MISSING CHIBOK STUDENTS: We don't know location of abducted girls —GEJ

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 62136

**

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Oputa, Nigeria's law 4 Socrates dies at 96

FIDELITY AGM— From left: Executive Director, Lagos and South West Ikemefuna Mbagwu; Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo and Chairman, Board of Directors, Fidelity Bank Plc, Chief Christopher Ezeh at the bank's 26th AGM held at the Nwaniba Hall, Le Meridien Ibom Hotel & Golf Resort. Uyo. Akwa Ibom State, weekend.

MISSING CHIBOK STUDENTS:

We don't know location of abducted girls —GEJ •Begs parents to provide govt with information •Says military underfunded for 20 years •N-East Christian elders release names of girls •Why I shunned membership of Jonathan's committee

•P.8

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, CHARLES KUMOLU, DAPO AKINREFON, MICHAEL EBOH, GBENGA OKE AND LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

L

AGOS—HOPES of early rescue of the more than 200 abducted female students of Gov-

NAMES OF ABDUCTED GIRLS 1.Deborah Abge 2. Awa Abge 3. Hauwa Yirma 4. Asabe Manu 5. Mwa Malam Pogu 6. Patience Dzakwa 7. Saraya Mal. Stover 8. Mary Dauda 9. Gloria Mainta 10. Hanatu Ishaku 11. Gloria Dama 12. Tabitha Pogu 13. Maifa Dama 14. Ruth Kollo 15. Esther Usman 16 Awa James 17 Anthonia Yahonna 18 Kume Mutah 19 Aisha Ezekiel 20 Nguba Buba 21 Kwanta Simon 22 Kummai Aboku 23 Esther Markus 24 Hana Stephen 25. Rifkatu Amos 26 Rebecca Mallum 27. Blessing Abana 28. Ladi Wadai 29. Tabitha Hyelampa 30 Ruth Ngladar 31 Safiya Abdu 32 Na’omi Yahonna 33 Solomi Titus

Continues on Page 5

ernment Girls Secondary School Chibok, dimmed, yesterday, as President Goodluck Jonathan declared that Continues on Page 5

COLUMNISTS:

Commercialization of education and the storm ahead •P.40

ACF's anti-Igbo memo (1) •P.44

Mr & Mrs

Principal of Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, Mrs Asaba Kwabura after a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on the rescue of the abducted girls at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Saturday night. Inset from left: Director -General, Department of State Services, DSS, Mr Ita Ekpenyong; Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and others after the meeting. Photos: NAN.

C M Y K

2 — Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, MAY 5, 2014

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, MAY 5, 2014 — 3

4—Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Last of Supreme Court's golden era, Justice Oputa, dies at 96

BY INNOCENT ANABA, CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

T

HE last of the Golden Era of the Supreme Court, Justice Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, passed on, yesterday in Abuja, aged 96, after a brief illness. He was famously described by his colleagues at the Bench as the Socrates of the Supreme Court.

His other colleagues who made the era golden included Justice Kayode Eso, Justice Nnaemeka Anyagolu, Justice Otutu Obaseki and Justice Babatunde Craig.

Contacted yesterday, his eldest son, also a musician and actor, Mr. Charles Oputa, commonly called Charlyboy, who is still reconciling himself with the death of his father, confirmed the death saying: “Na true oooh! (It is true) Daddy don go (Daddy is dead).”

Cardiac arrest Asked how he died, he said, “E been get stroke since (He suffered from cardiac arrest for a while).”

On plans for the burial, he said, “It happened this afternoon (yesterday). We will call elders at home and take it up from there.”

He had earlier, in an SMS, said: “The family of Justice Chukwudifu Oputa wishes to announce the passing to glory of the eminent jurist and a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria at the age of 96 years.

“He passed on peacefully on Sunday afternoon May 4,

2014, after recovering from a brief illness. Funeral announcements will be released by the family.”

Vanguard gathered that the late great jurist died at Charlyboy’s Abuja residence. It was also gathered that the late Justice Oputa, recently returned to the country, from a medical trip abroad.

Reactions: Reacting to his death, Mr. Austin Alegeh, SAN, said: “The loss of Justice Oputa is indeed sad. The legal profession and the nation have lost an erudite jurist and one of the best in our recent history.

His incisive and illuminating judgments will remain a strong testimony to his service to the legal profession. A true legal colossus has rested. We join in praying for the repose of his soul and pray to God to comfort and provide for all he left behind.”

Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN, said: “The Bar and Bench have lost another icon, our own Lord Denning. He was one of the greatest philosopher judges Nigeria has produced and his judgments always displayed an interplay between law and morality. He has gone to rest, but remains with us through his judgments and legal writings.”

Malam Yusuf Ali, SAN, said: “Justice Oputa’s death is a great loss, not only to Nigeria and Nigerians but to the Commonwealth nations. He was a renowned jurist, who was cast in the mode of Lord Denning.

He was classified with first brain. There was no legal problem he could not tackle. He was extraordinary and he was an orator, who could not be waved aside. He will be solely be missed by all.”

Ms Carol Ajie said, “I join

with so many others on the passing of the Socrates of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Justice Oputa; that in his passing we celebrate the end of a very long and quintessential life.

"The measure of a life welllived is not in what possessions one has accumulated, but rather through the lives we influenced.

"Proudly and confidently that his indeed was a life superblylived. Consoled in knowing that his loss is felt by all. Rest in perfect peace.

Amen.”

Early life: The late Chukwudifu Late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa was born to Chief Oputa Izukwu and Madam Nwanetu Oputa on Septem- graduated B.Sc (Hon) Ecober 22, 1924 in Oguta, Imo nomics in 1945. After this he State. He had his early edu- returned to Nigeria and took cation at Sacred Heart up a teaching appointment School, Oguta and Christ with Calabari National Colthe King College, Onitsha, lege. He later came to Lagos where he worked as an ADO Anambra State.

(Assistant District Officer). It was there that Justice Oputa Teaching achieved a remarkable feat: appointment He studied at home and obAfter this, the young Opu- tained his BA (Hon) History.

Justice Oputa then prota went to Yaba Higher Colceeded to London where he lege, Lagos, but due to the got his LLB (Hon) and was exigencies of the Second called to Bar in Gray’s Inn, World War, was sent along London. with others to the famous Legal practice: Upon his Achimota College, Ghana, return to Nigeria, Oputa went then Gold Coast. There he

Oputa, one of the finest jurists on Nigeria's Bench —Femi Falana

J

USTICE Chukwudifu Oputa was one of the finest jurists to adorn the bench in Nigeria. Unlike these days when appointment to the Supreme Court is by promotion from the Court of Appeal, Justice Oputa was elevated from the High Court to the apex Court. Like many of his colleagues of the era, Justice Oputa contributed immensely to the golden era of the nation’s Judiciary. Through his judgments the jurist displayed deep C M Y K

knowledge of procedural and substantive law. He commanded the respect and admiration of judges and lawyers.

Owing to his prodigious grounding in philosophy, he was referred to by his learned brethren as the Socrates of the Supreme Court. His commitment to social justice was unparalleled. At a time in the 1980s the jurist allied with Justice Kayode Eso and Justice Andrew Obaseki to form a trinity of judicial activists who mobilised the Supreme Court to dispense justice to all

classes of people even if the heavens would fall Upon his retirement from the bench, Justice Oputa continued to render useful service to his fatherland and humanity. His most celebrated assignment was the chairmanship of the Human Rights Violations Commission otherwise called the “Oputa Panel”. In a bid to cover up the brutal violations of the fundamental rights of Nigerians by the former military dictators, the Olusegun Oba-

sanjo administration refused to release the report of the Oputa Panel.

The greatest tribute that can be paid to Justice Oputa is for the Federal Government to release the Report of the Oputa Panel and proceed to implement the recommendations of the panel. For the legal profession, Justice Oputa should be celebrated for his incorruptibility and consistent defence of human rights, rule of law and democracy.

into brilliant and successful private practice, handling such celebrated cases and special inquiries as the Oguta Chieftaincy dispute 1958/ 59, the Amanyanabo Dispute 1956/ 60 and many more.

In 1966, Justice Oputa was appointed Judge of the High Court of the then Eastern Nigeria and moved on to become the first Chief Judge of Imo State 10 years later. In 1984, he was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He retired from the bench of the Supreme Court in 1989.

Oputa Panel: He was appointed to investigate abuses during 15 years of military rule, which ended when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo took office as elected president on May 29, 1999.

The Oputa panel examined human rights abuses when President Obasanjo was in power previously as a military ruler from 1976 to 1979.

The decision followed demands for a thorough investigation of rights abuses in Nigeria since independence in 1960.

Justice Oputa published over 40 papers in lectures, conferences and seminars.

Justice Oputa was a dedicated family man exemplarily devoted to his beautiful wife Margaret and his lovely children.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 5

POCKET CARTOON

CONDOLENCE—Vice President Namadi Sambo (2nd right) flanked from the left by Gov. Elechi of Ebonyi State; Gov. Theodore Orji of Abia State, also the Chairman South-East Governors’ Forum and Gov. Chime of Enugu when they paid a condolence visit on the Vice President over the death of his brother in Abuja.

NAMES OF ABDUCTED GIRLS Continues from Page 1

We don't know location of abducted girls —Jonathan Continues from page 1 his government was at a loss on the exact location the schoolgirls were being held.

Speaking, yesterday, the president said the capacity of the Nigerian military was eroded by more than 20 years of under funding prior to the outbreak of the Boko Haram insurgency, but nevertheless reiterated government determination to quash the insurgency which he said is not unique to Nigeria.

Speaking during a presidential media chat, President Jonathan said the country was tapping the support of other countries and world leaders, including Presi-

dent Barack Obama of the United States who he said he has spoken to twice for support.

President Jonathan also disowned claims attributed to him that Boko Haram had infiltrated his cabinet even as he gave a robust defence of his administration’s anti-corruption posture just as he chided the legislature of politicking with many of its probes.

The president also disclaimed reports of a backdoor plan by the government to increase the price of fuel, saying that there was no such plan as now, adding that he would not go outside the law on the issue. The president who also spoke

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may even see farther than the giant himself.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

W

E don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us — Marcel Proust It’s said that one day, Frederick the Great of Prussia was walking on the outskirts of Berlin when he encountered a very old man walking ramrodstraight in the opposite direction.

“Who are you?” Frederick asked his subject.

“I am a king,” replied the old man.

“A king!” laughed Frederick. “Over what kingdom do you reign?”

“Over myself,” was the proud old man’s reply.

Dr. Maxwell, a motivational writer surmises beautifully how to cultivate a higher standard in leading ourselves better, for each of us is “monarch” over our own lives. We are responsible for ruling our actions and decisions. To make consistently good decisions, to take the right action at the right time and to refrain from the wrong actions requires character and self-discipline. To do otherwise is to lose control of ourselves—to do or say things we regret, to miss opportunities we are given, to spend ourselves into debt. When we are foolish, we want to conquer the world. When we are wise, we want to conquer ourselves. This begins when we do what we should, no matter how we feel about it.

on the poor electricity supply in the nation said the government had intervened as he promised that the situation would not be worse than it is now.

He also spoke on the ongoing National Conference, saying that he would use the political pressure of his party and the presidency to push through the accepted recommendations of the confab into reality. The president, however, pooh-poohed questions on his re-election plans.

The session which was moderated by NTA’s Cyril Stober had Vanguard’s Jide Ajani, the BBC’s Bashir Abdullahi and Funke Fadugba of Raypower.

The session opened with a question on the abduction of students of Government Secondary School, Chibok.

President Jonathan said: “As a nation, we are having our fair share of these challenges. But let me use this unique opportunity to thank and appreciate Nigerians for their concern and their commitment to, as a nation, get over these challenges. I promise that we will get over our challenges.”

Also commenting on the activities of the Boko Haram sect, he expressed optimism that his administration will do its best to reduce their activities drastically.

He said: “Starting from the Boko Haram, especially the last two bombings at Nyanya, it is quite worrisome because it came at a time we never expected. The security personnel have done well. If you have the information of the number of bombing plans of Boko Haram that security agents have frustrated, you will appreciate them (security

operatives). When you read that lives have been lost and property destroyed, you will be amazed and people express anger on government. Let me assure them that we will continue to do our best and reduce this drastically.”

We ‘ll get the girls if parents cooperate Calling on parents and guardians of the abducted school girls to provide useful information that will assist security personnel find the girls, he said: “On the school girls that were kidnapped, it is getting up to three weeks now, one thing that we know is that from April 24, the security personnel have been searching everywhere. They know that this thing happened in Borno State, and Borno State is where we have the highest number of the terrorists called Boko Haram. If this thing had happened in another state and security personnel were moved, the whole world would have seen a lot of mobilization. Security personnel are already on ground.

All the information given to us, we have searched the places, we have used helicopter to search the surfaces.”

Speaking further, he said: “We promise that wherever these girls are, we will surely get them out. The good thing is that there is no story that any of the girls have been hurt, injured or dead. I really sympathize with the parents and guardians of these girls. We are all fathers and mothers. Let us reassure them that we will get their daughters. I recently held a security meeting with the service Continues on page 14

34 Rhoda John 35 Rebecca Kabu 36. Christy Yahi.

37. Rebecca Luka.

38. Laraba John 39 Saratu Markus.

40. Mary Usman.

41 Debora Yahonna.

42.Naomi Zakaria 43 Hanatu Musa 44. Hauwa Tella 45.Juliana Yakubu 46. Suzana Yakubu 47.Saraya Paul 48. Jummai Paul 49. Mary Sule 50. Jummai John.

51.Yanke Shittima 52. Muli Waligam 53. Fatima Tabji 54. Eli Joseph 55.Saratu Emmanuel 56. Deborah Peter 57. Rahila Bitrus 58. Luggwa Sanda 59. Kauna Lalai 60. Lydia Emmar 61.Laraba Maman 62.Hauwa Isuwa 63. Comfort Habila 64. Hauwa Abdu.

65. Hauwa Balti 66.Yana Joshua 67.Laraba Paul 68.Saraya Amos 69. Glory Yaga 70. Na’omi Bitrus 71. Godiya Bitrus 72. Awa Bitrus 73. Na’omi Luka 74. Maryamu Lawan 75. Tabitha Silas 76. Mary Yahona 77. Ladi Joel 78. Rejoice Sanki 79. Luggwa Samuel 80.Comfort Amos 81. Saraya Samuel 82. Sicker Abdul 83.Talata Daniel 84. Rejoice Musa 85Deborah Abari 86. Salomi Pogu 87.Mary Amor 88. Ruth Joshua 89Esther John 90. Esther Ayuba 91. Maryamu Yakubu 91. Zara Ishaku 93. Maryamu Wavi 94. Lydia Habila 95. Laraba Yahonna 96. Na’omi Bitrus 97.Rahila Yohanna 98. Ruth Lawan 99. Ladi Paul 100 Mary Paul 101. Esther Joshua 102. Helen Musa 103. Margaret Watsai 104. Deborah Jafaru 105. Filo Dauda 106. Febi Haruna

107.Ruth Ishaku 108.Rachael Nkeki 109. Rifkatu Solomon 110.Mairama Yahaya 111.Saratu Dauda 112.Jinkai Yama 113.Margaret Shettima 114.Yana yidau 115. Grace Paul 116. Amina Ali 117. Palmata Musa 118. Awagana Musa 119. Pindar Nuhu 120.Yana Pogu.

121. Saraya Musa 122. Hauwa Joseph 123. Hauwa kwakwi 125. Hauwa Musa 126. Maryamu Musa 127. Maimuna Usman 128. Rebeca Joseph 129.Liyatu Habitu 130. Rifkatu Yakubu 131. Naomi Philimon 132.Deborah Abbas 133. Ladi Ibrahim 134. Asabe Ali 135. Maryamu Bulama 136.Ruth Amos 137.Mary Ali 138. Abigail Bukar 139 Deborah Amos 140. Saraya Yanga 141. Kauna Luka 142. Christiana Bitrus 143.Yana Bukar 144. Hauwa Peter 145.Hadiza Yakubu 146.Lydia Simon 147. Ruth Bitrus 148.Mary Yakubu 149.Lugwa Mutah 150 Muwa Daniel 151 Hanatu Nuhu 152. Monica Enoch 153. Margaret Yama 154.Docas Yakubu 155. Rhoda Peter 156. Rifkatu Galang 157. Saratu Ayuba 158. Naomi Adamu.

159. Hauwa Ishaya 160. Rahap Ibrahim 162. Deborah Solomon.

163Hauwa Mutah 164. Hauwa Takai 165. Serah Samuel 166. Aishatu Musa 167. Aishatu Grema 168. Hauwa Nkeki 169.Hamsatu Abubakar 170.Mairama Abubakar 171. Hauwa Wule 172. Ihyi Abdu 173. Hasana Adamu 174. Rakiya Kwamtah 175 Halima Gamba 176. Aisha Lawan 177. Kabu Malla 178. Yayi Abana 179. Falta Lawan 180. Kwadugu Manu

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Two to die for robbery, rape

Suspected ritualist nabbed with three siblings in Lagos

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

SABA — A High Court sitting in Warri, Delta State, has sentenced a member of a vigilante group and a welder to death by hanging for robbery and raping a female National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, member.

Convicted were Ebikeme Igangan, 26, from Ogbe-Ijaw, Warri South Local Government Area of the state and one Ovwigho Udjor, 36, from Jesse town, Ethiope West Local Government of the state.

They were found guilty of a three-count charge of robbing a female shop owner of cash and valuables worth N3 million inside Ogunu Shell yard.

Prosecution from the Delta State Ministry of Justice had testified before the court that the two accused persons, along with three others still at large, on or about December 19, 2010 at Shell, Ogunu within Warri Judicial Division robbed a manager of a popular shop (name withheld) inside the Shell Yard of various valuables including two laptops, jewellrey, five Nokia GSM handsets, one Motorola Blade handset, all valued at over N500,000 and a cash sum of N2.8 million at gun point .

It further stated not satisfied with their loots, the accused pounced on the cousin of their victim, said to be a NYSC member and raped her.

L

AGOS — A SUSPECTED ritualist was, weekend, apprehended at Iyana Iba market in Lagos for allegedly kidnapping three children.

The suspect allegedly took the children, aged four, six and seven years, on the pretext that she wanted to buy biscuits for them.

Speaking to Vanguard, the mother of the children, Mrs. Iyabo Lawal, said: "I was in the shop when the man passed the first time, I didn't know he was monitoring my kids who were playing with my mother in her shop.

"I was busy attending to customers and didn't notice when my children followed him. I thought they were still playing in my mother’s shop, not knowing that a stranger had taken them away.

"Some people, who saw my children with the man at the end of Iyana Iba road, questioned him on what he was doing with the children and he told them he was going to buy something for them.

"When he could not answer the neighbours satisfactorily, they raised alarm and people gathered and started beating him.

"At this time I had started looking for my children when someone alerted me that they had seen them with a man at the

The three siblings and their grandmother (INSET): The suspect.. other side of road."

Vanguard gathered that but for the intervention of mobile policemen attached to CTU Base 2, Anti Terrorism, Ikeja, the mob

would have lynched the man.

The suspect, who identified himself as Ihenacho and claimed to be a security man at Alaba International Market, refused to

65-yr-old man impregnates 17-yr-old daughter I MO — A 65- year-old man (names withheld) in Kalabari Beach in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State, weekend, narrowly escaped lynching by angry youths for impregnating his 17-year-old daughter.

According to reports, the alleged randy father hails from Ibiasegbe in Oru West Local

ARSON AT SUSPECTED RITUALIST'S DEN:

Government Area of Imo State but resides in Kalabari Beach where he taps rubber.

The randy father, who claims to be an elder in a Pentecostal church, has 11 children from his two late wives and expecting another one from his fourth daughter.

The five-month-old pregnant

Ogun Police to

probe council officials

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A

BEOKUTA — THE Ogun State Police Command said, weekend, that it would probe some local government officials in Yewa South Local Government Area over the burning of a building suspected to be a ritualist den.

The command also said that it had commenced investigation into the case which it described as arson that occurred in Ilaro when some angry youths burnt down the house belonging to Gabriel Olafenwa at 32, Dosumu Street, Orita, Ilaro in Ogun State.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, in a statement said some officials of Yewa South Local Government Area of the state have been indicted in the arson.

It was gathered from a reliable source that some health workers were directed by the deputy chairman of the council to search Olafenwa’s house, having suspected that the house was being used by ritualists.

Vanguard also gathered that in the process, some angry mob hijacked it and set the house ablaze.

An eye witness told Vanguard

that the occupants of the house, including the owner and his seven children, escaped being lynched by the mob following the intervention of policemen who arrived the scene and dispersed them.

Some of the children were said to have lost their credentials to the inferno as the house was burnt to ashes.

Reacting to the incident, Adejobi said: “The Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna

disclose what he was doing with the children.

The suspect was later handed over to policemen from Ojo Police Division.

Okoye, has ordered the Department of Criminal Investigation, Eleweran, Abeokuta to take over the case as there were some questions to be answered by certain individuals and some council officials in the area.

“The command will not tolerate any act of hooliganism or violence that will be inimical to the existing peaceful security networking in Ogun State."

Meantime, the state Police Command has said it had ar-

rested seven suspects for allegedly attempting to kill a man in Oke Ola area of Ilese-Ijebu in the state.

According to the PPRO, one Dare Okanlawon of Ijebu Imushin entered a restaurant belonging to one Mrs Queen Omonigho at Oke Ola Ilese Ijebu to have his breakfast when the owner of the restaurant met him asking questions from her daughter and she raised a false alarm of attempted kidnap.

One of the vehicles involved in an accident, where a truck carrying a container fell on two cars, at Idi-Oro bus stop, Mushin, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: NAN.

girl is the man's first daughter from his second late wife.

Meanwhile, when the youths of the area confirmed that the father is allegedly responsible for the daughter's pregnancy, they besieged his residence, dragged him out and beat him up.

The youths had already descended on him before a passerby, who is a lawyer, intervened and told them not to take the laws into their hands.

In an interview, the suspect claimed that the illicit act started five months ago when he forcefully had carnal knowledge of his daughter and in the process defiled her.

The 65-year-old claimed he slept with the daughter six times until the sex escapade was exposed by the pregnancy.

He, however, said he was ready to appease the land and prayed for forgiveness from all, claiming that it was the handiwork of the devil.

While narrating her ordeal, the pregnant daughter alleged that her father came to her room one night and forced himself on top of her after removing her clothes.

The 17-year-old girl, who is a junior student of St Michael's Secondary School, Orsu-Obodo, said her father threatened to deal with her if she reported the incident to anybody.

Reports also said the man had already made arrangement to sell the baby immediately her daughter puts to bed, an intention the girl opposed.

The pregnant girl claimed that she reported to her father immediately she stopped observing her monthly flow, adding that the father didn't say anything.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 —7

NLC gives security tips to FG

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

N

AGM: From left— Aliko Dangote, Chairman; Mr. D. V. G. Edwin, GMD/CEO, and Mr. Olakunle Alake, Director, all of Dangote Cement Plc, at the company's fifth Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

FG admits flaws in power sector privatisation

BY MICHAEL EBOH

T

HE Federal Government, yesterday, admitted that the privatisation exercise of the Nigerian power sector was flawed and that it had set up a committee to address the challenges and drawbacks recorded in the exercise.

According to a statement by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, the committee, called Power Investors’ Committee, will be chaired by the Vice President and Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, Namadi Sambo.

Director-General of BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki, disclosed this in the statement after an interactive session with members of the House Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, the new owners of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, successor companies and the BPE during the committee’s oversight visit to some electricity distribution companies across the country.

He said the committee would meet quarterly to review issues and take critical decisions on the power sector.

Dikki, who was represented at the forum by Alhaji Aliyu Maigari, Head, Stakeholders Relations Unit, BPE, said the membership was drawn from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC; Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company, NBET; Ministry of Power; Nigerian Gas Company, NGC; BPE and other relevant stakeholders.

DISCOs' challenges

Also speaking, Mr. John Darlington, Deputy Managing Director, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IEDC, decried the frequent picketing of the company’s premises by former staff of the defunct PHCN. He called for urgent steps to be taken to check the frequent picketing, saying that it portends grave danger for investors in the power sector.

While noting that the IEDC is the biggest distribution company in the country with 1,073,673 customers, he called on the government to take steps to make the generation and distribution power companies to be financially viable to enable them undertake aggressive investments in power infrastructure.

Darlington said financial viability of the power companies can be achieved through a cost reflective tariff structure that recognises current market situation as well as undertake sustainable investment in the transmission network to deliver generated capacity to distribution companies without constraints.

He also called for vigilance by the distribution companies and the relevant authorities to combat vandalism and electricity theft which rob legitimate customers of power and revenues that will help sustain the market.

Darlington further called for the mediation by the government to delineate asset boundaries between the

Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, and distribution companies for effective network operation.

He also called for the review of the classification of the core/non core assets of the distribution companies as some of the assets classified as non core assets were essential to the operations of distribution network expansion.

EKEDIC’s expansion drive

Also, Mr. Oladele Amoda, Managing Director, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKEDC, said the company had secured $150 million to expand and improve its network.

He explained that the company planned to invest N42 billion in the next five years for network improvement to reduce aggregate technical, commercial and collection, ATC&C, losses and enhance service delivery.

He noted that as part of its digitalisation programme, customers of the company could pay their bills online and through banks in any part of the country, a feat, he said only the company had been able to achieve.

Amoda called on TCN to address the severe power evacuation capacity limitations in the transmission stations for EKEDC to improve power supply to its customers.

He added that the company was ready to assist in funding of some of the transmission projects that would remove interface bottlenecks.

House c’tte chair's comments

In her remarks, Khadija Abba Ibrahim, the Chairman of House Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, which has been on oversight visit of the defunct PHCN successor companies in the Lagos and Ibadan axis, said the purpose of the visit was to assess the performance of the companies in line with Post Acquisition Plan, PAP, they signed with the government.

She said the committee would pursue laws that would guarantee effective performance of the companies for the benefit of Nigerians.

Abba Ibrahim further urged the Legal Units of the new power companies to collaborate with the two committees of the National Assembly to enact laws to remove inhibitions for their effective performance.

IGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, weekend, called on the Federal Government to involve the local people, set up network centres and rapid response camps, especially in crowded and vulnerable areas, to stem the increasing attacks on Nigerians by insurgents.

NLC, in a statement by its Acting General Secretary, Mr. Chris Uyot, demanded adequate protection for workers at home, at work and on the road.

He lamented that the present attacks on workers as witnessed in recent attacks in Abuja, were direct attacks on productivity and the development of Nigeria.

The body argued that it was evident that terrorists were taking advantage of Nigeria’s state of unpreparedness, weak infrastructure and chaotic life style to unleash mayhem, noting that as was the case in the first bomb blast at Nyanya, the majority of the victims were workers on a day they were celebrating the May Day. The statement said: “It is evident that terrorists are taking advantage of the state of our unpreparedness, our weak infrastructure and our chaotic life style to unleash mayhem.

“How else could one explain the successful strike of terrorists at two bus stops opposite each other within a space of two weeks?”

Carrington, Nkrumah for Alfred Rewane Foundation launch

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

A

FORMER United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Walter Carrington and Mr. Gumel Nkrumah, son of late Dr. Kwame Nkrumah are among dignitaries expected at the launch of Alfred Rewane Foundation scheduled for August.

A statement by the Principal Partner of Sama Books Launch Services, Mr. Dafe Sama, said the foundation would, among other things, focus on the promotion of

good governance and superior leadership values.

It quoted Mr. Tosan Rewane, first son of Chief Alfred Rewane, as saying that the draft blueprint of the proposed foundation was prepared by distilling the views of personalities across the country and is intended as a policy document to guide the establishment and take-off of the foundation.

It said the draft was subject to further discussion and amendment, where necessary,

by A. O. Rewane Trustees.

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Boko Haram turns abducted girls to sex slaves zIf they were sons of rich parents govt would act— BAOBAB

zGordon Brown arrives to secure their release zWhy I refused membership of Presidential C’ttee— FALANA

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH, UDUMA KALU, WITH AGENCY REPORT

B

OKO HARAM insurgents have turned the abducted Chibok schoolgirls into sex slaves, raping them 15 times a day, one of the victims that escaped has said.

In an interview published in the UK newspaper, Mirror on Saturday, the girl said she was prized as a terror leader ’s wife because she had been a virgin. She said young female captives were forced to convert to Islam and had their throats cut if they refused.

Meanwhile, Lagos lawyer and human right activist, Femi Falana (SAN), has attributed his rejection of membership of the Presidential Fact Finding Committee on the abducted schoolgirls to his plan to represent some concerned Nigerians and parents of the kidnapped girls in court.

A girl called Rehab, 17, who also escaped from the sect, told how she jumped from a truck with schoolmate, Comfort, 15, as they were driven into the forest.

She said: “We summoned up some courage and grabbed some of the branches and clung on to them while the truck moved on with the other girls.

“We jumped down and began to run into the darkness. Comfort and I went in the same direction, but four other girls took the path back to a village. We didn’t know where we were but we kept running.”

Malam Ali Iliya, father of another schoolgirl who escaped, said: “My daughter said when the trailer got stuck, some of the girls began to jump out and run for their lives and she followed suit. We are lucky our children were not shot.”

Gordon Brown’s arrival

Describing the kidnap of 329 schoolgirls’ as one of the worst mass kidnappings in modern history, the Mirror said the Nigerian government appears to have done little and that former UK's Prime Minister Gordon Brown is coming to the country tomorrow in his role as the UN’s Special Adviser on girls’ education to secure the pupils’ release.

But with stories of many already trafficked into

neighbouring Chad and Cameroon for just 2,000 naira (£7.50), campaigners fear that without urgent action they will never be seen again, the report said.

As he gets ready for his difficult mission to Nigeria on Tuesday, Gordon Brown said: “Abducting children is a heinous crime that the international authorities are determined to punish.”

Malala, Baobab

Meanwhile, Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old Pakistani girl, who survived being shot by the Taliban after she spoke up for female education, has also demanded action.

She said: “The world should put all hands on deck to rescue the innocent girls from Boko Haram sect. Islam accepts female education and any person that is against that is not a true Muslim.”

Mma Odi, Executive Director of the Nigerian charity Baobab Women’s Human Rights, said: “It is a very bad situation for those girls.

“The men went to the school for no other reason than to make them their sex objects. The men will have reduced them to sex slaves, raping them over and over again. And any girl who tries to resist will be shot. They have no conscience.

“The conditions will be terrible and it seems like the government has just abandoned them because they are girls and they are poor. If they were the sons of the rich, the government would act.

“Their abductors are not human beings and if the girls get out they will no longer be normal. They will have to have years of counselling to recover.”

Falana

Falana said that his rejection cannot be said to be disrespect to the Federal Government, but he had decided to pitch his tent with the suffering parents and students of Chibok.

The government had appointed General Ibrahim Sabo (rtd.) as the Chairman of the fact-finding committee. According to the list of committee

members released by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, Friday, the Permanent Secretary (Special Services Office) will serve as Secretary to the committee.

C’ttee members

The composition of the committee include Femi Falana (SAN), who has declined to serve in the committee, Hajia Hawa Ibrahim, Hajia Fatima Kwaku, two representatives of National Council of Women Societies, NCWS, two representatives of the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (one whom shall be a female), two representatives of the National Parents

Teachers Association, two representatives of the Nigeria Police, two representatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, and two representatives of the Nigerian Army.

Others are one representative of the Federal Ministry of Information (who shall be the committees’ spokesperson), one representative of the Federal Ministry of Justice, three representatives of Borno State Government (two of whom, preferably, shall be women), two representatives of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, one representative of the United Nations and one

representative of ECOWAS (who shall be a woman).

Terms of reference

The terms of reference of the committee, according to Anyim, include to liaise with the Borno State Government and establish the circumstances leading to the school remaining open for boarding students when other schools were closed; To liaise with relevant authorities and the parents of the missing girls to establish the actual number and identities of the girls abducted; to interface with the DSS and Borno State Government to ascertain how many of the missing girls have returned; To mobilise the surrounding communities and the general public on citizen support for a rescue strategy and operation; To articulate a framework for a multi-stakeholder action for the rescue of the girls and advise government on any matter incidental to the terms of reference.

FATIHA: Senator Bala Mohammed, Federal Capital Territory Minister (right) and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya (left), during the presentation of the key of Abuja city to President Kenyatta on his arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for a state visit yesterday.

FCT Minister confers honorary citizenship on Uhuru Kenyatta

P

RESIDENT Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya was honoured with the citizenship of Abuja on arrival yesterday for a five-day official visit to Nigeria.

The Kenyan leader, who would also attend the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Abuja, was received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe

International Airport by the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed.

Senator Mohammed presented President Kenyatta with the key to the city of Abuja, which confers on him the honorary citizenship of Abuja.

The Minister said the key also confers on him all the

rights and privileges of a full-fledged citizen as a mark of respect for the strong friendship and cordial relationship between Kenyans and Nigerians.

The Kenyan presidential aircraft, which brought the visiting President and his entourage, touched down at the Abuja Airport at 6.30pm.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 9

Generator fume kills family of 7 in Lagos

BY EVELYN USMAN

L

AGOS—BAGIDO area of Ijede Lagos, was weekend thrown into mourning following the discovery of the decomposing bodies of a man, his wife and five children in their building.

The man identified as Etim Edet was reportedly a staff of Nigeria Brewery Plc. The family of seven was suspected to have been killed by fume from a power generator mounted in the house.

The late Etim, was reported to have been last seen at his place of work on April 25, 2014.

Apprehension reportedly set in following his absence on April 28, without prior notice, an action his colleagues described as unusual.

Tension heightened over his continued absence till Friday, with calls on his mobile telephone unanswered.

Some of his colleagues said to have gone to check on him at home became curious following the stench that was emanating from the building.

Consequently, policemen from Ijede division were alerted and when the door was forced open, the decomposing bodies were discovered.

The bodies included that of Edet, his second wife, his 17-

BY OLAYINKA LATONA

C

AWARD: Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, (3rd left), displaying his BusinessWorld newspaper award as the 'Most Innovative Governor in his First Term' at Zenababs Hotels and Resort, Ilesa, Osun State on Saturday. With him are, Interim National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Bisi Akande (left), Wife of the Governor, Sherifat (3rd right); Chairman, BusinessWorld newspaper, Mr Daisi Omidiji (2nd left); Speaker, Osun State House of Assembly, Mr. Najeem Salam (2nd right) and Guest Speaker, Professor Pat Utomi. year-old eldest son from his first wife, a female relation, whose age was put between 14 and 15 years and three other children born by the second wife, aged seven, five and three years respectively.

A resident, who identified himself as Mr Ayodele Disu told Vanguard that the Edets could have been rescued had there

been houses around theirs.

Police sources explained that power generator fume was suspected as the cause, following the discovery of a 3.5 KVA power generator there.

Describing the incident as sudden and unnatural death, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide

said: “At about 4.00pm, one Etim Edet , a staff of Nigeria Brewery Plc Lagos was allegedly found dead with his wife and five children on their beds at his residence at Bagido area of Ijede.

“No sign of violence was seen on their bodies. The deceased’s were suspected to have died from generator fumes.

Injury to cyclist: Court awards N10m damages against LASTMA BYABDULWAHABABDULAH

L

AGOS—JUSTICE Doris Okuwobi of an Ikeja High court has awarded a N10 million damages against Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, LASTMA, and its official, Mr Aidelebe Sunday for causing bodily injury to a student, Samson Dibie in 2011.

Dibie, who was attacked at

Abule Egba with a stick by the LASTMA official on December 1, 2011, while attempting to escape arrest with his motorcycle dragged the official, LASTMA and the state Ministry of Transport to court through his lawyer, Mrs Funmi Falana, asking for a N200 million general damages for his injury and the infringement of his fundamental human rights.

He also prayed the court to

declare that the action of the LASTMA official was unconstitutional and illegal as it violated his rights to dignity of human person.

Two years after the case was argued and the respondents defended the case through their lawyers from the Ministry of Justice, Justice Okuwobi in her judgment held that the action of the official was unconstitutional

Akala mayhem: Arrested suspected kingpin files N100m suit

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

L

AGOS—FOLLOWING his arrest and detention in an unknown destination by the police, a former Lagos transport union leader and businessman, Toba Ajiboye arrested has filed a N100 million suit against the police over alleged violation of his fundamental rights.

Ajiboye, was arrested in his apartment at Surulere area of Lagos in connection with the latest crisis by Akala boys of Mushin area of Lagos. In his application, he called on the Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, to intervene in his case and allow him have access to his family and lawyer.

Ajiboye, whose family filed an application on his behalf for the enforcement of his fundamental rights before Lagos High Court, Ikeja said the man was arrested

Chibok: Lagos APC women to shut markets

without warrant in his Surulere home on April 24, and allegedly brutalised.

Joined in the suit are the

Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CSP Ibrahim Alhassan, (DPO Badagry police station).

In his Motion on Notice, copy

Leke Pitan joins Lagos guber race

L

AGOS—FORMER Lagos Commissioner for Health, Dr. Leke Pitan has declared his interest in vying for the state governor’s seat in 2015.

He made the declaration at a media interaction weekend in Lagos, where he expressed confidence in the ability of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC to win all elective positions in the state during the next general elections.

The former Commissioner during the eight-year administration of former Governor Bola Tinubu declared that he

joined the race because his party would need a candidate Lagosians are familiar with and could trust for the party to emerge victorious in 2015 elections.

“As progressives, we have promised the people social service. If you promise to cloth the people, you won’t send a carpenter to them. You will rather send a tailor who has been doing that for them, they will be happy and have confidence in such. As such, my coming into the race is not about personal ambition, but to keep the tempo of providing social services for the people."

and subsequently illegal.

She held that it violated the applicant’s rights to dignity of human person as guaranteed by Section 34 of the 1999 constitution.

The court also declared that the assault and physical attack on the applicant by Aidelebe Sunday on that day which eventually led to the amputation of his right hand was illegal, unconstitutional and a threat to his right to life as guaranteed in section 33 of the 1999 constitution.

She also held the act violated Article 4 of the Human and Peoples’ Rights Act (Cap A9) Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and thus awarded N10 million in favour of Dibie as damages for the infringement of his fundamental rights to life and dignity of person.

In its defence, the state government denied the incident, insisting that on the said date, none of his official participated in arrest of Okada rider as alleged by the applicant.

In a counter affidavit deposed to by Aidelebe Sunday, himself said “there was no fracas between the 2nd Respondent officers including me and the motor bike riders on that particular day.”

It denied there was no filling station known as Total Filling station at Oja Oba as claimed by the applicant and that the agency never operated with buses, except its Toyota Hilux pick-up van.

OST of foodstuffs, which had hit the rooftops since Easter may rise again as the women wing of All Progressives Congress, APC, plans to shut markets in Lagos and to stop cooking for their husbands one day in every week until the abducted Chibok school girls are released unhurt.

House of Representatives member, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who was the special guest of honour at the Grace and Mercy Project, GAMP 2014, at Isawo community, Ikorodu, Lagos, made this known, saying women in Lagos State would do that to demand the immediate release of the over 234 teenage students who were abducted by Boko Haram about three weeks ago.

Dabiri-Erewa, who described the abduction saga as tragic, urged President Goodluck Jonathan, members of the National Assembly and all in Government to ensure that the abducted girls who were writing their WAEC examinations were found and released unhurt.

Lagos to establish two Island housing projects

BY MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO

L

AGOS State Government is to establish two Island housing projects, aimed at reducing the housing deficit in the state.

Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Prince Adesegun Oniru, disclosed this at the ongoing ministerial briefing on activities of the ministry.

Oniru stated that following the success recorded in the ongoing Eko Atlantic City project, the state government signed agreement with private organizations that would handle the construction of the new projects, the Island housing schemes in the state.

The two Islands are: Orange Island Project and Gracefield Phoenix Project.

10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Osun guber poll: You are planning to foment trouble, APC accuses PDP Only in your imagination — PDP

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

Osoba’s APC faction tackles Amosun over new exco

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A

BEOKUTA – A faction of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ogun State loyal to former governor of the state, Chief Segun Osoba yesterday described the plan by Governor Ibikunle

Amosun’s faction to inaugurate an executive committee as reckless and suspicious.

The Osoba faction said it was shocked to hear the announcement made by one of the Special Assistants to the governor that, some party

leaders at the national level would inaugurate its executive tomorrow when the report of the appeal had not been made public.

Both Osoba and Amosun’s factions elected their executive members during the recentlyconcluded parallel congresses held in Abeokuta.

But, Amosun’s faction last Friday commenced

O

SOGBO—OSUN State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC and its main challenger in the August 9 governorship election in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday differed on the alleged plan to unleash terror in some parts of the state ahead of the election.

The APC in a statement issued by the party’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr Kunle Oyatomi indicated that the PDP had concluded plans to foment troubles with some APC leaders in some selected towns in the state.

But the PDP in a swift response said it had no plan of such, saying that the allegation existed only in the imagination of APC members.

Oyatomi had said in the statement that the plan was concluded during a meeting held at the residence of a PDP leader.

Odu’a gets new boss

BY OLAAJAYI

I

B A D A N — FOLLOWING the voluntary retirement of the Group Managing Director/ CEO of Odu’a Investment Company Limited, Dr. Adebayo Jimoh, a new Group Managing Director/ CEO, Mr. Adewale Raji has been appointed to steer the ship of the conglomerate.

Dr. Jimoh served the conglomerate for nine years before resigning.

Mr. Raji, who emerged through a competitive and transparent selection process carried out by KPMG Advisory Services, is expected to assume office on June 2, 2014.

The new helmsman , who hails from Ogun State, graduated from the University of Jos in 1985 with a first class degree in History.

THANKSGIVING SERVICE: Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (middle), Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (right), his wife, Olufunso (2nd left), Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona (3rd left), and his Oloris, Iyabo (2nd right) and Oluwakemi (left) during the 80th birthday Thanksgiving Service held in honour of the Awujale at The Cathedral Church of Our Saviour, Ijasi, Italowajoda, Ijebu Ode yesterday.

announcement both on radio and television that there was going to be an inauguration of APC Exco at all levels in Ogun State tomorrow by national officers.

In its statement by a factional Ogun State APC Publicity Secretary, Mr. Clement Adeniyi, titled; “Re: inauguration of exco for Ogun State APC in all 236 wards, local governments and the state: the truth of the matter,” Osoba faction said it heard with utmost dismay and outright disapproval, a paid announcement of outright misinformation to the generality of APC members and the general public at large.

The faction copied the State Director, Directorate of State Security, DSS, Ogun State Headquarters, the Commissioner Nigeria Police Force, Ogun State Headquarters, Abeokuta, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, INEC, Ogun State Headquarters and the State Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Ogun State Headquarters.

It challenged Amosun’s faction to produce the evidence that it’s executive had been accepted by the national body, warning it to stop misleading the members of the public.

Kwankwaso laments FG’s discrimination against APC states ...Calls for change of strategy against Boko Haram

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A

BEOKUTA—KANO State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, yesterday in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, accused the Federal Government of deliberately denying states under the control of the All Progressives Congress, APC, of N2 billion ecological funds, saying other states apart from APC-controlled states had been paid the ecological funds.

The governor was on a two-day working visit to the Bells University of Technology, Ota, and Crescent University, Abeokuta to interface with students from Kano State.

He spoke at the Crescent University, where he claimed that his government had spent N500 million on the students of the state origin in various tertiary institutions across the country.

Speaking on the reason his government shows serious commitment to education, Kwankwaso said his government planned to close the gap between the north and the south in the area of education.

According to him, "nobody gives me any extra money, the Federal Government has given non-APC states N2 billion. They

call it ecological fund, but they gave us nothing.

“Our policy is not to borrow money because we don’t want to mortgage our future, all what we are doing is out of our resources, the one we get locally and the resources we get from Federal government.”

While speaking on the security

crisis facing the country, he advised the federal government not to limit its focus to security agencies,, urging it to focus more on education and agriculture.

He said no educated person would accept to be a suicide bomber, arguing that other critical aspects of economy must be focused on, like the government

was doing with security sector.

According to him, "security is not just for army, police and SSS, no, it is not like that, this is one aspect, the other aspect is education, we must secure education, we must secure our agriculture, we must secure our health, we must secure employment."

Nigeria needs stronger institution for devt – UTOMI

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

O

SOGBO—EMINENT Economist and founder, Centre for Values in Leadership, Prof. Pat Utomi weekend said Nigeria was in dire need of strong institutions, such as those being built in Osun under the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, rather than strong personalities.

This was as the governor suggested that engaging the alienated youths as done in Osun would end the scourge of insecurity in the country.

Both Utomi and Aregbesola spoke in Ilesa, Osun State at the BusinessWorld newspaper award presentation to the governor as the Most Innovative Governor in First Term.

Utomi, who was a Guest Speaker at the event, observed that what the nation needed were strong institutions and not strong men, saying only a strong institution could provide good governance for the people.

Utomi, who titled his speech “Innovation in Governance: Regarding Good Government,” said until government served the interest of the common man, it was not a good government.

He pointed out that the kind of government the country needed to progress was what Governor Aregbesola was offering the people of the state, insisting that Aregbesola’s commitment and excellence in governance was not in doubt as the performance on group bore clear testimony to his focused administration.

According to him, “What Africa and indeed Nigeria need are strong institutions and not strong men. A strong institution has the capacity to provide good governance for the people.

“Lack of strong institution is what is contributing to the stagnation of the nation’s fortune both politically and economically.

“Therefore our country is in bad shape because our leaders are not told the truth they need to know about their performance in government. Government has a primary duty of creating conducive and enabling environment for the realisation of people’s dreams and aspirations.

“Government that fails in this regard has no business being in power and doesn’t deserve to be honoured to continue in power."

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 11

Uduaghan counts blessings of Atuwatse II's reign

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

W

ARRI—GOVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has extolled the virtues of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, describing his reign as one that has brought several blessings to the Itsekiri people, Delta State and Nigeria in general.

Uduaghan commended Atuwatse II after taking the 1st Bible reading at Erejuwa II Four Square Gospel Church, Olu Palace, where the monarch, subjects and well wishers held a thanksgiving service to round off the four days 27th coronation anniversary of the Olu. Addressing the Olu on the occasion, Uduaghan, said: “Many lose sight of the fact that it is under your reign that an Itsekiri man became Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly. Under your reign, Itsekiris have become Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, President and Chief Judge of the state. Under your reign, an Itsekiri man has become governor of Delta State and we can count many more blessings.

“Under your reign, Itsekiris have had some challenges with their neighbors, but we dealt with the challenges and live peacefully with our neighbours. Under your leadership as Chairman of the Delta

Council of Traditional Rulers, the body has witnessed peace and respect and the presence of several traditional rulers at this thanksgiving service attests to how well you have been leading the people.”

He noted that majority of the monarchs had embraced Christianity, describing same as a sign of progress for the

state.

“You can hardly go to any palace without experiencing allegiance to Christian life and when the king is at peace with God, the kingdom is at peace,” he added.

He assured the Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers of continued government support while praying God to contin-

ue to guide and keep the Olu in peaceful, gainful reign with his subjects for many more years to come.

Also present on the event were several government functionaries, palace chiefs, the General Overseer, Four Square Gospel Church, Nigeria, Rev. Felix Mebuoye and the Warri District Overseer, Rev. Sam Aboyeji.

OKPEKPE RACE: Governor Adams Oshiomhole (left), presents a dummy cheque to Mnen Eshon of Ethiopia, 1st Prize winner in the Male Category with time of 28.36 minutes at the 2nd edition of the 10km Okpekpe race in Edo State.

Rivers LG Chair abducted in Port Harcourt

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME Command, Port Harcourt, that one Awori Miller, council ORT HARCOURT— Chairman of Ahoada West was CHAIRMAN of Ahoada kidnapped by three armed West Local Government Area men at the hotel on Ada of Rivers State, Mr. Awori Miller, has been kidnapped.

The state Police Command confirmed that Miller was taken hostage on Saturday at 10p.m., from a hotel on Ada George Road, Port Harcourt.

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM The Police said Miller was & GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE whisked away by a gang of three from the hotel. It could not be confirmed if he was ENIN—MINORITY staying in the hotel.

Whip of the House of The Police said the family of Representatives, Mr. Samson the abducted chairman was Osagie, has described the call aware of the development, but by some communities in Warcould not say if the kidnappers ri, Delta State, on President had asked for ransom.

The state police spokesper- Goodluck Jonathan to relocate son, Grace Iringe-Koko, as- the headquarters of the Nigesured that the security body rian Petroleum Development would secure his release, Company, NPDC, a subsidistressing that they were al- ary of Nigerian National Peready on top of the situation. troleum Corporation, NNPC, She said: “I am aware of from Benin, Edo State, to WarAwori Miller's kidnap. He was ri, Delta State, as illogical and kidnapped at a hotel on Ada unpatriotic.

Osagie, who represents George Street on Saturday Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode evening. At 2200hrs, a report was received at Rumuopirikom federal constituency, Edo division of the state Police State, in the National Assem-

P

George in Port Harcourt.

“We have begun investigation and I assure you that before long, he will be released.

We will not only ensure that

the council chairman is released, we will also fish out those behind the kidnap and make them face the full wrath of the law."

Rep flays call for relocation of NPDC Hqtrs from Benin to Warri

B

bly, in a statement in Benin, said: “As a representative of the largest oil and gas bearing constituency in Edo State that is, Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode, I find the reasons for this call as not only illogical, but completely unpatriotic.

“At a time when we should be concerned with the building of bridges of unity, it is preposterous that our kith and kin in some communities in Warri are calling on the Federal Government to halt the citing of the headquarters of a federal agency in Edo State.

“I wish to humbly advise Mr. President and his Minister of Petroleum Resources never to hearken to these demands.

They are borne out of selfish motives and cannot be justified

at all.”

He insisted that Edo State and its people were hospitable and were always ready to provide the NPDC and indeed, any government agency, the enabling environment to operate.

“Besides, our dear compatriots in Warri should not give the impression that what is good for the goose is not good for the gander after all.

The Petroleum Training Institute and the University of Petroleum Technology, the Nigerian Gas Company, The Warri Refinery and a host of other government agencies are located there. Were Edo and Delta states not one state (Bendel) until 1991?” he quarried.

FG can't supervise states, LGs —Oshiomhole

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM & GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

B

E N I N— G O V E R NOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has said that the Federal Government cannot supervise states or local governments since the constitution prescribes a federal and not unitary system of government.

Oshiomhole spoke when he granted audience to Mr. Ifaluyi Isibor, the Federal Commissioner representing Edo State in the Federal Character Commission, weekend in Benin City.

The governor was reacting to the call by Isibor that the governor should direct local governments in the state, ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, to appear before the commission as part of its monitoring exercise. He informed the visitors that the people of Edo State expected them to ensure that Edo people were well represented in federal appointments and not to look into the books of local government which he said was not in the purview of the Federal Government.

APC chieftain applauds party congress in Delta

BY FESTUS AHON

U

G H E L L I — CHAIRMAN of All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ughelli North Local Government Area, Delta State, Olorogun Felix Ekure, has applauded the peaceful conduct of the party’s congress in the state, saying that the congress had made the party stronger in the state.

Fielding questions from newsmen on the outcome of the state congress, Ekure noted that with the successful congress, the party’s journey to the state Government House had begun.

“We now have a very fine structure which will form the foundation and basis for our march to the Government House in Asaba in 2015. If you look at the party structure in the wards, local government and state, there is element of ANPP, ACN and CPC down to the grassroots," he said.

12 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Defendant denies instructing lawyer to write petition against Justice Olotu

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

B

ENIN—ONE of the defendants in the suit by Justice Gladys Olotu (rtd) against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, before an Abuja Federal High Court, Total E & P Nigeria Ltd (formerly Elf Nigeria Ltd), has denied instructing any counsel to write a petition on its behalf in the matter of Mouna Youssefian and three others vs. TEPNG to the National Judicial Council, NJC. The NJC was said to have recommended the compulsory retirement of Justice Olotu based on petitions including the one allegedly said to have been written by Mr. Harvey Ideozor of Greenfield Legal practitioners on behalf of Ponticelli Nigeria Ltd, Stolt Offshore Services S.A, the Vessel MV Theo, owners of the vessel MV Theo, Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd, ABD Marines A.G, the Vessel MV Lara and the Vessel MV Krysia; and Mr. S. B. Harry of S. B. Harry and Co. However, Total E&P Nigeria Ltd., in a letter addressed to S. I. Aheh, SAN, counsel to Justice Olotu, and signed by Oatowun Candide- Johnson (General Counsel), and titled Re: Pre-action notice, said: “We are in receipt of your letter with the above subject matter dated March 24, 2014.

“This is to inform you that, TEPNG did not at any time instruct counsel nor did it cause

any petition to be written on its behalf in the matter of Mouna Youssefian and three others versus TEPNG. As we have never seen the petition in question, we would be grateful to receive a copy as soon as possible.”

Justice Olotu was also alleged to have “failed to deliver judgment only to deliver same in suit No FHC/UY/250/2003, 18 months after the final address by the counsel in the suit, contrary to the constitutional provisions that judgments should be delivered within 90 days.”

Vanguard gathered that the widow and children of an offshore worker, Mr. Yusuf Youssefian, who allegedly died on board an offshore vessel MV

Theo, a floating hotel on June 21, 2003, after being ill same day, had instituted a case against eight parties.

The parties included:- Ponticelli Nigeria Ltd, Stolt Offshore Services SA, the Vessel MV Theo and owners, Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd, ABC Marine AG, the Vessel MV Lara and the Vessel MV Krysia.

Justice Olotu was said to have decided the case in favour of the widow and her children noting that the defendants failed to evacuate the deceased promptly or comply with the Medical Evacuation Plan as provided in the contract to provide ho-

tel service between Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd and Stolt Offshore Service.

Besides, the widow and her children were said to have sought to enforce the judgment in their favour in a garnishee proceedings against the banks alleged to be in possession of monies funds belonging to the defendants/ judgment debtors and the garnishee order was temporary granted by the court.

It was further learnt that Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd and Pontiocelli as judgment debtors and who were not parties to the garnishee proceedings, filed separate applications to discharge the temporary garnishee order.

FUNERAL: From left: Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State; Senate President, Senator David Mark and Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, at the Asaba International Airport for the funeral service of Obi-Bridget Okpuno, mother of the Chairman of ULO Construction, Chief Uche Okpuno, in Asaba.

Police search for killers of beheaded 40-yr-old woman in Bayelsa

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

Y

ENAGOA—THE police in Bayelsa State have intensified search for the killers of a 40-year-old woman found last week with her head cut off in a bush behind the state owned palm estate in the Azikoro area of Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.

According to a police source, the deceased’s headless body was found late on Thursday after a search party raised by the family following her failure to return home from a fishing trip.

This is coming three weeks after a deranged woman was attacked at the popular Swali Market with her eyes plucked out by suspected ritualists.

The deceased, identified as Lydia David, a mother of five from neighbouring Delta

State, was reported to have lived in the Azikoro village in the last 10 years.

It was learnt that the deceased woman had left her home at 3p.m., for her farm to check on her fish traps at a swamp close to the Bayelsa palm estate.

According to the deceased's

son, David Junior, the family became worried when his mother failed to return home at 8p.m., prompting them to organise a search party.

It was gathered that the missing head of the woman was later discovered, days later, at an uncompleted

building close to Goodnews Street in the Azikoro suburb.

While some eyewitnesses claimed the killers were suspected ritualists, close family members claimed they cannot attribute the killing to ritualists and are waiting for police findings.

Residents desert communities over cult clashes, killings

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME ORT HARCOURT— CULTISTS have taken over Aminigboko and Owerewere communities in Abua-Odua Local Government Area of Rivers State while most residents have fled the communities.

A group, Niger Delta Youths for Positive Attitudes Change and Progress, has expressed worry over the situation. According to president of the group, Mr. Enisuo Emmanuel, residents had fled the communities because of incessant

P

clashes between rival cult groups in the communities.

He said that the situation had extended to Amnioko, Egonhan, Emesu, Obrowna and Okobor communities, in the Abua-Odua council.

Enisuo, who appealed to the warring youths to sheathe their swords, said several lives had been lost to the cult clashes.

He noted that the warring cult groups had taken over several parts of the communities, laying claim to them

as their conquered territories.

He enjoined the youths to take advantage of the various empowerment and training programmes being organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for youths in the region to develop their capacity and quit cultism.

He urged security operatives, the state and Federal Governments to take urgent steps to end the killings in the area.

IG urged to take over investigation of murdered lawyers

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

SABA—THE Forum for Justice and Human Rights Defence, FJHRD, has called on the Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, to personally take over the investigation of the alleged murder of two lawyers in Delta State while on their way to court to defend kidnap suspects.

National Coordinator of the group, in a statement, yesterday, said the call had become necessary because the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, was allegedly bias in the matter.

He said: “Our attention has been drawn to the recent statement credited to the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Aduba, in some national dailies concerning the case of the gruesome murder of two lawyers in the state to the effect that Delta State branch of the NBA had taken a resolution persuading lawyers from the state branch to steer clear of cases of kidnapping, bearing in mind the saying that he who rides on the back of the tiger may end up in the tiger’s belly."

Piracy: US to give Nigeria another vessel —Envoy

BY GODFREY BIVBERE

T

HE Nigerian Ambassador to the United States of America, USA, Mr. Ade Adefuye, has said that the US government is to provide Nigeria with another war ship to assist in the fight against piracy on the waters of the West African region.

Disclosing this at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington during a courtesy call by a Nigerian delegation to under study the implementation of the International Ships and Ports Facilities Security, ISPS code, Adefuye said that the vessel will be handed over to Nigeria on May 7.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014—13

Why Ndigbo's honouring Obi, Ihejirika Nnaji, others — Anya

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

T

O ENCOURAGE the younger generation to go for excellence against all odds, Ndigbo in Lagos, will on May 10 honour immediate past governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, and eight other Igbo sons and daughter who distinguished themselves in the service of the nation, Professor Anya O. Anya, has said.

Anya, who is the president of Ndigbo Lagos and a delegate to the ongoing National Conference, said they were honouring Obi and others because “we have in decades past witnessed many NigeriaN men and women who left office without leveraging opportunities of their positions to positively impact on the nation and communities they served.”

Holding in Lagos, the event, which will be chaired by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, with Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, as the royal father of the day, will have in attendance the governors of Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states as guests of honour.

Others to be honoured are General Azubuike Ihejirika (former Chief of Army Staff), Admiral Dele Ezeoba (former Chief of Naval Staff), Professor Bath Nnaji (former Minister of Power), Princess Stella Oduah (former Avia-

tion Minister), Mr. Reginald Chika Stanley (former PPPRA Executive Secretary), Mr. Reginald Ihejiahi (Managing Director,CEO of Fidelity Bank), Mr. Chima Ibeneche (former Managing Director, NLNG) and Mr. Ken Igbokwe (former managing partner, Pricewater House) Anya said: “Former Governor Peter Obi not only brought the discipline and prudence of corporate governance in top public service but through the simplicity of his lifestyle removed the pernicious ogre of domineering arrogance which others in such positions have been identified with over these years.

“General Azubuike Ihejirika and Admiral Dele Ezeoba are proud officers and gentlemen who even as they respectively commanded the Nigerian army and Nigerian Navy over the last few years brought humility, loyalty and dignity to the service of their fatherland.

"Professor Bath Nnaji was not only the trailblazer in appreciating the lead role of the private sector in power development in Nigeria. As the founder of Geometric Power Company and former Federal Minister of Power, Professor Nnaji more than any other person has redefined the

industry."

Professor Anya also spoke glowingly of Mr. Reginald Chika Stanley, in his role as the executive secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, and Chima Ibeneche’s stint as the chief executive of the NLNG Reginald Ihejiahi, Ken Igbokwe’s tenures as chief executives of Fidelity Bank and Price Waterhouse Coopers respectively were also highly profiled, while Princess Stella Oduah, for her impact on Nigeria, and opening up the South-East to world aviation, also received adulation.

A

T least 10 world leaders are expected to attend the 24th World Economic Forum for Africa, which kicks off in Abuja, Wednesday, as President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, explained that Nigeria was hosting the summit because of growing global confidence in the country’s economy, which is now rated the largest on the continent.

Those expected at the summit slated for the Hilton Hotel, Abuja, include the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang; President Macky Sall of Senegal; Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya; Paul Kagame of Rwanda; John Dramani Mahama of Ghana; Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria; Alassane Ouattara of Cote D’Ivoire; Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania; Faure Gnassingbe of Togo and Ibrahim Abubakar Keita of Mali. Besides attending the summit, diplomatic sources said the Chinese Premier would also sign six major agreements in economic and technical cooperation, aviation, banking and health projects to combat malaria, which signifies the growing bilateral ties between Nigeria and China since they first established diplomatic relations in 1971.

Also expected at the forum is former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and former BraC M Y K

BY PETER OKUTU

A

BAKALIKI — COMMUNITY leaders of Okposi EziN’asato Clan in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, weekend, urged the state government and security agencies to fish out the sponsors and killers of the late coordinator of Okposi Development Centre, Elder Ihebunandu Okorie, no matter their status in the society.

It would be recalled that the council boss was kidnapped on March 16, 2014, during a church service at Okposi and was later killed by one of his abductors in a forest at Afikpo South Local Government Area of the state five days later.

Crisis in Ebonyi APC as faction suspends senators, 10 others

BY PETER OKUTU

VISIT: Former Vice President and chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, Atiku Abubakar (right), and former military Head of State and chieftain of APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, during a condolence visit to Buhari, over the death of his father in-law, Alhaji Halilu Malabo, in Yola, weekend.

10 world leaders for Abuja economic forum

BY HUGO ODIOGOR, KENNETH EHIGIATOR & VICTORIA OJEME

Community urges Ebonyi govt, others to fish out killers of council boss

zilian President, Lula da Silva.

Those coming from the business world include the founder and chairman of Bharti Entreprises in India, Sunil Bharta Mittal; Jabu Mabuza, Chairman of the Telkom Group in South Africa and scores of other global chief executives.

President Jonathan, who explained Nigeria’s hosting of the event in a media chat on television last night, said the forum was bringing together investors, policymakers and business men who need such to make investment decision. He said the forum would discuss multifarious issues ranging from security of investment in Africa, funding the Africa Development Bank, transparency and good governance as well as developing bilateral relations among leaders of the countries that would be attending.

Although Nigerians and the entire continent are looking forward to the conference, there are, however, fears that activities of the fundamentalist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, may take the shine off the parley. Participants at the conference are expected from different parts of the world and government has already re-assured them that despite the exploits of Boko Haram at Nyanya in the Federal Capital Territory, the conference would hold without problems.

As part of efforts to ensure there are no hiccups throughout the three days duration of the forum,

with the theme, “Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs”, the federal government has shut schools in the federal capital city to make way for smooth vehicular traffic and also make surveillance easier for security agencies.

To further boost the confidence of those coming into the country for the forum, service chiefs and leadership of security agencies in the country also, yesterday, assured all invited heads of state and government, investors and participants coming of maximum security before, during and after the summit.

Directive to ambassadors, high commissioners President Goodluck Jonathan had given the directive so that ambassadors and high commissioners serving in Nigeria could convey the message of assurance to their various countries.

Present at the interactive forum included the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Air Marshall Alex Badeh; the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Kenneth Minimmah; the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar; representative of the Director General, DG, Department of State Services, DSS, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong and representative of the DG, Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA, Amb Ayo Oke. Speaking on the occasion, the

CDS, Alex Badeh, assured the envoys that all arrangements had been put in place to ensure that Abuja was safe for the forum.

Badeh, who hinted that though the operational details of the security agencies might not be revealed, said he was guaranteeing that Abuja would be safe throughout the duration of the summit.He, however, pointed out that the hardship being experienced by commuters coming into Abuja on daily basis was due to absence of appropriate technology to complement the security personnel’s work.

Badeh said, “The only thing is that there is this hardship of coming into Abuja but until we are able to get technology to assist us, we will continue to grapple with this hardship of coming into Abuja.

And let me tell you, it is either we stand the hardship or we leave everybody coming to wherever they want to; but I think it is better we go through the hardship so that we can attend our conferences and go to our offices.”

On his part, the Chief of Army Staff, Kenneth Minimmah, said the country was facing security challenges, especially in the north-eastern part, noting that “as Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we are committed to the protection of our sovereignty, lives and property of individuals as well as the infrastructure of state.”

A

BAKALIKI — CRISIS has hit the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ebonyi State, as a faction of the party, weekend, suspended Senator Julius Ucha and the House member representing Ishielu/ Ezza North federal constituency, Peter Ede for destabilising the peace The faction, led by Elder Sam Igwe, also suspended Eze Nwachukwu Eze, Enyi C. Enyi, Dr. Steve Egbo, Aloy Nwibo, Princess Tonia Adol-awam, Engr. Ngaji Nwobo, Pastor Victor Elem, Jonathan Eze and Patman Mgbebu.

The present crisis came after state party congress conducted by the committee led by Princess Ndu.

Abaribe assures Aba traders

C

HAIRMAN, SEN ATE Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has dismissed claims that the emergence of Abia State governor of Ukwa-Ngwa extraction would lead to the seizure of property of non-indigenes in Aba. Abaribe, a governorship aspirant, said it was morally and legally reprehensible to talk about seizing property of any Nigerian.

C M Y K

14—Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

We don't know location of abducted girls —Jonathan Continues on page 14 chiefs and I also sent for the governor of Borno State, who came with the Commissioner for Education and the principal of the school and we had some useful discussion with them.

“We believe that wherever these girls are, we will get them out. What we request is maximum cooperation from the parents and the guardians of these girls. Up till this time, they have not been able to come out clearly to give the police the identity of the girls that are to return. The police have records of 44 of them, while the principal mentioned to me on Saturday night that 53 have returned but the police have record of 44. I recently set up a committee to go to Borno State, we will provide the security.

“We are pleading that the parents should cooperate with government, we will need the identities, including their photographs. We are also talking to neighboring countries so that wherever they take those girls to, we will surely get them back if we get the maximum cooperation from the parents and guardians. Let me reassure Nigerians that we will get the girls out, we appreciate the concern shown by Nigerians and globally. We see what they are doing in terms of protest, which is quite healthy.”

The president also disclosed that more than 80% of the abducted girls are Christians.

No negotiation on-going Asked if the authorities were negotiating with the abductors, he said: “You cannot negotiate with somebody you do not know. Nobody has claimed ownership of this abduction. As regards these girls, I do not know, you are journalists, you should know more than me because I do not have time to go to the social media. You cannot negotiate with terrorists and even the Boko Haram has not come to say ‘ we did the kidnapping’ and so, the issue of negotiations has not come up.”

Niger Delta militants different

from Boko Haram When asked if adopting the Niger Delta tactics to address Boko Haram will work, he said: “From the beginning of my political career, I have been involved in the Niger Delta struggle and even as a Vice President, I visited one of the notorious camps in the creeks. The Niger Delta militants approach was quite different from the terrorist approach. Niger Delta militants were not terrorists.

I am not trying to defend them. Even when I was a deputy governor and governor, President Obasanjo would send for us and the leaders of these boys would come.

They had a reason for their agitation and when you call them for a meeting, they appeared but Boko Haram members are people who want to kill, Niger Delta militants did not go to the market places to kill.

“You should know that the approach of terrorists is completely different.

Terrorism is based on ideology based on religion or politics. Nobody has appeared that I am a member of Boko Haram.

These are two different things that people tend to mix up.”

International mobilisation Asked on efforts he had made to mobilize international support in the conflict, he said: “In terms of our security challenges, we are talking to several heads of state all over the world. United States is number one. I have personally discussed with President Barrack Obama at least two times and I requested for one assistance or the other.

We are operating with them on another level.

“There was a time I met with one of Secretaries of State and the issue of human rights abuses came up. I told the Secretary of State to send some of their people down here to Nigeria to come and join our own people here. I told the Secretary of State how they can assist us because for you to control terror, you must have a superior intelligence not based on ordinary human knowledge. I also told the Secretary of State that they don’t have to stay afar and claim ele-

ments of human rights abuses.

“Aside the United States of America, I have discussed with presidents of France, Chad, Niger and we have been discussing because we are going to do anything to ensure we bring this terrorism to an end. We have to stop this madness called Boko Haram.”

Military underfunded for 20 years Noting that the capacity of the Nigerian military was eroded over many years of under funding, he said the government was, however, beefing up the strength of the military to fully overcome the insurgency.

“They are capable.

Therefore, we need to recruit more. There is a memo I just treated last night about the request to recruit more soldiers and train them properly.

In terms of increasing the number and capacity of the armed forces, everybody knows that we have increased the capacity in terms of number and equipment. Unfortunately, this country for quite some time, we have not been equipping our armed forces that much because we have never had challenges in this issue before Boko Haram came.

“So, what we are trying to do within this period is what we would have done in the past 20 years or so and we are doing just that. But you see when things happen, when you wake up and hear that there was a bomb blast somewhere and people died, as a Nigerian you are tempted to say certain things. It took those who are currently handling it and those who are wearing the shoes to even explain what has been done and what has not been done.”

No Boko Haram in my cabinet — Jonathan The president also disowned reports that quoted him to have claimed that Boko Haram had infiltrated his cabinet.

Denying the claim, he said that what he said was that Boko Haram had infiltrated the govern-

ment justifying the claim with the ongoing prosecution of Senator Mohammed Ndume on allegations of collaboration with Boko Haram.

“I never said that Boko Haram infiltrated my cabinet. My cabinet is made up of the President, vice-president, the ministers, Secretary to the state government, security advisers, chief economic adviser. These are people you can refer to as the members of my cabinet which we call the Federal Executive Council, (FEC).

“I never said that Boko Haram infiltrated my cabinet, what I said was that my government and in saying government, we have three arms which include the legislature, judiciary and executive arms.

“You will agree with me to a large extent because a senator was being prosecuted at a time for having a link with Boko Haram. I used the word government and never mentioned cabinet.”

NASS playing politics with corruption The interaction also flowed into perceptions of corruption in the administration. The president described the National Assembly as a political ground which politicians have used to play politics on the issue of corruption.

He particularly noted the repeated invitations to ministers, saying most of them spend 20% of their time in the corridors of the National Assembly.

“Most of my ministers have appeared before the parliament several times.

In fact, some of my ministers have spent twenty percent of their working hours in the parliament.

And no country can progress when the ministers spend the productive periods of the day and the week appearing before the parliament.

“The information I have is that quite a number of organisations have tried to question the essence of these probes and sometimes, they feel that things are being politicized.

“Whether you like it or not, the parliament is made up of politicians.

The parliament of every country is made up of politicians. And they play party politics. And

if you have been following the issues, especially in the House of Representatives, you will see that there is too much of politics. A lot of them asked me to drop the Security and Exchange Commission woman (Arumah Otteh). But I am not the one that appointed her. She is not from my state. I said I can not drop the lady.

I try not to use much of my powers A parliament of a country should not resort to parliamentary dictatorship. I try to avoid executive dictatorship as a president. I said that you can do a number of things as an executive president. If I try to exercise about 40 per cent of the powers that I have, Nigerians will say I am a dictator.

“When African presidents try to use about 60 per cent of their powers, the whole world will complian that they are dictators. The same thing applies to the parliament. The parliament has a lot of powers as approved by the law. By the time you start using your powers, people would say it is autocratic.

And people will feel you are intimidating them.

Definitely, we have issues.”

Asked about the probe on the alleged $50 billion missing oil money first raised by suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Lamido Sanusi Lamido, he said: “The foreign aids that come into Africa within that period that the CBN governor mentioned were not even up to the figures that Sanusi mentioned.

So, can people steal more money than the total money that come into the country within a period of time? Even Nigerians can ask whether that is possible.

“Twenty billion dollars is a lot of money. If you steal $20 billion today, America will know. It is their money. Where will you hide the money?

Even Dangote that is celebrated as the richest man in Africa today can not produce such amount of money.

“The CBN governor is not an ordinary man. He is the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Earlier he said it was 40 billion dollars that was missing, after some time he said it was 20 billion dollars that was missing.

If he was not suspended, he would have mentioned another figure.

But because of the suspension we did not hear

about any figure. But do you think any body will steal 20 billion dollars and no body will know?

America will know. If someone or a group of people steals that amount, people will know. Where will you hide 20 billion dollars?

Till this moment, we are still recovering stolen money from people, so where will you keep 20 billion dollars. So, I am telling you that if you steal 20 billion dollars, people will know even if Jonathan tries to cover it.

“The issue is being investigated. We have brought in consultants to investigate it. And the senate is investigating it.

Of course, if anybody stole 20 billion dollars, we will get the money.

That money is a lot of money.”

Asked on his quest in the 2015 presidential election, he said: “I think Nigerians should concentrate more on the success of the 2015 elections and whether President Jonathan declares or not should not be an issue.

“Yes we have a number of political parties but we have two main political parties which is the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and All Progressives Congress, (APC). I can tell you that other political parties might even find it difficult to produce a presidential candidate because as at today, we have two major dominant parties. But it is likely that only PDP and APC would produce presidential candidates.”

Poor pwer suply On the poor electricity supply across the country, he said: “We are looking for funds for the gas sector.

We want to see how we can get funds to invest in the sector.

“Though the private sector is interested, but in terms of these investments, the government should also play a key role.

“The major problem we have is the issue of gas.

The power generating plants we have do not have enough gas, thereby, those that want to expand, can not expand because of gas limitation.

“The second one is in the issue of distribution.

We are looking for money, through loan agreement to ensure that all houses are metered. But the private sector (companies) that bought these DISCOS are supposed to invest in metering these houses, but most of them borrowed money, even to buy these assets, to go and borrow another money is now becoming a problem.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014—15

Kano spends N394m yearly on students at Bells, Crescent varsities

Merger: Aviation unions to embark on two-day warning strike

K

ANO—THE Kano State government is spending N394 million every year to sponsor its 400 students currently pursuing different courses at Bells University of Technology and Crescent University, both in Ogun State.

Governor Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, who made the disclosure during a visit to the university, to assess the performance of the students, explained that the government is spending N1.22 million yearly on each of the students, pointing out that the amount included tuition fees, cost of study materials and living expenses among other things.

The governor, according to a statement by his Director of Press and Public Relations, Halilu Ibrahim Dantiye, said the money being spent on the students was an investment in their future and indeed the future of the state, as the youths are the leaders of tomorrow.

Asabe Yar’Adua Foundation mourns late Chief Imam of Borno

A

SABE Shehu Yar’Adua Foundation has urged Nigerians to embrace peace as a mark of honour and respect for the late Chief Imam of Borno State, Ibrahim Ahmad, who died recently.

In a condolence message to the family of the late Chief Imam of Borno, President/ founder, Asabe Shehu Yar ’Adua Foundation, Dr. Asabe Shehu Ya’Adua said such attitude was imperative because of the current travails of the country.

She noted that the deceased was a symbol of peace as he used religion to foster national unity and tolerance among the citizens.

She said his death came as a surprise to many because he served as a bridge between every divide in the society, coupled with pious lifestyle.

According to her, the eminent cleric was always in the forefront of the crusade for social and economic justice as well as conscientious leadership at all levels of government and the larger society.

While praying the family to have the fortitude to bear the loss, she noted that his passage should be seen as a period for deeper reflection among Nigerian leaders on the essence of honest, dedicated and conscientious service to humanity.

C M Y K

By LAWANI MIKAIRU & DANIEL ETEGHE

L

From left: Seun Oloyede, Channel Manager; Thierry Chamayou, Vice President, IT Business, EMEA Region; Stan Ekeh, Chairman, Zinox Technologies and Ayo Adegboye, Vice President, IT Business, Anglophone West Africa during the visit of APC by Schneider Electric IT Business EMEA Region Vice President to Nigeria.

Strike: Federal health workers issue 15-day ultimatum

BY GABRIEL OLAWALE

L

AGOS — THE Joint Health Sector Union, JOHESU, has threatened to embark on nationwide strike if Federal Government fails to implement a mutual agreement on workers welfare and condition of service.

In a letter released yesterday, JOHESU said there was no going back on the strike threat, except the government released appropriate circulars to give effect to all the negotiated issues which includes reconstitution of boards of health institutions, staff promotion from levels 14 to 15 on the consolidated health salary scale for directors, and review of retirement age from 60 to 65 years.

Failure to meet this demand will resort to total withdrawal of services starting from May 19, 2014, the group warned.

The letter entitled: “Notice of 15 Days Final Ultimatum” addressed to the Federal Ministry of Health, FMOH, JOHESU listed their demands to include: Non-skipping of consolidated health salary skill, CONHESS,10, National Health Bill, Presidential committee report on harmony in the health sector and promotion of health professionals from CONHESS 14 to 15.

Other demands are consultancy and specialist allowance, call shift and other professional allowances, implementation of 2008 Job Evaluation Committee report, reconstitution of boards of management of teaching and other tertiary hospitals and appointment of Ministers of Health.

The letter signed by the Acting Secretary of the union, Comrade Yusuf Badmus, noted that JOHESU decided to embark on the indefinite

strike after meeting with its members to deliberate on issues bothering on welfare of members, restructuring of the health sector, National Health Bill and the state of the nation.

According to the letter, despite the series of meetings held with officials of the Federal Ministry of Health to attend to the demands of JOHESU, the demands still loiter.

It said: “In view of the failure of the Federal Government to accede to and fully implement our demands as itemized, the union at the meeting held April 30, 2014 had resolved to give a 15-day ultimatum beginning from Friday, May 2, 2014. We hope that on or before 16th of this month our demand will be met to forestall the impending avoidable industrial action.”

Adeboye prays for abducted school girls

BY SAM EYOBOKA & OLAYINKA LATONA

L

AGOS — THE Northern States Christian Elders Forum, NOSCEF, has urged Christians and Muslims to pull together and fight against the destructive activities of radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, just as the Redeemed Christian Church of God intensifies prayers for the release of over 200 female students abducted by the sect in Borno State.

At the May edition of RCCG’s Holy Ghost service at the Redemption Camp on Friday night, wife of the General Overseer, Pastor Folu Adeboye, led worshippers to condemn the continued captivity of over 200 female students from Chibok, Borno State, praying for their immediate release.

According to matriach of RCCG, Nigerians and other well meaning individuals, who are called by the name of the Almighty, must join hands to intercede for the girls who had been in captivity for weeks and their hurting parents who are yet to hear any concrete word of the whereabouts of their female wards for several weeks.

Adeboye also urged the wor-

shippers to pray for the nation’s leaders at every level, asking God to grant them wisdom to rise above the current security challenges that has literarilly brought the whole nation to her knees.

NOSCEF condemns Nyanya blasts In a reaction to last Thursday's bomb blasts in Nyanya, Abuja, NOSCEF said it was obvious that everyone, regardless of religious affinity, has become a target of the terrorists' attacks.

Chairman of the body, Elder Olaiya Phillips, in a statement, said: "It was only two weeks ago that the very same terrorists attacked in exactly the same manner only metres away from the epicentre of Thursday night's blast.

"Such a vindictive and callous action is the product of Boko Haram's doctrine of evil. It is a plague that we must stop now.

"Boko Haram's logic behind such brutal acts of barbarism is to drive a wedge between peaceful Christians and Muslims. We cannot allow them to turn us against one another so they can pull our nation apart. We must stand united in opposition against their agenda of violence."

AGOS — AVIATION unions in the country are to embark on a two-day warning strike over the recent merger plan of some agencies in the ministry by the government.

Vanguard gathered that the unions, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN; National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE, have mobilised their members in preparation for the two-day warning strike aimed at paralyzing the country's aviation sector.

Investigations reveal that the unions have set in motion the process of endorsing the national strike, first of its kind in the country as they have vowed to close down airports across the country.

To perfect their strategies, the unions have written to the National Assembly, Presidency and the National Security Adviser over the planned strike and itemized reasons why government must not go ahead with its plan but yield to their demands of not merging the agencies.

Investigation further revealed that Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association, ATSSSAN, has concluded plans to get the endorsement of the strike from all its organs as its National Administrative Council Meeting and National Executive Council has scheduled a meeting for this month.

At a recent media briefing in Lagos, the three unions condemned the action of the Steve Oransanya-led committee that suggested merger of service providers and regulatory body, saying it was not possible as it will retard development in the aviation sector.

All aviation stakeholders and professionals have condemned the proposed merger, describing it as retrogressive.

Contacted, President of ATSSSAN, Comrade Benjamin Okewu said the unions were currently meeting to take their stands and confirmed that NEC meeting will be held soon.

16— Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 CAPACITY building has become a favorite lingo of all who claim to be improving the economy. The abuses can be imagined. Small and medium enterprises are hailed for the promises they hold. The Bank of Industry’s efforts apart, empowerment schemes have become platforms for containing the youth rather than exploring their zeal and passion.

The Delta State Micro-Credit Scheme appears different. Its consistently winning of awards from the Central Bank of Nigeria, and other reputable bodies, aside, it forms a pillar of the State’s ambitious Delta Beyond Oil project, a visionary state economic policy that aims at weaning the State from dependence on oil.

Participants in Delta’s MicroCredit Scheme are trained and advanced loans to start businesses. To minimise the risks of startups, the state government has introduced an insurance scheme to

BY NDUBUISI ONUIGBO

O

NCE upon a time, there lived a man named Okoloigwe in the land of Umuigwe. Okoloigwe was one of those men who left the village early in life to the city in search of greener pastures. As he got exposed,he acquired experience particularly in the construction industry where he worked for many years and rose to the position of foreman. He later retired to his hometown of Umuigwe in his early fifties and engaged in building construction within the locality. His popularity grew as he acquired a new title of ‘Engineer’ which became even more popular than his real name. Nearly every successful young man within the environ sojourning in the city or abroad engage 'Engineer' to construct his village house. He was doing very well and enjoyed a lot of respect from both young and old.

One day, his town decided to build a Town Hall and it naturally fell on Engineer to handle the project. The town union continuously raised money through levies and donations from their wealthy indigenes and Engineer was given a free hand to handle the project because of the seeming trust he enjoyed from most people who believed he will not only perform but also give a good financial account when the job is completed. The town hall project went on smoothly to completion.

Everyone was happy and full of praises and commendation for him for a job well done.

The town union then set a date for the formal handover and rendering of financial account for the project. This was where Engineer’s problem began. He was not only careless with the town’s finances; he also helped himself to a large chunk of it as he also developed C M Y K

Delta’s SME insurance protect the business from the vagaries of markets. It is an important step other governments involved in SME projects should emulate.

Businesses, especially small ones, can benefit greatly from the certainty of knowing that if things go wrong they can get help to continue their journey. For start-ups, it would be immeasurable relief.

Mr. Fola Daniel, Commissioner of Insurance of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, doused fears about those the scheme covered being paid their claims quickly. “This is an insurance that is accessed by low in-

come operators. NAICOM would withdraw the licence of any insurance company which fails to pay claims and also prosecute the owners of the companies for economic sabotage”.

Insurance schemes for SMEs will encourage more participants to test their talents in starting their own small businesses. It is a progressive step for rapid industrialisation of the rural areas. It would also assist in arresting the ruralurban drift, which has left the rural economies in a state of abandonment. SMEs have played the leading role in launching the economies of Asian countries to

OPINION Obi and the burden of accountability his private residence at the same time.

On the appointed day, the people were disappointed because Engineer could not give a good account of the funds left at his disposal. All he could manage to say, without much confidence, was that the money he received was able to complete the project and that the town was not owing him neither was he owing the town. This did not go down well with the people as many demanded a proper account while some called him uncomplimentary names.

The story of Engineer and the town hall soon spread like wild fire. Within a short period, Engineer’s popularity nose-dived.

He lost his integrity amongst the people and became a laughing stock. The once vibrant, ebullient and respected man was totally deflated and could no longer raise his head up. When the situation became too unbearable, he left for the city.

The problem with Engineer was not performance. It was that he forgot that in dealing with public funds, accountability is usually more important than performance. He passed the performance test but failed the crucial test of accountability and that relegated his much taunted performance to the background.

Mr. Peter Obi, the immediate past governor of Anambra state is my man. He scored so many firsts in his eight years as governor and continues to receive accolades and commendations from the high and mighty in the society for his superlative performance and development of all sectors in Anambra state. I am also one of those who believe that ‘Okwute’ as

Peter is fondly called, came, saw and conquered. But perhaps what I consider the most significant aspect of Mr. Obi’s tenure was the seeming character, integrity and transparency he brought to governance. He has sold himself as a man of very strong character and high integrity. To prove his transparency, Mr. Obi attempted to render an account of his stewardship with a breakdown totaling N75 billion which he claimed he left in the coffers of Anambra state. This was the only point of departure between Mr. Obi and the story of Engineer and the town hall. I must confess that I and most Nigerians who had shown interest in the affairs of Anambra state are guilty of being blinded by the performance of Mr. Peter Obi to the extent that we lost sight of the accountability angle.

In recent newspaper publications, a group called Anambra State Concerned Professionals took Mr. Peter Obi’s public accounts to the cleaners, raising a lot of critical and relevant questions as well as allegations in the financial score-card presented by the former governor. For instance, Mr. Obi had informed the public that he kept aside money for the completion of contracts he awarded as well as two years salary for the newly recruited graduates into the state civil service, but no mention was made about these in his breakdown. The publication posed questions with regards to the number of shareholding by Anambra state on the investments made by the former governor which was not disclosed and therefore subject to abuse. Such investments include; INTAFACT — N3.5 billion,

the world stage. As the largest economy in Africa, the growth and protection of our SMEs through insurance will bode even a brighter future for an economy striving to become the 20th largest in the world by 2020.

The smaller businesses could create the jobs that governments announce only as figures. A new economic foundation away from the one which was ravaged by neglect at the peak of the oil boom would serve Nigeria well. High unemployment rate, youth idleness and poverty, which in turn, account for increase in violent crime, including robbery, kidnapping, human trafficking, baby “factories” and terrorist insurgency, are some of the consequences of the over dependence on oil.

Any development that would sustain the rising impact of SMEs is welcome; insuring small businesses against failures would win more converts to personal enterprise.

Onitsha Hotel — N1billion, Agulu Hotel — N1billion, Awka Shopping Mall — N0.9billion, etc. The publication also raised questions on the business interest of NEXT International, a company owned by Mr. Obi, in these investments made by his administration. The group further alleged that Mr. Obi spent Local Government SURE-P Fund for security purposes whereas he collects about N450 million monthly as security vote and that instead of the declared surplus of N75billion, Mr. Obi rather left commitments and liabilities in excess of N120billion.Another point of controversy raised by the group was the N10 billion Federal government approved refund ostensibly for federal government road rehabilitation project in Anambra state.

Rehabilitation works on the Amansea – Amawbia on the Enugu/Onitsha Express Road was commenced about two weeks to the end of Obi’s administration as such less than 20 percent mobilisation was paid to the contractors. It would be wrong and deceptive to include the entire sum of N10 billion as savings whereas the state government still has outstanding of more than 80 percent to pay before the completion of the project. All these are very weighty questions and allegations that if not well addressed would cast doubts on the integrity of the former governor.

We all agree that Mr. Peter Obi did very well in terms of development in Anambra state, he should have ended well by rendering proper accounts to the people of the state. Here lies the burden of accountability in public office.

He must not allow his good name to be dragged to the mud by questions of corruption and compromises. *Mr. Onuigbo, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Abuja.

MAY 5, 2014

Nigeria, S-Africa, Egypt account for half of Africa’s economy — World Bank

•Global economy produced $90trn goods in 2011 •Switzerland, Norway, Bermuda most expensive economies •Malawi, Niger, Burundi, Liberia among lowest per capita •Bermuda, United States, China, Luxembourg impact citizens more

BY OMOH GABRIEL, Business Editor

N

IGERIA, South Africa and Egypt account for about half of the African economy says new data released by the World Bank Group last week. The report which ranked global economies

on the basis of the strength of their currency said that China will overtake the United States of America by the end of 2014 as the largest economy in the world.

The report said that low income economies, as a share of world GDP, were more than two times larger based on Purchasing Power Parity,

PPP, than respective exchange rate shares in 2011. Yet, these economies accounted for only 1.5 per cent of the global economy, but nearly 11 per cent of the world population. Roughly 28 per cent of the world’s population lives in economies with GDP per capita expenditures above the $13,460 world average and 72 per cent are below that

average.

The International Comparison Program (ICP) which released the new data said that the world economy produced goods and services worth over $90 trillion in 2011, and that Continues on page 18

207.0

-5.45

2,943.00

-25.00

17.11

-0.01

109.55 -0.78 100.82 -1.12 CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING DOLLAR POUNDS EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI

From left: Arunma Oteh, Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Dr. Yemi Kale, Statistician General, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS); and Bismarck Rewane, CEO Financial Derivatives Company Ltd at the 2nd Quarter SEC Learning Series on “The Rebased GDP and its Impact on the Nigerian Capital Market” which took place at SEC’s Corporate Head Office in Abuja.

C M Y K

RIYA KRONA SDR

154.73 155.23 155.73 259.8845 260.7243 261.5641 213.9606 214.652 215.3434 175.291 175.8582 176.4246 1.5103 1.5152 1.5201 0.3074 0.3174 0.3274 239.1355 239.9082 240.681 24.7583 24.8387 24.9192 41.2569 41.3903 41.5236 28.6505 28.7431 28.8357 239.6768 240.4513 241.2258

CBN Exchange rate as at 02/05/2014

18 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Cover Story

Business Enterprise is the Answer for Change in Nigeria Part 2 Another factor that must be overcome is the fact that most entrepreneurs in the country reside within the city of Abuja. Business enterprise needs to be spread about the country rather than in just the city. When starting a technology-based business an entrepreneur can reside anywhere in the country that there is an internet connection and operate a business. However, other sectors are in need of entrepreneurs as well.

Which are the largest economies?

According to the report, the six largest middle income economies are China, India, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico which account for 32.3 per cent of world GDP, whereas the six largest high income economies are United States, Japan, Germany, France, United Kingdom, and Italy which account for 32.9 per cent.

Asia and the Pacific, including China and India, account for 30 per cent of world GDP, Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) - and the Organization for Economic C M Y K

,

almost half of the world’s total output came from low and middle income countries.

Six of the world’s 12 largest economies were in the middle income category (based on the World Bank’s definition).

When combined, the 12 largest economies account for twothirds of the world economy, and 59 per cent of the world population.

The PPP-based world GDP amounted to $90,647 billion, compared to $70,294 billion measured by exchange rates.

Middle income economies’ share of global GDP is 48 per cent when using PPPs and 32 per cent when using exchange rates.

The approximate median yearly per capita expenditures for the world – at $10,057 – means that half of the global population has per capita expenditures above that amount and half below.

Cooperation and Development (OECD) - 54 per cent, Latin America - 5.5 per cent (excluding Mexico, which participates in the OECD and Argentina, which did not participate in the ICP 2011), Africa and Western Asia about 4.5 per cent each.

China and India make up two-thirds of the Asia and the Pacific economy, excluding Japan and South Korea, which are part of the OECD comparison. Russia accounts for more than 70 per cent of the CIS, and Brazil for 56 per cent of Latin America.

including France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Twenty-three economies are showing a PLI of 50 or below. The cheapest economies according to the report, are Egypt, Pakistan, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, with indices ranging from 35 to 40.

Which countries are the richest and poorest in per capita terms?

According to the World Bank, the five economies

The report further stated that “at 27 per cent, China now has the largest share of the world’s expenditure for investment (gross fixed capital formation)

South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria account for about half of the African economy.

Which countries are the most expensive?

The report stated that going by the Price Level Index (PLI) which is the ratio of a PPP to a corresponding exchange rate, the most expensive economies in GDP terms are Switzerland, Norway, Bermuda, Australia and Denmark, with indices ranging from 210 to 185. The United States ranked 25th in the world, lower than most other high-income economies,

The improvement includes: ntrepreneurs are able to control their own lives and can lives and can obtain security for their families without government interference.

The Nigerian government has now made it possible for Nigerian products to be shipped to Europe and the United States. If an individual wants to manufacture jewellery and sell it online, they can now market to U.S. and European customers.

Entrepreneurs in Nigeria are being offered tax incentives, such as not having to pay so much in taxes.

Increased price ceilings also serve as a great incentive.

Modern technology is finding its way into Nigeria culture, making the country self-sufficient in the technology sector.

Although there are still barriers to break through, there is nowhere to go but up. Business enterprise is the way in which Nigerian will become a developed nation.

E

Nigeria, S-Africa, Egypt account for half of Africa’s economy — World Bank Continued from page 17

H

,

with the highest GDP per capita are Qatar, Macao SAR, China, Luxembourg, Kuwait, and Brunei. The first two economies have more than $100,000 per capita. Eleven economies have more than $50,000 per capita, while they collectively account for less than 0.6 per cent of the world’s population. The United States has the 12th highest GDP per capita.

Eight economies – Malawi, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Niger, Burundi, Congo, Dem. Rep.,

Continues on page 19

,

From left: Mr. Tope Adeniyi, Chief Executive Officer, Mansard Health Limited; E. Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa, Professor of Surgery / Director, PIUTA Ibadan Centre and Professor Ayotunde Ogunsehinde, Acting Provost, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan at a cheque presentation by Mansard to the Pan-African Urological Surgeons Association's Initiative for Urological Training in Africa (PIUTA), Ibadan Centre, University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State.

The improvements uge strides have been made in the last few years to try to tackle the many endemic problems which assail the country with political and economic stability being seen as the key weapons in attacking the corrosive influence of corruption. Whether the actions being taken on the ground now lead to dramatic improvements in levels of transparency and levels of corporate governance remain to be There have been a number of improvements that is allowing Business enterprise to grow. If these improvements continue and more are created, then Nigerian can escape its third world status and become an emerging economy.

The Nigerian organisation is The Small and Medium Scale Industries Development Agency (SMEDAN).

,

Opportunities here are opportunities out there to help those looking to break into business venture. Venture capital can be obtained via foundations, trusts, and NGOs. It is just a matter of researching and finding these funding opportunities.

Established in December 1999, the Small and Medium Enterprises Equity Investment Scheme (SMEEIS) instructed all Nigeria’s banks to put 10% of their pre-tax profit in order to invest in small and medium sized business of their own. As of 2006, only 26% of this funding had been used. This shows that money is there.

Nigeria also has an organization that is similar to the United State’s Small Business Administration (SBA). The Nigerian organization is The Small and Medium Scale Industries Development Agency (SMEDAN).

It is very young, but working on providing entrepreneurs with funding.

Skills and Ideas Development Initiatives (SKIDI) is an NGO that is helping entrepreneurs realize their dreams in Nigeria so that they can obtain the freedom that they desires within their life. That is both financial freedom and the ability to be with their family. There is a specific focus on rural and suburban Africa, especially since rural areas do see more poverty. The poverty rate in Nigeria in rural areas stood at 40% in 2001.

That was compared to the 35% in urban areas where more businesses tend to exist.

T

How business enterprise helps t is easy to just say that business enterprise is the answer for change in Nigeria, but other than the fact that enterprises is the answer for change in Nigeria, but other than the fact that entrepreneurs are given more freedom, it is important to evaluate other factors. For instance: More tax money flows into the government, allowing for more opportunities to be made available to Nigerians and for more programmes to be implemented that will work on reducing the poverty rate.

Jobs are created. In the United States, there are 2 to 3 new jobs created per small business that is opened. It has been determined that the figures are quite similar in Nigeria. More jobs also mean more tax money and spending that stimulates the economy.

These are the factors that make any economy operate. Money has to keep flowing in order to keep money in the pockets of citizens.

I

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 19

W

HEN President Goodluck Jonathan agreed for Nigeria to hold a national dialogue on the way forward, many saw it as an avenue to put right what is wrong among the federating units. But Nigerians, who were enthused by the decision, became disillusioned when the composition of the dialogue was made by the ever sleep-walking Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim. Pius Anyim, compiled a list of the old, the same people that have been a clog in the wheel of progress of the Nigerian nation; men and women whose source of wealth has mainly been from economic rent. Majority of those at the conference under normal circumstance would not make it. They have lived as parasites, sucking their host – Nigeria- dry. They have been stealing the nation’s powers that be. Last week, the resources. Knowing this, they issue raised its ugly head and have vowed never to let states caused another heated debate control their resources. They, at the ongoing national like their sponsors, see conference. The supposed Nigeria as their farm yard. north stood against resource Because oil was found in control and asked that the 13 Nigeria, mineral resources percent given to oil-producing were conferred on the federal state be slashed to five percent. government so that those who Who are these northerners? have access to political power Who do these people speak can expropriate it for their for? Is it the north that has benefit. It is not for the benefit been so very deprived that of Nigerians, but for selfish these self-seeking individuals interest of the few who have are talking about? Where has political access. This group the money they have gotten so has continued to perpetuate far from revenue allocation themselves. been appropriately applied for the benefit of the average he struggle to control the Almajirai? It is when it pleases oil wealth of the nation these rent seekers that they talk has been an issue between the about the north. Can these north and the south. The men look at the global best Nigeria Governors’ Forum practice in a federating state?

(NGF) sometime in 2011 Professor Adobe Adedeji, an raised a committee of six, eminent economist, in his headed by Governor Babatude book, ‘Nigerian Federal Fashola of Lagos State, to Finance, Its Development, review the revenue formula Problems and Prospects’, said and submit its that federal finance, in recommendation. The Lagos contrast with unitary finance, helmsman said that the is a triple division of resources committee recommended a between the federal authority, new formula: Federal the regional or state Government (35 percent), the governments, and the local 36 state governments (42 authorities. A study of federal percent) and the 774 local finance therefore involves this governments (23 percent). The triple relationship. But the current revenue formula gives most important characteristics the Federal Government 52 of federal finance are to be percent, states 26.72 percent found in the financial status and the local governments of the ‘intermediate’ political 20.60 percent. The formula entities, the states or regions, was not accepted by the

Economic rent seekers hold down Nigeria’s progress

ach level of government has in the last 50 years or so, depended solely on revenue from sale of crude which is monetized every month and shared in a formula that is somewhat skewed in

incursion of the military into the polity that allocated resources based on its concept of its command structure.

In an established federalism, the principles of public finance, particularly of taxation, have received attention from the earliest days of economic analysis. The mercantilist, the physiocrats as well as the classical economists, advanced propositions concerning tax principles. David Ricardo and John Stuart Mills recognised the division of the subjectmatter of public finance into three aspects – revenue, expenditure, and public debt.

at 13 per cent. India, Japan and Indonesia follow with 7 per cent, 4 per cent, and 3 per cent, respectively. China and India account for about 80 per cent of investment expenditures in the Asia and the Pacific region.

Russia accounts for 77 per cent of CIS, Brazil for 61 per cent of Latin America and Saudi Arabia for 40 per cent of Western Asia.

According to the report: “Under the authority of the United Nations Statistical Commission, the 2011 round of ICP covered 199 economies which is the most extensive effort to measure Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) across

countries ever.”

ICP 2011 estimates benefitted from a number of methodological improvements over past efforts to calculate PPPs. The ICP’s principal outputs are PPPs for 2011 and estimates of PPP-based gross domestic product (GDP) and its major components in aggregate and per capita terms. When converting national economic measures (e.g. GDP), into a common currency, PPPs are a more direct measure of what money can buy than exchange rates.

ICP implementation was led

and coordinated by the ICP Global Office, hosted by the World Bank, in partnership with regional agencies overseeing activities in eight geographic regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Latin America, the Caribbean, Western Asia, Pacific Islands, and the countries of the regular PPP program managed by the Eurostat and OECD). In addition, two “singleton” economies, Georgia and Iran, participated in bilateral exercises with partner economies, without being part of any regional comparisons.

which are designed to perform certain functions which in a unitary system, are assigned to the central authority.

The principles of federal finance can therefore be interpreted to mean the principles which these intermediate political entities and the central authorities

,

T

Yes in Nigeria, there is revenue, expenditure and debt in public finance. The question is; what are the sources of revenue in public finance in Nigeria? Up till now, about 90 percent of public finance is from oil. What about other natural resources that are said to abound in the country?

In every state of the federation, there are large deposits of mineral resources that when developed, can earn the country more money than oil, yet nothing is being done.

Is it normal for the control of land across the country to be vested in the governors while the mineral deposits in the same land are in the hands of the federal authority? If you need a mining lease, you take permit from the Federal Government but when you need land to build or develop structures, you obtain Certificate of Ocupancy from the state government.

Yet, all this while, these economic rent seekers have not seen anything wrong with this arrangement. Nigeria must begin to operate a true federalism in which tax policy becomes the key fiscal instrument. States must be allowed to develop the resources in their domain and pay tax to maintain the Federal Government. It should not be that every now and then the clamour for a new revenue formula begins to disturb the polity.

favour of the Federal Government. States and local governments in the federation have abandoned their responsibility of generating and developing their internal resources and only depending on the federal allocation for payment of salaries. This aberration arose from the

Nigeria has no defined fiscal structure in states and has not pursued taxation as main revenue source as a result of earnings from oil

should follow in their fiscal operations. The position of local authorities in a federation is not appreciably different from their position in a unitary state, at least so far as finance is concerned.

Nigeria has no defined fiscal structure in states and has not pursued taxation as main revenue source as a result of earnings from oil.

E

,

Cover Story Continued from page 18 Comoros and Liberia – have a GDP per capita of less than $1,000.

Which countries devote the most spending that directly benefit individuals?

The World Bank report disclosed that “a general measure of material well-being of each economy’s population is measured better by actual individual consumption per capita. It said that a measure of all expenditures in the economy that directly benefit individuals rather than by GDP per capita is more revealing of the impact

of government policy on individuals. By this measure, the five economies with highest actual individual consumption per capita are Bermuda, United States, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong SAR, China, and Luxembourg, respectively. The world average actual individual consumption per capita is approximately $8,647.

Investment expenditures The report further stated that “at 27 per cent, China now has the largest share of the world’s expenditure for investment (gross fixed capital formation); followed by the United States

C M Y K

20 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Business & Economy

Unemployment:

Don calls for job commission

By SUCCESS UZOKWE

A

lecturer at the University of A b u j a , Professor Ekhator Eghe, has called on the Federal Government to establish a commission that would checkmate the challenges of unemployed Nigerians and give adequate recommendations. Eghe, who was speaking at a roundtable meeting of the South-South Professional Women Association, SSPWA, in Abuja, stressed the need to employ long and short term measures to tackle unemployment.

While delivering a paper entitled, 'Unemployment in Nigeria, Effects on Young Women and the Way Forward' he stated that, though unemployment was a scourge affecting both male and female, women were the worst hit due to lack of education and training.

His words; “This commission is to make a comprehensive assessment and submit periodical reports on the employment situation to the Presidents, Governors the States House of Assembly and the National Assembly.

“The various short and long term measures of the government have miserably failed to solve the unemployment and underemployment mainly because of high growth rate of population and low level of economic growth rate.

However unemployment can be reduced if there is a rapid economic development through the growth of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. When there is proper coordination between economic planning and employment policy.”

Earlier, the representative of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Francisca Nweke, urged government to address the imbalance between men and women, fight against sexual harassment and rape and promote training and retraining for capacity building of women.

C M Y K

FIRS records N140bn shortfall in Q1 revenue collection A

CTING Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Alhaji Kabir Mashi, has said that the service recorded a shortfall of N140 billion in revenue collection in the first quarter of the year.

Speaking at the operational management meeting of its Eastern Region in Owerri on Wednesday, Mashi said the drop in revenue was recorded in the non-oil tax.

He said the service realized a total non-oil tax of N418 billion between January and March as against the target of N558 billion. According to him, the non-oil collection dropped from N155 billion in January to N133 billion in February and further down to N130 billion in March.

“These results are not impressive and we must do everything possible to ensure that we reverse this negative collection trend,” he said.

Mashi said the current focus of the Federal Government was to raise non-oil revenue to the level of making up for any shortfall from oil revenue. He said the service also needed to justify the support it had been getting from the government.

He urged the staff to focus on deliberations on service delivery and maximizing the tax revenue potential in their areas of operation. He explained that the programme was based on eight key initiatives which included auditing, arrears and debt

enforcement, tax exemption, evasion of rental taxes and taxing high net worth transactions. Others were registration, filing and utilizing communications as a means of enhancing compliance.

Mashi said the service had conducted a nationwide value added tax and withholding tax audits and that the results had started coming in.

“We will be proactive in reviewing returns as they come in and following up to ensure

that taxpayers pay up their assessments within the time allowed in our laws.

“Thereafter, we will follow up the audit returns without allowing a backlog to pile up,” he said. Earlier in his address, the Coordinating Director of Field Operations Group at the FIRS, Mr Ajayi Bamidele, said the service would strive to collect N700 billion revenue in the second quarter to make up for first quarter ’s poor performance.

He presented the analysis of the non-oil collection report from the six departments of the service, particularly from the Eastern Region and South East Zonal Government Business office.

He said that from the analysis, the Eastern Region was top in performance with 62 per cent, with Owerri area operations recording the best performance with 110 per cent.

Bamidele said his office had adopted the development of standard check list for field offices to ease response to headquarters, monitoring visits and fast tracking conclusion of audit cases as measures to ensure high performance of staff members.

*FROM LEFT: Dr Sonny Kuku, president, Bank Directors Association of Nigeria (BDAN), Sir Steve Omojafor, Chairman, Zenith Bank Plc, Mustafa Chike Obi, Chief Executive Officer, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), and Dr, Biodun Adedipe, Chief Consultant, B. Adedipe Associates Limited, at the BDAN Symposium held in Lagos.

Nigerian Content Initiative gets N3bn boost

By MICHAEL EBOH

T

HE Nigerian Content initiative has received a boost as an indigenous firm, Future Concerns Group has invested over N3 billion in the setting up of a service centre for safety and protective equipment used in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

Speaking at the launch, which featured United States’ safety equipment manufacturer, and MSA Service, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Future Concern, Mr. Tony Oguike, said the centre is targeted at promoting Federal Government’s local content initiative.

According to him, the centre is an intelligent one-stop shop safety resource, featuring best in class brands operating locally within global standards.

He noted that the centre is a cost-effective service

programme, adding instant value and practical content to oil sector and other sectors of the economy.

“Prior to now, safety and protective equipment, which are high dollar equipment, are used as consumables. They cost about $6,000 each. They were used and thrown away when faulty, thereby leading to loss of hard earned resources. With this centre, MSA will collect these materials, test and repair them for an insignificant amount of money,” he explained.

The decision to set up the facility, according to him, is to further its goals of helping to create jobs, empower Nigerian youth and professionals and also to create a healthy and safe work place.

He further stated that the company plans to set up a Personal Protective Equipment factory in Lekki. and also delve into the

upstream segment of the oil sector.

He declared that the company also plans to deploy robotic high rise cleaning solution, the next generation optimum solution for multistory assets.

He said, “It was a natural progression to upgrade our infrastructure operating systems, inventory levels, man hours and all round posture from distributor to current state, service and maintenance resource, ultimately to a manufacturing company, while maintaining a high quality time, costeffective support service for our most valued customers.

He noted that the company has a clear vision and mission for its brand, which is to continually upgrade and improve its existing module and operating systems by interactive techniques, learning and understanding global trends and its market place.

“We continue to seek a mutually satisfactory alliance primarily with our esteem clients, our manufacturing partners all over the world and indeed our people, our staff,” he noted.

Also speaking, the Managing Director, Sub-Saharan Africa Region, MSA, Mr. Colin Oliver, said the partnership is aimed at promoting Nigerian content in the oil and gas sector.

He said the centre will ensure that in the near future, the company will continue to grow its support base in Nigeria, using the opportunities presented by the partnership.

He disclosed that ethics and integrity, the core values at the heart of its business were taken into consideration when consummating the partnership, adding that it is important to it to set up a practical and sustainable business base in Nigeria to serve its clients in Nigeria and other parts of the world.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 21

Business & Economy

New vehicle transit regime debuts at Seme border

By GODWIN ORITSE

F

OR ease of shipment from country to country, the Nigeria Customs Service has commenced a new vehicle transit regime for automobiles being imported into the country from neighbouring countries like Benin, Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic beginning with Benin Republic and Seme Border as area of pilot implementation.

The new policy which is a fall out of a March 26, 2014 meeting of Directors-General of Customs of the five proximate countries held in Abuja, and in line with the Transit Code, will see all Nigerian bound vehicles imported from the affected countries being handed over to the Nigerian Customs by the country’s customs administration after due clearance.

The scheme which has features of accountability, transparency and easy personal evaluation and monitoring will have names of officers responsible for transfers and receipts of manifests/vehicles from both countries . It will also indicate location of formal handing and taking over of imported vehicles on transit Speaking at a ceremony to flag off the scheme, Willy Egbudin, Customs Area Controller of Seme Command, applauded the untiring efforts of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Abdullahi Dikko Inde, CFR for his vision and high level professionalism in bringing the scheme to fruition According to Egbudin, regional security, facilitation of genuine trade and improving on the existing synergies between Nigeria Customs and other customs administrations sharing common borders with the country are expected to be enhanced under the new regime. He added that It will lead to an interstate effort in the fight against smuggling and boost the revenue being generated from vehicle importation into Nigeria.

The flag-off ceremony which was conducted by the Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic, Ambassador Lawrence Olufemi Obisakin and witnessed by officials of government agencies of Nigeria and Benin as well as stakeholders was ushered in with some fanfare.

Obisakin said that the feat is also being achieved because of the fraternal tie between

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of Nigeria and his Beninoise counterpart, Yayi Boni has become stronger adding that the bilateral relations can only get better.

Obisakin added that the event is not just special but also a great milestone for countries governments, business men and entire citizenry. He said the importance of such an epoch making event cannot be over emphasized as history, according to him was being made. ‘’The official handover of

imported vehicles by the Benin Customs Service to their Nigerian counterpart represents the palpable results of several years of bilateral relations’’ For this we have to thank God for the friendly and fraternal relations existing between President Goodluck Jonathan and his Benin Counterpart, President Boni Yayi as well as the diplomatic and customs services of both countries’’ Obisakin said.

Responding to questions from newsmen, the ambassador said

that Seme border is strategic for many reasons including being sited between two commercial capital cities of Cotonou and Lagos, which makes it the busiest land border in West African sub region. ‘’This is a further demonstration of our status as the number one economy in Africa with a drive towards industrialization and reaching to other countries in the sub region through Benin Republic.’’ Obisakin said.

Customs at Seme border and Benin Republic will have an important role in getting industrialized goods shipped from Nigeria to other West African countries, the Ambassador added.

From left: Mr.Sunil Kumar, Director, CE, EBT& IT Samsung Electronics West AfricaLtd; Kate Henshaw, Brand Ambassador Samsung; Brovo Kim, MD Samsung Electronics West Africa Ltd and Mr. Parikshir Chandna, Head, Consumer Electronics Samsung at the Samsung Product Launch /media Parley event held in Lagos

Lokoja inland port attains 56% completion - Umar

By GODWIN ORITSE

M

INISTER of Transport, Senator Idris Umar has said that the on going construction of the Lokoja River port is now about 56 per cent completed.

Senator Umar who led a team of official of the Federal Ministry of Transport on an inspection visit to the new construction site of the Lokoja in-land River Port, said that the port when completed will further enhance the activities of the newly commissioned Onitsha River port The minister urged the contractor handling the project, Interbau West Africa Limited to hasten the completion of the project in record time.

Also at the inspection visit was the Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada. The Managing Director of Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Hajia Inna Ciroma took both the Minister and the Governor round the construction site.

The minister explained that the construction

of the Lokoja In- land Port and other in-land ports such as Onitsha and Baro would help the utilization of the dredged lower Niger channel in terms of the loading and discharge of cargoes also maintained that economic activities in the country would be seriously stimulated.

Senator Umar who expressed satisfaction with the high quality of job executed so far expressed confidence in the contractor, Interbau West Africa Limited whom the minister acknowledged to have done well in the rehabilitation of the Onitsha ultra-modern River Port, and promised to look into the request for the variation of the bill of quantities by the contractor once the request gets to his office.

In his own remarks, Kogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada thanked the Federal Government for constructing the Lokoja Inland River Port which he said would boost trade and commerce not only in his state but the entire country considering the central location of Lokoja.

Outsourcing industry wants 10% govt jobs to boost employment

By FRANKLIN ALLI

O

UTSOURCING companies in Nigeria are asking the Federal Government to delegate ten percent of jobs in the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to them to handle in order to boost employment and growth of the sector in the country.

Outsourcing is delegating some of company ’s operations to another company for a fee.

Dr. Austin Nweze, President Association of Outsourcing Practitioners of Nigeria, AOPN, disclosed this during an induction and investiture ceremony organised by the association for new members in Lagos.

He said that the sector has the potential to turn around the Nigerian economy, citing India as an example, “It was outsourcing that turned around Indian economy.

India in 1990/91 was technically declared bankrupt by the World Bank because they had less than 900 million dollars in their foreign reserve but through outsourcing in 1999 during the Y2K bug, India's economy made a big turn around for good.

“Some Indians in the Diasporas came in to India and established businesses and companies like Microsoft and General Electric outsourced most of their jobs to India. We all know that some Indians were primary school teachers in this country, some of them had PhD and did all kinds of odd jobs in Nigeria but where are the Indians today? Today, outsourcing has opened the door for India; India is a net exporter of CEOs in the world; most multinationals in the world are run by Indians.

Recently, Microsoft has an Indian as its new CEO. It is to show how important outsourcing is to every economy,” he said.

He disclosed that currently, member companies employ about 20,000 to 30,000 people and others 15,000 people.

“It is a good start because by 2050, the services industry will provide 80 percent of jobs globally. That was a projection from the ITC, International Trade Center."

C M Y

22 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Banking & Finance

NDIC reviews strategic plan to enhance performance

T

he Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has expressed its determination to continuously review its five-year strategic plan with a view to not only remain relevant in its operating environment but also to effectively discharge its mandate.

NDIC’s Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim said this in his opening remarks at the NDIC two-day Strategy Review Retreat with the theme: “Repositioning NDIC for Operational Excellence” held at Reiz Continental Hotel, Abuja last weekend.

Ibrahim pointed out that the 2011-2015 strategic plan marked a departure from the traditional approach the Corporation adapted in its first strategy in 2007 with the introduction of balanced score card, performance management system, performance-based budgeting and development of early warning system.

Dollar records six weeks high

T

he dollar rose the most in six weeks against a basket of major peers after a government report showed employers boosted payrolls in April by the largest amount in two years and the jobless rate plunged.

The greenback gained to the highest level in almost a month versus the yen as nonfarm payrolls increased 288,000, compared with a forecast of 218,000 in a Bloomberg survey of 94 participants. Emergingmarket currencies dropped on speculation the employment gains will speed the timetable for the Federal Reserve to pare monthly bond-buying and raise interest rates. A measure of market volatility rose from almost a seven-year low.

“The numbers look genuinely solid in every respect, so the dollar higher across the board seems like a perfectly reasonable reaction,” Adam Cole, head of Group of 10 currency strategy at Royal Bank of Canada, said by phone from London. “The market is bringing froward its expectations for Fed tightening, or at least has more confidence rates will rise in the U.S., so the dollar is rising as a result.”

Current exchange rate policy portends more risk to economy

BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

T

he exchange rate policy of using the foreign reserves to defend the naira being pursued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) portends more risk to the economy.

Chief Executive Officer, RTC Advisory Services Limited, Mr. Opeyemi Agbaje made this assertion at the Bimonthly Discourse of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) held last week in Lagos.

“The risk of the policy we have followed is that it makes it mandatory that one day we would do a massive devaluation that then distorts the economy and cause structural problems”, he said.

He advised the incoming Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele to change course and pursue a flexible exchange rate policy “It does not make sensible policy to use the reserve to defend the naira. We are using foreign reserves to create billionaires or millionaires illegally at our own expense.

Anytime you do a rate that is different from the market, you are subsidising those who buy dollar because anybody who buys dollars from RDAS is receiving a subsidy of N10 to N15 from the Nigerian government.

“Anybody that issues a subsidy should have strategic

From left: Chief Representative, Middle East and African Regional Office, Institute of International Finance (IIF), USA, Mr. Wolfang Engel; Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer designate, Skye Bank Plc, Mr.Timothy Oguntayo; Director, Global Events, IIF, Mr. Abdesattar Ouanes; and the Head, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Skye Bank, Mr. Tajudeen Ahmed, during the visit of the IIF team to Skye Bank recently reasons for doing so, but who are we subsidising? We are subsidising the school fees of all the people in schools abroad. We are subsidising the holiday of everybody who chooses to go on holiday, we are subsidising the corruption of anybody who steals money and transfers it abroad. We are subsidising wine and Champaigne, all the consumption we do. Now there is some good element of the subsidy, industries that import raw materials and create jobs or anybody that is importing for otherwise

productive purpose. But what is the proportion of the productive purpose to the total consumption of dollars.

So I don’t support the CBN’s determination, as espoused under Sanusi and supported by most Nigerians to protect the naira at the expense of our reserves and at the expense of our common patrimony, because it is collective subsidy to capital flight. It does not make economic sense.

“Yes we have achieved inflation at 7 percent, but there is a debate about the

cost. And exchange rate is one of the costs, and the subsidy we provide is one of the costs.

“My advice to the incoming central bank governor is to take a little bit of flexibility in relation to the exchange rate even at a cost of a one off inflation pressure. I think we can still keep inflation below 10 percent. I will rather some flexibility in exchange rate and 9.0 percent inflation for instance than depleting reserves perpetually and sending the wrong signal to currency speculators and encouraging moral hazard”.

WAIFEM calls for modern fiscal policy forecasting strategies

BY UDEME CLEMENT

T

he Director General, West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), Prof. Akpan Ekpo, has called on finance experts and legislators in Nigeria to embrace modern fiscal policy forecasting strategies, revenue and expenditure models, in order to reposition the nation’s economy for greater growth.

He made this assertion in Lagos in his opening remarks, at the one-day validation workshop on fiscal policy forecasting, revenue and expenditure models, organised by WAIFEM for officials of Ministry of Finance and

legislators.

He said the workshop is to help legislators and experts in the Ministry of Finance to gather inputs needed for modern day forecasting and revenue models needed to transform the economy. This he said would help to validate and improve on the existing models of forecasting and revenue generation in the country.

He said, “The existing models in the Ministry of Finance need adjustment to be on track with global trend necessary for rapid economic development and revenue generation techniques.

Forecasting is quite imperative in economic development because it would help the government to tackle the persisting problem of unemployment in the country. Forecasting may not

be exact but would be close to expectations in handling the tasks of growing the economy at a larger scale. We must do our best as economic experts to convince the politicians to look at ways they can move the economy forward” He went on, “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and National Planning Commission (NPC) have been consistent in putting measures in place to embrace current economic models and forecasting strategies. Other ministries should do the same in order to achieve holistic economic growth and development in all sectors of the economy.”

Also speaking, the lead facilitator, Prof. Michael Nyong, from University of Calabar, who made presentation of models on

macro-economics, revenue and forecasting, stressed that Nigeria’s economy needs growth with stability, as well as revenue forecast relevant to tackle fiscal deficit.

He said, “The fiscal authorities in the country adopt a strategy of business as usual and capital expenditure that follows a particular historical trend, which is not boosting revenue generation in nonoil sectors of the economy.

The authorities should be cautious of the size of the total expenditure while determining capital expenditure to strike a balance in the system.

Doing this would enhance development in non-oil export sector, especially in manufacturing.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 23

Banking & Finance

BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

T

he total assets and liabilities of banks in the country fell by N115 billion to N24.29 trillion in February. This represented a 0.5 percent decline when compared with the total assets of N24.41 trillion recorded in January.

The decline was however occasioned by 16.1 percent decline in the net foreign assets of banks during the month.

Meanwhile banks earned N1.8 billion from deposits kept with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF).

The CBN disclosed this in its monthly economic report for February. The report stated, “Total assets and liabilities of the deposit money banks (DMBs) amounted to N24, 292.8 billion, showing a decline of 0.5 per cent below the level at the end of the preceding month.

According to the report the net foreign assets of the banking system fell by 8.3 percent to N7.557 trillion from N8.23 trillion in January.

The net foreign assets of the CBN fell by 6.2 percent to N6.07 trillion from N6.47 trillion in January while that of the banks fell by 16.1 percent to N1.49 trillion from N1.77 trillion in January.

On the other hand, banks’ lending to the economy rose marginally by 2.2 percent in February. The CBN stated that, “At N12, 343.4 billion, banks’ credit to the domestic

Banks’ total assets fell by N115bn in February

*Earn N1.8bn interest on deposits with CBN

economy rose by 2.2 per cent above the level in the preceding month. The development was attributed to the 2.6 per cent increase in banks’ credit to the private sector, which more than offset the 4.9 per cent fall in banks’ credit to the Federal Government during the review month.

“Total specified liquid assets of the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) stood at N5,945.9

billion. At that level, the liquidity ratio fell by 1.1 percentage point below the level in the preceding month and was 15 percentage points above the stipulated minimum ratio of 30 per cent. The loansto-DMBs’ Credit to the domestic economy rose by 2.2 per cent above the level in the preceding month. Deposit ratio, at 55.5 per cent, was 2.0 percentage points above the level at the end of the

preceding month, but was 24.5 percentage points below the prescribed maximum ratio of 80.0 per cent.”

The report also showed that banks deposited N4.953 trillion with the CBN through its Standing Deposit Facility (SDF), earning interest income of N1.8 billion.

AGM - From left: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Bank Limited, Mallam Ahmed Kuru, the bank’s Board Chairman, Sir. (Dr.) Ogala Osoka MFR and Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Mrs. Olufunke Olakunri, during the 2nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank in Lagos.

Single digit inflation rate unsustainable beyond 2014

A

financial consultant, Dr. Biodun Adedipe of B. Adedipe Associates Limited has said that the current single digit inflation which hovered between 8.0 percent and 7.8 percent in the first quarter of 2014 is not sustainable because of the expected increased spending that will be occasioned by the 2015 general elections.

He stated this while delivering a paper on, ‘The Impact of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria on the Nigerian economy ’ at a symposium organised by Bank Directors Association of Nigeria in Lagos.

According to him, “Throughout 2013, inflation remained single digit, recording its highest level of 9.5 percent in February 2013.

In similar trend, inflation from January to March 2014 maintained single digit of 8.0

percent, 7.7 percent 7.8 percent respectively. While this, along with other aggregate statistics, is good for macroeconomic stability of the Nigerian economy, there is likelihood that it may not be sustained to the end of the year and into 2015, as politicians and their parties increase spending towards the State and Federal elections scheduled for 2014 and 2015.”

Adedipe also said that devaluation of the nation’s currency, the Naira is unavoidable this year due to persistent pressure on the value of the currency.

He said, “Persistent pressure on the value of the naira that began in the fourth quarter of 2013 continued into the first quarter of 2014.

Consequently, the premium on the official exchange rate of the Central Bank’s Dutch Auction System (DAS) at the parallel market (Bureau de

,

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

Persistent pressure on the value of the naira that began in the fourth quarter of 2013 continued into the first quarter of 2014

,

Change) has widened to 10.43 percent, which is considerably above the recommended limit of 5.0 percent in the first quarter of 2014 and has become an incentive to round-tripping.

“When taken along with the softening external reserves from $43.61 billion at the end of 2013 to $37.9 billion in March 2014; weakening accretion to reserves caused

by oil theft and production losses, unrelenting high import propensity and suspected capital flight which is evidenced by the dampening of the stock market, the high exchange rate premium makes the devaluation of the Naira in 2014 inevitable.”

He also noted that, “Increasing debt stock has also become worrisome, especially as it is difficult to tie the mounting debts to specifics in terms of projects and programmes.

Total debt stock (external and domestic) as at December 2013 stood at N10.04 trillion ($64.5 billion) of which N1.37 trillion and N8.67 trillion were external and domestic debt respectively.

This represents a 21 percent increase from N7.93 trillion ($50.91 billion) in June 2013.”

FCMB records N5.6bn profit in Q1 2014

F

CMB Group Plc has announced a profit before tax (PBT) of N5.6 billion for the first quarter of 2014.

The financial results released by the Group showed that profit before tax rose by 15 percent from N4.8 billion in first quarter of 2013 (Q1 2013).

The Group said, “The improved earnings growth in Q1 2014 was in spite of the challenging regulatory environment. Net revenue rose 16 percent to N22.3 billion over prior year, due to growth in earning assets, improved funding cost and the growing contribution of retail banking activities, which compensated for the decline in commissions on turnover (CoT).

In the first quarter of 2014, deposits grew nine percent year-on-year to N687.3 billion, aided by 22 percent growth in current and savings accounts, while fixed deposits declined. Consequently, the bank’s funding mix has improved, with current and savings accounts now accounting for 75 percent of total deposits, and resulting in reduction of cost of funds.

Loans and advances also grew 50 percent year-on-year to N493.7 billion. This growth was supported by our retail business that witnessed a 90 percent loan growth, from the same period in 2013, to N105.4 billion in Q1 2014.

South Korea's Won leads as Asian currencies appreciate

A

sian currencies strengthened last week, led by the South Korea's Won’s advance to a five-year high, as data signalled a continued recovery in the region’s economies and on bets U.S. borrowing costs will remain low.

South Korea reported its March current-account surplus was the biggest in five months, Taiwan ’s gross domestic product growth beat forecasts and China ’s manufacturing rose in April from the previous month, figures showed this week.

The Federal Reserve said April 30 it’s likely to keep the benchmark U.S. interest rate close to zero for a “considerable time” after its stimulus program ends, and a separate report showed the world’s largest economy barely expanded last quarter.

C M Y K

24 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Corporate Finance

Union Bank’s Q1 profit falls by 54% Strong consumer spending, factory data buoy U.S. growth outlook

U

.S. consumer spending recorded its largest gain in more than 4-1/2 years in March and factory activity accelerated last month, reinforcing views the economy was regaining steam.

Economic growth stalled in the first quarter after a very cold and disruptive winter, but the data so far point to a strong secondquarter rebound.

“The weakness in growth we saw in the first quarter is not indicative of what is going on in the economy. The fundamentals continue to look pretty good, the economy has momentum,” said Gus Faucher, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group.

Consumer spending increased 0.9 percent in March after rising by 0.5 percent in February, the Commerce Department said. March’s gain was the biggest since August 2009 and beat economists’ expectations for a 0.6 percent rise.

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

U

nion Bank of Nigeria, UBN Plc, weekend, released its first quarter unaudited financial statement for period ended March 31, 2014 with significant decline in the key performance indicators.

The result prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standard, IFRS, requirement, filed with the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, showed 54 percent drop in profit before tax to N5.0 billion from N7.7 billion recorded in corresponding period in 2013.

Also, the profit after tax for the period nose-dived by almost the same margin,

declining by 56 percent from N7.8 billion in 2013 to N5.0 billion in the review period.

The gross earnings at N26.0 billion, was13.08 percent decrease from N29.4 billion in corresponding period in 2013, while the interest income stood at N20.7 billion as against N18.8 billion in 2014.

The bank’s total assets went down to N958.6 billion compared to N997.3 billion reported in the corresponding period in 2013. The total asset position as December 31, 2013 stood at n1 trillion.

Cash and cash equivalents was down 29.74 percent to N101.1 billion from N143.9 billion in March 2013, the

customer deposits also declined to N466.4 billion from N482.7 billion, representing … percent decrease.

However, the bank’s shareholders’ equity grew to N197.3 billion as against N192.2 billion in December 2013, showing an increase of 2.65 percent. Net loans and advances to customers grew by 29 percent, rising to N220.5 billion from N170.7 billion as at n March 2013.

The bank also achieved some level of efficiency in its operations as the operating expenses decreased to N14.7 billion, a 3.29 percent increase over N15.2 billion achieved in first quarter in 2013.

The bank said in statement

that it is currently undertaking branch optimization programme, saying that 13 branches are being refit, while another 53 will be completed before the end of the year.

It added that previously upgraded branches are already yielding financial upsides and positive Net Promoter Scores (NPS), adding that divestment of four portfolio companies are almost completed and awaiting regulatory approvals.

Commenting, Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive of Union Bank, Emeka Emuwa, said: “Union Bank has maintained its profitability and is delivering against key operational metrics supporting our strategy.

WEF: Global Shapers Community host 100 young CEOs

By WILLIAM JIMOH

T

HE Global Shapers Community, GSC, has concluded plans to host over 100 young Chief Executive Officers at the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Abuja next week.

Global Shapers Community is a network of hubs developed and led by young people who are exceptional in their potential, their achievements and their drive to make a contribution to their communities.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, as part of the company’s activities to create awareness on the initiative, Mr. Yemi Babington-Ashaye, GSC Director, said the 100 young CEOs are coming from different parts of Africa to proffer innovative and sustainable solutions to Education, Entrepreneurship, Technology and Agriculture.

“In Africa today, 40 percent of the population is under the age of 15, and also on the continent 70 percent of the population are under the age of 30; there is no way a decision will be made that it will not affect these young ones.

C M Y K

From Left: Mr. Rilwan Belo-Osagie, MD/CEO, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited; Mr. Osaro Isokpan, Chairman and Mrs. Oyindamola Ehiwere, Company Secretary at the FSDH Merchant Bank Ltd AGM in Lagos.

Chams records 21.3% increase in turnover

By WILLIAM JIMOH

C

HAMS Plc has recorded N3.44 billion turnover, representing 21.3 percent increase, compared to N2.84 billion recorded in 2012.

The company recorded a profit after tax of N188.5 million, 115.3 percent increase, compared to N87.5 million in the last financial year, while its earnings per share improved to seven kobo, more than twice what was posted the previous year.

Addressing shareholders at the30th Annual General Meeting, AGM, of the company in Lagos, Mr. Ayodeji Richards, Chairman, Chams Board of Directors, stated that its shareholders funds improved by five percent from N4.5 billion recorded in 2012 to N4.7 billion in the year under

review.

Richards, who expressed optimism that the results will be better in the coming year, added that to achieve this level of performance in 2013, Chams embarked on some business initiatives, including; national identity project, payroll automated project for the Osun State and identity management for Anambra State among others.

“Chams Plc undertook projects of significant financial import in the local identity management and transaction payments space in 2013.

Before now, specifically 2008, your company started committing resources to investment in infrastructure for identity management and transaction payment to make it the market leader in this emerging industry.

“The demand for identity management and transaction

payment solutions is likely to continue growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate, CAGR, of five percent until 2018. The likelihood of demand growth will arise from the ongoing implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashlite policy, increasing financial inclusion and digitalisation of commerce, presenting opportunities for technology solution providers in our line of business,” he added.

Speaking on why the company did not declare dividend this year, Richards said, “Thank you for your patient so far and we do not want to push that patient so hard; the truth is that we have had challenges in our operations in the past five years, it was a mistake on our own part and we want to own up to that. We concentrated a lot on federal government

business and that was because we hold the national identity card project dearly.

“But we have challenges on the project, wanted to do all within our capacity to ensure that the project is successful. As business men, we have done a lot of investment, but waiting for the government to dot the I and cross the T. “Two years ago, we decided that we will have to do things that will enable us to make returns to our shareholders, so we did a restructuring and a repositioning to change our business model. This has started to yield dividend in the last two years. 2009 through 2011 we recorded successive loss, thank God in 2012 we posted a profit and in 2013, it superseded the performance of 2012. With what we have on ground now, they are very good, positive and robust.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 25

Corporate Finance

From left: Mrs. Bunmi Akinde, Senior Partner (Advisory); Colin Daley, Partner, Financial Services (Advisory) and Yemi Saka, IT Risk (Advisory) all of Ernst & Young, EY, at the unveiling of EY Latest Report on Consumer Banking in Lagos.

Dangote Cement laments high cost of production, pays N7 dividend

D

angote Cement Plc has decried the high cost of production, which it explained has resulted to the rise in the price of cement in the country, even as it rewarded shareholders with a dividend of N7.00 per share for the financial year ended December 31, 2013.

Speaking at the company’s 5th Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos, the chairman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said “ We never

envisaged that the cost of production will rise to this extent when we said that the price of cement will fall , but as you can see, foreign exchange rate has gone up, the same with the price of gas, and diesel . We even constructed some of the roads our vehicles ply, all in a bid to make sure we continue production. We will continue to do our best to ensure that we sell our product moderately; after all, the price of our cement is relatively cheaper when compared to our competitors.

You can now order our product through your computers. We hope to increase our market share in the short term by increasing the level of direct-to customer deliveries and competing on product superiority.”

Continuing, he said “Between eight to 10 weeks, our company will pump in nine million tons of cement representing a growth of 45 percent to the market. We want to serve our shareholders by giving you better returns on your investment. Trading remains

robust in the country, and we have experienced a solid start to the year with demand up in all regions.

We have embarked on an initiative to improve the standard of cement sold in Nigeria and our belief is that 42.5 strength cement is the most appropriate for general use. We are working closely with industry consumers such as block makers to ensure widespread education as to its use.”

Meanwhile, the shareholders who spoke at the AGM commended the Board of Directors and management for the impressive results recorded during the year under review.

The shareholders’ association leaders, such as Dr. Farouk Umar, Chief Timothy Adesiyan, Chief Sola Abodurin, Mrs. Bisi Bakare, among others commended Dangote for its contribution towards the growth of the company as well as the economy.

According to them, “ Dangote Cement has done well. The company is paying us a dividend of N7.00 per 50 kobo share, an increase of about 133 percent from what it paid last year. The company’s turnover improved from N285 billion to N371 billion in the financial year under review. The same for profitability; it increased from N146 billion in the previous year to N210 billion. So, we are very happy for the performance and hope to get higher dividend come next year.”

Dual listing: UBA Capital pledges support to oil, mining firms international exchanges, Plc, said, “Today’s event is process and enhance

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

U

BA Capital Plc has pledged to support companies in oil & gas and mining sectors that are seeking to raise capital from local and international sources to enable them do so with ease and to also embrace dual listing.

The Managing Director, Investment Banking at UBA Capital, Wale Shonibare, made the pledge at a meeting hosted by the company to discuss requirements and the advantages of dual listing for companies in oil & gas and mining industry in three major international stock exchanges - the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) as well as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

At the meeting were officials of the three major

who highlighted their unique product and service offerings for companies to raise capital and attract listing.

Specific requirements for listings were highlighted as well as details of the different country’s regulations with the advantages of dual listings fully enumerated.

Speaking at the event, Shonibare said: “UBA Capital Plc is wellpositioned to assist clients achieve their capital raising objectives especially in supporting fast growing mining companies and their oil and gas counterparts to raise the much needed equity capital from local and international sources where such capital might be more easily accessible than in Nigeria due to the specialist knowledge and experience of our investor base in those regions.”

Also speaking at the event, Oluwatoyin Sanni, Group CEO, UBA Capital

only one in a series of ongoing initiatives to support the capital raising aspirations of African issuers whilst simultaneously creating attractive and accessible investment opportunities for investors.

We shall continue to partner with credible regional and international institutions as we pursue our strategic intent to build Africa ‘s leading integrated financial services group”.

Darko Hajdukovic, Senior Manager, Primary Markets from the LSE, disclosed that the LSE has a long experience of listing companies from Africa. The main market of the Exchange currently has 42 listed African companies with total market capitalisation of $239 billion.

He observed that the LSE’s experience helps African companies seeking listing to, “de-risk the

their valuation”.

Hajdukovic said that London offers a very cost effective option among major stock exchanges.

Also speaking at the event, Tamsin Freemantle, Business Development Manager from the JSE disclosed that 86 companies listed on the JSE have dual listings.

She also disclosed that the JSE has been able to achieve average market liquidity of between 40 and 50 percent since 2010.

Also speaking about the opportunities offered by the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), Graham Dallas, Head, Business Development, Europe and Africa, said that the TSX is the number one exchange in the world by the number of listed oil and gas companies as well as listed mining companies.

Flour Mills to boost food security, sufficiency in Nigeria

By WILLIAM JIMOH

F

lour Mill Nigeria Plc, FMN, has intensified its commitment to food sufficiency and security in Nigeria by donating additional N30 million to its food research centre at the University of Ibadan.

With the new donation, FMN has committed a total sum of million to the N60 establishment of the Flour Mills Food Research Centre, having made an initial grant of N30 million to the institution last year.

Mr. Paul Gbededo, FMN Group Managing Director, who made the donation while receiving a delegate led by University of Ibadan, UI Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Prof. Idowu Olayinka, at FMN’s new Corporate Head Office in Lagos, said the company was delighted to partner with UI in the food research initiative which would help to seek meaningful solutions to postharvest losses in major crops grown in Nigeria and assist sustainability in food production.

He disclosed that FMN Group had invested over N220 billion in its agro-allied businesses which extend to large scale cultivation of sugar cane, cassava, corn, soybeans and oil palm in addition to expansion of animal feed production in different parts of the country.

Shareholders to go public with Pimco worries at Allianz AGM

A

llianz (ALVG.DE) shareholders will publicly press its top executives this week to address the underperformance of its Pimco fund management unit in the hope that the German insurer will look more closely at management problems there.

Several top 10 shareholders told Reuters last month they wanted Allianz to step up oversight of Pimco, which is losing billions of dollars in outflows from its flagship bond fund after a public falling out between its founder, Bill Gross, and its co-chief investment officer, Mohamed El-Erian, that caused the latter to quit.

Fund manager, Union Investment, Allianz’s 10th largest shareholder, according to Thomson Reuters data, told Reuters on Friday that it had decided to go public with its concerns at Allianz’s annual general meeting in Munich.

C M Y K

C M Y K Company Oil and Gas and Products Petroleum Prod ucts Capital Oil Plc 1st fTier Securities AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN Cocoa Processors Plc Okomu Oil Palm Plc Presco Plc Livestock/Animal Specialities Livestock Feeds Plc CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. Levents Nigeria Plc Chellarams Plc John Holt Plc SCOA Nigeria Plc Transnational Corporation UACN Plc

Opening Price (N) 0.50

Daily Stock Market Report Closing Price (N) 0.50

Quantity Traded 100

Year High 0.50

Year Low 0.50

E.P.S.

P.E. Ratio

HEALTHCARE Medical Supplies Morison Industries Plc Healthcare Providers Union Diagnostics & Clinicals Services

0.09

0.50 33.50 40.12

0.50 33.50 39.00

3,000 73,080 2,570,966

0.50 24.58 8.30

0.50 14.53 6.40

0.10 7.33 2.75

50.00 2.77 4.37

3.30

3.14

217,620

0.66

0.48

0.11

15.00

1.56 3.95 1.21 5.06 3.45 56.56

1.60 3.95 1.27 5.06 3.42 57.00

230,571 4,500 1,500 20,454 11,509,710 229,165

2.54 7.60 8.82 8.28 1.82 42.50

1.45 6.43 5.89 5.52 0.50 28.70

0.16 0.31 0.00 0.35 0.24 6.89

5.18 20.74 0.00 15.77 3.64 4.14

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Construction/Structure ARBICO Plc Constain (WA) Plc

5.30 1.47

5.30 1.50

189 233,345

4 2,720,390.38

20

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Non-Building/Heavy Construction Julius Berger Nig Plc Roads Nigeria Plc

70.90 8.46

69.42 8.46

391,000 4,750

62.26 8.28

32.96 3.01

24.06

24.52

796,976

20.15

11.59

1.69

7.33

100.00 47.59

100.00 47.59

200 70

100.00 -

97.00 -

11.75 -

8.51 -

Real Estate Development UACN Property Development Real Estate Investment Trusts Skye Shelter Funds Union Homes Real Estate Investment CONSUMER GOODS Automobile/Auto Parts DN Tyres & Rubber Plc

Opening Price N Sim Capital Alliance Plc Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc UBA Capital Plc

Pharmaceuticals Ekocorp Plc Evans Medical Plc Fidson Healthcare Plc Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Nig May & Baker Nigeria Plc Neimeth International Pharm Nigeria-German Chemicals Plc Pharma-Deko Plc

10.11 2.26

Closing Price N 103.50 23.00 2.14

Quantity Traded

Year High

96,303 4,522,749

103.50 15.69 1.41

Year Low 103.50 10.64 0.03

2.23

785

10.54

9.52

0.00

0.00

0.50

4,000

0.50

0.50

0.00

0.00

3.72 2.46 2.83 69.50 1.78 1.24 7.36 1.57

3.72 2.46 2.75 69.50 1.78 1.18 7.36 1.57

162 65,237 511,505 21,106 471,484 187,975 2,150 100

5.31 1.45 3.20 23.11 5.61 1.96 12.91 200

5.31 0.70 0.83 2.58 3.61 0.95 0.95 4.28

0.19 0.44 2.62 0.20 0.09 0.00 0.00

0.71

31,600

0.52

0.50

0.10

10.00

0.50

0.50

2,600

0.50

0.50

0.00

12.50

15.99 1.97

16.83 2.07

5,098 360

9.31 3.59

3.25 3.25

0.00 0.01

1.43 0.00

0.50

0.50

450,340

50,000

0.50

0.50

4,000

1.47

0.50

0.00

0.00

16.50 8.75 40.35 8.15 226.01 0.50 1.06 108.50 4.20 1.64 10.00

18.18 8.75 40.35 9.25 226.00 0.50 1.06 108.00 4.10 1.90 11.00

1,613,475 41,962 38,647 819,620 175,581 27,000 16,640 643,596 20 10,000 123,564

30.00 12.57 43.98 15.49 132.51 0.75 3.51 48.05 5.28 3.36 13.40

12.00 8.10 15.16 4.16 95.00 0.50 1.02 36.58 5.11 0.51 10.93

2.14 1.09 2.28 1.47 7.56 0.00 0.00 4.10 0.44 0.23 0.00

7.86 4.97 8.88 2.31 13.17 0.00 0.00 42.86 14.19 2.89 0.00

1.41 2.70

3,125 2,717,101

6.91 3.60

5.94 1.47

0.5 0.25

ICT Telecommunications Starcomms Plc INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials Ashaka Cement Plc Berger Paints Plc CAP Plc Cement Co. of Northern Nig. Plc Dangote Cement Plc First Aluminium Nigeria Plc DN Meyer Plc Lafarge WAPCO Plc Portland Paints & Products Nig Plc Paints & Coatings Manufacturers Premier Paints Plc

320,000

0.50

0.50

0.00

0.00

5,232 210,932 299,939 1,015,069 10,000

4.63 255.00 7.10 100.00 1.01

2.23 186.00 5.23 72.50 0.93

0.00 9.95 0.41 5.08 0.00

0.00 19.98 16.29 22.22 0.00

Beverages-Non-Alcoholic 7-UP Bottling Company Plc

90.00

90.00

46,512

51.49

,39.00

2.69

13.92

Food Products Dangote Flour Mills Plc Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc Flour Mills Nigeria Plc Honeywell Flour Mill Plc National Salt Co. Nig Plc UTC Nigeria Plc

Tools and Machinery Nigerian Ropes Plc

7.46

7.85

40

8.69

8.26

8.08 9.90 68.43 3.69 11.51 0.53

7.78 9.26 68.43 3.69 11.36 0.53

371,074 2,365,902 69,843 315,680 695,276 58,500

19.90 16.20 95.00 6.60 6.70 0.88

4.31 4.02 57.00 2.31 3.80 0.50

0.00 0.91 4.09 0.39 1.01 1.13

16.91 14.38 16.89 16.92 5.75 8.83

NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals BOC Gases Plc

1,000

9.20

6.80

Food Products-- Diversified Cadbury Nigeria Plc Nestle Nigeria Plc

75.05 1,040.00

71.32 1,072.00

469,911 164,378

37.27 840.10

8.33 400.00

32.27 4.30 1.66

32.27 4.03 1.66

60 75,196 11,000

36.19 5.54 2.88

33.96 2.91 2.88

13.89 0.61 0.00

2.44 7.07 0.00

Personal/Household Products PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc Unilever Nigeria Plc

36.00 47.50

36.00 48.01

138,879 783,540

41.02 47.39

21.02 27.60

0.82 1.44

4.39 32.91

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking Access Bank Plc Diamond Bank Nigeria Plc Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Fidelity Bank Plc First City Monument Bank Plc Guaranty Trust Bank Plc Skye Bank Plc Sterling Bank Plc UBA Plc Union Bank Nig. Plc Unity Bank Plc Wema Bank Plc Zenith Bank Plc Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Sector African Alliance Insurance AIICO Insurance Plc Continental Reinsurance Plc Cornerstone Insurance Company Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc Equity Assurance Plc Goldlink Insurance Plc Great (Nig) Insurance Plc Guinea Insurance Plc International Energy Insurance Plc Investment and Allied Assurance LASACO Assurance Plc Law Union & Rock Insurance Plc Linkage Assurance Plc Mansard Insurance Plc Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc NEM Insurance Co. (Nig) Ltd Niger Insurance Co. Plc OASIS Insurance Plc. Prestige Assurance Co. Plc Regency Alliance Insurance Sovereign Trust Insurance Staco Insurance Plc Standard Alliance Insurance UNIC Insurance Plc Unity Kapital Plc Universal Insurance Plc Wapic Insurance Plc Microfinance Banks Fortis Micro-Finance Bank Plc NPF Micro-Finance Bank Plc Mortgage Carrier, Broker and Sector Abbey Building SOC Aso Savings and Loans Plc Resort Savings & Loans Plc Union Homes Savings Plc Other Financial Institutions Africa Prudential Plc Crusader (Nigeria) Plc Deap Capital Management & Trust Plc FBN Holdings Plc Nigeria Energy Sector Fund Royal Exchange Assurance

8.19 6.06 13.50 1.95 4.75 26.23 3.49 2.20 6.75 9.95 0.50 0.98 22.70 0.50 0.79 0.98 0.50 0.50 2.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.54 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.31 0.50 0.76 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.72

8.59 6.28 13.00 1.90 4.75 27.15 3.44 2.18 6.88 10.00 0.50 0.98 22.70 0.50 0.77 1.01 0.50 0.50 2.06 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.53 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.31 0.50 0.75 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.69

11,871,857 16,222,277 7,678,717 3,011,236 865,336 12,776,386 6,133,583 9,610,699 13,924,448 314,209 3,306,286 1,109,731 40,952,254 100 3,487,075 3,709,700 240,500 150 9,054,578 160,000 93,000 2,750 1,300 220,000 1,670,890 10,500 3,200 151,500 26,000 200 2,185,586 10,000 200,000 5,463 200 200 1,000 30,000 1,000 1,800 2,069 6,143,118

12.39 7.51 14.04 3.47 5.70 26.09 6.50 3.05 7.69 10.60 1.22 1.75 21.49 0.50 1.11 1.03 0.54 0.50 2.44 0.50 0.68 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.60 0.50 2.59 0.54 0.81 0.61 0.50 1.01 0.50 0.56 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.08

4.70 1.92 9.90 1.13 2.90 13.02 2.65 0.80 1.64 2.34 0.50 0.52 11.96 0.50 0.50 0.58 0.50 0.50 1.08 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.06 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

1.42 0.90 2.81 0.43 0.00 2.10 0.71 0.54 0.67 0.00 0.00 1.34 2.09 0.00 0.50 0.14 0.02 0.50 0.28 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.16 0.00 0.37 0.02 0.03 0.06 0.04 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.07

8.73 8.34 5.00 7.93 0.00 12.39 9.15 5.43 11.19 0.00 0.00 0.43 10.24 0.00 22.20 6.79 27.30 10.00 7.43 50.00 0.00 16.67 50.00 0.00 25.00 0.00 0.00 16.67 16.19 0.00 2.19 26.00 16.67 15.50 12.50 5.65 0.00 0.00 0.00 25.00 0.00 15.43

6.27 0.81

6.27 0.85

1,000 146,700

6.00 1.18

0.00 0.92

0.04 0.92

150.00 10.56

1.35 0.50 0.50 0.50

1.35 0.50 0.50 0.50

500 200 20 262

1.57 0.50 0.50 0.50

1.37 0.50 0.50 0.50

0.19 0.02 0.00 0.00

47.6 7 25.00 0.00 0.00

3.04 0.50 0.99 14.16 552.20 0.62

3.00 0.50 0.99 13.80 552.20 0.59

1,811,253 22,000 500 33,061,614 212,000

0.75 0.50 2.02 20.00 250 0.78

0.00 0.50 2.02 8.57 552.20 0.50

0.19 0.00 0.00 2.03 12.68 0.13

9.16 0.00 0.00 9.85 43.55 6.00

9.05 14.13 0.00 0.00

0.71

0.50

Household Durables Nigerian Enamelware Plc Vitafoam Nig. Plc Vono Products Plc

88.50 0.00 3.07

Computers and Peripherals Omatek Ventures Plc

13.79 170.50 26.00 151.00 0.77

27.61 32.84

9.71 18.03 6.71

1.91

0.50

1.35 25.43

P.E Ratio

0.50

13.79 176.00 26.00 150.00 0.77

Beverages-Brewers/Distillers Champion Breweries Plc Guinness Nigeria Plc International Breweries Plc Nigerian Brew Plc Premier Breweries Plc

E.P.S 10.56 0.87 0.21

ICT Computer Based Systems Courteville Investment Plc

IT Services NCR (Nig) Plc Tripple Gee and Company Plc Processing Systems Chams Plc 4.11 4.73

103.50 23.00 2.25

as at Friday, May 2, 2014

Packaging/Containers Avon Crowncaps & Container Nigerian Bags Manufacturing Company

1.47 2.74

0.00

0.00

6.47

6.66

Metals Aluminium Extrusion Ind Plc

10.50

10.50

70

12.39

10.70

0.13

85.77

Non-Metalic Mineral Mining Multiverse Plc

0.50

0.50

3,730

0.50

0.50

0.01

0.00

Paper/Forest Products Thomas Wyatt Nig. Plc

0.79

0.79

1,000

1.38

1.38

0.00

0.00

Electronic and Electrical Products Cutix Plc Nigerian Wire & Cable Plc

1.90 0.50

1.85 0.50

131,153 10,000

2.50 2.58

1.62 2.58

0.11 0.00

13.15 0.00

1.44

1.44

2,000

1.51

1.33

0.03

28.80

3.98 18.97

3.98 18.97

6,888 183,530

3.98 15.58

3.98 12.71

0.00 3.90

0.00 3.26

4.30 1.05 2.92 0.63

4.30 1.05 2.78 0.66

29,198 200 84,311 2,749,340

4.30 1.86 2.92 0.63

3.60 1.05 2.92 0.63

1.22 0.30 0.07 0.00

3.52 6.18 41.71 0.00

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Se Abbey Building Society Plc INDUSTRIAL GOODS Packaging/Containers Abplast Products Plc Beta Glass Co. Plc Nampak Nigeria Plc Poly Products (Nig) Plc Studio Press (Nig) Plc W.A. Glass Ind. Plc

0.78

39.60 9.16

7.37

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services Japaul Oil & Maritime Service

0.50

0.50

2,123,349

0.97

0.87

0.19

6.06

Intergrated Oil and Gas Services Oando Plc

16.00

15.90

1,653,739

78.97

27.99

1.73

4.17

20.50 0.50 49.20 148.99 118.22 51.72 161.20

20.50 0.50 49.20 148.99 115.00 51.72 153.14

82,191 463 30,100 327,651 61,315 1,219 32,566

37.10 0.70 5.59

0.50 0.50 3.89

4.93 0.00 0.61

7.40 0.00 6.99

163.50 2,100 240.00

141.00 63.86 195.50

6.11 2.98 14.63

11.11 19.23 17.07

0.50

0.50

200

200

0.50

Petroleum and Petroleum Products African Petroleum Plc Beco Petroleum Plc Conoil Forte Oil Nig Plc Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc MRS Oil Nigeria Plc Total Nigeria Plc Hospitality Tantalisers Plc SERVICES Afromedia Plc Automobile/Auto Part Retailers RT Briscoe Plc Courier/Freight/Delivery Red Star Express Plc Trans-National Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC Hotels/Lodging Capital Hotel Ikeja Hotel Plc

0.01

0.50

30

0.72

1.19

1.14

1,160,441

3.65

1.30

0.21

8.19

4.16

4.16 2.13

12,100 2.47

3.67 62

2.65 0.25

0.60 11.12

4.91

0.50

26,000

1.64

4.55 0.63

1,000 43,640

400 2.07

0.50 4.55 0.63

0.51

0.90 3.00 1.33

0.00

0.04 0.34 0.92

12.75

11.25 34.09 2.12

Media/Entertainment Daar Communications Plc

0.50

0.50

10,000

0.50

0.48

0.00

0.00

Printing & Publishing.

Academy Press Plc Learn Africa Plc Studio Press Nig. Plc University Press

1.80 1.61 2.40 4.00

1.80 1.66 2.40 3.80

1,000 1,028,913 1,080 308,841

3.68

0.25

12.19

0.00 6.82

3.17 0.30 0.00 3.60

0.54

27.69

Road Transportation Associated Bus Company Plc

0.82

0.80

824,000

0.80

0.50

0.00

0.00

Speciality Interlinked Technologies Plc

4.90

4.90

1,995

5.15

4.90

0.00

0.00

Transport-Related Services Airline Services and Logistics Plc Nigerian Aviation Handling Company

2.14 4.60

2.14 4.56

38,807 1,111,782

2.78 11.75

1.57 6.50

0.60 12.53

4.22 8.75

26 —Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Capital Market

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 27

Commodity index April 25- May

Micro Finance

Skills acquisition key to successful entrepreneurship Stories by PROVIDENCE OBUH

O

XFORD and Cambridge Club of Nigeria has identified skill acquisition as a key to becoming a successful entrepreneur in a competitive market like Nigeria.

Speaking at a business forum in Lagos, Chief Executive Officer, Eventful Limited, Mrs. Yewande Zaccheaus, said that entrepreneurs must be capable of recognising opportunities around them, while finding internal inspiration to solving problems.

She advised future entrepreneurs to think outside the box, have passion for what they do and embrace risks. He said, “To become a successful business owner in a competitive market like Nigeria, I urge our upcoming entrepreneurs to acquire education and adequate experiences before going into business.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga is expected to grace the Oxbridge Business Forum in Abuja by May this year, while Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), will be the guest speaker at the club’s Spring Lecture 2014.

From left: Mark Hedderwick, Director UAC Restaurants Limited, Darren Hele, CEO Famous Brands, Larry Ettah, Group Managing Director, UAC of Nigeria Plc, Derrick Van Houten Managing Director, UAC Restaurants, during the 2014 UAC Restaurants Franchise Conference in Lagos.

Total unveils Mr Safety initiative I

N commemoration of the World safety at work day, Total Nigeria Plc has launched an initiative called “Mr Safety” to address anticipated anomalies in it's stations nationwide.

The company also reiterated its commitment to better service delivery, in line with the initiative backed with a Mr Safety Reflective Jacket.

Safety at work day is a day set aside every year to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases at work sites.

Speaking at the world safety at work day/launch of mr safety, held in Ijora service station, Lagos, Managing Director, Total, Mr. Alexis Vovx, said that the programme is an awareness raising campaign intended to refocus attention on the need for best practices in all operations with particular attention on its occupation safety and health.

Tagged “Speak Up,” Vovx said that this year’s theme is a call to the realisation that there are so many unsafe situations in trying to play safe around the work place, saying, “We encourage everyone to speak out. We must desire to give a sense of responsibility to every individual in the company and emphasize personal values to the safety of our organisation through the assurance of a safer work place for all

staff/dealers/customers and neighbours . Safety is everyone’s business and we all must be totally committed to it.

“To reduce probability of accident in our work places is important that every employee report all unsafe issues observed in their work place and by doing that we can educate and ensure safety.”

He explained that mr safety will be devoted to feedbacks on anomalies, near misses, enforcing good practices.

According to him, “We recognise safety through the reflective jacket and we are observing it in all our service centres.

“The implementation of mr safety in our service stations is fully in line with directive we received and this will be the pillar of the safety culture in the station, he (mr safety) will also be the one devoted to the objective of safety control during the service-station operations.

“We don’t have much accident, our major safety risk is on transportation but today we have safety measures in all our station and depots. Sometimes there might be attacks, but we have a programme where we train customer attendant on how to deal with every customer and how to prevent fire with extinguishers,” he said.

C M Y K

28 —Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Interview

I’ve started implementing the aviation road map — Ortom The recent removal of the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah saw the appointment of Chief Samuel Ortom as the supervising Minister for Aviation. Chief Ortom fielded questions from Aviation reporters on the recent developments in the aviation sector especially the recent recommendation by the Steve Oronsanye panel that some aviation parastatals should be merged.

Excerpts:

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

S

ince the removal of former minister of Aviation on 12th of February, 2014, you’ve held sway as the supervising minister of aviation, how has the experience been considering the crisis that rocked the industry before you came in?

Mine is to hold the ministry and ensure everything is working perfectly until a substantive minister is appointed. That is the much I’m doing and the experience has been fine though, challenging.

The aviation ministry is critical to our national progress thus; it must be handled with great care.

My brief is to see to the progress of the aviation sector as a supervising minister so there wouldn’t be a lull. The US Federal Aviation Authority just audited our aviation industry as a critical process for us to maintain our Category One status.

That process went on smoothly despite not having a substantive minister and we are hopeful we will retain our Category One status as we met majority of the critical areas assessed.

Are you saying there is no lull in the industry following Oduah’s exit considering that you are a supervisory minister?

Being a supervisory minister doesn’t make me less effective. I have the mandate of the President to ensure the ministry works and that is what I’m doing. I have already started by continuing the implementation of the aviation roadmap because it is part of the transformation agenda of Mr. President and approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which I’m a part of. The aviation roadmap as you are aware, is a comprehensive blueprint on how to transform the Nigerian aviation industry into a modern, viable, profitable and sustainable one.

The roadmap gave birth to the upgrade of all 22 federal airports, building of five brand new modern international terminals to be located in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu. Works on the terminals have started and would be completed by 2015.

The roadmap also defined the future of perishable cargo terminal in Nigeria. Already, 16 of those terminals are under construction and most of them, if not all, should be commissioned by 2015.

The roadmap also talked about the concept of aerotropolis — a concept

•Chief Samuel Ortom

that would turn airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt into business hubs offering world class services in travel/tourism, entertainment, commerce/ industry and lots more.

Recall that our aviation industry was in total neglect for over three decades.

Most of the infrastructure were dilapidated and the quality of services was just as poor. Safety standards were a source of worry.

Even the standard of training at the Aviation college had reduced remarkably. But when President Goodluck Jonathan came, he made the aviation industry a critical component in his transformation programme.

He had to do that because a nation with a poor transport industry, especially the aviation sector, can’t really progress; the nation can’t also optimize its full potentials. This thought process gave birth to the approval by the president of massive upgrade of infrastructure in the aviation sector. It also gave impetus to the upgrade of service delivery by government agencies in the aviation sector comparable to other parts of the world and most importantly, the raising of safety standards in the industry.

Safety is critical because as the pilots would say, there is no parking space in the air.

So one safety snag can cause

unimaginable consequences thus, we take safety critical in the sector.

Safety is critical to me and I will never compromise on it. We are also committed to growing the sector to a profitable one. Recently, the GDP was rebased and Nigeria’s economy is now worth $510 billion, the largest in Africa and 26th globally. Good news but how much did aviation contribute to that figure, about N200 billion annually but the industry can contribute over N500 billion to the GDP annually if developed further. This is our target in 2015 perhaps by 2020, the aviation sector should be contributing N1 trillion annually to the nation’s economy annually and support well over 500,000 direct and indirect jobs. The future indeed for the industry is bright, I can tell.

Talking about the rebased GDP

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 29

Interview that would hurt the aviation industry. The government considers the aviation industry very critical to transforming the economy, thus it wouldn’t jeopardize that with aviation-hurting policies. Let’s trust the government to do what is right. This government is a listening one, if at any point the government considers the merger detrimental, it wouldn’t hesitate to rescind its decision.

,

This government welcomes private investors in the sector and we are ready to support them in whatever way possible.

,

and the aviation industry, what does it have in store for us?

The rebased GDP is positive for Nigeria. But like the Coordinating minister of the economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has explained, the rebased GDP doesn’t mean we don’t have economic challenges that must be addressed and should be addressed. The new GDP only gives us a better picture of the size of our economy and how the various components are contributing to the growth trajectory. This is significant because it would allow the various components of the economy to compete in terms of value addition. For instance, the aviation sector can better appreciate its value and retool its economic offering for better profitability.

Yes, we have challenges as a

nation but let’s celebrate our little successes wherever they occur. Also, with the rebased GDP, Nigeria can market herself better. For instance, if I’m selling the aviation sector to local and international investors, I can convincingly explain how their investments can be profitable because the Nigerian economy is on the growth trajectory. There is just no way other sectors of the economy would grow in isolation of the aviation sector. It’s just not possible.

People must travel to transact certain businesses as not all deals can be fixed via emails or telephones. You must also travel for tourism and other social engagements.

Thus, with more economic prosperity, it goes without saying that the aviation sector would boom as well. I also make bold to say, as more foreign investors are attracted to Nigeria because of the new size of the economy, some would invest in aviation. In fact, we are already positioning to benefit from these investors hence the infrastructure upgrade at the airports and other infrastructure we are building across the country.

T

hese airports under construction, when will they be completed and commissioned?

We are hoping they would all be ready by 2015, all things being equal. Besides the five brand new international terminals, just about 15, out of the 22 are still being done. In fact, out of these 15, five are almost ready for commissioning and the remaining 10 may be ready before December or thereabouts. Work is in progress on the airports and the 14 cargo terminals. I have started inspecting the progress of work done and the facilities across the airports to ensure the

•Chief Samuel Ortom...The government considers the aviation industry very critical to transforming the economy, thus it wouldn’t jeopardize it with aviation-hurting policies airports are delivered on time and to specification. So far, I have visited Enugu and Owerri.

I also visited Kaduna and Abuja. I will also be visiting Lagos and some other states where we have projects ongoing in the coming weeks.

We are not leaving anything to chance. The immediate past minister had said, there will be no abandoned project in aviation sector. I can also assure that, there will be no abandoned project in the aviation industry. I’m not the type to abandon laudable projects of my predecessors because the projects are for the benefit of Nigerians and not for the individual minister.

My children will benefit from the system tomorrow, just like your children and every other Nigerian. We are building an enduring culture and a system that works irrespective of who is the minister. We must learn to build institutions, not individuals.

W

hat about safety and security?

Security and safety of our airports are very important to us. In all the airports that are being done, safety is a critical component. You may not get to see the safety infrastructure but it’s there.

I may not be obliged to tell you all of our safety and security procedure for security reasons, but I can assure you it is robust.

However, you would agree that we’ve moved from a tradition of one full body scanner at our airports to two scanners now in Lagos alone. In Murtala Muhammad Airport, Lagos we also have five screening machines that detect metals, explosives and other

banned substances. We have several metal detectors in the other airports and other security infrastructure.

Don’t forget, we are coming from decades of decayed and neglected industry, fixing it won’t be a tea party.

It is a painstaking process and it will take time too. I think Nigerians should be a little patient with us. Yes, we may not have met all expectations, but we can only do better. Our target is to ensure international best practices.

R

ecently, the FG issued a white paper on the Steve Oronsaye Committee which recommended that NiMET, NCAA and NAMA be merged into one. The FG approved the recommendation. Aviation stakeholders have condemned the approval arguing that it would be a bad precedent in the industry and Nigeria may risk sanctions from ICAO. Is government worried about these concerns?

The Steve Oronsaye Committee, I believe, considered all options and consulted widely with the relevant stakeholders even in the aviation industry before making the recommendations.

Government has also looked critically at the proposal and considered it in the interest of the sector to approve the proposal. The merger, I believe, will improve efficiency and reduce waste and overhead cost in the aviation sector. However, the President has set up an implementation committee to see to the merger process.

I don’t believe the government would go all out to implement policies

Any challenges so far sir?

You call them challenges, I call them opportunities to make a difference in the sector. In whatever I do, I strive for excellence so I can leave a place better than I met it. So, whatever it is that is lacking in terms of infrastructure is an opportunity, even for private investors to step in and fill the gap. This government welcomes private investors in the sector and we are ready to support them in whatever way possible.

But some critics say, this government isn’t investorfriendly. How can you correct this impression?

That is far from the truth.

Recall in February, just before the immediate past minister left the cabinet, she held stakeholders' and investors' meeting at Oriental Hotel in Lagos.

The engagement was heavy and it lasted for about a week. During the engagements, including the buy-in for staff of the aviation industry, the minister and heads of all the aviation agencies took time to explain the vision of the industry, the investment areas in the industry and the opportunities that lay ahead for staff and the private sector.

Will a government which is anti- investor do all those? No. During those intensive engagements, discussion lines on investments areas were opened and we are continuing engagements on that. I maintain, and you can take this to the bank, we are investor-friendly and no rational mind can discredit our sincerity of purpose. There are several investment areas that have been developed and are still being developed like airport facility management, dutyfree development, shopping malls at the terminals, restaurants, perishable cargo processing facilities at the perishable cargo terminals, new airlines etc.

The opportunities for the private sector players are almost limitless. I will welcome all investors and so will Mr. President.

30 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Homes & Housing Finance

ARM unveils Nigeria’s first golf estate

N

IGERIA’s asset management group, Assets & Resource Management Company Limited, ARM, has unveiled its iconic Lakowe Lakes on May 1, 2014.

The Lagos New town development project has been modeled after other globally successful urban development projects. With the plan to fully integrate a self sustaining municipality that will incorporate first class infrastructure, Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Estate, a 308 Hectare development overlooking a 55 hectare manmade lake is designed as an exclusive, secure and serene haven to provide a new destination, high-end residential neighborhood located on the Lekki-Epe Axis, some 25 minutes outside the bustling city of Lagos. It features a pristine 18-hole beautifully manicured golf course designed by PGA Professional and golf course architect, Robert O’Friel, with a complete clubhouse that affords a luxury and secured gated community with other sports facilities such as a swimming pool, squash, tennis and badminton courts.

FG to tackle house racketeering with biometrics *To deliver 10,000 units by year end Stories by YINKA KOLAWOLE, with agency report

T

HE Federal Government is set to employ the use of biometric technology to tackle house racketeering, whereby the rich and influential buy up houses built by government and re-sell at exorbitant prices to the less privileged.

Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs.

Akon Eyakenyi, disclosed this during an inspection tour of the ministry’s prototype housing scheme in Suleja, Niger State.

She said government will deploy the technology to curb sharp practices in the allocation of houses, expressing optimism that the strategy will lead to significant reduction the housing challenges confronting majority of Nigerians. “We are trying to put up a system where we will ensure that no more than one

person will have access to one unit so that it can spread to all persons. I want to guarantee Nigerians that under this dispensation, an individual will be entitled to only one house,” she stated.

The minister noted that the 102-unit housing estate, made up of 3 units of three bedrooms, 44 units of two bedrooms and 32 units of one bedroom apartments, are being developed under the Public Private Partnership (PPP)

UK mortgage approvals slide further

M

ORTGAGE approvals in the UK fell again in March, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England. The number of mortgages approved in March fell to 67,135, down from 69,592 in February.

The February figure was itself lower than January ’s.

Mortgage approvals have now fallen by 11.9 percent in the past two months.

The figures, which are the lowest since October 2013, came as some surprise to experts. They will also support those who argue that the UK is not in a housing bubble, as they show mortgage offers are running at half the level they were during the last housing boom.

Approvals peaked at 133,000 a month in November 2003.

One possible explanation for the fall in lending is that banks and building societies may have tightened up on lending procedures even before the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) rules came in at the end of April. Under MMR, lenders have to scrutinise borrowers more closely, to check they can afford the loan in question.

C M Y K

•Private estate development

scheme.

Eyakenyi explained that the three-bedroom apartments would be allocated to contributors to the National Housing Fund (NHF) for N5.8 million, while the two-bedroom and one-bedroom houses are to cost N4.7 million and 1.8 million respectively.

In a related development, the housing minister said the federal government, in collaboration with the private sector, is expected to deliver about 10, 000 housing units to Nigerians before the end of the year.

Speaking at an event recently in Abuja, she stated: “In February, the President launched the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) Scheme and as we speak, we have about 14 states that have indicated interest to be a part of this scheme. We’re all aware that housing is a major problem and it’s absurd that people work 35 years and at retirement still live in rented accommodation. Arrangements are in progress and in the next two months, they will start up the project and before the end of this year, 10, 000 housing units will be delivered to Nigerians.

“Other than the government’s contribution in the housing sector, we are also negotiating with developers on a public private partnership approach where the government will give land and you will have the developer and mortgage bank come in so that it will help Nigerians and civil servants to acquire it and it will become their own.”

Resort Savings intensifies effort on affordable housing R

ESORT savings and loans (RSL) Plc says it plans to intensify efforts to ensure more Nigerians have access to affordable housing.

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the mortgage bank, Mr. Abimbola Olayinka, in a statement, confirmed that the bank has been able to bridge the gap in the housing deficit nationwide a little by creating over 4,000 housing units in recent times.

He said there are plans by the bank to further improve on this in order to put smiles on the faces of more Nigerian families.

Olayinka said RSL, in the first half of 2014, plans to make available over 2,753 housing units in the Lagos and Ogun

States axis through mortgages.

These, according to him, include the current development of the Resort Estate Ofada, with over 400 housing units, tastefully finished 2 and 3 bedroom terrace bungalows, which Nigerians will be able to access at affordable prices.

He added that work is also ongoing at the Resort Pearl Garden in Sangotedo, which will have at least 80 housing units.

The RSL boss stated further that in the bank’s bid to strengthen its position in the housing sector, it is partnering with a lot of developers in either financing their projects or providing mortgage facilities to the off-takers at affordable interest rates.

Giving an insight into the existing and on-going projects and partnership with developers, Olayinka added: “Some of these estates include the Teju Royal Garden Estate in Okokomaiko, which has over 600 housing units of one and two bedroom terrace bungalow, three bedrooms semi-detached and three bedrooms fully detached bungalows. Apart from the accessibility of the estate due to the current development of the Lagos-Badagry Express Road as well as the proposed Rail track to link Marina Lagos end, the price of the houses are very affordable.”

He said other projects that the bank is involved in include: Dreamville Estate, Owode – Ibese road, Ikorodu, which has over 120 housing units in various stages of development;

Dabis Royal Estate off Allen Avenue, Ikeja; South-drift in Lekki; Gracious Gardens, among others.

Other ongoing projects in the other parts of the country, according to him, are: Jedo Mass Housing Estate, in Ushafa Bwari area council, with over 1,000 housing units under construction; Mahfas Sunshine Estate, Kurudu, Abuja, with over 500 housing units completed and over 1,000 units in various stages of completion. Others are Resort Court, Karu; Kubusa Gardens Estate; Orchards Estate, Lokogoma; Von Garden City Estate and; Shelter view, Maraba in Abuja.

The intention, according to Olayinka, is for Resort Savings to create at least 5,000 housing units in Abuja and its environs through mortgage creation.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 31

C M Y K

32 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

People in Business

M

r. Degri Emmanuel is the M a n a g i n g Director/Chief Executive Officer of Treasure House Entertainment, a film production outfit based in Jos, Plateau State. In this chat with Vanguard recently, the graduate of Theatre Arts from the University of Jos says insecurity has greatly affected the business. Excerpts: According to Degri Emmanuel, Treasure House Entertainment came into being in 2005, offering skeletal services but went into full operation in 2011. "We have done a lot of productions that are performed before dignitaries, productions geared towards political issues, productions that treat the present insecurity issue in Nigeria; productions that deal with matters bothering Nigeria," he said.

Before setting out on his own, Degri had worked with Jos Repertory Theatre and says that the owner of the theatre, Mr. Patrick-Jude Oteh, contributed to what he has become today.

A man of many parts, Degri says apart from acting and producing films, he also

Insecurity, funds, Nollywood affecting our business — Degri Emmanuel consults for the hospitality industry, trains students on production, and sings, with two albums to his credit. "My specialty majorly is directing though I also act. I have participated in a few films such as The Heir, showing right now on STV and other stations; I have also featured on Amstel Box Office, AMBO production entitled Cyndy's Notes. Theatre, I would say, is my life; I have been able to participate in over 50 plays. I have participated in and also directed plays such as Prof.

Wole Soyinka's The King's Horseman, Ola Rotimi's The Lion and the Jewel and an adaptation of the all-time prose written by the late Prof.

Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart in which I played the role of Okonkwo. I have been able to play major roles because I have passion for what I do.

"I don't know what else I

*Mr. Degri Emmanuel ...I don't know what else I would do if not theatre. would do if not theatre.

Theatre arts has been a better part of my life. I have consulted f o r Nasarawa S t a t e Troupe for over four years and we have always been able to take the gold medals," he said.

In 2005, while still with the Jos Repertory Theatre, he had the privilege of travelling outside the country.

"We did a job with the B r i t i s h Council. So we were in the UK for two weeks staging a play we wrote called Our House.

And then a theatre g r o u p based in Glasgow, Scotland, also came here and did a production," he stated.

HIV/AIDS epidemic: "I have been a part

of a production that championed the whole aspect of HIV/AIDS epidemic in the early days. Ford Foundation funded us to do that under the Jos Repertory Theatre, the same way the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, did on HIV/ AIDS and drug abuse, we did all that. I just completed a movie production titled Legal Clinic, a job by Sound City."

Challenges: On the challenges facing the business in Nigeria, Degri says apart from paucity of

,

BY EBELE ORAKPO

Overseas, actors don't need to shout because they have clip and lapel microphones so they just talk in a relaxed mood and you hear them; but here, you need to shout; you have to raise your voice because you don't have the equipment and the money to buy them

,

funds, insecurity and the advent of Nollywood, also pose a great challenge to the business.

Funds: "Because Treasure House Entertainment is majorly focused on stage productions,(although we are trying to do a film on Hepatitis B and sickle cell anaemia, everything is ready except funds),and that takes me to what actually is the challenge - funds. It's either you don't have enough funds to do a quality production; when I say quality production, it is not quality in acting. You see, overseas, actors don't need to shout because they have clip and lapel microphones so they just talk in a relaxed mood and you hear them; but here, you need to shout. You have to raise your voice because you don't have the equipment and the money to buy them.

One of my mentors has been Tyler Perry. He first started from stage productions and then later put them together and mass-dubbed them and people are watching them like a film now and that is because it is of high quality and you will not be able to tell the difference between stage and film- good lighting, good sound, good everything but we don't have that here."

Insecurity: "People no longer come out to watch stage productions. If you want to get light effects, who wants to come and sit and watch production from 7.00pm till 9.00pm in a place like Jos or in most parts of the north? In Plateau State for instance, by 9.00 - 10.00pm, everybody wants to be home. Although peace has returned relatively but nobody wants to be out at night."

Nollywood: "Also the advent of Nollywood is a major challenge. People prefer to watch movies in their houses.

Live performance, for me, has been the best, it is electrifying, it's fun! I act on live stage and it is not a problem switching from stage to film. But here, every Tom, Dick and Harry gets on the film and wants to act whether they read theatre arts/ film or not. I think abroad, I stand to be corrected, everyone goes through the rudiments of drama and then they become film actors and that is why they are best at what they do but here, we do not have that culture," he said.

The outfit which he started from his home, has two employees. Says Degri: "It is a gradual process; we might not be a household name yet but in Jos City and parts of Abuja, if you ask of Degri Emmanuel, it is a known name so we appreciate God for what He is doing. We are just taking one step at a time.

Little, little drops of water will be a mighty ocean very soon," he enthused.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 33

T

he report by Simon Ejembi went on to disclose that “the Banking Index fell by 16 per cent in the first quarter of this year; more than any sectoral indices, in what some analysts say is the worst performance by the Exchange in 10 years.”

Those who might find this result startling, especially those who lost some money on account of this report, have themselves to blame. I certainly was not surprised because I had expected it. In the first week of November 2013, I had warned our readers, in my SUNDAY VANGUARD column, FRANKLY SPEAKING, to be prepared for another round of losses on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 2014. And leading by example, I had called on my Stockbrokers to offload some shares – mostly bank shares. It was a wise decision and it will become wiser as we move into 2014.

Banks and their shares are, once again poised to take a beating on the Exchange.

April had been just as turbulent as any month since the year started. The reports by listed companies, which

Revisiting the Nigerian Stock Exchange —1 had excellent 2013 had been released. That has had the effect of pushing up share prices. There has also been a new listing which increased the aggregate. Additionally, the rules had been slightly amended to allow some share prices to move up or down with only 5000 shares changing hands. All these had affected the performance during the month in ways we still don’t understand fully.

However, what should be of interest to investors is the fact that the pattern of reporting year-end results had not changed very much and that was the core reason why the present losses were predicted last November. Nigerian companies listed on the Exchange follow the same routine annually.

By November, and in some cases as early as October, the Board and Management of the companies already know whether or not they are heading for a successful year or not. Year-to-date actual

However, what should be of interest to investors is the fact that the pattern of reporting year-end results had not changed very much and that was the core reason why the present losses were predicted last November

,

“Stock Exchange lost N780bn in turbulent Q1”, PUNCH, April 22, 2014.

results compared with budgets and forecasts for the year already reveal the situation in which the company will find itself by December 31. There are only three possible outcomes – better than expectations, just on the mark and below expectations – all these without taking into consideration the creative accounting methods that are frequently employed to achieve ostensibly good results.

Then, the management games start.

Managers are like kids going home with their report cards at the end of the term.

The kid, who came first, rushes home; the one who came last reluctantly drags his f e e t homewards.

Companies which had achieved, or are likely to achieve, r e s u l t s better than

,

budgets very quickly close their books at the end of December and start preparing their Annual Reports and Accounts. With or without creative accounting, they know they have a good report to give. Thus annually, the first results to be released are those of the first category of companies – those who had a successful year. This year is not therefore an exception.

The next batch of results comes from those on the border line. This could mean that the turnover target was achieved but profit estimates were down or vice versa.

Because most investors only look at the profit and dividends declared, adequate turnover which would ordinarily have resulted in low profits and no dividends would call for the figures to be “massaged” a little bit to make them acceptable to shareholders. This requires a lot more time to prepare. So, as general rule of thumb, if a company has not released its Annual Reports and Accounts by end of April, of the following year, then, it is probably safe to assume that it is in category two or three.

The real problems are those in category three – those who had relatively disastrous results; turnover is way down;

profits are low, or losses had been incurred and there is really nothing to cheer about in the results. These are the firms which take forever to file their reports; some taking almost the whole of the following year to do it. The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, and the Securities and Exchange Commissions, SEC, are forced to step in before some of these firms would act. That has again provided another rule which we use to determine the direction of things – even when the results have not been released. The longer it takes a listed company to file its returns the more likely that the news is bad.

That, however, is not all.

Policies announced by the Federal government, during the year, especially by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, invariably impact aggregate performance in the economy on a broad front.

Furthermore, despite the steps taken to reduce the influence of banks in the All Share Index, they still constitute the biggest sector.

When banks are in trouble; everyone is in trouble. At the moment, the banks are still reeling from the effects of the CBN’s policies introduced late last year. New measures had since been introduced which will make 2014 a difficult year for banks for their clients and which will erode profits by increasing cost of goods with little opportunity for sellers to increase prices.

Irrespective of what the banks do, they are facing a very difficult year ahead. And so is the Stock Exchange….

Visit:www.delesobowale.com or Visit:www.facebook.com/ biolasobowale

Savers Card partners Ecobank to re-launch discount card avers card international, Lagos depending on the merchant location S owners of the Savers club visited. card said its partnering Ecobank Discount centres include supermarkets, Transnational Incorporated to re-launch its premium discount card.

The Savers Club Discount Card which comes as a Reloadable Card has all the features of a standard ATM card with all the CBN approved security features.

The Savers Club Card powered by Interswitch is usable on all ATMs, Mobile Applications and POS Terminals in over 1,500 Merchant locations all over Lagos.

The Savers Club Card grants card holders discounts on purchases up to 40 percent in over 1,500 merchant locations in

eateries, hotels, Spas, restaurants, boutiques, Laundromats, salons, bookshops, Hospitals, clinics, electronic shops, autogarages and car shops just to mention a few.

The Savers Club cards can be bought in any branch of Ecobank in Lagos in what the company’s Business Development Manager, Nnenna Ejiogu referred to as its pilot phase of the partnership with Ecobank.

In an innovative twist to the re-launch of the Cards, Savers Card International also partnered with three leading insurance companies to bundle the card with an electronic Third party Motor Insurance pack called the Gogo pack.

By this bundle, any buyer of the GoGo pack automatically has both a “self-Service Third party motor insurance cover “ and the Savers Club Card to enjoy discounts in over 1,500 merchant locations in Lagos.

C M Y K

34 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Tax Matters

Collection procedure (2)

Withholding Taxes (WHT) Payments made to companies and certain categories of individuals are to suffer deductions at source as follows:

RATES Interest & Penalty for Late Payment The interest is not an alternative to the penalty.

Interest is for late and deferred payments while penalty is charged for late payment of tax. Interest is therefore charged in addition to the penalty in cases of late payment.

Self-Assessment Penalty starts to count from the due date of payment but interest starts to count from a day after the due date of payment.

Government Assessments Penalty is charged from the date the assessment was issued but interest is reckoned from a day after the assessment was issued.

Example 4 A company was served a notice of amended assessment for N500,000 to replace a disputed government assessment on 1st May, 1992. The tax remained unpaid till 31st October, 1992.

Comment

Default in Payment of Approved Instalments When a company defaults in the payment of the instalments as approved, the concession stands cancelled. Interest starts to count from the date the default occurs. The calculation of the interest is also on the reducing balance basis.

PENALTY FOR LATE PAYMENT Note: 1/5/92 to 31/10/92 6 months Penalty = 6/12 of 10/100 of 500,000 =N25,000 Interest Due date of payment Day of Reckoning Interest rate 02/05/92 to 31/10/92 -

01/05/92 02/05/92 20% per annum 183 days.

TOTAL PAYMENT Tax Penalty Interest Amount Payable

500,000.00 25,000.00 50,000.00 575,000.00

Deferred Payment: Interest & Penalty When a company arranges with the Service to defer the tax due, interest is chargeable but penalty may not be imposed if the application is approved. The interest is calculated on reducing balance basis.

Interest on Payments in Excess of Approved Instalments When a taxpayer seeks to pay the tax due in a number of instalments greater than that approved for self assessment as specified above, interest is payable on the excess number of payments, also on reducing balance basis.

C M Y K

Interest on Arrears As from 1st January 1991, arrears of tax are to carry interest at commercial rate. The interest is in addition to the annual penalty and both are to be charged annually.

Lateness in Filling Application for Instalment Payments Where a company is late in applying for instalment payment arrangement, interest should be charged from the date of reckoning (a day after the due date of payment) to the date of commencement of the payments. The accruing interest should be added to the tax and spread over the number of instalments allowable under the circumstance.

Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT) In view of the fact that transactions in the oil industry are in dollars and the operators are allowed to keep their proceeds of sale in accounts overseas, government has directed that the estimated tax of an accounting period under the provisions of Section 27 of the PPT Act, 1959 shall be made and submitted to the Service in US dollars and when payments are being made, each monthly payment shall be in US dollars and shall be equal to one-twelfth of the estimated tax or of the fraction of the remaining months of the accounting year for which a revised estimated tax becomes necessary and is so estimated.

Payment of withholding tax is now in the currency of the contract agreement.

The individuals covered by the Federal Inland Revenue Service are the non-residents, residents of Abuja, members of the Police & Armed Forces and External Affairs Officers. Other individuals are under the tax jurisdiction of the State tax authority where the individuals reside. *The term ‘contract supplies’ covers all forms of supplies, deliveries, or the like through competitive bidding, tenders, LPOs or other arrangements, whether oral or written. The term does not cover across-the-counter cash sales or supplies in the ordinary course of sales.

WHT on Investment Income (i) Non-Residents: WHT on dividends, interests, rents and royalties payable to nonresident remain the final tax. (ii) Residents: With effect from January 1992 the provisions in the Act regarding these payments as final tax have been amended. They are now to be regarded as payments on account.

Remittance of WHT to Tax Authorities Failure of an agent of deduction to remit WHT within the statutory time-limit will attract: (iii) Interest at commercial rate on the amount not remitted by the agent, (iv) Prosecution of the agent for default, and (v) Denial of Tax Clearance Certificate to such an agent.

Furthermore, where the agent is a government ministry, parastatal or department or a local government, the Service may authorize the Accountant-General of the Federation in writing to deduct such tax plus interest at the prevailing commercial rate from any allocation due to such agency.

Example 5 XYZ Limited, with 31st March, 1993 as the due date of payment of the self-assessment, has applied for the payment of the tax due amounting to N100,000 in ten equal monthly instalments.

The final PPT payable, that is, the thirteenth installment, shall be ascertained as provided for in Section 38 (4) of the same Act such that so much of the amount of instalments of estimated tax that had already been paid in US dollars shall be deducted from total PPT computed in US dollars based on the annual accounts.

WHT as Tax Credit Withholding taxes are advance payments and they can only be applied as tax credit to settle the assessment of the year to which the income that suffered the deduction relates. Where the withholding tax credit exceeds the assessment for a given year, the excess may be carried forward as future set-off.

Comment a.) Since the company is entitled to six instalments in the current year of assessment, the first six payments terminating on 31st August, 1993 will not attract interest.

However, interest will be charged on the balance of four months on reducing balance basis as follows:

Litigation As explained above, instalment or deferred payments, as the case may be, will be approved for companies with convincing proof of serious financial problems. However where the arrangement fails to yield the desired result, legal action may be instituted against defaulters to enforce payment.

Refund/Set-off Where it is proved that the person who suffered the deduction is not liable to tax or that tax withheld is in excess of the assessed tax, the Service will grant a refund or a carry-forward, as the case may be, after the claim has been confirmed by tax audit process.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 35

Agric Business

BY SALIMAT GARBA

L

eading agriculture experts have attributed hunger and poverty tin Africa to the decline in agriculture , adding that growth in agriculture equates to a reduction in hunger and poverty.

According to them, the tremendous decline in Africa’s agricultural sector in the past three decades is because of lack of investment, inadequate research and development, pest infestation, poor agronomic practices, climate change and lackadaisical attitude towards biotechnology in agriculture.

Sir Brian Heap, Project Leader, Biosciences for Farming in Agriculture (B4FA) in his words says “just by applying existing and available agricultural advice and technologies, the productivity of African agriculture could double or treble. But new agricultural technologies are being developed and trailed which could achieve even more.”

More so, Lord Ewen Cameron, while speaking at the B4FA book launch event at the House of Lords, London, stresses the need for Africa and the world’s

Modern technology can save farmers from poverty —Experts

Professor Sir Gordon Conway visits Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Grantees. continuous promotion of improved modern technology because of its ability to enhance food security that no other way can.

Cameron expresses regrets that the financial opportunities in agriculture

are not maximally harnessed in Africa, adding that Africans are faced with challenges which are supposed to be opportunities.

“There is a lot of water in Africa but there is little infrastructure for getting the water. There are many hectares of arable lands in Africa but there is land insecurity.

Identifying investment in research and training farmers as

the biggest investment a government can make, he points that democracy is very important in the future of agriculture.

“What are the right seeds?

How do you get hold of the right seeds?

Market Information, mobile phones, technology and internet are very important in democracy,” Cameron adds.

For Lord Paul Boateng, the significance of local agriculture should never be forgotten. According to Boateng, while building on local agriculture, there should be adequate investment in Research and Development

(R&D) as it is critical to agricultural development in Africa.

He observes that the world is presently witnessing resurgent of R&D in agriculture and that all individual countries are beginning to make headway in the Maputo Declaration.

The lord, however, urges Africa to set its own agenda through the UK parliament and all other friends in Science and Technology.

Furthermore, Hon Owen Peterson, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK, during the visit of some B4FA fellows to his office discloses that the problem the world will encounter in feeding itself in the next 40 years are very real and something to be prepared for.

“At this very moment, there are one billion people on this planet who are chronically hungry. Are we really going to look them in the eye and say we have proven technology to help, but the issue is just too difficult to deal with, it is too controversial?”

Peterson explains that the world population will soon move from seven billion to nine billion and there will be even fewer resources to feed on.

“It is our duty to explore technologies like Genetic Modification (GM) because they may hold answers to the very serious challenges ahead.”

AU commends agriculture growth in the continent

BY JIMOH BABATUNDE The Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union, Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, has said that agriculture has been showing a growth performance of about four percent per annum over the last decade under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

She said this is an indication that agriculture and the rural sector are at the centre of the transformation agenda in the continent. Just as she added that public spending on agriculture in Africa has risen by over seven percent.

Speaking at the just concluded African Union (AU) Joint Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture in Addis Ababa, Rhoda Peace commended the efforts in the increase in spending but said much more must be done on the continent.

“The Decision of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government to commemorate 2014 as the Year of Agriculture and Food Security and marking the 10th

Anniversary of the Adoption of CAADP, provides us all with a unique opportunity to engage ourselves in an exercise of honest assessment and reflections of the progresses made thus far.

“The lessons we have learnt, and chart clear set of goals and targets for implementation in the next decade in a context of transformative agenda to get rid of hunger, malnutrition and poverty from our continent”, she added Rhoda Peace said following intensive efforts by the continental body to boost the agriculture sector through initiatives like the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) public spending on agriculture has risen.

But this is not time to rest, as AUmember states we must ensure we tackle all challenges in order for transformative growth to take place on the continent,” Mrs Tumusiime said.

Rhoda Peace said for growth to be realized through the agriculture sector, the marginalised, vulnerable, women and young people must be taken care of.

She said since 2014 being the year for Agriculture and Food Security, more needs to be done to ensure that this sector which employs over 75 percent of Africa’s workers improves livelihoods and transforms lives.

C M Y K

36 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

E- Commerce

Nikon, Jumia partner to boost camera access in Nigeria

A

s part of its effort to make cameras and photography equipments affordable for aspiring photographers, Nikon has launched a special bundle deals in partnership with Nigeria’s online retailer, Jumia.com Announcing this at this year’s Nigerian Photograph Expo an d Conference,

Jumia.com to purchase items of choice.”

He added that, “Apart from the networking and knowledge opportunities at the NiPHEC, participants had the opportunity to explore and experience the power, innovative creativity of Nikon cameras at a specially designed exhibition booth.”

Winner emerges at Kaymu Easter Bunny Hunt

F

eyisan Ayo-Vaughan, an 18 year old 100 level

Project Management and Technology student of Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA has emerged winner of KaymuEaster Bunny Hunt.

The competition which was organized by the online marketplace Kaymu.com.ng to mark the Easter celebration involved a hidden bunny on the marketplace which users had to find to enable them claim the 22 inch Samsung HDTV Monitor offered by Kaymu electronics seller, Foramot.

The Easter th campaign began on thest18 of April and ended on 21 of April 2014.

Speaking on the event, Managing Director of Kaymu Nigeria, Massi Spalazzi said, “The Easter Bunny Hunt was created as an entertaining and engaging medium to reward customers and it brings us great joy to see it being won by not only a well deserving customer, but a youth. This just goes to show that the Nigerian youths are embracing the online shopping culture.”

C M Y K

From left: Public Relations Strategist of Konga.com, Ifeanyi Abraham, Konga's Head of Marketing, Gabriel Gab-Umoden, and Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, President of NACCIMA during Konga's emergence as theMost Innovative and Impactful retail brand in an award presented by Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lagos.

APP MONETISATION:

Can Verve Payment Wallet save developers?

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

A

frica’s payment card, Verve has said that it has developed a solution that will help mobile application developers to monetize their products and services without going through the telecommunication companies.

This solution called Verve Payment Wallet is designed to be integrated into mobile apps at conception stage and will provide a payment gateway through which app users and subscribers can pay using the money in their bank accounts.

Verve said it is partnering with global phone maker, Nokia and software maker, Microsoft to introduce this solution on apps on windows phones. At the moment about seventeen mobile applications which have been selected for Alpha DevCon, an app contest, are already available on windows phones, using this payment gateway.

It could be recalled that mobile app developers have been having difficulties placing premium on their apps because the telcos who provided the only option for a payment gateway gave stringent conditions which made their craft an unprofitable venture at the

,

NiPHEC, held in Lagos, Michael Imomoh, Brand Manager, New Creation International, the official distributor of Nikon products in Nigeria, said the offer is in a bid to further identify with its customers and boost access in the country.

“This special deal will be valid on the Nikon 03100 DSlR camera with the 1855mm kit and special deal savers across a total of 22 product line to all registered NiPHEC participants, by using their discount codes on

With this solution for monetization, it is capable of making Nigeria a leader in African mobile App economy

,

end of the day.

For instance, some of the telecommunication companies insisted on taking 60 percent of the app’s revenue leaving 40 percent to be shared between app store owners and the app developers.

To even enter into any such partnership with the telcos required that the app developer obtain a Value Added Service licence which costs up to N500, 000. This is far beyond the reach of most of the developers, many of whom are just startups.

But will this Verve Payment Wallet, which is obviously the first of its kind in the mobile

app ecosystem in Africa as far as payment is concerned, save developers the trouble of going through mobile network billing system and thus make the App economy (apponomy) begin to contribute its rightful quota to Nigeria’s gross domestic product?

Verve’s Osiriame Momodu who spoke to Financial Vanguard about the solution said the Verve Payment Wallet ideally solves the payment problem for app developers.

He said since the solution will enable them to integrate an effective payment system into their apps, that is all they need to scale their monetization hurdle.

He said, “This has become imperative since the contribution that mobile application can make to the economy is enormous. The potential is huge. It is driving the economies of some developed countries. At the moment, it is also growing here based on just downloads.

But with this solution for monetization, it is capable of making Nigeria a leader in African mobile apponomy.”

He explained that, “The mobile network operators which have credit billing system would have been a good option for app developers to monetize their services but because of the 60/ 40 percent sharing formula;

the developers are not keen on exploring that option. But this billing system does not need them to integrate with any telecommunication network operator. However from inception, the app developer needs to integrate its payment system with this Verve Payment Wallet and any user of verve card can easily make payment for whatever services the app is meant to facilitate. And the charges are not as high as that of the telecommunication companies. It is just 2.5 percent compared to 60 percent charged by the telecoms companies.”

This maybe the beginning of a defining moment for the mobile app landscape in Nigeria, nay Africa because of the economic motivation that venturing into mobile app development can bring. The implication is that this could result in a boom in mobile application ecosystem that will move the apponomy from the current paltry $4bn it is capable of generating at the moment to at least $20 billion in the next five years.

However challenges remain, despite some level of succor this may bring to app developers, the solution’s reach beyond the formal sector is very limited since only the banked customers can benefit at the moment, excluding the huge potential of the unbanked population, who also have access to mobile phones. Also, the fact that the payment solution is still restricted to Verve excluding the vibrant market of the MasterCard and Visa also constitutes a shortcoming.

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 37

Insurance

PenCom to begin clampdown on defaulting employers

By CYNTHIA CHIMEZIE

F

ollowing the amendment of the Pension Reform Act 2004 by the National Assembly recently, there are indications that the National Pension Commission, PenCom, may soon begin clampdown on defaulting organisations that fail to remit their employees’ contribution to their Retirement Savings Accounts, RSAs. Statistics from PenCom show that some employers deduct pension money from their employees’ salary but fail to remit same accordingly.

Addressing journalists during the 2014 May Day celebration in Lagos, where the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, PenOp, seized the opportunity to educate and enlighten Nigerian workers on the importance of maintaining RSA, Executive Secretary of PenOp, Susan Oranye, said that the issue of remittance has become a huge challenge for the regulatory authority, Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, and allied bodies within the pension industry.

“Remittance is a challenge,” she said “but it is something that the PenCom as well as all the different operators is facing and they are trying to handle, they (PenCom) is coming out with lists of recalcitrant employers,” she added.

According to her, beyond listing the names of the defaulting organisations, the body alongside PenOp and industry operators such as PFAs and Pension Fund Custodians, PFCs are following up with these organisations and have started arranging seminars, interactive sessions so that they can find out what is preventing them from remitting their employees’ fund.

She said employers of labour should see adequate remittance of pension funds of their employees and adoption of such scheme by those that are yet to do so as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) to their employees and the society.

“The funds are for their employees and it can be seen as a form of CSR on the part of the employers because when you are seen to be looking after your employees in the aspect of pension, and your employees are comfortable, definitely they will be loyal, because they know that you care about their welfare. And as long as they C M Y K

have that mindset, they are more loyal to you, work harder, they are more productive and the bottomline grows,” she said.

Oranye, who praised the work of PenCom in the last eight years, suggested that the industry still need increased awareness and communications, adding, “Since 2004 till date, about N24.6 billion has been paid to over 84,000 retirees, no

queues, no stories.”

“This is a new dispensation and this is what we are trying to get the workers to understand that this is not the old scheme and this is not the scheme where people line up, cry and beg for their money. The new contributory pension scheme is really working, it is really focused on the Nigerian workers, it is transparent, fully funded, and safe, so every worker

should join.”

On why the PenOp chose Workers Day to break its new campaign, a member of PenOp Rebranding Committee, Idu Okwuosa, who is also a Senior Manager at Stanbic IBTC said pension awareness is still very low in the country despite the fact that Nigeria still holds the position of the nation with hardest working individual on the continent.

From left: Idu Okwuosa, Compliance Officer, Stanbic IBTC Pension; Comrade Tunji Sekoni, Organiser, TUC and Susan Oranye, Executive Secretary, Pensions Fund Operators of Nigeria at the 2014 Workers day commemoration held in Lagos.

FBN Insurance, Etisalat collaborate to create airtime based product

By ROSEMARY ONUOHA

F

BN Insurance Limited, a member of FBN Holdings Plc, in conjunction with Etisalat Nigeria, has launched ‘Sure4Life”, an airtime-based insurance product designed to increase penetration and consumer access to affordable insurance products via the mobile telephone.

The product will provide Etisalat customers with one month free life insurance cover between May and July 2014 FBN Insurance designed the product in partnership with Etisalat Nigeria for exclusive distribution to registered active subscribers on the network.

Speaking during the launch of the product at FBN Insurance corporate head office in Lagos, General Manager of FBN Insurance, Mr. Segun Balogun, said that Sure4Life is a convenient and affordable way to access simple life protection and medical expense cover plans via the Etisalat network mobile phone.

According to him, the airtime-based insurance product will help drive availability and accessibility to a vast portion of the uninsured Nigerian population. The strategic objective is to efficiently deploy inexpensive and simple insurance protection products across various channels and market segments.

Balogun said, “This initiative also supports our aspiration to bring the benefits of insurance to Nigerians who otherwise would have remained uninsured and is in line with our strategic intent to build the biggest retail insurance business in Nigeria.

To this end, FBN Insurance has continued to pursue strategic opportunities in partnership with other financial service businesses and mobile network operators on key initiatives to increase penetration and distribution of our products, he said.

It will be recalled that FBN Life now FBN Insurance emerged as the first

insurance company in the country to launch a mobile telephone product called Padi4Life in partnership with Airtel Nigeria one year ago.

Sure4Life is currently available on the Etisalat network and enables registered post-paid and prepaid subscribers to access life insurance protection benefits and medical expenses cover (resulting from road accident only) of N100, 000 upon death and N10, 000 respectively, terms and conditions apply.

To enrol for this service, subscribers are to dial *48433# from their Etisalat network and follow the prompts they receive. The plan is opened to all Etisalat subscribers between 18 and 80 years of age.

Director, Business Segment at Etisalat Nigeria, Lucas Dada, said that the partnership will bring inexpensive and easy to reach insurance products to the benefit of Etisalat’s growing prepaid and post-paid customers.

ICAN blames poor exam performance on inadequate prepartion

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

T

he

Institute

of

Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has outlined the basic reasons why student perform badly in its professional exams, just as it awarded certificate of accreditation to 23 tertiary institutions and eight tuition centres which satisfied its quality control parameter for accreditation/recognition.

Some of the reasons include: poor preparation, inadequate teaching personnel in terms of number and quality, decayed infrastructure and instructional facilities in many institutions, poorly articulated curricula for accounting related programmes, poor library facilities, among others, President, ICAN, Alh. Kabir Mohammed identified.

To this end, he said that the Council resolved to accredit centres where its potential registered students could receive appropriate and qualitative technical and

Slok Airline to resume flight operations in Nigeria

By DANIEL ETEGHE

F

ORMER Governor of Abia State and owner of the defunct domestic airline, Slok Airline, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu has revealed that Slok Airline will soon resume its domestic flight operations in the country.

Disclosing this development to newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Lagos, Dr. Kalu pointed out that discussions were on-going between Slok Airline and Emirates Airline to revive the airline in order to serve the Nigerian flying public.

He said that both Emirates Airline and Slok Airline were discussing logistics at the moment stressing that as soon as the discussions were completed, the airline will resume its domestic flight operations in Nigeria.

Dr. Kalu further noted that Slok Airline was going into partnership with Emirates Airline as one of the best

airlines in the world stressing that with the backing of Emirates Airline, Slok Airline will do better in the domestic scene in Nigeria.

38 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 39

Advertising, Media & Marketing

Things Customers Hate – Part 2 *From Left: Medical & Regulatory Affairs Director, Sanofi, Dr. Fifen Inoussa; representing Lagos State Health Commissioner, Senior Medical Officer 1/Malaria Program Officer, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Victoria Omoera, and Key Account Manager, Sanofi, Aderinsola Taiwo, during the commemoration of the World Malaria Day held at Sanofi office in Lagos recently.

Cashless future: Paga rekindles hope with growth boost Stories by PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

N

IGERIANS are finally on the brink of the cashless society that futurists and others have forecasted years back. Even when the Central Bank launched a major national campaign to persuade Nigerians and businesses to stop using cash and cheques in favour of online transactions, there were skeptisms. Even on this note however, investors had calculated it would save the economy billions of Naira yearly, if there is increase in the use of electronic payments with debit cards, smartphones and online transfers.

And this became a major tendering for ad agencies to power a major marketing drive with budget estimated in millions.

Nigeria government set the example by requesting their establishments to stop the use of cheques, since they are one of the heaviest users of cheques. Today, an average consumer owns at least two credit cards, and Nigerians are systematically abandoning paper bills for plastics and smartphone.

Even businesses that relied heavily on cash, for instance, hotels, superstores, airlines etc — now go cashless.

The recent celebration of the five years of Paga, a mobile payment platform in Nigeria, gives credence to the fact that the cashless society has finally berthed.

Paga, developed on the premise of simple and easily accessible payment solutions was implemented to negate the frustration of dealing with cash and other inadequate payment channels; the platform was founded by its Chief Executive Officer, Tayo Oviosu in April 2009.

Speaking on the company’s mission, he said: “our mission is to create a service that would transform lives by delivering innovative and universal access to financial C M Y K

services for all Nigerians.

With Paga you can pay for any goods, service or send money to anyone with a mobile phone number or any bank account instantly. Businesses can also use Paga for any of these services and also collect

payments online from MasterCard, Visa, or Verve debit cards. Customers can also receive Western Union remittances from anywhere in the world through their Paga accounts.”

Unilever delivers on Knorr Quest promise, as winner emerges

A

FTER a 13-week rigorous competition, Knorr Quest Taste, a cooking competition organised by Unilever Nigeria Plc, produced a winner in the person of Dixon Olakunbi.

He carted home a cash prize of N2 million, a Ford Eco Sport SUV donated by Coscharis Motors, and Kenwood kitchen equipment.

Following closely as the second runner-up was Nwando Onuigbo who got N1 million cash prize and Kenwood kitchen equipment and third prize went to Olabode Akinyoola who won N500,000 and Kenwood kitchen equipment. All other contestants went home with a consolatory prize of Kenwood kitchen equipment.

For the last challenge of the season, the finalists were told to prepare a three-course meal within 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Ingredients for the starter include catfish, garden egg, avocado, cous cous, quinoa and atarodo.

For the main, ingredients comprised lamb, corn, breadfruit, plantain, rice, fettuccine, zucchini, pumpkin, aubergine, leeks and chocolate. To complete the three-course was dessert ingredients such as mango, melon, flour and butter.

Expressing her satisfaction at the outcome of the show, Nsima Ogedi-Alakwe, Brand Building Director, Foods, Unilever, Nigeria said that the winner had displayed skills and talent worthy to be crowned as Nigeria’s best cook.

“I am extremely satisfied. I take that from the excitement from the audience and the winner. She has displayed skills and talent that set her apart from her

contemporaries. About 14 of them started out when the show began some 15 weeks ago.

Anybody could have won,” she submitted.

Head of jury, Dr Roberts confessed that although he was not a lover of avocado but he could not resist Dixon’s experiment with the fruit.

According to Roberts, the final decision was not easy but based

Hollandia ends promo

C

hi Limited, owners of the Hollandia yoghurt national consumer promo has produced winners who are to travel to London and Paris respectively.

The emergence of the winners is in line with its promise of rewarding consumers who participated in the Hollandia yoghurt ‘Refresh N Win promo’ where gifts worth millions of Naira were won by participants.

A consumer in Benue State, Chigozie Victor, won the grand prize of trip to London while another consumer in Oyo State, Akinwole Dolapo, is to travel to Paris. The promo which commenced last year was closely monitored and supervised by the Nigeria Lottery Commission and the Consumer Protection Council.

Managing Director of Chi Limited, Mr. Deepanjan Roy, said the Hollandia Yoghurt Refresh N Win Promo was the company’s way of rewarding customers who have been loyal in their patronage of Hollandia Yoghurt over the years. “These customers have been there for us over the years.

CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK Arguing with the customer Who likes to lose an argument? Not the customer. I suggest you work hard to avoid an argument with your customers. Even when you know they are wrong, it will be unwise to bluntly tell them so. Telling them they are wrong may be perceived as an act of humiliation. It is better to explain your position tactfully, without sounding judgmental. Your logic may not always make sense to your customers. Of course, you may educate them without making them lose face. It’s all in the approach.

Interrupting the customer (Cutting the story short!)

Allow the customer to express her feelings of anger or frustration.

If you cut her short you may lose some vital information that might help you resolve her problems. Being allowed to express herself also gives the customer some satisfaction and a sense of relief. You don’t want your customers to bottle up their anger.

Being defensive about customer complaints (“Yes, but….”)

Acknowledge a complaint whole-heartedly. Apologise and resolve the complaint. Being defensive won’t take you anywhere.

After all, your few customers who complain are giving you a second chance. Most dissatisfied customers simply walk away.

Someone said that complaints are like a gift. Please accept them.

“Look, even our big customers don’t trouble us like this.”

This is as good as telling the customer to take his business elsewhere. It also denigrates the customer, making him appear unimportant. He won’t come back, unless your company is a monopoly.

Being given a take-it-or-leave-it option.

Believe me, customers always have a choice. Don’t treat them as if they had none. Only monopolies adopt this arrogant posture.

But even monopolies don’t last for ever!

Forgetting a customer’s name.

If you’re in business, you’d better have a damned good memory.

You must remember names and faces – especially the very regular ones. People generally feel hurt when you forget their names. I think people love to hear their names. That’s just the way they are wired. You can use it to your advantage.

Wrongly spelling a customer’s name.

If you’re in doubt, always ask for the correct spelling. My name is Allwell. I am not amused when some people carelessly write: Howell, Alwell or even Owell! Again, some people believe I must be “Allwell-Brown.” Anyway, I always tell them I’m not.

Wrongly pronouncing the customer’s name Some of us make fun of our mistake after pronouncing a name wrongly. It is bad enough not to know the right pronunciation; making fun of your mistake is almost unforgivable.

Attending to customers out of turn It is not fair to attend to a customer before his turn just because he is your relation, friend or benefactor. Doing so will alienate those who came before him. It also smacks of corruption. You may want to have a separate service area for high-value customers who require special treatment.

Fixing your eyes on the computer (or whatever else) while the customer is talking.

How would you take that if you were a customer? Whenever I am confronted with the computer-age nuisance, my stock response is to keep quiet until I get full attention. You need to maintain eye contact with your customers.

What are those things you don’t like as a customer?

To share them on this page, send an email to: allwellnwankwo@gmail.com.

TO BE CONTINUED.

40 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 Email:lesleba@lesleba.com, lesleba@gmail.com Blog page:www.lesleba.com/blog2 Website: www.lesleba.com Tel:0805 220 1997

education also instigated an exodus of students from affluent homes to expensive educational institutions abroad. Conversely, while children from privileged homes may pay over N8m ($50,000) to study abroad, thousands of their indigent counterparts constantly risk their lives across deserts and turbulent seas to also seek greener pastures abroad.

Ultimately, the beneficiaries of our failed educational system are primarily the sponsors of local private educational institutions as well as colleges and universities in Europe, Canada and United States.

Indeed, if barely a hundred thousand youths pay an average of $50,000 annually for tuition and living expenses, this would result in a minimum outflow of about $5bn (N800bn) annually (i.e. well beyond the relatively paltry consolidated allocation of about N400bn in the 2014 budget for the whole country.

Sadly, the print and electronic media now readily tell a tale of a new scramble by foreign institutions to attract fee paying Nigerian students.

Sadly, however, if economic mismanagement of public resources subsists, only a fraction of our overseastrained students will return home after graduation. Such an event is fortuitously a winwin outcome for those first world economies, who are ironically, our shylock creditors as well as beneficiaries of the expensive sacrifice we make for our children to study abroad.

Nonetheless, those sponsors of foreign education may take comfort in the knowledge that their wards are less likely to be kidnapped or subjected to the uncertainties and the abiding trauma of survival at home.

Commercialization of education and the storm ahead now being sounded by the steady growth of private and profit-oriented tertiary institutions nationwide; meanwhile, the graduates of government institutions are now largely adjudged by both public and private sector employers of labour as uneducated and an embarrassment to the institutions from whence they came. Ultimately, we must be wary of a huge population of quarter-baked youths with no jobs.

The mind boggles at the scary prospect of the impact of the disconcerting disparity of opportunities between a small elite and a huge population of impoverished, largely untrained have-nots!

Sadly, the whole structure of youth education in Nigeria has now become as commercialized as a cash and carry supermarket. The most disturbing aspect of this phenomenon is the high cost of private education. In a country where the highest paid civil servant earns less than N1.5m a year and the least paid civil servant earns less than N100,000 annually, indications are that primary and secondary school fees exceed N50,000 for the cheapest and over N1m for the elitist cadres. Pray, how do civil servants, who send their children to private educational institutions, manage the abracadabra with their meagre salaries?”

The preceding is an edited excerpt from an article, which was first published in August 2005, with the above title (see w w w. l e s l e b a . c o m ) .

Regrettably, almost a decade thereafter, the chickens are coming home to roost. In reality, the quality of

,

T

he youths, they say, “are the future of any nation”. In the light of this awareness, the process of youth education and development would be top priority on the list of objectives for any progressive nation.

The wealth of a nation garnered from the toil, sweat and sacrifice of its people will be carelessly dissipated in the next generation, if the training and education of its youth is handled with levity.

The critical question therefore, is whether or not our educational policies and programmes can produce the expected quality of youth development that would ensure successful sustainability of the Nigerian project. Private investment, wherever it occurs, will generally be driven by the profit motive; consequently, if youth education is left solely in the hands of entrepreneurs, the basic right to education may only be available to the small elitist class, who can afford it. The majority of citizens, who are financially challenged, will remain largely uneducated, and untrained and ultimately become social liabilities, who will retard wealth creation and probably also predicate social insecurity.

Nonetheless, education seems to have been sucked in by the controversial wind of privatization of public utilities.

Consequently, the number of private primary schools has gradually increased from a ratio of, say, 1:20 public schools to what may now be a ratio of about three private schools to every governmentsponsored primary establishment. The products of these private primary schools, in turn, quickly provided a heavy stimulus for the growth also of private secondary schools.

The death knell of a predominantly governmentsponsored education sector is

Nonetheless, education seems to have been sucked in by the controversial wind of privatization of public utilities

education in public institutions has been adversely affected by inadequate funding, as well as political and economic factors; for example, in spite of United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s best practice recommendation for 26% of annual budgets to be allocated to education, regrettably, for decades, education votes have hardly exceeded 15% of annual b u d g e t s . Worse still, the recurrent component of expenditure generally consumes the lion’s share of the vote, while the usual delay in passage of budgets and unbridled corruption would further reduce the possibility of full implementation of the relatively paltry capital vote for education.

The ubiquitous dilapidated structures and facilities in our educational institutions are the inevitable products of inadequate funding and misappropriation of the meagre annual educational budgets; the protracted industrial actions by staff unions, such as the yet unresolved 10 months old strike of polytechnic teachers, and the horrid regular dislocation of academic calendars with the attendant oppressive impact on parents are also due to inadequate funding.

Furthermore, the instruments of quota system

,

and disparate cut-off marks for admission of students from different states into government institutions is undoubtedly a monumental injustice; how does one rationalize the rejection of a candidate with excellent scores because of their state of origin, while automatic admission awaits abysmal failures from some other states?

The decay in the education sector accelerated with the reckless depreciation of our national currency by over 95%, between 1985 and today! The remuneration package for teachers in primary and secondary schools as well as lecturers in our universities became inadequate to meet the survival needs of these of these cradle watchers; the result has been a mass exodus and loss of some of the best brains in the country to foreign pastures.

Expectedly, poverty has deepened as several industries and businesses collapsed, as the naira steadily depreciated from stronger than 1:1 to today’s N160/$1. The promotion of misguided government policies and deliberate lack of transparency and accountability also induced corrupt practices with public accounts and also further widened the gap between the rich and the poor. Ultimately, the dismal quality of

SAVE THE NAIRA, SAVE NIGERIANS!

Business & Economy

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU CBN bars debtors of closed banks from new facilities System and approved private ll the people still He further said that one of money payment and their crucial.” sector credit bureaus. the banking industry reforms, implication for sustainable A indebted to any of the He noted that the the implementation of the Risk banking have remained closed banks up to the tune of N250 million have been prohibited by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN from accessing new loans in any deposit money bank in Nigeria.

The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim disclosed this while delivering a keynote address at the corporation’s 2014 bank examiners’ conference held in Lagos.

He said the banks have been notified of the development and charged bank examiners to ensure compliance with the new directive.

He said the names of the debtors will soon be made available through the CBN’s Credit Risk Management C M Y K

corporation has continued to face challenges of debt recovery in terms of debt owed the closed banks, some of which remain unrecovered since 1994.

Earlier, he noted that the primary objective of the conference is to update the examiners’ knowledge and skills on contemporary supervisory toolkits for delivering the mandate of bank supervision thereby contributing to the safety and soundness of the insured institutions.

The conference, he explained, provided an opportunity for supervisors and operators as well as other stakeholders to brainstorm on topical issues that continue to shape the nation’s financial industry.

Based Supervision, has led to significant improvement in risk management practices by banks.

“Supervisory and financial reporting approaches such as macro prudential supervision, sustainable banking, International Financial Reporting Standard, Basel II/ III and consolidated supervision have also been substantially implemented in the bid to strengthen the system,” he added.

He explained that, “Without prejudice to the foregoing, the challenges of lending in the Nigerian environment, corporate governance, and impact of fixed income securities on the financial position of deposit money banks, technological innovations including mobile

Omoh Gabriel Babajide Komolafe Clara Nwachukwu Peter Egwuatu Yinka Kolawole Favour Nnabugwu Godwin Oritse Godfrey Bivbere Michael Eboh Franklin Alli Ebele Orakpo Ifeyinwa Obi Rosemary Onuoha

-

Group Business Editor Deputy Business Editor Energy Editor Asst. Business Editor Snr Bus. Correspondent Insurance Correspondent Maritime Correspondent Maritime Correspondent Energy Reporter Industry/Agric. Reporter Energy Reporter Maritime Reporter Insurance Reporter

CONTRIBUTORS Princewill Ekwujuru Nkiruka Nnorom Jonah Nwokpoku Naomi Uzor Providence Obuh LAYOUT

-

Media/Marketing Capital Market E-Commerce Industry Micro Finance Graphics Department

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014—41

$16bn Ogidigben Gas City'll revolutionize Nigeria—Gov Uduaghan

By EMMA AMAIZE

L

AST month (April), the Gov ernor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, visited the riverside community of Ogidigben, approximately 220 km, southeast of Lagos and 60 km west of Warri, to inspect the project sites of the $16 billion Gas Revolution Industrial City and proposed Marine University, Okerenkoko, both in Warri South-West Local Government Area, preparatory to the ground-breaking ceremony by President Goodluck Jonathan, evidently, this month (May).

Project Director of Julius Berger, which is handling the gas city, Mr. Tom Grousser, had informed the governor that the company mobilised to site in January and has completed 60 per cent of bush clearing, which will be completed in August. Uduaghan spoke with delight about the gas city, a public-private initiative, involving the Federal Government, private investors and Delta State Government, which he said would turn the state into the industrial base of the country.

For the communities, which are squabbling over the location of the project, he said there was no need fighting for the crumbs when the bigger cake is coming. And back to Government House in Asaba, he took time off, during the week, to speak to Vanguard on the significance on the project. Excerpts:

clude world-scale fertilizer and petrochemical plants. Actually, the wet gas is collected, dried and turned to dry gas. Like I said, with the gas city, there will fertilizer and petrochemical plants and the agricultural sector will be transformed because a lot of fertilizer is required for agriculture. For the petrochemical, it involves a lot of production and so, the gas city is a very huge project. It is an integral part of the Nigeria Gas Master Plan, and will serve as a model for future development elsewhere in the country. The development is being managed by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, so you can see why I am excited.

The whole idea is in consonance with our Delta-beyond-oil agenda.

Innternational oil companies The Ministry of Petroleum Resources is leading the development through a consortium, headed by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation. Two of the world’s largest international oil companies, Shell and Chevron, and another Nigerian company, Sahara Energy Resource Nigeria Limited, SERNL, are part of it. The gas processing facility will built initially with gas processing capacity of 500-800 MM scf/d and is planned ultimately to process 2Bscf/d of natural gas and sup-

,

,

The intent is to build a processing capacity to the point where there would be enough ethane available to supply a world-scale petrochemical plant

There is an unusual spring in you as you talk about the upcoming EPZ project in Ogidigben, what is it all about?

The project is actually a Federal Government-driven project.

The intention is to harness the country’s abundant gas resources to realize its 2020 vision of becoming one of the 20 largest economies in the world. But the special thing for me and Deltans is that Delta, the “Finger of God” is the host state and the impact will reverberate all over the state and country. The Gas City is a greenfield development built around a major central gas processing facility that will produce pipeline gas from the domestic gas market, especially for power generation, and supply gas to an industrial complex within the Gas Revolution Industrial City that will inC M Y K

ply ethane to a world-scale petroleum plant to be built by Saudi Arabia’s Xenel Industries. Can you feel why we are joyous?

What is the state government doing to ensure that communities in the area understand the importance of this project?

We have tried to educate them.

In fact, I had to hold a stakeholders’ meeting with the various communities and I brought technical experts on the project, they addressed them in Warri with slides and all that, telling them the gains. But you see, it will take sometime, it is a process, which is why when we have the opportunity, we try to educate them on the many opportunities that are there. They should look more into the future. What is coming here once it succeeds, generations unborn will benefit so much from

L-r: Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Project Manager, Julius Berger, Engr. Thomas Grossor and Engr. Talala Akya when the governor visited the ongoing Gas Export Processing Zone project in Photo: Henry Unini Ogidigben.

it.

Koko was initially to host this project, why was it moved away?

The anchor tenant - that is the company that will come and set up the fertilizer plant found out when they came to assess the whole area that in the distribution of their product, it will be difficult for big ships to come in to Koko. So Koko from their findings will be challenging for evacuation of their products, except they use smaller ships and that is not cost effective because they might run a loss if they do that. The alternative was dredging the channel into Koko and from the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, the initial assessment, is about $1 billion to do the dredging alone.

And after doing that, you are not even sure of how long it will take before the silting process starts again and it will require another dredging. Simply put, evacuation of the product will be quite complex and even the importation of the things to be used will require another location. So, Ogidigben was chosen because it has a bigger channel.

Location of the project It is important that Deltans understand what really happened.

The location of the project on the east bank of the Escravos River, opposite Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL’s Escravos facilities, gave Ogidigben several advantages.

One is that it is by the ocean, providing easy access for shipping and export to coastal and other international markets. Second is that is by the riverside, enabling for inland transportation via the Escravos River to inland markets such as nearby Warri and Sapele, and further a field via Forcados and Niger Rivers, third is that it is a more convenient location to gather gas and fourthly, it is close to the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline

System, ELPS, to deliver pipeline gas to consumers in western and central Nigeria.

What really is the role of the Delta State government on this project?

Delta State government is partnering with the federal government and other investors. We have issued a Certificate of Occupancy for the 2,700 hectares site for the Gas Revolution Industrial City. There are lots more we are going to do as the project progresses.

Some stakeholders, particularly Ijaw communities are complaining that 70 per cent of their land was taken for the project and they were not carried along.

Some have even threatened that there will be trouble if the problem is not resolved before the ground-breaking?

It is not true that Ijaw own 70 per cent of the land. The project is not even about who owns the land like I mentioned earlier because eventually, it is going to be bigger than who owns the land.

And that is what I keep emphasizing to them; people are fighting over what I call the small crumbs, whereas the big cake (laughs) is up there. So this is not the time to start fighting over land, we own land and all that.

I called all the communities and have spoken to them, it will start from one community and as the project is expanding, it will also involve other communities. It is not just the host communities that will benefit from the project, other parts of Delta State will benefit, the whole of Nigeria will benefit. The Koko that we are talking about now will also benefit.

How many jobs are likely to be created?

The job creation will be in phases. This initial time, they are clearing, Julius Berger has come in and all that, some people are supplying items to the workers there, some direct and indirect jobs, that

is just clearing alone. Then when the construction starts, of course, a lot of other persons will benefit.

So it is something that will employ thousands and thousands of persons. Fortunately, we have an experience from the Escravos Gas-to-Liquid plant that has just been completed.

Process of construction The process of construction employed a lot of our people, especially our young ones and a lot of other persons supplied all sort of things. Because of gas process being used for fertilizer and fertilizer for agriculture, the petrochemical plant will stimulate other industries.

What is the development strategy?

The gas city will be developed in phases. In the first phase, it will comprise key anchor projects like the CPF, 150 MW independent power plant, IPP, 2.6 Mtpa fertilizer plant and infrastructure, including roads, a new port, residential, commercial accommodation and public facilities. Later phases will see the expansion of the CPF, addition of major petrochemical facility and additional gas-based, secondary and service industries. Ultimately, the intent is to build a processing capacity to the point where there would be enough ethane available to supply a world-scale petrochemical plant. This would be implemented in phase 3, which would expand the CPF capacity to 2,400 MMscf/d There is something that people do not know yet. The Gas Revolution Industrial City is the first industrial complex to be developed under the Gas Revolution Agenda. It is a model that will be replicated in other industrial complexes to be established in the Niger-Delta region where gas is available.

C M Y K

42 — Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, MAY 5, 2014

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, MAY 5, 2014 — 43

I

N May 2006, the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC) convened

by President Olusegun Obasanjo, reached a unanimous decision to approve the creation of an additional state for the South East Zone to raise its stake to six states just like the others, even though North West has seven. It was the first time the nation reached a major national consensus through democratic means to right the wrongs of history and give a major but cheated section of this country reason to believe once more in Nigeria. That state would have been created if not for the tenure elongation clause that Obasanjo’s busybody flunkeys brought in to give their sponsor a third term.

It did not come as a surprise when the Consensus Committee of the current National Conference sitting in Abuja, at the prompting of elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae, resolved to propose for the approval of the plenary, the creation of that

,

C M Y

44 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

ACF’s anti-Igbo memo (1) circulated to delegates from the North, as nauseating as it is, did not come as a surprise, coming from the ACF. The ACF is a rabid, reactionary platform populated by many discredited elders of Arewa who occupied prominent positions both at the state and federal levels for decades. They leveraged on the long dominance of the political space by the military led by the

The ACF has never been in the forefront of any positive agenda or idea for the promotion of the unity, love, progress and nationalistic values in Nigeria; rather, it is the promoter of the factors that have made the North an enemy unto itself and the nation at large missing state in the South East Zone. It was merely a reiteration, by the broadbased Committee of delegates from all zones of the country, of what the earlier Obasanjo Conference had already, by overwhelming approval, slated as an item for inclusion in the 2006 Constitution Amendment Bill. Therefore, the creation of an additional state for the South East Zone to bring it to par with the rest has, for the second time in less than ten years, become one of the settled issues of a new Nigeria where, as our National Anthem affirms, “peace and justice shall reign”.

Last week Friday, we read in the media, a 46-page memo purportedly written by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) entitled: “Key Issues Before Northern Delegates to the 2014 National Conference”, in which it opposed the creation of the additional state for the South East Zone. The ACF’s argument was that the Zone does not have the population and landmass to merit six states like the other zones. It went ahead to claim the North is the “strength and backbone of Nigeria”, whatever that means.

The ACF’s memo, which has been

,

North to ravage the entire landscape of this nation, rendering the most blest nation in Africa to one of the poorest in the world.

They made their home region, the North, to become the hotbed of mass poverty, destitution, religious conflicts, communal wars and Boko Haram terrorism wracking the country today. It is those in the ACF and their cohorts who underdeveloped the North with their reactionary agenda that spawned Boko Haram insurgency.

The ACF has never been in the forefront of any positive agenda or idea for the promotion of the unity, love, progress and nationalistic values in Nigeria. Rather, it is the promoter of the factors that have made the North an enemy unto itself and the nation at large, pitting Christians/ Minorities against Muslims/Majorities.

They do not believe that what is good for Nigeria is good for the North. Rather, they believe that Nigeria is a conquered fief of the Muslim North. They are bedeviled by the “born-to-rule” mentality, which means that the rest of the country are born to be their servants or subjects; a notion that will always guarantee we will never live peacefully together. How can we fight and

chase away the British colonial masters only to come home and tolerate an indolent, parasitic local colonialist?

It is this same ACF that is against resource control. They don’t want to work.

Rather they would parasite on the oil wealth of the Niger Delta when the country, including the North, is richly blest with human and natural resources which resource control can leverage on to make Nigeria one of the biggest economies in the world. The ACF has never gone into talks with any of the other regional interests in search of peaceful co-existence.

Rather they believe the North can force its way and lord it upon the rest of the country, and hence the boast that the North is the “strength and backbone of Nigeria. The truth is that, as my fellow columnist here in Vanguard, Femi Aribisala says, Nigeria’s strength is not complete without any of its constituent parts and any group that sees itself as the strength and backbone of the country to the exclusion of the rest is merely engaging in empty selfglorification, talking for the sake of hearing their own voice.

ACF boasted it would stop President Goodluck Jonathan from being elected president in 2011. It created the Adamu Ciroma panel, which brought out Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the candidate of the “North”. Atiku was roundly defeated at the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primaries.

They switched support to Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Again, Buhari was hopeless thrashed at the polls. These could not have been possible without the active participation of the Northern patriots. The ACF never wanted the North to participate at the Confab because they feared it would be used to bring about positive changes such as addressing the issues of marginalisation, which is an offshoot of the

First Republic crises and civil war. Having failed to stop the North’s participation, ACF is now attempting to incite their delegates to go against the interest of the Igbo people and other Nigerians, most of who have been great allies of the North at various junctures of Nigeria’s history.

The ACF never condemned Boko Haram insurgency. In fact, they were behind the threat to ensure the nation was made ungovernable if Jonathan became president. ACF was the only outfit that supported Governor Murtala Nyako’s recent poisonous and treasonable antiNigeria memo to Northern governors alleging genocide against the federal government. The conclusion we draw from this is that the people of Northern Nigeria do not take their political compass and marching order from a discredited and electorally hollow group like ACF. Northerners are Nigerians, working with the rest of Nigeria towards the greatness of Nigeria, our commonwealth.

Coming to the nonsensical argument that the South East Zone does not have the landmass and population to merit an additional state, I dare say that state creation was never based on any cast-iron criteria under the military. They were created on mere whims, and in the process, some parts of the country got more states and local councils than the others. States were never created based on viability. The basic reason for state creation in Nigeria was to give playing turf to relevant contending political actors whose agitation needed to be accommodated for national stability. It was also done to take development closer to the people, and in the process, try to balance the federation.

That was how the first twelve states were created by General Yakubu Gowon in 1967.

It helped him win the civil war and push the Igbos out of contention due to their secession attempt. After the war, subsequent state and local council creation exercises were used by the winners of the war to reward themselves and punish their perceived enemies. They were also used to loot the oil resources of the Niger Delta.

This Conference is meant to help us balance the federation, reduce marginalisation, cut the cost of governance, promote the faith of Nigerians in their country and strengthen the bonds of our unity. THIS ARTICLE WILL BE CONCLUDED ON THURSDAY. SEE YOU THEN.

OPINION Online media and abuse of Press freedom

BY MOSHOOD ISAH HE notion of a free press emanated after resilient agitation against the early authoritarian stance towards the press in the society. It is pertinent to say that nations have developed from the philosophy of absolutism where both private and public owned media existed to service the government of the day, to a more rational and free society where media can check the excesses of government. This was why the media was dubbed the ‘fourth estate of the realm’. Both the moral and constitutional power mustered by the media in any society has given it the leverage to operate almost on a ‘free-hand’ basis. Thus, there have been calls to also curb the excesses of the media.

The internet technology has led to influx of various online media which are gradually ousting the mainstream media.

The online media has become so rampant that anyone can launch a news blog without knowing a single law and ethics of the media and become a ‘journalist’ overnight. Many online bloggers are not really qualified professionals but are the most dependable source of information in the country due to their timeliness. Even though newspapers are moving with the trend of timeliness by updating their sites as soon as events happen, hard copies of tabloids will still be on the news stand. The emergence of online media has made it easier for individuals or groups to operate without the needed license. Thus, this gives them the levity to disseminate information with impunity whether true or false. More so, it is very difficult to track such personnel because of the anonymous nature of the medium.

T

In this vein, there is an incessant conscious or unconscious violation of media ethics with a regulator. Even though not a classical example, the Wendel Simlin Pseudonym case on twitter allegedly trying to defame the reputation of a former public servant was just a sign that violation of journalism law has gone viral. More so, there are instances of stalking and hacking through personal information like text messages all in the name of investigative reporting. At this juncture, there is need to say that it is not only the online media that are culpable in most of these offences. It is rather unfortunate to know that even the mainstream traditional media with operating licenses and who are supposed to have signed undertaking to uphold these laws and ethics are also often found wanting.

The Constitution and the social system have no doubt bestowed on the media, the responsibility and the freedom of information dissemination and so there is need to live up to such billings. It is no more news that due to a desire to earn bragging right, media houses tend to report inaccurate information and end up misleading the society. The typical Nigerian media will rather use a large number to describe the magnitude of an event, even when it is certain that numbers could not be verified. It is far better and safer to use clause like ‘we cannot authoritatively verify this number or figures as the case may be’. The audience will definitely comprehend the stand of the media due to the complexity of the situation. In this era of insecurity, the least expected from the media is accurate information. The media has a better way of optimizing its freedom rather than abusing it

to some extent.

The Freedom of Information Bill is an opportunity the media should grab with both hands in availing the citizens of vital information. The media with its large amount of freedom can be socially responsible to a very large extent and also serve as catalyst to the development of societies.

Tracking the manifestoes of political parties and prompting them via interviews and political platforms will go a long way in keeping public servants and executives on their toes in a bid to fulfill their manifestoes. Media houses can also put their heads together in ensuring credible elections by tracking the entire process in every polling unit. This may be difficult but it is not too much a sacrifice for the betterment of the nation.

The bodies vested with regulation of media activities have a lot of work to do in improving on the level of sanity in the system. Bodies like Nigerian Union of Journalists can organise seminars and workshops in a bid to further educate journalists, especially freshers, on the need to maintain the law and ethics of the profession in any situation. There is also need to draw a line between public interest information and other media ethics, especially the law of privacy. Most importantly, the government should regulate activities of news blogging by ensuring that they go through normal processes of registration so they can be tracked with ease when the need arises. *Mr. Isah, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Abuja.

Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, MAY 5, 2014 — 45

46 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

13 PERCENT DERIVA N/Delta'll not last 24 hours as a country—Junaid Mohammed SECOND Republic lawmaker and a delegate at the National Conference, Dr Junaid Mohammed, in this interview, speaks on why the North wants derivation reduced to five per cent, accusing former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) of unleashing injustice on the polity with the help of Justice Niki Toby.

break up Nigeria.

BY GBENGA OKE

O

N what informed the northern delegates’ call for reduction of derivation from 13 percent to five percent Part of the confusion arising from the derivation is the way it has been applied or misapplied to the detriment of all the 36 states of the federation and this has to do directly with the way former Head of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar introduced the term ‘derivation’ and it to be loosely applied as to include other funds which are significant and which are not covered by oil.

This injustice done by Abdusalami was in violation of the Constitution and the principle governing this great injustice was put into the constitution without any debate and the constitution itself was never passed by referendum.

Derivation principle In short, what is contained in the derivation principle is the understanding that first, oil producing communities do suffer deprivation arising from oil exploration/exploitation and need to be compensated but not through a smuggled phrase coined by Niki Toby and smuggled with the help of Abdusalami Abubakar into the constitution.

There has been mention of the need to compensate the communities who suffer directly or indirectly in terms of environment degradation,

their means of livelihood and other adverse effects of oil exploration. Decree 20 of 1992 created OMPADEC and what was at stake then was that in passing Decree 20 of 1992, Ibrahim Babangida took it to the then legislative arm of the Nigeria government which is the Armed Forces Ruling Council but in the case of Abdusalami, he did not do that.

Secondly, as to what percentage to accord those oil producing states, you decide to call it derivation which is misnomer. Thirdly, the wording of the derivation section was deliberately and loosely defined to mean all monies accruing to the coffers of the Federal Government which is what we call Consolidated Revenue Funds; the Niger Delta states must take 13 percent of it. If you give them a fraction of what belongs to them, you cannot also rake others and give to them.

For example, the value added tax which is a consumption tax and which is an indirect tax of everything you buy in Nigeria, others like export duties, import duties, etc are now included into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation and 13 percent is automatically removed before anything is shared to anybody including the Federal Government.

Abdusalami should have known that this kind of arrangement is unacceptable.

What he did was to set in motion what may break up Nigeria because people are not going to live in a country where there is half-free and half-

Fraction of oil proceeds So if elected Nigerians decided that they are going to cede a certain fraction of the oil proceeds accruing from the oil production, it should be limited to onshore production and until this matter is resolved, I can tell you that we will be lurching from one constitutional problem to another. We all know how the dichotomy was removed, the Supreme Court in its judgment of 2002 said unambiguously that it affirms what is already in section 44 sub section 3 of the constitution and section 62 also of the constitution and it says without mincing of words that offshore production belongs to the whole of Nigeria and even what is onshore and the entire mineral resources

either gold or oil belong to the Federal Government as the epitome of Nigeria’s sovereignty.

The states whose lands abate the sea are basically Rivers, Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa and Ondo states. Now you are saying these five states should be ceded what belongs to everybody including the other 31 states. It is something that I find criminally impossible.

Are you now saying the Niger/Delta states don’t deserve the revenue they are getting right now?

The situation we have found ourselves today is such that the people of the Niger-Delta have been pampered and they are now saying they are entitled to

,

•Mohammed:If unjustly handled, resource control can

slaves. We cannot allow this kind of lopsided application of fiscal principle to undermine the integrity of the nation and there is no way this revenue allocation law can subsist and we will have peace.

The International law provides what is called law of the sea convention and it provides that a state bordering the sea has what is called territorial waters of 12 kilometres, beyond that the state may also claim what is called a contiguous zone of another 12 kilometres, beyond that, everything at sea is a common heritage of mankind which however have been structured in a way that nations who are contiguous with the sea can benefit from what is common heritage of humanity.

By any standard, international law is superior to domestic laws because there are many laws that have been passed in Hague which make international laws superior to domestic laws to a certain limit.

What they are now saying is that anything found in the sea that has to do with oil production belongs to them and the rest of Nigeria are saying no and it is not just the question of Northern states

ownership, derivation, if they own the oil, why are they talking about derivation? They should own it 100 percent. So you can see their ignorance or agitation carried too far. You can never own or control what you never had, if you agree to drive something, it must be something you own 100 percent and you decide to drive it any extent to satisfy yourself but I don’t see any sense in the agitation other than the fact that they now have one of their own as the President of this country.

When they talk, they always talk about Kuwait and Dubai, these countries were not made by money alone, people prepared to work very hard.

,

If they don’t want to have Nigeria, fine, but let me tell you that the day you make the NigerDelta a country, it will not last 24 hours 13 percent of all revenues accruing to the Federal Government and not just oil alone and they are now asking to be given more. What we are saying is that, without prejudice to whatever quantum you are signing to them out of onshore production, we must re-introduce that dichotomy so we know what is onshore and which can now be argued they are entitled to something. We also said we must disambiguate our own income because you cannot lump oil money with import and export duties and value added tax.

If these issues are not resolved, what it means is that the oil producing states now take 13 percent of all revenue going into the federation account.

Insurgency in the north Nobody needs to be told that this lopsidedness in the formula led to insurgency in the North. I have no respect for Boko Haram and I find their understanding of Islam bizarre.

So in a way, those who are clamouring for resource

Also, the terrain in Dubai and Kuwait is different from ours and they don’t have the kind of revenue formula we are practising here in Nigeria. I have also been to Yemen, a very poor country but it has oil and when you compare the population of those countries and the population of Nigeria, you can see that per capita, our oil money is a peanut. What is the population of Kuwait?

Saudi Arabia is about 20million. Libya is less than that. So if our oil production is at par with that of Libya, Libyans will only have to divide what they have by 20 million but in the case of Nigeria, we have over 170 million and I still believe we are under counted.

If they don’t want to have Nigeria, fine, but let me tell you that the day you make the Niger-Delta a country, it will not last 24 hours because they have nothing in common aside this agitation, nothing in their culture is common, in terms of language and religious beliefs.

I can tell you that very soon, Nigerians will no longer accept this situation whereby the par Continues on page 47

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 47

ATION CONTROVERSY: North has nothing to offer — Aniete Okon •Says we want 100 per cent resource control CHIEF Aniete Okon was the pioneer National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and Second Republic senator. In this interview with Vanguard, he berates northern delegates at the National Conference for asking for the reduction of the 13 per cent derivation to five per cent, saying they lack foresight and need to be inventive to bring something to the revenue table rather than trying to dictate to the South-South. Excerpts:

BY GBENGA OKE

W

HAT is your reaction to the northern delegates’ call for the reduction of the 13 per cent derivation to five percent?

Some of these people claiming to represent the North strike postures that do no more than to give them cheap visibility. The more extreme and untenable their positions, the more they attract media attention to themselves.

Those of them clamouring for a reduction of the attributable percentage from oil revenue to states that bear oil, are e s s e n t i a l l y informed by covetousness and casting their eyes over their neighbour ’s property. That itself is fed by indolence in the absence of initiative that they must heap at the doorsteps of the so called leaders and elites of the North. They have

call a federation? If we say Nigeria is a federation, the cornerstone of a federation is fiscal federalism and it has to do with the interdependence of the various parts.

The federating units, to a large extent, are complete nations except they have decided to subsume part of that independence under a federal flag. So, when some of them talk about five per cent, its shows that the extremists among them do not realise the danger it portends for the continuous existence of Nigeria.

I dare say now that any suggestion of tampering with the derivation provisions which we are working hard to ensure for review will spell doom for this country and it should be obvious for those misguided grand standers. When they say it is a federation, they should recognise that there is no part

,

I will like to look at the amount of money that has been passed to them in the name of ecological remediation, we will like to look at the figures for ecological remediation and how it has been spent

governments there and they have long-standing leaders and you will wonder why they have not been able to harness resources to develop their own natural endowments. They continue to cast aspersions at what is going to states that today bear the brunt of providing the wherewithal for this country to run.

Considered ordinarily, it is sheer provocation and it brings to the fore the empty and meaningless sloganeering of the indissolubility of the country. If we do not find that the prevailing attitudes coincide with the basic elements of equity and justice, then there will be need to examine the articles of that entity called Nigeria. The basic issues are clear: what do you

,

that can dictate to the other and the basic principle remains that each part will manage its resources and develop at its own capacity.

So we are waiting for them, even though I do realise there are saner heads among them.

This conference was designed given the realities of the present day to try and establish relief and reach a level of patriotism for a country called Nigeria; to lead the country to nationhood.

But if this is the attitudinal redoubt of some of them, they should be ready for the consequences of their actions.

Although it is beyond their capacity, we will take proper note of their resentment which are essentially expressed in the outrageous and insulting

statement about the principle of derivation as applied to revenue earned by the country.

It is the indolence and the absolute lack of pragmatism in managing their loss in the country that has made them cast such covetous hunger on the resources of other people.

They have their own and they should show inventiveness and initiative to exploit and bring to the table what the SouthSouth and other oil-bearing states are bringing to the table.

What about the northern delegate' demand for the scrapping of the NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta and Amnesty programme?

Those agencies and programmes are in recognition that these areas require specially designed management of their challenges. When you talk of NDDC, do they also forget that so much money has been passed to them in the name of ecological remediation?

I will like to look at the amount of money that has been passed to them in the name of ecological remediation, we will like to look at the figures for ecological remediation and how it has been spent.

Residual indolence The NDDC is interventionist.

When they talk of the Ministry of the Niger Delta, it was not created by somebody from the South-South; it was created by ex President Umaru MusaYar ’Adua, who unlike them was not afflicted by what I call residual indolence.

He saw the special need of the area and decided that it should be properly addressed by a special vehicle like a special ministry for it. So, what is their grouse? Don’t we have other parastatals created out of other ministries in which their impact areas remain in the North?

•Okon:Without justice, we need to re-examine the unity of Nigeria

They don’t have anything to offer but we are ready to meet their challenge. This is not the first time, at the 1994 National Conference, a particular delegate at the National Conference postulated in the same manner, even when they came with a report which was a tendentious and tentative misrepresentation of the position of the committee of which I was a member.

Leadership of the conference It caused uproar and it took the intervention of the leadership of the conference then to set up a meeting in which the two sides were respectively led.

The two sides were led by Chief Alex Ekwueme and the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu. From the Northern side, we had late General Shehu Musa Yar ’Adua. We reached a compromise and we were appealed to shift from our 25per cent which was our minimum demand.

They appealed to us and

solicited to accommodate certain urgent needs of the country by settling for 13 percent. Today, the position is different, our position is that if the process of restructuring is extensive enough as to allow certain momentous decisions to be established, and then we will not be talking about any percentages of derivation because we will then be talking about owning our assets 100 percent and running them. We will negotiate with the centre on agreed terms of funding the centre.

How does the South-South intend to achieve that?

It is not a question of how that comes into play; our position is very clear on that. If this is a federal state, then the basic principles will apply notwithstanding the fact that we recognise that provisions will be made for the centre. At the moment, it is clearly a general and open position that most delegates to this conference and commentators outside do agree that the Federal Government is over burdened and that is also raising queries on competence.

N/Delta'll not last 24 hours

Continues from page 46 capita income of the Niger-Delta zone is higher than that of some countries that are developed and on top of all that, the Federal Government is still responsible for the Amnesty programme which gulps about 450 billion yearly. There is also the Ministry of the Niger-Delta which does projects in the Niger/Delta and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). These things are clearly unacceptable. Virtually, each of the big states that I have mentioned has 80 percent revenue more than their northern states counterparts put together.

48 — Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, MAY 5, 2014

V anguard Vanguard anguard,, FRIDAY, MAY 5 , 2014 — 49

NEWS ON BRIEFS

Russian bombers, fighter jets ‘seen over Crimea’

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits Nigeria for WEF C

HINESE Premier Li Keqiang is to visit four countries in Africa on his first tour of the continent since assuming his position a little over a year ago, seeking to nurture a booming economic relationship.

Li is scheduled to visit Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola and Kenya during the trip, which begins Sunday and lasts for a week, officials said. It also includes a visit to the headquarters of the African Union in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The trip follows one Chinese President Xi Jinping made to the continent last year, shortly after taking office, a journey that underscored Africa’s importance to China, the world’s second-largest economy.

Xi became state president and Li became premier in March last year, culminating a once-a-decade power transition in Communist Party-ruled China.

China’s economic growth has been partially fuelled

by African natural resources, including oil.

“It is an important visit oriented towards the whole continent,” Zhang Ming, Chinese vice-minister for foreign affairs, told reporters, stressing that Li will be

•Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visiting Africa’s eastern, western and southern regions. It “highlights the

great importance we attach to China-Africa relations”, he added.

Zhang also said that renewing the “traditional friendship” between China and Africa as well as advancing a “new type of strategic partnership” were goals of the visit.

After arriving in Ethiopia yesterday, Li journeys to Nigeria on Tuesday before moving on to Angola on Thursday and finally Kenya on Friday, China’s foreign ministry said.

“Chinese investment in Ethiopia is showing significant expansion in both quality and quantity, and it currently stands at over US $1 billion,” Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The high-rise AU headquarters, Addis Ababa’s tallest building, was built and donated by China at a cost of $200 million in 2012. Li is expected to address leaders of the 54member pan-African bloc.

Ukraine's PM appeals for unity after Odessa tragedy

U

KRAINE’s prime minister yesterday visited the city where a horrific blaze killed dozens of pro-Russian demonstrators during political riots — seeking to defuse mounting ten-

sions by calling the deaths a “tragedy for all Ukraine.”

Arseniy Yatsenyuk said police were being investigated for their failure to maintain order in Friday ’s violence, while hinting strongly that he sees Moscow’s hand in the events.

“This is not a tragedy only for Odessa,” Yatsenyuk said. “This is a tragedy for all Ukraine.”

The prime minister said he has charged prosecutors with “finding all instigators, all organizers and all those that under Russian leadership began a deadly attack on Ukraine and Odessa.”

More than 40 people

died in the unrest — some from gunshot wounds, but most in a fire that tore through a trade union building.

Odessa is the major city between the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in March, and the Moldovan separatist region of Trans-Dniester where Russia has a military peacekeeping contingent. Concerns are mounting that Russia ultimately aims to take control of a huge swath of Ukraine from TransDniester to the east.

Yatsenyuk’s visit came as Ukrainian authorities renewed their push to quell a pro-Russian insurgency in the east.

S

EVERAL dozen Russian planes including what appeared to be strategic bombers and fighter jets have been spotted in the sky above the Moscow-controlled peninsula of Crimea, witnesses and experts said.

According to Russian media, President Vladimir Putin is poised to visit Crimea on Friday after overseeing the main military parade on Red Square when Russia celebrates its victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. A local aviation expert told AFP yesterday that he had sighted a number of planes over the peninsula’s main city of Simferopol on Saturday, including supersonic heavy strategic bombers and heavy military transport aircraft.

Germany calls for second Geneva meeting on Ukraine

G

ERMAN Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier yesterday called for a second international conference to put an end to the crisis in Ukraine.

He said he made the proposal in telephone conversations on Sunday with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

“In the many discussions I’ve had in the last couple of hours, I’ve been campaigning ... to hold a second meeting in Geneva to follow up on the first one,” he told ARD television, according to a text of an interview to be aired later.

Hamas rules out recognising Israel

H

AMAS will never recognise Israel and will not accept the conditions laid out by the Middle East peacemaking Quartet, according to the Islamist movement’s deputy leader. Mussa Abu Marzuq said Hamas, which recently signed a reconciliation deal with the Western-backed Palestinian leadership in the occupied West Bank, would never agree to recognise Israel.

“We will not recognise the Zionist entity,” he said at a press conference in Gaza City.

Under terms of the deal, Gaza’s Hamas rulers and the Palestine Liberation Organisation of president Mahmud Abbas are to work together to form a new unity government which will prepare for national elections.

Libya’s Parliament elects new PM

L

IBYA’s parliament has sworn in a new prime minister, officials have said. Libya’s National Conference elected 42-year-old businessman Ahmed Maiteeq as the new prime minister on Sunday with 121 votes, second deputy speaker of parliament Saleh al-Makhzoun told the AFP news agency.

“I swear I will carry out my duties honestly and in devotion,” Maiteeq told parliament as several seats appeared empty. After a chaotic session of parliament, Maiteeq was initially reported to have mustered only 113 votes of the 120 needed under the constitution in a vote of confidence.

Kenya raises Mombasa attacks death toll to four

K

ENYAN officials yesterday raised the death toll from twin attacks in Mombasa to four people confirmed dead and 15 wounded as police responded to more bomb scares in the coastal city.

One explosion occurred in the busy Mwembe Tayari area of the city centre late on Saturday, when a grenade was thrown inside a packed passenger bus.

A second blast from an improvised explosive device, or IED, was set off close to the well-known Reef Hotel in the Nyali area of the city, although it did not cause any casualties.

50 — Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, MAY 5, 2014

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 51

Vanguard CLASSIFIED JACKSON—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Marvelline Essien Jackson, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Marvelline Victor Umoh. All former documents remain valid.

University Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Ecobank Nig. Plc. and the general public please take note.

UDEH— I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Vivian Eberechukwu Udeh, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Vivian Eberechukwu Ejiofor. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

DANIEL—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Janet Ahuoyiza Daniel, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Janet Ahuoyiza Odey John.

All former documents remain valid. Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State and the general public please take note.

MBA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Mba Ogechukwu Adaeze, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. E z e a b a s i l i Ogechukwu Adaeze.

All former documents remain valid. Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe University T e a c h i n g Hospital(NAUTH), Nnewi/Oba and the general public please take note.

ELONU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Elonu Nancy Chinonye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Obasi Nancy Chinonye. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

EKUFIA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Geraldine Efuru Ekufia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Geraldine Efuru Agbator. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

NWANKWEGU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss N w a n k w e g u M a r c e l l i n a Kelechukwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nwibo Marcellina Kelechukwu.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ALIOZOR—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Helen Ijeoma Aliozor, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Helen Ijeoma Ezejiofor. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

O M O Z UA F O — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Omozuafo Gladys Oghenakhitseme, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onifade Gladys Oghenakhitseme. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

IROLE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Chinwe Sarah Irole, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chinwe Sarah Robert Okoro. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ESEAGA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ihuoma Favour Eseaga, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ihuoma Favour Uwaekwe. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

NWABUEZE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Stella Chinenye Nwabueze, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Stella Chinenye Okoye.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

GABRIEL—I, formerly known as Miss Gabriel Ngozi Benedicta now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Stephen Ngozi Favour. All former documents remain valid. NYSC, Federal University of Technology, (FUTA) Akure, Ondo State and the general public please take note.

EKENWE— I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Josephine Chinyelu Ekenwe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Josephine Chinyelu Rolland. All former documents remain valid. Unizik Awka, NYSC, TRCN and the general public please take note.

ILEKA— I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ileka C h i n w e n d u Nwamaka, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nriagu Chinwendu Jecinta. All former documents remain valid. Anambra State University Igbariam, NYSC and the general public please take note.

OGAR—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Angela Ogar, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Angela Ogar Zakka. All former documents remain valid. Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the general public please take note.

DIM— I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Dim Uzoamaka Ekene, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olugbuo Uzoamaka Ekene. All former documents remain valid. Enterprise Bank and the general public please take note.

ANWULUORAH— I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Anwuluorah Chioma Linday Mary Cecilia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Uzoezie Chioma Linda Mary Cecilia. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and the general public please take note.

HARRY—I, formerly known and addressed as Harriba Harry, now wish to be known and addressed as Harriba Harry-Pepple. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

EGHELE—I, formerly known and addressed as Eghele Emmanuel Oritsewino, now wish to be known and addressed as Oritsewino Joseph Emmanuel. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

EBOAGWU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Eboagwu Isioma Margaret, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Unuero Isioma Margaret. All former documents remain valid. Nursing and Midwifery Council, NPS and the general public please take note.

IKEM—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ikem Lilian, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okobia Ogorchukwu Lilian. All former documents remain valid. Ministry of Energy, Asaba and the general public please take note.

ERIBO—I, formerly known and addressed as Festus Fiaye Eribo, now wish to be known and addressed as Festus Fiaye ErebeEribo. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OCHIDA—I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Patricia Ene Ochida, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Patricia Ene Alechenu. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

YUSUF—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwaseun Serah Yusuf, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oluwaseun Serah Babadiji. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

LONGE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Florence Enitan Longe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Florence Enitan Longe-Adediwura. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OGUZIE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Chidera Anthonia Oguzie, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chidera Anthonia Benedict Ejimogu. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

BALOGUN—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwafemi Bolanle Balogun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oluwafemi Bolanle Adeola. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Gunmen kill 8 in fresh attack in Borno

By KINGSLEY OMONOBI & NDAHI MARAMA

B

ARELY 24 hours after attacking two Borno villages, suspected gunmen of Boko Haram sect, yesterday, attacked Kayamla village market, shot dead eight traders and drivers and injured 18 people, while fleeing into different directions at 12.30pm.

Kayamla, a farming community which is 20 kilometres south of Giwa Barracks was earlier attacked last March by suspected insurgents. The gunmen, according to an escaped driver, Fantami Modu, in Maiduguri, burst into the market square by noon in more than a dozen Toyota Hilux vehicles, motorcycles and pickup vans, before firing at some traders and drivers sporadically.

Modu said as the gunshots rent the market square the people began to run from their shops into different directions. He added, “I cannot tell you the exact number of people killed, but one of our members of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, was shot in the chest; and we are trying to rush him to hospital. I saw about eight people who

were shot dead, while we were trying to carry our member to a hospital for treatment." He added that the insurgents came to extort people’s money in the market, including some food items like grains, vegetable oil and other basic needs.

Meanwhile, the Borno State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Gideon Jibrin, could not be reached, but a security source said that there was another village market attack by suspected armed hoodlums at one of the settlements on the shores of Lake Alau in Konduga council area, where some traders were feared dead. He added that a dozen people were also injured, while fleeing the market yesterday afternoon.

An attack by suicide bombers operating in a pickup vehicle laden with IEDs was also foiled in Damaturu, the Yobe State Capital, yesterday. A statement by the Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, noted that “the target of the attack was ‘A’ Division of Police Command in the centre of the town." The statement said the attempt was foiled as the culprit was arrested by the police personnel on duty.

Heineken boss to co-chair World Economic Forum on Africa

C

HAIRMAN and Chief Executive Officer of the Heineken executive board, Jean-Francois van Boxmeer will cochair the 2014 World Economic Forum on Africa, WEFA. The forum, which has as its theme ‘Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs’ is scheduled to hold in Abuja, May 9 to 11.

Mr. Boxmeer is expected to offer insights into the global brewer’s partnership with Africa at the forum. He would co-chair the forum alongside the Global ViceChairman, General Electric, John Rice; the Global Managing Director of McKinsey and Company, United Kingdom, Dominic Barton and Chief Executive Officer, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

Other co-chairs include the Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security, African Union and President, Femmes Africa Solidarité, Switzerland, Mineta Diop, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, India, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Chairman, Telkom Group, South

Africa, Jabu A. Mabuza.

The forum, which is the 24th on Africa, is expected to bring regional and global leaders to discuss innovative structural reforms and investments that can sustain the continent’s growth by creating jobs and prosperity for its people. Through its operations in 20 countries, including Nigeria, Heineken has been a key partner in the growth and development of the continent.

The combination of growing populations, strong expected economic growth, improved political stability and in many markets an emerging, brand-conscious middle class creates attractive growth opportunities for the continent and its people.

The gathering, which will be declared open by President Goodluck Jonathan, is expected to bring together regional and global thought leaders to discuss innovative structural investments and reforms that can sustain the continent’s growth while creating jobs and multiplying prosperity for her people.

52 — Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

T

Pressing the Falcons panic button

,

WICE in four weeks I have had to write on the women game in Nigeria. The last time, I remembered how I was there to cover the first ever Women World Cup in China over 23 years ago and how the game held great promises for Nigeria.

When the men faltered, the women held their own.

The Falcons were unbeatable in Africa. Scorelines of 10-0, 8-0 etc were the order of the day.

Though we dominated Africa, we never really held our own on the world stage until FIFA introduced the developmental U-17 and U-20 categories, and Nigeria shone, getting to finals and semi finals over time and promising to win, sooner than later.

About four years ago, the Falcons game dipped. We were no longer the rulers of Africa. Equatorial Guinea took centre stage. Cameroun and South Africa followed and we have not wondered why.

Soon enough, we came to realize that the absence of a veritable league as was hitherto the case also contributed to the down turn of the Women game. Some also accused the NFF of not giving the girls due attention compared to the Super Eagles.

“Attention” here for me could be translated to asking questions and wondering why suddenly the women were not getting enough action even in the areas of sponsorship and the regularity of their league.

For whatever the reason, an effort was made two seasons ago to revive the Falcons and that led to the employment of the experienced coach Khadiri Ikhana, yet it did not work. My relentless crusade to get Edat Egan back on the driving seat ended with the employment of Edwin Okon, a man with so much experience on the domestic scene that you could hardly fault his employment.

Because we are to play RWANDA (Capitals mine ) we have decided to invite EIGHT FOREIGN BASED PROFESSIONALS

,

Five years as the best coach on the domestic scene with his club Rivers Angels, over ten years experience behind him, there was need to allow Okon tinker with the Falcons as we sought to rebuild the team.

Rebuilding the Falcons means adequate friendly

matches, enough support and encouragement, a reinvigoration of the domestic league and a conscious recruitment drive across the nation.

When the Lionesses came calling last week, a friend in the Cameroun Football Federation was quick to remind me that they will not be beaten. That their girls have been in camp for a long time and that since they dumped us out of the London Olympics two years ago they have decided to encourage the women game in the central African country.

True to prediction, Okon and his girls struggled before they could win with a solitary goal and all hell was let loose as panic buttons are now being pressed.

Because we are to play RWANDA ( Capitals mine ) we have decided to invite EIGHT FOREIGN BASED PROFESSIONALS (Capitals mine) . I want to joke by saying that when the opposition is EQUATORIAL GUINEA then like the Super Eagles we will go for 18 FOREIGNERS. This is definitely not the way to go. I have looked at all the women invited and I want to be proved wrong that there is any one of them that is less than 35. An argument has been made for those of them who are playing in the Swedish league, one considered more competitive than ours.

As it is they will be arriving the country less than ten days before the match and it remains to be seen how soon they can jell and fit into a team that Okon and his colleagues have been trying to build, one that is alien to them.

The problem with the women game in Nigeria will be papered if we just decide to go on a victory seeking crusade instead of developing same.

See you next week.

No fear! Pulis urges Crystal Palace to attack Liverpool T ONY PULIS is urging his Crystal Palace players to no show no fear against Liverpool and their SAS forward line.

The Reds can return to the Premier League summit with victory at Selhurst Park tomorrow night after slipping down to secondplace following Manchester City’s 3-2 victory over Everton weekend Palace have already guaranteed their top-flight status for another season and could yet secure a topten finish.

And Pulis wants his players to relish the challenge of facing the Reds and their 50 goal strike partner-

ship of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.

“There’s not many occasions where you play against such great players and when you do I think it’s more of a challenge and something to look forward to and enjoy - not something to be afraid of,” the Crystal Palace boss said.

“Without a shadow of a doubt Suarez is one of the best forwards in the world.

“He’s unbelievable, he’s got unbelievable balance people always talk about what he can do technically but great players have great balance.

“They can move themselves off angles at full pace and he can do that.

“He’s got that awareness and everything that goes towards being a great player.”

“Sturridge has been outstanding this year,” Pulis added.

“He’s obviously travelled and been around a few clubs - it didn’t fall for him at Chelsea but Brendan has got the best out of him.

READY TO GO .... Liverpool players ready to fight on

Serena, Sharapova cruise in Madrid S ERENA Williams and Maria Sharapova eased through their Madrid openers yester-

day but Novak Djokovic withdrew with the right wrist injury which could

Liverpool to bounce back against Crystal Palace

L

•Pulis

IVERPOOL are hop ing to have striker Daniel Sturridge fit for the trip to Selhurst Park as they aim to bounce back from a damaging defeat to Chelsea last time out Liverpool head to Crystal Palace having been knocked off the top of the table, albeit on

goal difference, thanks to Manchester City ’s win over Everton.

A sensational run of 11 consecutive victories for Brendan Rodgers’ men came to an end last weekend when Jose Mourinho masterminded a clinical 2-0 triumph for Chelsea at Anfield.

The Liverpool faithful looked on in horror as

an error by talismanic captain Steven Gerrard allowed Demba Ba to open the scoring for Chelsea in front of the Kop last Sunday.

Rodgers was quick to defend the 33-year-old, whose superb form this season was rewarded with a place in the PFA Team of the Year.

compromise his French Open dream.

World No.1 Williams began the defence of her Madrid Open title with a comfortable 6-2 6-1 win over Swiss 17-yearold Belinda Bencic while Sharapova was equally untroubled in a 6-1 6-2 victory over Czech Klara Koukalova.

Djokovic, the world No.2 who had been targeting Rafael Nadal’s No.1 ranking, was forced to pull out after failing to recover from his ongoing wrist injury.

•Serena Williams

Vanguard, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014 — 53

Ramon Azeez sinks Real Betis

O

GOAL! Osaze Odemwingie scores Stoke's opener against Fulham.

Odemwingie nets season’s 7th

S

TOKE City attacker P e t e r Odemwingie netted his seventh Premier League goal of the season as the Potters inflicted a major defeat on Fulham in the 37th round.

The scoreline ended 4 -

1 in favour of the hosts, with the Nigeria international opening scoring six minutes before half time.

Arnautovi?, Assaidi and Walters completed the scoring for Stoke City while Richardson’ s 80th minute strike for the Londoners

was only a consolation.

In their next fixture, Stoke City travel to the West Midlands to face West Brom, the club which used to pay Odemwingie’ s wages until the start of this season.

NE - cap Nigeria international Ramon Azeez netted the match winner for Almeria as they defeated Real Betis 3 - 2 on Sunday.

The central midfielder, a 74th minute replacement for Jonathan Zongo, registered his name on the score-sheet in the 94th minute to take his tally to two goals for the current season.

Last December, the former Future Pro Academy ace was also on target in the 1 - 0 defeat of Real Betis in a first round fixture.

With this victory, Almeria have swam out of relegation waters and destiny is in their own hands in the final two rounds, with only 1 point separating them from the last relegation spot occupied by Osasuna.

Okpekpe 2014: Ethiopians sweep the stakes

E

THIOPIAN duo of Teshome Asafan andWudayAyalewemerged the men and women’s champions at the 2nd Okpekpe 10km road race last Saturday in Okpekpe, Edo state.

Asafan broke Moses Masai of Kenya’s 29 minutes,49 seconds one year old course record with the race’s first sub 29 minutes performance, 28 minutes .36 seconds to win the men’s title and the accompanying USD$ 25,000 cash prize.

He raced home first ahead of Kenyan duo of Amos Mitel (28 minutes,53 seconds) and Cornenius Kangogo (29 minutes,01 seconds) who came second and third respectively.

Ismael Yero of Cross River state came in 10th in 31 minutes,18 seconds to emerge the fastest Nigerian

National Stadium Lagos a disgrace — Kojo

BY JACOB AJOM

F

ORMER chairman of the Nigeria Football Federation, Kojo Williams has lambasted the management of the National Stadium Lagos for allowing the once revered sporting arena go into its present state

of disrepair.

Kojo who was reacting to the news on the denial of entry to the stadium of former Nigeria Coach Clemens Westerhof and a TV crew by the stadium management because of the sorry state of the place said, “it’s absolute rubbish. They would not

NFF scribe Continues from BP that the list would be made public two weeks ago were dashed following the decision by the NFF to delay the announcement till sometime this week.

Speaking with 2muchsports.com, NFF General Secretary, Musa Amadu declared that the Federation has high expectations for the World Cup, but he advised that Nigerians should be cautious in their optimism, arguing that the World Cup is entirely a different tournament from the Africa Nations Cup won by the Super Eagles last year.

Amadu said, “the fact that the Eagles are going to the World Cup as African champions does not make them C M Y K

favourites for the trophy.” He reminded Nigerians that the team would still go to Brazil as “outsiders”.

He insisted that though the NFF and Nigerians would want the team to do well and surpass the record of their predecessors and other African countries at the World Cup, it would be out of place to set a tall target for the Super Eagles.

“All we are doing is to ensure that the team is prepared adequately for Brazil in order to give their best at the tournament. We are hopeful that they will give the best of representation to Nigeria because we are providing them with all they need to excel,” Amadu stated.

let him in because they cannot defend the level of decay the stadium has been led into. It is a shame that a man who achieved so much for this country in that stadium could be denied access to the place. A man who came all the way from Holland to boast about Nigeria, a place he made all the headlines for the right reasons should have been a good publicity for the nation.”

When told that the stadium management insisted on getting an official permission from higher authorities, Kojo countered, “It’s absolute rubbish. Is that not the stadium that people walk in and out everyday?

What permission do they

get to go in there?

“I believe it is because of the dirty and generally poor state of the arena that is why they would not allow him in. But they are doing a great disservice to themselves

Ref Boye proves FIFA, CAF right •At Delta State Fed Cup final

W

HEN on Sunday Warri Wolves and Bobbies United Football clubs of Warrii filed out for the Delta State Federation Cup final, football fans expected nothing but a perfect show from both teams, in terms of football display and the match officials.

The spectators, including the Deputy Gov-

Westerhof Continues from BP against favourites Argentina.

“I strongly believe Nigeria will qualify for the round of 16 before their match against Argentina,” Westerhof said.

“For me, Iran and Bosnia are no worries for the Super Eagles. We will always beat them.”

Westerhof also disclosed that he has kept

because take the Abuja stadium, for instance, it was when the media reported the bad state of the pitch that government quickly went in and today, it is the better for it.”

man at the race. He got N100,000 for his effort.

Lawrence Osheku also received N100,000 for emerging Edo State’s fastest man. It was however a clean Ethiopian sweep in the women’s category as Ayalew,former Obudu mountain race champions,GenetYalewand Berhane Dibaba emerged the top three podium finishers.

Ayalew ran 32 minutes,41 seconds to race home first to collect USD$ 25,000 made possible by Edo state g o v e r n o r, A d a m s Oshiomhole who added $10,000 to increase the top prize on offer from $15,000 to $25,000. Compatriots Yalew,the 2012 Obudu mountain race winner and Dibaba placed second and third respectively. Deborah Pam emerged for the second successive year the fastest (38 minutes,06 seconds) Nigerian woman at the race.

She placed 10th in the race.

Edo state governor Adams Oshiomhole competed in the VIP race alongside Nigeria Labour Congress vice president Comrade Isa Aremu and Raufu Ladipo,President-General of Nigerian Football and other sports supporters club.

in regular contact with Keshi, who was his captain for many years.

“I’m in constant touch with Keshi and I always offer him my advice. I tell him to look out for players who are ready to fight on the pitch for the nation.”

Westerhof steered the national side to their first ever World Cup finals in 1994.

ernor of Delta State Prof Amos Agbe Utuama, the chairman of the Delta State Sports Commission who doubles as the state FA Chairman, Amaju Pinnick and a lot of other dignitaries were all full of expectations.

When the centre referee, Boye from Bayelsa State signaled the commencement of hostilities the stand erupted in ecstasy. Ike Thankgod of Warri Wolves broke the deadlock in the 14 th minute with a beautiful header. But that is not the story.

The performance of the

centre referee took the shine off the Cup final that was being beamed live by Supersport. Referee Boye was so bad that he gave a particular player, Michel Egbeta two yellow cards without noticing the he had been booked earlier.

It took the intervention of one of the assistant referees who pointed that out to the man at the centre.

Observers believe that Boye’s performance has only justified the frequent exclusion of Nigerian referees by CAF and FIFA from continental and global tournaments.

Chelsea Continues from BP Andre Schurrle hitting the post in the first half.

But City’s Martin Olsson had a strong penalty appeal turned down early on.

Chelsea, monopolising

possession, once again hit the woodwork after the break with David Luiz the man denied.

Victory would have moved Chelsea to the top of the table.

C M Y K

54 — Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, MAY 5, 2014

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, MAY 5, 2014 — 55

VANGUARD, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

EPL Top Five Team 1 Man City 2 Liverpool 3 Chelsea 4 Arsenal 5 Everton

GP 36 36 37 37 37

W 25 25 24 23 20

D 5 5 7 7 9

L 6 6 6 7 8

GF 96 96 69 66 59

GA 37 46 26 41 39

GD 59 50 43 25 20

PTS 80 80 79 76 69

Results

Brazil 2014: Eagles ‘re outsiders — NFF scribe J

UST as Nigerians await the announcement of the Super Eagles provisional list for the 2014 World Cup, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has declared that the country ’s senior national team should not be put under undue pressure as they prepare for the tournament in Brazil.

High hopes by Nigerians who expected Continued on Page 53

National Stadium Lagos a disgrace — Kojo — Pg.53

Arsenal Chelsea Catania Chievo Genoa Parma Udinese Almeria Lavante

England - Premier League 1-0 West Bromwich Albion 0-0 Norwich City Italy - Serie A 4-1 Roma 0-1 Torino 0-0 Bologna 2-0 Sampdoria 5-3 Livorno Spain - Liga 3-2 Real Betis 2-0 Atletico Madrid

Westerhof: Eagles will make second round

F

ORMER Nigeria coach Clemens Westerhof is confident the Super Eagles will reach the round of 16 at the World Cup with a

game to spare.

Stephen Keshi’s men will play Iran then Bosnia-Herzegovina before their final group match Continued on Page 53

Norwich dent Chelsea title hope

N

WELL DONE BOYS — Coach Stephen Keshi (l) joins his players in celebration of a goal at Afcon 2013

ORWICH’s hopes of staying in the Premier League remain alive after they dented Chelsea’s title ambitions with a hardfought draw at Stamford Bridge.

The best chances fell to a dominant Chelsea, with John Terry going close with a header and

•Mourinho

QUICK CROSSWORD

TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 2 Sum (5) 7 Singer (4) 8 Evade (6) 9 Penned (5) 11 Couch (3) 13 Bow (3) 15 Detail (4) 16 Fasten (3) 18 Drill (4) 19 Complication (7) 20 Exclude (4) 22 Lofty (4) 23 Given (7) 25 Always (4) 27 Defective (3) 28 Table (4) 30 Performed (3) 31 Hint (3) 33 Beneath (5) 36 Acid (6) 37 Spoken (4) 38 Famous (5)

DOWN 1 Swift (5) 2 Pull (3) 3 Also (3) 4 Shelter (3) 5 Expert (3) 6 Track (5) 10 Threesome (4) 11 Prejudiced (7) 12 Scorned (7) 13 Wandering (7) 14 Exhaust (7) 16 Trample (5) 17 Receded (5) 18 Wager (3) 21 Hill (3) 24 Rotate (4) 26 Call (5) 29 Sweetener (5) 32 Pig-pen (3) 33 Vase (3) 34 Spot (3) 35 Wand (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Crowd 5, Sowing 8, Roost 10, Freedom 11, Else 14, Patron 15, Contend 18, Pen 19, Oar 21, Dear 23, Cured 24, Pelt 27, Set 29, Eel 31, Distant 32, Dealer 34, Flea 35, Unison 38, Creep 39, Decree 40, Teeth.

DOWN: 2, Roe 3, Wreath 4, Doe 5, Step 6, Wasted 7, Garner 9, Ominous 12, Lap 13, Erne 16, Once 17, Dared 20, Retinue 22, Anon 24, Padded 25, Leaf 26, Teller 28, Stripe 30, Lee 33, Race 36, Net 37, Out.

How to Play Sudoku

P

lace a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-4548355. Advert Dept Hotline: 014544821; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

C M Y K