement of the suit it would have yielded an additional sum of $52 million.

Plaintiff therefore claimed that it is entitled to a refund of $99 million.

It also argued that although by clause 25 of the agreement, disputes emanating from the said agreement ought to be resolved through arbitration but since the fraudulent misrepresentation of

the defendant goes to the root of the agreement to the sales of the wells it can not be entertained or determined by an arbitration tribunal.

Aiteo is therefore praying the Federal High Court to order Shell to refund him the sum of $46.2 million as payment attributable to Kugbo West and Okiori oil wells being money had and received for a consideration which has totally failed.

Plaintiff is also asking for another sum of $52 million being the interest that ought to have accrued on the sum paid on the two wells.

While it is claiming the sum of $500,000 general damages, it is also seeking the payment of $2.1 billion as the amount it would have derived from the sales of 32,000,000 barrels of crude oil and other petroleum products from the Kugbo West and 41,000,000 barrels of crude oil and other petroleum products from Okiori wells.

In 2015, shell reported that it

Nyesom Wike

chairmanship must be zoned to the north.

Ifeanyi Okowa A former senator, the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has been under intense pressure to run for the presidency, even before the PDP eventually brightened the chances of southerners by pushing its chairmanship up north.

Although he has been discreet and quiet about such pressure, he also comes to the table with combined experiences of both the legislature and the executive.

Quiet and self-effacing, Okowa commands the mien and maturity to lead a nation in search of identity and unity of purpose.

What more? His leadership in Delta also speaks for him.

Seyi Makinde The only PDP governor from the South-west, ‘Seyi Makinde, has acquitted himself well in the politics of the party, thus clinching a place others have considered immutable in the scheme of things.

He was prominent in all of the scheming that culminated in the eventual zoning of the party’s chairmanship, switching as regularly as possible to suit what best answered the yearning of the south.

Curiously, Makinde is the only first time governor amongst those in this category of PDP frontrunner for the presidency.

He has, however, invested enough in the machinations

and extrapolations that have shored up the chances of the south and therefore, found him a spot in the 2023 equation.

AITEO SLAMS $2.5BN SUIT AGAINST SHELL OVER SALE OF OML 29 Shell was the legal and beneficial holder of a 30 per cent undivided participating interest in OML 29, which is part of the undivided percentage interest held by the defendant in conjunction with TEPING, NAOC, NNPC amongst others.

Prior to the assignment of the lease to Aiteo, Shell as the operator of OML 29 published Information Memorandum in October 2013 wherein it invited bids from interested entities for the acquisition of their joint undivided 45 percent participating interest in OML 29.

The plaintiff claimed it did not only join others to bid for OML 29 but emerged successful.

“As consideration for the agreement, the plaintiff made the following respective payments of; $220,000,000.00 as deposit pending the negotiation, completion and execution of the transaction documents and relevant agreements and the balance of 2,130,000,000.00 upon the execution of the transaction

and acquisition documents and the agreement,” it stated.

Plaintiff further averred that based on the agreement for assignment dated October 17, 2014, the defendant in conjunction with TEPING and NOAC as Assignors transferred to it their entire participating interest in OML 29 together with the rights, interest, obligations thereto and in the process purportedly also transferred their participating interest in the wells, “when they knew or ought to have known that they had surrendered and given the wells to the NNPC/ the federal government about five years earlier for valuable consideration”.

While Aiteo claimed its bid for the acquisition of OML 29 was based upon a complete reliance on the representations in the electronic data room information, IM and the Agreement, particularly as they concern the wells contained within OML 29, it noted that issues came up in 2020 when

it wanted to commence work on the assigned wells.

“The plaintiff found that the wells had been earlier, reconveyed by the defendant to the NNPC on or about 2009,” it added.

According to the plaintiff the said re-conveyance of the wells were done (ostensibly by way of offsetting the defendant’s incurred liabilities to the NNPC under the JOA operated by the defendant, adding that the wells were then offered to prospective buyers during the just concluded 2020 bid round conducted by the Department of Petroleum Resources.

“In the circumstances therefore, the plaintiff avers that the representations made by the defendant as aforesaid were made falsely, deceitfully and fraudulently with the intention of depriving the plaintiff the full benefit of the assets and the undivided 45 percent participating interest in the wells,” it claimed.

had completed the assignment of its interest in oil OML 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (OML29 and NCTL) to Aiteo in total cash proceeds of some $1.7 billion.

It stated that the divestment was part of the strategic review of SPDC’s onshore portfolio and in line with the federal government’s aim of developing Nigerian companies in the country’s upstream oil and gas business.

OML29 covers an area of 983 square kilometres and includes the Nembe, Santa Barbara and Okoroba fields and related facilities and has a capacity of 600 thousand barrels per day.

In February this year, a Federal Court in Lagos, had issued an injunction barring Shell subsidiaries from withdrawing money in 20 local banks until it ‘ringfences’ potential damages in a lawsuit brought against the oil major

by Aiteo.

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NEWS

NEMBE SE CONGRESS AWARD FOR SYLVA...

L-R: Chairman Organising Committee of Nembe Se Congress, Prof. MI Godwin-Egein; Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva and recipient of Nembe Se Congress 2021 Man of the Year Award and King Alfred Diete Spiff Amayanabo of Twon Brass Kingdom/Chairman Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council, at the Nembe Se Congress award ceremony, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State... recently

Adamawa, Kaduna, Plateau States Move to Join FIRS in VAT Collection Tussle Suit Alex Enumah in Abuja Indications emerged over the weekend that Adamawa, Kaduna and Plateau states had moved to align with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in its appeal against the judgement of a Federal High Court, which barred the agency from collecting Value Added Tax (VAT) in Rivers State. The move came few days after the Court of Appeal joined Lagos State as a respondent in the appeal.

Justice Stephen Pam, of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt had in the judgement delivered in August held that the right to collect VAT belonged to the state and not the federal agency.

The judge, having so held, restrained the service from further collection of VAT in Rivers State and ordered the Rivers State government to assume the duty of VAT collection in Rivers State.

Consequently, FIRS proceeded to the Court of Appeal for a reversal of the Federal High Court judgement.

However, hearing in the appeal was delayed due to an application by Lagos State to be joined as a party to the suit.

But when the case will resume this week, Adamawa, Kaduna and Plateau may likely come up with their individual applications seeking to be joined as parties in the suit.

A reliable source close to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and governors of the three states, in Abuja, yesterday confirm that they would be filing a leave of the court to be joined in the suit on Tuesday.

Although the AGF was already a defendant in the appeal, the source hinted that the Federal Ministry of Justice under the AGF had opted to be part of the appellant in

the matter so as to enable it argue effectively in support of the FIRS. The source said, “They are going to seek to be joined

in the suit as co-appellants against the Federal High Court's judgement that favours Rivers State.

"These states understand

the possible consequences if the final judgrment at the Supreme Court goes against the FIRS. They are going to take the fight as if it is theirs.

"In fact, their motion papers would be ready by October 4, and will be filed on Tuesday October 5. I can confirm that one to you.”

The source also hinted that more states, including Kogi and Zamfara, were going to join the suit to form a coalition with the FIRS.

Pandora Papers Expose World Leaders' Corrupt Lifestyles Blair, Putin, Kenyatta Fingered Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja with agency report The secret wealth and dealings of world leaders, politicians and billionaires has been exposed in one of the biggest leaks of financial documents dubbed the Pandora papers.

Some 35 current and former leaders and more than 300 public officials are featured in the files from offshore companies, which revealed the King of Jordan, King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein secretly amassed £70m of UK and US property.

They also showed how exUK PM Tony Blair and his wife saved £312,000 in stamp duty when they bought a London office. The couple bought an offshore firm that owned the building.

The leak also links Russian President Vladimir Putin to secret assets in Monaco, and showed the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis - facing an election later this week failed to declare an offshore investment company used to purchase two villas for £12m in the south of France.

BBC reports that it is the latest in a string of leaks over the past seven years, following the FinCen Files, the Paradise Papers, the Panama Papers and LuxLeaks.

The examination of the files is the largest organised by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), with more than 650 reporters taking part.

BBC Panorama in a joint investigation with the Guardian and the other media partners

said they had access to nearly 12 million documents and files from 14 financial services companies in countries including the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Belize, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Switzerland.

Some figures are facing allegations of corruption, money laundering and global tax avoidance.

But one of the biggest revelations is how prominent and wealthy people have been legally setting up companies to secretly buy property in the UK, with the documents revealing the owners of some of the 95,000 offshore firms behind the purchases.

It highlights the UK government's failure to introduce a register of offshore property owners despite repeated promises to do so, amid concerns some property buyers could be hiding moneylaundering activities.

The Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his family, who have been accused of looting their own country, are one example as the investigation found the Aliyevs and their close associates have secretly been involved in property deals in the UK worth more than £400m.

The King of Jordan also secretly acquired luxury homes in Malibu and Washington DC, plus eight properties in London and south-east England. In Malibu, California, he spent £50m ($68m) on three clifftop mansions.

The king’s property portfolio also includes apartments in Washington DC, where his

son attended university and in the UK, King Abdullah’s properties include two near Buckingham Palace.

Azerbaijan’s ruling Aliyev family, long accused of corruption, have built a vast offshore network to hide their money as the files exposed how the Aliyev family and close associates were involved in property deals in the UK worth over £400m. This includes a £33m property in central London bought for the president’s 11-year-old son.

They also sold a property to the Crown Estate for £66m in 2018, having paid £35m for it 10 years earlier.

The revelations could prove embarrassing for the UK government, as the Aliyevs appear to have made a £31m profit after selling one of their London properties to the Crown Estate - the Queen's property empire that is managed by The Treasury and raises cash for the nation. Many of the transactions in the documents involve no legal wrongdoing.

But Fergus Shiel, from the ICIJ, said: "There's never been anything on this scale and it shows the reality of what offshore companies can offer to help people hide dodgy cash or avoid tax."

He added: "They are using those offshore accounts, those offshore trusts, to buy hundreds of millions of dollars of property in other countries, and to enrich their own families, at the expense of their citizens."

The ICIJ believes the investigation is "opening a box on a lot of things" - hence the name Pandora Papers.

The leaked financial documents show how the King of Jordan secretly amassed a property empire in the UK and US worth more than £70m (over $100m).

They identify a network of offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands and other tax havens used by Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein to buy 15 homes since he assumed power in 1999. They include £50m on three adjacent ocean view properties in Malibu, California, and properties in London and Ascot in the UK. His property interests have been built up as King Abdullah has been accused of presiding over an authoritarian regime, with protests taking place in recent years amid austerity measures and tax rises.

Lawyers for King Abdullah said all the properties were bought with personal wealth, which he also uses to fund projects for Jordan's citizens.

They said it was common practice for high profile individuals to purchase properties via offshore companies for privacy and security reasons.

Among the other revelations in the Pandora Papers is the cases of Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta and six members of his family who secretly own a network of offshore companies.

They have been linked to 11 firms - one of which was valued as holding assets of $30m.

Members of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's inner circle, including cabinet ministers and their families, secretly own companies and

trusts holding millions of dollars The law firm founded by President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus appears to have provided fake owners to disguise the real owner of a series of offshore companies - a former Russian politician who had been accused of embezzlement. However, the law firm denies this Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky transferred his stake in a secret offshore company just before he won the 2019 election while Ecuador President Guillermo Lasso, a former banker, replaced a Panamanian foundation that made monthly payments to his close family members with a trust based in South Dakota in the US There is no suggestion in the Pandora Papers that Tony and Cherie Blair were hiding their wealth, but documents show why stamp duty was not payable when the couple bought a £6.45m property.

The former Labour prime minister and his barrister wife Cherie acquired the building in Marylebone, central London, in July 2017 by buying the offshore company that owned it.

It is legal to acquire properties in the UK in this way and stamp duty does not have to be paid - but Mr Blair has previously been critical of tax loopholes.

The townhouse in Marylebone, central London, is now home to Mrs Blair's legal consultancy, which advises governments around the world, as well as her foundation for women.

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NEWSXTRA

Buhari Mourns Foremost Lawyer, Chief Ladi Williams, Rotimi Williams' Eldest Son

Deji Elumoye in Abuja and Segun James

President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with family of the late legal luminary, Chief Rotimi Williams on the passing of their eldest son, Chief Ladi Williams, SAN, yesterday.

His demise left many in shock, particularly his close friends and professional colleagues.

The President, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Femi Adesina, joined the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Body of Benchers in mourning the legal luminary, whose passion for jurisprudence and national development will be sorely missed.

President Buhari prayed that the Almighty God will comfort family, friends and associates of Chief Ladi Williams, and accept the soul of the departed.

The deceased was the son of late legal luminary, Chief Rotimi Williams. He was alleged to have died of Covid-19 complications.

The late Ladi, 74 years, was the Principal/ Founding Partner of Chief Ladi Rotimi-Williams’ Chambers.

According to the deceased’s younger brother Chief Kayode Rotimi-Williams, the late Ladi died in the early hours of Sunday.

He was said to have been fully inoculated against the virus when he died.

“I just lost my elder brother, Chief Ladi Rotimi Williams (aged

74+) to Coronavirus. He passed on at 3am this morning,” he said.

The late Ladi was appointed as a member of the Constitutional Drafting Committee in 1988. He was also appointed Director of National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and he served the corporation during his tenure.

His service to other industries saw him on the board of corporations such as UPS/IMNL and Mutual Benefits Assurance.

He was named SAN in 1995.

Reacting to the death, the President, NBA, Mr. Olumide Akpata lamented the demise of the senior lawyer, saying it was a huge blow to legal profession in the country Akpata also described the death as a personal loss to him and his family, noting that the deceased was not only a mentor and big brother, but as an alumnus of Kings College, Lagos, there were particularly close.

The NBA President therefore wished the deceased’s family the fortitude to bear the loss.

“I am totally devastated by the news. Chief Williams was a big brother and mentor to many of us. Apart from that, he was an alumnus of King’s college just like me. It is a personal loss for me and my family. He was a great guy. He was a very nice person. As a lawyer, he did very well in his craft.

“I wish the family of the deceased the fortitude to bear the loss,” he said.

Resident Doctors Suspend Nationwide Strike Two Months After To resume work Wednesday Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abujai Members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), have resolved to suspend their two months old industrial action.

At their emergency National Executive Council meeting, held in Abuja on Sunday, NARD resolved to go back to work beginning from 8am this Wednesday.

Earlier, during the meeting, the doctors had a very long debate over how to proceed with the dispute with the government, resulting in a vote.

When the issue of sustaining the strike was put vote, 56 of the NEC members voted in favour of suspending the strike while 28 supported the continuation.

Five other members were absent.

The doctors' strike had almost crippled the country's health sector.

A reliable source at the meeting told THISDAY last night that the leadership of NARD has been mandated to address the media today (Monday) on the decision to suspend the strike and to give the modalities and new timelines for further engagement with the federal government team.

"NARD decided after detailed assessment of its engagement with the federal government, to suspend the strike embarked upon on August 2, 2021. Majority of the NEC members voted in support of the suspension of the industrial action and to give the government another chance to redeem its promises with regards to the implementation of Memoradum of Understanding with the doctors," he said.

The Resident doctors had gone strike to demand the implementation of the

Memoradum of Agreement they reached with federal government and to protest the alleged non-payment of arrears of salaries and allowances to some of their members.

The doctors also sought the immediate release of their residency training fund and for the placement of their members in the appropriate salary structure.

After series of negotiations failed to resolve the dispute, the federal government took the matter to the National Industrial Court for resolution.

However, NARD had come under pressure from several quarters to suspend the prolonged strike action, which has had a biting effect on Nigerians.

FRIENDS OR FRENEMIES?...

Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun (R) and his immediate predecessor, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun at this year's Omo Olowu Day celebration in Abeokuta, at the weekend

Wike: Let’s Work Collectively to Salvage Nigeria Says Rivers is home to all

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has urged Nigerians to work together to salvage the country from political and socio-economic miseries. The governor said development could only be secured in a society that promoted good governance, predicated on the rule of law.

Wike made the assertion on Sunday, when he hosted a former Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness, Muhammad Sanusi II, who was on a courtesy visit to Government House, Port Harcourt.

According to Wike, the country's economy is not doing well and everyday Nigerians also wake up to bad news that had inflicted excruciating pains on them.

The governor maintained that everybody could attest to the fact that things were not well in Nigeria and it did not matter how pretenders tried to exonerate themselves from the happenings.

He stated, "We should brace up; it behoves all Nigerians to say, we must work together to

salvage our country. We must work together to move this country forward. It doesn't matter where you come from.

"Because poverty does not know Fulani. It does not know Hausa. It does not know Igbo.

It does not know Yoruba. It does not know other ethnic groups.”

Wike reiterated that Rivers State would continue to be a place where every Nigerian could reside and consider as home. But he insisted it was also obligatory for all residents in the state to conduct their affairs within the confines of the law and be orderly.

The governor said it was the place of government to provide development for its people and ensure safety of all residents. But also noted that it was wrong for some residents to view government’s development policy and efforts to provide security from the prism of religion or ethnicity.

According to Wike, "Rivers State, for me, is a place for all Nigerians, wherever you come from, whether you're from the east, you're from the north, you're from the west or you're from the south. Whatever your religion is immaterial to me. All of us are

Nigerians and we do things in common.

"The only thing I have always craved for is law and order. For people to understand that no society can progress without behaving orderly, without obeying the law. When you have a lawless society with no security, you can imagine the kind of state it'll be."

Wike appealed to Sanusi to advise his followers in the state to obey the law and live orderly.

He explained that the relocation of the former Oginiba Slaughter Market in Trans-Amadi Industrial Area was a measure taken to curb the level of criminality in the area.

He said it was unfortunate that instead of people accepting the genuine efforts of government to create a peaceful state for everybody, they saw it as measure of hatred against them.

The governor stated, "But as a state, you also owe that duty to protect your citizens, protect the business people, protect the property. So, when we took that decision, the next thing was, he is demolishing where Fulanis and Hausas are. And I said, what type of country we are.

"How can we live under this kind of situation? You take a decision that is for the interest of everybody, they say its because I don't like them. So, if I don't like them, why have I not closed the other slaughters?"

Earlier, Sanusi stated that he was on a familiarisation tour to leaders and members of Tjjaniyya Order resident in Rivers State, as their Grand Khaleefa.

He noted with delight the quality of leadership demonstrated by Wike in making Rivers State home for all Nigerians, and acknowledged the quality of public infrastructure, the development strides and security provided for residents by the Wike administration.

Wike said, "This is part of the familiarisation tour to meet with the leaders and members of the order here in Port Harcourt. I will like to thank your Excellency; they have informed me of the support they have received and we have watched closely the efforts of his Excellency to make Rivers a home for all Nigerians.

To make all Nigerians feel they're true citizens of this country and to protect life and property and the freedom of persons."

Depositors affected by the said discriminatory policy were those lodging N500,000 above in bank accounts domiciled in selected six states and the FCT. A legal practitioner, Chijioke Ifediora, who was a victim of the CBN discriminatory policy decided to challenge its legality and filed Suit FHC/AWK/ CS/91/2020, arguing that the discriminatory bank charges was ultra vires, illegal and unconstitutional.

The CBN had in line with its cashless policy initiatives, imposed the contentious charges via two separate Circulars, BPS/DIR/ GEN/CIR/04/004 and PSM/ DIR/CON/CWO/02/014 dated 20th April 2017 and 17th September 2019 respectively.

But the plaintiff had urged the court to consider the provisions of Sections 1 (3 ) , 2 ( 1) and Section 42 of the constitution of

Nigeria, 1999 ( as amended), in order to determine whether the said two CBN circulars were not discriminatory, ultra vires, unconstitutional and illegal.

He had stated that he took the decision to drag the CBN to court when on January 7th, 2020, he went to a bank at Amawbia Awka, Anambra State, to make cash lodgment of N600,000 into his account. According to him, a bank official told him that he would not be allowed to effect the deposit without paying the charge in accordance with the CBN circular PSM/DIR/CON/ CWO/02/014.

He, therefore, asked the court to grant him three reliefs, namely, that the said two CBN circulars were ultra vires, unconstitutional and illegal and were in conflict with Section 1(3), Section 2(1) and Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

CBN: $2BN SPENT ON WHEAT IMPORTATION ANNUALLY transaction and balance limits for individual and merchant eNaira wallets.

In the Tier 0 category or phone number without verified National Identity Number (NIN), daily transaction is limited to N20,000 with balance or eWallet limit set at N120,000.

For the Tier 1 category with verified National Identity Number (NIN), daily transaction limit is set at N50,000 with N300,000 balance.

However, those in the Tier 2 category would be able to transaction up to N200,000 on a daily basis with eWallet balance of N500,000 while Tier 3 would have daily transactions of N1 million with balances of N5 million.

However, merchants, or duly accredited individuals and nonindividual (corporates) authorised to conduct business in Nigeria will have no limits on eNaira transactions.

The CBN also stated that under the digital currency framework, Financial Institutions (FIs) shall render returns to the bank in line with the provisions of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and as may be specified from time to time.

The guidelines, among other things, said FIs shall put in place appropriate measures to ensure sound risk management practices to address potential threats to their operations.

These include an enterprise risk management framework; Appropriate governance structures,; Documented and approved policies; and Secured information technology infrastructure.

It said, "Financial Institutions shall be required to implement additional risk management measures as may be prescribed

by CBN guidelines from time to time."

The guidelines stipulated role and responsibilities of the different stakeholders particularly with respect to ensuring the prevention or minimisation of loss following loss, theft of a user’s device or compromise, hack of user eNaira wallet.

Cashless Policy: Court Rejects Alleged Discriminatory Charges Imposed by CBN Meanwhile, on the cashless matter, the court presided over

by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba made the pronouncement in a judgment delivered in a suit filed against the CBN over alleged imposition of discriminatory bank charges on some categories of cash depositors.

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NEWS

Igbokwe’s House, DSS, FRSC Buildings Torched in Anambra David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State chapter, Joe Igbokwe, has accused members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) of invading his house in Nnewi, Anambra State, and setting it ablaze.

Igbokwe, who is also the chairman of Lagos State Government Wharf Landing Fee Collecting Authority, while reacting to the invasion and arson yesterday, wrote on his Facebook page that: “IPOB has invaded my house in Nnewi about now.“I am sure they razed down my house, given the jerry cans of petrol I saw being offloaded from their Sienna car via CCTV. “To God be the glory. I am still alive!”

Armoured vehicles were seen in one of the trending videos from the industrial town of the state.

Meanwhile, unknown gunmen yesterday also set ablaze the offices of the Directorate of State Service (DSS) and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Nnewi, Anambra State, leaving two people dead on their trail.

Identities of the victims have not been known, although

it was gathered that the casualties might have been hit by stray bullets during gunfire by the gunmen.

According to an eyewitness, the gunmen drove from Owerri Road in the industrial

town in four Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and stopped at Emecourt Road Junction where they fired gunshots, which made those in the vicinity scamper for safety before they headed to the

nearby DSS and FRSC offices and set them ablaze.

He said: “They later drove through Nkwo Nnewi Triangle roundabout and moved towards Nnobi road.

“Later a military armoured

vehicle drove around the town and passed through Emecourt Road. There was no exchange of fire as the military and the gunmen did not meet.

“Later, heavy smoke was seen at the country home of

Chief Joe Igbokwe whose house is located off the Nnewi – Oba road”.

It was also gathered that Igbokwe and members of his family were not at home at the time of the incident.

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE…

L-R: Publisher of Global Excellence Magazine, Mayor Ayo Akinpelu; Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, StartTrend International Magazine, Mr. Abusatar Hamed; Chairman/CEO, Wessy Creations Nigeria Limited, Mr. Wasiu Taiwo, and Group Head, Media and Eternal Relations, United Bank for Africa Plc Plc, Mr. Ramon Nasir, during the special recognition award for excellence in Fashion Category in Honour of Taiwo at the 17th Edition Excellence Recognition Awards 2021 in Lagos…yesterday DAN UKANA

Bandits Kill Two in Stop De-marketing Nigeria’s Economy, Senator Sani Advises Fresh Kaduna Attack Goddy Egene

Troops of Operation Safe Haven say some unidentified persons have attacked Ungwan Taila village, Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State in which two residents died.

The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the incident in a statement he issued yesterday in Kaduna.

Aruwan said that the troops arrived in the village to find that the assailants had killed two residents “Receiving the report, Gov. Nasir el-Rufai expressed deep regret at further loss of life from such attacks in the area. He prayed for the repose of the souls of the deceased and conveyed his heartfelt condolences to their family.

In the meantime, the troops will continue search-and-rescue

operations in the area.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Government has said the military has recovered two more corpses from the scenes of last Sunday and Monday attacks in Southern Kaduna communities where over 40 persons had been confirmed dead.

Suspected bandits had, last week Sunday and Monday, attacked Madamai and Kacecere communities in Kauru and Zango-Kataf Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, where 34 persons were killed and another set of eight killed later in reprisal attack.

The government had confirmed that three additional corpses were also recovered by the military during the past week.

Aruwan, said that the military had discovered two more corpses in the Kacecere village attack in Zangon Kataf LGA.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Uba Sani, has cautioned that constant and persisting criticisms of fiscal and monetary policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is sending out wrong signals about the nation’s economy at a time Nigeria desperately needs the trust and deeper collaboration with local and international investors and development partners. The

senator, who represents Kaduna Central in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, dismissed as highly exaggerated claims in some quarters that Nigeria’s economy is at the verge of collapsing.

He said: “It is true that our economy is suffering some strains.

But it is a global phenomenon that was largely engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is a natural disaster that was not foreseen by anyone or any government. So, the global economy is slow and Nigeria’s

economy ca not be an exception in an era of globalisation. We are witnessing a force majeure situation globally,” he said in chat in his office at the National Assembly.

“It is not helpful heaping all the blames on the CBN or even precisely, on the CBN Governor, as some people are currently doing.

I don’t think travelling that route all too often, is helpful at all. We should stop the blame game and let all of us, all concerned persons do what we must do to help Nigeria’s economy recover fully

from the very devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Senator Sani disclosed that the President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, has strongly admonished the necessary committees in the Senate, including the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial institutions, to offer the CBN, Ministries, Department and Agencies all the legislative support that is within their competences and powers, in the bid to strengthen the Naira and the nation’s economy at large.

Varsity Lecturer Kidnapped in Ondo Fidelis David in Akure A lecturer at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, Mayowa David Adinlewa has been kidnapped.

THISDAY gathered that he was kidnapped on Akure-Ikere road while going to visit his family at Ikere in Ekiti state.

It was gathered that the

kidnappers have contacted his wife yesterday in an audio conversation.

In the audio, Adinlewa was heard telling the wife that they are in the bush and that they had trekked for hours without eating and drinking.

He added that his legs were already burnt due to the heat from the long walk and that his phone would soon be taken

from him.

The wife could be heard in the audio asking for their location, until a man interrupted her in pidgin, saying “you dey hear me so” before the call ended.

When contacted, the elder brother of Mr Mayowa Adinlewa, Toyin confirmed that his brother was kidnapped and that N10 million has been

demanded as ransom.

Meanwhile, the Head of Information and Protocol unit of AAUA, Mr. Victor Akinpelumi, said the details on the incident were still sketchy but promised to get back to our correspondent.

Also, efforts to speak the Police Public Relations Officer in the state proved abortive as of the time of filing this report.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Calabar Depot, has threatened to shut down depots and 400 petrol stations owned by its members over what they ascribed to incessant harassment by the

The IPMAN, Calabar Depot, comprises over 500 independent petroleum marketers from Cross River State, Akwa Ibom State, and Benue State who with members from some other state make up the Eastern Zone of the association.

Addressing journalists in

the weekend, Chairman of the IPMAN Calabar Depot, Mr. Robert Obi, accused the Police of making it a habit to harass the leaders of the association, as well as attempt to impose a factional leadership on the association even when issues bordering on its authentic

president has been settled long ago by the supreme court.

Obi said that the Supreme Court judgment of February 21, 2019, and an earlier judgement of the Federal High Court Calabar delivered June 19, 2019 have long settled the succession tussle.

WhiteMoney Wins Big IPMAN Threatens to Shut down Depot, Petrol Stations in C'River, Akwa Ibom Brother Naija Season 6 Bassey Police.

Calabar, Cross River State at depot chairman, and national Inyang in Calabar

Vanessa Obioha

After spending 70 days in the Big Brother Naija house, WhiteMoney has emerged as the winner of the sixth season of the popular reality TV show.

He edged out Liquorose, a popular dancer, to win the grand prize.

The entrepreneur was among the 11 male housemates who entered the house on July 24.

He was loved by many for his good sense of humour while his colleagues appreciated his flair for cooking, although a few opposed his dominance in the kitchen. They viewed it as his strategy in the game.

The 29-year-old from Enugu State takes home the N90 million grand prize which

includes a N30 million cash prize, an Innoson SUV, expense paid-trips cash prizes in abeg, and Patricia wallets, among others.

Fans of the finalists gathered at Lekki for a live screening where Toke Makinwa engaged and interacted with them about their expectations.

Before parting with them, Big Brother shared some inspiring words with them.

"You may be liked or disliked but you will never be forgotten."

Ebuka quickly got down to business, evicting Emmanuel from the house.

"I'm surprised I got this far.

So getting here is exciting to me," said the Akwa Ibom indigene.

Banditry, Terrorism will End Very Soon in Nigeria, Says Adeboye The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has expressed confidence that Nigeria’s security challenges will end soon.

Pastor Adeboye said this in his monthly first Sunday telecast streamed on the church’s social media platforms, just as

the Senior Pastor of RCCG, Jesus House Abuja, Pastor Pat Akem-Vingir, urged Nigerians to pray for the unity and peace of the country in the face of insecurity across the country.

According to Adeboye, “Very soon, all the acts of terrorism, all the acts of banditry, all kinds of evil actions will come to end,” citing the book of 1 Samuel 17.

The preacher, who captioned his sermon, “Divine Involvement”, admitted that though Nigeria is facing challenges in some areas, with divine intervention, the situation will change.

“When God is involved with a nation, He can solve a national crisis overnight,” Pastor Adeboye added while pinning

his assertion on Exodus 14 verses 1-31. When God speaks, it is done. When He sends a word of prophecy, you can be sure that as soon it is gone out, it is settled,” Adeboye noted.

Aside from security issues, the cleric also attributed the reduced impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country to God’s help.

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MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021 • T H I S D AY

NEWS XTRA

Man Arrested with 340 AK-47 in Bag of Cassava Flour in Delta Sylvester Idowu in Warri Operatives of the Delta State Command have stumbled on 340 AK-47 rifle ammunition tucked in a sack of cassava flour (Garri) in Burutu Local Government area of the state.

A 37 years old suspect identified as Solomon Ebe, a tricycle rider from Tuomo community, was arrested last Friday, for being in possession of the ammunitions.

The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Edafe Bright, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) said in a statement weekend that the suspect was apprehended by vigilant policemen attached to Bomadi Division.

He disclosed that the policemen, while on patrol during independence day celebration, along Bomadi/ Tuomo road intercepted Ebe, carrying the bag containing Garri in Burutu local government area.

According to Bright, “The operatives, who were discreet in their responsibilities on reasonable suspicion decided to search the suspect and the bag.

"Upon search, 340 rounds of AK47 live ammunition hidden inside the Garri were recovered,” he disclosed noting that the suspect was arrested

and investigation was ongoing.

Similarly, he disclosed that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), ‘A’ Division Warri, acting on a distressed call that a tricycle with registration No FHR 600 QF had been snatched by four

armed gang at Hausa quarters and were heading towards Delta line Warri/Sapele road Warri immediately deployed Rapid response team of the Division to go after criminals.

The team, on sighting the

hoodlums around Warri, arrested a suspect, Efe David, aged 22 years while the other three escaped with the tricycle.

“Information was quickly disseminated to other Divisions and vigilantes which fortunately

led to the arrest of one of them with the snatched tricycle while two of the robbers escaped", he said.

The PPRO however said the vigilante members were over powered by irate mob

who delivered instant jungle justice on the suspect.

He said a tricycle, one cut to size double barrel gun with two live cartridges and some suspected stolen pieces of gold plated jewelries were recovered.

PARTNERSHIP FOR BETTER LIFE…

L-R: Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Lagos State, Mr. Segun Dawodu; Permanent Secretary, Tourism, Mrs. Adenike Adedoyin; Chairman, Board of Trustees, Freedom Foundation, Dr. Tony Rapu; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Chairman, Health Service Commission, Lagos State, Dr. Tinu Onayiga, Executive Secretary, Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, Dr. Abiola Idowu; General Manager,Lagos State Health Management Agency, Dr. Emmanuella Zamba, at the launch of Operation Better Life's Ile Ayo facility by Freedom Foundation in partnership with Lagos State in Ikeja, Lagos…recently

I have Turned a New Leaf, N460bn Budgetary Provision for Federal Robbery Suspect Begs Police Roads not Impactful, Says Lawmaker A 27- year-old suspected member of a dreaded armed robbery gang, which operated in Abuja and neighbouring states, has been arrested by the police, while efforts are on to arrest other members of his gang.

The suspect, Christian Clifford, who claimed to have stopped robbery, had twice escaped from the police and from operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA) and escaped with handcuffs.

The suspect who was arrested by a combined team of the Intelligent Response Team (IRT) on 22nd September 2021 at an undisclosed hotel in the Kubwa area of the nation's capital.

In a confessional statement made to the police team after

his arrest, the suspect opened-up that he had robbed at different points in Abuja metropolis and Ke!i in Nassarawa State and also that he had earlier jumped from Police vehicle in one of his travails in Police net upon being taken to court for arraignment.

He claimed to be an indigene of Plateau State, but was born in Takum, Taraba State, where his parents raised him and his siblings before he relocated to Abuja.

On the locations where he had robbed victims and perpetrated his nefarious act, he said that he alongside three other gang members had robbed a family in Jos road Keffi, and one other house at Karu area of Abuja, where they stole a laptop and were later arrested.

Victor Ogunje inAdoEkiti The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Hon. Femi Bamisile, has said the N460 billion budgeted for construction and maintenance of federal roads in 2021 appropriation law, was not having any positive effect on Nigerians.

Bemoaning the state of federal roads and how commuters

were being stuck on them due to collapsed bridges or cases of deplorable conditions, Bamisile described the N30 billion allocated to FERMA out of the budgetary provision to Works Ministry, as "paltry, wicked and insensitive".

The All Progressives Congress(APC) chieftain, said this in Aramoko Ekiti, Ekiti West Local government area of Ekiti State on Saturday, while addressing some angry

commuters, who got stranded along Igede-Aramoko -Efon Road.

A luxury bus belonging to Etie Okwe Transport Company, got stuck at a bad portion of the road and obstructed free flow of vehicles along that route for over 24 hours.

The federal lawmaker, representing Gbonyin/Ekiti East/ Emure federal constituency, also visited Ado-Ilawe-Igbara-Oke and Ado-Ikere-Akure road,

where similar situations were experienced and called on the Ekiti State Traffic Management Agency to rise to the occasion and remove the faulty vehicles.

Bamisile, who lamented the harrowing experiences of the motorists, said FERMA had begun reconstruction of a bridge that collapsed at Ijan Ekiti, Gbonyin local government area and causing traffic gridlock along Ado-Ijan-Ikare road.

Senate Threatens FAAN MD over Alleged Failure to Remit N1.5bn Deji Elumoye in Abuja The Senate has threatened to declare the Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Rabiu Yadudu, unfit to hold public office over his alleged failure to remit N1.5 billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the Nigeria

Meteorological Agency (NIMET) in the past six years.

It also declared that it would not hesitate to issue a warrant of arrest against the FAAN boss over his refusal to be accountable for funds accruing to NIMET. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Matthew

Urhoghide issued the threat weekend, following the failure of FAAN MD to appear before the Committee to respond to allegation of non-remittance of NIMET’s 10 per cent annual revenue from landing charges.

Urhoghide said: "We have asked FAAN Chairman to appear before us and he has

refused to show up. We will be compelled to issue warrant of Arrest on FAAN Managing Director. It is an insult to us not to appear before us, the action of FAAN Managing Director is uncivilised.

"If he does not care, we will declare him that he does not responsible to hold public office.

Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri has described the Petroleum Industry Acts (PIA) recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari as another step taken by the federal government to subordinate the oil producing states.

The governor while speaking

anniversary and 25th anniversary of the creation of Bayelsa State in Yenagoa, at the weekend, appealed to aggrieved interest groups across the country to stop bloodletting and use dialogue to resolve differences.

He urged the federal government to consider amending the provisions of the PIA for the

He said: “The recent passage and signing into law of the Petroleum Industry Act which I have tagged ‘as a recipe for anarchy’ is yet another step taken to subordinate the oil producing states and make it more like a subordinate and superordinate relationship.

“There is a missing gap whom

states and the centre is affected.

I keep saying it at all times, that every day, we as a people, we worship, every Sunday, we go to Church to worship, every Friday, the Muslims go to Mosque to worship, but we still have sins in our society, therefore, in the same vain, we will not be tired.

Indian High Commissioner Asks Nigerian Combatants to PIA Another Step by FG to Subordinate Oil Producing States, Diri Insists during the state banquet to mark good of the oil producing states the relationship of our dear state Olusegun Samuel inYenagoa Embrace Non-violence Nigeria’s 61st independence and the interest of peace.

Bayelsa and indeed the Niger Delta

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Abhay Thakur, has called on combatants in the country to embrace dialogue and peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Speaking at the weekend at the celebration of Mahatma Gandhi 152nd Posthumous Birthday and the 15th International Day of Nonviolence in Abuja organised by the India High Commission in Nigeria, Thakur said it is only the week that embrace violence to resolve crisis while the strong make use of dialogue and non-violence mechanism.

He said the whole world has a lesson to learn from Mahatma Gandhi who promoted nonviolence as the best option to address crisis.

He said: "The importance of remembering and celebrating this great man Mahatma Gandhi cannot be overemphasised. This event can only underscore how important he is to us to remember and follow Mahatma Gandhi teachings, even to this day his message is ever more relevant and important because not only did he speak about non-violence, he also spoke a lot about sustainable development.

Ogun Vows to Demolish Distressed Structures James Sowole in Abeokuta The Ogun State Government at the weekend declared that any building (public or private) that is posing threats to life and other property in the state would be pulled down once they fail

integrity test.

The state government said it cannot compromise citizens’ welfare and wellbeing in the name of managing sub-standard structures, and with a view to ensuring better physical planning environment for sustainable

development and averting needless loss of lives and property.

The state Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, made the declaration sequel to the pulling down of a block of classrooms at Nazareth High School, Imeko in Imeko Afon Local Government

Area of the state.

The building, which recently became distressed, partially collapsed on a group of students killing one and injuring two others in the process, and was demolished at the weekend on the instruction of the governor.

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2021

NEWS XTRA

NDLEA Intercepts Drugs, Gadgets Heading to Bandits’ Den Michael Olugbode in Abuja A man suspected to be a fake soldier, Mr. Hayatu Galadima, and his accomplice, Mr. Hamisu Adamu, have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA while allegedly conveying drugs, ammunition and communication equipment to bandits in Kaduna State.

Spokesman of the NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi, said the duo were arrested by a patrol team of NDLEA officers along Gwagwalada expressway, Abuja on Friday, October 1, 2021, and recovered from them include 21 RLA 7.45mm ammunition concealed in water bottle; 16 packs of new two-way radio (Walkie talkie); four army coloured head masks; wallet containing army ID card.

“Also 1 USD, 2 FCMB, 1 First Bank, 1 Ecobank, 1 UBA, 1 Skye Bank ATM cards; wraps of cannabis sativa; tablets of tramadol; three MTN, two 9mobile and one airtel sim cards packs; one iPhone 12 pro; one Samsung A31; and one Nokia phones; seven NA pass letters; five handbags

and one bagco bag containing personal belongings, as well as a gallon of palm oil,” he said.

He said while Galadima

claimed to be a Lance Corporal serving in Ibadan, and with his accomplice taking the exhibits to Kaduna and Kano.

Babafemi said that preliminary investigations, however, indicated that the suspects might have contact with bandits in the

North West and were possibly moving the ammunition and the two-way radios to bandits who are presently excommunicated

due to the suspension of telecommunications services in Zamfara, Sokoto and Kaduna States.

REMEMBERING BABALOLA…

L-R: Former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Musliu Smith; Daughter of the deceased, Hon. Idia Babalola; Widow, Mrs. Halima Babalola; Son of the deceased and former Minister of Power, Mr. Lanre Babalola; and Chairman, SOB Babalola Foundation, Alhaji Rafiu Adisa Ebiti, at the second memorial prayers for the late business magnate, Alhaji Sakariyau Olayiwola Babalola in lkoyi, Lagos…recently ETOP UKUTT

Woman Drowns in a NSSF Partners NPHCDA, Donates N300m to Vaccinate 1m Nigerians Well in Kwara

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

A woman identified as Fatimah Ranti at the weekend drowned in a well in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

THISDAY investigations revealed that the incident was discovered in the wee hours of yesterday at Asunara Ile Kola Compound, off Balogun Fulani in Ilorin.

When contacted, the Head of Department (HOD), Media and Publicity of Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, confirmed the ugly incident.

According to him, "Just early this morning, October

3, 2021, about 06:59hours, the Kwara State Fire Service was summoned for one rescue operation at No 185 Asunara Ile Kola Compound, off Balogun Fulani road, Ilorin, Kwara State.

"Indeed, it was so sad that the woman was recovered dead from the domestic well by the firemen.

"Alhaji Asunara, the head of the compound, to who Fatimah Ranti (the victim) was handed over, told the fireteam that the incident happened since yesterday night, but was only detected this (yesterday) morning."

NEDC Projects Excite Communities in Gombe SegunAwofadejiinGombe Different communities in Gombe State are excited by the quality projects the North East Development Commission (NEDC) is undertaking, which are addressing their most pressing problems.

A press release that was signed by the National President, North East Youths and Elders Peoples' Forum,(NEYEPF), Mr. Salihu Magaji, said that the "projects are physically for anyone to come and see and even to touch and feel it, they have been completed awaiting commissioning,"

They included:Gombe - solar installation at Specialist Hospital; Kaltungo - Snake Antivenom; Billiri - Farm Service Center at Ladoungur; Akko - Farm service centre at Kalshingi; Kwami - Farm service centre at Dukul;Dukku Farm service centre at Dukku; Balanga - Farm service centre at Gelengu;Funakaye - Renovation of PHC at Bodour; Ashaka Gari, Abuja;Nafada - Renovation of PHC at Gadi, Shaganawo, Tashan kalgo;Yemaltu Deba - Renovation of Junior Staff Quarters at CGSS Dadin kowa and in Shongom - Upgrade of PHC to cottage hospital.

The Nigeria Solidarity Support Fund (NSSF) has donated N300 million as part of its strategic support to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) in the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Nigeria.

Speaking of the partnership recently in Lagos, the Chairman, NSSF, Babatunde Folawiyo, said the donation was to improve vaccine equity and boost access to COVID-19 vaccination among

vulnerable Nigerians.

He said the donation is expected to also help support the COVID-19 advocacy campaign in six states across six geo-political zones in Nigeria, thereby reducing vaccine hesitancy and increasing vaccine uptake.

Benefitting states include Adamawa, Edo, Imo, Katsina, Nasarawa, and Ogun, with a target of each local government area in those states with a roll

out target of 60 vaccines a day per team from October 1, 2021.

NSSF noted that one million vaccinations would be achieved

by December 31 this year.

The NSSF, the brainchild of Global Citizen (GC) and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), noted that as African countries accelerate the deployment of COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine inequity and hesitancy continue to pose a

major challenge.

With its multi-donor institutional mechanism for mobilising pooled funds earmarked to support the government’s COVID-19 relief efforts, the donation is to further accelerate the rate of delivering and administering COVID-19 vaccines across the country particularly in rural and urban poor population segments, the group said.

Oyetola Restates Commitment to Infrastructure Devt Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo The Governor of Osun State, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, has restated his commitment to invest more in the state infrastructure for socioeconomic prosperity.

Oyetola noted that infrastructural improvement is a key component of sustainable socioeconomic development, which every

purposeful government must not downplay.

He disclosed this at the weekend through his Special Adviser on Civic Engagement, Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye during a Family Meeting held at Holy Trinity, OkeAfo, Ikirun, Ifelodun Local Government.

Oyetola emphasised that he has continued to fulfill his electoral promise to the

good people of the state by raising the bar of state infrastructure in a manner that would reflect adequate, quality and equitable service delivery.

He said: "In a bid to ensure the fulfillment of the pact we had with people of the state before assuming the office, the current administration has continued many uncompleted

roads inherited from the previous administration, as well as carried out several road intervention efforts, including construction and rehabilitation of rural and township roads across the three Senatorial Districts, which are in tandem with the quality, equitable and adequate service/project delivery of our Development Agenda.

Lagos Senator Empowers 3,500 Constituents Segun James The Senator representing Lagos West District in the National Assembly, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola popularly known as Yayi, has promised to ensure that the dividends of democracy trickles down to the grassroots even as he vowed to continue to protect the interest of his constituents

as their representative.

Speaking at an empowerment programme held in Ikeja, where various items were distributed to over 3,500 constituents, who have been trained in various skills, Adeola stated that beneficiaries were chosen indiscriminately from the constituency.

The senator, who thanked the constituents for sending him

to Abuja to represent them, said it was not enough to tar roads and provide social amenities for the people.

According to him, "Earlier in the year, we had similar programme at the Nigeria Police College Ground in Ikeja.

Yes, it is a commitment to the promise made to you, and we shall continue to keep faith with our words. Without doubts,

there are better days ahead.

"In these series of today, 3,500 constituents are benefitting across all LGAs/LCDAs of Lagos West senatorial district.

"These include the 700 constituents/participants who have successfully completed a 10-day skills acquisition training as well as others who underwent a five-day entrepreneurship training.

of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) for the Bende Federal Constituency in the 2019 general election, Mr. Chima Anyaso, made the appeal in a statement he issued to mark the nation's 61st independence anniversary.

He made the passionate appeal to youths amidst growing

despondency, frustration and loss of patriotic values among the youth population due to the harsh economic crisis, bad governance insecurity and failed expectations.

But Anyaso charged youths to shake off their frustrations, ignite the can-do spirit of the Nigerian and fire up their patriotic zeal in

order to rebuild the nation.

According to him, Nigeria’s future remained right as the present challenges facing the country would eventually disappear in the shortest possible time if only the citizens could keep hope alive and maintain absolute faith in their ability, and trust in God.

UNN Business School Graduates Nine Pioneer Doctorate Students Nigerian Youths Urged to Renew Patriotism, pioneer doctorate students Gideon Arinze of the school.

Sustain Hope for Better Nigeria Speaking during a A total of nine doctorate students have graduated from the University of Nigeria’s business school, Enugu.

The students who graduated from different executive doctoral programmes, including economic policy management, business and public leadership, became the

graduation and dinner ceremony organised by the students, the Director of the Business School, Professor Josaphat Onwumere, said the students must always keep the flag flying, being the institution’s pioneer students.

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia Nigerian youths have been urged to renew their patriotism and not lose hope for a better Nigeria as the nation still has bright prospects despite the current gloom.

A political stalwart and candidate

MONDAY, ͼ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

62

MONDAYSPORTS

Group Sports Editor: Duro Ikhazuagbe Email: duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

0811 181 3083 SMS ONLY

Iheanacho Celebrates 25th Birthday with Goal at Crystal Palace Foxes blow 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Selhurst Park Duro Ikhazuagbe Super Eagles forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, celebrated his 25th birthday yesterday with a 31st minute goal for Leicester but the Foxes blew a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Crystal Palace.

It was ‘Senior Man’s’ first English Premier League start of the seven-week old season at Palace’s Selhurst Park. The goal was also Iheanacho’s second in his last three games with his first coming in the 2-0 win at Millwall in the Carabao Cup. He was replaced in the 71st minute by James Maddison.

After going into the break 2-0 down, teenage substitute England-born Nigerian

midfielder, Michael Olise, pulled a goal back for Palace with a brilliant volley past Kasper Schmeichel.

Former Leicester player Jeffrey Schlupp added a second just 48 seconds after his introduction, heading past Schmeichel with only his second touch.

Brendan Rodgers' side opened the scoring against the run of play when Iheanacho capitalised on a mistake from Joachim Andersen before slotting past Vicente Guaita on 31 minutes.

Jamie Vardy added a second six minutes later with a cool finish from Harvey Barnes' assist.

The draw means Palace

remain unbeaten at Selhurst Park under manager Patrick Vieira, who is the first Eagles manager to avoid defeat in his first four Premier League home games.

Elsewhere, Kevin de Bruyne's deflected late equaliser gave Manchester City a fully deserved point after a moment of genius

by Mohamed Salah looked to have earned Liverpool victory in an Anfield 2-2 thriller yesterday.

Reigning champions City and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool were each hoping to take over from Chelsea at the top of the table, but this draw result means Thomas Tuchel's side stay clear at the Premier League summit on 16 points while Liverpool and Man City on 15 and 14 points respectively.

RESULTS PREMIER LEAGUE Cry’ Palace 2-2 Leicester Tottenham 2-1 Aston Villa West Ham 1- 2 Brentford Liverpool 2-2 Man City

SERIE A Fiorentina 1-2 Napoli Roma 2-0 Empoli Sampdoria 3-3 Udinese Bologna 3-0 Lazio

BUNDESLIGA Mainz 1-2 Union Berlin B’Munich 1-2 E’Frankfurt Bielefeld 0-3 Leverkusen

LIGUE 1 Rennes 2-0 PSG Monaco 3-0 Bordeaux

‘SENIOR MAN’S DAY....

Nantes 2-0 Troyes Lilles 2-0 Marseille

Kelechi Iheanacho celebrated his 25th birthday, scoring a goal as Leicester City were pecked back 2-2 ... yesterday

NFF Awaits CAF’s Decision on Crowd Red Hot Awoniyi Scores Attendance at Eagles Clash with CAR Brace, Gets Eagles Call up As players are expected to hit camp from today

Femi Solaja

With barely 72 hours to the 2022 World Cup second round qualifying match with the Central African Republic (CAR), the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), is awaiting CAF’s decision on the stipulated number of fans to be allowed in the stands to cheer Super Eagles.

Group C leaders, Nigeria, will be aiming for a third consecutive win with the Match-day three game at the Teslim Balogun Stadium. Most football fans in the former capital city have been eager to be part of Eagles matches but that decision rests with CAF who is the final arbiter.

“Due to the existing Covid-19 protocol, capacity of a stadium no longer decides the level of attendance. Only CAF can decide the number of fans to allow into any home game.

“We are however waiting for CAF’s decision even though it is almost certain now that match tickets may not be available to the public,” a top NFF secretariat official confided in THISDAY last night.

Super Eagles have played two home matches since the Covid-19 era. One against Lesotho in the AFCON qualifying round and Nigeria’s defeat of Lone Star of Liberia in the opening match of the World Cup qualifying series.

On both occasions, fans allowed into the ground were 10,000 and 5,000 respectively.

Lagos State Sports Commission distributed tickets to fans for the last match and the same scenario may likely play out on Thursday at the same venue.

Meanwhile, most of the players invited for the crucial encounter with the CAR by Coach Gernot Rohr are expected to start arriving camp from this morning.

According to the travel logistics of the players, those based in the United Kingdom are likely to form the early birds in camp today with the rest expected to come in tomorrow night

(Tuesday) for full training session on Wednesday morning.

“Most of the players in United Kingdom are expected in camp on Monday morning because the arrangement was that after their club engagements Sunday afternoon, they will move straight to airport and head for Lagos,” the NFF source hinted.

Expectedly, Kelechi Iheanacho who was on scorer’s sheet for Leicester at Crystal Palace yesterday afternoon, Leon Balogun, William Troost-Ekong, Joe Aribo and Captain Ahmed Musa who stars for Fatih Karagumuk in the Turkish Super Lig are among the players expected this morning.

Union Berlin’s Taiwo Awoniyi who scored the two goals in the 2-1 defeat of Mainz 05 yesterday has been invited to Super Eagles as replacement for Lorient forward Terem Moffi.

Gernot Rohr extended the invite to the gangling forward as Nigeria prepare to consolidate 2022 World Cup qualifying round against Central African Republic on Thursday in Lagos.

The Under-17 World Cup winner has been ignored by Nigeria’s Franco-German gaffer but Awoniyi’s recent form has become talking points of most football circles in the country.

Moffi was named as replacement for Everton winger Alex Iwobi on Friday. However, the Lorient forward sustained an injury in his team’s 1-1 draw

against Clermont yesterday to now rule him out of the double-header against CAR. The Nigeria Football Federation announced on Sunday night that Awoniyi will take the place of the 21-year-old.

Awoniyi has scored five goals in seven league appearances for Union Berlin this season.

The Super Eagles will take on CAR at the Teslim Balogun Stadium Lagos on October 7 before facing same opponent three days later in Douala.

Awoniyi scored twice as Union Berlin rallied back from a goal down to beat Mainz 05 in their Bundesliga clash at the MEWA Arena on Sunday night.

Marcus Ingvarsten put Mainz ahead six minutes before the break after he was set up Kayode Onisiwo.

63

MONDAY, ͼ˜ ͺ͸ͺ͹ ˾ T H I S D AY

SPORTS

Messi Suffers First PSG Defeat at Rennes

Former Barcelona FC legend, Lionel Messi, suffered his first loss as a Paris Saint-Germain player as the Ligue 1 leaders failed to register a single shot on target in a 2-0 defeat at Rennes yesterday.

Messi returned to PSG's starting XI after his match-winning turn in their 2-0 victory over Manchester City in the Champions League last week, during which he registered his first goal for the club since signing on a free transfer following his departure from Barcelona.

The 34-year-old was unable to have the same impact at Roazhon Park, with Rennes producing an impressive all-around performance to spring an upset and hand Mauricio Pochettino's side their first league defeat of the 2021-22 campaign.

Neymar and Kylian Mbappe

LIGUE 1 were both guilty of missing good chances in the first half and Messi saw a trademark free-kick cannon back out off the crossbar, but Rennes ended up taking the lead just before the interval via a Gaetan Laborde volley.

PSG fell even further behind just after the restart as Flavien Tate doubled the home side's advantage and Mbappe saw a goal ruled out for offside later in the second half, with the visitors ultimately losing with all 13 of their shots at goal failing to hit the target.

Pochettino was left lamenting his team's wastefulness in the final third, but also admitted that they have yet to find the right "balance".

Japan to Donate Judo Equipment to Lagos Impressed with the efforts by the Lagos State Judo Association (LSJA) to raise the profile of the sport in the state, the government of Japan has promised to donate judo equipment to complement the efforts of the association.

Speaking during the two-day workshop for Physical Education (PE) and Games Masters in Lagos schools, the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Matsunaga Kazuyoshi said promoting the sport among students is part of the ideal ways of popularising judo.

The ambassador described judo as honourable discipline for the development of body and character.

“I will be making a donation of judogi to the Lagos State as it is important to have the right tool with which to own any art you choose to undertake. I hope to see the population of judo practitioners grow in Nigeria and so many people can benefit from judo,” Kazuyoshi said.

He, however, said that judo goes beyond fighting and selfdefence as it teaches core values like courage, respect, modesty, friendship, honour, control, self–discipline, and honesty.

“Judo teaches you to be resilient like a tree that bends in the wind but never breaks.

It stretches into every area of one’s life, which is why I believe that judo should be incorporated into the Nigerian educational curriculum, by incorporating judo into education physical and mental growth can be expected,” he added.

Chairman of LSJA, Sheriff Hammed said that the workshop is part of the ‘Judo That Work’ campaign which is aimed at taking the sport to schools across Lagos.

Over 250 participants took part in the workshop including PE, game masters, and students across the six educational districts of Lagos State.

"We are sad because we played very well for 25-30 minutes," the PSG boss told his post-match press conference. "We did not manage to score the chances we created.

We are unhappy but we must continue to work.

"Of course, we are coming out of a difficult period physically. We have to get over it all. After this negative result, we must make a self-criticism. We cannot be satisfied, but there are also some positive things to keep. We will try to find the right way to play, the right balance."

PSG are still top of Ligue 1 despite the loss at Rennes having won their previous eight games, and sit six points clear of secondplaced Lens.

Pochettino will hope Messi and o can bounce back after the international break, with the French giants set to take on Angers on October 15 - four days before their next Champions League group stage outing against RB Leipzig.

Lionel Messi and his PSG super star teammates were stunned at Rennes yesterday as they lost the away clash 2-0

Akpata Sets Regional Recruitment Targets for Cricket Devt Officers The newly-elected President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, has set a target of recruiting 250, 000 youths nationally into cricket, as one of the core pursuits of his team during his term in charge of the game in the country.

Speaking after the inaugural meeting of the new board in Abuja at the weekend, Akpata said his team is set to build on the existing structure of the former board (which he served as Vice-President), where 16 Regional Development Officers were recruited to lead training and development across the country.

According to him, “We have

16 field officers that we recruited across the country, during the last board, so what we would do is to quickly get 20 others, so that other states and the Federal Capital territory have those development officers as well. With that structure, each state and zones have targets in terms of number of players they should reach each year. This forms the bedrock of the 250, 000 (yearly recruitment), we are aiming at.”

He also said that the NCF would invest in high impact centres in each state where the federation would encourage the schools to converge and have their students take a deeper dive and exposure to the game.

To demonstrate the urgency of the task, the board dispatched four training kits to Kebbi, Kwara, Plateau and Gombe states through the secretariat in Abuja on Friday October 1st.

The NCF was recognized twice as for its development effort by the game’s ruling body International Cricket Council (ICC) and the continental body, ICC-Africa, in recent years.

Akpata stressed that this structure would form the basis for the different age-grade championships starting from the Under-15 and Under-17, which eventually will produce players for the national Under-19 teams.

He added that, “We are going to encourage the zones to have secondary school tournaments.

What you are going to see is zonal representatives; my colleagues on the board, devoting almost eighty percent of their time working on really developing the zones,” he added.

The NCF president further informed that what his team is setting up is a system that will translate to a more predictable outcome for different national teams. He added that with the ongoing upgrade of playing surfaces to grass wickets, the players can be better prepared for international events from home.

(9th position) had 0.6 percent while 10th placed Italy spent 0.5 percent of their national annual budget on Sports. Comparatively, Nigeria dedicated 0.001 percent of our budget to Sports. And majority of this expenditure was for payment of salaries to civil servants. The top African country in Sports, Kenya placed an impressive 19th overall.

They had spent 0.49 percent of their annual budget on sports development.

Analyzing further in bringing these investments in relation to national population, the data shows that the net spend per individual on Sports in each of these countries. Great Britain had a net spend of 70 USD or N39, 550 (using today’s exchange rate) per person per year on sports in their budget. Germany spent 117USD or N66, 105, Netherland allocated an average of 234 USD or N132, 210 per person for sports, France spent 221 USD or N124, 865 while Italy appropriated 93USD or N52, 545 per individual for sports.

In comparison, Nigeria spent a miserly 0.15 USD or N84 per person on Sports. Kenya on the other hand, comparing with an African country, had 488 USD or N285, 500 a net spend per person on sports in their budget.

When we see these figures, it is easy to realize that the sector is underfunded. One of the major reason huge investment is needed by government is infrastructure. The country lacks sporting infrastructure- practicing pitches, stadia, gyms, fields, standard swimming pools etc.

Without adequately bridging the scarcity gap of infrastructure per population, Nigeria would continue to underperform in international sporting competitions.

Sport policies aiming at increasing mass participation and club participation have stressed the importance of sport infrastructure.

On the basis of the results of the research by Nagy and Tobak at the University of Dabrecen (2015), it is fair to say that infrastructural developments and investments are necessary so as to provide sports facilities.

While the problem of our perceived under achievements in international sporting events cannot be simplified by one solution, it is a good start to see that the overall investment in sports or lack of it actually reveals that as a nation we are punching above our weight and most of this is due to the raw talents at our disposal and that thing they call ‘The Nigerian Spirit’.

OLYMPIC SUCCESS: REFLECTION ON SPORTING INVESTMENTS was invited over the weekend to review Nigeria’s performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at an event.

I obliged because I believed it would be an avenue to give a holistic appraisal of Nigeria at the Olympic Games not just the athletes but the entire ecosystem of responsibilities. Many people were quick to base their report on our participation solely on their perceived view of athlete performance or on the number of medals won. This I view to be a very erroneous way of assessment as results do not start and end on the field of play.

My first question to all who criticize performance or question performance is that what justification or moral rights do they have to expect results? Are we justified to even demand a review of performance for our Olympians? Some may say yes, the government sent them on tax payers’ fund. Did we prepare them? It takes four years to prepare an athlete for the Olympic Games and about 10,000 hours of training to expect a medal placement. Do we believe we have put in enough to demand results?

What did we put in? If we put in carefully planned investments, we can demand good results.

If we put in a shoddy rushed veneer-like covered investment, can we demand results? One of the basic Mnemonics in computer

I

Team Nigeria at Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony programing is GIGO- which means Garbage In, Garbage Out. What did we put into our athletes? Garbage or well organized data? As an athlete, I always went with the phrase “To whom much is given, much is expected. To whom nothing is given, nothing is expected.”

Is much given to the athletes or nothing? Our expectation should be proportional to our investments.

As a nation, how much are we investing in Sports? A look at the final medal table of the Olympic

Games has five European countries in the top 10. Britain, Germany, France, Holland and Italy. Nigeria was the 74th placed nation with only a Silver and a Bronze. In comparison to these top European countries, Nigeria’s population alone is almost more than half their combined population yet we do not seem to develop enough talents to compete against them.

The commitment to sports by some of these more successful nations can be seen in their budget. While this may not

necessary be the reason for the sporting achievement, it is interesting to see the percentage of the national budget these countries put for the development of the sports sector. Great Britain placed 4th at just concluded Games.

According to Eurostat data, 0.4 percent of their national budget in 2020 was directed towards Sports.

In other European countries in the top ten, France (8th position) spent one percent of their budget on sports, Netherland (7th position) dedicated 1.2 percent, Germany

Monday, October 4, 2021

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MISSILE

NEF to Southern Govs

“I haven’t taken the position of Southern governors lightly, because if not because they are untouchable group of people in Nigeria, I would have said the government should question them because it’s like mooting the idea of breaking this country. What they are now doing is like dividing the country” ––Northern Elders Forum Deputy Chairman, Yahaya Kwande, berating the Southern governors for their audacity to demand for power shift to the South in 2023.

OKEYIKECHUKWU

EDIFYING ELUCIDATIONS

okey.ikechukwu@thisdaylive.com

Wike and the VAT Controversy

G

overnor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State was the first to open fire.

He took aim, took his matter to the appropriate legal quarters and then let it all out with characteristic, even if somewhat deliberately provocative, ebullience. He hit the mark and announced his victory. Cheers came from sections of the country, particularly the South. He then rubbed it all in by bringing up, and emphasising, the matter of who should benefit from the earnings on alcohol. That singular point immediately stirred an otherwise restive hive of controversy that was just waiting to be stirred.

Yes, he made a valid point, based on law and the constitution. Yes, he was responsible and diligent enough to first follow the law, being a lawyer himself, to attain his objective of trying to prevent the federal government from collecting Value Added Tax from Rivers State. Yes, the historic judgment he got has shown that the judiciary is still capable of being guided by its own precepts on the rules for court proceedings.

But Wike also went a little beyond the advisable remit. Matters of resource sharing and management are touchy, to the point of being outrightly volatile and provocative. With the aspects of his utterances that brought up who or who should not benefit from tax on alcohol, an otherwise valid point about VAT collection and sharing became befuddled by ethno-religious sentiments; such that many felt compelled to join a conversation that they would have ordinarily seen as none of their business.

That is the tragedy here. And a tragedy that has implications for cohesion, national security and the widening of ethno-religious and other divides.

When the Lagos State Government recently enacted the equivalent of the VAT law that Rivers State enacted, the news seeped out into the public domain without fanfare. The victory so loudly celebrated by Rivers State is also the same victory secured by Lagos State without setting up a single canopy. It was just taken as a matter of course. The state did not try to make any extra points about thisconsumption tax, or flat-tax, levied on certain items on sale.

The state also did not try to lecture anyone on how this is similar in some respects to sales tax and why, unlike a sales tax, the full amount owed to the government is not paid by the consumer at the point of sale.

Lagos did not try to offer any clarifications regarding the fact that VAT administration ensures that portions of the tax amount are paid by different parties to a transaction. Thus, the signing into law of “the bill for a law to impose and charge Value Added Tax (VAT) on certain goods and services” (the Lagos VAT Law) on 10 September 2021, by Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State was nothing other than the signing of a bill duly considered and approved by the representatives of the people.

He has the same resolve, courage and will as Wike. But his methods were different.

Being the second State of the Nigerian federation to pass such a law, it may be said that the winds on the sales of Rivers State were bound to enjoy greater visibility and fanfare than the originating initiative of Rivers State. The “victory” of the two states in their respective legislations on VAT followed a ruling by Justice Stephen Pam of the Federal High Court sitting in Rivers State. The learned justice had, in his

Wike ruling, restrained the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) from collecting VAT and Personal Income Tax (PIT) in the State. Forthwith, the ruling also debarred the Federal Government from same; by the simple fact of restraining its agency, in this case the FRIS, from doing so.

For the record, and deriving from the foregoing, let us note the following key highlights and provisions of the Lagos VAT Law; which provisions are also present in varying forms in similar recently-enacted laws from other states. It recognizes the Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) as the administrator of the VAT law. By this provision, LIRS is made responsible for the collection of VAT, pursuant to this law. The agency is also charged with responsibility for accounting for such revenues, as collected. It has responsibility for the registration obligation on non-residents who carry on business within the State. It even provides that the rate at which VAT will be charged will henceforth be 6% on the value of goods and services in the State. In order not to leave out any details, the Lagos VAT law spells out the apportionment of revenue accruing from VAT between the state government at the rate of 75% to the State Government and 25% to the local governments, respectively.

Now that the Court of Appeal has waded into the matter, asking all parties to the VAT controversy, in this case Rivers State and the FIRS, to maintain the status qua ante, a disconcerting stalemate hangs in the air. One of the immediate problems arising from these new developments on VAT across various states is that some business owners now see themselves as walking a minefield of confusion. To whom should they pay VAT? Even though the FIRS failed in its bid to secure a stay of execution of the Federal High Court, it remains undeterred.

The agency has asked the business community to ignore the ongoing controversy and keep

paying their taxes to it, until the Court of Appeal, or the Supreme Court, takes a final position on the matter.

The FIRS appears to justify its position on the belief, assumption and claim that its collection of VAT is backed by the VAT Act, Cap V1, LFN 2004.

By observing that non-remittance of VAT to it is the equivalent of breaching this specific provision, the FIRS is saying that it is its business to collect VAT in all states of the Federation, including Rivers State. But since Rivers and Lagos now have laws indicating unambiguously that VAT should be paid to their assigned, respective revenue authorities, the matter is not getting any less confounding and messier. The predicament of business owners is best imagined in a scenario like this.

Add to the foregoing the growing consensus of the Southern governors on all the brewing and emerging issues.

Rising from a meeting in Enugu on 16th of September, they took sides with those insisting that state governments should be in charge of VAT collection in their domains. Further still, the implication is a collector-keeper and sole beneficiary logic.

And with these governors apparently speaking

Now that the Court of Appeal has waded into the matter, asking all parties to theVAT controversy, in this case Rivers State and the FIRS, to maintain the status qua ante, a disconcerting stalemate hangs in the air. One of the immediate problems arising from these new developments onVAT across various states is that some business owners now see themselves as walking a minefield of confusion.

with one voice, under the aegis of Southern Governors’ Forum, matters may well be taking on stronger geo-ethnic colorations that may become increasingly difficult to manage as the days and weeks go by.

In fact, it would seem that the Enugu meeting quickly metamorphosed into a retreat to craft a Southern Agenda, going forward. Not limiting themselves to VAT, the southern governors went ahead to take a strong position on the 2023 Presidency. They insisted that the next president of the federation must come from the Southern part of the country. Fiscal federalism was on the cards, among other things. in point of fact, it was a declaration of political battle lines.

But, going back to Wike and the VAT controversy, the governor took time off the other day to tell his critics off. He stood by his decision to maintain his contestation of the right of the FIRS, as an agent of the federal government, to collect VAT. In his belief that Nigeria must encourage federating states to harness their resources and generate revenues, including VAT, Wike argues, correctly, that this will aid sustainable development. As he was receiving a letter of nomination as Man of the Year from the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Sun Newspapers in Government House in Port Harcourt, Wike was reported to have said: “Some people say, be your brother’s keeper; I have no problem in being my brother’s keeper but why not come out and say, let us tell ourselves the simple truth?”

His call for frank conversation is good. His underlying good intentions are perhaps being misread by what is considered a combative posture in his manner of proceeding. Wike has raised the question: “As it is provided in the law, who is the person responsible to collect the VAT?” He has called for an initial admission of the provisions, saying: “When you agree that it is the state, then we can sit down to look at the different problems of states.”

This latter observation of Wike makes sense, in my view. This more urbane stance should be Wike’s more visible position, rather than the perception that he is holding an absolute position and providing no grounds for dialogue.

In his renewed disagreement with his colleagues who also overstepped the bounds by seeming to threaten that the judgement of the court that allowed states to collect VAT within their jurisdiction would not stand, Wike should be seen to be urging them to be realistic, rather than take them on at the same frequency.

The consequence will be an inability to find common grounds on the VAT controversy.

Wike can make the point about his concerns regarding the position of the federal government, but without appearing to be engaging in namecalling. His description of the absence of Rivers from the list of states that will benefit from projects, for which the federal government was seeking fresh foreign loans, as an act of discrimination will only widen existing divides. Hear him: “Look at the money that federal government has gone to borrow from the World Bank, of all the projects in all the states, the federal government did not include Rivers State.” Considering that this is neither new, nor peculiar to his state, Wike should not allow this particular point to attract more attention than the substantive issue of concern on VAT and national consensus on revenue receipts and distribution.

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