Monday, january 12, 2015 by GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LIMITED

FG shuns RMAFC over new Revenue Formula TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

here are strong indications that the Presidency has completely foreclosed the possibility

Mbam

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of adopting a new revenue allocation formula being proposed by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, owing to recent fiscal crisis occasioned by fall-

ing oil prices at the global market. This development further reinforced the Federal Government’s stance, which had not been favourCONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

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Okunbor emerges Shell's MD, Country Chair P.4,6

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PDP panics over Buhari's massive crowd in S'South Call your supporters to order, Fani-Kayode tells APC Nigeria'll get to the Promised Land, says Jonathan P.7

OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

he massive turnout of Nigerians at the campaign grounds of the All Progressives Congress, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

Managing Directors, Chief Executive Officers and Top Managements of Energy Group subsidiaries at this year’s Management Retreat, and Pre-GMD’s conference, which ended in Igbotatako, Ondo State, yesterday.

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Again, two suicide bombers hit Yobe

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...kill 20, injured 46 at GSM market

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Again, two suicide bombers hit Yobe PAUL ARHEWE, INUSA NDAHI, UBONG UKPONG

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

t least 20 people have been reportedly killed while over 46 others were seriously injured when two suspected child suicide bombers blew themselves up in a GSM market in Potiskum, Yobe State. This is the second attack in two days using young girls strapped with explosives. In Maiduguri, Borno State on Saturday, a bomb strapped to a girl aged around 10 years old exploded in a busy market place killing around 20 people and injuring more than 20 others. Yesterday’s blasts struck around mid-afternoon at the open market selling mobile handsets. Eyewitnesses, who did not want their names mentioned, told our correspondent on phone that the death toll may rise as most of those who sustained injuries bled for a while, loosing much blood in the process before security operatives reached the scene. A trader at the market, Sani Abdu Potiskum, said the bombers were about 10 years old. “I saw their dead bodies. They are two young girls of about 10 years of age ... you only see the plaited hair and part of the upper torso,” he said. Some of the injured were taken to Potiskum general hospital, our correspondent learnt. Potiskum has come under several attacks by Boko Haram. It was hit by a suicide bomber in November when at least 48 people, mainly students, were killed during a school assembly. On Saturday, a bomb exploded at a police station in the town. Boko Haram has been waging a five-year insurgency to establish an Islamic state in the northeast of the country and the army's inability to quash the movement is a headache for President Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking re-election in February. Last year more than 10,000 people died in the violence, according to an estimate by the Council on Foreign Relations

The military lost ground in worst-hit Borno state last weekend after insurgents took over the town of Baga and nearby army base, killing over 100 people and forcing thousands to flee. The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, yesterday said that there was no going back from its plan to recover Baga from the insurgents. The DHQ said that the battle of Baga was ‘fight to finish this time’, as its troops are in high spirit and ready to defeat the terrorists. In a tweet on its twitter handle, through its Director of Defence Information, DDI, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, the DHQ solicited for the patience and cooperation of Nigerians as troops engage insurgents in fierce battle to recover the town. The DHQ had in a tweet on Saturday, indicated that it was perfecting plans to recover the town. Baga had over the past five months, remained under the control of the Boko Haram insurgents, alongside Bama, Gwoza and Damboa. “We are fighting in Baga. We are taking terrorists down. We are losing our soldiers too. STOP the noise, let’s fight Baga together. Nigerians please, we cannot fight you successfully. Our enemies are the Barbarians in Baga. We will defeat them, stand with us,” the DHQ said in the tweet. In Abuja, President Goodluck Jonathan commended members of the armed forces for their efforts in combating insurgency. Jonathan spoke at the National Christian Centre during a church service to mark this year’s Armed Forces Remembrance Day. “Let me appreciate the armed forces, whenever you hear that people have been killed, there is this temptation to say they are not doing anything “We know there are some black legs within the armed forces, no doubt about that, some have been caught, some have been prosecuted. :But on the overall, Nigerian armed forces are gallant people, they have been working hard day and night, with the police and other organisations like SSS and NIA. That is why we are even sleeping. “On occasions like this, we must commend them and really appreciate them.

I know that if they have not been working the way they are working, it could have been worse for us,” Jonathan said. The President stated that the government would do everything possible to properly equip the armed forces, even as he called for prayers from Nigerians for the members and their families. He said: “It is not easy to be the wife of a soldier and the husband is posted to Borno State, and she can’t sleep. So you can imagine what they are passing through. So they need our prayers.” In his message, Primate of Methodist Church, Rev. Samuel Chukwuemeka Uche said some disgruntled elements in the country are sabotaging the efforts of government in the fight against insurgency. According to him, some people within the political elites as well as the armed forces have allowed them-

selves to be compromised and made themselves enemies of the country. The Clergy said: “Some shameless individuals and groups make such utterances and use grievous situation as a tool for politicking, blaming the government in power as doing nothing to solve the problem of insurgency. Who is deceiving who? “I believe that Nigerians are wiser and our people know that it is sabotage that is making it impossible for our armed forces to recover the Chibok girls.” He told members of armed forces that Nigerians understand their plight and feel for them, while assuring them that the problem would soon be over as Boko Haram would surely be defeated. Uche appealed to the government to address the welfare of members of the armed forces, including those who are still in service

defending the country, those who have retired and the families of those who lost their lives while fighting for the nation. Meanwhile, United States President, Barack Obama yesterday said it will host a summit on Countering Violent Extremism next month in the wake of terrorist attacks in France and elsewhere. Nigeria will be part of the partner nations that will send representatives to the February 18 summit, according to White House officials. The summit will “highlight domestic and international efforts to prevent violent extremists and their supporters from radicalising, recruiting, or inspiring individuals or groups in the United States and abroad to commit acts of violence,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. Earnest said anti-extremist efforts are “even more im-

perative” in light of recent terrorist attacks in Ottawa and Sydney, as well as last week’s mass shooting at a satirical magazine in Paris. The White House announced the summit at the same time as a massive counter-terrorism rally in Paris that drew a number of world leaders, including Attorney General Eric Holder. The administration said its strategy includes confronting the threat of extremism within individual neighbourhoods, with the help of social services providers, educators, mental health professionals, religious leaders, and law enforcement agencies. The summit will also feature officials from other nations discussing their projects, many of which focus on “the themes of community engagement, religious leader engagement, and the role of the private sector and tech community,” Earnest said.

L-R: Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, Mr. John Kennedy Opara; Dr. Simeon Onyemaechi; President's Niece, Mrs. Ine Onyemaechi; Mother of the President, Madam Eunice Jonathan; First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, and President Goodluck Jonathan, during the Special Thanksgiving Service for the wedding of the President's niece at the Cathedral Church of The Advent, Life Camp, Abuja, yesterday.

PDP panics over Buhari's massive crowd in S'South CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

APC, presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari in the south, ahead of the February 14 presidential election, is unsettling the Presidency and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. The region is generally believed to be the natural catchment area for President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP, while the north is thought to be the stronghold of both the APC and Buhari. But the huge crowd that has been pouring into the APC campaign grounds is

pushing the Presidency to think of re-strategising for the ruling party’s campaign. Buhari had campaigned in Rivers, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, the president’s home town, Imo and Enugu states, with massive crowd attending each of the campaign. APC however said that the successes recorded by its campaign train in the south were due to the candidate’s large followership and the knowledge of the need of the people. “For instance, he knew that in Ebonyi, the only resources they have there is

rice plantation, so he promised them that he would make the state a rice capital of the world. “Enugu has large coal deposit and he promised effective utilisation of the material to solve the energy need of the nation. “He addressed the issue of Ogoni. You need to see the crowd that trooped out even in the president’s own state, Bayelsa. “But the president has not been addressing issues. He goes about abusing individuals, leaving out issues. Can you believe that at this

critical point in time, he is still taking the persons of Obasanjo, MEND, Tinubu and so on. “We expected a serious campaign to proffer solutions to corruption and insecurity, but what do we get, a president that is busy apportioning blames,” a member of the APC Campaign Council told our correspondent in Abuja yesterday. Spokesman, South East APC, Mr. Osita Okechukwu told our correspondent that the South is rooting for Buhari now because Nigerians generally are yearning for CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

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Monday, January 12, 2015

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Monday, January 12, 2015

L-R: Group Managing Director, SO&U, Mr Udeme Ufot; Akwa Ibom State Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Obong Paul Ekpo, and Executive Director, Mobil Producing Eket, Mr Udom Inoyo at the public presentation of PDP governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel, to Akwa Ibom community in Lagos, recently.

L-R: Auxiliary Bishop of Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, Most Rev Fr. Anselm Umoren; Grand Knight of Catholic Knight of Saint Mulumba, Gwagwalada Sub-Council, Mr Patrick Ozegbe and Mr Collins Anugom, at the lecture on Pastoral Status of Divorced and Separated Christians at St. Paul Catholic Church, Gwagwalada, yesterday.

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L-R: Member of Agricultural/Agro-Allied Cooperative Matters in Nigeria, Dr. Odogbo Daniel; National Coordinator/Researcher, Professor Victoria Aladejobi and Business Manager, First Bank Nigeria Limited, Mr. Solomon Aremu, during the Agro-Allied Commodities Cooperative Entrepreneurship Multipurpose Union Limited Annual General Meeting in Abuja, at the weekend.

L-R: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr Macjohn Nwaobiala; Minister of State for Education, Prof. Viola Onwuliri; Special Assistant to the Minister, Mrs Felicia Nwangene and Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, Prof. Godwin Onu, during traditional marriage reception for the Permanent Secretary’s Daughter at Umuahia, Abia State, yesterday.

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Ondo PDP worries over mass defection HAKEEM GBADAMOSI AKURE

s the crisis within the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ondo State chapter deepens, appeal has been made to party members not to defect to the opposition All Progressives Party, APC. The appeal was contained in a communiqué issued by the state PDP stakeholders after a meet-

ing in Akure, the state capital. The communiqué signed by Ayo Fayefunmi also called on Governor Olusegun Mimiko to act fast before it is too late. The leaders said it was imperative to safeguard the fortune of the party in the forthcoming election, adding that “we request Governor Mimiko to redress the situation in the party to halt the movement.”

The stakeholders also expressed dissatisfaction with Governor Mimiko’s appointment of Mr. Tokunbo Modupe as coordinator of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan campaign in the state. The communiqué read: “We observed with regret the movement of some PDP leaders and members to the opposition APC. We request Governor Mimiko to redress the situation and halt the movement.

“We regret in its entirety the appointment of Mr. Tokunbo Modupe, an extraction of New PDP, as state Coordinator of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) campaign. “The governor being the South West Coordinator, made the appointment negatively skewed against old PDP members. We insist the appointment should be reserved for old PDP member.” The leaders, however,

pleaded with members of the party in the state to remain loyal, urging them to work towards ensuring victory for President Jonathan during next month’s presidential election. “We plead with our members across the state to remain loyal to PDP and wait for further instructions from the leaders on the way forward. “We resolved to give our unflinching support to President Goodluck Eb-

ele Jonathan, believing he will create enabling environment for us to do so,” the leaders said. Some leaders that attended the stakeholders meeting include the party’s governorship flag bearer in 2012, Chief Olusola Oke, former chairman of the party in the state, Dr Tayo Dairo, Ayo Fayefunmi, John Mafo, Navy Capt Joseph Adewusi, Dr. Lucas Gbakinro, among others.

ing and coming on stream of other capital trade points. “Under her leadership, SEC also championed reforms at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, that witnessed a more robust output and delivery in its operator/oversight role,” the statement said. The initiative to revamp NSE listing rules,

it said, led to landmark transactions in dual listing of SEPLAT Petroleum on the NSE and the London Stock Exchange in April 2014, as well as the development of an alternative securities market. Oteh was appointed by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2009 but resumed in January 2010.

Oteh exits SEC as tenure expires JOHNSON OKANLAWON

ecurities and Exchange Commission, SEC, yesterday announced the exit of Ms Arunma Oteh as the commission’s Director-General. A statement from the commission said she would be remembered

for her passion, purpose, articulation and implementation of reform measures driven by the vision to transform the Nigerian capital market into world class. According to the statement, she was in a hurry to see Nigeria achieve a world class capital market that would drive development and make the

country one of the most attractive investment destination. Some of her accomplishments, according to the statement, include restoration of investors’ confidence through strong enforcement actions and improvement of rules and regulations and investor education. It said that SEC estab-

lished the National Investor Protection Fund and strengthened its Administrative Proceedings Committee, APC, to deepen and broaden the market. “The market witnessed significant product innovation, improved listing rules, landmark bond market reforms, widening of participation in the markets through licens-

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Monday, January 12, 2015

Presidency shuns RMAFC over new Revenue Allocation Formula CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ably disposed to any adjustments to the existing revenue allocation formula. Under the current formula, the Federal Government gets 52.68 per cent from Statutory Allocation, state governments, 26.72 per cent; local governments are allocated 20.60 per cent, while the mineral producing states get the 13 per cent derivation from oil and gas revenue. It was learnt that the proposed formula may reduce the Federal Government’s current allocation by at least 7 per cent, which will be shared by the other tiers, if the RMFAC’s proposal sails through the fiscal procedures and legislative processes. Investigations by our correspondent at the highest level indicated that President Goodluck Jonathan, who ought to receive the report from the Commission’s delegation, had over the past six months been pre-occupied with other pressing state matters, particularly the 2015 general elections. As a result, it has practically been impossible for the President to receive the Commission’s delegation. Our correspondent gathered that the Commission had last year made several efforts to submit its Report, which was completed in December 2013, along with other fiscal recommendations without luck, as moves to secure appointment with the Presidency failed. About two months ago, a source in the Presidency had told our correspondent exclusively that the immediate priorities of President Jonathan was to fine-tune his political strategies for the elections and that the possibility of his hosting RMAFC appeared very unlikely. It was reliably gathered at the weekend that apart from the fact that the proposed formula would not be favourable to the Federal Government, the Presidency had in the weeks culminating to the end of 2014 fiscal year decided to completely close its doors to RMAFC due to what a senior official in the Presidency termed recent fiscal developments that pose serious threats to implementation of the government’s Transformation Agenda. He said: “Let me confirm to you that apart from the

fact that the elections are too close, the challenges of revenue, occasioned by the falling prices in the international oil market are too enormous such that changing the existing formula now will necessarily create fiscal distortions and create more problem for the Federal Government in the face of the emerging developments. “It is safe to keep going with the old order than changing the formula in such a way that the Federal Government will be put in a precarious fiscal situation and hamper its efforts to ensure security in the country and still be able to meet its obligations to the people in terms of socio-economic services. “The proposed formula will naturally be considered at the appropriate time.” Earlier, sources from the RMAFC had told our correspondent that the President would be ready to grant the Commission’s delegation audience, after two botched attempts. This was after the passage of the 2014 Appropriation bill. Several months after, the RMAFC team had been unable to secure the much needed appointment with the President despite all efforts. It would be recalled that the report on the new formula had been ready and made public in December last, when the Chairman of the Public Affairs and Communication Committee, PAAC, of the Commission, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, hinted of the readiness to present it to the President. Dada explained then that the last time the revenue allocation formula was reviewed was in 1992, adding that the current formula arose from the Modification Order issued by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in May 2002, amended in July 2002, and January 2004 respectively. According to him, the Order, which emanated from the Supreme Court Judgment of April 5, 2002 was to bring the relevant sections of the subsisting Allocation of Revenue (Federation Account, etc) Act, in conformity with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended). He explained that based on the judgment and other fiscal reasons, it became imperative to review the present revenue

allocation formula to reflect changing realities and the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians. RMAFC had, before finalising its report, taken painstaking efforts, including embarking on field-based researches conducted across the country’s geo-political landscape, to ensure that all the tiers of government and revenue generation communities get fair and reasonable share from the Federation Account. The Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Elias Mbam, had assured Nigerians that the lapses in the existing formula would be corrected as the new rev-

enue sharing regime would offer a promising template for fair, just and equitable distribution of revenues. Specifically, the RMAFC said its prescription would not only serve the needs of the people, but also encourage the three tiers of government to optimise their Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, potentials and promote fairness, justice and transparency in the administration of revenue distributions for sustainable national development. Mbam had given an insight into what Nigerians should expect from the formula review exercise at a multi-agency meeting con-

vened in Abuja to advise the Commission on the weight to be assigned to different geographical terrains in the new revenue formula, when he disclosed that the Terrain Principle would be used, amongst other criteria, to determine which tier of government gets what and why. The Commission had in 2007 requested the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation to carry out a survey on terrain types of all states and local governments to enable it apply the terrain factor as stipulated in the subsisting Act. Under the proposed formula, it was reliably gath-

ered that the entire country had been classified into three different geographical terrains namely, the wetland dominated by rivers and valleys; the highland dominated by hills and mountains, and the plain land for the purpose of the new revenue formula. Similarly, it was also proposed that terrain, as a factor will carry a weight of five per cent in the horizontal sharing formula, which stipulates the plan for sharing revenue among the states, while the vertical sharing formula stipulates the plan for sharing revenue among the three tiers of government.

L-R: Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Ben Akabueze; Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola; Deputy Governor, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, and Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Ayo Gbeleyi, during the signing of the 2015 budget in Lagos, yesterday.

PDP panics over Buhari's massive crowd in S'South CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

change. “One can submit in reality that Gen. Buhari’s appeal is widening, as his electoral chances are growing by the day, unlike in 2003, 2007, and 2011. I think the south is coming to the hard reality that GMB represents the masses and the middle class. “He spent his public service in the collective interest of the masses and the middle class and hence the celestial bond between him and the masses and the middle class. “President Jonathan’s woeful performance more or less energised the GMB appeal in the south; they have come to the inevitable conclusion that Mr. President lacks the political will to either fight Boko Haram or fight corruption. And it’s trite that the primary purpose of government is the security and welfare of the

citizenry,” he said. It was gathered that with the campaign soon to shift to the north and with anti-Jonathan sentiment already springing up in several places in the region, the Presidency is growing grey hair on how to convince the people, particularly in the north east to vote for President Jonathan. The campaign vehicles of President Jonathan and some of his sympathisers have been attacked in Kano, Gombe and Plateau states in recent days. The Director, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode had emphatically stated in a chat with newsmen that the party will campaign in Chibok and other north east states. Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, yesterday condemned the burning of one of the campaign vehi-

cles of the President in Jos at the weekend. Alkali said in a statement in Abuja that the burning of the vehicle has further demonstrated the level of the desperation of the opposition and their plot to intimidate other Nigerians out of the political space. He declared that the incident will not stop the determination of President Jonathan to ensure that free and fair elections are conducted next month. In a related development, the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, PCO, yesterday called on Gen. Buhari, to call his supporters to order and ensure a violence-free election. The organisation said that with the burning of President Jonathan’s campaign vehicles by alleged supporters of Buhari, APC is already preparing the ground for the re-enactment of the post-election violence

of 2011. Director of Media and Publicity of the Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja against the backdrop of the violence unleashed on President Jonathan’s campaign buses in Jos, Plateau State on Saturday expressed worry over the development. He said: “The Jos attack on the campaign buses of President Jonathan would appear to be a pointer to what the opposition APC presidential candidate is planning before and after the February 14 presidential election. “We therefore call on well-meaning Nigerians and members of the international community to speak forcefully against this development, which threatens our elections and democracy and which falls way below the standard of best international practices.”

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Monday, January 12, 2015

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Okunbor emerges Shell’s MD, Country Chair UDEME AKPAN

hell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd., SPDC, has appointed Mr. Osagie Okunbor as its new managing director and country chair of Shell companies in Nigeria. He takes over from Mutiu Sunmonu, who is retiring after 36 years of service in the leading oil and gas producing company. Okunbor, who is a graduate of Business Administration, University of Benin, is the third Nigerian to hold both posts. The company’s Corporate Media Relations Manager, Mr. Precious Okobolo, who confirmed the appointment in a statement, noted that Okunbor is an accomplished professional who brings over 28 years of industry experience and expertise to the role. He has worked in Nigeria, the UK, Brunei and currently The Netherlands. His previous assignments included Vice President, Human Resources for Shell’s Upstream Business in SubSaharan Africa and Vice President, Infrastructure and Logistics Shell Nigeria. He is currently Senior Advisor in Shell’s Upstream International Oper-

ated business, based in The Hague, The Netherlands, from where he returns to Port Harcourt to take up his new role. Commenting on the appointment, Vice President Nigeria & Gabon, Shell Upstream, Markus Droll said: “We are delighted to see another Nigerian at the helm of affairs in Shell Nigeria. Mutiu has worked very hard over these years – managing production and setting a new agenda in dealing with communities, government and other key stakeholders.” Okunbor, who is married to Soala with children, is expected to assume office on March 1. The new Managing Director is expected to drive the company’s divestment of its onshore oil blocks in line with the Federal Government policy of repositioning indigenous firms, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Development Company, NPDC which is a major subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. He is also expected to work towards boosting the company investment in the deep offshore which promises to yield commercial oil and gas reserves.

UPN didn’t adopt Jonathan —Scribe

head of the February 14 presidential election, the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, says it has not adopted any presidential candidate. National Secretary of the party, Abubakar Sokoto, said this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday. “Leadership of the UPN did not authorise the suspended national chairman nor directed any official of the party at any level to commit the party to support any presidential candidate,” it said. It would be recalled that the suspended UPN national chairman, Dr Frederick Fasehun, was alleged to have recently endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s presidential flag bearer for the poll. But Sokoto said the

party received the news as a great embarrassment to all its leaders and supporters across the world. “On behalf of the National Executive Committee of our party, I am urging the general public and party leaders to disregard the highest act of irresponsibility of the suspended national chairman. “It is embarrassing to leaders and supporters of our party all over the country to learn of the suspended national chairman declaring support, putting the name of our party to ridicule. “The National Executive Committee, which is the highest organ of the party, has not met to take a decision on the issue of presidential election,’’ the statement read in part.

A cross section of the Nigerian Legion during the Nigeria Armed Forces Remembrance Day Inter-Denominational Church Service in Abuja, yesterday

FG moves to bolster dwindling economy …lists 13 products for export OLUFEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA

gainst the freefall in the price of petroleum products, the Federal Government says it has marked 13 National Strategic Export Products, NSEP. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Olusegun Aganga, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja at the weekend, said it was part of the government’s spirited moves toward reviving the dwindling national economy with emphasis on rapid growth of the non-oil sector for exports. While unveiling plans by the Federal Government to diversify the economy,

WALE IGBINTADE

s the nation-wide strike embarked on by Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, enters the second week, the union has vowed not to back down until its demands were met. JUSUN had on January 2 directed its members to shut down court activities in all states over non-compliance with orders of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on the financial autonomy and independence of the Judiciary. In a telephone conversation, National Secretary of JUSUN, Isaiah Adetola, told National Mirror that both the federal and state gov-

Aganga listed the Strategic Export Products in three categories. According to him, some of the areas include Agroindustrial such as palm oil, cocoa, cashew, sugar and rice; Mining related cement, iron ore/metals, auto parts/cars, aluminum; Oil and Gas industrial products - Petroleum products, fertiliser/Urea, petrochemical and methanol. He stated that 12 products were originally identified, but increased because Executive Director/CEO of Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Mr Olusegun Awolowo, made a very strong case for inclusion of cashew in the list. Aganga, however,

charged NEPC to deploy its capacity for kick-starting the diversification of the country’s economy in line with government’s agenda. The minister said he chose NEPC and SMEDAN for his first visit in the New Year because of their potential and strategic importance for diversification of the economy, job creation, poverty alleviation and inclusive growth. The strategy to be deployed in that regard, according to him, requires that NEPC identifies products being imported by countries from other exporting nations and to develop the products with sound logistics built around them. The essence, he stressed,

is to deliver them cheaper to neighbouring countries, being an export-oriented investment strategy. He said: “In doing this, we must recognise our neighbours’ developmental needs, support them and collaborate with them in areas of their comparative advantage,” adding, “for you to have sustainable relationship, there must be symbiotic relationship. “The new strategic focus is not just agriculture but rather commoditybased industrialisation. This will help our economy to diversify quickly and sustainably. Such strategy will help build industrial sector that can diversify our economy in a few years.”

ernments have not shown readiness to comply with the court’s judgment. According to him, despite several letters and warning strikes urging the federal and state governments to comply with the judgment, they flouted the order. He advised the state governments to adhere strictly to the order of the court in order not to prolong the strike. Adetola, who disclosed that the union will be meeting Federal Government officials today (Monday) to discuss the issue, added that the union was ready to call off the strike if its demands were met. National Mirror gathered that none of the 36 gover-

nors has invited leadership of the union for dialogue on the issue. Meanwhile, the Rule of Law Development Foundation has called on JUSUN to call off its strike and return to the drawing board in view of the inherent and manifest constitutional weakness of its cause. A statement signed by its coordinator, Mr. Bodunrin Daudu, SAN, states: “It is in the overall interest of Nigeria that JUSUN is not unwittingly used to arrest the nascent democratic growth of this great country. Nigerian political history is replete with persons, groups, etc. who have played the same kind of role JUSUN now plays, and have in the pro-

cess set the nation’s political timetable backward.” The foundation said it was willing to lend JUSUN its expertise to secure the financial autonomy of states’ judiciaries in a constitutional manner which will not plunge this great nation into crises, rancour or darkness. The statement added that the judgment being sought to be enforced by JUSUN is clearly on very weak constitutional grounds as it was obvious that based on existing Supreme Court decisions, the funds for the judiciary cannot be taken from the Federation Account but from either the Consolidated Revenue Funds of the federation or that of the states.

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Monday, January 12, 2015

Hoodlums raze police station in Jos JAMES ABRAHAM JOS

People buying fairly used sweaters to tackle cold weather in Dutse, yesterday.

PHOTO:NAN

Fashola signs N489.6bn appropriation bill FRANCIS SUBERU

agos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola on Sunday signed the state’s 2015 budget of N489,689, 869, 621 billion into law. While signing the bill at the Lagos House, Marina, the governor said though the signing was meant to be done on Monday (today), he had to call it forward so as not to delay operation of the bill as he was billed to attend a national meeting fixed for

Monday in Abuja by his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. According to him, signing of the budget would enable the ministries and government departments continue with their work while he is not around. He described the ceremony as solemn and very important, even as he said the budget was an article of faith by any government. “We are a government that is open to plan, part of the planning is for government to set the budget

for the beginning of the year,” he said, adding that Lagos is the second state to sign the document after Ogun State. The 2015 budget is made up of N241, 977 billion as recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure of N247, 713 billion. Works and Infrastructure got the highest vote of N72.250 billion, followed by education with N52.09 billion. Health, which came third, was allocated N32.4 billion instead of N37.81 billion or 7.72 per cent it received in 2014.

Environmental protection received N22.76 billion. Housing got N28.67 billion, while the House of Assembly was allocated N8.7 billion. Information and Strategy got N2.4 billion, while agriculture was allocated N2.17 billion. The House also approved a budget of N21.4 billion for Commerce and Industry as against N3.94 billion given to science and technology. The state’s transport sector was given N27.8 billion and Judiciary was allocated N3.44 billion.

ecurity agents and some hoodlums yesterday clashed in Jos, Plateau State capital, leading to the burning of a police station located around the Bauchi Road axis by the hoodlums. The clash came less than 24 hours after hoodlums attacked and set ablaze two vehicles belonging to President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign organisation within the locality. It was gathered that the security operatives had gone to the area to arrest some youths in the locality over the burning of the buses, but the hoodlums took to the streets and started rioting after some youths were arrested. The riot, according to our reporter, led to the burning of part of an uncompleted police outpost on Bauchi road, Jos North LGA. It would be recalled that some buses belonging to the Goodluck Jonathan campaign organisation were on Saturday set ablaze in Jos. National Mirror gath-

ered that the buses were stopped and set ablaze by irate youths around Mango Street and Bauchi road in Jos North Local Government area. Occupants of the vehicle were, however, set free by the youths who were chanting “baa so Jonathan” in Hausa, meaning we don’t want Jonathan. Our correspondent gathered that members of the Special Task Force, STF, deployed to restore law and order in the state had stormed Bauchi road yesterday morning, where one of the buses was set ablaze and arrested six youths. The arrests of youths whom some members of the community claimed were innocent led to riot with the STF shooting sporadically in the air to disperse the irate youths. When contacted on telephone, the Plateau State Police Commissioner, Nasiru Oki confirmed the incident, and said investigation is ongoing. He also told our correspondent that two persons have been arrested in connection with the burning of President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign cars.

Mass failure: Lagos opts for e-learning Nigeria’ll get to the Promised Land -Jonathan TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

orried by the persistent poor performance of students in schools and public examinations, especially the Senior School Certificate Examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, and other related organisations, the Lagos State government has adopted e-learning and social media protocols for students in both public and private secondary schools in the state. The initiative known as LASG-LASU E-learning and Social Media Project was carried out by a group of scholars from the Lagos State University, Ojo, and headed by former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, Professor Peter Okebukola.

At the launch of the project, which was fully funded by the Lagos State Research and Development Council, Okebukola said students through the platform would have the opportunity to engage subject experts free on difficult topics in their curriculum in a learnerfriendly manner. He said the idea was to engage them productively on their smart phones and other high-technology devices using social media, especially Facebook and Twitter to deliver lessons to them rather than using these devices for frivolous activities. He noted that 72 learner-friendly lessons would be delivered on topics students and teachers had already indicated during the group’s survey as difficult in the six target subjects, including English Language, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Phys-

ics and Commerce. Okebukola, who is a Professor of Science Education, explained that while no fewer than 5,000 are expected to log onto the platform when in operation from January 19, noted that past questions of WAEC, NECO and JAMB would also be treated with answers provided alongside common errors students make in school and public exams on the six subjects. He added that the pilot scheme would last three months while it would be scaled-up thereafter to make it a national project. In his remark at the launch, the Vice-Chancellor Lagos State University, LASU, Prof. John Obafunwa who declared the portal open, said he had no doubt that the project would enhance students’ knowledge and skills in subject areas to be covered.

ROTIMI FADEYI ABUJA

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said Nigeria would certainly get over its challenges and move to the Promised Land. Jonathan spoke at a thanksgiving service held at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Life Camp, Gwarinpa, Abuja, for the wedding of his niece, Inebharapu, and her husband, Simeon Onyemaechi. According to him, there may be obstacles on the path to the progress of the country, but such obstacles would be crushed. “We will get to where we want to go as a nation. We may have road bumps, we may have obstacles, but we will crush and pass them. All we request is your continued support and your prayers, and we promise we will continue to do our best,” the Presi-

dent said. He noted that the current challenges faced by Nigeria could be compared to the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness before they got to the Promised Land. According to him, this is a period the whole world is being challenged. “Whenever I think about all these happenings in Nigeria, I remember the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. When God promised they were going to be given a land full of milk and honey, ordinarily, one would have expected them to walk in and get the milk and honey. “But they had to cross the Red Sea that was a challenge; they had to meet people like Anakims and others; that was a big challenge, but because God wanted them to be there, they were able to get

there,” he said. In his sermon titled “Times of Stress and the Second Coming of Christ,” the Sub-Dean of the Church, Venerable Emmanuel Adekola, said the world was witnessing perilous times, adding that at this time when men have turned away from all that is good, the word of God remains the standard for the judgment of all standards. The clergy admonished Nigerians to be cautious of fake prophets that would be masquerading as messiahs in their quest for solutions to what is happening in the world. He said, “People masquerading as messiahs have come. We must not be swept off our feet by speculative teachings. “Killing in the name of God is ongoing. But the word of Jesus is for us to hold on to our faith,” he said.

South West

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Ekiti NUT wants ASUSS proscribed ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

igeria Union of Teachers, NUT, in Ekiti State has advised the state government to proscribe the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, ASUSS, for allegedly operating illegally in the state. The NUT said ASUSS was never a registered trade union and therefore, should not be recognized so as to prevent breach of the constitution. NUT State Chairman, Samuel Akosile, in a petition addressed to the government wants ASUSS stopped from deducting check-off dues of members, saying the body lacked authority to exercise such

powers, having not properly registered according to Section 44 of the Trade Unions Act. Attached to the petition entitled: “Illegal Collection of Check-off Dues By ASUSS - A Teachers’ Association Not Registered As a Trade Union” were NUT Certificate of Incorporation dated 1931, a letter dated October 5, 2007, and signed by Registrar of Trade Unions in the Federal Ministry of Labour, Mr. I.A. Fagbemi, confirming that ASUSS was not registerable, and other documents related to ASUSS proscription in Ogun and Oyo states over non-compliance with registration rules and guidelines, among others. Akosile appealed to the governor to de-recognise

the body and refrain from inviting it to any meeting where issues relating to academic matters would be discussed. The NUT said: “This is to say that the ASUSS in Ekiti State should be proscribed as an illegal trade union as done in Oyo and other states of the federation. “Registration of a union by the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, does not amount to registration

as a trade union because CAC only deals with Companies and Allied Matters and not Trade unions. We hereby urge that you stop the remittance of checkoff dues to ASUSS by TESCOM through the office of Accountant General,” it stated. But ASUSS State Chairman, Sola Adigun, said the body had since May 19, 2008 been registered by the Federal Ministry of Labour,

contrary to falsehood being allegedly spread by NUT Chairman. Adigun appealed to him to refrain from divisive tendencies, saying: “There are salient questions to ask Akosile: Why did they sue the Federal Ministry of Labour in their suit before the High Court in Ekiti calling for ASUSS’ deregistration? “The Trade Union Act 2004, as amended, stated

that the decision of the Minister shall be final on this matter and so shall it be. “ASUSS in Ekiti is not a partisan body, but a pressure group that is concerned about the welfare of its members. We are ready to work with the state government to move Ekiti forward and that remains our focus as against NUT that is playing politics with everything,” he stated.

Oyo PDP prepares for Jonathan’s visit today

s President Goodluck Jonathan visits Ibadan, Oyo State capital today, the governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, Senator Teslim Folarin, has appealed to people of the state to troop out en masse to welcome him as a show of solidarity and love. Folarin, a gubernatorial candidate in the state, said in a statement signed by his Director of Media and Strategy, Victor Oluwadamilare, that politicians should conduct themselves lawfully and avoid any action capable of disrupting the peace of the state. “To appreciate the steady implementation of the Transformation

Agenda of the present administration and as a peace-loving people, we urge all to keep the peace, be lawful, and avoid any action or utterance capable of disrupting our reputation for harmony and as a pacesetter. “We have to use this opportunity to appreciate our leader, President Jonathan, for his good leadership and commitment to ensuring that this country is united and live in peace. “Irrespective of political affiliation, our people must remain mindful of the rule of law and shun all actions that contravene the law, especially the maintenance of public order,” the statement said.

Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi (second left) being shown the affected part of Araromi Iron Rod Market, which was gutted by fire, by President of the market, Chief Gade Orogade (first right) during his visit to the market on Saturday.

C&S leader, Prophet Fakeye passes on at 78 FRANCIS SUBERU

piritual leader of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church Movement Worldwide, (Ayo Ni O), Prophet Gabriel Olubunmi Fakeye, is dead. He was aged 78 years. His death was an-

nounced yesterday by the church during their Sunday service. Prophet Gabriel was one of the prophets who spoke fervently against charging church members a particular fee before having access to the church. His members described him as a man who will be missed by all and indeed

it’s a black Sunday for them. Born in 1937, Prophet Fakeye, an engineer, started preaching the gospel at a tender age. He was popularly called “Bro Aladura” in his youthful days and remained a preacher until his dying days. Even though he was

Strikes unfair to students, hampers revenue generation –Ado Poly rector ABIODUN NEJO ADO EKITI

ector of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Dr Taiwo Akande, has lamented the incessant industrial actions embarked upon by the institution’s labour unions, saying they were taking a toll on its internal revenue generation and the students’ education. Akande, who accused the unions of insensitivity, wondered why they were taking their lack of love for the students and institution

to the extreme, adding: “The strikes are having a serious debilitating effect on our academic curriculum and calendar. It is not fair to the students.” The rector told National Mirror in Ado Ekiti over the weekend that “increase in our Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, base was one of my cardinal (targets). Unfortunately, this has not moved as fast as I thought because of industrial actions every time. “Each time there is an industrial action the unions

shut down all our moneymaking ventures and prevent the staff from working. Also affected is our part-time programme, because majority of the lecturers there are fulltime lecturers. They take advantage of that and shut down the part-time programme. This has really reduced our IGR and infrastructure development,” she said. She debunked allegation against her by the labour unions, which declared yet another industrial action last week, saying: “They said I stole pension money,

they said I stole cooperative money, and they were told to bring proof that this woman stole all these. Yet, up till this minute, they have not brought proof.” The unions had last week accused the rector of embezzling N350 million unremitted cooperative fund, illegal pension deductions and nepotism in staff promotion, among others. The unions, which insisted on the rector’s removal, sued for restoration of the salary scale, CONTISS 15, to the institution. They also

called for downsizing of the workforce, alleging that over-employment by the rector was the bane of the school finances. But Akande said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, would have arrested her long ago if the financial scam allegations were true, adding that there was no way the institution could continue payment of CONTISS 15 which the Federal Government did not appropriate money for.

advanced in age, he continued to administer the movement (Ayo Ni O) he founded. Fakeye was a visionary leader with profound knowledge, grasp, and appreciation of history. He is renowned for his conviction and faith in the unity and greatness of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church in Nigeria and the entire world. He was also a believer in the unity of Christianity worldwide, as he was not a sectional leader. Until his death, he runs both television and radio programmes in a number of broadcast stations, including the G.O. Fakeye television programmes, featuring the secret of psalms and healing as a result of which he became a target of government scrutiny. Prophet Fakeye is survived by his wife, a son, six daughters and grandchildren.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South West

Monday, January 12, 2015

APC berates Agbaje over comment on Jonathan’s re-election

Cross section of supporters listening to Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, during his ward-to-ward re-election campaign at Ijebu North-East Local Government Area of the state, at the weekend.

Name ex-gov who returned N500m loot, Ladoja tasks Ajimobi KEMI OLAITAN IBADAN

ormer governor of Oyo State and Accord Party, AP, gubernatorial candidate, Senator Rasheed Ladoja, at the weekend challenged Governor Abiola Ajimobi to name the former governor who he alleged returned N500 million to the coffers of the state. Ladoja said this while speaking with journalists shortly after he received the flag of AP as gubernatorial candidate for Oyo State at a ceremony held at Durbar Stadium. While describing AP

as “incoming government”, more so when he managed the resources of the state judiciously while in the saddle, he said “Ajimobi should be bold enough to tell the people of the state the former governor that he claimed gave him a cheque of N500 million as part of looted funds “. It would be recalled that Ajimobi had claimed at a forum that a former governor had returned a cheque of N500 million, which he alleged was part of recovered looted funds. Ladoja, who lamented the current state of education in the state, prom-

ised to restore the 30 pupils per class policy and ensure that the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, ranked tops among Nigerian universities again. He described Accord Party and its candidates as marketable, stating that the ruling party in the state has left many people to suffer due to anti-masses policies while pensioners languish in penury. He promised to clear all outstanding allowances within six months of his government if elected as governor while the lots of farmers, pensioners

and unemployed youths would be improved upon. While promising the people of the state free health care services, Ladoja said his government will put “welfare of the citizenry first, provide free and qualitative education, tax regime that encourages development, rural based development with infrastructural development without tears, judicious and responsible spending, revatilisation of farm settlement to boost food production, peaceful and secure environment and upholding the rule of law.”

Suspects arrested over fake ALGON, NULGE stickers

equel to a petition written by the Joint Mobile Advert Agency of Nigeria, JMOAN, and the Logistics Agency of Nigeria, LAN, both consultants to the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON, and the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, on Biometric Clearance Certificates, the police in Zone II, Onikan, Lagos, have arrested some individuals allegedly fingered to be forging and distributing fake revenue stickers to motorists. Those arrested include Tajudeen Olaoye (a.k.a. Alfa), Kennedy Okojie (a.k.a. Ken Touch) and one Moses, whose office was allegedly used for distribu-

tion of the fake clearance document. In their petition to the police, JMOAN and LAN accused the individuals of usurping their powers as representatives of ALGON/NULGE by producing and selling the 2015 biometric clearance, saying the alleged fake agents claimed to have got authority from Deputy Secretary General of NULGE, Comrade Rasaq Lawal. But the National Chairman of NULGE Committee on the Eradication of Multiple Taxation, Mr Chinda Pedro, told policemen investigating the matter that he knew nothing about any letter or any approval by NULGE for the suspects to perpetrate the illegal act, adding that

the union only signed an agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, with JMOAN/ LAN to distribute and sell the biometric clearance certificate on its behalf be-

tween 2014 and 2017. ALGON, through its Protocol Officer, Venatus Okafor, also denied any dealings with the suspects on the fake biometric clearance certificates.

agos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has berated the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, for saying that the South South is capable of collapsing the Nigerian economy if President Goodluck Jonathan is not re-elected. The party said such comment marks the unsuitability of Agbaje to be elected as governor of the state. In a statement issued by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary, Mr Joe Igbokwe, APC urged Lagos voters to take a closer and critical look at the personality of Agbaje, adding that Lagosians would be making the greatest mistake in history if a candidate that lacks training in simple economics and the monumental power of a diversified economy is voted in error. “APC is at a loss and completely dumbfounded that a candidate that says it wants to govern a dynamic, powerful, prosperous, and enlightened state like Lagos is resorting to this type of cheap and strange blackmail in the 21st century in order to win elections. “For Jimi Agbaje’s information, SouthSouth crude oil has become a curse to Nigeria instead of blessing. Crude oil has ruined our capacity to reason, to think and to explore other areas like agriculture, science and tech, industrialization, building and construction industry, etc” “Japan, Germany, France, Italy, South Ko-

rea, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore among others, have no oil and yet they have given a good account of themselves in the global economy through commitments, power of critical thinking and dint of hard work” “Even in the third world there are many countries that are surviving without oil. In 1997 Dell Computers made more money than Nigeria with just 12,000 workers. MEARSK Containers, a shipping company, Apple, HP make more money than Nigeria and yet Jimi Agbaje, a pharmacist cannot think in the 21st century” “We have told anybody who cares to listen in Lagos, that Jimi Agbaje is a pretender, and a hustler who lacks the capacity and cognate experience to dream of governing a state like Lagos. Jimi has never been a counselor, he has never served in a local government and he has never been a commissioner, a House of Assembly member or a Special Adviser. He has never served at the federal level either. So where is the experience for Lagosians to trust him with the treasury of Lagos?” The party says, “There is nothing wrong in anybody dreaming big. It is allowed in any society, but Lagosians are not ready to allow a learner to experiment with the destiny of Lagos when there is an alternative candidate. That alternative is Akiwunmi Ambode, who served Lagos State for 27years as a civil servant and retired as the state’s Accountant General”

Osun signs MoU with IITA on improved seedlings BOLADALE BAMIGBOLA OSOGBO

sun State government has signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU, with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Ibadan, Oyo State, in order to boost food production in the state. The agreement is aimed at making available improved seedlings, the government said, which is im-

perative since agriculture remains an alternative to dwindling oil revenue from the federation account. The government also claimed it has entered into partnership with the Institute for the Establishment of Seed Laboratory, IESL, in collaboration with the state’s university, UNIOSUN, to enhance profitable seed and seedling multiplication business in the state. In his remarks during the signing ceremony

at IITA, Ibadan, Director General, Office of Economic Development and Partnerships, OEDP, Dr. Charles Diji Akinola, said the partnership with the institute would help the state achieve the goal of seed multiplication programme under its Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Programme, O-REAP, to prevent yield failure due to low quality seeds. Akinola, the state coordinator of OREAP further dis-

closed that IITA will support the partnership technically for it to achieve the objective of production of quality seeds, in terms of breeding, production and certification of seeds quality. The Deputy Director General, Partnerships and Capacity Development of the institute, Dr. Kenton Dashiell, in his response promised it would ensure that the agreement with Osun State government yield positive results.

South East

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmir-

Ebonyi PDP kicks off campaign …seeks support for Umahi ALIUNA GODWIN ABAKALIKI

eoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ebonyi State chapter, has said it will mobilise over 400,000 of its members across the 13 local government areas of the state for the flag-off campaign of its candidate, Engr Dave Umah, billed for today. Acting chairman of the party, Chief Joseph Onwe, disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Abakaliki. He said all necessary arrangements have been put in place to enable the party record a successful exercise and most importantly win next month’s gubernatorial election. He restated the importance of power shift to Ebonyi South senatorial zone as earlier advocated by Chief Martin Elechi, urging the people not be deceived by Elechi’s loyalists. He added that the rally would take place at Community Primary School, Ndufu, Echara Ikwo Local Government Area. “The people are eagerly yearning for power shift to the south and the flag-off will mark a new beginning in the state as Ebonyians are ready to vote for our flag bearer, Umahi, and his running mate Barr Kelechi Igwe, in next month’s gu-

OLUFEMI ADEOSUN ABUJA

risis generated over the primary elections conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Anambra State into various offices seems not to have been totally resolved, as some National Assembly candidates whose names were not listed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, have vowed to fight to reclaim their mandates. The candidates made their position known in a communique issued at the end of an emergency meeting in Abuja at the weekend. The aggrieved candidates berated INEC for acting contrary to its avowed promise that the anomaly

bernatorial election. “The long expected change has come and I am delighted to be part of this history, Ebonyi State is PDP and I am urging Ebonyi people to support our candidate by voting PDP in next month’s general election,” he added. In a remark, the DirectorGeneral of Dave Umahi’s Campaign Organisation, Chief Fidelis Nwankwo said the rally will be memorable and colourful, stressing that Ebonyi people are united on their quest for power shift to Ebonyi South. His words: “We are drumming support for our gubernatorial candidate, Chief Dave Umahi, and his running mate Barrister Kelechi Igwe and iam sure they will provide the needed change we want”. “Our support for Dave Umahi is total and complete; all Ebonyians have endorsed him for the governorship position of the state in next month’s election.” “What I am promising Ebonyi people is that Umahi will carry everybody along in his administration and I know that if he succeed in becoming the next governor, he will rule with the fear of God, humility and total commitment to the course of all Ebonyi people irrespective of geographical differences” he added.

would be corrected. The communiqué was signed by Chief Tony Offiah - Aguata, Mr. Julius OformaNnewi North/South/Ekusigo and Princess Ifeyinwa Anazonwa - Onitsha North/ South, for and on behalf of candidates for National and State Assemblies. They urged INEC to do the needful by publishing their names, arguing that the result of the primary elections conducted by the Ejike Oguebego-led State Executive Committee, and upon which they emerged, was done in compliance with court judgment. The communiqué reads in part, “We the undersigned names who are the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that emerged from the primaries conducted by the

L-R: Sen. Chris Ngige; Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha; APC Presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and and his Vice, Prof. Yemi Osibajo at APC campaign in Awka, Anambra State, on Saturday.

Ebonyi health workers bemoan ill-equipped hospitals ALIUNA GODWIN ABAKALIKI

hairman of Nurses and Midwives Association of Nigeria, NMWAN, Ebonyi State chapter, Mr Nnachi Michael, has restated the preparedness of his administration to wipe out quackery and fight other related problems facing health sector in the state.

Obiano

Ejike Oguebego-led State Executive Committee, as ordered by the court in its judgment in Suit Number. FHC/CS/874/2014, do hereby wish to state that we have watched closely the activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) concerning its hocus pocus attitude and orchestrated delay in publishing our names as

Nnachi said this in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, while briefing journalists in his office. He lamented activities of quacks especially in Ebonyi State, which he said has increased health-related problems the people are facing. He also decried the unseriousness of the Federal Government to respond to health work-

ers’ demands; calling on the government to provide standard equipment in hospitals across the country to enable health personnel deliver effective healthcare services to the people especially in rural areas. He said health institutions in the country have been partially paralysed due to delay by the government to respond

to the demand of health workers. Nnachi called on the Presidency and governors to prioritise the health needs of the people that voted them into power. He hinted that if government refuses to respond to the request of the union, the lingering strike may continue for a very long time.

the persons duly nominated for the forthcoming National Assembly Election in Anambra State. “We wish to recall that, as candidates, we followed INEC and its disposition, prior to the primary election and during the conduct of the congresses in addition to its subsequent guidelines meant to govern its action in the forthcoming elections. INEC had in a memo to the PDP national leadership, stated that it will only monitor the congresses of Ejike Oguebego’s led executive and that it will be guided by court order. “We wish to state that we were guided by the two factors before we took steps that informed our involvement and participation in the primary elections. “For record purpose, we

wish to remind INEC that it made it clear that it will participate and monitor only the congresses led executive committee that produced the ad-hoc delegates that participated in the conduct of the primary election. This was evidenced in its reports and the endorsement of the results of the ad-hoc delegate congresses conducted by Ejike Oguebegoled executive committee. “Please note that we were guided by INEC’s position on this and on that basis, we made our informed decision to participate based on the court judgments which sanctioned and approved only the primary election conducted by the said Ejike Oguebego-led state executive committee of Anambra State” Responding, INEC Act-

ing Drirector, Legal Services/Legal Adviser, Alhaji Ibrahim Bawa, allay the fear of the candidates, insisting that the commission had not taken a decision to remove any name. He said: “The commission has not taken a position on the candidates list, but will ascertain which of the two lists is authentic. By law, the list for the National Assembly will be published on January 13 “I am confident that by Monday, the commission will reach a decision because of the publication of the list on Tuesday January 13. The commission will take a decision on January 11th or 12t. So the Anambra list must come out on that day, January13th with other lists from all parts of the federation.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South South

Monday, January 12, 2015

Bomb rocks APC secretariat in Rivers State • 3 party members sustain machete cuts DENNIS NAKU

PORT HARCOURT

ll Progressives Congress, APC, secretariat in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State was yesterday morning bombed by unknown persons. It was gathered that the hoodlums detonated suspected dynamite on the ground floor of the threestorey building housing the party’s secretariat at Abam Ama in Okrika, which shattered the building. This is as three members of the APC in Rumueme, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area were allegedly inflicted with machete wounds while preparing to attend a rally in the community. Narrating the incident in a statement, APC chairman in Okrika Local Council, Christian Asifamaka, said the arsonists struck early Sunday morning, adding that the blast shattered the serenity of the area, as

nearby residents scampered for safety. Asifamaka said the explosive used destroyed huge part of the secretariat, especially his (chairman’s) office, even as he accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as masterminding the attack. The statement read: “In the early hours of Sunday, January 11, 2015, some unknown persons threw dynamite into the secretariat of our party, APC, in Abam Ama, Okrika Local Government Area. “The explosion, which occurred exactly at 3:14am, destroyed our secretariat, bringing down the walls. The damage was quite extensive with the chairman’s office the worst hit. “The APC in Okrika views this latest attack as a deliberate provocation by our opponents to draw APC into a battle that would destabilise our beloved local government area. “This is unfortunate and APC in Okrika will not allow Okrika to become a

hotbed of crises as the PDP would wish.” Asifamaka noted that Okrika people have suffered from political crises in the past, but called on the party’s supporters to remain calm. Governorship candidate of the APC, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who visited the scene of the incident to assess the extent of damage, condemned the attack which he alleged was carried out by the PDP. Peterside said, “This one is the latest; the report we have said early this morning, there were a couple of explosions here. Our people who live around this neighbourhood rushed out but couldn’t intercept whoever did this. “But the police have been accordingly briefed; the Area Commander is here with us. Let us hope that the police will unearth the perpetrators of this violence this time around. It is in their best interest; it is in the best interest of Nigeria and in the best interest of

We’ve started investigation —Police

democracy,” he said. Peterside expressed dismay that members and supporters of the PDP in the state have initiated a particular pattern of taking to violence, especially against members of the APC. While calling on the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to unmask those behind the attack, he said, “This development is very sad; and it is unfortunate that some persons in the society have decided to choose this path.” When contacted, the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Ahmad Mohammad, confirmed the attack on the APC secretariat. Mohammad said, “The command is aware of the incident. Information at my disposal is sketchy. However, investigation has commenced.” In a separate development, an APC leader in Obio/Akpor and House of Representatives candidate in the area, Chief Tony

L-R: Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan; People’s Democratic Party gubernatorial flag bearer for Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, and his wife, Dame Edith Okowa, during a thanksgiving service marking the successful collection of guber party flag in Asaba, yesterday.

Okocha, told newsmen in Port Harcourt that three APC members, including a chief were attacked with machete on Sunday morning at Rumueme, while preparing for a rally. Okocha further stated that the chief (a non-indigene) was severely injured. “I personally took three

of them to Kelsey Harrison Hospital in Port Harcourt this morning. The other two suffered similar multiple machete cuts.” While condemning the attack, he said: “Nobody should push us (APC) to retaliate,” adding that the party was fast exhausting its patience.

CRUTECH workers protest non-payment of salaries RICHARD NDOMA CALABAR

cademic activities in Cross River State University of Technology, CRUTECH, at the weekend came to a halt as staff of the institution proceeded on indefinite strike. The CRUTECH staff said they were embarking on protest over non-payment of their two months salaries and allowances. Students of the institution, who returned from the New Year holidays, were forced to return home following the closure. The workers alleged that the institution was “totally” neglected by the state government, and vowed not to return to work until their demands were met. Chairman of CRUTECH branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Dr. Stephen Ochang, accused the Cross River State government of being insensitive to the plight of the varsity workers. The lecturers’ union chairman disclosed that the four industrial unions in CRUTECH last November wrote to the state government demanding payment of salaries and other

outstanding allowances owed the university staff. He said other reasons for the strike included nonrelease of N500 million for upgrading facilities in the institution and fund for payment of earned allowances to staff. Ochang maintained that the unions were also demanding increase in the varsity’s monthly subvention from N169 million to N250 million “to enable the institution management pay salaries and allowance accrued to staff regularly.” The ASUU chairman expressed dismay over the inability of the state government to meet its financial obligation to the university, noting that “salaries are no longer paid regularly.” Another issue in dispute, we gathered, is the non-release of the report of the Visitation Panel set up by the state government. The panel had reportedly decried poor funding of the university with about 20 of its programmes not accredited. It was also gathered that the National Universities Commission has threatened to withdraw the partial accreditation granted CRUTECH due to lack of requisite facilities.

Stop destroying our campaign materials, Rivers PDP warns APC DENNIS NAKU

PORT HARCOURT

ivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday alleged that members of the All Progressive Congress, APC, were destroying its campaign materials in parts of the state. The party said the destruction in Ikwerre Local

Government was particularly targetted at its governorship candidate, Nyesom Wike, and President Goodluck Jonathan and warned those behind the attack to desist. The party warned that it might be forced to carry out a reprisal attack on APC campaign materials if the sad development continues. State PDP Chairman, Felix Obuah, disclosed this in

a statement issued on Sunday in Port Harcourt and signed by his media aide, Jerry Needam. Obuah was reacting to the arrest of two suspects by the police in connection with the incident. The statement reads: “The Rivers State PDP is appalled over incessant destruction of its campaign materials, particularly that of the governorship candi-

date, Barr Nyesom Wike by members of the APC.” The statement gave names of the arrested suspects as Amadi Wenedah and Amadi ThankGod from Aluu in Ikwerre council. The statement added, “It is therefore, deeply regrettable that Mr Dakuku Peterside, who sacrilegiously and offensively displays billboards bearing

pictures he took kneeling down in his home, making people believe those pictures were taken in the church and pretends to be a Christian, could encourage the destruction of Nyesom Wike’s billboards, posters, banners and other campaign materials. “We (PDP) are using this medium to warn APC members and its governorship candidate in Rivers

State, Mr Dakuku Peterside, to desist forthwith from destroying our campaign materials and that of Barr. Wike and other candidates of the party or face reprisal from PDP,” it said. Spokesman of the State Police Command, DSP Ahmad Mohammad, could not be reached for confirmation, as he refused to pick calls put across to him by our reporter.

North

Monday, January 12, 2015

2015: Aliyu begs non-indigenes not to flee PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

pparently disturbed by the mass exodus of non-indigenes from the state for fear of what may happen after next month’s general election, Niger State Governor, Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu, has pleaded with non-indigenes to stop running away from the state, ahead of the general elections. He assured them of adequate security and protection of lives and property of all Nigerians resident in the state. Aliyu, who made the passionate appeal in Minna at the Redeem Church Livingstone Parish, while receiving an award of

meritorious service to humanity by the church, said the protection of lives and property was paramount to the state government. Saddened by the development, the governor recalled how people created problems for themselves in the past while trying to run away from where they were residing during election period. He said: “I appeal to you not to run away from Minna, and other parts of the state because of the coming election. The 2015 general election must be peaceful and result must be accepted whichever way it goes. “So, people should not kill themselves for the political interest of anybody. Anyone killing oneself

for partisan politics is like committing suicide, which both religions abhor.” Pointing out the need for tolerance, respect and protection of one another, irrespective of religious belief, the governor noted that as a good Muslim, he believes in Jesus Christ and that both Muslims and Christians pray to the same God. “Halleluiah in Christianity is the same as Ya’Allahu in Islam,” the governor said, noting that the coming election is becoming more intense compared to previous ones in the country, hence the need for caution by all stakeholders. “We must not allow the young ones to drag us into problems we may not be able to get out from. We

must not allow our desire, whims and caprices to cause problems and you must not kill yourselves for anybody,” he said. The governor expressed gratitude to the church for the award, noting that the state has been able to handle issues pertaining to religion in a mature manner. “I am happy with the way we handle religious issues in Niger State. I am not the governor that will say don’t go to other people. Whether you are indigene or non-indigene, as far as you are in Niger State, I am your governor. I am not a religious fanatic and the award has nothing to do with politics,” the governor stated.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

PDP deplores Baga killings, attack on Jonathan’s campaign vehicle OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

eoples Democratic Party, PDP, has deplored the killing of innocent citizens in Baga and Maiduguri in Borno State, calling on Nigerians to declare one month of prayers for the overflowing troubles from greedy Nigerian politicians. The party also decried last Saturday’s unprovoked attack on President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign vehicles in Jos, Plateau State capital, describing it as a barbaric act that should be condemned by all lovers of democracy. PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement on Sunday said the agenda of those sponsoring violence in the country was to provoke revenge and counter attacks, but called for restraint from all quarters, adding

that “the nation cannot afford any kind of tension at this stage of its political development.” The party said it remains committed to peace and as such directed all its members not to retaliate despite the provocations. “The PDP is totally committed to the unity and peace of our dear nation. This is paramount and must not be compromised. Those who seek to use violence to truncate the electoral process and destabilise our nation will be utterly disappointed. Our country will continue to be and the 2015 general elections will come and go peacefully. The party then called on law enforcement agencies to rise to the challenge and bring to book all those behind the condemnable act so as to serve as deterrent to violence-prone youths and their sponsors.

Jonathan’s govt a colossal failure –Saraki WOLE ADEDEJI ILORIN

S L-R: Sultan of Sokoto, Dr, Abubakar Mohammed Sa-Ad III; Kaduna State Governor Mukhtar Ramallan Yero, and Emir of Zauzau, Shehu Idris at the 40th year anniversary of Emir of Zazau on the Throne in Zaria, yesterday.

Katsina PDP loses 7,000 members to APC JAMES DANJUMA KATSINA

even thousand registered members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over the weekend decamped to the All progressives Congress, APC, in Katsina State. The decampees included political associates of the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hamisu Makana, with most of them coming from Sandamu Council Area and its environs. The decampees led by Honourable Sale Magaji, a serving member of the House of Assembly, were received by the state’s APC

gubernatorial candidate, Aminu Bello Masari. Masari, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, was on his third-day gubernatorial campaign tour to the area when he received the decamped PDP members. Speaking during the event, Masari said the decampees made the right decision, assuring them that they would be given fair treatment by the party. He described PDP as a “sinking ship that had lost focus and failed to satisfy the yearning of Nigerians.” He likened the ruling PDP to an “Ebola victim who people prefer to keep their distance from,” call-

ing on other members of the party to “borrow a leaf from the Sandamu decampees”. He said PDP was as good as dead in the state and that the little that was left of the party would be “laid to final rest on February 14,” when the presidential election holds. Masari said the APC, whose Presidential candidate is General Muhammadu Buhari has been universally acknowledged as the only party capable of turning around the fortunes of the country within a short time. He added that the party was very much in tune with the yearning and aspirations of the people, and

was determined to meet them. Earlier, leader of the decampees, Magaji said they dumped the PDP because party’s mission was not in the best interest of Nigerians. Some of the decampees include, former Chairmen of Sandamu Council Area, Nasir Ibrahim, Magaji Maigoro, former secretary for the council area,Yusuf Jarkuka. Others were Zubairu Rijiyar-Tsamiya and Mamman Tela who are the two key PDP figures from the area as well as six former councillors and ten former special assistants that worked for one of the past council chairmen.

enator Bukola Saraki at the weekend in Ilorin, Kwara State, took a swipe at President Goodluck Jonathan, describing his administration as a failure. According to Bukola, President Jonathan could not stand the pedigree of Major General Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate, and Governor Ahmed of Kwara State by any standard. He said the president falls far below Governor Ahmed on scale of achievements. He likened the pedigree of APC presidential candidate, the governor and that of President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP candidate in the state to “that of light and darkness”. Saraki, who is contesting the Senate seat for a second term, said this while inaugurating a campaign committee that would handle his re-election bid with that of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and all National and state Assemblies candidates under the banner of the

All Progressives Congress, APC. He named the current Speaker of the s House of Assembly, Razak Atunwa as the Director-General of the campaign committee. He said with the calibre of membership of the campaign committee in next month’s elections would be a walk-over for APC. He boasted that the pedigree of Buhari and Ahmed was a plus for the APC. Saraki whose younger sister is on the presidential campaign committee of Goodluck Jonathan, added the PDP are bereft of ideas on how to move the nation forward, noting that “ this is the reason why their campaign has not been issuesbased” He asked rhetorically, “what have PDP campaigners able to point to as the achievements of Jonathan”? And for the PDP gubernatorial candidate in the state, Senator Simeon Ajibola” He said the intimidating, tested and trusted structure of APC will make candidates of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, fall like “sacrificial dogs”.

Monday, January 12, 2015

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Politics

Delta: Okowa and politics of running mate Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the Delta State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, gubernatorial candidate recently announced Barr Kingsley Otuaro as his running mate for the February 28 election. OBIORA IFOH, writes on the intrigues that played out and how the partnership will impact on the outcome of the election.

elta State was one of the states that recorded the largest number of gubernatorial aspirants at the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, primaries, where the battle for who would fly the party’s banner was so intense that even a week to the primaries, there was no clear favourite, as the influence of the godfathers were perceptibly manifest in the whole permutation. The intense struggle for power was understandable, considering that the state is in the league of top oil producing states with fat resources. Pockets of godfathers including former governor, James Ibori, incumbent governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark and former militant turned businessman, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, were seen to be neck deep in the politics of who governs the state. It was these intrigues that forced Dr. Uduaghan and Chief Clark to lose out in their determined efforts to crown their preferred candidates, Chief Anthony Obuh and Ndudi Elumelu respectively. Senator Ifeanyi Okowa eventually emerged but in a rare show of solidarity, all the aspirants and their godfathers have since filed behind the Okowa candidacy. The circumstances that led to Okowa’s emergence are gradually waning; giving way to new windows of chances aimed at healing perceived wounds within the party, rather than fresh angles of discord. Significantly, unlike other critical players, Dr. Uduaghan had played the lead role of brotherliness and show of leadership when he was the first to congratulate Senator Okowa on his emergence as Delta PDP gubernatorial candidate. For one, Uduaghan’s rare display of political dexterity was commendable even as it was phenomenal. He had not hidden his preference for someone other than Okowa, not only at the last minute, but from the commencement of the governorship race. At first, he had gone for his trusted ally, Chief Obuh who had served as a permanent secretary under him until October last year. It was also believed that the governor at the last minute switched his preference to Chief David Edevbie, former principal private secretary to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The governor’s sudden u-turn was understandably embarked upon on the strength of certain expressed fears that the Urhobo nation was such an electorally viable senatorial district that needed to be placated with the governorship ticket of the PDP if only to get the votes from the area. Whether or not that calculation eventually came to materialise may have been answered by its own contradictions as Okowa’s victory was seen largely as a result of his wide political network across the three senatorial districts of the state. Nonetheless, Okowa’s next hurdle as it were, became the choice of a running mate. Expectedly, two out of the three ethnic nationalities in the South senatorial district, Ijaw and Isoko, to which the deputy governorship slot had been zoned were vehement in their efforts to clinch the slot as there was no visible move on the part of the third group,

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NOW THAT THE ISSUES OF BOTH THE CANDIDATE AND HIS RUNNING MATE HAVE BEEN SETTLED... IT

NOW BEHOVES ON

PDP LEADERS

AND MEMBERS TO RALLY ROUND THEM AND DELIVER THE STATE FOR THE PARTY the Itsekiri to be in contention for the number two job in the state. It was therefore not unusual that ethnic colouration laced the contest for Okowa’s running mate, even as contrived collaboration became noticeable, especially between the Itsekiri and Isoko. Of course, the reason for the former’s support for their Isoko neighbours was seen in the context of the age-long ethnic disharmony between them and their Ijaw neighbours, especially those of Gbaramatu kingdom. Therefore, while Okowa was caught between the choice of an Isoko and Ijaw as running mate, his problem became more compounded even within the Ijaw ethnic nationality as to where specifically the slot should be allotted in view of the unintended stratification of the ethnic stock into two major cleavages: Mein, comprising Burutu, Bomadi and Patani local governments as well as Gbaramatu in Warri South West local government. While the Mein Ijaws see the Gbaramatu as politically upcoming, the later had hinged their argument on the notion that the emergence of Senator James Manager from the Mein axis was enough to contend with. A source in the Okowa campaign team confided in National Mirror that from inception, an agreement had been struck between Okowa and the Gbaramatu Ijaws, led by Tompolo that the deputy governorship slot would come from Warri South West, specifically Gbaramatu Kingdom. The source said: “The level of support you show in politics has an advantage to breed for you; he who puts his all expects something at least. From the beginning, the Ijaws of Gbaramatu Kingdom put in more efforts in the Okowa project while their counterparts from other Ijaw local governments were mainly for Obuh.” According to the source, the selection of Barr Kingsley Otuaro by Okowa was as a result of the support he got from

the people of Gbaramatu kingdom, especially Tompolo, whose influence made a remarkable difference in the last 48 hours to Delta gubernatorial primary. Meanwhile, Delta For Equity, DFE, has called on the leadership of the PDP to put behind the circumstances of the scramble for Okowa’s running mate and work for the success of the party. In a statement issued and signed by its chairman, Chief John Eseoghone, DFE said in part: “In the face of the seemingly irreconcilable intra-party differences among leaders of these brothers whose unity is crucial to Okowa’s victory in the next election, it could only have taken a political personality with wisdom, leadership qualities, a unifier with an eye for fairness to take what could have been adjudged a fair decision, that is the selection of Barr Otuaro as deputy governorship candidate of the PDP. “As a group, we wish to call on all Deltans of good conscience to reconcile themselves with the outcome of PDP primaries. With the selection of Otuaro as his running mate, Okowa has crossed his last major hurdle as he moves closer to the general election in 2015. “The time has come for the PDP to once again embrace the cords of unity that have put it firmly in control of the affairs of the state since 1999.” DFE has the concurrence of Anioma Economic Group, ACG, whose Secretary General, Mr. McAnthony Ndukaeze, said Okowa has shown character and integrity in the face of the first major challenge to his governorship aspiration. Ndukaeze said: “Those pressurising Okowa on the region that should produce his running mate were trying to complicate the already complex situation thrown up by those who wanted to impose their anointed candidate on Deltans.” All the same, Tompolo appears not ready to take chances as he has embarked on moves aimed at galvanising support for Okowa in the 2015 election. Few days ago, Tompolo met with the Olu of Warri, His Majesty Ogiame Atuwase 11, alongside top members of the Itsekiri Traditional Council in the monarch’s palace, even as a similar one took place in Ethiope federal constituency with top monarchs of the area. A source close to the meetings told National Mirror that Tompolo initiated the meeting with the monarchs in order to ensure a hitch-free poll in the state. But he declined to give details of discussions that took place at the separate parleys. He said: “It is true that Tompolo met with some prominent traditional rulers from my federal constituency. You know that Ethiope federal constituency is the largest in the central senatorial district, and in view of the tension that the loss of Urhobo at governorship primary had generated, I think it was good that the young man took that bold step by reaching out to other ethnic groups.” Prodded further to give details of the meeting, the source, a top PDP chieftain, refused to divulge more information, saying: “You do not need the details of the meeting; you should be okay with what I have disclosed to you that they met over the governorship election.” Tompolo’s spokesman, Comrade Paul Bebenimibo, also confirmed the parley between his boss and the monarchs in a telephone conversation when he said: “Yes it is true the High Chief met with top traditional rulers both in the Central and South senatorial districts of the state. I think he first met with the Urhobo rulers before he met with His Majesty, the Olu of Warri in his palace with top members of the Itsekiri Traditional Council in attendance.” Now that the issues of both the candidate and his running mate have been settled and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has also published their names as candidates of the party, it now behoves on PDP leaders and members to rally round them and deliver the state for the party. This is because the opposition parties, particularly, the Labour Party, LP, fielding a formidable candidate in Bright Ogboru, a veteran, are watching and waiting for a slip from the PDP.

Politics

OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

agos State All Progressives Congress, APC, gubernatorial candidate, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, has said that the core reason for putting himself forward for the highest job in Lagos State is to serve humanity. In his strategic and relentless campaign across different areas of the state, Ambode used the whole of the weekend to reassure supporters and stakeholders as well as woo undecided voters that he is in the race to serve and lead by example. In a press release signed by his Director of Media and Communications, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, Ambode said Lagos has witnessed a record of excellence service in the past 15 years and the more than 17 million people living and working in Africa’s largest city-state “deserves a tested hand who will continue in that tradition of excellence.” He said: “The governor that Lagos State deserves at this period of our continued growth and development is a man with a track

Monday, January 12, 2015

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I’m in this race to serve –Ambode …says credible election is development panacea

record of performance and excellence; a man who is tested, who understands governance and is an experienced administrator who will not experiment with the resources and growth template of this state. I, Akinwunmi Ambode, is that man.” His message of selfless service and leadership by example, according to the release, was the focal point of his eventful weekend. This message was delivered on Friday at the MUSON Centre, Onikan where he was Special Guest at the 3rd Annual Lecture of the January 9 Collective, J9C, where he spoke on the topic of the lecture: 2015 General Polls: Beyond the Rhetorics of Credible Elections, delivered by Cambridge-based professor of Political Anthropology, Prof. Anthony Kila. The Fulbright Scholar said selfless service and leadership by example should be the hallmark of any elected official desirous of making

meaningful change and lasting impression in the lives of the electorates. He said: “Selfless service becomes non-negotiable if the process that brought elected leaders into office is free, fair and credible. But often, we see leaders who derail and abandon their promises to the electorates because the process that brought them to office is flawed. They feel they do not owe the voters. This is why we in APC have been very vocal about the need to have a credible election; to have a process that is fair and transparent and to have an election that does not seek to systematically disenfranchise electorates.” Saying that APC would not relent in urging the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to do everything in its power to ensure that all six million eligible registered voters in

Lagos State get their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, in order to exercise their civic duties, failing which those with Temporary Voter Card, TVC, should be allowed to exercise their constitutional rights, Ambode added: “This is the only way to ensure that INEC’s preparedness is beyond rhetorics so that the February elections can produce leaders that the people want.” On Saturday, he further reiterated his readiness to serve and continue with the record of excellence when he met with the zonal chairman of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENz, Lagos Zone, National Coordinator of the Civil Society Club of Nigeria, CISOCON and chairman of the Council of Arewa Chiefs, Comrades Tokunbo Korodo and Babatunde Ashafa and Alhaji Sani Kabiru, respec-

tively and a group of senior citizens representing top retired civil servants in Lagos State who met with him at different times at his Gbagada campaign office. It was the same message of selfless service and equal opportunities for every resident of Lagos that Ambode delivered at the Teslim Balogun stadium in Surulere when he held a rally for thousands of people with physical disabilities on Saturday afternoon. He, in company with his running mate, Mrs Oluranti Adebule, assured: “Our administration will not discriminate. We will look after your welfare. Irrespective of your tribe, creed, religion and physical disability, the APC government will look after you and recognise your rights.” Ambode also proved to be a people’s man when he rode in the BRT bus on Sat-

urday evening from Ketu to Fadeyi, after a visit to the popular Mile 12 market in mainland Lagos to preach the message of a government of inclusion, emphasising that the informal sector as well as the transport sector are integral part of the development of Lagos State, “and they deserve government’s attention and unflinching support at every given time.” He also reiterated his plans for sports development at a charity football march in Ikorodu on Sunday afternoon, organised to drum support for his gubernatorial ambition, using the occasion to explain his T.H.E.S.E plan which as part of his campaign manifesto emphasises the harnessing of Tourism, Hospitality, Entertainment, Sports and Excellence to get the teeming youths of Lagos State engaged in those areas.

Adebutu flags off campaign for Remo federal constituency OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

gun State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate for Remo federal constituency, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu has flagged-off his campaign tour of the constituency with a visit to Ikenne wards 1 and 2 and a rally at the Ikenne Motor park last week. Speaking at the event, former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, paid glowing tributes to the late sage and former Premier of the old Western region, Pa Obafemi Awolowo, for his great political exploits. Enjoining the people to support and vote for Hon. Adebutu, Daniel urged them to be wary of politicians who will come with unfulfilled promises that only raised their hope, such as the Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s mega school project, none of which is yet to be ready, few months into the expiration of his tenure. He also lamented the non-completion of the Sagamu-Ikenne road dualisation embarked upon by his administration, which has since been neglected by the Amosun’s government, as well as the Ogun agro-cargo airport project, of which

seven have so far been constructed in Nigeria. Speaking, Hon. Adebutu enjoined the people to elect him as their representative, saying: “Having stayed and lived with you in the past 25 years, I understand your plights than those impostors who abandoned their people and prefer to stay in Lagos and Abuja, thereby, adding no positive value to their local communities. I established businesses in Remo and also provide jobs for Remo people.” Promising to sponsor bills that will bring federal presence to Remo, thereby providing the much-anticipated dividends of democracy, create means that will provide funding for our teeming youths to engage in agricultural ventures, he said this will definitely guarantee food and job security and peaceful environment. He commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his transformation efforts and solicited the support of the people for his re-election, while announcing the continuation of the Ladi AdebutuFree Medical Programme, which starts next week. High point of the event was the raffle draw where various prizes were won by people.

Affected part of bombed APC Secretariat building at Okrika by hoodlums, yesterday.

INEC has no right to disenfranchise voters -LAISEC boss TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE

ermanent Secretary, Lagos Independent Electoral Commission, LAISEC, Mr. Adeyinka Jeje, has expressed strong dissatisfaction over the preparation of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, so far for the forthcoming February general elections in the country, saying accelerated adjustment is required to be able to conduct credible elections. The LAISEC boss who made the observation in a press release, also declared that INEC has no constitu-

tional power to disenfranchise any eligible voter on the basis of double registrations for permanent voter cards, PVCs, saying after all, such anomaly was caused by the commission itself. Noting that what INEC could do constitutionally in that regards is to prosecute and not to disqualify eligible registered voters, he said INEC may take that option so as not to mess up itself in court . He faulted the Prof. Attahiru Jega-led INEC over its shoddy preparations, especially on the issuance and distribution of the PVCs, as well as the continuous

voters’ registration, CVR, exercises in Lagos and some other states across the nation, expressing worry about the situation as a Nigerian and as an election manager. He argued that it would be difficult for various state electoral commissions that would conduct local government elections to do solid preparations that would lead to credible elections once INEC does not get it right. He said: “Whatever is the final product of the voters’ register by INEC will also affect performance on my job and I wouldn’t want that to happen.”

He further argued that four years were more than enough for any electoral body anywhere in the world with leadership that has political will and without any hidden agenda to prepare for credible elections. He said he was aware that only about 30 per cent of registered eligible voters in some states including Lagos have their PVCs with them contrary to INEC’s claim of giving out to more than 60 per cent. He added: “I wish INEC leadership rethinks and do what will make this all important election hitch- free, credible and acceptable globally.”

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Monday, January 12, 2015

Depoliticising development reforms in Nigeria Mirror of the moment ABDUL-WAREES A SOLANKE korewarith@yahoo.com, 08090585723 (SMS only)

f economics is the science of efficient allocation and utilization of scarce resources to achieve optimum value for the society, it becomes imperative for managers of the public sector in the developing world to undertake critical evaluation of the options and choices available for bailing them out of the quagmire of economic underdevelopment in which they are enmeshed. This is a call, therefore, for innovative and pragmatic reform measures necessary to free them from their crises. Unfortunately, when the subject of reform is raised, most citizens are not clear as to what it entails, and many interest groups, for parochial reasons, obfuscate its very essence in aggregating the challenge or support for reform programmes. This obviously explains the failure of reform or development projects and measures such countries pursue. We in Nigeria are not impeded by any lack of appreciation of our development crisis, but we are constrained mainly by the politics of approaches and choices we take to push through our reform projects. For this reason, we often disagree or vacillate while trying to generate ideas in

the planning stage, or we waste time and resources in the implementation stage to compound our challenges. In both cases, we compromise reforms. This seeming lack of collective sincerity and courage, therefore, portrays us in negative perspective as evidenced by our standing in many global development indices. The direction of most countries pursuing reform now is to interrogate the size and role of government in public service delivery, and involvement of other sector providers including the international government and multilateral agencies. At the same time, they try to evaluate the political, ideological and cultural parameters that clarify group interests, and estimate the social costs of such reform projects. How well do we take cognisance of these imperatives? First, let me enumerate some reform projects and programmes the nation has embarked upon since the mid1970s and leave you to evaluate our success in them. We have had land use, local government service, various agricultural development programmes, WAI, MAMSER, Better Life, Code of Conduct and anti-corruption initiatives, the Seven Point Agenda and the ongoing Transformation Agenda. In all these we see expression of good intention and huge financial deployment. But in most of them, we see public disdain, process subversion and implementation exploitation. That is why the Transformation Agenda must set itself apart and be pursued with utmost patriotism to drive national development in Nigeria. I always admire the late Professor Wal-

THE DIRECTION OF MOST COUNTRIES PURSUING REFORM NOW IS TO INTERROGATE THE SIZE AND ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY ter Rodney, the Guyanese author of the explosive book, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’, for his definition of development. He sees development as a many-sided process beginning from the individual level to the other complex socio-political and economic levels. Rodney’s all encompassing definition finds practical elucidation in the UN Eight Millennium Development Goals, which nations of the world subscribed to achieve by the Year 2015. Were those goals too idealistic and amorphous? Was the deadline unrealistic? Were those countries, who score highly on a different plane? What assisted their impressive status? Given similar challenges and resources, couldn’t we have matched them? What were the forces that impeded those who scored low on the MDG progress chart? What are those things that needed to be done and will they be done? Last week, Nigeria’s fourth experiment in democracy clocked 15 years. These 15 years, therefore, offer us the opportunity to explain the politics of reform and develop-

ment in the country. Our experience shows that there had been unnecessary muscleflexing among the tiers and arms of government when they should all play complementary roles without prejudice to the norms of checks and balances, given the enormous challenges confronting the nation. Between the federal and state governments, in many instances, there is jurisdiction contestation, while the local government councils often claim subjugation under the states. In the same vein, confrontation is not uncommon between the executive and legislative arms of government on areas that ordinarily demand understanding and cooperation. Claims also abound of corruption and interference in the judiciary, a development that consequently compromise justice. More dangerous is the tendency for the politicization of the police, armed forces and anti-corruption agencies. If this is the scenario, it would of course be difficult, if not impossible for development or reform to be facilitated in the country. Simply, we have been playing politics with the development drive of the country. Or better still, we have concentrated on politics while relegating development. It is in this context that we must understand the success or failure of the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda. If it must succeed as a tool for national development, it must enjoy ownership of all stakeholders in the Nigerian Project. The FG must also find expression of the Transformation Agenda in all the regional development initiatives in the country. This is beyond political affiliation.

Appreciating why people are difficult SANDRA AKUOMA

bully at your work is difficult for you to face. He is demanding you do part of his job without pay or credit. How do you handle it? Your neighbours are constantly fighting. They wake you up in the middle of the night with their screams and curses. What do you say to them? Your father is unhappy about your career choice. He constantly criticizes your work and points out what he thinks you should do. How do you deal with him? Difficult situations are part of our life. Employers and employees can’t get along. Partners clash over money. Spouses cannot resolve disagreements. If you ignore these situations, they always get worse. Employees get fired; partnerships and marriages break up; and everyone is miserable. Waiting and worrying, the most common “solution” also allows the problem to get worse while giving you stress and shortening your life span. If you attack the person, at least you are trying to fix the problem. But attacks, or rage, or irrational anger gives you a bad name, makes people afraid of you and reduces honest communication. Disconnecting from the problem or from the person is not always wise or practical. Losing employees, supporters and friends because you needlessly disassociate from them may not reduce your stress. Types of difficult people First is openly aggressive people. These

DIFFICULT SITUATIONS ARE PART OF OUR LIFE…IF

YOU IGNORE THESE SITUATIONS, THEY

ALWAYS GET WORSE are the bullies who are often abusive and intimidating. They believe their “victims” are weak and deserve the treatment they give them. They are therefore, stimulated by signs of weakness. Another set are the complainers – people who find fault with everything and have little faith in themselves and others because they believe in a hostile world. It can be difficult to recognize a true complainer. They are skilled at starting problems in such a critical manner that it is hard to separate real problems from complaints. And people around them become defensive because they know the complainer will be the first to blame them if something goes wrong. Complainers themselves feel powerless to correct the situations they complain about. Relying on others to fix the problem perpetuates their own belief that they are without blame or fault. There are the clams, people who react to questions, controversies, and indeed any situation they deem disagreeable, by clamming up or saying nothing. Just when you want a response, they may grunt, give

a no or yes or more likely say nothing. It is difficult to discern a clam from a quiet person. However, quiet people are not likely to avoid direct questions, whereas clams are. For instance, you have asked a colleague to not park too close to your car in the company parking lot. A Clam will say nothing. A quiet person will at least respond in some way. The biggest problem in dealing with clams is you don’t know what the silence or lack of response means. You cannot tell what’s on their mind! What about the super, the agreeable yes man, someone who is always pleasant and supportive of your ideas? The superagreeable wants to be liked and accepted by everyone, so to achieve this they are outgoing, sociable and very personable. However, the danger here is they will agree with you about one thing and then agree with the next person whose ideas are contrary to yours. At work, they will volunteer to do every job and get none of them done. You have the negative person, who is extremely pessimistic and more bitter than complainer. Usually, he/she feels defeated or powerless in regard to the situation; and the more you try to solve a problem or improve a situation, the more negative he/she become. And the know-it-all? Has a low tolerance for correction and contradiction. Common characteristics are I know more than you; I think I am better than you; I will tell you anything you want to know. Apparently confident and often condescending, their

claimed knowledge may be real or fake; and they are often poor listeners. We have the staller, who procrastinates in hope that a better choice will present itself. They are indecisive, or maybe persons who could be very helpful. However, they put off making decisions which might upset someone. The serious problem here is that most unmade decisions become irrelevant through time. Then the envious person, who is driven by fear and inferiority complex. The trait could be noticeable when working on a project with your colleague; he might feel threatened by you; or you might be seen as a threat to your immediate boss who might think you have an eye in his or her position; or the jealous neighbour who questions every new car you buy, spreading rumours, cooking up stories. The list is endless. Do these ring any bell? Spend time and ask yourself which one applies to you. Are you a culprit, a victim or both? When walking away is not an option, what do you do? See you next week. Akuoma wrote from Lagos via sanlifepointers@hotmail.com and can be reached through 08165583876 (sms only) Send your views by mail or sms to PMB 10001, Ikoyi, or our Email: mail@ nationalmirroronline.net mirrorlagos@ yahoo.com or 08164966858 (SMS only). The Editor reserves the right to edit and reject views or photographs. Pseudonyms may be used but must be clearly marked as such.

Editorial

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

All the Facts, All the Sides A PUBLICATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LTD BARRISTER JIMOH IBRAHIM, CFR PUBLISHER

SUNDAY OLAJIDE MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO SEYI FASUGBA DAILY EDITOR GBEMI OLUJOBI SATURDAY EDITOR AYO OLESIN SUNDAY EDITOR BEN MEMULETIWON GENERAL EDITOR DOZIE OKEBALAMA COORDINATOR, EDITORIAL BOARD CALLISTUS OKE EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF FIDELIS LEMCHI OWOAMANAM REGIONAL DIRECTOR, S/SOUTH GABRIEL SUNDAY

ACTING HEAD, GRAPHICS

Dangers in FG drastic cut in TCN’s 2015 budget

n apparent response to the austerity measures announced by the Federal Government late last year, the revised 2015 budget proposal now with the National Assembly, and the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy’s recent pronouncement that there was the need to cut down government expenditure this year to help cushion the effects of the slump in crude oil price in a country that relies mainly on oil, the Federal Government, according to recent reports, reviewed downward the appropriation to Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in the 2015 budget, leaving it with a meager N1 billion. This figure represents just about four per cent of the N24.9 billion allocation it got in 2014 for its network expansion projects. This newspaper finds the allocation a mismatch given the enormity of the electricity transmission network challenge the nation is facing. The Transmission Company of Nigeria, technically speaking, is still a public utility and asset; amidst a privatized power sector. Reports said the Ministry of Power and its agencies would be compelled to share the total sum of N8.811 billion as their personnel, overheads and capital development funds in 2015 as against the N62.4bn they got in 2014. Worse, still, some funds due in the fourth quarter of last year

were yet to be released to them as at when the revised 2015 budget got to the National Assembly. Not surprisingly, critics are puzzled by the proposed budget for food and entertainment for the Presidency and certain select ministries put at N517.5 million! The figure is roughly 51.8 per cent of the proposed allocation to a corporation saddled with the responsibility of timely and adequate delivery of the meagre power currently being generated, plus the additional volumes to be produced by private power generation companies. The complexity of government’s priority expenditure is, indeed, perplexing. There is the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), which acts as a guarantor for power procurement between private electricity distribution companies (Discos) and power generation companies (Gencos). In the proposed budget, NBET is to make do with a miserly N194 million. The austerity environment in which the 2015 budget would be operated is quite understandable. But we are of the strong opinion that a 96 per cent reduction, perhaps on a-year-to-year basis henceforth, in the fiscal allocation to a public utility company positioned and expected to transmit improved volumes of generated electricity is a gross disservice to the lofty power sector reform initiative of the

SHOULD NASS FAIL IN ITS OVERSIGHT

RESPONSIBILITIES; CHANCES ARE THAT THE EXISTING UNACCEPTABLE POWER SECTOR SITUATION WOULD WORSEN BETWEEN THIS YEAR AND

2016

President Goodluck Jonathan administration. It is a decision poorly served. We recommend, therefore, that the appropriate National Assembly committees overseeing national power generation, distribution and consumption should closely interrogate the figures and insist on positive amendment to them in the interest of a Nigerian populace that has become very weary of decades of incessant epileptic power supply amid outrageous monthly bills extorted largely for power neither supplied nor consumed. Should NASS fail in its oversight responsibilities; chances are that the existing unacceptable power sector situation would worsen by 2016. This foreboding scenario comes against the backdrop of the news that three renewable energy companies - Solius NGPC,

ON THIS DAY January 12, 2006 A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, killed at least 362 Muslim pilgrims. The stoning of the devil ritual is the most dangerous part of the pilgrimage because of the huge crowds, particularly as they cross the massive two-layer flyover-style Jamarat Bridge that affords access to the pillars. There have been many of such serious incidents during the Hajj.

Letters tothe theEditor Editor Letters to

January 12, 2007 Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) reached perihelion to become the brightest comet in more than 40 years. An ‘apsis’ is a point of least or greatest distance of a body in an elliptic orbit about a larger body. For a body orbiting the Sun, the point of least distance is the perihelion. Comet McNaught, also known as the Great Comet of 2007 and given the designation C/2006 P1, is a non-periodic comet discovered on August 7, 2006.

Peoples Home Association and Solar Force Nigeria Limited, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the FG for the production of 1000 megawatts of solar electricity across the country. This is a welcome development, and in line with the global drive towards the use of clean and renewable energy that does no harm to the environment and reduces climatic warming, something that cannot be said of the use of fossil fuel in power generation. The spread of solar power harnessing points geographically, envisaged job generation, planned technology transfer, and the produced tranches’ commissioning, are all elaborately well articulated in the plans of the three utility companies. And the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, spoke elatedly at the MOU signing ceremony with the three energy companies. But on the orchestrated starvation to be faced by TCN following the paltry budget of N1bn this year, the prospects of the company firming up its network expansion projects are at best grim. The FG may also not be keen to meet its obligations to the three aforementioned renewable energy companies. We believe that better resource provisioning to ensure improvement in the power sector in 2015 is a major national priority. It is still possible.

x January 12, 2010 An earthquake occurred in Haiti, killing an estimated 316,000 people and destroying the majority of the capital, Port-au-Prince. It’s magnitude was 7.0 Mw, with an epicenter near the town of Léogâne (Ouest Department), approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince. By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. An estimated three million people were affected by the quake.

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Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Cover

How insurance can move the economy in 2015 – Experts The insurance sector in Nigeria has not taken the full advantage of the working population of the country as its development seems to be phlegmatic, yet it is a sector that could have stabilized the economy in this trying time. It could also provide jobs for the hundreds of thousands of unemployed youths in the country if properly regulated. Reports, Denise Okone

he insurance sector is a key part of the Nigerian financial system which should account for a significant portion of the total economy. It is a major composite of the financial system anywhere in the world, Nigeria inclusive. This is because insurance companies are believed to be able to pull together a large pool of funds by collecting relatively small premiums from large number of individuals in the economy like no other institution. Such funds can be invested for short and long term periods. There is no wonder, therefore, that the sector is important for sustained economic growth which will deepen and broaden the domestic financial services as well as generate higher savings rates and greater economic development. A strong insurance sector would go a long way to boosting the nation’s economy. As a result, Nigerians have a duty to support the insurance industry and patronize it. In spite of the important roles the sector plays in the life of the people, most Nigerians are still shunning insurance services, packaged by various insurance companies due to trust related perceptions. However, elsewhere in Europe and the United States of America, human lives and properties

are insured, to guard against unforeseen circumstances. But, the case in Nigeria is the direct opposite as many people, even the educated ones still refuse to insure their lives and properties. The question is why are many Nigerians shunning insurance services and the industry lagging behind other sectors of the economy? Most Nigerians are still not convinced that local insurance companies could pay claims in the event of unforeseen occurrences, as those who took some forms of insurance policies in the past were not paid their entitlements when it falls due. But, this presumption has been proved wrong several times as many local insurance companies have been paying claims when the need arises. A typical case was a group life insurance policy of members of Asdev ‘81 Club, Lagos by Royal Exchange Assurance Company, which settled the claim within two month after the demise of one of their member. In the past, Nigerian insurance companies were slow in paying claims because of the fact that many of the old insurance firms were poor and their practitioners were too lazy, hence their inabilities to pay claims when the need arose. The NICON insurance is also well known to

be prompt in the settlements of claims that fell due after proper evaluation of the circumstances of damage. Biodun Ajifolawe, the head of legal services at IGI, told Business Courage that “Nigerians should take insurance policies because insurance companies know they will lose customers if they do not pay claims; it’s only a matter of time,” he said. Ajifolawe added “many motorists are holding fake insurance certificates just as there are several constructions going on without insurance cover”. Mac Ekechukwu, General Manager, Regional Director North, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, told Business Courage that insurance is contributing little or nothing to GDP of the nation presently. He said, ‘low insurance penetration and awareness were responsible as 80 percent of the population is not impressed with the past performance of the sector and does not patronize it’. He went further to say that ‘those who can afford insurance feel they can do without it’. Other reasons proffered by him, are that majority of Nigerians are living below poverty line with low income and cannot afford insurance. Unhealthy competition amongst practitioners is also a serious concern. He added that

Fola Daniel, Commissioner for Insurance

“Government commitment to the sector was paying lip service and not able to enforce the various reforms. For instance, insurance of Public buildings, public schools and 3rd party motor insurance are supposed to be compulsory but this is not so as government agents who are required to enforce these, have compromised”. Market Development and Restructuring Initiative, MDRI , an initiative of the government is now a

white elephant project without any effort to restructure the sector. However, the sector is laced with lots of potentials and opportunities amidst surmountable challenges. The industry, over the years, has sauntered from being an ill-perceived sector to one beginning to acquire a dominant role within the purview of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s vision. Recently, the Minister of Finance and the Co-

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Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

Ekechukwu

ordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Onkonjo-Oweala said insurance cover would be made compulsory to the Nigerians. This is the only step the government needs to take by putting in place a proper regulatory apparatus that will enable the sector to grow beyond its present state. In the world of today, insurance is a major necessity, especially in business. Regardless of your type of business,

there are likely multiple types of insurance that you will need to ensure that you are covered in the event of any number of emergency scenarios. The purpose of insurance is basically to manage risks in the event of potentially unforeseen circumstances. Following is a list of possible types of insurance that you may need for your business include; Property Commercial Insurance: This type of insurance is very basic and it is likely that you will need some kind of coverage in this area regardless of what type of business you are conducting. It covers disasters like fires, floods, and earthquakes. It includes things like policies that cover robbery and theft, machinery insurance, ordinance and law policies, and anything else you can imagine, General Liability Insurance: This will cover you legally in the event of accidents, negligence, or injury on the part of employees of customers, Commercial Liability Insurance: Commercial liability covers third party damages. This means basic liability claims against the business from outside the business, Workmen Compensation: You will need to insure your employees against on-the-job injuries, Health Insurance: This insurance offers a health coverage benefit to your employees (and you), Life and Disability Insurance: Life and disability insurance protects the business against the death or disability of key employees and the Product Liability Insurance: If your business produces and sells and certain type of product, business liability insurance covers you in the event that the product malfunctions or is defective, causing injury or bodily harm to customers. The Nigerian insurance industry has undergone two rounds of recapitalization over the past 10 years. This is an indication that the insurance industry is closely linked to the

Sojobi

general economic growth because over the same number of years, the Nigeria economy has equally been witnessing robust GDP growth. Hence, it became imperative for the sector to increase its capacity to be well positioned to tap into the Nigerian economic growth and development. However, despite the recapitalization exercises of the sector, it is clear that the current recapitalization levels are inadequate, as industry statistics reveal that insurance companies lose the opportunity of earning about N70bn in premiums annually from the oil and gas sector as a result of premium flight. The current minimum share capital of Insurance companies is as follows: 1 2 3 4

Business Life Ins Bus General Ins Bus Composite Ins Bus Reinsurance Bus

Amount (N) 2 Billion 3 Billion 5 Billion 10 Billion

Somehow, the Nigerian insurance companies have not completely shaken-off the challenges facing the industry in the past years, particularly losses suffered from the 2008 financial crisis as their investment value in the equities market which constitute a large portion of their total investment was significantly eroded. However, past and current reforms and liberalization efforts by the Nigerian government has given the sector a glimmer of hope as the sector has begun to witness some positive changes. Bode Sojobi, former company secretary of the Goldlink Insurance PLC, told Business Courage that “if people do not insure, the economy will not grow. No matter how good business man you are, your business could catch fire, vehicles could have accident one day, so it always advice-able to contract the risks away and continue to stay in business”. According to him, “all over the world, insurance companies owned banks. Many

of the banks in the UK are owned by insurance companies because they have lots of funds to play with. Government needs to enforce the insurance laws particularly for those building homes and offices. Unless government comes in to redirect the sector, no job will be created and help sustain industralisation”. Statistics emanating from the regulatory NAICOM equally reveal that premium income has been growing at about 18 percent per year and it is expected to triple over the next 3 – 5 years as the Nigerian government implements its transformational agenda programmes. Insurance companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange are as follows:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Insurance Company African Ins African Prudential Insurance AIICO Consolidated Hallmark Ins Continental Ins Cornerstone Ins Custody Ins Equity Assu Guinea Ins Mansard Ins Mutual Benefit Ins NEM Insurance Royal Exchange Assurance Sovereign Ins Staco Insurance Wapic Insurance

Price @ 15 Dec;2014 N0.50k N2.82k N0.80k N0.50k N0.80k N0.50k N3.45k N0.50k N0.50k N3.05 N0.50k N0.59k N0.54k N0.50k N0.50k N0.59k

Most of the insurance stocks are trading at their nominal value and no capital gains to investors. Apart from the perceived weak regulation on the part of Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC ,analysts believed that liquidity tightening policies CBN have driven fixed income rates to record highs and thus discourage investors from the stock market. Secondly, investors who put their funds in insurance stocks are all counting their losses as capital depreciation has set-in. Many local in-

A3 19

vestors who bought shares of insurance firms in 2008/9 and recorded significant losses of their investment and therefore shuns the capital market due to these losses. As at 2010, the Nigerian insurance sector is generating a total Gross Premium Income, GPI, of N250bn and having a Total Assets of N564bn, although the ratio of Premium Income to the country’s GDP is just 1 percent, which is a far cry from its potentials and other emerging economies. However, the sector has begun to witness aggressive investments by key players in the area of human capital development, technology as well as shoring up their balance sheets for capacity and liquidity for big ticket transactions. This will position them to take advantage of emerging opportunities, having identified that large ticket transaction in the oil and gas, infrastructure and power sectors will deliver higher profitability. Specifically, the investment opportunities in the insurance sector are hinged on Nigeria’s projected population to reach 185million mark in 2015 and 221million by 2025. These constitute a massive market base for insurance players, emerging opportunities in the ongoing power sector privatization exercise, NAICOM’s determination at ensuring the removal of any inhibitions to local insurers’ participation in the Oil and Gas business as well as facilitating local risk retention of the energy sector’s insurance policies and the implementation of compulsory insurance covers in Nigeria. The insurance industry in Nigeria has begun to witness a lot of emerging opportunities on the back of current Government legislation which has supported the prospects of growth in the industry. This legislation has triggered strategic mergers and acquisitions, interests from foreign investors as well as increases in competition and standard amongst players in the industry. The Nigerian Government envisions an insurance industry that will rank amongst the twenty largest markets in the world by the year 2020. Although Nigeria is currently ranked 60 in the world. The Government has, however, undertaken some certain steps and measures towards actualizing this objective, particularly the strengthening of the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, which derives its regulatory powers from the National Insurance Commission Act, 1997 and the Insurance Act of 2003. The section further empowers NAICOM to register insurance companies and to increase the amount of minimum share capital requirement as circumstances may demand. BC

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Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

News

Atilola

Protect your cards against fraudsters – Sterling Bank

terling Bank Plc has advised organizations in the country as well as individual Nigerians to protect information about their financial transactions, particularly their cards to avoid falling prey to fraudsters. This advice is coming against the backdrop of increasing ATM related frauds within and outside the shores of the country leading to financial losses on the part of banks’ customers. In an interview with the Bank’s Group Head, Strategy & Communications, Shina Atilola, the Bank expressed regret that fraudsters had taken advantage of the cashlite policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria ,CBN, to penetrate electronic payment systems globally. He explained that although the card payment system in Nigeria was based on the “Chip and PIN” technology, which is adequately protected, some other countries have not fully adopted this technology. “What is use in some countries is the magnetic strip technology, which makes it easy for fraudsters to clone customers’ cards and fraudulently make use of their card information. Also, some people do not exercise sufficient caution in the manner they handle their debit and credit cards as they either expose it to unauthorized persons or give it out to other people to make withdrawals or transact on their behalf”, he explained. The Bank’s spokesman explained that when card information has been compromised, the card-holder becomes vulnerable to fraudulent activities. His words: “In countries where the chip and PIN

technology has not been fully adopted, such as the USA and China, card information such as the card number on the face of the card and the Card Verification Value ,CVV, -the set of numbers at the back of the card - can be used to perpetrate fraud even without the customer’s PIN”. Therefore, it is not just about keeping the PIN secure, the card number and the CVV should also be protected. He advised customers to exercise additional caution when carrying out transactions in the above-named countries or with companies based in these countries. He implored customers to be careful as it may be difficult for any bank to assume responsibility for frauds of this nature.

Public infrastructure will gulp N26.9trn in 5 years – FG

he financing of public infrastructure will gulp $145bn about N26.9tn in the next five years, the acting Director, Infrastructure Department of the National Planning Commission, Nurudeen Lawal, disclosed. Lawal said this while presenting the Overview of the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan, NIIMP, at the media workshop on Strategic and Sustainable Promotion/Marketing of the NIIMP on Thursday in Abuja. The workshop was organised by the National Planning Commission, in collaboration with the Infrastructure Bank PLC. According to him, up to $145bn is expected to be available for public financing of infrastructure during the first phase of implementation of NIIMP for five years. ``A sum of $31bn is being

Olanrewaju Suleiman, Minister for National Planning

expected from annual budgets of both federal and state governments while $76bn is being expected from public debt. ``Other sources such as pension are expected to finance the infrastructure with $13bn and $25bn is being expected from Public Private Partnership, PPP,’’ Lawal said. He said the fund would be expended on the prioritised projects such as energy, transport and other sectors across the six geo-political zones. Lawal said the public sector was expected to contribute 52 per cent investments while the private sector would commit 48 per cent investments to infrastructure development to realise the NIIMP objectives. He said the commission established an Infrastructure Delivery Coordinating Unit, IDCU, to coordinate the implementation of the NIIMP. Lawal expressed the commission’s support for the creation of IDCU in the Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, and states, to ensure effective coordination of the NIIMP implementation. David Adeosun, the Head of IDCU in the commission, said the IDCU was to collect, collate and process data on NIIMP execution as well as monitor and evaluate the plan. Adeosun said the IDCU was also saddled with the responsibility of programme management and development.

pressed concern about the situation, said government had earlier made a pronouncement that the pump price of fuel locally would be determined by the international market forces. He said Nigerians were worried because in spite of the downturn in prices of crude in the international market, the pump price of fuel in Nigeria was still on the high side. According to him, the downturns in the price of crude in the international market immediately translate to reduction in the pump price of petroleum products in other countries. ``The prices of petroleum products across several countries around the globe have been reviewed downward by marketers, even in country like the United Kingdom where the prices have been deregulated. ``In our country, we are not allowed to enjoy that benefit. This is wrong. The benefits of the falling in prices of crude must be translated to Nigerians. ``Therefore, we want a situation in which the pump price of petrol and other petroleum products be adjusted downwards,” he said.

Traders wants FG to reduce fuel pump price

he National Association of Nigerian Traders, NANTS, has called on the Federal Government to reduce the pump price of petroleum products in line with the falling prices of crude oil in the international market. Its President, Ken Ukoha, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday. Ukoha, who said there was no justification for the country to be selling fuel at the pump price of N97, noted that ``this is contrary to what is obtainable in other countries that are importing refined products. The president, who ex-

Folarin

Council urges FG to improve training of seafarers

he Port Consultative Council, PCC, on Thursday urged the Federal Government to improve on training of officer cadre of seafarers to add value to Nigeria’s participation in international maritime trade. Its Chairman, Kunle Folarin, who made the plea in Lagos, said the officer cadre of seafarers was in short supply. Folarin said the Nigerian

Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, had embarked on training of seafarers through the National Seafarers Development Programme, NSDP. ``When we talk of seafarers, you must think of the ratings, the junior ratings, you must also look at the officer cadre. ``Definitely, all over the world today, the officer cadre is in short supply. ``That is one of the areas you have to start looking in adding value to Nigeria’s participation within the freighting, seafaring activity as it concern Nigerian- generated international trade. ``NIMASA has been doing this under the NSDP programme. ``Private individuals also have been sponsoring themselves to become officers. ``When you talk of welfare; welfare goes beyond just providing for their recreation; you must be able to sustain that well-being and that has to be employment. ``Employment generation within seafaring is key to their welfare and what we are doing now is to promote that particular opportunity. ``Nigerian indigenous companies must be encouraged to own ships. ``So where their opportunities for employment do not exist in foreign shipping company, the indigenous shipping company must be able to provide employment. ``That also brings to the fore the need to see the opportunity that can come from the cabotage regime, which is exclusively inland shipping.`` Folarin said the implementation of the Cabotage law would promote many opportunities including seafarers’ employment and adequate welfare. According to him, if a man is gainfully-employed, certainly his welfare will be taken care of.

Zamfara Zakat Board empowers less privileged with N2bn

he Zamfara Sate Government on Thursday said it had spent N2 billion to empower an undisclosed number of less privileged persons between 2011 and 2014. The Executive Secretary, Zakkat and Endowment

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Board, Malam Bashir Surajo, disclosed this at a meeting with the state governor and stakeholders on Zakkat in the state. He said government and the rich who had been donating part of their wealth to salvage the poor from hardship were impressed with the board’s performance. Surajo said the board had also donated over N3 million for the procurement of drugs for diabetes patients in the state through the state’s chapter of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria, DAN. He said that in addition to that, 50 tricycles were bought and distributed to some crippled persons. ``N600, 000 was spent on the purchase of drugs which were supplied to orphanage homes across the 14 Local Government Areas of the state,’’ Surajo said. He noted that non-interference of government in the selection of beneficiaries of the board’s assistance had earned the board more respect. Responding, Gov. Abdulaziz Yari, commended the board over its efforts to empower the poor, saying that the measure had significantly reduced street begging and improved the economic wellbeing of the people.

7 companies prequalify for National Theatre concession

even companies have prequalified for the concession of the National Theater, Iganmu, Lagos. This is contained in a statement obtained from the official web site of the National Theatre in Abuja on Thursday. It stated that the seven

National Theater, Iganmu

Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

companies were CCECC, Calzada, Chrismichaels, Resilient Africa, Quippo Energy Nigeria Private Limited, RMB Westport and Neon Holdings Consortium. In October 2014, the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation advertised the ``Request for Expression of Interest’’ for the concession of the fallow land around the National Theatre. The project would be executed under Public Private Partnership in accordance with the ICRC Act 2005 and National Policy on Public Private Partnership in line with the Master Plan on Nigeria Entertainment City. This project would ensure the design, finance, build, operate and transfer of the Five Star Hotel, International Standard Shopping Mall and Multi-level Car Park. The others were land & water recreation parks, office building and facility management Some stakeholders in the industry, who reacted to the speculations of the National Theatre sale, said that it would be better to concession the theatre rather than an outright sale. Prof. Ayo Akinwale, Head of Department, Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, said that it was only a country that had no respect for its culture that would sell its national heritage. ``I do not agree with the sale of our national heritage, but if it is for concession, it is not too bad because government has failed in its responsibility,’’ Akinwale said. Shola Ilupeju, an Abujabased Travel Marketing Consultant, said concession was a better option than sale, adding that selling the country’s national heritage was bad. ``How can we be talking about selling the national

theatre, that is our heritage and the only one you can immediately think of. ``We turn out lots of theatre students yearly and no theatre for them to stage plays. ``If we sell, are we encouraging theatre culture or do we want to kill the culture permanently,’’ he asked. It would be recalled that the Kabir Yusuf, the General Manager, National Theatre, had also denied speculations that the edifice had been sold.

NITEL/MTEL: Preferred bidder makes part payment of N12.7bn

he Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, said that the preferred bidder at the recently held liquidation of NITEL/MTEL had paid 75.7 million dollars about N12.7bn as part payment of its 252.5 million dollars bid price. This is contained in a statement by BPE’s Head, Public Communications, Chigbo Aniechebe, in Abuja on Thursday. According to the statement, the payment made by NATCOM Consortium, the preferred bidder of NITEL/ MTEL, is 30 per cent of the bid price and was in line with the guided liquidation process of the transaction. “This is in line with the offer letter by the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, to the preferred bidder which mandates NATCOM to make an initial deposit of 30 per cent of the bid price not later than 14 days on receipt of the offer letter. “With the payment of the 30 per cent, NATCOM is expected to pay the balance of 70 per cent of the bid price

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NITEL building, Abuja

within 90 days. “ It is therefore imperative to inform creditors that disbursements to them will be considered only after full payment has been received,” it stated It would be recalled that the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, at its meeting of Feb. 27, 2012, approved the privatisation of NITEL/MTEL through “guided liquidation”. The strategy was adopted by the NCP in the light of the previous failed attempts to privatise NITEL/MTEL and the huge liabilities of creditors to the tune of over N300bn. Consequently, BPE held a public bidding which NATCOM Consortium, won on Dec. 3, 2014 with a bid price of $252.5m.

N291bn fuel subsidy, surprising – Stakeholders

takeholders in the oil and gas industry on Thursday advised the Federal Government to adjust payment of subsidy to marketers, following the crash of crude oil prices at the international market. They made the suggestions in separate interviews in Lagos. Seyi Gambo, former Publicity Relations Officer, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, said there was need for Federal Government to re-adjust payment of subsidy to marketers. Gambo expressed shock over the provision of N291bn as fuel subsidy in the 2015 budget, in spite of the persistent decline in crude oil price at the international market. According to him, subsidy

on Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise called petrol, has dropped to 90k per litre. ``Household Kerosene, HHK, otherwise called kerosene, has dropped to N64.71k per litre at the same date, according to Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA. ``The expected open market price was N97.90k for petrol while kerosene was N114.71 per litre.’’ Gambo said that contrary to other opinions, the low crude oil prices made it cheaper for global refineries to procure and process of crude oil into various petroleum products. He said that the scenario had made it imperative for government agencies in the oil and gas sector to reflect the current realities by adjusting pump prices of petroleum products. The former PENGASSAN leader said that reversal of petroleum products pump prices would further enhance government policy toward ameliorating the suffering of Nigerian masses. Gambo said that the devaluation of the nation’s currency had also weakened the purchasing power of Nigerians. Austin Bello, Managing Partner, Magnum Oil and Gas Ltd., said that government should reduce the price of petroleum products, as the prices of crude oil continued to crash at the global oil market. Bello said that oil price has dropped in the international market from 115 dollars in June 2014 to around 56 dollars or 48 per cent decline. ``The crude oil revenue on which the country’s economy depends has fallen sharply, threatening the capacity of the government to fund the 2015 budget. ``Since the oil price began

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News its free fall, the Federal Government has revised the 2015 budget benchmark three times. ``Yet the falling price has already surpassed government’s projection in the latest revised budget, which is predicated on 65 dollars per barrel. ``But when the price of oil dropped ahead of the passage of the budget, the government reduced the benchmark from 78 dollars to 73 dollars per barrel, with an exchange rate of N162 to a dollar and a total budget figure of N4.7tn. ``With further fall in the oil prices, the benchmark was further reduced to 65 dollars per barrel, with an exchange rate of N165 to a dollar and a total budget figure of N4.357tn for the 2015 fiscal year. “Though the benchmark has been reduced to 65 dollars per barrel, oil price has further dropped to 46.42 dollars per barrel below the 65 dollars projection in the 2015 budget,’’ he said. Bello said that this had fueled concern on the capacity of the government to implement the budge, already in deficit, few months ahead of its implementation. He said that the dwindling crude oil prices was also a blessing for the Federal Government as it had equally led to a drastic drop in the price of petroleum products. The managing director said that the reduction of government’s huge subsidy burden had become unsustainable over the years. He said that government had lost billions of naira from oil revenue due to the falling price of oil. Dr Bamidele Yakubu, a lecturer with the University of Lagos, said with the decline in crude oil price, subsidy claims had also reduced from N44 per litre of Premium Motor Spirit,PMS, or N1.54bn daily to N0.90 per litre or N31.5m daily or a daily savings of N1.225bn.

Gambo

Yakubu said that Nigerian consumers would only witness drop in pump price of petrol like their counterparts in the United States and Saudi Arabia, through the fully deregulation of the nation’s petroleum and gas sector. ``Federal Government will be quite challenged to lower its officially approved pump price of petrol in the country from its current N97 per litre for a number of reasons and all of which have market implications. Gaskia

Civil society frowns at oil treasury looting

ivil Society Organisations ,CSOs, on Friday frowned at the monumental fraud and looting of the oil treasury without significant action to identify, prosecute and punish culprits. Jaye Gaskia, convener of Protest To Power Movement (P2PM), made this known in Abuja on Friday at a news conference. The conference was jointly organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre ,CISLAC, P2PM and State of the Union Coalition ,SOTU, to mark three years of fuel subsidy protest. He said treasury looting could not have happened without the collaboration and protection of highly placed political officials. According to Gaskia, the NNPC, Department of Petroleum Resources ,DPR, Petroleum Product Pricing Regulation Agency ,PPPRA, Federal ministries of Petroleum and Finance were not left out of the looting. He said that no official had been implicated or disciplined on this issue. ``The Federal Government had earlier promised that it would take three years to build new refineries and complete them at end of 2014 through Public Private Partnership, PPP. ``All the promises made have not been realised and the nation continued to be dependent on importation of refined products for more than 80 per cent of its requirements,’’ Gaskia said. He explained that the excess crude oil account was not backed by law but only backed by an agreement between the Federal Government and the states. According to him, the National Assembly cannot even appropriate the excess crude revenue. ``That is why government

is saying that the foreign reserve has been depleted when the account is suppose to be increasing; what have they spent all these money for. `` There is no reason why the pump price of fuel should be selling at N97 per litre now, even most countries in the world that are dependent on importation of fuel have reduced their prices. ``Just few days ago Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana reduced their domestic fuel prices,’’ Gaskia said. He said any claim paid on subsidy since the downturn of oil prices in the international market would be regarded as fraudulent payment because the landing cost of fuel had reduced. According to him, Nigeria is sufficient in producing refined oil in the country but our crude oil is being refined overseas due to corruption. ``If corruption stopped, there will be no need for any subsidy and the cost of pump price will be reduced, ’’ he said. Similarly, Mr Okeke Anya, Convener of SOTU, said Nigeria was a signatory to the African Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. Anya said despite the signatory, corruption had continued to ravage the economy on a daily basis. Also speaking, Mr Auwal Rafsanjani, Managing Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), called on Nigerians to take advantage of the forthcoming elections and vote for their right choice.

and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina in the agriculture sector less than three years, stakeholders have commended the minister on his great performance. The Chief Executive Officer of AgroNigeria, RichardMark Mbaram, who described Adesina as a revolutionist, said the minister has done so greatly to change the status of the sector that many people now embrace agriculture in the country. According to Mbaram, even the once skeptical National Assembly members, across all party lines now praise Adesina for his incredible feat based on what they have seen on the ground in their constituencies. “That is why the National Assembly has said it would legislate on the system to enshrine transparency and accountability at all times, even beyond the term of the present Minister.” Enumerating the accomplishments the minister, Mbaram said, “Nigeria is the first in the world to develop the e-wallet for reaching farmers and accolades are pouring in from the African Union as several other African countries are now copying it from Nigeria, including Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya. Beyond Africa, India, China and Brazil are knocking on Nigeria’s doors. Adesina’s detractors are now being mesmerised even by this achievement. “The e-wallet system he developed to deliver fertilizer and seeds directly to farmers via electronic vouchers on mobile phones was initially lampooned and misunderstood. The preferred narrative was it would fail. Today, the e-wallet has reached over 14 million farmers. For anyone who visits farmers across the country one thing would be clear: bountiful harvests and praises for a president who supports them and his dynamic and relentlessly passionate minister of agriculture who has transformed

Stakeholders commend Adesina’s virtues in agric sector By Abolaji Adebayo

ased on the achievements recorded by the incumbent Minister of Agriculture

Mbaram

their lives. “The rice policy he put in place was derided at first, but it’s now a success. Within 3 years, 6 million rice farmers received improved rice seeds and fertilizers, expanded paddy rice production by 2 million hectares and 7 million metric tons. The Africa Rice Center, the USAID/Markets and several international organizations that directly monitor the rice program are full of praises. The rice millers in the country, now impressed with the quality of rice now being produced, are full of praises for the revolution in the rice sector. The number of large integrated rice mills in the country expanded from just one in 2011 to over 25 today. “Food imports declined from N1.1tn in 2009 to N634bn by December 2013. Food price inflation declined from 8.1 per cent to 7.9 per cent in November 2014 despite the devaluation of Naira and the oil price volatility. With these trends, both the CBN and NBS attributed the continued decline in food prices to the increase in agriculture in the country. All the hard work of Adesina in guiding his ministry to produce 21 million metric tonnes of food in three years are now visible. Despite the devaluation, food prices have remained relatively stable. In other civilizations a transformative leader like him would be celebrated and promoted to a higher office. He also spoke on the over $5bn investments attracted into the agricultural sector in just three years, especially in the area of rice production. He added that the solution to the dry season farming by Adesina has kept many northerners out of menial jobs as well as making food available throughout the dry season thereby eradicating the food scarcity that has always existed during the period. Mbaram said Adesina has been able to achieve all these due to the strategy he put in place, which the former failed to employ. According to him, Adesina establishes branch offices in all states through which he monitors his activities and policies. While also commenting on the Minister’s efforts, the Director, NAGARI SEED Nigeria Ltd., Abba Boman, said, “Right now, you can even see the evidence almost everywhere you go, you can see large rice farms all over the place. Before, this was only limited to very few places. BC

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Monday, January 12, 2015

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Brand Watch

Revving up campaign against product adulterations The Fast Moving Consumer Goods is one of the sectors badly affected by activities of product adulteration. While billions of Naira is being lost on daily basis, one of the FMCGs in Nigeria, Aloma Bitters brands is harping on brand differentiation as its $60m investment in the country is being threatened by faking of its products By Adejuwon Osunnuyi

he operators in the Nigerian Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector must have been busy since the last quarter of 2014 planning and strategising for 2015. Being a sector which has badly been hit by product adulterations, it is not surprising that billions of naira has been lost to the perpetrators of this nefarious act. Evidently, while virtually all products especially luxury goods are either being faked, pirated or adulterated, even everyday items such as toothpaste, soaps, drugs, dairy and beauty products, beverages as well as drinks, to mention a few are not left out. Investigations have revealed that over the years, most brands with good market share get imitated even within few weeks of their entry as this has caused many brands being pushed into extinction as a result. Many brand owners are not handling the issue of product imitation with kid gloves. One of the brands which have decided to take the bulls by the horns as the fakers are threatening its $50m investment in Nigeria’s market is Alomo Bitters, the multiple awards-winning medicinal herbal drink from the stables of Kasapreko Company Limited. The company had previously promised to start production of Alomo Bitters and other aligned brands in Nigeria because of the country’s huge market, but insiders maintained that it is being frustrated by the faking of the brand, which has reduced the brand equity of Alomo Bitters. Until four years ago when the Group Chairman and Managing Director of the company, Dr. Kwabena Adjei and his team decided to formally launch Alomo Bitters into the Nigerian market, some Nigerians who travelled to Ghana for either leisure or business were said to be bringing the product

into the country in their hand luggage. Over time, due to its popularity and acceptability among the few Nigerians who had the privilege of drinking the bitters, some traders began to bring in the product in large quantities. Alomo Bitters footprint gained momentum with the opening of Kasapreko Company Nigeria Limited, KCNL, in Lagos and the official approval of the brand by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC. These steps further resulted in building a wider community of brand loyalists among Nigerians who had yearned for something different from lager beer. Through the combination of strategic marketing and communication initiatives, increased brand awareness, visibility and market leadership of the bitters category were achieved for Alomo Bitters within a short space of time. Between 2011 and 2012, Bitters brands reportedly accounted for around 80 per cent of the bitters market share. Only a few weeks ago, the Institute for Government Research Leadership Technology awarded Alomo Bitters, the Medicinal Herbal Drink of the Year 2014 at its Africa Product Forum, in Abuja. But all of these gains appear to be fading away fast as fakers have launched an attack on Alomo Bitters by churning out millions of bottles of the imitation version of the brand. The evil act has resulted in huge loss of market share and by extension loss in revenue. Adjei, who started the production of now global Alomo Bitters brand in his garage 25 years ago, regretted that the faking of the product because of its success and health benefits has brought the equity of the brand down. “If we don’t fight the fake, we are hurting the government because fakers don’t pay tax. We are harming the consumers because fakers don’t use good product. Some of these fake products have been tested in our laboratory and I tell you that the result is shocking and unhealthy to consumers”, he said. Adjei, who recognised Nigeria as a big market in Africa, said the brand’s dominance of the market has been greatly diluted not by genuine competition but by faking. Hence, in its bid to deepen consumer knowledge of the brand, and also to reward their loyalty, the firm recently rolled out an initiative that brings the brand closer to the consumers especially during last Christmas and New Year festivities. According to the company, the marketing initiative was also intended to deepen consumers’ con-

Alomo Bitters

sciousness about their wellness and safety by encouraging them to make healthier choices in things they eat and drink amidst the euphoria of the yuletide. To this end, a well-branded activation truck and a team of Brand Ambassadors were deployed to strategic touch points in the city of Lagos to educate consumers on the safety features of Alomo Bitters as distinct from the imitated version and other bitter brands in the market. For days, the ambassadors have been moving from social events to street carnivals and jams, market areas and neighbourhoods across the city of Lagos to drive the brand key message of Alomo Bitters as the ‘‘authentic African herbal bitters.’’ The ambassadors also distribute flyers, which contain vital product information. Radio hypes anchored by popular On Air Personalities and a television commercial that has been specifically produced, are also running on select city stations just to ensure the consumers are equipped with adequate information they need on Alomo Bitters, thereby safeguarding them from harmful imitated products in the market. According to officials of the company, the rationale for the initiative is that as Nigerians shop and catch fun of yuletide, they could also be assisted in making healthy choices while they also get some incentives for their loyalty to the brand over the years. Managing Director, Kasapreko Company Nigeria Limited, Kojo Nunoo, said the marketing initiative was part of steps to empower consumers to have access to genuine Alomo Bitters at all times against the backdrop of the criminal faking of the brand. According to him, in the course of the campaign, brand differentiation and consumer education

have been integrated to make more Nigerians informed about the features that distinguish Alomo Bitters from the imitated version and other substandard bitter products in the market. ‘‘Criminal faking of the original Alomo Bitters has been a major challenge we face in Nigeria. As a safety, health conscious, ethical and responsible corporate citizen, this bothers us a lot, hence this campaign is aimed at helping the consumers to know the things to look out for when buying Alomo Bitters,’’ he said. While stressing that the campaign also affirms the company’s conviction in the time-honoured dictum that consumer is king, Nunoo said the safety and wellbeing of consumers are of utmost importance to the firm. ‘‘This is why we leverage the Christmas and New Year festivities to bring the flagship Alomo Bitters closer to the Nigerians, so they can know more about their favourite Alomo Bitters, made in Ghana by Kasapreko Company Limited. We are delighted to use the occasion of the year-end to also share love with Nigerians and to promote friendship, a key brand personality attribute of Alomo Bitters,’’ he declared. Speaking in the same vein, the Sales and Marketing Director, Sam Osafo, said the consumer activation aligns with Kasapreko’s vision of care which flows in every sip of Alomo Bitters which people take. ‘‘This consumer contact programme re-assures lovers of bitter drink that any time they drink Alomo Bitters, they are not only drinking to enjoy; they are also drinking to stay healthy because of the medicinal qualities of Alomo Bitters,’’ he said. The Marketing Manager, Peter Adegor, on his part, explained that taking the brand right to the consumers where they are, is an im-

portant aspect of the wholesome qualitative process that goes into the production of Alomo Bitters. According to him, ‘‘we ensure that the quality of our product is consistent from the point of sourcing the ingredients to the production stage and all through to packaging and delivery. The intent is that the consumers have the finest Alomo Bitters in their hands, hence this initiative to get the consumers well informed about the original Alomo Bitters is consistent with the quality assurance value chain that stands out our brand of bitters from others.’’ In order to deepen consumer experience during the weeklong activation, Adegor said free brand collaterals such as flyer, T-shirt, face cap and ball point pen among others were given out in addition to huge discount enjoyed by consumers at the point of purchase. The Group Chairman and Managing Director of Kasapreko Company Limited, Ghana, Dr. Adjei, has recently denounced the faking of Alomo Bitters by unscrupulous cartel, which has resulted in significant loss of market share and revenue. He called on relevant authorities in Nigeria to wade in. He, however, said that the company, which is now exporting to Western countries and other African countries, is presently collaborating with Nigeria’s regulatory agencies and distributors to tackle faking of the product. Adjei welcomed genuine competition in bitters market, as it will create healthy market for consumers and employment for Africans but frowned against importation of herbal products when Africa is reach in herbs. “Nigeria is a big market for products and as analysts say, “If you look at Africa, anyone who does not see the Nigerian market is really blind. You can’t miss Nigeria; it is a powerhouse in Africa. From the GDP stand point and population, Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa”. He said. In another development, in order to still offer the quality product to Nigerians who have accepted the product and checkmate faking which is affecting the brand and has the potential of creating health consequence on consumers, Adjei and his team are introducing security seal on the Alomo Bitters. “Two years ago we embarked on a journey to protect our brand and consumers. That journey took us to Germany where we partnered with a hologram company”, he said. According to him, the security will involve four levels, all in an attempt to ensure that the consumer gets the right quality product. “We know that fakers will try to confuse the consumers with fake holographic seal but ours is so sophisticated and consumers will be able to identify the original from the fake”, he said. BC

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Brand Watch

Coca-Cola to sack 1,800 workers worldwide Stories by Adejuwon Osunnuyi

rinks giant, Coca-Cola is set to cut up to 1,800 jobs worldwide as it continues cost-cutting efforts. Coca-Cola reported a 14 per cent fall in earnings for the July to September quarter last year and sluggish revenue growth. The job cuts will affect the firm’s Atlanta headquarters, as well as its international operations. The firm said it had already started to inform those workers who will be affected by the cuts. “[We have begun] the process

of informing associates in the United States and in some international locations about the impacts to their departments,” a spokesperson from Coca-Cola said in an emailed statement to the BBC. The firm said further cuts would be made by different departments at various times. “We have identified 1,600 to 1,800 positions in Corporate, Coca-Cola North America and Coca-Cola International that will be eliminated in the coming months,” the spokesperson said. Coca-Cola has a global workforce of about 130,000. In October last year, Coca-

Cola’s chief executive officer Muhtar Kent said the firm was aiming to save some $3bn (£1.98bn) in annual costs by 2019, which would include job cuts. At the time, Kent said he recognised the need for the company “to increase the scope and pace of change” as it continued to face a challenging economic environment. He said the firm was focused on “streamlining and simplifying” its operations and that it was proceeding with plans “for refranchising the majority of company-owned North American bottling territories by the end of 2017″. BC

L-R Henry Okoede, Snr. Manager, Business Development, Marketing & Strategy; Bayo Adekanmbi, Chief Marketing Officer; Funmi Onajide, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, all from MTN Nigeria and Fola Akinmolayan, CEO, NEO2 Analytics at the launch of the MTN 2015 betterme app held at the Westown Hotel, Lagos recently

Etisalat partners FirstBank to provide mobile money on Easywallet E

tisalat Nigeria and FirstBank have teamed up to provide Firstmonie on the Etisalat Easywallet SIM application solution in a bid seen as entrenching financial inclusion and lead innovation in mobile payment systems in the country. The partnership between Nigeria’s most innovative telecommunications company and leading banking institution will promote the use of Firstmonie mobile money on the mobile technology driven easywallet SIM application. According to Lucas Dada, the Director, Business Segment at Etisalat Nigeria, this partnership between Etisalat Nigeria

and FirstBank will provide added value to all customers and stakeholders in the mobile money industry. “Etisalat easywallet, is one of the most secure and convenient platforms for mobile money services. With the easywallet, Etisalat subscribers can make financial transactions such as Peer-to-Peer transfers, Bills Payment and Airtime topup, directly from their mobile device.” He said. He added that Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Africa collectively contribute a lot to the nation’s economy and this necessitates the need to support this segment of the economy by

making financial transactions easier, safer, more efficient and innovative. He described EasyWallet as one of Etisalat’s strategies of facilitating financial integration of the SMEs. “Etisalat Easywallet is the first to partner with prominent Nigerian banks and independent Mobile Money Operators including First Bank, GTBank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Zenith Bank and Pagatech. It is convenient and helps our corporate clients (SMEs) to also enjoy benefits of cost reduction, inventory management, streamlining intermediaries, ensuring price transparency and competitiveness.” BC

EXMAN frowns at clients over noncompliance of code of practice

he President of Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), Kayode Olagesin, has expressed his dissatisfaction with multinational clients who are yet to adopt the EXMAN code of practice to enhance marketing activation. As a result, he disclosed that the group is making efforts to correct all anti-practice conduct by multinational clients and every other group practising experiential marketing illegally. “We are not reviewing the code but ensuring that every member of the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN) internalises it and knows the implications of breaching the code. Our aim is to turn it into a living document,” he said. Prior to this time, he said EXMAN had sent the code to all members to enhance a robust discussion on the code of practice. “We chose the association’s first annual general meeting (AGM) to do so. We believe that by discussing some sections of the code at this AGM, members who ordinarily wouldn’t have time to read would have done so consciously or unconsciously. To achieve this, we asked every agency to send participants to the AGM to look at some of the key issues in code,” he noted. Olagesin said the association has taken further step to integrate itself with other groups under Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) in order to address issues such as product sampling children and brand ambassadorship. He said these aspects need to be governed by rules and companies are expected to abide by this when activating their brands. “The most important sections in the code, which we relate with on a regular basis, have been addressed with the President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Kelechi Nwosu, in at-

Olagesin

tendance. Some of those issues are children sampling, event locations and brand ambassadors and so on. Most of us are not conscious of the fact that there are certain things that should govern children sampling and also how they should be engaged. Brand ambassador is another leg we need to seriously look into. Either as an ambassador or a consumer, there are certain rules that should govern that practice. “There is so much unprofessional practice in alcohol sampling that some of us are not aware of. Practitioners are doing sampling and all sorts of engagement in outlets they shouldn’t have. But it is our duty through the code to educate and enlighten them on how to go about it,” he affirmed. He also noticed widespread violation of certain code of practice in the area abuse of activation locations. “On locations in terms of where we do our activities, there are so many breaches at the moment. I don’t think it is right to do sports activation on a street side and after it the place is left littered. Most people don’t take issues of littering into consideration. People put up posters for an event and they are not mindful of the environment; for example, having alcohol activation close to a church, mosque and secondary or primary school,” he explained. Olagesin, however, hoped that at the end the clients will embrace the code as part of their marketing standards. “Clients would embrace it because some of the issues raised in the code are issues that they have also addressed in their own marketing standards. There is no reputable organisation that will not have its own marketing standards, the do’s and don’ts. We took inputs from some of those marketing standards that we see in our multinational clients and infused them into what we are doing. Speaking on what obtains in other markets, he said: “We looked at the code in other markets as well. There are some things that apply to them that don’t apply to us. In some other countries, they don’t necessarily have to get bomb squads but here it has become something we take into consideration. Before, we did not worry about taking the temperature of people coming to events but today we look at it,” he said. BC

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Monday, January 12, 2015

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Global News

Barack Obama, US President

U.S. Stocks decline as wage data overshadow job gains

.S. stocks fell, after a twoday rally halted the worst start to a year since 2008, as data showing a drop in hourly earnings overshadowed a stronger-than-forecast gain in employment for December. The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent to 2,047.5. The loss sent the benchmark index 0.5 percent lower for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 131.88 points, or 0.7 percent, to 17,775.99. Trading in S&P 500 companies was 7.9 percent below the 30-day average for this time of the day. “We were looking for wage growth to increase, and the weaker-than-expected number was disappointing,” Walter “Bucky” Hellwig, who helps manage $17 billion at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham,Alabama, said in a phone interview. “The laundry list of investor worries is reasserting itself here -- global growth concerns, how the ECB responds to what’s going on and the strong dollar.” Earnings unexpectedly declined from a month earlier, the Labor Department report showed. Average hourly earnings for all employees dropped by 0.2 percent, the biggest since comparable records began in 2006, to $24.57 from the prior month. “The gap is still in the wage side,” Jim Dunigan, chief investment officer at PNC Bank NA in Philadelphia, which oversees $130 billion, said by phone. “Increasing wages would give some confidence that workers making more money would spur additional demand and that the recovery can continue to sustain itself. When wages are stagnant it’s hard to convince yourself it’ll spur more demand.” Other elements of the Labor Department’s report were more positive. Employment rose more than forecast in December and the jobless rate declined to 5.6 percent, wrapping up the best year for the labor market since 1999. The addition of 252,000 jobs followed a 353,000 rise the pri-

or month that was more than previously estimated, the Labor Department report showed. The jobless rate dropped to the lowest level since June 2008. The U.S. report comes amid cooling markets that stretch from Europe to China. S&P futures fell earlier today after a person familiar with the matter said European Central Bank staff presented policy makers with models for buying as much as 500 billion euros ($591bn) of investment-grade assets. A 500 billion-euro purchase program would take the ECB halfway toward its goal of boosting its balance sheet to avert a deflationary spiral in the euro area. Negative euro-area inflation this week bolstered the case for the ECB to start quantitative easing at its Jan. 22 meeting. Policy makers disagree about whether action is required, with some arguing deflation risks have increased and others pointing to the stimulating effects of lower prices on the economy. The S&P 500 rebounded from a five-day drop to gain 3 percent in the last two days on speculation that theFederal Reserve will support the U.S. economy even as it shows signs of strength. The benchmark index recovered more than two thirds of its losses in the previous two day, after tumbling 4.2 percent as crude oil plunged below $48 a barrel for the first time since 2009. Fed minutes on Dec. 7 signaled no change in interestrate policy and optimism over employment growth. Most central bank officials agreed their new policy guidance means they are unlikely to raise interest ratesbefore late April and a number expressed concern inflation could remain too low.

the narrowest since October, as international seaborne oil markets appear to be under even more pressure than the U.S. domestic market. “It is another negative week and a reflection of the focus on negative arguments,” said Hans Van Cleef, senior energy economist at Dutch Bank. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf OPEC allies show no sign of cutting output to boost oil prices even as demand slows in the face of anemic economic growth. Annual consumer inflation in China remained near the lowest in five years, signaling persistent weakness in the world’s largest energy consumer. Signs of further slowdown in Europe’s largest economy Germany fueled concerns. “Without any changes to fundamentals, selling appears largely to be jittery investors looking for supply-demand equilibrium,” analysts said in a note. If recent market history is any guide, Brent prices could mark time around $50 a barrel for another few days before resuming their decline. BNP Paribas has cut 2015 price forecasts for Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude by more than $10 per barrel to $60 a barrel and $55 a barrel respectively. “Supply issues will dominate demand in terms of fundamental factors, with the market focusing on how the current supply surplus will ultimately resolve itself,” BNP said.

German exports and production fall in November

Oil dips, heads for seventh weekly loss as supply glut drags

il prices headed for a seventh straight weekly loss on Friday, slipping back towards $50 a barrel on Friday as key producers show no sign of cutting output in the face of a supply glut. Global oil benchmarks hit their lowest since 2009 this week and are less than half their June levels, with Brent crude futures dropping 67 cents a barrel to $50.29 . The contract lost almost 11 percent this week. U.S. crude futures for February delivery were down 31 cents at $48.48 a barrel despite robust U.S. economic data that brightened the outlook for demand. Brent’s premium to U.S. crude fell near $1.80 a barrel,

Analysts suggested the data pointed to persistent weakness in the world’s second largest economy. The producer price index ,PPI, which includes wholesale and factory price inflation, fell by a greater than expected 3.3 percent in December from a year earlier marking the 34th consecutive monthly fall since September 2012. Analysts had expected PPI to fall by 3.1 percent in December. China’s National Statistics Bureau said the fall was largely due to falling oil prices. Together, the inflation numbers point to weak domestic demand across China, which some analysts say may give the government room to cut interest rates and take other measures to boost growth which has slowed to a five-year low of 7.3 percent in the three months to the end of September. On Thursday, China said the recent approval of infrastructure projects would not “play the role of using fiscal expenditure as strong economic stimulus in 2015” and that the projects were different to stimulus measures introduced in 2008. Liu Ligang, an economist with in Hong Kong, said China’s inflation had been “very tepid”. “Going forward, we do see the risk of deflation is rising, especially as PPI inflation has been in negative territory for over 34 months,” he said. “That means there’s no pass-through effected from PPI inflation into CPI inflation. “In fact, CPI will continue to be dragged down by PPI inflation in the next few quarters [and] all this suggests the People’s Bank of China will need to act more aggressively.”

Hu Jintao, Chinese President

China’s inflation rate rises to 1.5% in December

hina’s inflation rate remained near a five-year low in December, edging up to 1.5 percent from 1.4 percent the month before. Sharp rises in the price of some food items were behind the increase, including a 14 percent rise in egg prices. Consumer Price Inflation, CPI, for the whole of 2014 was 2 percent compared with 2013, well below the government’s target of 3.5 percent.

erman exports and production fell in November compared with the previous month. Exports fell 2.1 percent compared with October, German’s Federal Statistical Office reported, while imports rose 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, factory production fell by 0.1 percent from October as energy production fell and construction activity decreased. The latest news follows weak industrial order figures this week. “Things are certainly not rosy,” said Bankhaus Lampe economist Alexander Krueger. “The geopolitical situation, especially the Russia conflict and the related economic uncertainty, is limiting growth,”

Angela Merkel, Germany Chancellor

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the country’s trade surplus shrank to €17.7bn (£13.9bn) in November. Germany exported goods worth around €95.8bn and imported goods valued at €78.0bn in the month. In December, Germany’s economic affairs ministry said the country’s recovery was “progressing at a slow pace.” This is a disappointing batch of German data. It pours cold water on hopes that the Eurozone’s traditional economic powerhouse will drag its neighbours out of the gloom in the near future. The figures don’t necessarily point to a renewed contraction in the German economy. But they are consistent with no significant acceleration from the feeble 0.1 percent growth that Germany recorded in the third quarter of last year, following a contraction of the same magnitude in the previous three months. There were also declines in French and Spanish industrial production, adding another layer of gloom to the picture. These figures provide a little extra support to the view that the European Central Bank will embark soon on a major programme of quantitative easing - buying financial assets notably government debt with newly created money. Germany’s falling exports came on the back of weaker figures for industrial orders

JPMorgan settles lawsuit over defective Bear Stearns mortgage debt

PMorgan Chase & Co, JPM.N, has agreed to settle class action litigation arising from Bear Stearns’ sale in 2006 and 2007 of roughly $17.58 billion of mortgage securities that proved defective, a court filing showed. Terms were not disclosed. The agreement in principle to settle was in a letter from lawyers for JPMorgan and the plaintiff investors, which was filed on Thursday night in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.BC

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Florence Seriki

Amazing computer amazon She started by training people on how to use computers during her National Youth Service Corps year and today, she sits atop Omatek Ventures Plc, a multi billion Naira holding company that manufactures computers and other electronic products. Even at the age of 27, she was already a multimillionaire with a property at the prized Victoria Garden City, VGC. This is the story of Florence Omatule Seriki, Group Managing Director, Omatek Ventures Plc. Reports, Tayo Elebijo

he actually desired a career in engineering, but clearly, that desire was not within the realm of computer engineering. She rather chose to read chemical engineering at the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. Indeed, If anyone had predicted to Florence Omatule Seriki several years back then as a chemical engineering undergraduate that her future lies in computer engineering, she probably would have sneered at the idea. However, rather than earn her living as a chemical engineer, Seriki, armed with hard work, determination and uncommon ability to identify opportunity, draws her fame and fortune from computer. Indeed, her first million came through computer training, an entirely different field from her course of study. Seriki’s entrepreneurial adventure started way back in the 1980s as a youth corps member with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, when she took it upon herself to train her bosses on how to use the computers. As the story goes, at that time, all directors in the corporation had computers on their desks but the systems were only used by their secretaries and whenever the secretaries were not available, the computers were allowed to gather dust. That was the situation until Seriki summoned the courage and offered to train her boss on the use of his of computer. Impressed by her mastery, Seriki’s boss told another colleague and before long, she became the most sought after, as virtually everyone wanted to learn computer usage. While training her bosses at NNPC, Seriki’s fame spread like wildfire in the corporate community and in no time, she got contracts to train executives in

Seriki

banks and oil and gas among others. As someone with eyes for opportunities, Seriki saw through the opportunities provided and immediately set about floating a business to enjoy the extra income flowing her way as a young corps member. She employed people whom she had trained to be able to train the growing number of executives who sought the knowledge of computing. In 1988, Union Bank of Nigeria gave her a space on the sixth floor at 409 Marina Office where all the bank’s executives, including the then managing director were given computer training on appointment. When the new generation banks started, Seriki expanded her scope to accommodate more bankers. Before she finished her youth service, she opened an office in Lagos Island, employed and trained people who in turn train other people, starting with executives from NNPC, Shell and banks and in no time, what started as a mere extracurricular activity blossomed to become her pot of wealth. As it turned out, Seriki’s uncommon knack for spotting opportunities and latching onto them has placed in her hands, Omatek Ventures Plc, an indigenous computers and accessories manufacturing company. However, but for hard work and her undying crave for knowledge, Seriki too would herself, not have been able to acquire the skill, which today earns her a living and fame. Even for her, the opportunity to learn computer usage presented itself during her final year in the university, where she was asked to conduct a research to study the growth of organisms. One of her lecturers had just returned from Manchester, United Kingdom with an old XP Windows computer which she had reasoned, would aid her research work. “I quickly attached myself to the lecturer and convinced him of the need for him to teach me how to use the Lotus application, which he did. Before I knew it, I could do micro programming in Lotus and I used the software to do my project,” she recalled. But then, while that endeavour facilitated the execution of her project, it also denied her the privilege of passing out with distinction. She was reportedly marked down for her decision to use personal computer rather than Fortran machine that was meant for engineering students at that time. She passed out with 3.8 cumulative grade point average when distinction was 4.1. However, one thing that cannot be taken away from Seriki is the drive to continually take opportunities and break new grounds. After covering sufficient grounds in computer training, she moved on to computer vending when she realised that the executives and companies which her company, Omatek Ventures Limited was consulting for would need their own personal computers (PCs). “I realised many companies did not have enough computers. I saw an opportunity, so I started initially by buying foreign brands and selling to my customers,” she said. Up to 1992, key computer buyers in Nigeria were banks and oil and gas companies. They were buying only finished products. The oil and gas companies were buying only from their offshore companies. Therefore, there was no opportunity for Nigerians to sell to them. So, to tap into the opportunity, Seriki started a joint venture with two other Nigerians, got concessions for oil companies to do business with them but

were required to have off-shore affiliates. As the computer training outfit blossoms, so her computer vending business and in no distant time, Omatek Ventures became a leading sales outlet for Compaq, IBM, Apple and Microsoft. Her high sales volumes which ran into over $1 million annually made Omatek a Premium Partner for Compaq, Senior Partner for IBM, Apple, and Microsoft. Aggressive and insatiable, Seriki was determined to conquer her world. She was determined to take a plunge, moving from vending to manufacturing of computers, an adventure which many of her peers had thought was unattainable then. In fact, the dream was then perceived as a child’s play by some who derisively tagged Seriki and her team as ‘the clone people’. But she remained undeterred and by 2000, the idea which started far back in 1993 when the first Omatek computers were launched at the then CTO, a flagship IT seminar and exhibition event organized yearly by the US Consular Office, came into being through Omatek Computers Limited, a subsidiary of Omatek Ventures. Today, Omatek is the pioneer and the only factory on the African continent involved in the production of computers, casings and speakers from Completely Knocked-Down (CKD) components. Operating at 25 per cent capacity utilisation, the Omatek Computer factory rolls out per annum: 120,000 speakers, 120,000 casings and 48,000 fully-built PCs. Interestingly, the Omatek factory now assembles Other Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) brands for other brand builders both local and foreign. These brands are customised in the OEM brand names. The Computer manufacturing firm is presently producing a low-cost PC for INTEL to fulfill the realization of CANI/GAPP initiative spearheaded by Intel and Microsoft, to digitally empower all Nigerians. Like most business startups, funding was also a major challenge for Omatek as Seriki’s effort to raise the initial capital of N500, 000 was almost frustrated by the same banks that later jumped at her after she had succeeded. “The first time ever that we needed an overdraft and we approached an old generation bank, we were asked to produce our transaction history. At the end of the day, the bank did not give us the facility. So, I went to one of the new generation banks, GTBank. GTB said they don’t know me and that I need to have a transaction history, need to have a bank statement and I am new. They said it could be from any bank. Luckily, I had a transaction history, because I used to bank my money. So, when they saw two to three pages of transaction, in, out, they said they would give me N500, 000,” she recalled. However, her major source of funding came through the Small and Medium Enterprises Equity Investment Schemes (SMEEIS) funds in partnership with Zenith International Bank and GTBank. By the time she graduated into computer manufacturing, things began to look up. Before then, Omatek was doing quality delivery per order,

Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

ploughed back its profits to grow the business and created tremendous relationship with its bankers. So, when she “walked into the banks, they looked at me and said, Florence, we bought your computers, we have dealt with Omatek. They were ready to put their money down and help us through their SME scheme,” she narrated. So far, Omatek Computers Limited has gone through three stages in its lifetime. First, it was collaborating with some of its foreign affiliates that would couple the computers up a little bit and then ship them down to the country for Omatek to complete the coupling. Three years after it commenced production via coupling, Omatek in 2003 graduated to a completely knocked down (CKD) factory with funding from two banks. The factories engaged in moulding, design, nails, screws etc to promote local content. She added that every raw material in computer production is produced by different companies. The first and second factories of Omatek are the case and speaker factories while the third and fourth factories are the PC and notebook factories. These factories are graded in low level, middle level and high class level manufacturers. For now, Florence Seriki’s dream of becoming a clear leader in the African ICT industry may appear lofty but it is being seen coming to fruition as the company gradually spreads its tentacles outside the shores of Nigeria. Already, Omatek has made its presence known in Ghana, where it equally manufactures computers, speakers and other electronic products. It entered into partnership with the government of Ghana in its epress consumer initiative to make computer acquisition easy and affordable. The programme was launched in conjunction with Ghana’s ministry of communication under the umbrella of Ghana Government Assisted PC Programmei-Advance and comes with huge funding support from partnering banks which makes it easy for civil servants, corporate executives, corporate organisations, educational institutions, SMEs and students to acquire computers through a convenient payment plan. Seriki and by extension, Omatek has scored many firsts over the years. She was the first indigenous computer company to list on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the first in the African continent to locally produce computer casings and speakers from Completely Knocked Down process ,CKD, locally produced home entertainment speakers and plasma and flat screens from SemiKnocked Down, SKD, process. The company was also the first in Africa to buy directly CKD process parts from front-line producers across the world. And perhaps, the most outstanding of Omatek’s achievements was its becoming first in the continent to win Microsoft Systems Builder Award in 2005 for Central, West and East Africa. Seriki received the award at the Microsoft African Partner Summit, MAPS, in South Africa, having beaten contenders from 42 countries. Seriki started gaining recogni-

Seriki

tion way back in 1992 when she won the Young Entrepreneurship Award of the Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce. Touted as the “Africa’s Bill Gates in the Making”, Seriki has won a good number of laurels, in recognition of her contributions to the development of Information and Communication Technology,ICT, in Nigeria and Africa at large. She emerged the Best Woman IT of the Year (2003) Award conferred by the Nigeria Information Technology and Telecommunication (NITT) body; Africa International Role Model Leadership Gold Award for Excellence; Patriotic Achievers’ Award and the Woman of Merit Gold Award, to mention and a few others. At a time, former president Olusegun Obasanjo reportedly referred to Omatek Computers as “a company that has done Nigeria proud and put Africa on the world ICT map” by winning the prestigious Microsoft Best Systems Builder Award for East, Central and West Africa in 2005. Persons close to Florence Seriki said a cupboard in one of the siderooms of Omatek factory in Lagos is overflowing with trophies the Company has been awarded over the years for its outstanding performance. But then, the Seriki will not be swayed by the many accolades she keeps receiving both from within and outside the country as fondly push her dream of becoming the best in the field of ICT. Today, Omatek keeps enlarging its coast by diversifying its business into other related areas. The establishment of Omatek Engineering Services Limited, a full subsidiary of Omatek Ventures Plc, enables the group to open a new business line which offers an avalanche of services including disaster and data recovery, network optimisation and web security. The company works in partnership with a Chinese company, Kelog reputed to be one of the world’s biggest UPS manufacturers to produce a range of UPS, inverters and power backup systems that could be used for telecommunications applications, in homes, offices, server rooms, medical institutions, industries,

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Even at the age of 27, she was already a multimillionaire with a property at the prized Victoria Garden City, VGC

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large corporations, banks, Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, points and other mission critical environments, hotels, industries and factories. Interestingly, Florence maintains a balance between business and family life. Unlike a good number of successful women entrepreneurs around the globe, playing her role as a wife and mother at home cannot be negotiated. This is what she said as regards life at home “In spite of my busy schedule, I assist my children with their homework and cook my husband’s meals. A woman that wants to go to the next level must balance family life and business. Even if a woman is busy, the man married a wife and she is still the mother of her children. The home must never be sacrificed on the altar of success”. Howbeit, Seriki’s success story, apart from being aggressive and hardworking, will not be complete without the influence of friends who helped her redirect her energy properly. One of such is Fola Adeola; the pioneer Managing Director of GTBank who convinced her to take a course at the Lagos Business School , LBS, to properly arm herself for the business world. The negotiation power is one of the weapons that Florence has wielded so far to get Omatek to where it is today, and that skill was learnt at

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LBS. Seriki narrates her own story thus “In 1993, a friend called me and said there is something called the Lagos Business School, so he said I should come and attend. When he said that it would cost N150, 000, I said that could bring in about four containers. And from nowhere, Fola Adeola called me too and said the same thing. He said that some of those things I do that I can learn them there in the books I will buy. I went for the examination, was successful and that was how I got into the school. I sat with other chief executives of companies. When I got there, negotiation was a course and that was how I learnt about my negotiations with the banks”. After spending so much on personal development, Seriki would put her knowledge into immediate use to make gains. “I received big contracts from oil companies and I think of how I can fund it. So when I go to the banks, they tell me all their stories and I will go back and tell them the dynamics I think they should follow. We fight and fight until they know that their dynamics may fail. Over time, I noticed that banks give us high account and attention, because they realized we know what we are doing. Like I always tell them here, if you are asked to take care of something and you say you are waiting for somebody, if that person doesn’t help you, you are the one to push, because I would push till I get what I want,” she said. Besides help received from friends, the Omatek boss would readily acknowledge that some policies put in place by government has been very instrumental to the survival of the company. Seriki attributed her company’s phenomenal breakthrough to two important interventions from government. First was the passage of the ‘Computers for All Nigerians Initiative, CANl’ and the other being the exemption of Omatek from payment of duty for the importation of computer components, as well as the cancellation of the Value Added Tax ,VAT, on the export of the company’s products. CANl, a government - private sector collaboration, is aimed at bridging the digital gap and promoting computer literacy in Nigerian society. Today, thanks to that bold step taken by the government and also owing to the unshaken sense of mission on the part of Omatek Computers, PCs were not only available locally at affordable prices, but there had also been a record rise in the number of Nigerians, who could boast of personal computers in their homes. Over the years, Seriki has grown from making revenue of $1 million from selling foreign-made computers to establishing a company valued at over N10 billion within a period of 21 years. Born on August 16, 1963 in Lagos to the Udebu family from Ebu, Delta State, Florence, the first child in the family of five girls, attended Reagan Memorial Baptist Secondary School, Sabo, Yaba between 1975 and 1980 and later proceeded to the Federal School of Science, Lagos for her A levels where she emerged the best overall in lower six form. BC

Ogunmade

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ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

Agro-based entrepreneur

Like many entrepreneurial endeavours, Babs Olayade started his poultry business in a small way but today, by dint of hard-work and undying passion for agriculture, he has put the poultry business on the global map, making him one of the recipients of the World Bank’s agricultural intervention in Nigeria through the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) By Adejuwon Osunnuyi

abs Olayade started his journey into agricultural entrepreneurship some 20 years ago at the little known Aiyedoto Poultry Farm Estate just as an ordinary registered business thriving on a small scale. He later progressed to the stage where he had to expand the poultry business into a limited liability company, through the establishment of what is today referred to as Jiyo Farms Limited, and Olayade will gladly tell anyone who cares to listen that Jiyo Farm was a product of passion and interest. He traced his interest in agro-business to the agricultural initiative of the then military governor of Lagos State, the late Gbolahan Mudashiru (retd), which introduced Garden Farming Scheme. According to him, “There were some intensive programmes that were done during the military regime of Gbolahan Mudashiru when they established the Garden Farming Scheme where a lot of people went into farming.” “And before then, there has been Operation Feed the Nation and Green Revolution of Obasanjo and Shagari regimes, which made people to have interest by doing a backyard poultry farming or vegetable garden behind their yard. So essentially, I started as a backyard farmer,” he told Business Courage in an interview. Olayade recounts how he used to buy between 50 chicks to 100 chicks at the beginning, an endeavour which he admitted opened his eyes to the realization that poultry business is indeed, a profitable business. “With that I found out that it was a profitable venture and

then decided to come over to Aiyedoto Poultry Farm Settlement as a settler.” Luckily for him, on getting to the farm settlement, he was given his own facility and pen house which enabled him to produce on a commercial level. “I was doing poultry production, rearing broiler to a marketable size and selling to poultry meat processing companies like Fashakin Foods at Anthony then, which I later combined with egg production,” he recounts. On how he was able to put together the needed finance to establish and keep the business afloat, he disclosed that it was all down to his personal effort and the assistance of some financial institutions like banks who believed in his business plan and commitment to pursue it. “We were able to access some loans from micro-finance banks but taking loan is not that okay because of the high interest rate of 25 to 28 percentages. Agricultural loan is supposed to be one digit but access to the one digit loan is not easy but the one we are taking is just to support the one we are having as a family,” he said. He is however optimistic that in the future given the attention that agriculture is now getting as a potential business area capable of displacing crude oil as the country’s highest earner as well as the support coming from global financial institutions like the World Bank, access to loans will be much better and reliable. “My CIG and I in particular have benefited from Commercial Agriculture Development Project , CADP. In the area of production, they are there for us and in the area of packaging and marketing, they have also done well. We have benefitted nipple fitted battery cages

Olayade

which have saved us from a lot of problems like transmission of virus as well as boosting our production by reducing the breakages of eggs, “he said. In the area of marketing, Olayade disclosed that he had benefited greatly through the procurement of packaging and

branding materials like tricycles which he said accounted for why his products are seen everywhere. “Also in the area of training and capacity building, they have really helped. We have a lot of workshops and seminars at interval. We also go on agri-

cultural fairs to showcase our product which is a plus to me and my farm,” he said. He attended last year’s International Production and Processing Expo in USA, which he said exposed him to modern technology in poultry management. “I also benefited from the

Management Principles

Best practices for family businesses

ebt managing, cash handling, and long-term planning are three problem areas all family-business leaders can improve by revamping operations Most articles and books written about family businesses have focused on the various thorny problems and emotional entanglements that come from working with family members. Less focus has been placed on the unique business challenges that stem from the fact that most family businesses are relatively small or medium-sized and do not always have the best possible operating practices in place. In fact, most of the operating practices a typical family business uses come from inherited wisdom, the school of hard knocks, and from textbook business principles that do not always take small business realities into account. But most of the challenges family business owners and managers face stem from the fact that ownership is highly concentrated, and usually in the hands of the people who are running the business. These leaders tend to operate in relative isolation and do not often receive independent input. However, if family-business leaders could step back from the day-to-day of running the business and look behind the scenes, various problematic business areas would emerge that need to be addressed with a set of best practices. And those family businesses that employ best practices are often the ones that survive and thrive. This column offers three best practices for problem areas unique to small family businesses. Creating a debt management system: This important best practice relates to a family’s attitude toward debt. Most accepted principles about debt come from the people who are trying to sell money, and they may not have the business’s best interests in mind. These principles focus mostly on securitization and not as much on ability to repay. But debt is one of the few things that can kill a business and this fact needs to be acknowledged. Bottom line: A system must be set in place to ensure debt is managed effectively. Managing cash: In a small business, the manner in which cash is used is a potential lightning rod of conflict for family members. That’s because most financial reporting systems are not formatted to highlight what happens to cash in the course of operating the business. It is fairly common for family-

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Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

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ThebuddingEntrepreneurs

knowledge acquired in the conference, in the area of packaging and marketing. My egg sales have increased greatly and I also learnt about best practices in poultry keeping such as biosecurity.” Olayade said that the exposure which he has garnered through his association with the international

organizations has been enormous but regretted that he may not be able to practicalise and implement all he had learnt and new information he has acquired due to the constraint of his current location. “I have also been able to identify a foreign partner that I can represent here who supplies odour control chemicals for livestock pens. I would also be representing a firm supplying packaging materials of international standards for the marketing of poultry product,” he said. The International Production and Processing Expo represents animal agriculture, from farm to point-of-sale, combining the networking and educational resources of the American Feed Industry Association, American Meat Institute, and United States Poultry and Egg Association. It comprises of the three integrated tradeshows: International Poultry Expo, International Feed Expo, and International Meat Expo. The IPPE features the world’s largest annual gathering of industry leaders and the most comprehensive display of the latest technology, equipment, supplies, and services used by poultry, feed, and meat companies. “Prior to CADP’s intervention, Jiyo Farm used to stock 750 birds but with encouragement from CADP and with what we saw at the seminars and workshops, the stocking had increased to over 2,000, improving the yield from 60 to 70 per cent,” he said. He also disclosed that the capacity of eggs produced in crates before the intervention was 25 but the number has now increased to

business owners to reach the end of the year and have substantial earnings but no cash, having lost track of the cumulative effect of decisions made about cash throughout the year. Also, some owners are not sufficiently educated on the differences between expenses, cash outlays, accruals, balance sheet changes, capital expenditures, principal payments, and other aspects of accounting. Bottom line: Family-business leaders should place a high priority on cash management and ensure the company has a positive cash flow after all its obligations are met. They should take any larger-than-usual distributions out of the company after all the cash needs of the business and tax obligations have been satisfied. No one should ever borrow money to pay distributions to family members. Long-term planning: Having a smart business plan provides great benefit to the family in terms of communicating direction and establishing expectations. It is also good for the business to align resources and provide a foundation for delegating authority and responsibility. The business plan does not have to be as elaborate as one might find in larger enterprises. It should spell out long- and short-term strategy. It should contain a multiyear financial forecast including a balance sheet, a profit-and-loss statement, a capital-expenditure plan, and a cash-flow forecast. If possible, the financial forecast should break down the overall business into its various lines and establish a net-before-tax number for each. This will put the spotlight on aspects of the business that are doing well vs. those that are not. Bottom line: Once developed, the plan should be communicated to everyone and reviewed monthly. It should clearly answer these questions: Where are we going? What’s expected of me? How does my contribution fit into the overall strategy? As noted earlier, most family-business owners operate in relative isolation and employ practices that are often based upon information that may not be relevant. Adapting these operating practices into best practices will contribute significantly to a family business’s long-term business success. BC

46 crates daily. There is no business that does not come with its own unique set of challenges and Olayade is well acquainted with those of poultry after so many years of living the life of a poultry farmer. “The major challenge we have is funding; poultry business is capital intensive, so we need cash to run the business but unfortunately we are not able to access loans even as those that can access it do so at very high percentage.” “Another challenge is the problem of vaccine failure; at times when birds are given vaccine and it fails farmers’ record mass mortality. Like last year, I lost over one thousand birds as a result of vaccine failure. This could be due to the handling of the vaccine or storage but it happens,” he said. Having grown his poultry business to its current level, Olayade said that his next plan is to gain market access to the major shopping malls like Shoprite and he firmly believe that with God and the support of CADP, this is possible. He also plans to acquire a state of the art cooling system to help extend the shelf lives of eggs as he notes that is another challenge confronting the poultry business in the country. “My target is to increase my production to about 100 per cent and at the same time, to capture the egg market within my region and mopping those of my co-egg producer avoiding clotting to support the one I’m producing because right now, I am the only one into marketing and marketing is enough on its own. So, I need to capture the Lagos market then move out of Lagos and start thinking of exporting,” he enthused. He appreciates the essence of the value chain growth in the poultry sector and the opportunity it throws up for investors as he explains that “All of us cannot be talking of production; someone has to talk of processing and marketing. In the aspect of processing, my CIG is working towards that as we are planning to secure de-feathering machine, storage equipment and generators for the processed birds.” Olayade is especially grateful to God and the intervention of the World Bank through the CADP initiative as he recounted his experience on a tour to Shongai farms. “Going there, I tapped a lot of innovation from them and they are the things that are helping me to boost my business in the area of production and marketing,” he said. He hopes that such and more opportunities and intervention will continue to come the way of agribusiness entrepreneurs in order to develop the sector further. BC

Personal Finance Common threats to family businesses and how to avoid them

very business is faced with challenges. However, as a family business owner, you are faced with unique threats to your business that, if not recognized and addressed quickly, will drastically affect your success in the market place. Here are five common threats that every family business faces and tips on how to manage them. Family feuding: There is simply no fun and games when it comes to family feuds in your business. Family businesses are faced with internal conflict that typically arises from the inability to separate your business and personal lives. Sometimes the feuding is due to the varied interests of each family member, personal egos or personal rivalries that spill into the business environment. Regardless of the cause, if you do not find a way to stop the feuding, it will be absolutely impossible to define and achieve common goals for the business. In addition, excessive conflict in your organization can increase employee turnover and create a hostile work environment. Nepotism: Managing family is a delicate matter, and it is important to be aware that the fastest way to alienate the people that work for you is to create a company culture based on nepotism. Everyone wants to help out family, but hiring, promoting, and paying someone based on a familial relationship rather than on their actual merits and abilities, is a recipe for disaster. You will quickly find that non-family employees will lose the motivation and desire to work for you. In addition, family employees may become complacent because they will not face consequences for nonperformance. Ultimately, nepotism does not empower your employees, and as a result your bottom line will suffer. Letting emotions run the business: Separating your emotions from the business is not an easy task, especially if you are directly managing a family member. It is difficult for people to receive critical feedback from peers or their boss and even more difficult to receive it from someone they love. Be aware that if you let emotions interfere with your business, it can make you appear weak to your employees and customers, and severely affect your ability to make sound business decisions. On the other hand, if you are insensitive, you may appear cold and unapproachable. Lack of sensitivity with family employees can also cause problems at home if you are not careful. You will need to determine the right balance of emotion needed based on the dynamics of your business environment. Losing non-family employees: There are two main reasons non-family employees will leave: limited growth opportunities and family conflict. Most employees want to advance within a company. Unfortunately, in most family businesses, there are often limited opportunities for advancement, because family employees occupy all leadership positions within the company. Without opportunity to advance or take on a leadership role, many talented and ambitious employees will move on. Another problem is that nonfamily employees will leave because they feel as if they are always in the middle when a family feud breaks out. As a business owner, you need to realize that every business needs a good mix of people to help you grow. Non-family employees add balance to the organization because they have the ability to view the business from an unemotional position. If given the opportunity, they can offer valuable input on how to make the company better. No succession plan: There is going to come a time when someone retires, leaves, or perhaps passes away. If you do not have a plan, you are setting your business up for BC failure. BC

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Monday, January 12, 2015

ThebuddingEntrepreneurs ne of the reasons developed nations and developing economies treat people with disability respectfully, is because they know that economy and social growth cannot be achieved faster than the pace of people with disability. For an example, if you have a person with disability crossing a road and vehicular movements have to be halted for a longer time to complete her crossing to the other side of the road then at that moment loss of man-hour is certain. Therefore, the best decision is to design and build infrastructure for people with disabilities, which will help them move at the same pace every other person are moving while contributing to the economy of the society. In another case, I read the story of a twin brothers who parted with life threatening disagreement and both met years later after each have built large agric businesses. At the reconciliation, both Israel Isaac and Esau Isaac thought me the need for consciousness of putting into consideration the importance of understanding workers vulnerability in driving business to success. While Esau Isaac recommended fast movement of Israel Isaac team members and animals to join him at his own farm for celebration and merriment, Israel Isaac responded, “You know that the children are weak, and I must think of the sheep and cattle with their young. If they are driven hard for even one day, the whole flock will die; please, go on ahead of me and I will follow slowly, going as fast as I can with the livestock and children until I can catch up with you.” Dear entrepreneur, the moral of these cases above is that business goal cannot be achieved faster than the vulnerability of the work team members whose weaknesses are louder than strengths. Vulnerable people are speed determinant in any system. They slow everybody down in business situations. A great leader recognises that every enterprise has vulnerable people therefore he designs programs and create environment to support such people to improve and build capability.

KLINIC

With Mamora Victor Mamora is a system thinker and advisor whose belief and activator leadership strengths are directed towards improving workers perspective for city and enterprise development.

e-mail: olusegunmamora@gmail.com

How do a business leaders and managers improve the situation of people who are open to fatal error and slow to business situation deliverables? The first answer A business leader needs to recognise these set of people in the organisation. They are people who prior to employment did not have experience in the position they currently occupy in the organisation. They are people who, though experienced, have a wrong job functions. They could be people who are facing challenges in their marriages. They could be people who just lost a love one to death. Some time these category of vulnerable people are great workers who now have too many deliverable per day. They are people who waste everybody time on deliverables. Many successful business leaders agreed that saving time is more important than saving money. Therefore, they invest in programs and business infrastructure that can increase productivity per time. They invest in such infrastructures that can help reduce loss of man hour. Leaders know that

except vulnerable people are supported to develop and tap into their potential for quality decision making at work it may slow down business activity and cost the business. So they invest in health insurance, support with housing loan and mortgage, provide staff bus and cars, sometimes subsidise food, and design programs for capacity building in form of training and seminars which takes us to the next answer. The second answer Invest in human capacity building programs consistently. As the year is winding up you need to put in place plans to improve the ability of the workers to drive the business objective to success. How about encouraging your team members to look out for relevant certification programs, seminars and training that can enhance their decisional ability in the role they play on the team. May be you as a business leader will also have to look out for programs and seminars that can help improve your leadership skill. In today’s business sphere,

they invest in programs and business infrastructure that can increase productivity per time. They invest in such infrastructures that can help reduce loss of man hour

‘

Everybody on the move BUSINESS ‘ inability to make right decision at the right time before the competition access the same opportunity is one of the weakness and reason enterprise loose to their competitor. The third answer You need to focus on what you can change because you cannot change every vulnerable situation or people. We need to recognise that nothing can be done to help chicken soar like an eagle. Some of your workers who have refused to improve on the team will have to be counsel to switch to another team or department and maybe to join another business organisation entirely. This will allow room for another person whose skill is set, passion and capacity is suitable for the enterprise business objective within the specific time targeted. The Fourth answer You need to hire people

Motivational Business Quotes

I wasn’t satisfied just to earn a good living. I was looking to make a statement. – Donald Trump

To succeed in business, to reach the top, an individual must know all it is possible to know about that business. – J. Paul Getty

Whether it’s Google or Apple or free software, we’ve got some fantastic competitors and it keeps us on our toes. – Bill Gates

To win without risk is to triumph without glory. – Pierre Corneille

If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours. – Ray Kroc

hy did I want to win? Because I didn’t want to lose! – Max Schmelling

To succeed… You need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you. – Tony Dorsett Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business. – Zig Ziglar

Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating. – Denis Waitley Management is nothing more than motivating other people. – Le Iacocca BC

objectively. Bring people on board when you are clear of the missing value you think should be added. For years, my aspiration has been to attend the Harvard University programs. This year, I attempted Harvard Kennedy (Harvard leadership school) and in the process of admission screening I went through series of learning objective interviews with three sets of questions spread over three months. In the end, the school recommended me for a program that best suite my learning object, vision, and passion. Although I had my different target course, but the series of learning objectives interview and due diligence points me to what I need to learn for my leadership focus now. Harvard is objective in admission processes and so should be for entrepreneur in recruitment processes. It is important to hire team members objectively and by that decision among others so that your team members and you can be on the move to fulfilling the business objective at the same pace. My encouragement for you is that, as you are thinking about strategies to expand your organisation service and to enter new markets next year do consider that some of your workers will need support, training, compensation and motivation to start the new business calendar on a great note and sustain the success to the end. I believe you deserve appreciation for sustaining the enterprise through the challenge of the year. Whatever the lose your enterprise may have experienced this year, I believe your success next year will compensate for it on a greater scale. That is what I believe for you as you take courageous step to plan, build capacity, and pray for favour in the next business year. I want to say thank you for keeping the hope of better society alive as your business employ people, keep food on the table of many families, help people build wealth, and reduces crimes on the street. In this season, you need to be more courageous because it is your season of productivity. It is time to plan properly so that everybody on your team can be on the move at the same pace for next year business activities. BC

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Monday, January 12, 2015

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Exploring the Big Data While the concept of ‘Big Data’ is fast becoming a mantra in the Information and Communication Technology world and indeed, popular among private and public organisations, experts say organisations that harness Big Data would have the edge in critical decision making by growing faster than competitors and seize new opportunities in the market place By Adejuwon Osunnuyi

he internet usage rate is growing at a very fast rate and it is very important for organisations to develop a data-driven culture that allows them to collect, analyse and process the quantum of data that come through their various digital platforms on a daily basis to be able to create business intelligence to help decision-making as well as be able to provide value-added services to their consumers. For organisations of all sizes, data management has shifted from an important competency to a critical differentiator that can determine market winners and has-beens. Globally, a lot of companies and government bodies are starting to benefit from the innovations of the web pioneers. These organisations are defining new initiatives and reevaluating existing strategies to examine how they can transform their businesses using big data. In the process, they are learning that big data is not a single technology, technique or initiative. Rather, it is a trend across many areas of business and technology. Variously defined, big data refers to technologies and initiatives that involve data that is too diverse, fast-changing or massive for conventional technologies, skills and infrastructure to address efficiently. Said differently, the volume, velocity or variety of data is too great.

Ehimuan-Chiazor

Big data, according to the experts, is the next big thing and will be game changer in the ever-increasingly competitive ICT-driven market where insights into customer’s behavioural and purchase patterns have become imperatives. According to Google Country Manager in Nigeria, Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, “When we talk about big data, we are talking about scale. That is really data in such a large volume that traditional processing platform cannot cope with.” “It is large volume of data that runs into the magnitude

of several thousands of megabytes of data and they are quite varied data. In some cases, they are structured and sometimes, unstructured data and data that change differently.” She noted. Ehimuan-Chiazor noted that today, over 270 million emails are sent on a daily basis and every second, someone is sending an email somewhere in the world. “Millions of emails get sent on a periodic basis. That is an example of big data that we are talking about and so, the situation for an organisation is to

really think about organising their data in a way that they can extract business intelligence from it.” In an email interview with Business Courage, Business Development Manager, Enterprise Solution Services, Intel West Africa, Femi Babajide, also provided an insight into what big data really means. “Big data can be described as high-volume, high-velocity, and high-variety information assets that require new forms of processing to enable enhanced decision making, insight discovery and process optimisation. For business organisations, there is a lot of data which is coming into the system rapidly from many different sources in many different formats. Ninety per cent of the data in the world is less than two years old,” he stated. According to Babajide, “Rather than being neatly formatted, cleaned, and normalised data in a corporate database, the data is coming in raw and unstructured via smart phones, tracking devices, Point of Sales (POS) devices, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices, and audio and image files uploaded from various devices.” To him, the increased size of unstructured data and increased complexity requires enhancements to how data is managed and analysed. Similarly, in a recent interview on the importance of big data to organisations in today’s

global economy where Information and Communication Technology on the front burner of every advancement, Chief Executive Officer, Resourcery, an Information Technology integrator, Tunde Fafunwa, explained that big data has the capacity to transform economies, bring efficiencies in doing business and improve customer service delivery. Though, described as still being in its infancy, Fafunwa contends that “Big data is transforming today’s business landscape and playing a pivotal role in defining new business processes and strategies to aid innovation. “Banks, telecommunications companies are grappling with huge amounts of customer data. Never before has so much customer information been available to them and the ability to process data in real time is a game changer.” What is interesting, according to experts is that, today, new technologies make it possible to realise value from big data. For example, retailers can track user web clicks to identify behavioral trends that improve campaigns, pricing and stockage. Utilities can capture household energy usage levels to predict outages and to incent more efficient energy consumption. Governments and even Google can detect and track the emergence of disease outContinued on pg A16

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breaks via social media signals. Oil and gas companies can take the output of sensors in their drilling equipment to make more efficient and safer drilling decisions. According to Babajide, new technologies are enabling enterprises to transform opportunity into reality by turning big data into actionable insights and to this end he says Intel platforms enable top performance with a system balanced between compute, storage and network components. “Intel enables powerful compute capacity to collect, manage, analyse and process massive data inflows, fast, reliable storage that keeps pace with big data volume and velocity and high-throughput, and low latency network connections to feed the cluster and distribute the workloads. As predicted by Moore’s law, the cost of memory continues to fall while the number of processors per chip is rising,’ says Babajide. But what exactly is the business potential of big data, when properly harnessed by businesses or other public organisations. According to him, “In order to be successful in a competitive environment, businesses need to spot trends, opportunities, and risks via analytic processing of data. Thus, if you want to be successful, you must understand big data and how to quickly extract from it the business critical information that your business requires.” “Organisations that can harness big data will have the edge in critical decision making. So, companies utilising advanced analytics platforms to gain real value from Big data will grow faster than their competitors and seize new opportunities.” Already, studies have shown that organisations across public and private sectors are already gathering and analysing “big data” to forecast market conditions more accurately and to make better decisions about the issues that are most critical to their success. They sort through vast amounts of data to gain new insights into their customers, operations, and competitors, and identify opportunities and risks. But, according to Babjide, traditional business intelligence infrastructure cannot handle today’s massive, diverse, and fast-moving data streams. “Organisations are now investing in big data infrastructure. However, the hardware and software choices made at design time can have a significant impact on performance and total cost of ownership.” Providing insights into how African businesses can put ‘big data’ into use proper to improve their bottom-line, Babajide asserts that indeed, governments

Monday, January 12, 2015

Babajide

in Africa are already depending on big data solutions for identity management. He said: “Identity management has implications for all aspects of governance and provides the platform for resource allocation. Also, he says businesses in the financial services and telecommunication industries are also in various stages of deploying big data infrastructure, pointing out that one example is churn prediction analytics by mobile network operators to ensure they keep profitable customers. “Big data is also applied in improving security and enabling law enforcement and to detect and prevent cyberattacks and intrusions. Security agencies use big data tools to catch criminals and predict criminal activity and credit card companies use big data to detect fraudulent transactions.” Speaking further, he submitted, “Today, the majority of equity trading takes place via data algorithms that increasingly take into account signals from social media networks and news websites to make, buy and sell decisions in split seconds “Furthermore, big data is used to improve many aspects of our cities and countries. For example, it allows cities to optimize traffic flows based on real time traffic information as well as social media and weather data. A number of cities are currently piloting big data analytics with the aim of turning themselves into Smart Cities.” In addition, Babajide, says, “We can now benefit from the data generated from wearable devices such as smart watches or smart bracelets which collect data on our calorie consumption, activity levels, and our sleep patterns.” Also, he states that “the computing power of big data analytics enables us to decode entire DNA strings in minutes

and will allow us to find new cures and better understand and predict disease patterns. Big data analytics also allow us to monitor and predict the developments of epidemics and disease outbreaks. Also, most elite sports have now also embraced big data analytics. Science and research is currently being transformed by the new possibilities big data brings.” Meanwhile, Intel remains one of the leading Information Technology firms that have been making efforts towards ensuring that the potential of big data is unlocked for businesses to drive their growth through its appreciation. “Intel is a major contributor to open source initiatives such as Linux, OpenStack, KVM, and Xen Software. Intel devoted resources to Hadoop analysis, testing and performance characterizations both internally and with fellow travelers such as Original Equipment Manufacturer, OEMs, and Cloudera,” said Babajide. “Through this collaboration,

Florissi

Intel has designed a solution stack to maximise productivity, limit energy consumption and reduce total cost of ownership to optimize resource utilisation.” According to him, big data server platforms benefit from dramatic improvements in mainstream compute and storage resources complemented by 10-gigabit Ethernet solutions. “Intel’s 10-gigabit Ethernet solutions provide high throughput connections. Intel Solid Sate Drives are high performance high throughput hard drives for raw storage.” An expert at Dell, Joanna Schloss said African business and other public organisations should make it a priority in harnessing big data in order to leverage the growth potential inherent in making good decision through big data analytics. According to Schloss, there are five steps businesses can take to shield themselves from the pressure that big data creates. These five steps, according to Schloss, are conversion of data into information, embracing data agnostically, control, augmentation and governance deployment. “The value comes from your ability to convert data into information that can be used to drive informed business decisions. But most organisations are so overwhelmed by their volume of data that they don’t know where to begin the process of converting it into information.” Also, another industry expert, Darin Bartik, said: “We now operate in a world where the proliferation of multiple data types in multiple locations is the norm. Despite this new reality, too many organisations still try to confine data into a single platform, source or location, and many still make blanket decisions about which data is or isn’t useful based on nothing more than its perceived value.”

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Global Head, Financial Services at SAP, Simon Paris, has said big data was currently being used to build a customer-centric model for banking drawing on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as analysing customers’ spending patterns. “A United Kingdom bank, for example, analyses its customers’ utility bills, looking at what a customer pays, how much they consume and how many people live in the household. It also compares that to everyone else living in the same area. Based on this, the bank may then offer to switch the customer to another utility provider at a cheaper rate,” said Paris. “So you see this trend of leveraging big data to get much more personal financial management,” he said. The big data opportunity for Nigeria also came into sharp focus when EMC’s Vice President and Global Chief Technology Officer, Patricia Florissi, at the company’s’ first annual Forum held in Lagos in 2013, pointed out that, “it is real-time Big Data analytics that will fundamentally transform businesses across Nigeria by identifying new revenue opportunities through key competitive insights and timely decisionmaking and improved customer experience.” Nigerian telecom operators have joined the Big Data bandwagon, deploying next generation data mining technologies that will help them predict consumer behaviour, choices, buying habits and trends of their subscribers who use their networks to connect to the Internet. The big data market is already valued at more than $200 billion. Big data will play a role in simplifying and improving the most common to complex tasks while giving back time and money. It will facilitate better search, discovery, monitoring and control of most households needs, from repairs to energy usage and in daily lives there will be less aggravation from traffic and queues of all kinds, including at call centres, transport hubs and retail centres. In healthcare, medical treatments will be personalised, allowing for rapid identification and control of infectious disease outbreaks. With Nigeria’s large population and it’s over 65 million Internet users, the opportunities to provide targeted marketing is very huge and financially rewarding for telecom operators and corporate organisations. According to experts, as data volume expands threefold, telecom operators should mine the huge information available among consumers to reduce cost of doing business and increase revenue. BC

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Microsoft opens up office apps for Android tablets Stories by Adejuwon Osunnuyi

icrosoft has started offering a preview of its Office apps for Android tablet users, as no invite is required. The apps include preview versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint designed specifically for Android tablets. Microsoft’s Office 365 team spelled out the requirements to install and run the apps, notably an ARM-based Android tablet with KitKat or Lollipop and a screen size anywhere between 7 inches and 10.1 inches. Microsoft has made a concerted effort lately to expand the scope of its Office apps to Android and iOS users to gain more market share for its popular suite. That’s a decided contrast from the past when the company focused more on the Windows and Windows Phone versions of Office, and support for iOS and Android was an afterthought. Microsoft introduced an Office Mobile app for Android in 2013, but only for smartphones and only for Office 365 subscribers. Also unveiled in 2013, the iOS version required an Office 365 subscription as well. In November, Microsoft opened the doors so that you could create and perform basic editing tasks on the new separate apps for Word, Excel and PowerPoint for free. And in a savvy “freemium” approach, the company still required an Office 365 subscription for you to perform more advanced editing chores. At the same time, the software giant launched a preview of its new Office for Android tablets. But the preview required you to sign up to receive a special invitation to try it out. Now Android tablet users can simply download the previews of Word, Excel and PowerPoint from Google Play. As expected, the apps are freemium versions, meaning you can create documents and perform basic editing. But you’ll need

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Monday, January 12, 2015

that Office 365 subscription to do more. The versions available are still previews, meaning unfinished products that Microsoft wants Android users to check out and offer their feedback. In its blog, the Office 365 team said that “we want more feedback from more users to ensure that Office apps work well on a range of different Android tablets before launching the official apps.” You can share your feedback in the Google+ community for the Microsoft Office for Android Tablets Preview.

Onajide

MTN urges Nigerians to maximize internet usage

n a bold move to demonstrate how every Nigerian could use the power of the internet to do extraordinary things that could change their lives for the better life in 2015.To make this a reality, Nigeria’s leading Information and Communications Technology,ICT, company, MTN, has launched its BetterMe campaign with the unveiling of the My2015BetterMe app and three 2015 BetterMe Bundle offerings for customers across all strata. Speaking at the colourful launch ceremony, General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Ms. Funmi Onajide highlighted the current trend in the telecoms industry as evidenced in the movement from predominantly voice services to data and digital services. “In the past, the focus was on voice – that is the ability to connect people so that they could make phone calls. This industry has achieved that with well over 100 million active subscribers in Nigeria of which MTN has 60 million subscribers as at the end of 2014; that dispensation was known as Telco 1.5. Now we are moving to Telco 2.0 which is characterized by full scale

focus on data and digital services leveraging the power of the internet,” said Onajide. She added that the Better Me campaign would build on the innovative drive among the youth and expose Nigerians from all walks of life to how they can see the positive value in the internet while using it to create experiences that are relevant to their peculiar circumstances and enjoying the way various digital and data products and services make their lives better. In a similar vein, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Marketing Officer, Bayo Adekanmbi said that the new campaign demonstrates MTN’s commitment to enabling Nigerians become better in all spheres of endeavour. He added that the app will introduce Nigerians to internet content that they may not be aware of including local content websites like pidgin-based websites; local language news, sports and home grown productivity tools. “The My2015BetterMe app aims to enhance peoples’ lives with the power of the internet. It provides easy access to a variety of digital content and offers subscribers a single platform to access, view and share New Year resolutions & must-do, 2015 prophesies & events, news, daily deals, gossips, fashion, healthy living and lifestyle tips. It is our desire that the app revolutionizes the industry in the same way that MTN Callertunez service revolutionised the music industry by reducing piracy and ensuring that artistes get adequate remuneration for their talent,” said Adekanmbi. MTN’s CMO expressed optimism that the app would allow bloggers and internet users get more value for their time, talent and energy spent using the internet for life enriching purposes such as shopping, education, entertainment, fashion, skill acquisition/learning a new language, spiritual and motivational content as well as tracking new year resolutions. Explaining how to get the app, Adekanmbi said customers can download the app free by sending the keyword, 2015 to 131 via SMS. An SMS containing the link for download is then sent, which the customer clicks to download the app and takes the customer to the homepage where an area of interest is selected.

CEO, NEO2 Ltd, an indigenous company that is partnering with MTN to launch the app, Fola Akinmolayan said that providing Nigerians with limitless access to the internet and the power to do more in 2015, MTN’s value propositions will help them every step of the way to become better farmers, doctors, teachers, traders, students etc. He added that mouthwatering bundle packages with various offerings such as free data, voice and sms offerings have been included in the app to make it more appealing for subscribers. These bundles are: BetterMe Daily Bundle which consists of 20 National mins + 15MB + 35 National SMS costing N250 only; BetterMe Monthly Bundle which consists of 100 National mins + 100 National SMS + 300MB costing N2,015 only and BetterMe Monthly Data Bundle which consists of 2015MB and costs N2,015 only. “Today is the day you leave old ways behind for newer, smarter and faster ways. With the power of the internet to enhance your lifestyle, MTN is committed to bringing the best out of you. According to Adekanmbi, to enjoy the offer, customers are to simply dial *123*4*# to get started.

Adebayo

ISPAN, ALTON expect boom for ISP business

he Information and Communications Technology, ICT stakeholders have foreseen a brighter future for the business of selling bandwidth by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) this year as more providers are set to begin operation. The immediate past president, Internet Service Providers Association of Nigeria (ISPAN), Engr. Sam Adeleke, speaking on this development said small internet

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service providers that will be involved in the reselling of bandwidth from major 4G operators have also been licensed by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and they are to start business this year. Adeleke, who is also chief executive officer Steineng Ltd, noted,“There is a boom in the data business in the country which is another reason why ISP business is looking up. Today, GSM operators are focusing more on the data service which has compromised on the voice service thereby led to poor voice quality on their network. Their compressor ratio on the voice platform is low,” he said. He said that there is need for ISPs to expand their scope in view of competition with Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) providers that also provide internet services. Adeleke also frowned at the policy of encouraging internet penetration through government subsidy describing it as counterproductive. In the same development, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said that granting multiple operational licenses to operators to provide metro and national fibre infrastructure does not guarantee investment in that regard, but implementation of well-articulated policies that will encourage operators to invest their money. He said Government must go beyond granting of licenses to eliminating those barriers such as bottlenecks in securing ‘right of way’, impediments to smooth network operations- where operators are forced to pay levies that are not legalized, and vandalisation. Adebayo, explained that broadband services are anchored on availability of bandwidth, and that with excess capacity of it at our shore, investment need to be encouraged to distribute this capacity to various geographical areas of the country for broadband revolution to be experienced as is the case with voice service. He added that unless these barriers are addressed it may be difficult for operators to invest in infrastructure that will enable provision of broadband. BC

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Behind d Wheels This page is open to sponsorship

Autocare Check and adding Checking fluids to vital vehicle com components (1) Engine Oil ngine oil cools, cleans, lubricates, and seals the internal engine components. Clean engine oil is gold in color, while dirty engine oil is black in color. The most common weight of engine oil is 5W30, but always refer to the your vehicle’s recommendations. To get an accurate reading it is best to check the engine oil when the engine is cold. Most automotive engines have an oil capacity between four and five quarts. Vehicle manufacturers suggest adding oil when the engine is low one quart. To check the engine oil, shut off the engine, open the hood, and look for the engine oil dipstick. The engine oil dipstick runs through a metal tube that is usually located on the side of the engine on rear-wheel drive vehicles or on the front of the engine on front-wheel drive vehicles. Refer to your owner’s manual if you have questions on the location of the engine oil dipstick. Note: When checking any fluid, it is important to park on a level surface. Pull out the dipstick, wipe it off with a shop rag, reinsert it completely into the tube, remove again, and note the reading. The engine oil should be in the safe range. To add engine oil, locate the oil filler cap on the valve cover of the engine. Use a clean funnel to add the correct amount of engine oil. Give the engine oil time to flow to the oil pan. Recheck the level and correct if necessary. Do not overfill.

his is a luxury sports car that reaches new heights in terms of elegance, has an elegant shape, quality, performance and this car is also very environmentally friendly. Subaru is one of the most popular car brands in the world. One of the greatest autos the coming year will be 2016 Subaru Tribeca, at least in its course. Family motor vehicle, capable of accommodating 7 travellers and is exceedingly handle-able for the weight and size. On the other hand, comfort and space in the cabin is sufficient. The Subaru Tribeca was one of those vehicles that never really caught on, even among the Subaru enthusiasts. It was launched as a 2006 model and its design immediately faced a lot of criticism. Over the years, the Tribeca struggled with slow sales and it was finally discontinued in late 2013. That left Subaru with the Forester as the currently largest model in its lineup, while the demand for a mid-size three-row crossover has been increasing rapidly. According to some reports, the Japanese automaker is actively working on a potential replacement for the discontinued Tribeca, and an all-new model might hit the market as a 2016 Subaru Tribeca.

Design The exterior styling g was one of the biggest issues when n it comes to the original Tribeca. The company was even forced to undertake ertake a major facelift only two years ars after the model had been launched. ched. The design was often criticized ticized for being too generic with hhardly any distinguishel ing features. The model d simply couldn’t stand ts out, even among its s, Subaru siblings. Thus, 6 the success of the 2016 eSubaru Tribeca will depend largely on the automaker’s ability to

create a new visual identity for its three-row SUV. At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, Subaru unveiled its Viziv 2 concept which previews the possible new look of the 2016 Subaru Tribeca. It remains to be seen to what extent the new crossover’s styling will be influenced by this concept. Some sources even speculate about the new Tribeca being offered with the plug-in hybrid technology based on the Viziv 2 concept. New design 2016 Tribeca SUV model will be inspired concept models of the company. Certainly, on design the vehicle will have the greatest impact Subaru Viziv 2 Concept and Subaru crossover 7 Concept. In addition, the company announced the appearance of the vehicle similar to the Mazda CX-9 model. 2016 Subaru Tribeca, will go beyond the dimensions of the current Tribeca models. New dimensions of the vehicle will offer more comfort in the cab and the passenger compartment. The new Tribeca model, will be larger versions of Outback, it is designed to be a sports crossover SUV model, with visible impact Subaru Viziv Concept 2 model. Powertrain Within the hood from the 2015 Subaru Tribeca will be 3.6-l H6 powertrain competent to generate 256 6 hewlett pack-

ard. This engine is going to be mated to 5-velocity vehicle gearbox and definately will deliver power to all wheels. Some of the techniques mounted to perform greater drive are going to be 4-wheel Ab muscles and driveline traction handle. Because new Subaru Tribeca is really a loved SUV, security methods are enhanced, which includes 2nd and 1st row side and airbags seat mounted safety bags. Motor vehicle was graded among the most dependable SUV autos from IIFS or maybe the Insurance coverage Organizations for the Road Security. Engine What will move this huge SUV is three.6-l H6 drivetrain. With this engine brand-new Tribeca are going to be capable to supply 256 horse powers through 5-speed transmission system. Diving system can send out power to any or all wheels of 2016 Tribeca. For higher performance and accrued safety, company has ready several safety systems, like 4-wheel ABS, driveline traction management, 2d and first row airbags and aspect seat mounted airbags that was ok for Insurance Institutes for the main road Safety that hierarchal safety of the 2016 Tribeca united of the foremost safest crossovers. BC

Transmission Fluid Both automatic and manual transmissions have fluid to cool, clean, lubricate, and seal internal components. Clean automatic transmission fluid is pinkish-red. The most common type of transmission fluid is Dexron/Mercon®, but always refer to the manufacturer’s recommendations. It is usually recommended to check the fluid level in an automatic transmission while it is hot. Drive the vehicle about ten minutes to warm up the transmission. To receive accurate results, most manufacturers recommend that the engine be running and that the gear selector be in park. Apply the parking brake. Locate the automatic transmission oil dipstick. With the engine idling, pull out the dipstick, wipe it off with a shop rag, reinsert it completely into the tube, remove again, and note the reading. The automatic transmission fluid should be between the full cold and the full hot marks. If low, use a clean funnel to add the necessary fluid by pouring the fluid directly into the tube. Do not overfill. It usually takes only one pint (½ quart) of fluid to bring the fluid level from the full cold to the full hot mark. Recheck the level and add more if necessary. On manual transmissions there is usually a plug on the side of the transmission. To check the fluid level, you must turn the engine off, apply the parking brake, and remove the plug with a wrench. The fluid should be at or near the bottom of the filler plug. Some manual transmissions take ATF (automatic transmission fluid), while others take heavyweight (SAE 80W90) gear oil. Check the owner’s manual for specifications. Fill as necessary. Sometimes you need a special adapter that fits on quart bottles to transfer the fluid. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

A19 35

Oil & Gas sector performance in 2014 By Dennis Okonne (dennis.okonne@yahoo.com)

lthough the Stock market has been bearish for some time now, investors and analysts believed there is nothing to worry about as the market capitalization has lowered significantly to N11.402tn from an initial N13.194tn. The market has thus, recorded a tremendous loss this year, although at middle of the year it posted an improvement. Recently, the oil and gas subsector of the bourse appears to be happier and more lucrative than other sectors given their performance and what accrued to their shareholders in terms of return on investment especially dividend appropriated. Although, a combination of dividend and higher profits has made the stock of these oil companies attractive to investors, the best parameter to analyse the performance of the Oil stocks is to look at their return on investment, ROI . The ROI will consider the dividend payout to shareholders and the capital gains (Capital appreciation) at the period under review. The Oil and Gas industry is a pillar of the Nigerian economy and a major factor in the world standing. A member of OPEC, Nigeria is responsible for approx. 6 percent of the organization’s annual oil production. Diezenie Allison Madueke, the Honourable Minister of Petroleum is the present president of OPEC.

Financial Performance of Oil & Gas stocks in the year: Analysis of the various Oil & Gas stocks quoted on the Stock Exchange revealed outstanding performance and mouth watering returns to their shareholders in 2013 to date. The dominant players on the Oil sector are Conoil, Eterna Oil, Forte Oil, Mobil, MRS, Oando, Seplat and Total. Analysts believe that the oil and gas sector being the major contributor to the revenue of the nation should reflect on its performance on the stock exchange. It is also not out of place to believe that the sector is further opening up and accommodating higher participation of indigenous players which has deepened the sector. Their 2013 audited results and dividend appropriated are tabulated below: Company CONOIL ETERNA OIL FORTE OIL MOBIL OIL MRS OIL OANDO OIL SEPLAT TOTAL OIL

Period Audited 13 Audited 13 Audited 13 Audited 13 Audited 13 Audited 13 Audited 13 Audited 13

Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc

Above illustration showed the audited Turnover and profit after tax for the year ending 2013. However, Oando Plc led in turnover while Total Nigeria Plc led in profit after tax for 2013 audited result. Capital Loss (Capital depreciation) or Capital gains (Capital appreciation) should not be confused with dividends. Capital depreciation assumes a decrease in a stock’s value. It is the amount by which the asset’s selling price goes below its Oil Sector Price movement (9th Jan, 2015) OIL COMPANY Conoil Plc Eterna Oil Plc Forte Oil Plc Mobil Plc MRS Plc Oando Plc Seplat Total Plc

Turnover (N) 159.537 B 98.296 B 128.027 B 78.744 B 87.786 B 449.873 B N/A 238.163 B

N= Naira; K= Kobo; B= Billion; M= Million

P.A.T (N) 3.070 B 1.069 B 5.004 B 3.480 B 634.418 M 1.396 B N/A 5.334 B

Price on 9/01/15(N) 38.11 2.85 230.00 157.06 53.20 15.05 300.00 144.75 Dividend (N) 1.00 Nil 4.00 6.00 0.75 K 1.00 N/A 11.00

Femi Otedola, Group Chairman, Forte Oil Plc

initial purchase price or price at the beginning of the year while Capital gains’ assume an increase in a stock’s value. It is the amount by which an asset’s selling price exceeds its initial purchase price or its price at the beginning of the year. A realised capital loss is an investment that has been sold at a loss while a realised capital gain is an investment that has been sold at a profit. An unrealized capital loss or gain is an investment that has not been sold yet but would result in a loss or profit if sold. From the above table, it could be inferred that only the stock of MRS Plc posted marginal capital gain of +3.70 percent in one year. Others posted capital depreciation of varying degrees ranging from Seplat Plc with the highest loss of -53.65

percent; followed by Conoil with a loss of -31.84 percent and Eterna Oil with -24.81 percent. Oando Plc dipped by -24.07 percent while Mobil Plc dropped by -13.60 percent. Total Plc and Forte Oil slumped by -12.78 percent and -5.31 percent respectively. Review of the Oil & gas sector: The nation’s current potential output of over 2 million barrels of oil and condensate per day places Nigeria among the world’s top ten producers. Nigeria’s crude oil, produced in seven grades, is prized for its quality. Recoverable reserves, which represent approximately 40 years of production at present potential production rates, are among the world’s largest. And the country’s natural gas potential is more striking still, with estimated reserves of over 180 Tcf of associated and non associated gas. As of year 2000, Oil & gas exports accounted for more than 98 percent of export earnings and about 83 percent of Federal government revenue, as well as generating more than 14 percent of its GDP. It also provides about 95 percent of foreign exchange earnings and about 65 percent of government budgetary revenues. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer and has been a member of the Organization of

Oil Sector Price movement (1st Jan. 2014 to 24th Dec; 2014) OIL COMPANY Conoil Plc Eterna Oil Plc Forte Oil Plc Mobil Plc MRS Plc Oando Plc Seplat Total Plc

Price on 1/01/14(N) 65.20 3.99 226.00 175.00 54.00 26.30 695.00 180.00

Price on 24/12/14(N) 44.44 3.00 214.00 151.20 56.00 19.97 322.11 157.00

% Change -31.84 -24.81 -5.31 -13.60 +3.70 -24.07 -53.65 -12.78

Petroleum Exporting Countries since 1971. According to the International Monetary Fund, IMF, the Nigerian economy is heavily dependent on the oil sector, which accounts for over 95 percent of export earnings and about 40 percent of government revenues. According to the International Energy Agency, IEA, Nigeria produced about 2.53 million barrels per day, well below its oil production capacity of over 3 million barrels per day, in 2011. Nigeria is an important oil supplier to the United States. For the last nine years, the United States has imported between 9-11 percent of its crude oil from Nigeria; however, United States import data for the first half of 2013 show that Nigerian crude is down to a 5 percent share of total United States crude imports. However, the United States, have discovered the Shale oil regarded as lighter and better than the Nigeria oil and has come a major oil exporter competing in the world oil market with the OPEC members and non OPEC member like Russia. The emergence of the United State in the export market coupled with the reduction of oil import by China, have caused the glut in the international oil market which consequently is causing the volatility in the oil market. Although, the glut could also be attributed to the activities of the militants Libya as well as the war in Iraq and Syria. The falling price of oil has greatly affected investors around the world. Oil price slumped again as at Thursday to $46.69. Some stakeholders believe the price could go as low as $20 before the end of 2015 while others believe the oil price would rebound from 2016. BC

A20 36

Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Stock Market report Stocks maintain losing streak as ASI slide by -13.03% in the week, Nigerian Breweries led gainers By Dennis Okonne (dennis.okonne@yahoo.com)

rading activities on the Nigerian bourse was on for 5 days unlike last week’s 3 days. The market exhibited sell pressure which outweighs bargain trading throughout the week. The market opened on a negative note as the bears dominated market. The downtrend was sustained throughout the week’s trading sessions as the stock market maintain losing streak in five days. The massive selloff was so prominent that the overall market index turned negative with a loss of -13.03 percent in the week. The All Share Index depreciated from 34,657.15 basis points at the beginning of the week to close at 30,143.02 basis points recording a loss of 4,514.13 basis points, translating to a loss of -13.03 percent in the process. Similarly, the market capitalization of equities equally lowered to N9.979tn from N11.477tn last week. The depreciation of the Index was as a result of losses recorded in stocks of Nestle Nigeria Plc, Dangote Cement, Total Nigeria Plc, Mobil Oil and Julius Berger Plc. Number of Deals stood at 4,545 and the volume of transactions was 451.969 million units, valued at N2, 734,894,931bn. There were 25 gainers and 24 laggards on Friday on the Stock Exchange. Top of the gainers’ on Friday are Nigerian Breweries Plc which appreciated by N6.30 kobo to close at N147.00. This was followed by Seven-Up Plc which went up by N2.57 k to close at N160.00 kobo; Guinness Nigeria Plc rose by N1.69 kobo to close at N130.21; Zenith Bank Plc grew by N1.43 kobo to close at N16.43 kobo while Nascon Salt Plc crept up by N0.45 to close at N6.40 kobo. The laggards are led at the close of trading on Friday by Nestle Plc which slumped by N43.53 k to close at N855.00. This was followed by Dangote Cement Plc which dipped by N8.35 k to close at N158.65; Total Nigeria Plc went down by N7.38 kobo to close at N144.75 kobo; Mobil Oil Plc shed N2.94

kobo to close at N157.06 kobo while Julius Berger Plc depreciated by N2.73 kobo to close at N52.02 kobo. High volume transactions on Friday were in Stocks of FCMB Plc which traded 228.408 Million shares. Access Bank Plc followed with 33.968 million shares changing hands. On FBN Holdings Plc, 33.371 million shares were traded; Zenith Bank Plc traded 32.380 million shares while Skye Bank Plc traded 19.196 million shares on Friday. (Corporate Results): 1. Oando Plc: in its third quarter result, its revenue dropped by -12.46 percent to N338.105bn compared to N386.251bn same period in 2013. However, its profit before tax increased by +4.26 percent to N10.177bn compared to N9.761bn previously and Profit after tax leapt by +75.67 percent to N10.700bn compared to N6.091bn recorded in 2013. 2. Sterling Bank Plc: recorded an impressive third quarter financial profile where it’s Gross Earnings grew by +12.1 percent from N65.120bn in the preceding year to N73.005bn. Similarly, its profit after tax leapt by +39.2 percent from N5.074bn previously to N7.063bn. Its Net Assets rose by +21.3 percent from N644.339bn to N781.677bn. 3. Okomu Oil Plc: In its third quarter result, its revenue rose by +1.65 percent from N6.787bn in the preceding year to N6.899bn. Similarly, its profit before tax also leapt from N1.612bn previously to N2.077bn, translating to an increase of +28.85 percent. 4. Dangote Cement Plc: in its third quarter result, its turnover grew by 7.3 percent from N288.984bn in the preceding year to N310.214bn. However, its profit after tax dipped significantly by -10.0 percent from N156.128bn previously to N140.476bn. 5. Total Nigeria Plc: In its third quarter result, its turnover grew from N174.331bn in the preceding year to N177.807bn, translating to an increase +1.99 percent. However, its profit before tax dipped from N5.147bn to N4.204bn, translating to a decrease of -18.32 percent. Similarly, its profit after tax

Stock market in session

nose-dived from N3.260bn previously to N2.648bn, a decrease of -18.77 percent. Consequently, an interim dividend N2.00 per share was appropriated and closure of register is 5th December, 2014. 6. Ashaka Cement Plc: in its third quarter 2014 financial profile, it posted an impressive result as its revenue grew by +2.66 percent from N16.838bn in the preceding year to N17.286bn. Its profit before tax rose from N2.169bn in the preceding year to N5.686bn, translating to an increase of +162.15 percent. Similarly, its profit after tax also leapt by +187.55 percent from N1.518bn previously to N4.365bn. 7. Flour Mills Plc: In its half year result, its revenue dipped marginally -1.45 percent from N167.983bn in the preceding year to N165.540bn. Similarly, its profit after tax also slumped significantly from N5.831bn previously to N4.368bn, translating to a decrease of -25.09 percent.

N58.735bn in the preceding year to N60.717bn. Similarly, its profit after tax also leapt from N2.549bn previously to N5.995bn, translating to an increase of +135 percent. 10. ETI Plc: In its third quarter result, its revenue rose by +16 percent from N231.890bn in the preceding year to N268.951bn. Similarly, its profit after tax also leapt from N39.968bn previously to N52.491bn, translating to an increase of +31 percent. 11. 7UP Nigeria Plc: In its half year result, its revenue grew by +12.76 percent from N33.825bn in the preceding year to N38.142bn. Similarly, its profit after tax also leapt from N2.155bn previously to N2.480bn, translating to an increase of +15.08 percent.

8. Conoil Plc: In its third quarter result, its revenue dropped by -14.43 percent from N121.803bn in the preceding year to N104.223bn. Similarly, its profit after tax slumped from N2.088bn previously to N1.427bn, translating to a decrease of -31.66 percent.

12. Nigerian Breweries Plc: in its third quarter result, its turnover grew by 2.3 percent from N190.303bn in the preceding year to N194.739bn. Profit before tax also rose by 10.5 percent from N38.530bn previously to N42.583bn. In the same vein, its profit after tax leapt from N26.801bn to N29.826bn, translating to an increase of 11.3 percent. an interim dividend of N1.25 kobo per share was appropriated. Closure of register is 13th November, 2014 while payment date is 20th November, 2014.

9. Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc: In its third quarter result, its revenue grew by +3 percent from

13. UBA Plc: In its third quarter result, its gross earnings grew by +12.0 percent

from N188.021bn in the preceding year to N210.715bn. However, its profit after tax slumped significantly from N37.371bn previously to N33.628bn, translating to a decrease of -10.02 percent. 14. CAP Plc: in its third quarter result, its turnover rose by +14.6 percent from N4.412bn in the preceding year to N5.054 billion. Similarly, its profit after tax also leapt from N946.176m previously to N1.126bn, an increase of 19 percent. 15. PZ Plc: In its first quarter result, its gross earnings dropped marginally by -0.3 percent from N15.066bn in the preceding year to N15.019bn. Similarly, its profit after tax also slumped significantly from N920.790m previously to N641.698m, translating to a decrease of -30.3 percent. 16. Forte Oil Plc: in its third quarter result, its turnover rose by +33.1 percent from N92.125bn in the preceding year to N122.580bn. Similarly, its profit after tax also leapt from N2.737bn previously to N4.015bn, translating to an increase of 46.70 percent. 17. Access Bank Plc: In its third quarter result, its gross earnings grew by 17.3 percent from N155.026bn in the preceding year to N181.798bn. Similarly, its profit after tax also leapt from N27.597bn previously to N35.346bn, translating to an increase of +28.1 percent. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

A21 37

Naira appreciates against Dollar at official, parallel markets

he Naira on Friday appreciated against the Dollar at both the official and parallel markets, a survey conducted in Lagos, has revealed. But the Naira may not be able to maintain this strength as the oil prices continue to pummel. However, the Naira at both segments gained three naira to trade at between N187 and N188, respectively from the N190 and N191 it traded on Jan. 5. The Naira also appreciated against the Pound Sterling at the Bureau De Change ,BDC, trading at N290 from the N292 it traded on Monday, Jan. 5. At the parallel market, otherwise known as black market, it exchanged for N292 from N295 it sold at the beginning of the week. It, therefore, gained two and three naira, respectively at both segments of the market. The Naira remained firm against the Pound Sterling at the official CBN rate to trade at N260.36k since Dec. 29. Also, the Naira at the BDCs traded for N227 against the Euro from the N229 it sold on Jan. 5. It went for N233 to one Euro at the parallel market as against the N235 it traded on Monday. Jan 5. A dealer, Mr Harrison Owoh, Managing Director, HJ Trust Investment Ltd., Lagos, said

Emefiele

that the Naira appreciated because the market had not been stable after the public holidays. Owoh said that a lot of the dealers and buyers had not returned from the holidays, thereby making sales to be ‘dull’ because of less demand for foreign currencies. The CBN in November announced a new exchange rate of N168 to one US Dollar from the old rate of N155. The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, said that the measure was to strengthen the economy, following continued slid of oil prices at the international market. Naira is expected to lose more ground next week, hit by the slide in crude prices and a decline in Dollar sales by oil companies operating there.

Wider risk aversion to emerging markets in general is seen keeping other currencies on the back foot as well. The Naira is likely to trade lower next week, around the 183 level that it fell to on Friday, as sentiment in Africa’s top crude producer is soured by the sharp decline in oil prices. The Naira has been trading around the 178 - 182 range against the Dollar in volatile trade the past week, with Dollar sales from oil companies its only life line, as U.S. crude plumbed a 5-1/2-year low of $46.83 on Wednesday. Now that those sales have dried up, it could test the lower end of that range, dealers say. It is trading well outside the central bank’s 160-176 target range since a November devaluation. “This week there were a lot of oil company sales which put a large chunk of Dollars through the market. Next week we are not expecting that,” said a dealer. “The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, may intervene, but I’m not sure how successful that will be.” Much will depend on volume. If the CBN only sells a couple of million Dollars here and there, dealers say, it will give little support. If it uses substantial reserves, the naira could find support above 180 they say. BC

Expect more water supply in 2015, LASG assures residents

he Lagos State Water Corporation on Friday told residents of the state to expect more water supply in 2015. The corporation’s Managing Director, Shoya Holloway, told journalists that the supply would come from the ongoing phased expansion on the 13 micro waterworks across the state. Holloway said that work on the Phase II project of the Adiyan Water Works had started and would produce 70 million gallons per day. ``We want to improve service delivery this year and we are delighted to say that we have connected the Oworonsoki community of one million people to the Adiyan Phase II line,” he said. According to Holloway, when the Adiyan Phase II is completed, the corporation will connect residents in the Badagry corridor and the Odo-Mallam water

scheme in Epe. He said the corporation currently supplies water to 20 million residents across the state with over 210 million gallons per day. “This is not enough because the corporation requires about 540 million gallons per day to effectively service the people. “This is why the state government has begun massive expansion of water infrastructure to meet the demand,” Holloway said. Holloway stressed that the corporation had partnered with the private sector to achieve the projects it had embarked upon because the project was capital intensive. Commenting on the metering of all residents connected to the public water supply, Holloway said that metering was a process that would take some time. He reiterated that metering would help the corporation

recover its costs and generate revenue. Holloway, however, added that the corporation had installed water prepaid meters in Ikeja and Lekki parts of Lagos. ``We have about 4,000 meters already installed in these parts,`` he said. The managing director said that the corporation was working towards increasing its water supply to 745 million gallons per day by 2020. According to him, about 2.9 million properties would have been connected by that year. He said that the project, which would cost $3.5bn (about N58bn) would see Lagos State as the third largest mega city in the world. ``That is why we are campaigning for zero tolerance to water line vandals but we cannot arrest them because everybody has right to water but we disconnect them,” he concluded. BC

Market Indicators for Week Ended 09-01-15 All-Share Index 37,550.24POINTS Market Capitalization N 12,436,971,298,260.61 Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING PRICE

CLOSING PRICE

CHANGE

Nigerian Breweries Plc

140.70

147.00

+6.30

Seven-Up Bottling Co. Plc

157.43

160.00

+2.57

Guinness Nigeria Plc

128.52

130.21

1.69

Zenith Bank Plc

15.00

16.43

1.43

Nascon Salt Plc

5.95

6.40

0.45

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING PRICE

CLOSING PRICE

CHANGE

Nestle Nigeria Plc

898.53

855.00

-43.53

Dangote Cement Plc

167.00

158.65

-8.35

Total Nigeria Plc

152.13

144.75

-7.38

Mobil Nigeria Plc

160.00

157.06

-2.94

Julius Berger Plc

54.75

52.02

-2.73

Inter-Bank Rates TENOR

RATE%(PREV) 08-Jan-2015

RATE%(CURR) 09-Jan-2015

CALL

10.5000 - 10.5000%

OBB

10.5000 - 12.0000%

10.2500 - 10.5000%

Primary Market Auction TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

RATE (%) 9.95

DATE

91-Day

21538.34

31-DEC-14

182-Day

33783.25

10.1

8-JAN-15

364-Day

59081.14

10.35

8-JAN-15

Open Market Operation TENOR

AMOUNT (N’mn)

167Day

40000

RATE (%)

31-DEC-14

DATE

169Day

50000

9-JAN-15

170Day

70000

9-JAN-15

Wholesale Dutch Auction System AMOUNT OFFERED

MARKET DEMAND

AMOUNT SOLD

DATE

$500m

US$ 804,102,803.13m

US$ 499,939,154.55m

31-DEC-14

$350m

US$ 349,977,055.35m

28-DEC-14

A22 38

Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

UBA: Exploiting opportunities in Africa continent gic imperatives arising from ‘Project Alpha, which drove the growth of the bank in short to medium term, which included aggressive deposit mobilization, account acquisition and dormant account reactivation. Others are effective leverage on balance sheet to participate in emerging growth sectors, including agric, power and infrastructure; driving value chain banking, consolidating African business for market share growth and increasing focus on African trade.

By Johnson Okanlawon

he United Bank for Africa, UBA, business activities across its operations in Africa increased the group balance sheet in the last three quarters. The bank is offering banking services to more than seven million customers across over 700 business offices in 19 African countries. Q3 performance The bank financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014, showed a 12 per cent growth in gross earnings over the same period of 2013, while gross earnings rose from N188bn in 2013 third quarter to N210bn for the nine month period ended September 30, 2014. The bank’s gross earnings received a boost from interest income, which rose 12.5 per cent to N149bn in the same period. Its operating income stood at N138bn for the ninemonth period, representing a 6.6 per cent increase over the corresponding period of last year. This shows the strong underlying operating efficiency of UBA business globally, and the capacity of the business to remain profitable. The bank made a profit before tax of N42.5bn and a profit after tax of N33.6bn for the period.

Q2 performance The bank declared a gross earnings of 138bn for the six months ended June 31, 2014, an increase of 8.66 per cent when compared to the N127bn it declared as gross earnings for the corresponding period of 2013. The growth recorded in gross earnings was partly due to an 11 per cent increase in interest income. Its interest income rose to N98.5bn in the six-month period from the N88.6bn it posted for the same period of 2013, while its net interest income, non-interest income and operating income appreciated. Specifically, the net interest income was up 3.4 per cent to N55.2bn, non-interest income rose 3.1 per cent to N39.8bn, while operating income rose by 2.7 per cent to N92.2bn. Profit before tax for the period, however, fell by 13 per cent to N28.9bn, from the N33.25bn it reported in the

Oduoza

corresponding period, while its profit after tax dropped to N22.9bn from N28.4bn. Q1 performance The bank posted an increase of 36.4 per cent in profit after tax to N12.59bn in the first quarter of 2014, from N9.23bn as of the fourth quarter of 2013. In line with its pace of expanding credit support to the emerging sectors in Nigeria and Africa, its loans and advances hit a record high of N1.067tn in the first quarter of 2014. The bank’s unaudited results for the first quarter of 2014 showed that its gross earnings rose 8.2 per cent to N68bn in the period, from N63bn in the same period of

2013, while operating income stood at N45.5bn in the review period, a two per cent increase on the N44.6bn it posted in the first quarter of 2013. However, the bank investments in various African countries have started yielding results considering returns that majority of its subsidiaries posted in the financial year ended December 31, 2013. These investments started way back in 2005, with Standard Bank, which was one of the merging entities. After that, the bank focuses on regional growth with a strong capital. Profitability Driven by impressive growth in all income lines,

the bank recorded gross earnings of N264bn for the 2013 financial year, an increase of 20 per cent when compared to N220bn recorded in 2012. Net interest margin improved from 5.8 per cent to 5.9 per cent, while cost-to-income ratio recorded a decline from 64.8 per cent to 60.9 per cent in 2013. Profit before tax increased to N56.1bn in 2013, from N52.0bn in 2012, an increase of eight per cent, while return on equity stood at 21.8 per cent and the bank declared a dividend of 50 kobo per share. In 2012, 14 of the 18 branches of the bank in Africa made profit. In 2013, 11 countries made profit. The decline in their profit was attributed to the roll out to various countries, as 18 countries where the bank operates outside Nigeria are mostly green fields. UBA Africa contributed 20 per cent to the group profit in 2011; 18 per cent in 2012 and 22 per cent in 2013. Liquidity The bank total assets for the year under review stood at N2.64trn, an increase of 19.6 per cent from N2.21trn recorded in the corresponding period of 2012, while total liabilities increase to N2.41trn from N2.03trn in 2012. Total liabilities and equity rose to N2.64bn from N2.27bn in 2012. Business Strategy The bank set out 2013 with implementation of the strate-

Outlook The bank synergizes its operations using opportunity cost in each of the countries. “When we get to the countries where we get license to operate, we key into their key economic drivers. When you do that some aspects will suffer, which really affects Nigeria. Now we believe that it is time to reap our investments in others countries for Nigeria to benefit. We want a situation whereby UBA Africa will contribute 50 per cent to earning and UBA, Nigeria will do same. Therefore, there are lots of opportunities in Africa, Agriculture, and the arable farm land. We feel we should benefit from both sides. “Nigeria is the largest and other economies are growing rapidly too. All Nigeria business is consolidated into one, and it will be competing with Nigerian banks, while UBA as an entity will be benefiting from both markets,” the Group Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Phillip Oduoza said. The bank last week announced key appointments to drive its quest for industry leadership by 2015. The Project Alpha is a 3-year road map of key transformation initiatives, designed to reinforce the group’s strategic positioning and leverage its huge Africa presence to fully exploit the burgeoning opportunities in Africa’s economic renaissance. According to Oduoza, the group has split its operations into two broad divisions, UBA Africa and UBA Nigeria, saying that UBA Africa Division will be made up of the 18 African country subsidiaries of the UBA Group outside Nigeria. BC

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

A23 39

STOCKWATCH Stock Exchange weekly equities summary as at Friday, Jan 9, 2015 SECURITY AGRICULTURE/AGRO-ALLIED Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Fishing/Hunting/Trapping ELLAH LAKES PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. CHELLARAMS PLC. JOHN HOLT PLC. SCOA NIG PLC TRANSNATIONAL CORP. OF NIG.PLC U A C N PLC. CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Construction ARBICO PLC. CAPPA & D’ALBERTO PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. G CAPPA PLC Non--Building/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. ROADS NIG PLC. Real Estate Development PINNACLE POINT GROUP PLC UACN PROPERTY DEV Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) SKYE SHELTER FUND PLC UNION HOMES REAL ESTATE INV UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST CONSUMER GOODS Automobiles/Auto Parts DN TYRE & RUBBER PLC Beverages--Brewers/Distillers CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GOLDEN GUINEA BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. JOS INT. BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. PREMIER BREWERIES PLC Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Food Products BIG TREAT PLC DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC MULTI-TREX INTEGRATED FOODS PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC P S MANDRIDES & CO PLC. U T C NIG. PLC. UNION DICON SALT PLC. Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Household Durables BETA GLASS CO PLC. NIGERIAN ENAMELWARE PLC. VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Textiles/Apparel UNITED NIG. TEXTILES PLC. FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INC. FIDELITY BANK PLC FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC. GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. U B A PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH BANK PLC Insurance Carriers, Brokers & Services AFRICAN ALLIANCE INS. COY. PLC AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONFIDENCE INSURANCE PLC CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INS. PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INS. COY. PLC. CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INS. PLC EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. INTERCONTINENTAL WAPIC INS. PLC INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INS. PLC INVESTMENT AND ALLIED ARN. LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. OASIS INSURANCE PLC PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. REGENCY ALLIANCE INS. COY PLC SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC STANDARD TRUSTASSURANCE PLC STANDARD ALLIANCE INS. PLC. UNIC INSURANCE PLC. UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL INS. COMPANY PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Micro Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers &Services ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC UNION HOMES SAVINGS&LOANS PLC Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INS. PLC CRUSADER ( NIG) PLC. DEAP CAPITAL MGT & TRUST PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers EKOCORP PLC. UNION DIAGNOSTIC &CLINICAL PLC Medical Supplies

NOTE NT=Not Traded on 09-01-15

PRICE (=N=)

0.50 33.00 32.05

QUANTITY

93,830 37,150 813,078

52 WK HIGH

0.64 107.81 41.14

52 WK LOW

0.50 20.92 8.24

SHARES OUTSTANDING

2,200,000,000 476,955,000 1,000,000,000

EPS

0.10 2.29 7.55

MOV. (%)

N/A -2.94 -14.53

0.50 34.00 37.50

4.26

60,000,000

0.00

N/A

2.95

511,645

7.18

0.68

1,199,549,736

0.07

-1.34

2.99

1.45 3.95 NT NT 5.00 54.02

110,583 200 1,000 3,600 20,073,190 138,745

2.08 6.43 5.89

0.71 4.15 1.07

2,191,895,983 963,900,300 389,151,408

0.11 0.16 1.09

-5.84 N/A N/A

5.89 71.10

0.50 28.00

821,666,666 1,600,720,323

0.09 4.38

N/A N/A

1.54 NT 1.08 4.67 5.79 58.00

NT NT

375 3

26.00 95.49

5.05 95.49

148,500,000 196,876,000

0.33 4.50

N/A N/A

NT NT

0.93 14.46

364,928 10000

2.66 14.46

0.72 14.46

920,573,765 125,000,000

0.00 0.00

N/A N/A

0.90 NT

67.20 NT

86,183 25,000

83.75 10.60

19.86 6.61

1,200,000,000 20,000,000

6.74 1.69

0.00 N/A

67.20 NT

NT 14.00

NT 129,844

7.28 20.90

7.28 8.82

1,375,000,000

0.00 2.20

N/A -11.67

NT 15.85

NT NT NT

5,000 100 5,150

100.00 50.00 10.50

100.00 50.00 0.00

20,000,000 250,019,781

5.82 0.19

N/A N/A

100.00 NT NT

6,125

0.50

4,772,528,415

0.00

N/A

0.50

14.94 0.88 182.00 31.82 NT 170.00 3.98

3,333 50,000 3,770,765 2,026,434 33,224 1,618,898 11,087

19.48 0.68 297.41 30.00 9.09 179.40 0.97

3.13 0.68 209.10 5.34 0.81 91.10 0.93

900,000,000 272,160,000 1,474,925,519 2,112,914,681 562,000,000 7,562,562,340 126,000,000

0.00 0.00 8.66 0.63 0.00 5.03 0.00

N/A N/A -7.00 N/A N/A -3.77 N/A

12.35 NT 195.70 30.90 NT 176.66 4.40

162.86

79,018

75.90

38.12

640,590,362

4.46

N/A

147.73

NT 6.55 7.70 61.40 3.99 NT 21.99 9.00 NT NT 13.41

NT 44,555 673,421 132,002 139,758 100,000 25,000 569,100 2.08124,000 10,000 100,000

0.50 10.68 12.85 109.24 4.11 1.21 29.70 14.00 5.94 0.93 13.31

0.50 3.85 3.26 50.00 1.83 0.50 17.51 3.65 5.35 0.50 4.22

2,000,000,000 5,000,000,000 12,000,000,000 1,879,210,666 7,930,197,658 3,722,493,620 178,200,000 40,000,000 1,233,375,004 360,000,000

0.00 0.00 0.81 3.38 0.34 0.00 0.00 1.05 0.08 1.13 0.00

N/A 0.00 -5.75 -0.97 -0.25 N/A N/A -3.95 N/A #VALUE! N/A

NT 6.55 8.17 62.00 4.00 NT 21.99 9.37 NT NT NT

49.89 999.00

842,400 39,682

64.53 1250.00

8.33 400.00

3,129,188,160 792,656,250

1.57 28.34

-7.08 -4.86

53.69 1,050.00

NT NT 4.30 NT

25,333 100 370,895 14,900

15.58 36.19 5.54 2.88

10.03 32.27 2.91 0.57

63,360,000 819,000,000 300,000,001

3.90 13.92 0.71 0.00

N/A N/A 0.70 N/A

NT NT 4.27 1.42

26.99 40.00

1,536,523 215,904

56.00 76.00

21.02 27.60

3,176,381,636 3,783,296,250

1.34 1.42

-16.05 -16.65

32.15 47.99

0.97

0.57

843,284,027

0.00

N/A

8.60 6.30 18.26 1.95 NT 27.30 2.75 2.23 5.66 9.06 0.50 0.94 22.59

12,492,060 2,209,267 3,662,513 1,046,865 NT 29,017,815 1,122,478 19,185,130 13,232,270 223,168 5,158,100 2,424,482 15,687,721

12.39 7.85 17.51 3.47 8.30 29.99 7.05 3.05 9.60 15.30 1.16 1.88 27.40

4.70 1.92 9.90 1.13 3.04 13.02 2.65 0.80 1.64 2.34 0.50 0.50 11.96

17,888,251,479 14,475,243,105 9,873,614,567 28,974,797,023 16,271,192,202 29,146,482,209 13,219,334,676 12,563,091,545 32,334,693,693 13,509,726,273 33,675,576,085 12,821,249,880 31,396,493,790

1.61 1.71 3.67 0.68 0.60 3.08 0.97 0.63 1.70 0.44 0.18 0.00 3.30

-4.66 0.80 -2.35 -4.88 #VALUE! -9.03 -4.18 -3.04 -14.89 -3.51 0.00 -1.05 -7.04

9.02 6.25 18.70 2.05 NT 30.01 2.87 2.30 6.65 9.39 0.50 0.95 24.30

NT 0.81 NT 0.50 0.92 NT NT 0.50 NT NT 0.50 NT 0.52 NT 0.50 NT NT 2.98 0.54 0.76 NT NT 0.50 NT 0.50 NT 0.50 0.50 NT 0.50 0.65

250 521,138 NT 1,000,000 1,055,541 456,127 9,054,578 145,200 NT 1,000 40,000 NT 50,530 NT 160 4,771,900 50,685 1,207,028 1,177,700 2,004,443 20,055 1,654,611 885,641 12,000,000 1,000 600 5,000 3,774 100 1,182,550 4,303,775

0.50 1.42 0.64 0.52 1.45 0.72 2.44 0.50 0.69 0.60 0.50 2.50 2.50 0.50 0.50 0.61 0.50 2.87 0.63 1.01 1.11 0.50 1.24 0.53 0.59

0.50 0.50 0.61 0.50 0.58 0.50 1.08 0.50 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

20,585,000,000 7,809,391,256 211,626,000 6,000,000,000 10,372,624,157 8,820,010,363 5,100,846,808 8,847,298,420 4,549,947,000 3,827,485,380 720,000,000 5,061,804,000 6,420,427,449 28,000,000,000 7,323,313,227 3,437,330,500 4,083,713,569 10,000,000,000 7,998,705,336 5,332,830,881 5,649,693,923 5,003,506,791 2,508,315,436 6,668,750,000 5,203,757,266

0.00 0.19 0.00 0.05 0.15 0.02 0.24 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.25 0.00 0.37 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.04 0.09

N/A 0.00 N/A N/A 0.00 0.00 0.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.00 N/A N/A N/A 0.00 2.76 N/A -3.80 N/A N/A 0.00 N/A 0.00

0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 1.55

0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

8,493,173,450 2,581,733,505 13,000,000,000 16,000,000,000

0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.07

N/A N/A N/A N/A

NT 0.80 NT NT 1.00 0.50 NT NT NT 0.50 0.50 NT 0.59 NT 0.50 0.50 NT 2.90 0.54 0.79 NT NT 0.50 NT NT NT 0.50 NT NT NT 0.74

NT 0.97

10,000,000 767,000

6.60 1.22

0.00 0.72

1.18 0.19

NT NT

1.30 NT NT 0.50 0.5

300 300 5,000 200,000 40,522

1.65 0.50

1.37 0.50

4,200,000,000 8,679,148,676

0.03 0.02

N/A N/A

0.50 0.99

0.50 0.50

13,175,732,404 7,812,500,000

0.30 0.00

N/A N/A

3.2 4.00 NT NT 12.32 4.09 0.51 31.00 2.00

1,361,199 50,919 500 3,000 11,878,966 4323419 700,000 9,360,409 2,122,515

2.1

0.5

0.61 2.02 21.50 5.70 1.33 20.72 1.70

0.50 2.02 8.57 2.90 0.50 10.64 0.00

3,778,005,975 1,333,333,333 32,632,084,358

0.00 0.15 2.45 1.23 0.13 1.53 0.29

NT 0.50

170 600,000

N/A=Not Avialable

5.05 0.50

4.32 0.50

0.63

3,608,657,661 18,750,000,000

498,600,908 3,553,138,528

0.13 0.00

N/A N/A -8.61 N/A -11.43

N/A N/A

NT NT NT 0.50 1000 3.3 4.09 NT NT 13.48 4.51 0.59 35.00 2.18

NT NT

SECURITY

PRICE (=N=)

MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. NT Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 1.95 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 3.33 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER PLC 54.00 MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 1.71 NEIMETH INT PHARM PLC 1.11 NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. NT PHARMA-DEKO PLC. NT ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SLN PLC 0.57 Computers and Peripherals OMATEK VENTURES PLC NT Electronic Communications Services MTECH COMMUNICATIONS PLC NT IT Services COMPUTER WAREHOUSE GROUP PLC 4.8 NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 12.83 TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. NT Processing Systems CHAMS PLC 0.50 E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC NT Telecommunications Services MTI PLC NT INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials AFRICAN PAINTS (NIGERIA) PLC. NT ASHAKA CEM PLC 32.25 BERGER PAINTS PLC 8.08 CAP PLC 41.00 CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 14.49 DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 215.00 DN MEYER PLC. 1.05 FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC NT IPWA PLC 0.50 LAFARGE WAPCO PLC. 115.93 PAINTS & COATINGS MANFACT.PLC NT PORTLAND PAINTS & PRDT NIG. PLC 5.01 Electronic and Electrical Products AUSTIN LAZ & COMPANY PLC NT CUTIX PLC. 1.75 NIGERIAN WIRE AND CABLE PLC. NT Packaging/Containers ABPLAST PRODUCTS PLC. NT AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS 1.59 BETA GLASS CO PLC. 20.00 GREIF NIGERIA PLC NT NIG. BAGS MANFACT. COY PLC NT POLY PRODUCTS (NIG) PLC. NT W A GLASS IND. PLC. NT Tools and Machinery NIGERIAN ROPES PLC NT STOKVIS NIG PLC. NT NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. NT Metals ALUMACO PLC NT ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. NT MINING SERVICES MULTIVERSE PLC 0.50 Paper/Forest Products HALLMARK PAPER PRODUCTS PLC. NT THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC. NT OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SER. PLC 0.50 Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC 23.56 Petroleum &Petroleum Products Distributors BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC NT CONOIL PLC 49.23 ETERNA PLC. 3.80 FORTE OIL PLC. 219.00 MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. 169.25 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 56.00 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 173.00 Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVT. CO, LTD. 574.00 SERVICES Advertising AFROMEDIA PLC NT Apparel Retailers LENNARDS (NIG) PLC. NT Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. 0.84 Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 4.15 TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. NT Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. NT Hospitality TANTALIZERS PLC NT Hotels/Lodging CAPITAL HOTEL NT IKEJA HOTEL PLC 3.12 Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC 0.50 Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS NT LEARN AFRICA PLC 1.45 STUDIO PRESS (NIG) PLC. NT UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 4.14 Road Transportation ABC TRANSPORT PLCPLC 0.69 Specialty INTERLINKED TECHNOLOGIES PLC NT SECURE ELECTRONIC TECH.PLC NT Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC 1.83 NIG. AVIATION HANDLING COY PLC 5.01 SUPPORT AND LOGISTICS CAVERTON OFFSHORE GROUP PLC 4.21 ASeM CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Property Management SMART PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC NT CONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC NT OIL AND GAS CAPITAL OIL PLC NT NAVITUS ENERGY PLC NT Petroleum &Petroleum Products Distributors ANINO INTERNATIONAL PLC NT Personal/Household Products ROKANA INDUSTRIES PLC. NT HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals AFRIK PHARMACEUTICALS PLC. NT INDUSTRIAL GOODS Electronic and Electrical Products NT ADSWITCH PLC. NT NATURAL RESOURCES Metals W.A. ALUM. PRODUCTS PLC. NT Food/Drug Retailers and Wholesalers NT JULI PLC. NT ETF’s Sector ETF NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND 1,964.00 VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF 17.63

QUANTITY

52 WK HIGH

52 WK LOW

SHARES OUTSTANDING

EPS

MOV. (%)

10.54

7.39

152,178,750

0.00

N/A

1.82

74,500 95,417 1,226,438 252,273 397,345 46 1,000

4.80 2.50 69.00 3.38 1.76 8.59 3.50

0.50 0.61 18.97 1.23 0.58 7.36 1.83

486,473,856 1,500,000,000 956,701,192 980,000,000 1,925,717,268 153,786,012 100,000,000

0.58 0.24 3.07 0.09 0.00 0.00 0.00

-4.88 0.00 -13.75 -0.58 4.72 N/A N/A

2.05 3.33 62.61 1.72 1.06 NT 2.49

4,403,634

0.96

0.50

2,960,000,000

0.11

0.00

0.52

24,000

0.50

2,941,789,472

0.00

N/A

0.91

4,966,666,668

0.00

N/A

10 694 200

18.70 2.94

13.12 2.07

108,000,000 492,825,600

0.00 0.03

N/A N/A

NT NT NT

1,000,000 5,000

0.50 4.97

0.50 3.13

4,620,600,000 4,200,000,000

0.04 0.04

N/A N/A

0.50 NT

400

0.50

4,893,594,400

0.00

N/A

2,000 1,671,056 16,226 458,360 73,217 672,671 2,000 38,000 11,000 1,444,136 650 5,000

2.86 29.98 12.20 67.50 12.99 210.01 3.54 0.75 1.34 110.00 2.41 7.22

2.86 8.01 6.82 13.78 4.00 102.00 0.50 0.50 0.50 39.80 0.50 2.27

260,000,000 2,239,453,125 217,367,585 560,000,000 1,241,548,285 15,494,019,668 242,908,200 2,109,928,275 513,696,000 3,001,600,004 792,914,256 400,000,000

0.07 0.80 0.91 1.66 1.12 5.77 0.06 0.00 0.00 6.83 0.36 0.43

N/A 0.78 -6.05 5.13 -8.00 -2.63 N/A N/A N/A -8.72 N/A N/A

NT 32.00 8.60 39.00 15.75 220.80 NT NT 0.50 127.00 1.60 NT

70 250,200 100

2.00 2.39 0.73

2.00 1.20 0.50

510,396,608 2,220,000,000

0.05 0.19 0.00

N/A -2.78 N/A

NT 1.80 NT

NT 15,341 135,155 100 NT NT NT

3.98 5.94 13.18 13.28 3.60 1.86 0.63

3.98 1.71 9.04 12.68 1.60 1.05 0.63

N/A N/A

42,640,000 6,215,000,000 240,000,000 199,066,550

0.00 0.00 3.23 0.90 0.24 0.22 0.00

N/A #VALUE! N/A N/A

NT 1.59 20.00 NT NT NT NT

1,200 NT

8.69 0.14

8.26 0.14

265,409,280 2,918,000

0.00 0.00

N/A N/A

NT NT

25,000,000 683,974,528

28,255

9.35

5.68

393,120,000

0.76

#VALUE!

10 100

7.75 12.39

7.75 10.55

75,600,000 100,000,000

0.00 0.24

N/A N/A

NT NT

950,000

0.50

4,058,989,226

0.01

N/A

0.50

NT 100

3.22 1.38

3.22 0.67

50,000,000 220,000,000

0.04 0.00

N/A N/A

NT NT

2,599,332

1.02

0.50

6,262,701,716

0.00

0.50

1,781,446

24.80

9.32

2,262,711,568

1.24

-10.66

26.37

10000 112,677 84,115 111,017 15,748 100 33,978

76.00 4.87 115.64 146.00 59.00 190.01

16.96 1.32 7.73 106.00 16.20 118.75

693,952,117 1,249,162,828 1,080,280,628 300,496,051 253,988,672 339,521,837

2.69 0.61 1.43 9.93 1.04 12.91

4.72 1.60 -2.67 -2.21 N/A -3.89

NT 47.01 3.74 225.00 173.08 56.00 180.00

1,537

28,677,671

200

0.72

0.50

640.00

4,035,497,307

0.00

N/A

100

3.48

N/A

317,660

2.45

1.00

980,294,400

0.00

#VALUE!

97,500 14,654

5.10 3.45

2.19 0.73

589,496,310 198,819,763

0.52 0.00

-5.68 N/A

4.40 1.35

10,515

1.64

0.85

865,808,912

0.00

N/A

0.50

30,500

0.75

0.50

3,211,627,907

0.00

N/A

69200 3,191,600

1.72

0.64

2,078,796,396

0.00

56.00

NT 2.00

650,000

0.51

0.50

8,000,000,000

0.43

N/A

1 115,855 75 53,899

3.09 2.78 5.77

1.39 2.52 3.00

771,450,000 425,641,111

0.00 0.00 0.61

N/A N/A 0.98

1.32 1.32 NT 4.10

83,723

1.29

0.50

1,507,000,000

0.21

N/A

0.68

54,281 1,000

5.15 1.88

4.90 0.80

236,699,511 5,631,539,736

0.00 0.00

N/A N/A

4.66 0.5

820,000 265,724

5.90 8.81

1.27 5.08

634,000,000 1,230,468,750

0.50 0.43

N/A 0.60

2.01 4.98

47101

1.43

1.04

45,000,000

0.12

N/A

103,000

2.26

1.02

201,885,335

0.00

N/A

30 1000

NT NT

30000

0.60

30,000,000

0.00

N/A

0.50

24,898,850

0.00

N/A

NT NT

1.88

1.63

125,005,250

0.00

N/A

NT NT

NT NT 1,000

0.50

6,650,000

0.00

N/A

3.05

2.76

194,700,000

0.00

N/A

2,706

2,003

62 595072

2.94 49467

NT NT NT

1,908.00 18.73

A24 40

Business Courage

Monday, January 12, 2015

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Monday, January 12, 2015

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Law & Justice nationalmirrorlaw@yahoo.com

‘‘Indeed for politicians, the rule of law is non-existing until it suits ‘‘In their purpose, and it is only then it is observed to the letter’’. - Justice Dahiru Musdapher, former Chief Justice of Nigeria.

2015: Ayorinde, others urge FG to obey order on judiciary autonomy …As speedy justice dispensation tops lawyers’ expectations Every state govt should set up agency to regulate land matters –Ojo 42

CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed

NBA President, Augustine Alegeh

Barely two weeks into the New Year, stakeholders in the administration of justice have renewed the quest for financial independence for the judiciary in the country, just as notable lawyers want the Federal Government to obey court order and rule of law, writes FRANCIS FAMOROTI, Head, Judiciary.

How Njemanze, highlife musician, was killed 45

Kenya: ICC expresses concern over murder of witness 47

takeholders in the administration of justice have repeatedly said that the continued decline in budgetary allocation to the judiciary was anti thetical to the administration of justice in the country. For instance, the Joint National Assembly Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters led by Senator Umaru Dahiru (APC, Sokoto) had last year told Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that the continued decline in budgetary allocation to the judiciary portends great danger to the administration of justice in Nigeria. Dahiru had said the committee decided to summon the finance minister after it received representations from heads of courts and judicial bodies for explanation on the “sharp decline in the 2014 budget.” Prior to that time, the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, had openly lamented the meagre fund allocated to the Judiciary during the swearing in of new Senior Advocates of Nigeria in Abuja on

September 23, 2013. When she opened up majority of the stakeholders got the message that the problem of inadequate funding of the sacred institution of justice must have gone out of hand. Ordinarily, the Judiciary being a conservative organ is not usually seen to make agitations especially at open fora on financial issues. Justice Mukhtar had said inter alia: ‘‘Over the years, funding of the courts has remained a challenge as evidenced in the condition of many courts in Nigeria today. Statistics have shown that funding from the Federal Government has witnessed a steady

decline since 2010, from N95 billion (in that year to N85 billion in 2011, then N75 billion in 2012 and dropped again in the 2013 budget to N67 billion. “Indeed, with these facts, if the amount allocated to the extra-judicial organisations within the judiciary is deducted, the courts are left with a paltry sum to operate. “The simple implication is that our courts are increasingly finding it difficult to effectively perform their day-to-day constitutional roles. “The resultant effect of a slim budget in the judiciary is that a number of courts in Nigeria today evince decay and neglect of infrastructural amenities particularly

BARELY THREE MONTHS AFTER MUKHTAR’S EXIT FROM THE BENCH, NOTHING HAS CHANGED AND THERE ARE NO NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN TERMS OF GRANTING THE JUDICIARY FINANCIAL AUTONOMY

at the state level. In some cases, the court buildings do not possess the required well-equipped library for judges to conduct their research. This may make judges rely on information supplied by lawyers, which should not be the case.’’ Barely three months after Mukhtar’s exit from the Bench, nothing has changed and there are no new developments in terms of granting the judiciary financial autonomy. The consequence of this was the strike organised by members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, last week, January 5, which shut down courts across the country. The union, which embarked on the nationwide strike to compel the executive to comply with the Federal High Court judgment on the financial autonomy for the judiciary, locked gates against judiciary officers. Not even the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed was spared. President of JUSUN, Mr. Mustapha CONTINUED ON PAGE 44

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Monday, January 12, 2015

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Every state govt should set up Mr. Gbenga Ojo, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Lagos State University, LASU, in this interview with MATTHEW IRINOYE, speaks on the challenges militating against legal education in the country, the Land Use Act (LUA) and the activities of land speculators, among others. Excerpts: What is your view on the falling standard of legal education against the backdrop of poor result of the last bar examination in the Law School? What has happened in the Law School is a replica of the education standard in Nigeria. It simply showed that the University training is rubbish; I think as a lecturer there many factors that are contributing to examinations failure every year. Let me begin from the students, there are many distractions on the part of the students these days that have shifted their attention from reading, among those things include the social media. For example, face book, you tube, to go, twitter etc, you would be surprise that even while taking the students in the class they have audacity to ping in the class and nothing happens. During our days maximum number of students in a class is 100 to 150 but now what we have now is crowd in the class rooms. Apart from that, parents move from one lecturer’s office to another seeking for favour to get marks for students. During our days this does not happen, in fact my parents did not follow me to school for once throughout the time when I was a student. I use to tell my students that some of them do not belong to where they are because they don’t have mental capacity, whether we like it or not it would get to a stage when we are going to have law as second degree course, if we don’t do it now, we must do it later. Some of these students do not have mental capacity to cope. I can categorically say that some of them got to the University through special centres, I mean that the centres would organise the JAMB examinations for them and they passed not through their efforts. Can you imagine a 300- level student who cannot make up any legal principle and ap-

ply it to the facts but would rather talk like a layman? How do you mean? There is difference between logical language and pure legal language; the students do not have time to read any longer. For anyone to succeed in choosing law as a career, such person must marry books. Some of them do not know reasons for being in the university, law is not meant for 16year old girl or boy, there must be a middle course before coming to university to study law, law is different from subjects studied in the secondary school, I think it should be mandatory to have diploma in law to prepare students who want to study law, and by the time such student wants to read law, it would only be as if such a student is studying advanced courses on the diploma. It is unfortunate that universities close the library by 4pm these days. During our days, the library closes by 10pm so after lectures, everyone is on his way to the library to go and study but this time around the reverse is the case. During our time one would need to search for any material manually but with the intervention of internet and some applications one can access whatever he needs at finger tip to practice. Another area that needs critical attention is the appointment of lecturers, some of them do not have mental capacity to teach law but to my surprise, they are all over the place taking four to five different courses. It is very sad to see such an unfortunate thing. During my time in the university, Faculty of Law is organised in departments, Private law, Criminal law, Commercial law, International law and Constitutional law etc, so it is expected that a lecturer would be specialize in a choice area for efficiency. It is a shame

Ojo for a lecturer to take about six courses together. It is not the university pedigree, a serous- minded lecturer cannot finish two courses throughout his life time, but it is better for a lecturer to take one course so that such course can become part of him and it would be beneficial to the students. But in a situation whereby only one person takes courses that have no relationship such as International law, Criminal law and Evidence law collectively instead of separate experts to take it individually, yet nobody seems to see danger in it. For example, a lecturer is taking Evidence law at LLB and at the Master degree, he is taking International law. there was a time I was made a Co-Ordinator of Masters’ programme, they had to remove me because there were a lots of things that could not work, I demanded to see the courses the students wanted to run and I saw someone who was taking Evidence law in LLB class and he

is taking Petroleum law in Master’s class , I stood my ground that such a thing is not possible, because it is not undergraduate class where one can do selective courses to get rid of basic courses, so I said the students in the Masters’ class must have a comprehensive knowledge of what they are doing. Does it imply that there are no better hands or the university is faced with manpower problem to run its programmes? There are lots of people who are hungry to have PhD, for example someone has PhD in Child Labour law and the University is looking for a PhD holder in Jurisprudence law but they cannot find. The university authorities should always exercise patience and make sure they secure professionals in the subjects not just PhD holders for purpose of having it; otherwise the education system would become square peg in the square hole. It has gotten worst these days

I CAN CATEGORICALLY SAY THAT SOME OF THE STUDENTS GOT TO THE UNIVERSITY THROUGH

SPECIAL CENTRES,

I MEAN THAT THE CENTRES WOULD ORGANISE THE JAMB EXAMINATIONS FOR THEM AND THEY PASSED, NOT THROUGH THEIR EFFORTS

Ojo

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Law & Justice

Monday, January 12, 2015

agency to regulate land matters â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Ojo that some students usually make mockery of a PhD holder when he teaches, whereas it is not that the man is not good but the problem is that he does not teach his area of competence. He is a PhD holder in one course but he is taking another course. In this regard I want to say that we should not encourage inter-departmental teaching. Another problem facing the universities this time around is replacement of lecturers. For example when a PhD holder expert who takes Land law leaves a particular university and he is being replaced by a senior lecturer, there is no doubt that the gap would be too much for the lecturer to cope so, in that regard if the Faculty has been known for being the best it would suddenly become nothing in little time. It must be mandatory for the university authorities to always replace lecturers with people of equal competence. That apart, a lecturer is expected to come to class at least three times in a week but a situation when a lecturer appears in a class three times in three months and nobody complains, definitely there is problem somewhere. I want to insist that no lecturer should teach inter-departmental courses, and each lecturer should not take more than two related courses. What should be done to deal with the activities of touts in the Judiciary? This is not limited to the judiciary alone, there are touts who collect money for the Police even the traffic warders have those who collect money for them. As a senior lawyer when I take legal process to court for signing or stamp, those who are in charge would not attend to you on time maybe because they know I am a lawyer but right there in my presence the touts would bring affidavits and within few minutes they have gone. All these are happening because the salaries they are being paid is just too small and except such is tackled many of the judiciary workers would continue to close their eyes to the law. In another part, the judges in Lagos State need capacity development, most times a judge usually make a bold assertion of law but no authority to back it up. How would the government tackle the activities of land speculators otherwise known as the Omo onile syndrome in Lagos State? The problem is not only limited to Lagos State, it is extended to Ogun State as well, in fact it is tougher in Ogun State. The law regulating land in Nigeria is clear; there should be a commission owned by government that would seek into the affairs of land matters. When the government discovered that Police was not doing its best in the area of corruption, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC was put in place. In the same vein Police can never handle land crisis as well because they can easily compromise when they are being given money. I think if there is any complain on land issue, such committee should be reported to and if there is evidence that one person had obtained money from two separate people such person including others involved in the transaction should be imprisoned for 21 years without option of fine. I would suggest that the committee should also have their investigation team that

I THINK ONCE A LAWYER IS CAUGHT INVOLVED IN THE MULTIPLE SALE OF ONE

LAND; SUCH LAWYER SHOULD BE DEROBED IMMEDIATELY would investigate any allegation reported in their office just like the EFCC. Aside that, the commission must have their lawyers as well as laws guiding them to prosecute the accused persons on land issue. If these are put in place I am sure the Omo onile problems will gradually be corrected. I also want to say that the NBA should also rise up to the problems that are usually caused by the Omo onile because some of the petitions they usually write could not have be done without the involvement of a particular lawyer. I think once a lawyer is caught involving in the multiple sales of one land; such lawyer should be derobed immediately. I was once told by this Omo onile sometimes that they wanted me in their team so that I can give them legal backing so that when they see a land they would go there and build shops and as they are building shops I would go to court claiming that they are the owners, by way of doing that they are going to put the owner under pressure either physically or through court, the owner of the land would not be able to go there because they are already in possession and they are using the court to stop the owner by injunction. I think for the sake of justice, a new judge appointed from the Ministry of Justice or from the Magistracy should not be posted to land division because there is no how they would not mislead him by the assistant of their lawyers. There are experienced land litigators who know what are in the books but because of the activities of the land speculators and their lawyers, it is easy for them to manipulate the process and innocently the judge coming from the magistracy might give them judgement.

Ojo

The cause of land problem in Nigeria is that, there is nowhere to find out land matters that are pending before the courts and because of this, many people bought innocently land that are pending in courts. I think there should be a land registry near the courts so that whenever a case is being filed there must be a register where such case would be listed. So that anyone who wants to buy a land, that would be his first point of contact to check if the land is a matter in court or not but it is unfortunate that the land must have been bought several years back somebody would just appear with a judgement that the land belongs to him. For example in Abule-Egba in Lagos, the residents have been leaving there for the past 30 years undisturbed, meanwhile the matter had been in court since 1997, the people kept on buying the land and went to the Lagos State Government to secured C of O, the court process lasted for 30 years, eventually the owner of the land got the judgement when Omo onile had sold all the land. Many occupants of the land are dead now because the man who secured the judgement used force to drive them away. The problem arose because the time they bought the land there was no way they could find out that the matter was pending. A register must be kept in courts for all cases that has to do with the land so that when anyone wants to buy land, he would not only go to land registry but also come to the court premises to find out that the land is not under litigation. In other developing nations, all land matters pending in courts are registered online, the buyers would only check the list to see whether the land he wants to buy is among those pending in court or not. I think Nige-

ria must practice the same, I want to encourage Lagos State Government to do so and even include the names of the parties, the claimants, the defendants, the location of the land and the court where the matter is pending. I want you to suggest areas that require reforms in the Land Use Act? Land Use Act is an aberration, in a federation how can we have one quality of land? The history of land among Yorubas is different form Fulanis, Igbos and Hausas, it is not possible for one law to regulate the land throughout the federation. The Land Use Act is dead on arrival, there is no way Land Use Act can work in this country but I would enjoin the government to go back to pre- Land Use Act where each state would develop its own land use system. By and large, if we abolish Land Use Act, there should be laws that are similar to Land Use Act and it must be domesticated, LUA of Lagos State, or LUA of Ogun State but there must be law that would regulate it and it must not be national law in a federation. The problem is that Nigeria is not practising true federalism, a federal state comprises state executives, legislature and judiciary, there must be autonomy across the board, each states of the federation must have their State Appeal Courts, State Supreme Court, all land disputes in Lagos State must be settled by the Court of Appeal Lagos State. The Land Use Act has to be removed from the Constitution because the military government entrenched Land Use Act into constitution so as to have the same weight, there is no way constitution can govern the lands. What is your view on separating the office of AGF from the office of Minister for Justice? Yes, it must be done; the Minister for Justice is a political appointee of the executives, for example if a man supporting the president or governor is caught in financial crimes, the Minister for Justice cannot support his prosecution because he knows it would jeopardize his job. There is need to separate it otherwise the government would be regulating who goes to jail My position is that it must be separated as soon as possible. What is your reaction to the mode of appointment of the CJN? I think it should continue the way it has always being and the other judges should give whoever is chosen as Chief Justice of Nigeria a total support. If it is other way round there would be disharmony among them and the peace we are experiencing now would not be there. If such happens they would think maybe the man is being sponsored by a political party and before one would realize there would be anti- government judges of the Supreme Court, in one breath it should remain the way it is. The highest rank should automatically emerge as CJN, through that everybody would wait for his own time and there would not be unnecessary struggle scrambling for office.

Law & Justice

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘FG’s act, an aberration to justice system’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41 Adamu, said the Accountant- General of the Federation should be held responsible for the on-going strike. Activities at the Federal High Court, the Lagos High Court, National Industrial Court and Court of Appeal, Lagos division were equally paralysed following the commencement of an industrial strike embarked upon by the JUSUN. In the same vein, activities Igbosere and Tinubu Magistrate’s Courts were also stalled as all the gates leading to court premises were placed under lock. The strike is based on the failure of both the Federal and State governments to implement the orders of an Abuja Federal High Court, which granted financial autonomy for state judiciaries. Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court had on January 14, last year restrained the FG and the 36 state governors, from withholding the funds meant for the judiciary. Besides, Justice Ademola held that funds meant for the judiciary should henceforth be disbursed directly to the heads of court and not to the executive arm of government. The court held that the practice of the executive disbursing funds to the judiciary was unconstitutional and also threatened the independence of the judiciary. He added that the era of the judiciary going cap in hand to beg the executive for fund, was over, stressing that the allocation of funds through the states’ ministry of finance to the states’ judiciary was unconstitutional and should be stopped forthwith. It was learnt that the National Deputy President of JUSUN, Comrade Samuel Adesanya, had said that the indefinite action commenced following a communique issued to that effect. According to Adesanya, the action affects all courts in the country, and would only be resolved if the union’s demands were met. Also a JUSUN executive, Lagos branch, Mr Tajudeen Adelenu, said the strike was simply to press home their demands and

Bar

Jokes

Unfit words to hear A woman was being questioned in a court trial involving slander. “Please repeat the slanderous statements you heard, exactly as you heard them,” instructed the lawyer. The witness hesitated. “But they are unfit for any respectable person to hear,” she protested. “Then,” said the attorney, “just whisper them to the judge.”

Fight to win a case

A junior partner in a law firm was sent to a far away country to represent a longterm client accused of robbery. After days

Ayorinde, SAN

Ojo

vowed that the court gates would remain under lock till further notice. When National Mirror spoke to some lawyers on the issues, they expressed divergent views on this issue and their expectations for the judiciary in the New Year. Generally, most lawyers believed that the strike would bring untold hardship to those in detention and that police cells would witness congestion across the country. Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN who spoke briefly on the ongoing JUSUN strike, urged both the Federal and State governments to obey the court order on financial autonomy for judiciary and lay foundation for the rule of law. According to him, ‘’Even if government intends to appeal the judgement, it should obey the judgment. For the government

not to comply with the order of a court of competent jurisdiction would be contemptuous and aberration to our justice system’’. On his expectations for the judiciary, the SAN said that he would ‘’like to see a more efficient judiciary that dispenses justice speedily and without fair or favour, regardless of who is involved. He said ‘’I want to see a more transparent judiciary. A judiciary that is fair and a judiciary that would give Nigerians better service delivery. The judiciary should focus on the law and the application of the law the way it should be. I want to see a judiciary that upholds the doctrine of the rule of law, upholds the principle of fairness and neutrality. Also I hope the authorities will address the infrastructure decay in the judiciary.’’

JUSTICE ADEMOLA HELD THAT FUNDS MEANT FOR THE JUDICIARY SHOULD HENCEFORTH BE DISBURSED DIRECTLY TO HEADS OF COURT AND NOT TO THE EXECUTIVE ARM OF GOVERNMENT

of trial, the case was won, the client acquitted and released. Excited about his success, the attorney e-mailed the firm: “Justice prevailed.” The senior partner replied in haste, “Appeal immediately.”

Free advice at social affairs?

A doctor and a lawyer were attending a cocktail party when the doctor was approached by a man who asked advice on how to handle his ulcer. The doctor mumbled some medical advice, then turned to the lawyer and remarked, “I never know how to handle the situation when I’m asked for medical advice during a social function. Is it acceptable to send a bill for such advice?” The lawyer replied that it was certainly acceptable to do so. The next day, the doctor sent the ulcer-stricken man a bill. The lawyer also sent one to the doctor. Culled from Lawyers’ jokes .com

A former Second Vice-President, Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Mr. Adekunle Ojo described the JUSUN strike as an unfortunate incident and advised that the union should be more concerned about their welfare and not judiciary autonomy. “The issue of autonomy is a constitutional one and should be left for those who are concerned to address it” He also enjoined the CJN and National Judicial Council, NJC to speedily interfere on the issue so as to allow things to go back to its normal shape. On his expectations, he said the Administration of Criminal Justice System in Nigeria needs overhauling, adding that a state of emergency should be declared in this area. He said that “it is only the rich that benefits from justice in Nigeria and not the poor but the masses that go to court are poor”. Ojo who is also the ex-NBA Chairman, Ikeja branch, said that the administration of Criminal Justice system should be looked upon so that the liberty of other persons would not be at stake, adding that there is need for judges to be more courageous and at liberty. The chairman of NBA Ikeja branch, Mr. Yinka Farounbi, also observed that the ‘’JUSUN strike is a very unfortunate incident particularly, in the election year when the validity of candidates would be determined by court. “The strike would continue to have financial implications on the economy but it is unfortunate that the union could not recognise it”, he added. On his expectations in the new year, Farounbi canvassed for speedy trial that is free from bogus prosecutions. He said that comprehensive investigations should be done before trial so that the wrong people would not get away with justice hiding under the technicalities of the court process. As events unfold, the FG may have no option than to obey court order in line with the rule of law.

LEGAL TIPS UNDERSTANDING REMEDY OF INJUNCTION IN NIGERIA LEGAL SYSTEM Injunction is an equitable remedy and is therefore, discretionary. It is a particularly useful remedy in contract to restrain a breach, in tort to prevent the continuation of a nuisance, in family law to control domestic violence, and in administrative law to prevent public authorities from acting unlawfully. Breach of an injunction is contempt of court. *The preservation of the subject matter ‘res’ in dispute or the maintenance of the ‘status quo’ is achieved through the judicial process of the equitable order of injunction.

The Black’s Law Dictionary defines an Injunction as “a court order prohibiting someone from doing some specified act or commanding someone to undo some wrong or injury”. It may also be defined in the words of Karibi-Whyte JSC (as then was) thus: “...an equitable order restraining the person to whom it is directed from doing the things specified in the order or requiring in exceptional situations the performance of a specified act”. * TYPES OF INJUNCTION Injunction can be classified based on the how long the

order is to last i.e. the duration of the order. In this wise, we have (i) interim injunction (ii) interlocutory injunction and (iii) perpetual injunction. Another basis for classification is the nature of act to be prohibited or to be done. In this category we have mandatory and prohibitory injunction.

Written by Francis Famoroti, Head, Judiciary. We welcome feedback and reactions from readers via our e-mail: nationamirrorlaw@yahoo. com

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Law & Justice

Monday, January 12, 2015

How Njemanze, highlife musician, was killed FAMOUS CASES

Israel Njemanze was a notable highlife musician, who sang to the delight of Nigerians in the1950s. Unfortunately, his life was cut short by some assailants who killed him and dismembered his body on the Railway Line in Mushin, Lagos, about 60 years ago. His killers were later tried, convicted and hanged at the old Broad Street Prisons, Lagos, FRANCIS FAMOROTI, Head, Judiciary writes.

srael Njemanze .a.k.a Nwoba was a soldier and highlife musician who made waves between 1949 and 1955 before his gruesome murder. He was reputed for being the leader of the band known as ‘Three Night Wizards’. He was a crowd-puller at every performance. However, he nursed the ambition of building a hotel in Port Harcourt, where he would settle down to play music after his retirement from the armed forces. This plan was not to be as Njemanze was murdered on Friday, April 7, 1955 in Mushin, Lagos by unknown assailants. As a soldier, he lived with his family at the Command workshop, Yaba, Lagos. He later formed a band with two guitarist friends hence the name ‘‘Three Night Wizards’’. Njemanze was said to have sang a song philosophically that because he had a short height like his parents, he might have a short life. On April 7, 1955 at about 6 p.m, Njemanze left his wife and six month-old daughter at home for an appointment with some friends in Surulere. After his friends saw him off at Ojuelegba road junction around 9 pm, the musician further decided to also see the treasurer of the band, Mr. Samuel Jegede. It did not occur to him that he was bidding his family eternal farewell. Njemanze headed towards a lonely path in Mushin to see Jegede. His mission to Jegede’s house was to discuss and resolve the dispute between members of the band. Also present at the meeting was Jerome Agumadu, alias Seven Seven known as Njemanze’s bosom friend. At the meeting, the musician was said to have apologised to the group for an alleged assault on a member of the band during a performance at a function. Njemanze and Agamadu were said to have bought drinks for everyone to placate the aggrieved minds. Jegede, remained unappeased. He was said to have threatened Njemanze that ‘’I will kill you if this group breaks up’’. Members of the group later reached a compromise to reassemble the next day, April 7, 1955 to draw up a code of conduct for members. It was agreed that it would amount to an offence punishable by fine for any member to be rude to another. The code of conduct was never drawn because Njemanze never returned home from the meeting. He was killed and his body was found butchered on the rail tracks of Railway Line, Mushin in early hours of April 8, 1955. When detectives swung into action, their findings was revealing and shocking. A taxi driver who was hired by one of the murderers to convey Njemanze’s body to an unknown destination later gave a clue to the police on the matter.

Old Broad Street Prisons, Lagos, where the convicts were hanged

It was learnt that when news filtered that a man had been killed the taxi driver informed the police that while he was having a nap inside his cab in front of Lido Bar in Mosalashi area of Idi-Oro, Lagos on the immediate preceding day, a man tapped him on the shoulder and asked him if he could take his sick friend to the hospital. The driver agreed to the offer and both the hirer and himself drove off towards a street close to Railway Line, Mushin. The driver waited while the man left to consult with a group of men who stood some distance away. He said they came towards him and carried something that appeared to him like a human body. The driver became apprehensive as he sought to catch a glimpse of the ‘’sick friend ‘because it was dark. He eventually switched on his headlights and what he saw frightened him. The driver could not stand the sight of a man in sleeveless singlet and trousers whose body was soaked in blood. He quickly told the men that the blood would stain his car and drove off before they could give him any reply. The driver later reported the findings to the owner of the cab and then to the police. The following morning, two railway porters on duty at the Surulere level crossing were on a routine operation of the rail track. One of the porters walked faster towards the Mushin post to collect a signal lamp. As he moved along, he whistled on the lonely rugged path. A few metres into his movement, he stepped on strange objects that littered the tracks. He ran back to his colleague. He took a torchlight and moved closer to examine the strange objects, which turned out to be pieces of human body scattered on the rail tracks. The

THE PROSECUTION WITNESSES INCLUDED

NJEMANZE’S WIFE, JULIANA, WHO RECOUNTED HOW HER HUSBAND BADE HER AND THEIR SIX-

MONTH-OLD DAUGHTER GOODBYE ON

APRIL

7, 1955, AND NEVER RETURNED HOME rail iron linings and the ground were splattered with human blood. The men believed that a train had crushed somebody to death in the early hours of the day. The railway men returned to their post and phoned the railway police, Ebute-Metta. When the police visited the scene, detectives found a piece of paper soaked with blood. During their preliminary Investigation, it was later gathered that the dismembered body parts were those of Njemanze. Extensive investigations began and the trails discovered by the police led them to Ayetoro Street, Jacob Street near Mushin Railway Station and Adegbite Street, IdiOro, Mushin. It was a period when the detectives were at best with their work with the aid of police dogs. The police condoned off these areas and blood spots were traced to the entrance of a

house on Adegbite Street. About 16 men including the man who initially hired the taxi cab were arrested within three days. On April 25, 1955, the 16 suspects were brought before a Yaba Magistrate’s Court for preliminary inquiry into Njemanze’s murder. The lower court’s inquiry was concluded on May 23 while eight of the men were sent for trial at the Lagos High Court. At the high court, the trial of the eight suspects commenced before Justice John Benneth in September 1955. The prosecution witnesses included Njemanze’s wife, Juliana who recounted how her husband bade her and their six-month old daughter goodbye on April 7 and never returned home. She also testified that she saw the dismembered body of her husband at the Surulere level crossing on Good Friday. The pathologist who performed the autopsy said mutilation and dismemberment of Njemanze’s body was carried out after his death. He told the court that Njemanze was not killed by a moving train but by wounds sustained on the back of his left ear and on the front aside of his chest. During the trial, the court visited the railway spot where the body was found, Adegbite Street, Mushin and the places Njemanze visited on the night he was murdered. The prosecuting senior crown counsel, Charles Madarikan called 35 witnesses who testified against the accused persons and closed the prosecution’s case on September 26, while the defence closed its case on October 5, 1955. Most of the accused persons pleaded alibi. The prosecutor and the eight defence lawyers addressed the court on October 7. The prosecution maintained that Njemanze was killed at Adegbite Street, Mushin and his body was carried on a bicycle to the rail line where it was found as cover up. He therefore prayed the court that the evidence had shown that the accused men should be sentenced to death by hanging. The defence lawyers contended that the offence of murder had not been established against the accused men. In a judgement delivered on October 12, 1955, the jury found six of the accused men guilty and condemned them to death by hanging. Those condemned were Samuel Jegede, Peter Nwangwu, Cyril Anikwe, Michael Adeyemo, Lawal Dada and Dada Owolabi. When the convicts lodged an appeal at the West African Court of Appeal (WACA), only Lawal Dada’s appeal succeeded and he was freed by Justice de Comarmond. The remaining five others later faced the hangman’s noose at Broad Street prisons, Lagos.

Law & Justice

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Dangers of new National Health Act 2015 FEMI FALANA

WE WISH TO POINT OUT THAT THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HAS VIOLATED

ollowing the recent passage of the National Health Bill by the National Assembly President Goodluck Jonathan signed it into law a fortnight ago. The purport of the National Health Act, 2015 is to provide a comprehensive framework for the regulation, development and management of a national health system and set standard for rendering health services in the Federation. In view of the implications of the legislative intervention in the health care delivery system in the country we have deemed it fit to draw the attention of the Nigerian people to certain provisions of the Act. Before reviewing the said provisions it is pertinent to note that the fundamental right of Nigerians to health is guaranteed by Article 16 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 which provides as follows: 1. Every individual shall have the right to enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health. 2. States parties to the present Charter shall take the necessary measures to protect the health of their people and to ensure that they receive medical attention when they are sick. Over the years the Government abandoned the health sector to the extent that public hospitals became consulting clinics in the 1980s. They have since been reduced to mortuaries. In the circumstance, the few rich people in the society and top public functionaries fly abroad for medical check up and medical treatment. To the embarrassment of the nation many Nigerians are flown to India, Egypt and South Africa for medical treatment. Section 46 of the National Health Act which bars public officers from traveling overseas for medical examination and treatment permits the Minister of Health to grant a waiver in certain situations! Contrary to the reports in the media the Act has not significantly addressed the funding of health services and the upgrading of local medical facilities to meet international standards. On funding the Act has created a Health Provision Fund to which

Commercial Law WALE IGBINTADE

Lagos High Court will on February 10 commence hearing in a N100 million suit filed by an author, Odafe Atogun against Skye Bank Plc. The claimant, had through his lawyer, Pascal Ememonu accused the bank of negligence by paying 6,000 [six thousand Euros] meant for him to an impostor. The trial judge, Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile had adjourned the matter to allow Skye Bank open its defence.

THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF NIGERIANS TO LIFE, HUMAN DIGNITY,

PRIVACY AND FREEDOM OF THOUGHT Falana

the Federal Government shall contribute one percent from the consolidated revenue fund. Fifty percent of the fund shall be earmarked for the provision of basic minimum package of health services to citizens (See section 11 (3) of the Act). Although every citizen is entitled to a basic minimum package of health services (section 15) it is the Minister of Health who has the prerogative to prescribe the set of health services that will constitute the basic minimum package (section 64). In determining persons who may be entitled to exemption from payment for health services in public health establishments the Minister shall have regard to “the needs of vulnerable groups such as women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities.”(Section 3) however, the National Council on Health is under an obligation to “ensure that children between the ages of zero and five years and pregnant women are immunized with vaccines against infectious diseases”(section 5). A health care provider, health worker or health establishment shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason whatsoever (section 20). Having regard to the enormous costs of medical services the grant of one percent from the consolidated revenue of the Federal Government is inadequate for providing the so called basic minimum package of health services to the Nigerian people. The National Assembly is therefore called upon to amend the National Health Insurance Act to embrace all citizens with the provision of universal health coverage insurance scheme. In other words, the mandate of the NHIS should not be limited to workers alone. Apart from the above observations we wish to point out that the National Assem-

bly has violated the fundamental rights of Nigerians to life, human dignity, privacy and freedom of thought, conscience and religion by authorizing medical doctors to remove organs of living persons in Nigeria without their informed consent. In order to appreciate the extent of the infringements of the human rights of the Nigerian people sections 48 and 51 of the National Health Act, 2014 which have made elaborate provisions for organ transplantation, are hereby reproduced below: 48. (1) Subject to the provision of section 53, a person shall not remove tissue, blood or blood product from the body of another living person for any purpose except; (a) with the informed consent of the person from whom the tissue, blood or blood product is removed granted in prescribed manner; (b) That the consent clause may be waived for medical investigations and treatment in emergency cases; and (c) in accordance with prescribed protocols by the appropriate authority. (2) A person shall not remove tissue which is not replaceable by natural processes from a person younger than eighteen years. (3) A tissue, blood or a blood product shall not be removed from the body of another living persons for purpose of merchandise, sale, or commercial purposes. (4) A person who contravenes the provisions of this section or fails to comply therewith is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction as follows: (a) In the case of tissue, a fine of N1,000,000 or imprisonment of not less than two years or both; and (b) in the case of blood or blood products, a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a

term not exceeding one year or both. 51. (1) A person shall not remove tissue from a living person for transplantation in another living person or carry out the transplantation of such tissue except:(a) In a hospital authorised for that purpose; and (b) on the written authority of: (i) The medical practitioner in charge of clinical services in that hospital or any other medical practitioner authorised by him or her; or (ii) In the case where there is no medical practitioner in charge of the clinical services at that hospital a medical practitioner authorised thereto by the person in charge of the hospital. (2) The medical practitioner stated in subsection (1)(b) shall not be the lead participant in a transplant for which he has granted authorisation under that subsection. (3) For the purpose of transplantation, there shall be an independent tissue transplantation Committee within any health establishment that engages in the act and practice of transplantation as prescribed. Since all hospitals and other medical establishments have been mandated to admit and treat all persons in emergency situations the National Assembly have licensed medical personnel to engage in unauthorized surgical operations for the purpose of removing vital organs of living persons. Even though there are stringent penalties for commercializing any organs removed from any living person why should the consent of the donor be dispensed with? In other parts of the Third World where similar dangerous legislation exist organs removed from living or dead persons are sold and transported to western countries where they are in high demand. Indeed, we have confirmed that the offending sections 48 &51 of the Act were introduced to the Bill due to pressures from an influential foundation based in the United States. In view of the immorality and illegality of sections 48 & 51 of the Act we call on the National Assembly to repeal them without any delay. The status quo before the enactment of the law whereby a donor of an organ had to give his/her informed consent should be restored.

Falana, SAN delivered this paper at a press conference in Lagos recently.

Court hears N100m suit against Skye Bank Feb 10 The claimant in his statement of claim had alleged that on November 3, 2008 one Kelvin Fuller, who is the sales Executive of Hudson Killeen sent the sum of 6,000 to him through Western Union Money Transfer from Ireland and to be received in Abuja for the purpose of establishing a printing press in Nigeria. The claimant added that before sending the money Fuller filled a Western Union Money Transfer form which included questions on the city and country where the money is to be collected. The claimant added that Fuller, further disclosed to him, the

money transfer control number and the test questions and answers which would enable him collect the money from any bank operating Western Union Money Transfer in Abuja, only and nowhere else. However, since Nigerian banks do not offer Western Union Money Transfer to their customers after 4pm and the alleged 6,000 was sent at about 5.28pm Nigerian time, the claimant decided not to go to the bank on the day the money was sent. But, at about the few minutes past eight the next day, the claimant allegedly went to Ecobank Plc on Ademola Adetokun-

bo Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja to collect the money only to be told that the said money transfer control number may not exist or may have been used. The claimant alleged that after about two months of continuous enquiry, the Western Union Money Transfer office in Ireland discovered that the said money was paid out at 6.22pm Nigeria time on November 3, 2008, by the defendant’s branch office at 1, Forestry Road, Benin City, Nigeria to a wrong person who impersonated as the claimant. He accused the bank of negligence by paying the money to an

impostor at 6.22pm which was outside banking hours, a violation of regulatory guidelines by the Central Bank of Nigeria. But, the bank in its statement of defence contended that the high court of Lagos State lacks the jurisdiction and competence to adjudicate on the suit being a claim arising from money transfer agreement between one Kevin Fuller and Western Union in the Republic of Ireland. The bank said that it was not indebted to the claimant for general or special damages as alleged. The bank also prayed the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Suspected killer on trial for wrongful execution case

Chinese President, Xi Jinping

ing him in December on grounds of “insufficient evidence”. It said in an online post that his parents would receive more than two million yuan ($330,000) in compensation. Acquittals in China’s Communist controlled court system are extremely rare 99.93 percent of defendants in criminal cases were found guilty 2013, according to official statistics. The use of force to extract confessions remains widespread in the country and defendants often do not have effective defence in criminal trials, leading to regular miscarriages of justice. China has occasionally exonerated wrongfully executed convicts after others came forward to confess their crimes, or in some cases because the supposed murder victim was later found alive. But the Communist Party is attempting to reduce public anger over injustices by lessening the influence of local officials over some court cases, and reversing verdicts in some high-profile cases.

THE HAGUE he International Criminal Court (ICC) expresses its deep regret at the reported abduction and violent death of Mr Meshack Yebei. Mr Yebei was allegedly abducted on 28 December 2014 and found dead on 2 January 2015. Mr Yebei was not on the Prosecution witness list nor was he in contact with Prosecution staff at the time of his abduction. A statement on the site of ICC says “while local authorities are conducting further examination, the family of Mr Yebei has

confirmed the identity of his body. We express our profound condolences to the family”, stated Herman von Hebel, ICC Registrar. “The Court is profoundly concerned by this grave reported incident. It stands

ready to provide the local authorities with any assistance, if required, in their investigations. Ensuring the safety and security of witnesses is a cornerstone of fair trials”, he added. While the ICC Registry had offered Mr Yebei se-

ICC President, Sang-Hyun Song

curity measures, including a safe residency in a new location, he returned to Eldoret where the incident reportedly took place. The ICC Registry is in contact with Kenyan authorities, seeking further information on the investigative steps taken at the national level. The ICC remains strongly committed to the safety, security and well-being of all witnesses and relies on cooperation from States parties for the adequate protection of witnesses. Currently, more than 650 witnesses, victims and families’ members are provided with protective measures by the Court.

Syrian actress in court over accusation of infidelity DUBAI

Prime Minister, UAE, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al_Maktoum

36-year-old Syrian actress, Dima Bayaa has appeared in a Dubai courtroom for allegedly accusing another actress of sleeping with her husband and destroying her marriage. The case was brought by another Syrian actress, Nesreen Tafesh, 32, who starred in Assarab and Banat Alayla and also appeared in the first episode of Sabaya. The man at the centre of the love triangle is Bayaa’s former husband, Taim

Hasan, 38, Syrian star of TV epics such as Conflict on the Sand. The couple, who have two children, were divorced last year after 10 years of marriage. In comments published online, Bayaa said Tafesh was “the head of the snake” and accused her of being responsible for the breakup of her marriage. Bayaa said she had taken Tafesh into their marital home as a friend, but Tafesh had taken advantage of their friendship by having a sexual relationship with

her husband. The actress denied a charge of issuing insults. Tafesh was not in court and the case was adjourned until January 25. But there was further drama in the courtroom as Bayaa stood before the panel of judges, when police noticed a man raising his phone in a suspicious manner and suspected he might be recording the hearing. He was taken away but no recordings were found on his phone.

Residency visas: Dubai court jails man for offering Dh10, 000 bribe

man who offered a residency officer Dh10, 000 to overlook violations in residency applications he was filing has been jailed for three years. A report by ABC News says that Indian AN, 42, was renewing seven residency visas on May 5 last year and one of the people concerned

had overstayed by 356 days, accruing fines totalling Dh7,980. He then offered Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department officer KM the cash in return for cancelling the fines on one of the visas and for renewing the other six, despite the fact that they were all missing important documents.

Residency officer KM, 27, confirmed the accusations against AN, adding that four of the applications were for a family. The Emirati told his supervisors at the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs about the bribe and he was advised to play along with the Indian applicant.

On May 12, KM met with the defendant as agreed and received the bribe while police were watching. The Indian was then arrested. He denied the accusations at Dubai Criminal Court last September but was convicted and sentenced to three years and deportation.

I was nervous –Sangodara

Kenya: ICC expresses concern over murder of witness

BEIJING man who confessed to murdering a woman in China 18 years ago went on trial last week, three weeks after a court cleared a teenager who was wrongfully executed for the crime. According to AFP, the Intermediate People’s Court in Hohhot, the capital of China’s northern Inner Mongolia region, opened the proceedings against Zhao Zhihong and is expected to announce a verdict this week. The case which has highlighted the shortcomings in China’s Communist Partycontrolled legal system centres on the rape and choking to death of a woman in the toilet of a Hohhot textile factory in 1996. Soon after the incident, an 18-year-old named Hugjiltu was interrogated for 48 hours, after which he confessed to the crime. He was convicted, sentenced and executed for the crime 61 days after the woman was killed. However, Hugjiltu’s family tried for years to prove his innocence. In 2005 Zhao was apprehended by authorities and confessed to more than a dozen rapes and murders, including the 1996 case, but the killing was not among nine for which he was tried the following year. That court has not issued a verdict in the case, and Zhao has been under detention ever since. Late last year the Hohhot court officially began a retrial of Hugjiltu, clear-

Law & Justice

Monday, January 12, 2015

y first solo appearance was before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Lagos High Court. My Principal, Mr. Abayomi Bisuga instructed me to appear for a judgment that our client happens to be a party. When I got to court, I had thought I would just sit down, listen to the judgment being read and further urge

the court registrar to make available CTC copy of the judgment. It was later that I learnt that I have to announce my appearance, raise some issues and also re-adopt our final written address. I was nervous as it was my first appearance before a judge and I happened to be the only female and youngest lawyer in the court room

that day but I got encouraged by the judge who was patient with me and other senior counsel in court there. Lawyers in court and the court registrars even laughed at my nervousness. The Judge really encouraged him and I got my confidence restored. The experience was quite encouraging and further boosts my confidence.

Funmilayo Sangodara

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Community Mirror The campaign has so far been exhilarating. If you have followed it closely, you would discover that it is Mr. President’s essential nature that has made the campaign not to degenerate into abuses FORMER GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA STATE –PETER OBI

Police vow to smash resurging ‘one chance’ robbery DARE AKOGUN

agos State Police Command has stated its resolve to tackle crime in the state and ensure safe movement of residents within the metropolis. Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Kenneth Nwosu, disclosed over the increasing case of ‘one chance’ robbery in the

state, saying the police were not relenting in their efforts to smash the gangs. Nwosu said, “Incidences of ‘one chance’ has drastically reduced, but we are not relenting in smashing the gangs completely.” He stated that the suspects were usually arrested and valuables were returned to the owners whenever people made reports.

“Last year, we arrested a lot of suspects along Mile 2 and recovered some firearms, even the people that were robbed came back to claim their valuables. “Along Ojo road, we have also been able to smash the gangs there, it used to be endemic on that corridor, but right now the area has been made safe and we are building on that,” he said. The PPRO also said that

members of the public should not hesitate to make reports so that the police could act fast on their reports. According to him, “the police is moving forward and we will keep smashing them wherever we find them. “We also encourage members of the public to bring to our notice areas they know these things happen.

“Now, we have increased our surveillance teams to move round and ensure that all these areas and the whole of Lagos State is cleared of these ‘one chance’ gangs,” he said. Nwosu added that the command had not given up on making Lagos State crime-free and encouraged residents to always avail the police with credible intelligence report to work on.

‘One chance’ robbery is usually carried out in commercial buses while the vehicle is on motion after unsuspecting commuters have boarded and hoping to reach their destination safely. The victims are usually robbed of their valuables and pushed out of the moving bus, and in most cases severe injuries are inflicted on them by the robbers.

Ajimobi visits burnt Ibadan market, pledges to assist victims

Tomato-laden truck involved in an accident on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at the weekend.

PHOTO: NAN

Police restate commitment to free Lagos roads of gridlock DARE AKOGUN

agos State Police Command has restated its commitment to free Lagos roads of gridlocks to prevent commuters and motorists from traffic robberies. Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Kenneth Nwosu, stated that this would make movement by Lagos residents safer and smoother. According to him, “Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, is very passionate about ensuring that movement of people from point A to B in Lagos State is made

smoother and safer. “To this end, he has directed all Area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers to ensure that all their traffic officers and other personnel are on the road. “This is especially during the peak hours, very early in the morning between 5am and 10am and between 4pm and 10pm to ensure the roads are kept moving,” he said. “Above all, we also noticed that hoodlums cash in on the gridlocks to rob motorists and commuters of their valuables. “Because of this, it is the duty of our men to check the hoodlums by

increasing patrol on these corridors where we have the gridlocks to reduce harassment of commuters and motorists,” he added. It would be recalled that Kayode Aderanti had said the police made it a priority to unlock Lagos gridlock to make residents safe. Nwosu disclosed that policemen were still being trained in traffic control but they were usually at places where the traffic lights were not working or where the gridlock is heavy. “The idea is to ensure that Lagos moves; everybody should be involved. We have a traffic warden school at Mobolaji

Bank-Anthony, Ikeja, where policemen and women are trained in the art of controlling traffic. “When you move around Lagos where the traffic light isn’t working or where there are traffic build up, the traffic warden helps to unlock the traffic manually. “Traffic men and conventional policemen are on the road, it’s a comprehensive thing. We don’t try to limit it to a particular section,” Nwosu said. He assured residents of the state that the command was dedicated to protecting lives and property and that it would not relent.

overnor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has pledged his administration’s readiness to assist victims of the fire that gutted Araromi Iron Rod Market on Friday. The governor made the pledge at the weekend while on assessment tour of the burnt market at Agodi Gate, Ibadan. Although, he said the source of the fire was yet to be established, the government would give some amount to affected iron rod dealers to cushion the effect of the inferno. He also advised the dealers to imbibe safety

culture and fire precautionary measures by ensuring that all electrical appliances were switched off after close of work. While expressing sadness over the devastating fire incident, the governor enjoined traders in all markets across the state to seek the services of insurance firms so that they could promptly come to their aid in cases like this. The fire disaster, which occurred on Friday, destroyed several iron rod shops, gas cylinder shops as well as a mosque located within the market.

Group tasks Kogi govt to enforce law on masquerades WALE IBRAHIM

flouted government’s order.

Mamman said it is obvious the state government was lackadaisical in complying with enforcement of the ban on outing of masquerades. According to him, “how do we explain that for some time now masquerades are on the streets in every part of Ebiraland to celebrate their member’s delivery of babies or Sallah festivals and Christmas despite the law banning outing of masquerades in Ebiraland, and without law enforcement agents doing something about it?”

LOKOJA

orried by civil disturbances of unnecessary masquerade outing in Ebiraland, the Ebira Youth Congress has urged the state government to enforce its law banning masquerades in the area. President- General of Ebira Youth Congress, Sheik Adai Mamman, who made this call while speaking at the 12th edition of the annual summit at the weekend, stated that the situation is becoming unbearable when masquerades

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

World News

We need to work more closely with Internet companies to guarantee the reporting and if possible removal of all content that amounts to an apology of terrorism or calls for violence and hatred –FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, BERNARD CAZENEUVE

PAUL ARHEWE

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

ore than 40 world leaders, their arms linked, marched through Paris yesterday to rally for unity and freedom of expression and to honour 17 victims of three days of terrorist attacks. The leaders were heading a demonstration of at least tens of thousands of people who converged on the capital after three gunmen attacked a newspaper office, kosher supermarket and police. Deafening applause rang out over the square as the leaders walked past, amid tight security and an atmosphere of togetherness amid adversity. Families of the victims, many weeping and embracing, were also at the front of the march along with the world leaders, including French President Francois Hollande, top representatives of Russia and Ukraine, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The aftermath of the attacks remained raw, with video emerging of one of the gun-

World leaders honour Paris terror victims

L-R European Commission President European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, French President Francois Hollande, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi as they attend the solidarity march

men killed during police raids pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group and detailing how the attacks were going to unfold. Also, a new shooting was linked to that gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, who was killed Friday along with the brothers behind a massacre

at satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in nearly simultaneous raids by security forces. “Today, Paris is the capital of the world,” said French President Francois Hollande . “Our entire country will rise up toward something better.” Rallies were also planned in

London, Madrid and New York — all attacked by al-Qaidalinked extremists — as well as Cairo, Sydney, Stockholm, Tokyo and elsewhere. “We are all Charlie, we are all police, we are all Jews of France,” Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared on Saturday.

Mali President names new govt ahead of peace talks

ali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has approved a new government, the third since he took power less than two years ago, ahead of fresh peace talks with separatists in the troubled north of the vast West African nation. Mali is still recovering from a period of heavy turbulence following an incursion by al Qaeda-linked Islamists in 2012 into the desert north. The incursion prompted a French military intervention in the following year. Despite Keita’s pledges to create a strong, united Mali,

Islamist militants continue to carry out sporadic attacks in the north -- a region also claimed by mostly armed Tuareg separatist groups. In his decree, issued late on Saturday, Keita appointed Tieman Hubert Coulibaly, who served in Keita’s first government, as defence minister. It also named Mamadou Igor Diarra as economy and finance minister. There was no change at the key foreign affairs and mines ministries. The decree comes after Keita last Thursday named Modiba Keita, who is not a relation of

Firebombing at German paper that ran Charlie Hebdo cartoons

German tabloid that reprinted cartoons from the French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo lampooning the Prophet Mohammed was targeted in firebombing yesterday, police said. With security services on high alert after a killing spree in Paris by Islamic extremists, police in the northern German

port city of Hamburg said no one was injured in the blaze at the headquarters of the regional daily Hamburger Morgenpost, which caused only slight damage. “Rocks and then a burning object were thrown through the window,” a police spokesman

WORLD BULLETIN

Kenyan pastor shot dead during church attack A pastor was gunned down in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa when unknown gunmen struck during a church service on Sunday in a neighbourhood hit by several attacks in recent months. The shooting took place in Majengo, a crowded and impoverished area mainly inhabited by Muslims, and scene of frequent clashes between Kenyan police and radical youths. They have battled over crackdowns on mosques in the area believed to be recruiting and training young people to join Islamist militants al Shabaab in Somalia. Witnesses said the two attackers at the Maximum Revival ministries church sneaked into the compound through a sidegate, avoiding two armed policemen who were manning the main gate.

ISIS kills 24 Kurds during surprise attack in Iraq Islamic State militants have killed at least 24 members of the Kurdish security forces in a surprise attack in northern Iraq, Kurdish officials said, in one of the deadliest single battles for the Kurds since last summer. Three Kurdish officers reported continued clashes with Islamic State on Sunday, one day after the deaths, near Gwer, a town some 40km (25 miles) southwest of the autonomous Kurdish region’s capital Arbil. Kurdish-controlled Gwer is likely to be a launch-pad for any future attempt by Iraqi and Kurdish forces to retake Mosul, the biggest city in northern Iraq which Islamic State seized last June.

Indonesia finds AirAsia fuselage, zero in on black box

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita attends a ceremony marking Mali’s 54th Independence Day in Bamako, recently.

the president, as Mali’s new prime minister. Last year, Modiba Keita headed the government delegation in negotiations with

told a news agency. “Two rooms on lower floors were damaged but the fire was put out quickly.” The Hamburger Morgenpost, known locally as the MOPO, had splashed the Charlie Hebdo cartoons on its front page after the massacre at the Paris publica-

the northern separatists. His main challenge now will be the launch of fresh peace talks with the separatists set for later this month in Algiers.

tion, running the headline “This much freedom must be possible!” Police said the attack had occurred at about 0120 GMT and that two young men seen acting suspiciously near the scene were detained. State security has opened an investigation, a spokesman added.

Indonesian search teams believe they have found the fuselage of an AirAsia airliner that crashed in the Java Sea two weeks ago, and divers hope calmer waters today will allow them to retrieve the black box flight recorders. Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather on Dec. 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. None of the 162 people on the aircraft survived. Searchers have also been hearing pings, believed to be from the aircraft’s two black boxes near where the tail of the Airbus A320-200 aircraft tail was raised on Saturday. Supriyadi, operations coordinator for the National Search and Rescue Agency, said on Sunday a sonar scan had revealed an object measuring 10 meters by four meters by 2.5 meters on the sea floor.

Politics

Monday, January 12, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Hack allegation: DSS lied –APC • Says Data Centre staff were tortured, dehumanised OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

ll Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday said the Department of State Services, DSS, was economical with the truth in its report that APC had an articulated plan to inflate its membership data as well as hack into Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s voter registration database through the creation of party membership forms and cards to match INEC’s voters register across the country. Addressing a press conference yesterday at its Data Centre in Lagos, APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the DSS report on the invasion of the party’s data centre was bunkum, garbage and does not worth the paper on

which it was written. The DSS during a press conference addressed by its spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, in Abuja last Wednesday alleged the APC of an elaborate plot to hack into INEC’s voters’ registration data base, multiple registration of party members and alleged registration of Armed Fo rc e s / p a r a m i l i t a r y personnel and babies to inflate its membership. Reacting to the DSS claims, Mohammed said its ‘findings’ cannot stand a serious scrutiny by independent investigators, because the DSS worked backwards, from answer to question, in an effort to reach a pre-determined conclusion. He also has accused the Goodluck Jonathan administration of planning to postpone the February general election, saying:

“We will like to tell all Nigerians that the crap called ‘findings’ is part of the ongoing efforts by the Jonathan administration to postpone next month’s general elections. Having seen the handwriting on the wall vis-a-vis the growing rejection of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, by Nigerians, the Jonathan administration has gone into a panic mode, while embarking on a plan to postpone the elections. “Apparently, the thinking at the DSS, which is working in cahoots with tPDP, is that its report that APC plans to hack into INEC’s voters’ registration data base will raise doubts about the integrity of the voter’s register to be used for the forthcoming polls, and subsequently force a postponement of the elections since the existing register cannot be used for

the polls. “Unfortunately for DSS and the PDP, this thinking was based on a wrong premise, and it has backfired. “As we have said, the overall motive of the raid of our offices and the socalled findings is to give the impression that INEC voters’ register has been corrupted; hence cannot be used for next month’s elections. Now, a more specific question: Why did the DSS break into the APC Data Centre at the time it did? “It is no coincidence that the DSS raided the APC Data Centre on November 22, 2014, exactly one week before the start of the PVC distribution exercise on November 28. “The reason the DSS came to vandalize our Data Centre is because the Service is working hand-

Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, gubernatorial candidate in Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, with supporters at the flag-off of PDP campaign in Lagos, recently. PHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

You’re enemy of progress, Lagos PDP tells Lai Mohammed EBERE NDUKWU

agos State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said that the National Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress, APC, Lai Mohammed’s description of President Goodluck Jonathan as hypocrite, on railway revival and love for the South West, means that he is an inveterate liar, anarchist and enemy of progress, who has exposed his unwarranted hatred for Presi-

dent Jonathan. In a press statement made available to National Mirror, Lagos State PDP publicity secretary, Taofik Gani, described Mohammed as suffering from disillusionment , saying that by peddling falsehood and propaganda, Mohammed has consequently reduced the seemingly relevance of APC, especially in the South-West. Mohammed was reported to have described President Jonathan as hypocritical by reviving

the railways and love for the South West whereas the president has allegedly frustrated a purported Lagos rail project. Declaring that Jonathan is the best friend of South West in the last four years, having developed, promoted and empowered the region, Gani said: “We know that the APC is a cheap blackmailer. President Jonathan has not refused approval for any Lagos project. In fact, the President has even been physically present

at the commissioning of inexpedient developmental project like the Eko Atlantic project. It is on record that the revived railways is now the pride of the APC governors in the South West, who are always quick to employ it’s free services to convey their states indigenes during festive periods. They ought to be very grateful to President Jonathan and adopt him to continue in office, but rather the APC attempts to twist obvious facts and thereby further reduce its reputation.”

in-hand with the PDP. They carried out the raids to know our party’s strength in terms of membership. Please note that after the raids, many of our registered members could not find their names on the list when they went to collect their PVCs. This is not a mere coincidence.” Debunking DSS’ allegation of APC hacking INEC’s database as false, Mohammed said that the fact that the DSS made the claim at all shows that it does not understand the concept of hacking, which is pathetic for a primary intelligence agency of its stature. He said: “We are not aware that INEC has made a complaint of anyone or group trying to hack into its system. The DSS ‘findings’ are baseless as INEC’S database is a reflection of the registered members with the Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs. Please note that at the time of the DSS’ raids, the PVCs had already been printed. Therefore, of what value would it be to hack into the system and input more names? “Simply put, it is not possible for the APC to hack into INEC Data Base for the following reasons: INEC’s database is not online, how then is it possible for anyone to hack into it? To prevent virus intrusion, there is no internet service at APC Data Centre that was raided. Therefore it is not possible to hack into INEC’s database. “The DSS has claimed that hacking tutorials were discovered on an external hard drive. This is a lie! All the USB ports on the pc systems in the office were disabled to prevent virus intrusion. Therefore, the use of external hard drives is not allowed at the APC Data Centre. If this is so, how is it possible for an external hard drive containing these so-called hacking materials to be found on the premises of the APC Data Office? “Please note that the work stations at our various data registration centres in the country are manned by unemployed youths with just basic computer knowledge. The question to ask is: Would the party have employed these people if the intent were to hack into INEC’s Data Base or

employed gurus in the IT world? “It is clear that the DSS purchased a hard drive and downloaded the information themselves from the Internet. After all, the DSS, by virtue of its duties, should be the hacking experts, hence hacking tutorials will be part of their staff induction training,” he said. On allegation of multiple registrations of APC members, the party spokesman said that after the first visit of the DSS, it was clear to all Nigerians that its claim that APC was cloning PVCs could not be sustained and that explain why they could not display single cloned PVC. “During the second raid carried out by the DSS on the same APC Data Centre, the security personnel carted away bags of unused membership registration forms. These are the forms to which they have fraudulently attached pictures of babies and military personnel in order to implicate the APC. “Or what on earth was the purpose of the DSS carting away blank APC membership registration forms? Why did it take the DSS almost 50 days to reveal this information? If it were true, won’t they have released the information to the general public immediately? Has the DSS hired any renowned IT organization to attest to its ‘findings’? Can you be an accuser and a judge at the same time?” He said the action of the DSS was a contravention of the UN Convention Against Torture to which Nigeria is a signatory and it is also a violation of the citizens’ fundamental human rights, adding: “The DSS shackled the hands and legs of those arrested and blindfolded them while they were being taken to Abuja; the arrested persons remained in chains even at the dark detention cell where they were made to sleep on the bare floor for the 10 days they were detained illegally. “The workers had guns pointed at their heads by DSS personnel who threatened to shoot them. A pregnant woman among those who were arrested was denied access to her drugs even when she started bleeding due to the torture to which she was subjected by the DSS.” Some of those arrested and tortured by the DSS, also narrated their ordeal in the hands of the DSS during the press conference.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

North

Monday, January 12, 2015

NANS warns Shekarau against financing illegal faction A ZA MSUE KADUNA

ational Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has warned the Education Minister, Ibrahim Shekarau, to stop financing an illegal faction headed by Ali Wali, who is calling for mass protest nation-wide. In a statement signed

by NANS zone ‘A’ Public Relations Officer, Comrade Ado Shehu, the association called on law-abiding Nigerian students to disregard any call for a mass protest ahead of the February general elections and insecurity ravaging the nation, stressing that the association would not support any mass protest that would trigger unrest in any part

of the country. NANS warned its members to stop allowing themselves be used by politicians to attack opponents as the polls draw nearer. The statement further faulted the verbal attack of factional NANS President, Ali Wali, on Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, over corruption charges against his two sons by

the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. The statement reads in part: “The attention of the National Association of Nigerian Students has been drawn to a publication by so-called illegal faction of the association, claiming to be duly elected after withdrawing from contest in Asaba, Delta State

capital. One Ali Wali, who withdrew from the contest, is parading himself as the elected president. “It is regrettable to note that the Honourable Minister of Education is backing and financing an illegal faction of NANS for some unknown reasons. We urge the Minister to call these impersonators to order. “It is worth mentioning

that the platform of NANS should not be used by politicians to settle grudges. If any politician has a case with Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State, he should face him bravely and settle the scores elsewhere. The NANS leadership is bitterly disappointed with Wali’s utterances against the governor of Jigawa State.”

Inter-faith panel wades into church demolition controversy JAMES DANJUMA KATSINA

Crowd at PDP rally in Buji Local Government Area of Jigawa State, yesterday.

50,000 teachers promoted in Niger PRISCILLA DENNIS MINNA

iger State government has promoted 50,000 primary school teachers in the 25 local government areas of the state. The state also said it committed over N10 billion in the last seven and a half years to provide infrastructure to aid learning and teaching in the state. The promotion letters were issued to the teachers

with a promise by the state government that all beneficiaries would get theirs before February’s end. While in Paikoro Local Government, the duly promoted teachers have received their letters, costing the state over N13.6 million, letters of teachers in Shiroro, Tafa, Rafi, Rijau, Bosso and Chanchaga councils are almost ready for collection. It was learnt that some teachers would enjoy double or triple promotions de-

pending on how long they have stayed on a grade level. According to the Executive Chairman of the state Universal Basic Education Board, Mohammed Uba Hassan, in Minna, the names of those promoted have been sent to Ministry of Finance for inclusion in its database for immediate payment of salaries. Hassan also noted that the state government has commenced payment of pensions, gratuities and other entitlements of re-

tired teachers, which he said would be completed before February ending. The executive secretary further revealed that over 4,000 classrooms have been constructed and about 450 renovated, all equipped with teachers’ furniture and teaching aids. He said Niger was prepared to play its constitutional role to the hilt in various sectors of the state, and solicited the cooperation of the teachers in this regard.

atsina State Interfaith Committee at the weekend moved to douse tension over reported plan to demolish a church in Matazu council area of the state. It would be recalled that officials of the Evangelical Church of West Africa, ECWA, had raised the alarm over purported plan by the state’s Urban and Regional Planning Development Authority, KURPDA, to demolish part of the church’s fence. While some reports indicated KURPDA was out to demolish the church building, the bone of contention in part was the erected fence that blocked a pathway used as thoroughfare. The church established in 1937, had for decades had community members using the pathway, which cut across the middle of its compound that housed a school and staff quarters. But the church closed the pathway by erecting fence and gates on both sides of property to regulate thoroughfare, citing cases of theft, attempted rape and

Dankwambo woos support for re-election DANJUMA WILLIAMS GOMBE

overnor Ibrahim Dankwambo has promised to prioritise the development of education and infrastructure in Gombe State if given another four-year mandate in the forthcoming elections. He told journalists in an interview, “It will be a

continuous development of what the administration had started in its first term, but focusing more in education and infrastructure.” According to him, “we all collectively have to come together and agree on how to move Gombe forward in the next four years. We have a documented plan but it is subject to the agreement of

people in the state before (it can be) implemented.” The governor maintained that the education sector has remained among the administration’s first three priorities since he assumed office in 2011. On the government’s preparation to ensure peaceful election, Dankwambo stated that his administration has started

sensitising the public on the need for peaceful conduct of the elections. He said: “Elections will come and go but our togetherness as a people - you and your neighbour, you and your colleague, you and your brother - will continue.” He assured that the government would do its best to provide adequate security to ensure peace-

Dakwambo

ful transition of power following the polls.

Oritsejafor

harassment of its students as among its reasons. But officials of KURPDA gave them a three-day notice to bring down the fence or risk sanctions, which triggered reactions from the Christian community, with Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, condemning the demolition plan. However, over the weekend, the inter-faith committee visited the council area and met with representatives of the church and Muslim community leaders. They used the opportunity to debunk reports that the church had been slated for demolition, and to reiterate on the importance of living in peace by members of both religions. The committee chairman, Alhaji Isah Dodo, said investigation revealed that the church did not take permission from the authorities before fencing the area in question. Dodo said the committee would make recommendations to the state government on its findings but that government would have final say on the issue. Leader of the church, Rev. Audu Bakwai, said the fence was erected for security reason, but assured that they had been living peacefully with Muslims in the area devoid of conflict.

Monday, January 12, 2015

CHANGE OF NAME

Formerly known and address as Miss Odufuwa Abiola Olayinka, now wish to be known and address as Mrs Adeniran Abiola Olayinka. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

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IHEANACHO: Formerly known and addressed as Miss Iheanacho Judy Ugochi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Hapuruchi Judy Ugochi. All former documents remain valid. United Bank For Africa (UBA) Plc and the general public please take note.

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This is to confirm that Seweje Yomoluwa is the same one person as Seweje Yomoluwa Omolara,that henceforth wish to be called and addressed as Seweje Yomoluwa Omolara. All former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public should please take note.

C0NFIRMATION OF NAME

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C0NFIRMATION OF NAME

This is to confirm that Ojebowale Abosede is the same one person as Ojebowale Abosede Boluwatife,that henceforth wish to be addressed and called as Ojebowale Abosede Boluwatife. All former documents remain valid, Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE

THE BIBLE COVENANT ETERNAL HOPE MINISTRY

This is to inform the general public that the above named organization applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for Registration under part “C” of the companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE:

1. Apostle Michael Asuqwo Ekpot 2. Pastor (Mrs.) Ruth Ekpot Michael 3. Mr. David Usen Bassey 4. Deaconess Mary Bassey Effiong 5. Mrs. Inyang Etim Bassey AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1. Propagation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2. To win souls 3. To help the needy and the under privileged in the Society. 4. To train pastors and to send missionaries to other lands for the propagation of the gospel. 5. To plant Churches and establish several Christian worship centres in Nigeria. 6. To hold crusades, seminars, retreats and revivals in cities, town centres and rural areas. Any objection to the above registration should be forwarded to the Registrar General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within twenty eight (28) days of this publication.

SIGNED: APOSTLE MICHAEL ASUQWO EKPOT -CHAIRMAN

CHANGE OF NAME

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This is to confirm that Afisu Monsurat is the same one person as Afisu Monsurat Oyewumi, that henceforth wish to be known and addressed as Afisu Monsurat Oyewumi. All former documents remain valid. Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public should please take note .

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PUBLIC NOTICE

THE KING’S HONOURABLE WOMEN FELLOWSHIP

The general public is hereby notified that the above named Fellowship has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under Part ‘C’ of the Company and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1.Jokori -James Juliet Belight 2.Joy Okoah 3. Sandra Timiendu Dandyson 4.Assor Peculiar .E. 5.Biyai Garricks

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE:

- President - Treasurer - Secretary - Member - Member

1. To create an enabling environment for fellowship and learning for christian women. 2. To enhance and build dedicated women to God. 3. To equip the christian women to be able to stand up to her role in building her home, church and the society.

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C0NFIRMATION OF NAME

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2X2 ADVERT SPACE FOR SALE

PUBLIC NOTICE

JOHN OMALE FOUNDATION

This is to notify the general public that the above named initiative has applied for registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja under Part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2004.

THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. Omale John Enemona 2. Blessing Ohioma Omale 3. Mike Ojonugwa Ameh 4. Omale Ojoachenwu James.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: Organise Workshops, Seminar, Create awareness among Nigerians about empowerment on Self Sustenance and Independence.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420 Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, Abuja, within 28 days of this publication.

Any objection to the registration of the above named Church should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, Plot 420, Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, P.M.B 198, Maitama Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: JOKORI-JAMES JULIET BELIGHT (PRESIDENT)

SIGNED: SECRETARY

Monday, January 12, 2015

I am not bothered that South Africa are in a difficult group. Surely, the Bafana can shock the giants

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sport

Federer chalks up ‘millennium’ victory 54

–FORMER SOUTH AFRICA INTERNATIONAL, AARON MOKOENA

Siasia warns as U-23 team resumes camp

xcept the foreign-based players, all the other invited players have arrived in the Febson Hotel camp of the U-23 National Team in Abuja, alongside the team’s technical crew led by Chief

Coach, Samson Siasia. Siasia who addressed the Dream Team VI players after dinner yesterday, told them to brace up for the challenge of training daily as the task ahead of them is enormous.

He reminded them that not all of them will make the final team as only 25 players will eventually be selected, but added that all of them will be given equal opportunity to show what they can bring to the team.

Siasia warned the players to obey all the camp rules as is written in the team’s code of conduct which the secretary of the team will give to them, adding that they were not given any of such rules earlier because

they were merely undergoing screening. The team will have its first training session this morning at the Abuja National Stadium, according to its Media Officer, Timi Ebikagboro.

Egwuekwe and his team mates listening to Coach Daniel Amokachi during their training in Abu Dhabi before last night’s match the Eagles lost 1-0 to Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire

Wolves frustrate, block my Europe move –Egwuekwe

•Elephants beat Eagles 1-0 in Abu Dhabi

JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

s the January transfer window bubbles, Warri Wolves defender, Azubuike Egwuekwe, has expressed displeasure over his continuing inability to move to Europe after several clubs reportedly made enquiries about his availability. Egwuekwe, who is among the home-based Super Eagles

team that lost 1-0 in an international friendly match with Cote d’Ivoire yesterday in Abu Dhabi, spoke to National Mirror in Abuja before the team departed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He told our correspondent that previous efforts made by his agent to transfer his professional career outside Nigeria were stalled by the management of Warri Wolves.

The Wolves captain had declared at the end of 2013/2014 Nigeria Professional Football League season of his resolve not to remain with any Nigerian club in the last 2014/15 season. But one year after, the tallish defender whose expectation appeared to have been cut short bemoaned, “I experienced disappointment last season by the time that I was supposed to move.”

Asked to explain the type of disappointment, the Super Eagles defender said, “Of course if you are playing in a club like Warri Wolves, once you want to go to Europe they will start struggling with you. It’s not as if they don’t want you to go to Europe, but they would like to show their self but this season they have assured me that any offer that comes to me from Europe they will allow me to go and of

course am getting offers. “Right now, I have offers from England and Russia. Although I want to start in Bundesliga, but any good place that comes for me, I will go.” Meanwhile, with the homebased Eagles 1-0 defeat last night, Egwuekwe and his colleagues will have another opportunity to redeem their image, when they face Sudan’s Falcons of Jediane in Dubai on July 17.

Sports

Monday, January 12, 2015

Lampard explains Man City stay-back

ew York City loaoanee, Frank Lamampard, insists his is priority was always to o join the MLS side and not prolong his career in England with current side Manchester City. The Chelsea icon was unveiled as a New York City player last year, but it was recently revealed that he had not actually signed his contract with the club, allowing him to stay on at parent club Manchester City until the end of the current season, having joined the Citizens to keep up his fitness until the start of the MLS season in March. “It was 100 percent New York,” Lampard said yesterday. “There was no mention of Man City. If they had wanted to speak to me on behalf of Man City, with New York in the pipeline beyond that, they could have done that, because I was a free agent, but that was never the question at all.’’ Many MLS fans have now been left in the lurch, buying tickets and merchandise with the expectation of the former England international arriving for the start of their campaign. “What I want to say to the New York people is that, yes, my start is going to be delayed by two or three months,” he explained. “But when I get there, I’m going to give everything, as I’ve given at Man City, as I’ve given at Chelsea before. I want to win.” “Chelsea were fantastic with me. They’ve said about me maybe going back there in the future. That is probably where I see myself going long-term, but right now I’m at Man City and from July I will be 100 per cent a New York player.”

Federer

chalks up ‘millennium’ victory W orld number two, Roger Federer, defeated Milos Raonic in the Brisbane International final yesterday to record his 1,000th career victory. The 17-time major winner secured his 83rd title after taking advantage of Raonic’s first double fault to seal a 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 win in Australia. Federer seized on some nervy serving from Raonic to secure a break in the first set and appeared to be cruising to victory when he broke again in the opening game of the second. But the Canadian refused to be brushed aside and broke back in the fourth game before dominating the tie-breaker, winning the last seven points to level the match at 1-1.

“It’s a special moment, no doubt about that,” Federer said. “I’ve played a lot of tennis over the years, so to get to 1,000 wins means a lot to me and I will never forget this match. “It feels very different to any other match I’ve ever won, because I never thought about anything reaching 500 or 800. “All those numbers didn’t mean anything to me, but for some reason 1,000 means a lot because it’s such a huge number. Just alone to count to 1,000 is going to take a while.” Only retired greats Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071) have won more than 1,000 matches on the men’s tour - while it is also the 15th consecutive year that Federer has won an ATP tour title, breaking Lendl’s record of 14.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Ibile Games 2015: Registration closes Friday AFOLABI GAMBARI

he Main Organising Committee (MOC) of Lagos State Secondary Schools Sports Festival tagged (Ibile Games 2015) yesterday said that the ongoing registration for the competition will close on January 16. National Mirror learnt that about 174 schools have registered to participate in the competition scheduled to hold from January 26 to February 6. The MOC, however, said that forms for individual athlete and schools sports registration could still be obtained at Rowe Park Sports Complex, Yaba, Institutional Sports Department inside Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Agege Stadium, Campus Mini Stadium, Lagos Island, Onikan Stadium, Lagos Island, as well as the five education districts in Lagos State. Forms are available in Junior Secondary School category, Senior Secondary School category and open categorycombined JSS and SSS. The games is open to all public and private second-

ary schools in Lagos State that include state government schools, Federal Government schools, military, missionary and other privately owned secondary schools. Participants will compete in Athletics (including Deaf Athletics), Chess, Gymnastics, Scrabble, Swimming, Weightlifting, Boxing, Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, Wrestling, Badminton, Table Tennis (including Deaf Table Tennis), Tennis and Squash. Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary, Office of Sports, Lagos State Ministry of Youth, Sports and Social Development, Sewedo Oluseyi Whenu, has said that Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola has availed the games’ organisers resources and logistic support with a view to ensuring success of the two-week event.

Cricket: Nigeria soars in World ranking JOEL AJAYI ABUJA

igeria has climbed six places to place 19th in the World and fifth in Africa in the latest World Cricket ranking. National Mirror gathered that the ranking released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the year 2014 saw Nigeria overtake Saudi Arabia,

Italy, France, Kuwait, Germany and Zimbabwe. President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), Emeka Onyeama, said yesterday that the success achieved was an improvement from the previous position before he took over office. “When we came on board, we were 34th on the ranking. In early 2014 another ranking came out and we were placed 25th,” Onyeama said. “Now, this is the last ranking for 2014 and we are 19th in the world out of 358 playing countries. It is something remarkable,” he added. “Our commitment, passion and resolve to take cricket to a greater height and the commitment of the people around us are the major factors that led to this development. “Another important factor was the support we got from the National Sports Commission (NSC) which has never been experienced before. “Cricket is no longer an optional sport as it used to be before and this really encouraged us to go all the way to succeed.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Furman hails Lions’ draw tie AFCON 2015:

afana Bafana captain, Dean Furman, yesterday praised his side’s character following South Africa’s 1-1 draw with Cameroon in Libreville, Gabon on Saturday. Sibusiso Vilakazi’s secondhalf strike cancelled out Vincent Aboubakar’s opener to keep South Africa’s unbeaten record under Shakes Mashaba intact. Aboubakar’s free-kick was the first time the South Africans had found themselves behind since Mashaba took over the reins from Gordon Igesund last year. South Africa though managed to regroup following a disappointing first 45 to dominate most of the second stanza and keep the team’s preparations on track. “We got off to the worst possible start but I thought we showed great character to come back fighting in the game and in the end we are disappointed not to win it,” Furman said. “We have a lot of confidence going into the AFCON and believe we can do very well there,” he added. Bafana continues preparation for the 2015 African Cup of Nations on Wednesday with a scheduled international friendly match against Mali.

Sports

Monday, January 12, 2015

Stallions trample Swazis

Dean Furman

where to come and proffer solutions to what is on ground,” Amangbo, who displayed amazing deep knowledge of the Nigeria game, said. Speaking earlier, NFF President, Amaju Pinnick, praised Zenith Bank’s robust presence in the corporate social responsibility sector, noting the financial institution’s sponsorship of several football and basketball championships, and especially its immense contribution to the realisation of the Delta State Football House, named after late ace administrator, Mr. Patrick Okpomo. “We recognise Zenith Bank as the financial melting pot of Nigeria’s economy. We deemed it appropriate to come and introduce our new team to you and to seek your support for our several programmes aimed at turning Nigeria football around for the better,” Pinnick said. He canvassed for the bank’s support to enable the new Executive Committee take Nigeria football to the zenith. “Our team is not only concerned with winning trophies, but to build a sustainable foot-

Saints beat United at Old Trafford Traore

NFF woos Zenith Bank eading Nigeria financial institution, Zenith Bank Plc, has promised tremendous support for the new Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) team, following a visit by the Federation’s top officials to appreciate the bank’s sponsorship of development programmes in football in particular and sports in general. The bank’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter Amangbo, said during the visit to Zenith’s headquarters in Lagos that his institution was proud of what the NFF team had achieved so far, and charged them to remain focused. “There is certainly a lot that we can do for Nigeria football. For instance, we should have a much better League. Personally, I want to sit down at a stadium during the weekend and watch a domestic League match. But there has to be a lot of changes to attract people back to the stadia as happened in the 1970s and 1980s. “Your team has started very well by having an open mind to engage the best individuals and corporate bodies from every-

urkina Faso came from behind to thrash Swaziland 5-1 in Nelspruit on Saturday, in a pre-AFCON warm-up friendly. Swaziland opened the score after 8 minutes, but it took Alain Traore only four minutes to equalise for the Stallions. Alain’s brother Bertrand forced an own goal just before the break to put his side ahead, with Mohamed Koffi giving Burkina a two-goal advantage in the 68th minute. Bertrand Traore added to Swaziland’s misery in the 76th minute, and Aristide Bance scored the last goal from the penalty spot ten minutes from time. The Stallions will face Botswana in their second warm-up friendly tomorrow.

Rooney

outhampton picked up their first league victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in 27 years to move up to third in the Premier League. Louis van Gaal’s side failed to record a single shot on target as their 10-match unbeaten league run was ended last night. BBC Sport reports that Dusan Tadic scored the only goal of the game when he tapped in calmly from 12 yards after Graziano Pelle’s effort had come back off the near post. The Reds improved after the goal but Juan Mata missed two good chances. It is the first time United have been beaten at home since their opening day reverse against Swansea and reaffirms Southampton’s top-four credentials, as Ronald Koeman’s side backed up their home win against Arsenal with another three points. The visitors had not won at Old Trafford in the top tier since January 1988 - a run stretching back 19 games - and this result was built on a 10th clean sheet in 21 games.

Results Arsenal

Stoke City

Man United 0

Southampton

Guinea rides Olympic side

G Asisat Oshoala displaying her African Woman Player of the Year and Best Young Player awards at the 2014 Glo-CAF Award Gala held in Lagos last Thursday. PHOTO: Yinka Adeparusi

ball culture nationwide. For instance, England does not have the best National Team but it certainly has the best football culture in the world. We want to consolidate on the achievements of past administrations

by adding science to what we do. We have enlisted the support of several blue-chip and world class institutions, and we believe we can take Nigeria football to a height people don’t believe is possible.”

uinea cruised to a 4-1 win over Morocco’s Olympic team in Rabat on Saturday, in a pre-AFCON warm-up friendly. François Kamano, Abdoul Razzagui Camara, Ibrahima Conte and Mohamed Yattara were on target for the Syli National. Kevin Constant and his teammates will play a final friendly against Senegal in Casablanca tomorrow, before heading to Equatorial Guinea where they will kick off their continental campaign against Cote d’Ivoire on January 20.

WORLD RECORD First narrative fictional filmcarry Fastest mile fireman’s

Vol. 05 No. 1024 Monday, January 12, 2015

N150

The Lumiere films were simply recorded scenes taken from everyday life, but that milestone occur red in the USA when The Great Train Robbery was made in November 1903.

2015 and growing anti-Jonathanism

ebruary 14 is the D-Day, a day of monumental DECISION that Nigerians would make in what passes as the mother of all elections programmed for this month by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The two contending choices before the electorate have been reduced to continuity and change, two political USPs reflecting our emergent two party system. Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan is the PDP brand ambassador, while General Muhammadu Buhari, APC flagbearer, is its poster card of ‘change’. The build up to D-Day has been very engaging, perhaps intriguing for the perceptive. I am particularly fascinated by the ingenuity on display by a small section of the nation’s ruling class, the self appointed but increasingly obtrusive kingmakers. It is not in doubt that the decision to be made on February 14 will be a MAKE or MAR political act for

HeartBeat Callistus Oke

Callistusoke@nationalmirroronline.net 08054103275 (SMS ONLY) anthonykila@mail.com the two leading presidential candidates and their parties. Discerning Nigerians know there are contending variables that could swing the political pendulum on either side. These obtrusive kingmakers with the means and courage to manipulate the contending variables critical to the choices are dangerously at work! It is within this context that we should situate the sounds and furies from the anvils of these our tin gods, political enforcers and manipulators, which we have all witnessed in the past few days. Lately, there have been such ferocious pounding of the anvil of national conversation as it concerns the forthcoming presidential election. Anti-Jonathan sentiments have suddenly taken the centre-stage of public discourse, and the darts are coming even from unexpected quarters. Some members of our own ancien regime, taking advantage of our collective amnesia, have been pontificating on good governance values, ripping apart the Jonathan administration, and concluding that Nigeria has never had it so bad. Some of the expired men of power, whose financial books never balanced throughout their administrations’ tenures and frustrated the appropriate national institutions from performing their oversight functions, are raising audit queries on the deployment of resources by the Jonathan administration. The motives of the new reformists are not altruistic. In this particular enterprise, the object of the grand conspiracy is to frustrate the second term ambition of President Jonathan.

LATELY, THERE HAVE BEEN SUCH FEROCIOUS POUNDING OF THE ANVIL OF NATIONAL CONVERSATION AS IT CONCERNS THE FORTHCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION If you have followed the national discourse on the merits and demerits of the candidacies of the Dr. Jonathan and General Buhari, you will discern the anti-Jonathan slant. While the pro-Buhari elements concentrate on his strength of character, rating him very high on probity, nothing is being said of his mental capacity to adapt to the ethos of democracy. Please, could somebody tell me the conversion process General Buhari has undergone to prepare him, a man, who all his life as a military officer was trained and ‘programmed’ to obey the last order and expect absolute obedience to orders from him no matter how odd, for the new civilian leadership role he is being programmed for? What will be the nature of his relationship with the National Assembly and judiciary? A super-ordinate-subordinate one? To get the import of my concerns, General Olusegun Obasanjo, as a civilian president took the better part of the eight years he was in the saddle to grapple with the niceties

demanded of his new status of a civilian president constrained by constitutional checks and balances. A Buhari presidency would be more problematic because it would most likely be influenced by both the aristocratic bearing of the general and his training as a military man. This point was recently well articulated by Professor Wole Soyinka when he perceived a likelihood of General Buhari’s candidacy. He had expressed serious concerns over both the explicit ambition of the general and the support it was receiving from a cross section of Nigerians. “What one had dismissed was a rash of illusions, brought about by other political improbabilities that surround us, however, is being given an air of plausibility by individuals and groupings to which one had earlier attributed a sense of relevance of historic actualities”, Prof had lamented. I wonder how the unrepentant critic of wrong conducts in government would feel now that the Buhari-for-President project has moved from an “air of plausibility” to one of a likely actuality. I also wonder how comfortable he would be to know that some members of his clan, people with profound sense of “historical actualities”, are the leading members of the Buhari-for-president choir. Or how else do you explain the last December 31 endorsement of General Buhari candidacy by Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka, a radical Catholic clergy during the New Year vigil at the Adoration Prayer Ground, Enugu. Father Mbaka predicated his preference for the General on what he called the failure of President Jonathan to stem the tide of insecurity and corruption in the country. Altruism and faith in the general, he said, motivated him. This is curious. Last November this same man of God, in the same venue, gave Mr. President a clean bill of health to go for a second term, assuring him of Heaven’s support. Then, he punctured holes in every imaginable argument used by critics to discredit the Dr. Jonathan administration, which he said did very well given the trying circumstances under which the President operated! To be continued.

Sport Extra

Tragedy: Malanda, Wolfsburg midfielder, dies in car crash

olfsburg midfielder, Junior Malanda, has died in a car crash on a motorway near the German city of Bielefeld, aged 20.

The Belgium Under-21 midfielder had made 15 appearances for the German Bundesliga side this season, including against Everton in the EuropaLeague. “We are all deeply saddened and our disbelief can

hardly be put into words,” Wolfsburg Sporting Director, Klaus Allofs, said in a statement yesterday of the event that occurred on Saturday. “We can’t believe he is no longer with us. Our thoughts

at this difficult time are with his family and loved ones. “He was the good spirit of our team and a fun-loving person. In addition, Junior was an excellent football player who was only at the very beginning

of his development.” Malanda was linked to Fulham and Crystal Palace when he left Zulte Waregem in 2013 but instead joined Wolfsburg, before going back on loan to the Belgian side.

Malanda

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