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FG loses N992m on WEF’s imported cars TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

Okonjo-Iweala

Vol. 51 N0. 1025 115

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revenue potential totalling about N992m was lost in form

of waivers granted by the Federal Government on 290 vehicles used for the hosting of the World Economic Forum on Africa, WEFA, held in the country in May

last year.

The waivers on the imported vehicles by the Federal Capital Territory Administration and Globe Motors

Gwarzo emerges acting DG, SEC P.47

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Tuesday, Tuesday,June January 7, 2011 13, 2015

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Buhari accuses PDP of wasting $50bn on power Obasanjo, Dimeji Bankole snub PDP presidential campaign team berth in Ogun OBJ laid foundation for other incoming leaders to build on, says Mu’Azu CHRIS NJOKU AND FEMI OYEWESO

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ll Progressives Congress, APC presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari has accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, controlled Federal Government of squandering $50bn on power in the last 16 years.

According to him, the huge sum, if properly utiCONTINUED ON PAGE 2>>

APC raises alarm as gunmen raid Oyegun’s home P.4

The scene of the fire incident which razed Complex at Balogun Market, Lagos, yesterday and dejected traders during the inferno.

PHOTOS: ADEMOLA AKINLABI AND SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

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B’Haram: UN ready to assist Nigeria, Cameroun, others –Ban Ki Moon UNICEF condemns violence against children

Again, Ronaldo wins FIFA World Footballer of the Year

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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FG loses N992m on WEF’s imported cars CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

were granted by President Goodluck Jonathan, in line with the Provisions of Part 1, Item 11 (1) (a) of the Common External Tariff, CET, 2008-2012.

According to available official information sourced

by National Mirror on waivers granted from January to May last year, other items that enjoyed substantial waivers or exemption on their import duties during the five month period include, machinery, equipment and spare parts for the utilisation of Nigeria gas/ increase in power generation, granted to United Cement Company of Nigeria, totalling N1.92bn.

Also, another machinery, equipment and spare parts for the utilisation of Nigeria gas/increase in power generation granted to NIPCO Plc and amounting to N1.023bn.

These fiscal concessions for the importation of machinery for power generation were approved by the Minister of Finance and covered by Provisions of Act No 16 and Part 1 Item 5 of the CET as extended.

Similarly, Information and Communications Technology equipment imported

by Galaxy Backbone also enjoyed about N2.49bn waiver granted by the President in line with the Provisions of Part 1, Item 11 (1) (a) of the CET 2008 - 2012 as extended.

Also, transmission equipment for the Evacuation of 30mw hydropower imported by the Ministry of Water Resources was exempted from import duties totalling N185.25m during the review period.

A further analysis of the import duty waiver and concessions granted by the government showed that industrial machinery, equipment and spare parts imported for the establishment of water treatment and chemical production plant by Water Treatment Technology and Chemical Company Nigeria Limited, a private company, also got N129.85m import duty waiver authorised by Mr President.

This was granted in accordance with Provisions of Part 1, Item 11 (1) (a) of the CET 2008 - 2012 as extended.

Other beneficiaries of CONTINUED ON PAGE 5>>

L-R: Governor of Kano State Rabiu Kwankwanso ; APC Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo APC Presidential Candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Director-General, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, during the inauguration of the party’s Presidential Campaign Headquarters in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

Buhari accuses PDP of wasting $50bn on power CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

lised could have taken care of the nation’s problem in power sector and created jobs for the youths through industrialisation.

Buhari spoke yesterday in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on a day the presidential rally brought movements momentarily to a halt in the state.

Clad in white traditional Igbo attire with a red cap to match along with other APC bigwigs, Buhari, while addressing party supporters, who stormed the Dan Anyiam Stadium, bemoaned power supply in the country despite the huge amounts expended on the sector by succeeding PDP controlled governments.

As president, Buhari said that he would take steps to ensure adequate and uninterrupted power supply to accelerate the pace of industrialisation, especially the small scale industries, entrepreneurship, access roads, and portable water.

He also said that an APC government would bring the reign of insurgency to an end.

He accused the Federal Government of insensitive to the yearnings of the masses, lamenting that this had given rise to unprecedented youth unemployment and restiveness.

He advised Nigerian voters to ignore the propaganda by the ruling party, which he said has taken the nation several years backward through bad governance

and lack of vision for the future.

He also stressed the need for all eligible voters to get their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, and vote massively for APC and ensure that their votes count against any form of intimidation.

Speaking earlier, the Rivers State Governor and the Director-General of Buhari Campaign Organisation Rotimi Amaechi, accused the PDP-led government of deceit and insincerity, stressing that all its promises for the people of the South East had come to nothing.

He cited the second Niger Bridge, none availability of an international airport, dilapidated expressways that have become death traps as evidence of the failure of the Federal Government in the South East, while the nation’s economy had been ruined as a result of “shameless squandermania” of the Federal Government.

In his remarks, Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha who was given the party’s flag as APC’s candidate, said that the year 2015 would witnessed another phase of his rescue mission agenda in industrialisation and youth employment.

He assured that the APC would take measures to check the excesses of the ruling party to ensure that they do not rig the elections.

The governor described Buhari as an upright, sincere and dependable leader,

who abhors corruption and selfishness in all ramifications and assured that he would never Islamise the country if elected president as been alleged by his opponents.

Other party chieftains at the campaign include Buhari’s running mate, Prof.

Yemi Osibajo, the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, Senator Chris Ngige, former governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator Bukka Abba Ibrahim, Senator Bukola Sariki and Chief Ezekiel Izuogu.

Others were former governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Timiprieye Silver, Chief Tony Momoh, Senator Osita Izunaso and National woman leader of the party, Haji Ramatu Tijani.

Meanwhile, former President Olusegun Obasanjo snubbed the campaign team of President Goodluck Jonathan, which berthed in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital yesterday.

Onasanjo’s absence at the campaign ground overshadowed the president’s campaign in the town.

Not only did Obasanjo refused to appear at the campaign rally, the former president also ensured that he left his Hilltop mansion at exactly 2: 59p.m in his black Toyota Prado Jeep apparently to avoid welcoming the presidential re-election campaign team of Jonathan.

Obasanjo, whom President Jonathan once described as his greatest

benefactor was also conspicuously absent at the M.K.O Abiola International Stadium, Abeokuta, venue of the campaign.

Source close to Obasanjo’s Hilltop mansion in Abeokuta had earlier confided in National Mirror that President Jonathan was not in the list of guests expected at the former president’s home before Obasanjo eventually drove out.

The Vice-President, Namadi Sambo, who arrived Abeokuta earlier in the day had visited the Alake and Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo in his palace.

He also did not visit Obasanjo.

Operatives of the State Security Service, SSS, who had earlier besieged Obasanjo’s home as early as 6a.m in anticipation of the president’s arrival left the place at exactly 3:36p.m, when it became obvious that Jonathan was not visiting.

President Jonathan, however, arrived the venue of the rally at exactly 3:50p.m and headed straight to the State Box from where he later moved out to acknowledge cheers from the crowd who had thronged the stadium as early as 7:30a.m.

Speaking at the campaign rally, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu eulogised the leadership qualities of the former president, who he said laid

solid foundation for other presidents to follow.

Mu’azu, who emphasised that his party would continue to build on the foundation towards entrenching good governance in the country, however, solicited Obasanjo’s support in ensuring that President Jonathan wins the forthcoming presidential election.

Mu’azu later presented Gboyega Nasir Isiaka with the flag of the party as its governorship candidate in the state, ending speculations and controversies surrounding his candidature.

Jonathan, while addressing the crowd, promised that his administration would continue with the transformation agenda, especially in the area of power generation, employment for the youths, agriculture as well as education.

He paid glowing tributes to Nigerian leaders both dead and alive, who hailed from Ogun State, even as he solicited the votes of the people of the state to enable him conclude the “good work” started by his administration since 2011 He noted that voting him as president four years ago has yielded dividend, considering that his administration has done well through the industrialisation policies which he said had attracted over 56 industries to Ogun State.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

L-R: INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega; Chairman of the Occasion, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi and Executive Director, African Policy Research Institute, Amb. Samuel Dongonyaro, at Katampe Hill Policy Forum on INEC PHOTO: NAN and the 2015 elections in Abuja, yesterday.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of education, Dr. Macjohn Nwabiala (right) and Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie during the inauguration of members of technical working PHOTO: NAN groups of the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NGREN) in Abuja, yesterday.

L-R: Presenter, All Eyes on Africa TV Show, Kemi Fadojutimi; Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Former Special Adviser on Federal Matters, Idiat Babalola, during a Courtesy Visit on behalf of the Governor State of Maryland, United States of America, Martin O’Malley, at Government House, Osogbo recently.

L-R: Acting Director Enforcement and Compliance Department, Security and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mr. Eric Elujekor; Executive Commissioner Corporate Services SEC, Hon, Zakawanu Garuba; former DG, SEC, Arunma Oteh; Acting DG, Mounir Gwarzo, and Acting Executive Commissioner Operations, Mr. Abatcha Bulama at the formal handover by Oteh to Gwarzo in Abuja, yesterday.

National News OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

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unmen in the early hours of yesterday raided the Abuja residence of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief John Oyegun, prompting the party to raise the alarm over the safety of its leader and his family.

In a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said while hoping that a police investigation will unravel what happened, it is either those who attacked the residence at 1.30 am were robbers or assassins.

It said while Chief Oyegun was away attending a previously unscheduled meeting in Abuja, the invaders struck, while his wife, who was at home was left traumatised by the raid “The facts of the raid as available so far point to a sinister motive. For example, only Chief Oyegun’s room was ransacked in the whole house. Common sense dictates that if the invaders were robbers, they would have ransacked the whole house in search

APC raises the alarm as gunmen raid Oyegun’s Abuja home of money and other valuables, which they might have believed were in the residence “The invaders, two burly men, removed the window burglar bars to gain access to the residence from the back, and then made straight for the bedroom of our national chairman. Police security was in place at the residence when the incident happened,” APC said.

The party said while it did not know who was behind the raid, it is worth noting that the angry rhetoric and vitriolic personality attacks that have been directed at the opposition by the top leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and their spokesmen have heightened tension and put the lives of opposition politicians at risk, ahead of the forthcoming elections.

When contacted, Force Public Relations Officer, CP Emmanuel Ojukwu confirmed the incident.

While he conceded that no arrest has been made, he added that the incidence is currently a subject of investigation.

“It is being investigated.

There was a report made to the police that the national chairman of APC’s house was invaded around 1:30am. We are looking into it; no arrest has been made,” he said.

Meanwhile, the party’s Presidential Campaign Council, APCPCC, has asked the PDP-led Federal Government to stop stealing from Nigerians and allow them enjoy the relief that has come to consumers of petroleum products globally.

A statement from the Directorate of Media and Publicity of the APC presidential campaign said it was disturbing that in spite of the fall in the global price of crude oil, Nigerians still buy petroleum products at pump prices as if the global price of crude

oil had remained at $100 per barrel.

The statement reads: “The current attempt by the government to deregulate the prices of some petroleum products has been completely compromised to satisfy few money bags to the detriment of the Nigerian people and the economy.

“The price of diesel which has been deregulated since 2009 still sells at the pump price of N150 and N170 per litre, the same pump price when the international benchmark per barrel of crude was over $100.

“Now that the international benchmark has dropped to $47.5 per barrel as at Monday, we ask: where is the deregulation and the relief which it ought to bring to local consumers of diesel?

“For the Nigerian consumers, unfortunately the collapse of crude oil price since October 2014 has not translated into any change

in diesel, kerosene and PMS prices across the country.

“We challenge the Federal Government to reconcile the information on the website of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, indicating the maximum open market price of diesel pay per litre in December 2014 as being at N111.6 and the fact that the price has come down to less than $50 as at Monday.

“We want to posit that the maximum indicative benchmark consumers of diesel should pay is at a margin below N100 per litre. Therefore, Nigerians are being short-changed by about N50 to N70 on every litre of diesel sold by government.

“The implication of this is that with average consumption of about 12 to 15 million litres, Nigerians are currently extorted of amounts between N600m to N1bn daily due to corruption-induced poor regulatory oversight of the

Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

“No wonder some few industry players are smiling to the banks and buying private jets while small scale industrialists who buy diesel on daily basis for power generation and transportation find it difficult to break-even with their businesses.”

“Similarly on kerosene, information available on the website of the PPPRA puts the Open Market Price at N114.71 per litre although the market price is anything above N150 per litre when the global price for a barrel of crude oil was $65.

“Now that international price of crude is at $47.5 per barrel, why are Nigerians still buying kerosene per litre at the same price?

“Why are Nigerians not benefitting from the global shortfall in the prices of crude by having a cut in the pump prices of petroleum products?”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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B’Haram: UN ready to assist Nigeria, Cameroun, others –Ban Ki Moon PAUL ARHEWE, FRANKA OSAKWE AND MARCUS FATUNMOLE

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he United Nations has promised to assist Nigeria and all affected neighbouring States in bringing an end to insurgency and violence.

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon gave the assurance in a statement issued yesterday in New York

by UN spokesman, Stephane DuJarric.

In the statement Ban was quoted as saying that UN would assist to alleviate the suffering of civilians with all available means and resources.

He condemned the killing of hundreds of civilians by the insurgents around the town of Baga, Borno State, near Nigeria’s border with Chad in the past week.

The situation in Nigeria and the region, Ban said, remained at the top of his agenda.

“Only yesterday, it was reported that a 10-year old girl was used to detonate a bomb at a market in Maiduguri, killing no fewer than 19 people,” he said.

The Secretary-General condemned this depraved act at the hands of Boko Haram terrorists.

The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, also yesterday condemned increasing spate of violence against children in the North-East In a statement made available to National Mirror by its Communication Specialist, Geoffrey Njoku, UNICEF said the images from violent incidents in the troubled region in the country “should be searing the conscience of the world.”

The statement, released on behalf of Executive Director of the agency, Anthony Lake, listed some of the events in which children had been severely affected in the country since the advent of terrorism.

“Some two thousand innocent children, women and elderly reportedly massacred in Baga.

“Young girls sent to die with a bomb strapped to their chests in Maiduguri.

“And lest we forget, more than two hundred girls stolen from their families, still lost.

“Words alone can neither express our outrage nor ease the agony of all those suffering from the constant violence in Northern Nigeria.

“But these images of recent days and all they imply for the future of Nigeria should galvanise effective action. For this cannot go on,” UNICEF urged.

In a related development, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, arrived the country last Sunday to assess the situation of children affected by armed conflict in the North-East.

She is also expected to engage with the levels of government in the country and other stakeholders on the need to improve protection of children.

She is expected to leave the country on Saturday, according to another statement made available to National Mirror by Njoku.

“The Special Representative will travelled to Abuja on 11 January to meet with Nigerian authorities, the diplomatic community as well as UNICEF, the UN country team and NGO partners.

“Ms. Zerrougui is also planning to travel to the North-East of the country to exchange with authorities and meet displaced children and their families,” the release added.

Listing Nigeria as one of the countries where the practice was rife, UNICEF had declared last year as ‘devastating’ for children around the world.

“This has been a devas-

L-R: PDP gubernatorial candidate in Oyo State, Sen. Teslim Folarin; former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode; President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, at the PDP presidential campaign rally in Ibadan , yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

FG loses N992m on WEF’s imported cars CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

the import duty waivers and exemptions regime include, De United Foods Industries Limited, which got about N19.98m exemption on its imported machinery for power generation; and Evangelical Church of Winning All, ECWA, which enjoyed N500,896 exemption on gift boxes and educational books imported into the country.

Momas Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Ltd, got about N163.68m exemption for its imported Meter plastic machines and accessories, compression mould machine and all oth-

er meter related equipment for use in the power sector.

In addition, another company, Mojec International Limited, also benefitted from the fiscal largesse to the tune of N130.21m for its imported machinery, equipment and components for single and 3 phase pre-paid.

The exemption was authorised by the Minister of Finance.

Curiously, whereas most of the imported items that enjoyed the waivers and exemptions were directly related to infrastructure capacity building and other economic value-adding benefits to the nation’s economy,

the WEFA vehicles could not be regarded as having either medium or long term benefits that would justify the amount waived on them.

Some posers raised by the huge amount of N992m waivers granted on the imported vehicles are that what happened to the vehicles after the week-long event was concluded? Did government convert them to official vehicles? If yes, which MDAs were they allocated? If No, did Globe Motors take them back and at what cost?

Overall, the total waivers and exemptions granted by the government during the

five month period ended May 30, 2014 amounted to N25.81bn and covered 64 categories of imported items.

Nigeria hosted the WEFA in Abuja from May 7 to 9, last year, during which business and official activities were paralysed in the Federal Capital Territory.

President Jonathan ordered that the capital city be shut down during the period of the global summit as part of efforts to reassure the participating global business and political leaders of their safety in the face of rising terrorist attacks in the country.

tating year for millions of children,” UNICEF had said late last year.

“Children have been killed while studying in the classroom and while sleeping in their beds; they have been orphaned, kidnapped, tortured, recruited, raped and even sold as slaves. Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such unspeakable brutality.

“As many as 15 million children are caught up in violent conflicts in the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, the State of Palestine, Syria and Ukraine – including those internally displaced or living as refugees. Globally, an estimated 230 million children currently live in countries and areas affected by armed conflicts.

“In 2014, hundreds of children have been kidnapped from their schools or on their way to school. Tens of thousands have been recruited or used by armed forces and groups. Attacks on education and health facilities and use of schools for military purposes have increased in many places,” the agency added.

Also yesterday, the Catholic Archbishop of Jos, Plateau State, Ignatius Kaigama, accused the West of ignoring the threat of Boko Haram.

Kaigama during an interview with foreign media said the world had to show more determination to halt the group’s advance in the country.

He said the international community had to show the same spirit and resolve it had done after the attacks in France.

“I see the very positive response of the French government tackling this issue of religious violence after the killing of their citizens.

“We need that spirit to be spread around, not just when it happens in Europe, (but) when it happens in Nigeria, in Niger, Cameroon and many poor countries, that we mobilise our international resources to confront the people who bring such sadness to many families,” said Kaigama.

Archbishop Kaigama told the BBC’s Newsday programme that the slaughter in Baga had shown that the Nigerian military was unable to tackle Boko Haram.

“It is a monumental tragedy. It has saddened all of Nigeria. But... we seem to

be helpless. Because if we could stop Boko Haram, we would have done it right away. But they continue to attack, and kill and capture territories... with such impunity,” he said.

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, said he was appalled by reports of the killings in Baga and condemned what he called “the depraved acts of Boko Haram terrorists.”

The Nigerian military has said it is trying to retake the town but has given few details about the operation.

On Saturday, it said it had successfully fought off Boko Haram fighters trying to capture Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State.

On Sunday, two female suicide attackers killed many people and injured more than 40 others in Potiskum.

A day earlier, another young female suicide bomber, reported to be 10 years old, struck in Maiduguri, killing at least 19 people.

Archbishop Kaigama said facing down Boko Haram required international support and unity of the type that had been shown after last week’s militant attacks in France.

“We (must) mobilise our international resources and face or confront the people who bring such sadness to many families,” he added.

In June, Britain said it would increase its military and educational aid to help Nigeria tackle Boko Haram.

The aid includes counter-insurgency training for troops, which is also being provided by the US military.

However, Nigeria has criticised the US for refusing to sell weapons because of alleged human rights abuses committed by Nigerian troops. Niger has also blamed Nigeria, saying it has not kept to commitments regarding its own troop levels.

Despite a French-led initiative which had called for Nigeria, Niger, Cameroun and Chad to contribute 700 troops each to a multinational force against Boko Haram, no country has implemented the plan.

Last month more than 30 people were killed in twin bomb attacks on a market in Jos where the archbishop resides.

Churches have also been targeted in what are believed to be attempts by the militants to foment religious tension.

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National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Don’t abuse Jonathan, Buhari tells supporters …says govt’ll be for the people

OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

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ll Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, has warned his supporters not to engage in any kind of behaviour or conduct that would tarnish the image of any leader or promote division and rancour within

the ranks of the party.

In his address at the inauguration of the National Presidential Campaign Council of the party on Monday, Buhari said: “I must warn all my supporters, volunteers and other well-wishers within the party or even out of it not to insult or be rude to any other aspirant or party leaders on my behalf. My support-

ers must not engage in any kind of behaviour or conduct that will tarnish the image of any leader or promote division and rancour within the ranks of the party. Whoever does that should know he or she is working for the enemy.”

The APC candidate also appealed to his supporters to be good ambassadors of the party.

“As a body, the opposition is committed to the rule of law; and as members of the parties in the opposition, you must learn to do the same thing at all times.

“In particular, you must learn to be vigilant especially before, during and immediately after elections, whether these are rigged or not, so that sponsored hoodlums are

Some members of the technical working groups of Nigerian Research and Education Network (NGREN), during their inauguration in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

not made to commit illegalities that are blamed on you. Not only must you not take the law into your hands, no matter the level of provocation, you must be able to expose those planning to do so before they act.”

Buhari told his supporters that he knew it was too painful for them to see votes they casted being disregarded and votes illegally thumbprinted being counted to rig out the choice they have legitimately and conclusively made but, “it is even more painful when you know that the road to remedy has been firmly shut in your face; for you are always called on to accept a judgment whose justice you cannot see, whose logic is flawed and whose facts speak against itself.”

Buhari said that APC intends to prosecute the campaign to win, and they will undertake to end the impunity of the PDP, a party, he said, has proved clueless in every material particular.

“It has failed to address any of the important concerns of the people of this country.

It has failed to deal squarely with the great security challenge facing this nation within these last five years.

And it has remained touchy and impervious to all constructive criticism, and without concern for human life and the suffering going on in the land.

“As we campaign, Boko Haram attacked Baga town in Borno State, reportedly killing 2,000 people; but to this clueless government, this toll is just a number, a statistic that adds up to the litany that has gone before it. And worst of all, this PDP government has split the country along all known fault lines. It is time to send them into deserved retirement; which in the normal cause of events, it would have done nothing to deserve.”

Buhari also promised to secure Nigeria against all threats if elected, manage its resources efficiently and with demonstrable transparency, and then fix whatever is amiss in it.

“Under an APC government, no one will go to bed hungry, angry with the government or with the fear of insurgents or nocturnal visitors. We shall secure the government for the people and fix it. And, verily, we shall deliver on every of our promises.”

Budget, constitution amendment top agenda as Senate resumes GEORGE OJI ABUJA

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s the Senate resumes from its Christmas and New Year break today, it will be preoccupied with the issue of the 2015 budget proposal, which was forwarded by President Goodluck Jonathan last December through the Coordinating Minister and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

The lawmakers will also be engaged with the completion of amendment process for the 1999 Constitution, which was begun in 2012.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, made this disclosure yesterday after a meeting with a delegation of the School of Advanced International

Studies, John Hopkins University, Washington DC, USA. Commenting on the 2015 Appropriation Bill, Ekweremadu said: “Basically, we are resuming to take care of the 2015 budget. God willing, we will go through the Second Reading and send the Appropriation Bill to our committees for a thorough work. That means we may have to break off from the plenary and deal with the budget.”

Ekweremadu also assured that there would be expedited legislative action on the Constitution Amendment Bill.

According to him, “we received report on the Constitution Amendment Bill from the state Assemblies shortly before the Christmas break. We are hopeful

that this week, we are going to report formally to plenary on the returns from the states. We will let Nigerians know the specific clauses that have been successfully amended; that is, those that received the positive votes of two-thirds of the 36 state Assemblies. We are going to articulate it finally and send to the President for assent”.

On collaboration between the National Institute of Legislative Studies, NILS, and the John Hopkins University, Ekweremadu said it would help to meet the demands of “Many Nigerians who travel abroad to seek quality education or build their capacities” He explained: “Nigerians are hungry for quality education and training. So, I believe it would be cheap-

er and more convenient for us to bring a highly reputable institution like John Hopkins University here.

I am happy that following my discussion with them in Washington DC last year, the school authorities have agreed to come and set up executive education programmes here, which we hope would blossom into a full-fledged university in the future.

“We have had fruitful discussions today, drawing up a roadmap. In a couple of days, we should be able to finalise and sign an MoU and I want to assure that within this year, the programmes will kick off.

In his remarks, Associate Director of African Studies at SAIS, Professor Paul Lubeck, commended Nigeria’s democratic strides, noting

however, that there were still challenges.

He said: “The democratic experience in the Fourth Republic is a major achievement as we go into another general election.

This surpasses what most critics thought Nigeria is capable of. Stabilisation of the economy, vibrant press, civil liberties have improved immensely. Those are great achievements of the Nigerian democracy at this period. There are, however, challenges that we all know about.

“We have held successful discussions on the possibilities of collaborating with the NILS on expanding education in a truly global, truly networked way that would bring benefits to both American and Nigerian students,” he added.

Associate Dean of Executive Education and Strategic Initiatives at the SAIS, Dr. Melisa Trotta, noted that SAIS had offered executive-styled training for legislators from Nigeria, who had come to Washington to study the federal budget process and executive/legislature relations.

David Mark

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Security beefed up as Jonathan visits Osun, Ondo HAKEEM GBADAMOSI AND BOLADALE BAMIGBOLA

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here was increased presence of security operatives in Osogbo, Osun State capital, yesterday.

The increased security presence, especially in Osogbo is not unconnected with the expected visit of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is billed to address a rally at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo.

Checks round the state revealed large presence of both uniformed and plain-clothed security operatives strategically positioned at all routes leading in and out of the state capital.

There was also increase in the number of police patrol vehicles on the streets of Osogbo.

Speaking to newsmen

on preparation of the party for Jonathan’s visit, National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prof. Wale Oladipo, said the party was set to host Mr. President.

He called on residents of the state to come out en masse to meet the president, saying the visit would afford Jonathan the opportunity to personally meet the people and clear the air on some issues relating to their welfare.

He said the president has a good chance of winning next month’s poll because he is agile, democratically tested and passionate about governing the country.

In a related development, ahead of tomorrow’s campaign by the President in Ondo State, all machinery have been put in place to ensure hitch-free rally

during the presidential campaign.

All security agencies have expressed readiness to ensure hitch-free rally by deploying their officials in strategic locations within and outside the state capital.

National Mirror noticed that the police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, have deployed their men in venue of the rally ahead of the campaign.

State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Wole Ogodo, in a telephone interview said officers from other neighbouring states may be deployed in the state if there is need for it.

He said this was part of the command’s efforts to secure the state for the president’s visit.

Ogodo said: “All necessary machinery have been put in place to en-

sure there is no hitch during the President’s campaign in Ondo State.

I can assure you that the police have done all the relevant things and there will be no crisis before, during and after the campaign.”

The police image maker disclosed that the operation’s guidelines had been released by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Isaac Eke, assuring there was no tension in the state.

Jonathan and other national leaders of the PDP are expected in Akure tomorrow for the presidential campaign of the PDP, while the President will be received by Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

He is expected to visit some traditional rulers in the state before he addresses his supporters at the Democracy Park in Akure.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

PDP told to disqualify ‘cult member’ candidate ISE-OLUWA IGE

A

n aspirant vying for House of Representatives, Ife Federal Constituency under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Osun State , Chief John Fasogbon, has requested the leadership of the party to disqualify Mr Albert Adeogun from flying the party’s flag in the coming National Assembly poll.

He made the request via a petition dated January 7 and addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Adamu Mu’azu.

In the petition, Fasogbon alleged that Adeogun is a member of a secret cult, the Reformed Ogboni Fraternity.

He exhibited a copy of the membership certificate of Adeogun to prove that he (Adeogun) is a member of the fraternity.

In the petition, Fasogbon said: “By virtue of Part V, Paragraph 23(e) of the Electoral Guidelines for Primary Elections

2014 of the PDP at page 23, no member of a secret society shall be eligible to be nominated to contest the primary election of the party.”

He also cited provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which he said barred elective office seekers from being members of any secret cult.

He said: “Most importantly, section 66(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, provides that ‘no person shall be qualified for election to the Senate or House of Representatives if he is a member of a secret society.”

He warned the PDP to stop Adeogun otherwise the party would have handed over the constituency to the rival APC. In the event of the party failing to replace Adeogun, Fasogbon said he would not hesitate to file an action in court having exhausted the internal remedies available to members of the party.

Gaslink records major leak in Lagos UDEME AKPAN

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Participants at Katampe Hill Policy Forum on INEC and the 2015 elections in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

IGP warns against pre-election violence OMEIZA AJAYI

I

nspector-General of Police, IGP Suleiman Abba, has condemned the current resort to violence by supporters of the nation’s two main political parties.

Supporters of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and All Progressives

Congress, APC, have been at daggers-drawn in recent times.

Abba in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, particularly decried two cases of pre-election violence where campaign vehicles, buildings and properties worth millions of naira, belonging to PDP and APC were damaged in

Jos and Port-Harcourt, respectively.

Saddened by the ugly development, the IGP reminded politicians, party supporters and wellmeaning Nigerians that “politics is a means of enthroning custodians of the people’s common wealth, for the overall benefit of all. As such it should be played with

every sense of decorum devoid of religious, ethnic and all other forms of primordial sentiments.”

He further assured Nigerians that the perpetrators of these “unaccepted and heinous acts” will not go unpunished as the police will do all it takes to bring them to justice.

subsidiary of Oando Plc, Gaslink Nigeria Limited, has recorded a major gas leak in Iganmu, Lagos.

Oando stated in a statement that a gas leak, which occurred over the weekend was isolated within 30 minutes after it was reported, and work immediately commenced to halt the leak.

“The GNL gas network is built and maintained in accordance with the requirements of world-class engineering codes & standards complete, which include a routinely tried and tested Emergency Response Plan,” it stated.

The company stated that leakages are common within Gas Distribution Systems globally, and when incidents occur, GNL implements an Emergency Response Plan designed to achieve isolation of affected section(s) within 45 minutes.

“To prevent a recurrence and in line with its corporate responsibilities to communities and the environment, GNL has opted for a

total by-pass of the entire section, and is presently working towards sectional replacement and final restoration of gas supply,” it stated.

It stated that along with immediate repairs and the re-commissioning of gas supply to customers, Gaslink will further sensitise the surrounding community on the properties of natural gas, as well as the implementation of a revamped, solution-centered response plan.

“Gaslink apologises for any inconvenience this incident may have caused to the community involved, and is working hand-inhand with the State Ministry for Environment and appropriate regulatory bodies to ensure all safety standards are adhered to as all required modifications to the gas infrastructure are implemented,” it stated.

It stated, “Gaslink Nigeria Limited (GNL), a subsidiary of Oando PLC, is a natural gas distribution company that has distributed natural gas safely and responsibly to industrial consumers in Lagos State for over fourteen years.”

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South West

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

9

OPD’s awareness in Lagos low —Survey FRANCIS FAMOROTI

D

espite claims by the Office of Public Defenders, OPD, in Lagos State of championing the cause of indigent residents, a large percentage of residents in five local government areas of the state are not aware of the existence of its activities.

An opinion survey conducted in five LGAs, namely: Amuwo-Odofin, Apapa, Alimosho, Agege and Kosofe showed that a total of about 18 to 20 respondents out of every 25 to 30 residents in each of the local governments are not aware of the existence of the body.

This implies that less

than 20 per cent of residents in these local government areas are aware of the existence and activities of the OPD. The survey further revealed that of the five residents in each local government who were aware that OPD existed; three could not actually state the activities of the agency.

Our correspondents gathered, for instance, that in Alimosho council area, only one out of every five residents in each of the five streets sampled was aware that OPD is in existence.

In Agege about seven respondents out of about 10 persons sampled in each of three streets, said they were not aware of the existence of OPD in

the state. Few of those who were aware of the OPD merely described the OPD’s building location without being able to state in concrete terms what its roles are.

The situation is worse in Amuwo-Odofin local government area where out of four streets sampled, none out of every six respondents are aware of the existence of the OPD in the state.

In Apapa four persons out of about 18 residents surveyed in three streets are aware that OPD is in existence as a creation of the state government.

However in Kosofe, eight out of 20 respondents are aware of the existence of OPD. Of this figure, five respondents

could state the activities of the body.

National Mirror had in an official letter on November 20, 2014 formally addressed to the Director, OPD in the state asking for detailed report on activities of the OPD from January to September last year.

The newspaper also sought information on the number of cases the OPD had handled or resolved in areas such as matrimonial disputes, family disputes, landlord/ tenant matters and other related cases in the state.

However, two months after, OPD is yet to reply the letter nor furnish the newspaper with details of its activities last year.

Although OPD contends that it has continued to of-

The Interpreter, Cherubim and Seraphim Movement, Pastor Tinu Oyenuga (left), with sympathisers who paid condolence visit to the church over the death of the leader, Prophet Gabriel Fakeye, in Lagos, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

fer free and qualitative legal service to Lagosians, the opinion survey has shown that a large num-

ber of respondents are not aware of the existence of the agency’s activities in the state

Mutiny: Fashola pleads for convicted soldiers FRANCIS SUBERU

L

agos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has appealed to the Federal Government and the Nigerian military authorities to re-consider the death sentence passed on some soldiers as disciplinary measure for misconduct in the ongoing fight against insurgency in the Northern part of the country.

The governor who made the appeal at the Interdenominational Service to mark the 2015 Armed Force Remembrance Day, held in Lagos, urged the military authorities and the Federal Government to reconsider the death sentence and commute it to jail terms.

Fashola, who was represented by Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Honourable Oyinlomo Danmole, at the church service, noted that the call for leniency is not to justify their actions, but to plead with the government to reduce the gravity of the punishment for it not to be greater than their offence.

He appealed to Nigerians to continue to sup-

Fashola

port the families of soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice and those with life-time injuries in the service of the country by donating towards their upkeep.

Earlier, Brigadier General Dalubo, Commander 9 Brigade Nigeria Army, said the Federal Government set aside January 15 as Remembrance Day and dedicate this period to the remembrance of our fallen heroes who had paid the supreme price for the unity of the nation.

Dalubo who represented the military at the service, assured that the country will always remember the contribution of her fallen heroes and will do everything in its power to support and cater for the families they left behind.

Mimiko's aide, others join APC HAKEEM GBADAMOSI AKURE

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undreds of members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ondo State, including an aide to Governor Olusegun Mimiko, Honourable Wole Obe, yesterday dumped the party for All Progressives Congress, APC. Obe, who until recently was the Caretaker Committee Vice Chairman for Ifedore Local Government Area of the state, hinged his resignation and defec-

Mimiko

tion to APC on "open injustice" on members of the party.

He said the governor

was not fair in the way party positions were shared among the old PDP and the new entrants, which caused crisis in the party.

According to him, the chances of PDP winning next month's election is very slim as most people have shown interest to join the opposition party.

"The APC is the last train to leave the station and whoever fails to join it, will have himself to blame.

“In my own case, I don't want to be caught napping.

Thus, I am taking this billion dollar decision along

with my teeming supporters to move from PDP to APC", He explained that the urge for an immediate "positive change" brought him to the camp of the progressive party of the APC after joining the PDP from Labour Party with the state governor, "It is the urge for immediate positive change that brought me into this camp of positive change".

Receiving Obe and his teeming supporters into the party, the APC Chairman, Isaacs Kekemeke,

congratulated the new members for joining hands with the party to win next month elections.

Kekemeke said this serves as an indication that the party has become a new bride and a party to beat in the state and across the country saying new members keep joining the party every day.

He said the party will continue to receive more members into the APC fold and assured the new members that their interest will always be protected and will not be treated as new

members.

Kekemeke said: “I want to thank you for your courage and visionary leadership. I believe this is your last train to lead your supporters to a land of victory.

“I can assure that you and your supporters are entitled to every benefit in the party because we will treat everyone as equal not stranger".

He added that the party is battle ready for next month general elections with a vow to wrestle power from the PDP government.

10

South West

Folarin promises to settle workers’ salaries

P

eoples Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate in Oyo State, Teslim Folarin, has promised to clear all outstanding salaries and introduce enhanced salary package for public workers in the state if elected governor in next month’s poll.

Folarin, who made the pledges at a meeting in his Oluyole residence in Ibadan with representatives of teachers and other categories of workers yesterday, sympathised with the workers who are yet to receive their September to December salaries.

He also promised to run a government anchored on the fear of God, respect for human rights, which he said would translate into justice, accountability, unity, among other values.

The governorship can-

didate also promised to embark on industrialisation in order to add value to the different sectors and thereby generate employment, wealth and other opportunities for the teeming youths as well as elders of the state.

Folarin, a grassroots politician, said he does not need a tutorial to take off as governor and warned the people not to be deceived by the antics of the outgoing administration in the state.

The PDP candidate said he has met all the conditions needed to stand for governorship and urged party members and supporters to ignore any campaign of calumny against him by his opponents.

He further said everything is being done to resolve disagreement in the party ahead of the elections.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Ogun to complete Shagari housing projects FEMI OYEWESO ABEOKUTA

O

gun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, yesterday said his administration has concluded plan to complete all abandoned Federal Housing projects initiated by Alhaji Shehu Shagari-led second republic.

Amosun said this yesterday while addressing people of the state during his ward-to-ward campaign tour of Owowo in Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.

He explained that acquisition of the housing

Amosun

projects was necessary to stem the tide of insecurity, which the abandoned projects posed to the host communities

as a result of miscreants who have occupied them.

The governor explained that the project would be financed through a mortgage scheme, and emphasised that the move would ensure affordable housing for people of the state.

He maintained that the acquisition would contribute to closing the wide housing deficit and generate additional revenue to the state.

“We know Federal Government initiated it after the state government allocated it, but the state of the housing estate today is an eye-sore.

We are now negotiating with the Federal Government with a possible take-over of the abandoned housing project."

Corroborating the governor's statement at the event, General Manager of the state Housing Corporation, Jumoke Akinwunmi, said her corporation was already working on the value and modalities to perfect the takeover pact.

“We are also considering the spread of mortgage to cover the Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government,” he stated.

Revive Ibadan Dry Port, Olubadan urges FG

O

lubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana, has urged the Federal Government to resuscitate the Ibadan Dry Port project.

The traditional ruler made the appeal yesterday in Ibadan when President Goodluck Jonathan visited his palace at the commencement of his campaign tour of the state.

Odulana also called for the creation of Ibadan State, saying “this would bring development closer to the people.’’

The monarch further called for a “full” ministerial position, adding: “We

desire to have a full ministerial position and not minister of state.”

Earlier, the president had said he was in Ibadan to intimate people of the state of his intention to contest next month’s presidential election.

“We are here to seek your royal blessings and inform you before we proceed to the campaign ground,” Jonathan said.

He also urged people of the state to support the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin, saying the party would continue to ensure even development in the country.

Oko baba plank market gutted by fire in Lagos, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

FG responsible for states’ financial woes — Ajimobi

O

yo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, has blamed the inability of states to meet their financial obligation to workers and contractors on the Federal Government’s directive to financial institutions not to grant credit facilities to states, in spite of dwindling allocation from the centre.

The governor spoke yesterday during the inauguration of the state's Chief Judge, Munta Oladipo Abimbola, at the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor’s Office, Ibadan.

He said allocations to the state from the federation

account had been reduced by more than 40 per cent in the last seven months, thus forcing the state to device ingenious ways of meeting its financial obligations.

“This is indeed a hard time for all of us in this country. Like other states, allocation to this state has been reduced by more than 40 per cent in the last seven months. In spite of this, the Federal Government directed financial institutions not to grant credit facilities to the states.

“This has painfully led to our inability to meet our obligations to contractors and

workers. We have a monthly wage bill of about N5 billion and we are receiving an average of N2.9 billion monthly from the federation account, thus leaving a shortfall of N2.1 billion.

“But we have to look inwards by devising ingenious ways to ensure that workers do not suffer untoward hardship because of this.

We have been striving to pay workers’ salary as at when due in spite of the dwindling revenue,” he said.

The governor commended the judiciary for its exemplary conduct and understanding in the face of

dwindling revenue allocations to the state.

Acknowledging the ability of the new Chief Judge to steer the ship of the state judiciary successfully, the governor said the new helmsman had paid his dues in the private and public sectors before rising to his new position.

He implored Abimbola to discharge his duties in accordance with his oath of office by ensuring that his personal interests do not influence his official conduct.

“We have made the right choice. We will have the fullest cause to congratulate

ourselves very soon for this choice. But, I must emphasise that you should not allow your personal interest to influence your official conducts.

“I can say that the new CJ is honest and forthright. On the bench, he had delivered many judgments that were upheld by superior courts.

I’m convinced that he has the ability and capability to perform creditably in his new office.”

Responding after taking the oath of office, Abimbola promised to partner other judges in the state to put fresh initiatives in place that

would enhance the administration of justice in the state.

He promised to discharge his duties in line with his oath of office and the Nigerian Constitution, assuring the governor and the people of state that the state judiciary would rank among the best anywhere in the world during his tenure.

“With other judges, we are going to put a lot of initiatives in place to take Oyo State judiciary to the next level. The people of Oyo State should expect the best practices and we will operate under the rule of law,” Abimbola said.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

South East

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

PDP stakeholders accuse Elechi of anti-party conduct ALIUNA GODWIN ABAKALIKI

P

eoples Democratic Party, PDP, stakeholders from the 13 local government councils of Ebonyi State yesterday accused Governor Martin Elechi of anti-party conduct and sought immediate intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan and leadership of the party.

The stakeholders disclosed this in Abakaliki through a statement signed by director of media and publicity of Divine Mandate Campaign Organisation, Mr Abia Onyike.

They stated: “Governor Elechi has endorsed the Labour Party governorship

candidate, Chief Edward Nkwoegu, and had used several platforms, including a church service and courtesy calls to drum support for him."

While lamenting the impact of such action, the group further noted that the governor's excesses must not be left unchecked, stressing: "He must not be allowed to destroy the party which put him in office and sustained him for eight years. The party must deal with cases of anti-party activities, such as the case in hand."

Meanwhile, the stakeholders raised alarm over alleged plot by Elechi's loyalists to disrupt the Presidential rally of Dr Good-

luck Jonathan slated for January 16 in Ebonyi.

"We hear that the Labour Party will mobilise their members to be at the stadium that day. This is an outright invitation to anarchy and such anomaly would be unprecedented if allowed to happen. How can any sane person contemplate bringing Labour Party, LP, members to attend a key PDP function?

"The administration of Governor Elechi has set up a committee made up of its officials to receive President Goodluck Jonathan when he arrives Ebonyi for the PDP Presidential rally. This step once again is shrouded in mystery as it is a wellknown fact that Elechi's ap-

pointees have been coerced into joining and supporting the Labour Party against the ruling PDP in the state.”

The stakeholders further said the unusual political scenario requires a thorough analysis and could foster avoidable bloodbath in the February general elections.

“Governor Martin Elechi's ambivalent posture and amphibious disposition in the current political situation requires an urgent engagement, if the state is to enjoy peace and tranquility," they said and called for the immediate intervention of the national secretariat of the PDP and the Presidency into the matter before it degenerates.

L-R: Wife of former Vice President, Dame Beatrice Ekwueme; Dr. Alex Ekwueme; Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano; Deputy Governor, Dr. Nkem Okeke ; Speaker, Anambra House of Assembly, Mrs. Chinwe Nwaebili; National Chairman of APGA, Sir Victor Umeh and his wife, Priscilla, during the candle light prayer session for dead soldiers who fought for Biafra, in Awka, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

11

Jonathan, Buhari won’t be president —Nwoko DENNIS AGBO ENUGU

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cleric, Prophet Anthony Nwoko, has said that neither President Goodluck Jonathan nor Gen. Muhammadu Buhari will be president after next month's election.

Nwoko had in 1993 prophesied the end of the military regime of former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, which came to be. Also in 1998, he prophesied that the late military ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha, would leave governance of Nigeria in a mysterious way.

Briefing newsmen in Enugu yesterday on the state of the nation, he also lamented that the nation was turning very ungodly, saying, "I had told IBB in 1993 to leave office and it happened and in 1998, I prophesied that Abacha would leave office mysteriously, and you saw what happened."

Speaking on prospect of Jonathan’s reelection, Nwoko said, "In 2010, I told Nigerians that they should not expect much or any miracle from Jonathan. Now, in this coming election, Jonathan will only serve as John the Baptist and Buhari has not got any heavenly crown to rule and will not rule this country because he hasn't got that crown.

"Don't take my prophecies for granted because I had also told Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar not to make Obasanjo president and I had also warned Obasanjo not to make the late former President Yar'Adua president and my

advice was not heeded and you saw what happened."

On what would happen having prophesied that the two leading presidential candidates would not be president after February elections, the 64-year-old prophet vacillated, saying: "I can see the glory of Nigeria in the South East and I don't agree with Wole Soyinka that Jonathan is Nebuchadnezzar; Jonathan is a forerunner to the glory of God." On the controversy stoked recently by Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka in Enugu, Nwoko said he was not condemning the priest but "I want to tell him that I can see the glory of God in the South," an ominous projection that showed no definite direction for the country in the event that either of the two giants become president as prophesied.

The prophet, who said he is not married at the advanced age of 64 years, has no home of his own and has not set foot on his Umuahia country home in Abia State in the past 45 years. He said he would only visit Umuahia after accomplishing the prophetic task for which he was called home from America by God decades ago.

Second Republic Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, Chief Victor Umeh and other top Igbo leaders, where they received condolences from Ndigbo that came from far and near.

The burial ceremony was accompanied by some rites and unveiling of the memorial plaque, after an ecumenical service and homily rendered by the Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Revd Paulinus Ezeokafor.

In his homily, Ezeokafor invoked God's passion

and blessing on all the exservice men who fought in the First and Second World Wars, the Nigeria civil war, and those that served in various peace support operations.

The cleric however called for forgiveness among the people, adding that the duty to remember does not amount to inflaming the passion for revenge.

He also urged Ndigbo to vote for a candidate that would work for the interest and welfare of the people in the coming elections.

Buhari

Obiano honours Igbo war victims ..holds ceremonial burial for the departed CHARLES OKEKE AWKA

N

o less than 45 years after the end of Nigeria's Civil War in 1970, Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State yesterday supervised the ceremonial burial of all Igbo victims of the war and civil strife in the country.

The event tagged: “A Formal Burial Ceremony of Our War Dead” held at Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, with the theme, “Ozoeme zina-Never

Again.” There were lighting of memorial candle; unveiling of memorial plaque showing names of civil war victims drawn from the 177 communities of Anambra State, laying of wreaths and receiving of condolences from key groups and market unions drawn from the South East states.

Governor Obiano stated that Ndigbo have paid a great price for greatness and unity of Nigeria, to the extent that they have become victims of crises they

know nothing about.

He said by holding the event, the war victims have been given a befitting burial so their souls can rest in peace.

He said the event, which is symbolic, could be likened to Jewish and Rwandan separate efforts to commemorate the holocausts that took place against their people at different times in history.

The governor stated that Ndigbo have a culture that accepts the centrality of burial for their dead rela-

tions, adding that with the conclusion of the event, the dead will now rest in peace and that a new page has been opened in Igbo history.

He also urged Ndigbo to support the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, who he said offers the best chance of national unity and integration, stressing that “We shall continue our bold efforts to ensure we remain united and I urge you to mourn no more."

Obiano sat in a tent with

12

News

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Continued closure of courts worries FG ISE-OLUWA IGE ABUJA

F

ederal Government yesterday expressed worry over the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, to press for implementation of a judgment by the Federal High Court, Abuja, which affirmed financial autonomy for the judiciary.

The Federal Government said the one-week-old strike has effectively paralysed activities of the judiciary nationwide, adding that it was doing so much to bring the strike to an end.

In a statement issued yesterday by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and signed by its Director of Information, Charles Nwodo, it accused the state governments of be-

ing responsible for the judiciary paralysis.

It would be recalled that the Federal High Court, among other things, had ordered that the amount standing to the credit of states’ judiciary in the Federation/Consolidated Revenue Fund be paid directly to the heads of courts in the various states’ judiciary in compliance with the provisions of sections 81(3), 121 (3) and 162 (9) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

The judgment was delivered by Justice Adeniyi Ademola on January 13, 2014 in suit No. FHC/ABJ/ CS/667/13.

Although the Federal Government had complied with the judgment, some state governments are yet to.

In the statement issued yesterday, the office of the Attorney General of the

Federation and Minister of Justice, said it noted with concern the on-going strike embarked upon by JUSUN. "This strike is unfortunate and has paralysed activities of the judiciary throughout the federation.

"The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation is however constrained to issue this statement in view of the misconceptions and insinuations in the print and electronic media concerning the strike and the efforts being made to address the implementation challenges posed by the judgment.

"It is important to observe that the Federal Government is not in breach or violation of the aforementioned judgment of the Federal High Court. This much has been publicly acknowledged by JUSUN in all their statements and delibera-

tions."

It added that the strike was actually directed at state governments "that are yet to comply with the judgment and that federal courts are thus only on sympathy strike with their state counterparts.

"The foregoing notwithstanding, the Supervising Minister of Labour and Productivity has been working assiduously with relevant stakeholders to resolve all the challenges that may have militated against the implementation of the judgment of the court.

"The Federal Government acknowledges the imperative of an efficient and effective judiciary to our democratic consolidation and is doing all that is within its constitutional powers to ensure full implementation of the judgment.

"We therefore call on all

wellmeaning Nigerians to appreciate the dynamics of the federal structure that Nigeria operates and the constitutional limits of the

Federal Government when dealing with the states, especially with respect to matters within their constitutional mandates," it added.

Harmattan: Drink more water, expert advises sickle cell patients

D

eputy Chairperson, Sickle Cell Support Society of Nigeria, SCSSN, Dr Obiageli Nnodu, yesterday said that sickle cell patients should drink more water and remain warm to avoid complications of their ailment.

Nnodu gave the advice when she spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja.

Nnodu, who is also a Consultant Hematologist at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Abuja, said that cold induces crises and complications for the afflicted.

She said dehydration also facilitated crises and complications in the management of the disease.

The Hematologist added that paying adequate attention to nutrition and hydration would reduce complications for sickle cell patients.

“Children identified to have sickle cell disease

should be encouraged to drink a cup of water on waking up, and frequently during the day to ensure the yellow color of their urine becomes white,” she said She said they should also be given a high-protein diet, fruits and vegetables, noting that this would reduce mortality and complications in patients with the disease.

Nnodu said early diagnosis through newborn screening remained a major prevention against the prevalence of the disease.

She added that the Sickle Cell Support Society advocated for massive awareness and education on the ailment.

“Information about sickle cell disease should also be incorporated into the primary school curriculum so that stigma and other misconceptions about the disease will be avoided,” Nnodu said.

Delta PDP flags off campaign today

L-R: Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole; President, Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI), Chief Lawrence Onoja; a member of the Institute, Mrs Edgie Abebe, and Vice President , Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Issa Aremu, during the Re-Union Fund-raising of the Alumni Association of the National Institute in Abuja, yesterday.

PHOTO: ROTIMI NOSASONA

NYSC changes corps members’ mobilisation dates TOLA AKINMUTIMI ABUJA

M

anagement of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, yesterday announced changes in the schedule and

dates for mobilising prospective corps members for the 2015 service year.

A statement issued by the NYSC authorities in Abuja, stated that corps members would be mobilised in only Batches ‘A’ and ‘B’ this year

due to some operational exigencies.

According to the management, the 2015 Batch ‘A’ orientation course has been scheduled to take place from 5th May to 26th May, 2015, and not in the month

of March as obtained in the previous years.

It therefore advised prospective corps members to check the NYSC website for details of the 2015 Batch ‘A’ mobilisation time-table and be guided accordingly.

T

he People's Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta State will flag off its campaign for the 2015 general elections today, with the presentation of flags to its gubernatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates in the forthcoming elections.

The ceremony, according to the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee, Dr. Festus Okubo, holds at Oghara Township Stadium in Ethiope West Local Gov-

ernment Area of the state.

Senator Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, the party's gubernatorial candidate, will lead the lot during which three senatorial candidates, 10 House of Representatives aspirants and 29 House of Assembly flag bearers will be presented to the public. ‘’Tuesday's rally marks the beginning of a statewide campaign programme that will take the train to all the 25 local government headquarters in the state,’’ stated the statement.

FG sets up mechanisms for NgREN efficiency, security MARCUS FATUNMOLE ABUJA

F

ederal Government yesterday set up four committees to boost the services of the most reliable internet facility available in the nation’s public universities, the Nigerian Research and Education Network, NgREN.

NgREN, launched by the Federal Government last year for use in the universities, is currently available in 27 public tertiary institutions in the country.

This is even as the government yesterday disclosed that additional 57 public tertiary institutions would be incorporated into the network.

Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, NUC, Professor Julius Okojie, made the disclosure during inauguration of the committees in Abuja.

He argued that the NgREN had proven to be one of the major successes in government’s effort to reposition education and research in the country.

Four committees constituted for the network are the Network Operations Working Group, Network Services Group, Network Security Group and the Community of Practice Working Group.

The 24-member committees were drawn from both public and private universities across the country, with a member representing an

institution.

Setting up the committees, Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, who was represented by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, MacJohn Nwaobiala, directed the group to begin work immediately, adding that he would make all resources needed for their operations available to

enable them fulfill their assignments.

NgREN, commissioned

by President Goodluck Jonathan on the July 8, 2014, is the first research and education network in West and Central Africa. It helps collaborative research and learning between educational institutions within and outside Nigeria.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

SUPER TUESDAY

13

Politics

Politicians’ve personalised quest for political power –Agbakoba

14, 43

2015: When Jonathan flagged-off his re-electioneering campaign in Lagos Last Thursday, President Goodluck Jonathan led the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the Centre of Excellence where he kick-started his re-electioneering campaign. OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU and AYO ESAN examine the issues thrown up at the campaign.

TOP STORY

L

ast Thursday was historic for the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and President Goodluck Jonathan as it kick-started its presidential campaign in Lagos amidst fanfare.

The ecstatic crowd that received President Goodluck Jonathan at the Tafawa Balewa Square, venue of the campaign started arriving the venue as early as 8.00am and immediately President Jonathan arrived at 12.30 pm the programme kicked off with the rendering of the national anthem followed by prayers by the party’s Secretary to the Board of Trustees, Senator Wali Jibril and Benue State governor, Dr Gabriel Suswam.

The prayers were followed by goodwill messages from different segments of the party including the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Organisation, PCO, DR. Ahmadu Ali; party National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu; Vice President, Architect Namadi Sambo; Chairman PDP Governors’ Forum, Dr Godswill Akpabio; former Deputy National Chairman, South, Chief Olabode George among others.

Speaking at the rally, Vice President Sambo commended President Jonathan, saying: “I want to thank you for this reception in the commercial nerve center, Lagos.

We want to thank you sincerely and assure you of continuous support for the state.”

He said he would want the people of Lagos to continue their support for the reelection of Jonathan, adding: “The president and I thank you for your contributions so far.

I want to assure you that when we are back in office, we will continue with our transformation agenda on education, job creation, youth empowerment, provision of adequate infrastructure and all the good things that would make life better for our people.

“By this time in May 2015, with all the support we are given, we will be successful and victorious. You must all ensure that you are registered. It is only if you are registered that you can vote Jonathan. Only few days ago, someone said projects in Nigeria is going to only one region.

“Mr. President is a detribalized person. He looks at Nigerians equally. I want to inform

Jonathan

Sambo

THE ECSTATIC CROWD THAT RECEIVED PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN AT THE TAFAWA BALEWA SQUARE, VENUE OF THE CAMPAIGN STARTED ARRIVING THE VENUE AS EARLY AS Lagosians that PDP government will provide better amenities for Lagosians and you will be removed from the shackles of taxes.”

Also while speaking, PDP National Chairman, Mu’azu, assured that if PDP comes back to power, it is going to do more than it is doing now, pointing out that “it is only in PDP that everybody has the opportunity to become whatever he wants to become, unlike other political parties where positions are dictated and assigned to whoever they want.”

Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, in his speech, warned against violence saying the people in the PDP are against violence and also warned against the utterance of some politicians who are threatening violence.

Akpabio said Nigeria cannot afford to hand over the country to “those who showed bitterness against the people.”

“Are you going to vote hooligans who said they will form parallel government,” he asked the crowd who responded with shout of no, no.

The former captain of the country’s

8.00AM

national team, the Super Eagles, Joseph Yobo and some Nollywood artistes also raised their voice in support of President Jonathan’s re-election, as they openly canvassed for people to vote for him in the next month election.

The high point of the campaign rally was the presentation of PDP flag to President Jonathan as PDP presidential candidate by the National Chairman, Alhaji Mu’azu. After this, Muazu also presented flags to the party’s gubernatorial candidates in the states were elections are going to hold on February 28.

Reacting on behalf of the gubernatorial candidates, Lagos State PDP gubernatorial candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, thanked the party for giving them the chance to contest on its platform, promising that the candidates will do their best not only to win in their respective states, but would also ensure that President Jonathan is returned to Aso Rock come February 14.

Delivering his speech after receiving the flag and which happened to be the last on the rally’s agenda, President Jonathan

Mua’zu

said that he will present the resolution of the national conference to the next National Assembly, thus urging Nigerians to vote for him and people who mean well for the county into the Eighth National Assembly.

He said his administration refused to hand over the resolution of the conference to the present National Assembly so that it will not be dumped somewhere.

His words: “We didn’t present the document to this National Assembly because of the controversy we have with the present National Assembly. You know how chaotic this National Assembly is, if we bring this good documents to them out of this unnecessary issues they will dump it. “ If you mean well for this country, vote for those who will discuss this document and the country will move forward. If you vote PDP enmasse to the National Assembly and the Presidency, we will adopt that document so that this country will move forward.”

He said the 2015 elections is about the young people and told the youths at the gathering that it is “either you vote and continue to be relevant in Nigeria’s political history or you vote for you to be irrelevant.

“And I will repeat it, those of you who are voting for the first time, your decision to vote could mean you vote for a Nigerian youth to be important, to be relevant in this country or be a Nigerian person to be treated as a nonsense person and I believe all of you want to be relevant.

“Of course you have seen…we have just introduced our gubernatorial candidates CONTINUED ON PAGE 45

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Politics

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politicians’ve personalised quest Olisa Agbakoba, is former President of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA. He bares his mind to select journalists on the way forward for Nigeria, advocating a new national order and carpeting the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for its unpreparedness for next month’s general elections. OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU brings excerpts:

Are their silver linings in the political developments of the country?

The only great development is the fact that we now have a strong multi-coloured party structure in the shape of All Progressives Congress, APC; that is the only thing new that one is happy to report. It does seem as if what we are seeing is a personal clash from the politicians rather than issue clash. It doesn’t seem as if what we are seeing is a contest of personalities. I found one amusing, when the former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, resigned to contest on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Nassarawa, lost and became a member of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA. That tells me that the only consideration that politicians have in this election is political power and that is not going to help Nigeria.

The issues are very critical; Nigeria is in low-grade civil war. There are eight conditions you review in describing how a state can be described as failed, Nigeria is exhibiting three, yet, our politicians have failed to address the fundamentals. The big issue is the one that late Bola Ige raised, if we don’t address our political arrangement, how we live together or we don’t have a national order, because everyone will agree that Nigeria at this present stage is in disorder. There is no way 2015 will be successful for Nigerians, it may be successful for the politicians, either in APC or PDP, but not Nigerians, because there will be no national order which is the vital ingredient and element necessary to promote peace and stability. And with peace and stability, you can have development. I was watching a film, Half of a Yellow Sun, and in the part where Biafra refugees were fleeing, the last thing on their mind is for a politician to come and talk to them about power, roads, job.

Or if you go to Somalia and there is a war going on, you don’t want to talk about job creation. So, if Nigeria is unable to reverse the impending doom that Professor Bolaji Akinyemi mentioned, then the issues our politicians think are issues are no issues. So, the issue that we have confronted and what is causing all the problems is how the politicians envisage how they can pocket the loot; that is what is causing all the problems.

They are interested in how much can be made, that is why they are jumping from party to party, in fact I’m finding it difficult to know who is in which party because they are just jumping up and down. I think it’s important to call their attentions that those are not the real issues. If we don’t ask ourselves how we want to live together, we are going nowhere. If Nigeria is unable to understand its own fault lines, the ethnic, linguistic and religious fault line, and create the political arrangement to accommodate it, 2015 will go to either PDP or APC and we will carry the baggage forward to 2019.

The only way we can develop because we have the resources, Nigeria is a very wealthy country, but the problem is that we don’t have the peace and stability to develop its resources. So, it is crucial that the politicians be made to understand that key discussions that we will like to hear is that if they come to power, how do they intend to address the issue that has eluded the colonial powers, who did not give us a good constitution, the military powers which did not give a good constitution and civil powers that has not given us a good constitution.

We will like to hear what the presidential candidates think, should Nigeria be a loose federal system? Should we collapse the states and how can we be viable political entity? Those are the pressing questions which I think

should form the fundamental framework upon which a new, transformed Nigeria can go. Right now, transformation is not our problem, restoration is our problem.

Restoring Nigeria in order to transform is the problem. What happened in Japan in the 1600 is happening here in Nigeria. They had political shoguns, warlords that took over the country and they use their troops to pervert the national treasuries, until a leader who understood statecraft came and led Japan to where it is today. So, do we have a statesman? We will like what the parties have to say? Do they have statesmen in their presidential candidates? If so, are we are hearing the message? The two political parties must tell us why we have to vote for them.

What is your take on calls for the postponement of the election and the proposal for a transitional government?

The call for postponement is clearly unconstitutional, because the constitution provides for a term of four years. If this proposal is to be accepted, it will require an amendment to the constitution. And if the constitution is amended and Nigerians agree, then we do it.

But to the extent that it is not even an issue, only Tunde Bakare had mentioned it, we haven’t heard the politicians speak upon it. That is part of what I am saying, they haven’t said anything because they are consumed with power. From what I can see, the politicians are not interested in what type of Nigeria we will find in 2015.

The question you asked me, politicians are not asking themselves those questions. The reason why that call has come up is because both the PDP and APC are travelling on one track from opposite ends and when they meet at the centre, there will be collision, a blowout.

To avert that collision, some Nigerians are calling for a postponement, which I don’t support, except it has relevant constitutional backing.

President Jonathan recently urged Nigerians to vote PDP lawmakers who in-turn will pass the recommendations of the national conference into the constitution.

Are you satisfied as a member of the national conference?

That is a good idea, but don’t forget that the President is not the first to call a confab. So, don’t focus on that. Do we have statesmen in these two presidential candidates? We have to go back and see that in the last 60 years, the political process has not thrown up statesmen; I am not interested in you just focusing on these two political contenders. If we have had statesmen, for instance I can give you two examples; whether they are military or civilian it doesn’t matter to me. If IBB had been a statesman, he had a very good opportunity to craft a good Nigeria by creating and bequeathing a

RIGHT NOW, TRANSFORMATION IS NOT

OUR PROBLEM, RESTORATION IS OUR PROBLEM.

RESTORING NIGERIA IN ORDER TO TRANSFORM IS THE PROBLEM

Agbakoba

proper legal framework for a good constitution. Secondly, if Olusegun Obasanjo, who is talking rubbish now, was a good statesman, he would not have converted the national conference he called, into a third term agenda.

So, the challenge has been the lack of statesmen. So the question being posed to the political contenders is, do we see elements in either the PDP or APC that when Nigerians reflect on the failures of the country, which cannot be doubted, whether we can then say this man or this man stands out, I think that is the broader question.

I don’t want to get into the issue of who is a better person, but my discussion is to say in 60 years, Nigeria has not progressed and there is a reason for that. First is that the way we live, we haven’t agree. We need that A-B-C agreement on how we want to live.

What is your perception about the way we are approaching this election?

The way we are going to this election, we are going to fail. We have been doing it the same way and failing.

Obasanjo told us all kinds of things that he was going to give us NIPP, the funds were diverted elsewhere. It has been a catalogue of woes and destruction stretching back, but the problem with this particular election is that it seems to be the most volatile. That is the problem and the competition for political powers has been very personalised, and the impact it would have is what I think Tunde Braithwaithe, Bakare and others have spoken about. So, we need to be very careful about not sliding into the abyss.

What type of political arrangement will you recommend for a heterogeneous nation as Nigeria?

Confederalism is best suited for Nigeria. Only two have gotten it right in our history, late Obafemi Awolowo and Odumegwu Ojukwu. The system conflated and collapsed in 1966. It has been managed from 1960 but by 1966 the contradictions of Nigeria made it to collapse

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

15

A PUBLICATION OF NATIONAL MIRROR NEWSPAPERS

NDDC to complete multi-billion Ogbo-Oghoye road project DENNIS NAKU

PORT HARCOURT

T

he people of oil bearing communities of Ilaje Local Government Area in Ondo State now have cause to smile as work on the multi billion naira Ugbo-Oghoye Road will soon be completed.

The NDDC in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Monday and signed by its spokesman, Ibitote Abosade , said the 21.4-kilometre regional road

with four bridges, being constructed by the commission, would connect various riverine communities that were hitherto inaccessible by road .

Speaking during an inspection tour, the NDDC Managing Director, Sir Bassey Dan-Abia, observed that the project was very strategic as it would eventually link up with the Koko-Oghoye road taking off from Koko in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State.

Dan-Abia, who led a team of

NDDC officials to the site of the first bridge where pilling was in progress, thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for making it possible for the commission to undertake such a huge project. He noted the enormous challenges posed by the swampy environment and appealed for more understanding for the delays in executing road projects in most parts of the Niger Delta region.

Dan-Abia said, “This Ilaje area is a typical Niger Delta

terrain and I wish other Nigerians will appreciate the peculiar problems we encounter in the region. With this kind of setting, people should not be surprised that the cost of executing projects is usually huge.

“However, we look forward to driving on this road to Ayetoro in no distant time,” he said, while commending the people of Ilaje for their patience and understanding, especially for providing the enabling environment for the contractors to do

their work, which he observed was progressing satisfactorily.

Earlier, the project consultant, Mr. Augustus Owowa, while describing the terrain said, “We have to fill up to four metres with sharp sand to stabilize the soil. “Here we are working on the first bridge and we have drilled 63 metres deep, yet we are still coming up with clay soil. Such challenges will invariably lead to variations in the designs.”

Bomadi Council Chair bags JTF security award THEOPHILUS ONOJEGHEN WARRI

I

n a bid promote security in Delta State , Bomadi local council Chairman, Chief Oluwole Karetimi has bagged the Joint Task Force [ JTF] , award for the Most Outstanding Security Friendly Chairman in the state.The award is meant to recognise local government chairmen across the state for their contributions and assistance in the fight against insecurity in their areas.

Presenting the award to the council boss at his Bomadi council office, the outgoing Commanding Officer of the JTF 222 Battalion, Agbarha-Otor, Col. K Chigbu, said the Chief Karetimi played a major role in reducing criminal activities in the area.

Col. Chigbu who was represented by Capt. E. Robert explained that the award is aimed at encouraging those in positions of authority to cooperate with the JTF in the fight against insecurity and crime in the area and the country.In his remarks, Karetimi dedicated the award to staff and people of Bomadi council, stated that, in line with the 3-point agenda of the State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, the award would spur him to do more in the fight against insecurity in the area.

L-R: Delta State Peoples’ Democratic Party gubernatorial flag bearer, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; Mrs. Blessing Okagbere- Otegheri and Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan during a reception for Blessing in Asaba, recently.

2015: Urhobo’ll vote for Jonathan, Okowa, says Senator Aguariavwodo THEOPHILUS ONOJEGHEN AND AMOUR UDEMUDE WARRI

T

he Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Olorogun Emmanuel Aguariavwodo has assured President Goodluck Jonathan and Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, both presidential and Delta State governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of massive support from Urhobo Nation

in the February general elections.

According to him, the Urhobo people are for PDP and would massively vote for the party in the forthcoming general elections at all levels but called on Senator Okowa to immediately meet with the leadership of the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, to negotiate Urhobo stake in his government.

Senator Aguariavwodo spoke at the weekend during a New Year briefing of constituents in Delta Central where he revealed that his short stay in the senate has re-

corded tremendous achievements in Urhobo land.

Aguariavwodo, who replaced l ate Senator Pius Akpo Ewherido who died after a brief illness in 2013 stated that while Urhobo would massively cast their votes for Okowa, it’s expedient for PDP governorship candidate to negotiate, confirm and conclude with the UPU, what Urhobo stake will be in his government.

“In consideration of the need for true unity in the state, and for the fact that the Urhobos must be

in the scheme of things both at the state and national levels, as the injustice against us (Urhobo Nation) are being addressed, I hereby make the following declaration.

“That all Urhobos (as the UPU have said) should vote massively for President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP, no vote should be lost. All should be gathered for the President. All Urhobos should also massively vote for Senator Ifeanyi Okowa”, Aguariavwodo declared.

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Another Ijaw community wants inclusion in EPZ THEOPHILUS ONOJEGHEN WARRI

T

Members of All Progressive Alliance protesting constant attacks on their members in Port Harcourt Rivers state, yesterday in Government House, Osogbo.

Dickson to roll out empowerment programmes for Bayelsans B

ayelsa State Government says, it intends to roll out a number of empowerment programmes geared towards promoting the standard of living of the people of the state.Governor Seriake Dickson, who stated this in an interview with newsmen in Yenagoa, noted that the government would step up efforts at creating job opportunities and other ways of empowering the people with a view to reducing the high level of unemployment in the state.

Expressing commitment to the development of the physical infrastructure and human capacity, he emphasized the need to focus more on manpower development in the new year, through the establishment of the Micro Credit Scheme and other ways to improve the welfare of the people.

Governor Dickson explained that, the government has already secured a preliminary license from the Central Bank of Nigeria, aimed at assisting indigenous businesses and called on the people, particularly the youths to avail themselves of such opportunities.

His words: “In 2015, we are going to step up our game in terms of engagement of our people. I call on all our youths to be ready to fit into these programmes.

The micro-finance scheme will also start off. We already have a preliminary license from the Central Bank geared towards assisting indigenous businesses.

On the newly established state-owned security outfit called, Izon Ibe Security Company, Governor Dickson explained that the company which would sustain itself, was intended to

create employment, through collaboration with relevant authorities for the purpose of securing consultancies and surveillance jobs from oil companies to protect pipeline facilities, government projects among other jobs.

“We now have this idea we have developed, which is the incorporation of a security company. This will be like any other security company with the necessary approvals and so forth. This company is wholly owned by the state government and the idea is to enable this company employ many Bayelsans; work with the relevant authorities and give them some basic enlightenment about what their jobs entail and then deploy them to secure pipeline facilities and government projects for a fee.

“Already, the understanding is that most of the oil compa-

nies will give their consultancies and surveillance jobs to that company so that the company, apart from providing jobs will earn money.

“I want that company to be self-sustaining and employ about 20,000 young people and deploy them to the communities. Through these consultancies with international oil companies and other partners, raise enough money to pay them without increasing government recurrent budget, particularly at this time of dwindling oil revenues.”

Also, the Governor said his administration has planned an agricultural engagement scheme, that would come on stream in the new year to absorb the teeming unemployed youths expressing the government’s resolve to diversify the economy by developing agriculture.

here seems to be no end in sight to the ranging ownership tussle trailing the $16 billion Export Processing Zone, EPZ, as another Ijaw Community, Igoba Federated community, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State has demanded inclusion in the project.

They claimed that their lands are part of the EPZ acquired lands and they were not considered in the ongoing negotiations among host communities to the project.

Addressing newsmen recently in Warri, chairman of the community, Captain Isaac Bobo said their lands are involved in the mega gas project and that they be shortlisted among other Gbaramatu communities as host communities to avoid bad blood among neighbouring communities.

Captain Bobo explained that they share common boundaries with Ogulagha, Obuede and Sokobulu communities which are parts of the host communities listed in the project but Igoba community is not listed among other host communities, demanding that it should be included to avoid further crisis in the riverine area of the state.

According to him, they have written several letters for their grievances but they have been taken for granted. Igoba community asserted that the project encroached their lands and they are not ready to cede any part of their land to anybody.

They threatened to resist exclusion and called on President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that all concerned communities were properly carried along in the project.They also called on Gbaramatu council of chiefs,theMinister of Petroleum, Mrs Diesani Madueke, Ministry of oil and gas, in Delta state, and governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to expedite modalities to ensure their inclusion.

C’River LP Chairman dispells rumour on senatorial candidate RICHARD NDOMA CALABAR

T

he Cross River State Labour party(LP) Chairman, Mr Austine Ibok has denied rumours that the Party has no candidate for the Cross River Southern Senatorial District at the National Assembly election billed for February 14,this year.

Briefing Journalists in Calabar on Monday the state LP Chairman Mr.Austen Ibok said that the party has candidates in the three senatorial districts, and accused enemies of LP of trying to scuttle the chances of the party. ``As I speak to you now, we have Sen. Bassey Otu for for South, Dr Sandy Onor for Central and Julius Okpotu for Northern

district. ``These are credible candidates that will shake the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the State, probably that is why they are flying false rumours, ‘’ he said.

The LP chairman maintained that the LP in the State was a credible and viable alternative to the PDP and urged their supporters to remain steadfast.

``We have credible, salable, committed and most popular Candidates in the State at all levels. ``We are currently putting finishing touches to the unveiling of our Governorship Candidate and this will seal the hope of PDP in Cross River. ``In LP we stand for Justice, equity and fair play, ‘’ Ibok said.

It would be recalled that, there had been rumours making the rounds in The State that those who defected to the LP after the State PDP primaries have been dropped.

This followed the omission of Sen. Bassey Otu from the list of Senatorial Candidates by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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Zaharau Babangida’s tragic narrative CHRIS NONYELUM

Z

aharau Babangida, a 13 years old suicide bomber, recently told a moving story about how she was, against her wish, forced by her biological father, to become an agent of death. It was not for nothing that Zaharau’s father wanted her innocent, impressionable daughter to pay the ultimate price of laying down her life in the selfless pursuit of martyrdom. Mr. Babangida was absolutely convinced beyond any shreds of doubt that her daughter’s death was the surest way of having communion with God and enjoying ‘the bounties of Heaven’. He was equally convinced that having done so in ‘line with his religious obligation and duty’, he would share in the Heavenly bliss at the bosom of the Almighty. This explains why he was least bothered about the consequences of his action.

It was indeed the highest form of service to Allah which, at the fullness of time, would yield the highest benefits imaginable. Given the nature of religious doctrines and the way it has been structured to appeal to our emotions and the dilemma in fathoming the unknowable nature of God, Babangida’s doggedness in pursuing his convictions, can hardly be faulted. After all, the greatest service anyone can truly render while alive is that done in recognition of the Almighty

Allah, with the true understanding that He alone has absolute control of one’s life, both here and in the world beyond.

Babangida’s love for God in these circumstances is unquestionable. Here is a man who was prepared to sacrifice the life of his beloved daughter for God’s sake. Was it not exactly what Abraham wanted to do before God stopped him in his strides? It takes a man who really loves God deeply to even contemplate what Babangida willingly offered to do.

But this line of rationalisation stops where proper reasoning and rational thinking begins. In all religious teachings, human life is taught to be sacrosanct, and the right to life is not determined by the whims and caprices of others. Even the individual has no right whatsoever to take his or her life under any guise whatsoever.

Suicide is abhorrence not only in all known human religions, but also a serious, despicable affront to God, who alone, has the power of life and death over mere mortals. However, the contradictions in religious beliefs and inclinations are so baffling that one is forced to ask: At what point do we really begin to blame a man who is honestly and truly convinced that the religious duty he is set to accomplish is actually in fulfillment of his obligations to God?. In most parts of Africa, the birth of twins was once considered an evil omen, likely to bring tragedies on the community. As a result of this, they

IN ALL RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS, HUMAN LIFE IS TAUGHT TO BE SACROSANCT were quickly killed as soon as they were born, while their mothers were made to undergo some rigorous cleansing processes.

Students of history are aware of the role Mary Slessor, played in stopping the practice in southern part of Nigeria. Until the likes of Mary Slessor came and opened the eyes of our people to the evil practice, it was considered a necessary action that must be taken for the wellbeing of the society. This is akin to the understanding of someone who believes that committing suicide and killing others is the surest way of making Heaven.

Kristi Burton Brown, writing on the problem of killing twins, which is still being practised in Ethiopia among some members of the Hamer and Karo tribes, said: ‘’I would estimate that 99.9 percent of Americans reading this would be shocked with horror. Why in the world would we kill an innocent baby simply because he or she is a twin?’’ Now I dare ask: Why in the world would someone believe that killing himself or his fellow human being is the surest way of making heaven?

Just as the practice of killing twins

was handed over to subsequent generations of some parts of southern Nigeria from the previous generations and subsisted until proper enlightenment by well-meaning individuals like Mary Sclessor exposed the evil of the practice, so also will the warped belief that killing others will offer opportunities for heavenly bliss be discarded if concerted efforts are made by Islamic clerics chart a proper course of enlightenment of the true import of the teaching of the Koran on the issue. It will be entirely wrong to argue that some of these suicide bombers are merely trying to be mischievous and callous. Apart from the likes of Zaharau Babangida who were conscripted to die against their will, there were instances of those who truly believed in the cause for which they laid down their lives.

From the religious point of view, one can hardly fault their motivations, unless of course, we choose to be uncharitable in appreciating the limitations imposed upon them by the circumstances of history, and the events that impelled the belief that the unwholesome practice is the purest form of Islam. Of course, there is indeed no truth in such thinking; otherwise other Muslims would have been hailing them as representing the best role models in the practice of Islam.

Nonyelum, a Lagos-based public affairs analyst, wrote via bazcrusoe@ yahoo.com

Judiciary, Madueke and the House summons IKEOGU OKE

J

ustice is as much about process as it is about outcome. If the process for the administration of justice is not duly followed, an injustice must occur regardless as outcome. A responsible, proactive judiciary has a moral obligation to prevent such injustice that may result from the violation of due process, and protect its victims, besides carrying out its statutory function of accurate legal interpretation in such circumstances. I think this is the cardinal lesson to be drawn from the judgement delivered on December 17, 2014, by an Abuja High Court presided over by Justice Ahmed Mohammed.

As reported in the media, the judgement “set aside” a summons by the House of Representatives to the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The summons required the minister and the NNPC to appear before the House and respond to its allegation of spending N10 billion on the charter and maintenance of a private jet. For a House, whose members recently put up the shameful public spectacle of scaling the high fence of the National Assembly to forcibly gain access to its chambers under controversial circumstances, the judgement by Justice Mohammed could not have been more timely.

If the House could see the bigger pic-

ture, it would realise that the judgement was in its favour rather than against it. It is a seasonable reminder that as a law-making body and the second arm of government, it should never act in violation of the law. Also, that a renunciation of its relevance is implicated in its being responsible for making laws while engaging in acts that are tantamount to breaking the law. And the House should see it as a beneficial act, like becoming apprised of a character flaw whose elimination would lead to an improvement in one’s image.

So, we have a civilising judgement that virtually says to the House: “Do not jump the fence to seek entry into the hallowed chambers of justice. You must come through the only permissible entrance – the gate of due process – if the guardian of the law, the judiciary, must grant you access. It shall not condone your violating the same law you are mandated to make by ignoring your attempt at such a brazenly illegal entry.”

Indeed, what civilised beings condemn as jungle justice is basically a semblance of justice that does not follow due process, as implicated in the matter of the House’s summons of Diezani Alison-Madueke and the NNPC. The outcome may vary, but the principle of perpetrating injustice by evading due process remains the same. And by condoning such evasion we expose society to the risk of anarchy, as more people would be inclined to emulate it in their quest for “justice.”

A RESPONSIBLE,

PROACTIVE JUDICIARY HAS A MORAL OBLIGATION TO PREVENT SUCH INJUSTICE THAT MAY RESULT FROM THE VIOLATION OF DUE PROCESS And so, whatever we may think of Diezani Alison-Madueke and the NNPC, I think we should commend them for having challenged such evasion in this specific case, leading to a judicial pronouncement that should help in sanitising the conduct of pubic inquiries by our law-making bodies and other institutions.

And there are well-known examples we can emulate from other systems which followed due process even in the face of incontrovertible evidence of the culpability of an accused person.

One such example is when Timothy McVeigh was arrested for the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people and injured over 600 on April 19, 1995, he did not contest his guilt before trial.

Yet the American system, insistent on due process as it usually does, still put him on trial, granting him the right of fair hearing, before he was found guilty and punished under the law.

By contrast, there are hints of prej-

udice in the House’s framing of its charge against the minister and NNPC, which undermines its integrity and that of the charge. For instance, in framing the charge, the House referred to the alleged charter of the aircraft as “arbitrary” and the supposed evidence against the minister as “reliable.” This suggests that the House has already decided on the culpability of the accused before giving them a chance to defend themselves. Can we guarantee justice for the accused with the House as the accuser and judge in the matter, even if we ignore its violation of due process in summoning the accused, which Justice Mohammed’s judgement impliedly condemned?

Yet we must plod on as a civilised people to that moral high ground where the efforts of our institutions to administer justice are not tainted by such violation of due process and prejudice, guided by the light of such judgement. On the alternative, we risk exposing ourselves to victimisation through such anomalies, though we may not see the possibility because we are not the victim.

Oke, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Abuja via ikeogu.oke@ gmail.com 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

18

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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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

Call for transitional government

S

uddenly, a groundswell of opposition is building up against the conduct of the general election slated for next month. Purported reason: The prevailing political atmosphere in the country is presumed not conducive for the long awaited poll. Pastor Tunde Bakare, convenerof Save Nigeria Group (SNG) and former vice presidential candidate to General Muhammadu Buhari under the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC) platform in 2011, was among the firsts that marketed the idea last November when he marked his 60th birthday in Lagos. Bakare, the founder of the ‘Latter Rain Assembly’ church, Lagos, said there was no logic holding elections without first tackling the fundamental problems of the country. He suggested the constitution of a transitional government with a maximum tenure of two years; whose mandate would be to address the serious challenges plaguing the nation currently.

Bakare’s suggestion, like wild fire, subsequently caught the fancy of Chief Ayo Adebanjo, a chieftain of Afenifere, the panYoruba cultural group; as well as Professor Pat Utomi, founder of Lagos-based Centre for Values in Leadership, among others.

Not surprisingly, the call has been attracting stiff resistance from cynics and critics, who in-

terpret it as a tenure elongation plot by or for the sitting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

Leading this line of reasoning are the National Publicity Secretary of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Osita Okechukwu; Prince Tony Momoh, a former Minister of Information; Mr. Mashood Erubami, President of Nigeria Voters Assembly, etc. The anti-transitional government sentiments also enjoy the support of governors of the insurgency-torn North East states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, all of which are major hotbeds of Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria. But both the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), the two major contenders for the presidential seat in next month’s election, have obviously discountenanced the suggestion. For, they have been injecting enormous vigour in their campaigns ahead of the February 14 presidential election, especially.

With the extreme polarities of views and counter-views, thumbing one’s chest that all is well with the nation would be tantamount to playing the ostrich game. The country appears to have gotten to the crossroads, given its hunch-back that is currently stuffed with enormous insecurity challenges nationwide;

January 13, 1985 A passenger train plunged into a ravine in Ethiopia, killing 428 people and injuring about 500 others. The express train was carrying seven cars and an estimated 1,000 people; and was heading to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, when it derailed on reaching a curve 125 miles east of the capital. It was suspected that the train engineer failed to reduce speed while approaching the curve.

WISHING AWAY THE CONTENTIOUS ELECTION AHEAD IS COWARDLY CONVENIENCE AT

WORK. IT WILL LEAD THE COUNTRY TO NOWHERE as well as a jerky economic turf.

Sadly, too, Nigeria’s fractious political class lacks a deep appreciation of the crisis at hand.

But in a sense, the nation’s overbearing challenges - raging from Boko Haram-induced insurgency up North and the attendant gradual erosion of national sovereignty; dwindling capacities of all tiers of government to deliver basic services even before oil revenue plummeted; etc. - justify the strident call by Pastor Bakare et al for a transitional government. However, contemporary world political history suggests that interim national governments become imperative only during periods of serious political upheavals that require a concerted national solution. Framers of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as altered) took cognizance of this when they unambiguously stated in Section 135 (3): “If the Federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved; and the President considers that it is

ON THIS DAY January 13, 2001 An earthquake hit El Salvador. At least 944 people were killed and 5,565 others injured. About 585 of the deaths were caused by large landslides in Santa Tecla and Comasagua. About 108,261 houses were destroyed, with another 169,692 well damaged. Landslides wreaked significant damage, too. As of February 2, 2001, more than 2,500 aftershocks had hit El Salvador.

not practicable to hold elections, the National Assembly may, by resolution, extend the period of four years mentioned in subsection (2) of this section from time to time; but no such extension shall exceed a period of six months at any one time.”

Therefore, while the nation may be going through very trying times, we insist that the raging insurgency in parts of the North does not and cannot qualify as war. President Jonathan’s invocation of the said constitutional provision might create the lacuna mischief makers are waiting for to hack the nation’s democracy into shreds through litigations. Resolution of the challenges facing the nation demands a very strong government with iron cast legitimacy. Such a government can emerge after next month’s poll. Wishing away the contentious election ahead is cowardly convenience at work. It will lead the country to nowhere.

The nation’s electoral process should be perfected as much as is practicable to produce noncontroversial results, enough to make nonsense of any grounds for contentions. Nigeria should not shy away from the forthcoming general elections. It should hold freely, fairly and transparently; and the Federal Government should, even for once, shame its critics on its resolve to maintain law and order.

January 13, 2012 The passenger cruise ship, ‘MS Costa Concordia’, sank off the coast of Italy. Of the 3,229 passengers and 1,023 crew known to have been aboard, 30 people died, while two others missing were presumed dead. The cruise ship was built in 2004 by the Fincantieri’s Sestri Ponente yards in Italy; and was operated from 2005 until 2012 by Costa Crociere (a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation).

Business

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

New export products underway to boost govt’s revenue –Aganga 21

Multiple taxation, bane of aviation cargo business 31

Why life assurance business should be encourage in 2015

19

33

FLIGHT

SCHEDULE Arik Air

Lag-Abj:07.15, 09.15, 10.20, 13.05, 15.20, 16.20, 16.50,18.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun).

Abj-Lag: 07:15, 09.40, 10.20, 12.15, 15.15, 16.15, 17:10, (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun); 12.15, 15.15, 16.15 (Sun) Lag-PH: 07:15, 11.40, 14.00, 16.10, 17.15 (Mon-Fri); 07.30, 11.40, 15.50 (Sat) 11.50, 3.50, 17.05 Sun) Abj-PH: 07.15, 11.20, 15.30 (Mon-Fri) 07.15, 16.00 (Sat) 13.10, 16.00 Sun) PH-Abj: 08.45, 12.50, 17.00 (MonFri) 08.45, 17.30 (Sat) 14.40, 17.30 (Sun) Abv-Beni:08.00, 12.10 (MonFri/Sat)08.56, 12.10 (Sun) BeninAbj:09.55,13.30

Aero Contractors Lag-Abj: 06.50, 13.30, 16.30, 19.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun), 12.30 (Sun) 16.45 (Sat) Abj-Los: 07.30, 13.00, 19.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat, 10.30, 14.30, 19.30 (Sun, 18.30 Sat) Lag-Benin: 07.45, 11.00, 15.30 (Mon-Fri/Sat/ Sun) 12.30 (Sun 15.30 (Sat) Ben-Lag: 09.15, 12.30, 17.00 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun) 17.00 (Sat) 14.00 (Sun)Lag-Owe: 7.45am, 2pm daily CBN head office, Abuja

Naira devaluation: ‘Consumers groan as prices take upward swing’ Consumers have started feeling the impacts of naira devaluation on goods and services, as the prices of imported goods increase. JOHNSON OKANLAWON writes.

T

he devaluation of naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, is having ripple effects on Nigerians, as consumers are now paying more for goods and services.

The CBN‘s Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had on November 27, 2014 announced the N13 devaluation, noting that the falling oil prices made it hard to continue to defend the currency. Under the new arrangement, the naira exchanges for N168 instead of the old official rate of N155 to one United States dollar.

Since then, the naira has weak-

ened 10.1 to a dollar and it is affecting traders, particularly those who import items from abroad to sell in shops. Nigeria as a country is a net importer of product as opposed to a net exporter. Majority of the basic goods (consumables and nonconsumables) sold in Nigeria are imported from overseas. Therefore, as the naira continues to free fall, the wholesalers and retailers of goods will have to goods will have to adjust the prices of their products upwards to reflect the amount being paid for these goods.

“It affected everything. The cost price has increased. Goods

that usually go for N6m are now sold for N6.5m and the ones that go for N1.8m are now N2.5m, “Mr. Erondu Chukwudi, who imports A4 printing papers at Mushin in Lagos, told National Mirror.

According to him, as the value of naira declines daily, the price of goods increase. “My brother, a canton of A4 printing paper formerly sold for N2, 300 is now N2, 700. It depends on the exchange rate,” he said.

Investigation showed that consumers are bearing the brunt, as most business centres have increased their prices. A photocopy

formerly done at N5.00 per copy is now N10.00 per copy.

Another importer at Lagos Business District, Mr. Sunday Iheanyi, who sells Hiti passport papers in bulk, told National Mirror that in the last three months, the price of goods has risen 20 per cent due to the volatility of naira.

“A canton of Hiti passport papers is now N24.000; the price ranges between N20 to N30, 000 before devaluation,” he added.

Analysts at First Merchant Bank Limited, an invest firm, notCONTINUED ON PAGE 20

Med-View Airline Lagos- Abuja (Mon-Fri): 07.00, 08.50, 12.00, 16.30. Abuja- Lagos (Mon-Fri): 09.00, 14.00, 15.00, 18.30. Lagos-Yola (Mon-Fri): 8.50am. Yola-Lagos (Mon-Fri): 13.00. Lagos- PHC (Mon-Fri): 17.00. PHC-Lagos: 19.00. AbujaYola: 11.00. Yola-Abuja: 13.00.

Lagos-Abuja (Sat): 08.00, 08.50.

Abuja-Lagos (Sat): 10.00, 15.00.

Lagos-PHC (Sat): 17.00. PHC-Lagos (Sat): 19.00. Lagos-Yola (Sat): 08.50. Yola-Lagos (Sat): 13.00

20

Business

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Naira devaluation: ‘Consumers groan as prices take upward swing’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 ed last week that foreign exchange rate indicated that the value of the naira depreciated against the US dollar at the CBN’s retail dutch auction system window by 1.79 per cent to US$/N168 in December 2014, from US$/N165 in November 2014.

The depreciation in the value of the naira is expected to moderate the effects of the fall in international food prices. “Our model indicates that the price movements in the consumer goods in December 2014 would increase the Consumer Price Index, CPI, to 165.05 points, representing a month-onmonth increase of 1.20 per cent.

“We estimate that the increase in the CPI in December will produce an inflation rate (year-on-year) of 8.4 per cent, higher than the figure recorded in the month of November 2014. Looking ahead, the inflation rate for the month of January 2015 is expected to be higher than the December 2014 figure.”

However, the devaluation is curtailing foreign investments in the country. If the current trend continues, it will truly give any investor a pause before investing because it appears that at the current rate of volatility of the naira, there is no investment that will produce a good return on investment.

In the last three months, the benchmark index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange lost 11.3 per cent to 30,143.02 points, from 33,967.48 points as at November 10, 2014, while the market capitalisation shed N1.3trn to close at N9.98trn as at last Friday.

Data obtained from the Exchange website as at Friday, December 9, 2015 showed total transactions at the nation’s bourse increased 10.4 per cent from N181.9bn recorded in January to N200.8bn in November 2014, representing an increase of 14.7 per cent from N175.10bn recorded in October.

Domestic investors, which conceded about 75.08 per cent of trading to foreign investors in October, conceded 61.84 per cent in the period under review as domestic transactions increased from 12.46 per cent to 19.08% while foreign portfolio investment transactions decreased from 87.54 per cent to 80.92 per cent over the same period. Foreign portfolio investment outflows, which accounted for 58.02 per cent of total transactions, outpaced the inflows, which accounted for 22.90 per cent of the total transactions in November 2014.

In most of the developed world, United States, Europe, etc, the interest on customer deposits has averaged under five per cent for over six years, therefore for most Nigerians in the diasporas, putting their funds in a certificate of deposit in a bank in Nigeria that paid 12 per cent annual interest was a superior alternative. Therefore some Nigerians borrowed funds against their assets or borrowed from credit cards, invested them in Nigeria where the interest on their deposits was higher than the interest they paid on the borrowed funds.

The United States leaves interest rates unchanged at 0.5 per cent, since March 2009.

Also, Policy makers on the continent have already slashed interest rates to 0.05 per cent and are now thought likely to start buying government bonds to stimulate the economy in a similar way to the US and UK’s Quantitative Easing, QE, schemes of recent years.

Latest figures show inflation fell to minus 0.2 per cent for the single currency bloc in December, the first time it has been negative since the height of the global financial crisis in 2009.

Okonjo-Iweala

Emefiele

Data obtained from the Exchange website showed total transactions at the nation’s

bourse increased

10.4 per cent from N181.9bn recorded in January to N200.8bn in November 2014, representing an increase of

14.7 per cent from N175.10bn recorded in

October

The slide into deflation, spurred by the oil fall, is a concern because it reflects weakness in the economy and can if sustained lead to a deflationary spiral as consumers put off purchases in the hope prices will go down.

In the UK, inflation fell to a 12-year low of one per cent in November and is expected to fall further after the price of a barrel of Brent crude tumbled to below 50 US dollars from a high of nearly 116 US dollars in June.

The CBN had in December told banks to clear foreign exchange positions daily, having previously allowed them net-open positions of one per cent of shareholder funds.

The move has made it difficult for non-Nigerian investors to exit their holdings, according to the Head of African Strategy at Standard Chartered, Mr. Samir Gadio.

“For those who remain in Nigeria, it’s become virtually impossible to get out,” he said. “There’s a risk that these measures last as long as the CBN feels it doesn’t have the ability to control the exchange rate.”

According to the experts, currency devaluation for an import-dependent nation like Nigeria means a general rise in the prices

Onyema

of imported goods, saying that the economy had enjoyed single-digit inflation for a very long time but the current policy decisions might take the inflation rate from the current 8.1 to about 10.5 per cent.

Analysts at Afrinvest, a research firm, said, “The decision of the CBN is expected to be accompanied with short term pains and long term gains. “Due to the two-month lag effect on inflation, we expect a significant rise in core inflation which will impact the overall headline inflation,” the research firm added.

A Professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Mr. Tella Sheriffden, said the prices of good will continue to rise, adding that the best bet was for the country to diversify the economy, a situation he said might not be possible in the short or medium term. “We are really in for turbulent times. These are the implications of not diversifying the economy on time,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer, Eczellon Capital, Mr. Diekola Onaolapo, said, “Although the economy has been facing this barrel for a while, in view of falling oil prices and depleting reserves, the above adjustment have been having ripple effects on the real sector ,the main engine for economic growth. Increase of MPR to 13 per cent from 12 per cent directly affects interest rates and automatically increases cost of funds for the real sectors.”

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and

Industry, LCCI, has said that the sharp decline in the exchange rate is pushing up the operating costs of enterprises in the economy. The body of industrialists said many firms were already feeling the heat across all sector, stressing that in the last few weeks, naira exchange rate has depreciated by about 11 per cent in the interbank market and over 12 per cent in the parallel market.

The Industrialists however noted that the combined austerity measures of the government and tighter monetary policy would put additional pressure on consumer prices, and predicted that inflation rate is expected to cross the double digit mark in the first half of 2015.

According to the chamber, the impact of the depreciation on operating costs will be very profound, adding that cost push inflation will begin to manifest in the next few weeks.

“This will be driven by high cost of production and high cost of imported finished goods,” LCCI stated.

LCCI however stated that Nigeria overtook South Africa to become the largest economy in Africa by GDP at over US$510bn in 2013, and said that according to JP Morgan, the Nigeria economy parades stronger emerging market characteristics than any other countries in Africa due to its compelling drivers.

“The lingering infrastructure and institutional challenges notwithstanding, the Nigerian economy remains strong in metrics as one of the emerging investment destinations in the world. Impressive feats on moderation of inflation rate, improvement in per capita income, sustained strong growth, stable democracy and robust demand are noteworthy in this regard,” LCCI added.

The chamber said that with the unfolding oil price scenario and the consequent exchange rate depreciation, it is plausible to predict higher inflation conditions in 2015, maintaining that there would be pressures on production and operating costs across sectors.

“The emergence of Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa by virtue of its rebased GDP in April presented lots of opportunities, especially the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment, FDI,” LCCI stressed.

The chamber noted that the economy was, however, hampered by productivity challenges like high cost of credit, insecurity and infrastructure deficiencies, stating that the economy in 2014 kept pace with projections on some fundamental indicators like inflation and growth. Inflation was at 7.8 per cent and 8 per cent threshold throughout the year while Gross Domestic Product ,GDP, growth rate was around the projected threshold of 6.5 per cent.

LCCI pointed out that In the last quarter of 2014, the economy experienced shocks arising from developments in the global economy which presented downside outcomes in respect of key macroeconomic indicators where external reserves opened the year at $43.5bn and closed at less than $35bn.

The chamber said that exchange rate opened at the official window at N155 to a dollar and closed at N168 (and even reached the N190 threshold at the parallel market) while the Monetary Policy Rate ,MPR, rose to 13 per cent and other related rates were increased by the CBN in the course of the year.

“The economy is currently experiencing a major shock from sustained drop in oil prices from $114/barrel in January 2014 to $60 at the end of the year,” LCCI said.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Business News

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

21

New export products underway to boost govt’s revenue –Aganga Olufemi Adeosun ABUJA

A

gainst the background of the continued fall in the petroleum price, the Federal Government said it has marked out 13 National Strategic Export Products.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investments, Mr. Olusegun Aganga who said this in a statement in Abuja at the weekend, It was part of the spirited moves by the government towards reviving the dwindling national economy with emphasis on rapid growth of the non-oil sector for exports.

While unveiling plans by the Federal Government for diversifying the economy, Aganga listed the 13 National Strategic Export Products, NSEP, in three categories including; According to Aganga, some of the areas include the Agroindustrial such aas Palm Oil, Cocoa, Cashew, Sugar and Rice; Mining Related- Cement, Iron ore/metals, Auto parts/cars, Aluminium and Oil and Gas Industrial Products-

Petroleum products, fertilizer/ Urea, Petrochemical and Methanol.

He noted that originally 12 products were identified, but that the number got increased because the Executive Director of NEPC made a very strong case for the 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 the government’s agenda.

Aganga 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 that are being imported by countries from other exporting nations and to develop the products with sound logistics built around them.

The essence, the Minister stressed, was to deliver them

cheaper to the 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 in relationship”.

“The new strategic focus is not just Agriculture but rather Commodities based industrialization.

This will help our economy to diversify quickly and sustainably.

Such strategy will help build industrial sector that can diversify our economy in just few years.

Aganga, tasked Awolowo on the need for NEPC to work towards earning big income for Nigeria by focusing on products and services that would yield quick results in few years with a view to assisting Nigeria earn foreign exchange.

Responding The Executive Director, NEPC noted that NEPC under his leadership had long recognised the need to develop the

non-oil export sub-sector and had in the process held series of strategic meetings with stakeholders for the development of ideas aimed at improving the foreign exchange earnings by Nigeria through different avenues.

These, he said include, the development of a 4-year Strategic Plan, One State One Product ,OSOP, Nigerian Diaspora Export Programme ,NDEX, and the development of New markets for New products.

Global airline sector profit may hit $25bn in 2015

T

he International Air Transport Association has announced an outlook for improved industry profitability in its Economic Performance of the Air Transport Industry report.

Airlines had posted a collective global net profit in 2014 of some $19.9bn up from the $18 billion projected in June but this looks set to rise to $25.0bn in 2015.

Lower oil prices and stronger worldwide GDP growth are the main drivers behind the improved profitability and consumers will benefit substantially from the stronger industry performance as lower industry costs and efficiencies are passed through because the airline industry is highly competitive.

After adjusting for inflation, average return airfares, excluding taxes and surcharges, are expected to fall by some 5.1 per cent on 2014 levels and cargo rates are expected to fall by a slightly bigger 5.8 per cent.

The expected $25bn net posttax profit represents a 3.2 per cent margin and on a per passenger basis, airlines will make a net profit of $7.08 in 2015 and that will be up on the $6.02bn earned in 2014 and more than double the $3.38 earnings per passenger achieved in 2013.

“The industry outlook is improving. The global economy continues to recover and the fall in oil prices should strengthen the upturn next year. While we see airlines making $25bn in 2015, it is important to remember that this is still just a 3.2 per cent net profit margin.

The industry story is largely positive, but there are a number of risks in today’s global environment–political unrest, conflicts, and some weak regional economies- among them.

And a 3.2 per cent net profit margin does not leave much room for a deterioration in the external environment before profits are hit,” said Tony Tyler, IATA director general.

CBN charges Banks on management of Oil and Gas risk mitigation Udo Onyeka L-R: Manager, Inspections and Monitoring, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Afam Ojeh; Head, Savings, Fidelity Bank Plc, Janet Nnabuko; Executive Director, Lagos and South West Bank, Fidelity Bank Plc., Ikemefuna Mbagwu; Manager, Monitoring, Consumer Protection Council, Ifeyinwa Nwamuo, and Divisional Head, Retail Bank, Fidelity Bank Plc., Richard Madiebo at the 5th draw of the Fidelity Save4 Scholarship promo in Lagos, recently.

NASS commends Shell on oil spills compensation

T

he Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Senator Bukola Saraki, has commended the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC, for accepting to compensate the Bodo community in Ogoniland over two massive oil spill incidents that occurred in the area in 2008.

Saraki in a statement released in Ilorin commended Shell’s decision, noting that he had in October, 2012 led members of the committee on an unscheduled oversight visit to the Niger-Delta region to inspect and assess the impact of oil spills in the area.

He also recalled that “after seeing firsthand the level of environmental degradation brought about by the oil spills, and how

the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians living in the affected areas were negatively impacted, myself and the other members of the committee made a firm commitment that we will do everything in our power to ensure that the oil spills did not go unpunished, and that those whose subsistence had been affected did not go uncompensated.

“Consequently, a series of calls and meetings were held with the leadership of Shell, and commitments were made. Since then, Senator Saraki and the members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology have continued to work tirelessly to ensure that Shell and other concerned multinationals delivered on their pledges to compensate the victims.

“Nigerians and the international community should know that oil multinationals like Shell finally taking responsibility for the environmental impacts of their oil mining actions and accidents in Nigeria is a monumental step in the right direction. Such actions serve as needful precedents that will help ensure that Nigerians do not have to suffer for the activities of foreign corporations in our homeland.”

Saraki, while reacting to the news of the compensation, said: “As commendable as these recent developments are, it is also crucial to point out the fact that without clear-cut and sustainable policies in place, such compensation might only be one-off occurrences.

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has charged banks to put in place adequate risk mitigating techniques for the management of their Oil and Gas risk exposures which it said is subject for review during its regular risk-based supervision activities.

The charge is coming on the strength of deferment of the application of its regulation on “Oil and Gas Industry Credit Risk Mitigation” as a result of the on-going implementation of the Basel II/III capital adequacy framework.

In a circular dated January 7, and signed by Director, Banking Supervision CBN, , Mr. K. O. Balogun The CBN had in a letter to all banks dated December 10, 2014 warned of the dire consequences of the falling oil price on loan advances to the oil and gas as well as the public sector, pointing out that

the oil prices could decline further.

In the letter the apex bank said considering the quantum of exposure to the oil and gas sector, combined with risk management deficiencies revealed by the recent Risk Based Supervision, there is a need to proactively guard against a crystallisation of these risks.

“The CBN therefore considers it essential to ensure that banks have sufficient capital buffers to mitigate these escalating risk taking activities. Where exposure to the oil and gas sector, as defined by the International Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Sectors as issued by the CBN, is in excess of 20 per cent of total credit facilities of a bank, the risk weight of the entire portfolio in the sector will attract weight of 125 per cent for the purpose of capital adequacy computation,” she said in the letter titled: “Oil and Gas Industry Credit Risk Mitigation”.

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Business News

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

‘We want total review of new auto policy not extension’ Francis Ezem

A

gainst the background of the extension of the commencement date for the enforcement date of the new auto policy from January 1, 2015 to May 1, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents NCMDLCA, has said that only a complete review of auto policy will be good for Nigerians in the present circumstance.

The federal government had last week extended the commencement of the 70 percent new tariff regime for imported used vehicles also called Tokumbo, which was billed to takeoff January 1 to May 1, 2015.

This recent extension marked the second time of its kind in the last six months, as the government earlier extended the commencement date from July 1, 2014 to January 1, 2015.

National president of the asso-

ciation, Mr. Lucky Amiwero, who spoke in a telephone interview, noted that the extension of the enforcement of the new policy was like a mere postponement of the evil day that must come.

According to him, instead of the postponement, government should urgently consider a complete review of the entire policy, which would culminate in maintaining the status quo.

He noted that from all indications, the government has not been able to put in place a structure or action plan that would drive the new policy and so the best thing is to revert to the 10 percent tariff on trucks and buses and 20 percent tariff on all used cars imported into the country.

“It is obvious that the necessary structures and action plan that ought to drive the new auto policy have yet to be put in place by the government. The best thing to do in view of this situation is to revert to the old tariff structure

and take out time to plan and commence the implementation of the new policy in the next few years as it may deem fit”, he argued.

He also said: “Given the current dwindling crude oil price, which has also caused serious economic hiccups in the country including the falling value of the naira with the attendant reduction in the purchasing power of the people, this is a wrong time to implement such a policy because it will bring untold hardship on the people”.

The NCMDLCA-boss also argued that in addition to the reduction of the purchasing power of the people occasioned by the decline in the value of the naira against other international currencies, the implementation of the new auto policy now will cause further dislocations in the transport sector, which will negatively affect every other sector of the economy given that transport is the engine room of any economy.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Oyo farmers to benefit from N500m interest-free loan Abolaji Adebayo

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armers in Oyo State are set to enjoy interest-free loan of N500m earmarked by the state government.

This, according to the government, is to ensure food security and make the state self-reliant in food production.

The State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi made this known at the 20th coronation anniversary of the Baale Agbe of Oyo State, Alhaji Yusuff Akintola in Ibadan.

Ajimobi, who said that the distribution of the money would commence this month, expressed the importance of food for survival and healthy living, stressed the need for government at all levels to support farmers in their efforts at ensuring food security in the country.

He said his administration had continued to provide neces-

ITF laments dearth of vocational skill

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he Director General of ITF, Dr. Juliet ChukkasOnaeko has observed dearth of vocational skill as a major factor inhibiting development in the country.

She said the Nigerian population is growing in leaps and bounds, and there is urgent need to harness this potential stressing that shortage of technical and vocational skills is constraining enterprise development and restricting employment, Speaking at the signing of a Memorandum of Undersstanding, ,MoU, with the Oil and Gas

L-R: Regional Sales Manager, South West Nigeria, Olam Sanyo Foods Ltd, Mr. Rakesh Kumar; Marketing Manager, Mrs. Bola Adeniji, and Head, Consumer Protection Council, Lagos, Mr. Tam Tamunokonbia, during the Cherie Noodles Naira Hunt promo prize presentation in Lagos recently.

How Nigeria can meet its housing needs –Group Boladale Bamigbola OSOGBO

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he leadership of the Niger Delta Youth Caucus, NDYC, has called for more investment in the real estate to address the housing needs of the country, suggesting adoption of mortgage system to finance construction of low cost houses.

In a statement, the President of the group, Comrade Splendour Agbonkpolor, said the recently completed 342 housing unit, Elims Estate in Enugu, financed by Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN, remains a good example of right approach towards solving the housing challenge in the country.

According to him, the Elims Estate, Enugu, designed to meet the needs of both middle and low-income earners, with repayment rate of six percent per annum on the balance for extended period of 30 years, subject to the applicants age, should be replicated in all states of the federation.

His words: “under the leadership Gimba Ya’u Kumo, the FMBN management has been able to collect 134 billion from subscriptions and other sources, FMBN, recovered loans from individuals that took facilities from the company and earns 41million from contributors every month”.

He added that the practical approach by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, FMBN,

since the assumption of office of Ya’u Kumo in 2010, especially in the area of housing scheme was commendable and called for more investment by private developers in the sector to complement government’s efforts.

According to him: “Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, which before was in a serious mess prior the assumption of office of Mr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo and today the story of housing scheme in Nigeria has improved positively”.

He however urged FMBN to further explore other areas to meet the housing needs of the country and urged President Goodluck Jonathan to give more support to the mortgage institution for more ground to be covered in the sector.

sary support for farmers, citing the procurement of 456 tractors for farmers as an instance.

The governor added that government would engage in clearing of farmlands for farmers free of charge, provision of seedlings as well as provision of silos for storing and preservation of farm produce as well as soft loans for traders.

He also said his administration would embark on training of women in farming, adding that government had already provided hectares of land for a soya bean manufacturing firm to assist in boosting the economy of the state.

On the modalities for distributing the money, Governor Ajimobi said contrary to the former practice whereby local governments were responsible for the distribution of the loan, the leaders of the farmers would now be in charge of the disbursement and administration of the funds.

Free Trade Zones Authority, OGFTZA, Onne for the purpose of capacity building, the D-G stated that “Evidences from developed and emerging economies show that requisite expertise constitute a key platform for attaining sustainable economic improvement which could only be accomplished by a properly planned and implementable system of education and training.

“In spite of the different governments’ interventions, it is evident that the nation is nevertheless grappling with shortage of skills.

ATSSSAN predicts good outing for Aviation Sector in 2015

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ational President, Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, Mr Benjamin Okewu, has said that the economic index for the aviation industry in 2015 appear positive despite seeming challenges.

Okewu asked Nigerians to look at the future with confidence predicting resounding growth in the industry.

He noted that the industry is expected to expand with the number of domestic airlines that are frequently springing up.

“Not minding the devaluation of the Naira, the economic indexes are very promising for the aviation industry as we can see that the various domestic airlines are also increasing.

“We have more foreign air-

lines coming into the country, as some of our domestic airlines like Med view are planning to fly into Dubai and Singapore.

“The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, is doing a lot on safety of our airspace. They are taking delivery of a lot of equipment in 2015 to consolidate on what is on ground,” he said.

According to him, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, had promised to consolidate the authority as the regulatory agency that it should be in terms of both technical and economic regulations.

The president noted that the economic index and regulatory aspect of the industry were two things that are critical for a robust accident free aviation activities in 2015.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Jobs & Career

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

23

‘Nigerians’ life style not in tune with economic realities’

to development. Any nation which suffers for its money manages it well.

An expert and fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, Mr. Emeka Ifezulike, is in the forefront of advocating sustainable measure for Nigeria’s economic development. In this interview with MESHACK IDEHEN, Ifezuilke says governments at federal, states and local levels must rise up to the occasion demanded by Nigeria’s present situation, and address the numerous socio- economic challenges, including unemployment, dwindling revenue and insecurity that the nation is currently grappling with Excerpts:

How would you access the present socio economic situation in the country, and what would you say should be the focus of the government this year?

An agenda has already been set as things stand, due in the main to the general elections that is coming up soon. As a form of agenda all the same, it is very important that the will of the people be done. It is important also that nothing untoward or negative happen to Nigeria and Nigerians before, during and after the elections.

That is an agenda I believe the government should consider seriously this year.

Going forward however, it is important to again reiterate the challenge posed to governmentitself, the economy and Nigerians in general, due to the wieldy and large size of government. Simplyput government at federal, states and local levels need to reduce the size and cost of governance and the attendant’s challenges that comes with it.

This call has becomes even more pertinent when it is considered that government’s main source of revenue is dwindling, and the money in its kitty may simply not be enough to meet with other crucial and pressing national demands. A high level of fiscal responsibility is required now more than ever before.

Talking of dwindling oil revenue, how do you believe the government should respond to this challenge?

Fact is government needs to show more prudence and accountability; block avenue for wastages and revenue leaks and focus on developing other non-oil based source of revenues.

The productive sector and energy of Nigerians and the economy needs to be fully engaged and tapped into as a form of quality response by the government to confront and address the challenge. There has beenafter all almost nothing to show as positive result during the period when the price of crude oil was on the high side.

Again, all forms of wastages must be cut off, and a review of previous process of doing government and private sector businesses conducted. Many of the importation that is being done and brought into the country today are not needed and are not relevant for the wellbeing of the nation.

What do you think is the main difficulty associated with implementing sound and sustainable economic policies in Nigeria? How do you think that challenge should be addressed?

Many Nigerians have acquired a taste and lifestyles that is not in sync with reality and with our situation as a country. Too many. From private jets and highly expensive automobiles to private holiday and indulgenents in choice locations around the world. These are mention-

How well do you think the government is in trying to create wealth through job creation?

The present government it must be said is trying to create wealth through job creation, particularly through agriculture and its value chain. I think that is commendable.

However, creating wealth is one thing, while managing it is another. Wealthy men fear bequeathing their wealth for fears and worries over its management. What is needed; what is required is a high level of prudence and accountability in these initiatives so that they can produce desired results and have long lasting impact.

The way things are presently in the country is a sad reflection of the reality that many individuals and organisations are reaping where they have not sowed.

There are too many people with too much money that are virtually contributing nothing to make the country better and self-sustainable. Oil revenue must be worked for. Adding value is important.

Ifezulike

On the challenge of skills acquisition and

development, it has to be noted also that skills can only grow from practice.

Many in the country,

particularly job seekers

don’t have the opportunities to even practice whatever skills they have or have acquired ing only a few of these indulgences and wild high tastes that are crippling the economy.

While I must note that those things are no crime, the obvious fact must be stated that our status as a people and as a nation, particularly in the light of current global economic situation and high inequality of wealth distribution does not call for those things.

These are dangerous tastes that contribute largely to the numerous unsuccessful initiatives and policies made to grow and develop the economy. Many simple economic activities that should grow the economy are all import based.

Again, it must be said that these things are happing because the country has not really hard to work hard and sweat for its revenue as other nations may have done. Nigeria never worked hard for its revenue hencethese irresponsible lifestyles that are displayed regularly by many.

A man with money likes to try many things. Vast loopholes still exists in revenue generation in the country.

Another difficulty with implementing sustainable economic policies in Nigeria is that wealth is difficult to manage. The lack of effective and quality management of oil wealth by government is a major hindrance

What is your view on job creation? How do you think the efforts so far by stakeholders on skills acquisition and development can be improved upon?

First you have to understand that abundance not produced is a part of unemployment. Nigeria has all it takes when the factors of production are considered to be able to create and even export enough good and sustainable jobs.

Take a look for instance at the tourism sector that has remained largely under developed and untapped. That sector on its own is capable of creating millions of jobs that can take some reasonable amount of pressure off the economy. The problem is that sharing mentality still largely dominates the Nigeria economy.

On the challenge of skill acquisition and development, it has to be noted also that skills can only grow from practice. Many in the country, particularly job seekers don’t have the opportunities to even practice whatever skills they have or have acquired. There is virtually no foundation on which to build skills on.

That is where the responsibility for the government comes in. There is got to be enough reason and motivation for creating jobs and wealth. Many that have the capacity and intellect to initiate moves that can create jobs and wealth are not encouraged or motivated enough by prevailing socio- economic situation.

This sad and sorry state is further compounded by seeing massive wealth being flaunted by those contributing nothing to the economy. It is not helped by the high level of insecurity and instability which has taken over some parts of the country. Abundance for some without stability for many is not an ideal situation.

Insecurity as perpetuated by Boko Haram has virtually crippled business and economic activities in parts of the country. What do you think can be done? How do you think government should address the situation?

Government need understand first and foremost that fundamental belief is part of the main problem of Boko Haram.

The challenge of insecurity posed by the group is one that must be frontally addressed. It must be confronted by engaging it. It is not an overnight thing. Fundamental issues in mainstream Islam needs also to be engaged with in a honest and transparent manner.

By doing this, solutions will not only emerge, but a resurgence that will give life to the almost crippled economic situation in those areas will be experienced in a way that will not only add to the nation’s gross domestic output, but also address unemployment, particularly in the use of agriculture and its almost endless value chain.

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Jobs & Career

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Tips for keeping your new job

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ongratulations on securing your new job. You have been selected over the other job applicants because of all the wonderful factors that made you the best fit. There are many tips for keeping your new job and maintaining a professional image – here are a few: Understand your role and expectations-You may feel as though you are doing a fantastic job, but if your expectations differ from those of your manager or boss, there is going to be conflict.

Have a good understanding of what is expected of you. If you feel that the expectations are unrealistic, then you need to approach your boss and explain the situation. One of the most important aspects of maintaining a professional image is being a good team player and contributing fairly to the team objectives. No one likes a colleague who does not do their fair share of the work.

Expand your role and keep on learning-Be a team player and look to get involved in more areas of the business. Be willing to share your expertise, but also be willing to learn new skills. If your company offers training courses, put your hand up to get involved. If your company doesn’t offer training courses, you can still take the initiative and invest in your own growth and knowledge by paying for these courses yourself.

Develop positive relationshipsWith all of the time we spend at work, it’s important to develop positive relationships with all of our co-workers, managers, and bosses. Good relationships are based on trust. Keep commitments. If you promise something, make sure you deliver on time. However, if you find yourself in a situation where something has changed and you cannot keep that commitment, be honest and communicate. Honest communication is the key to building a long-lasting relationship.

Be visible-Leaving early every day

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

PIB crucial for reforms in petroleum sector Meshack Idehen

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A office worker on duty

and not attending social gatherings is definitely not the right way to maintain a professional image. Being visible is all part of being a good team player. This does not mean you have to be best friends with every person you work with, but there is no need to isolate yourself either.

Ask For feedback and learn from your boss-Do not be afraid to ask for feedback. In order to grow and improve ourselves, we need feedback on how we are performing in our jobs. Positive feedback is always fantastic, however don’t be put down by negative feedback and certainly do not hold grudges. Learn

from your mistakes and strive to do better going forward.

We spend so many hours at work that we need to enjoy what we are doing.

Maintaining a professional image will help you not only build a reputation of someone who is a great team player and can be counted on to add value to the business, but will also make your work life a far greater experience. When the time comes for a promotion or a pay rise, you are far more likely to be considered because of your professional attitude and image.

Source: www.careerealism.com

mmediate past President General of Trade Union Congress, TUC, Mr Peter Esele, has said that the Petroleum Industrial Bill, PIB, embodies the essential reforms that will put the petroleum sector on the path of robust growth.

Esele made the declarations in an interview with our correspondent while speaking on the importance attached to the current campaign by the labour movement for the passage of the PIB into labour by the 7th National Assembly, NASS, before next month general elections in Nigeria “It is my firm belief that the PIB embodies the essential reforms that will put the petroleum sector on the path of robust growth in line with the principles that would make Nigeria the economic hub in the Africa region for petroleum activities.

“The quick passage of the bill by 7th NASS into law will stop, or minimise oil thefts, corruption in the oil and gas industry.”

Calling on the Federal Government to hasten the passage of the bill, Esele said, Nigeria needs to wean herself from dependence on natural resources and diversify the economy to the other important sectors.

“This is the right time to take advantage of the fallout of the passage to the Bill into law now that the price of crude oil has fallen in the international market”, while arguing that the current Government’s agenda is basically on macroeconomic policy, job creation and public expenditure management needed review to meet international standard.

Job Vacancies

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mployment hopefuls must at all times be aware that their quest for getting jobs does not begin or end with applying through conventional methods.

According to human resource experts, recruiters are constantly offering jobs to qualified candidates that are bold enough to walk into companies; make enquiries about available vacancies, and show proof they are willing and capable of being given responsibilities.

In that regards, job seekers are advised to always take the first step by doing the leg work associated with job search, instead of waiting for firms or recruiters to make such vacancies public; a wait that may never end.

On available vacancies this week, the position of Trade Marketing Coordinators www.findjobafrica.com who are to be based in Ibadan, Aba and Makurdi are on offer.

Description for the job includes working very closely with the Operations

Director, and will be responsible for all aspects of coordination and collaboration with the distributor on the sales and distribution operation, including on the trade marketing field force deployment and monitoring.

They are also to ensure that distribution and merchandising strategy agreed upon with the distributors are being met, alongside the execution of trade and consumer activation programs as well as monitor implementation and competitive activity.

Other areas of responsibility are to contribute to planning and execution of all marketing related activities in order to achieve sustainable volume growth, working in liaison with the distributor staff and effectively managing the sales and marketing activities in the region in order to ensure the attainment of set objectives for our brands as set by management.

Qualifications required are a university degree, 5-7 years’ experience in sales and distribution / channel management.

Fluency in English, while a master’s degree would be an added advantage.

Also on offer this week from www. findjobafrica.com is a vacancy for a Travel Consultant who is expected to be based in Dubai, United Arab Emirate.

The job description includes dealing directly with clients and potential clients, providing superior and consistent quality of travel services to sell airline tickets, travel related products and leisure travel products, handle complex transactions and advise clients on the finer points of difficult itineraries, as well as provide them with efficient travel solutions and up to date information.

Qualifications needed are an A’ level education with a minimum of 2 years front line travel experience as a reservation/Ticketing/Sales agent. Knowledge and skills of standard fares and ticketing certificate from IATA or experience in an IATA certified environment.

Knowledge of world geography and major carrier networks to facilitate quick

itinerary planning, proficiency in MS Office applications i.e. word and excel spoken Arabic or any other foreign language would be an advantage. Strong verbal and written English skills, Interpersonal ability, telephone and customer service skills are also required.

From www.jobberman.com are fulltime vacancies for a Marketing Executives who are expected to be based in Lagos.

Responsibilities for the positions amongst other duties are to manage and control the relationship between products and target audience, promote whatever products or services that are on offer and developing new marketing strategies which is an important part of the role.

Others are to generate, follow up on leads and prospect, and manage customer relationship.

Qualifications and requirements are a minimum of OND in marketing or a relevant field, 1-3 years’ experience, ability to meet and exceed revenue targets and abil-

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

25

Real Estate & Environment

Housing estate

Nigeria’s 17m housing deficit: Challenges before incoming president As political campaigns kick-off in the country, both the presidential and gubernatorial candidates are making several campaign promises, including providing affordable houses to the teeming Nigerian masses. Experts have doubted whether these promises would not be like the past ones, where they promised to provide millions of housing units but to no avail, hence Nigeria’s housing deficit still stands at 17 million. SYLVA EMEKA-OKEREKE reports.

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ne of the biggest tasks facing the incoming President as well as State Governors is the provision of adequate and affordable housing for the teeming Nigerian population.

Long before now and even presently, the past and present Nigerian leaders

‘Affordable housing no longer for low income earners, but for the rich’ 27

have made several promises on affordable houses, but to no avail.

They have used public housing schemes as part of their campaign strategies, aimed at swaying the electorate.

But regrettably, experts have noted that their promises appear to be a hollow

ones, as they more they promises, they more Nigerian housing deficits continue to rise.

For instance, in September 2008, the then administration announced a public private partnership (PPP) with the Houses for Africa (HFA) to build over

Experts say Nigeria may lose more forest reserves 28

10,000 housing units for low and medium income earners at the total cost of $300 million in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

This was followed by additional 3,000 housing units planned in other parts of CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Stylish dining room ideas 29

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Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Nigeria’s 17m housing deficit: Challenges before incoming president CONTINUED FROM 25 Abuja and later the promise to upgrade the infrastructure in FESTAC Town, Lagos in November 2008.

Thought, some economic analysts lauded the initiatives of the past leaders to build more housing stocks in the country, but they were quick to point out that those initiatives fell short of the target.

They may be right in their submission, but one of the housing experts, Mr John Osagie said, such moves ignited the current housing awareness as well as establishment of mortgage institutions in Nigeria.

According to him, he said such idea, no doubt, led to the regeneration of the FESTAC Town built in 1977 by the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, while encouraging private sector investments in the housing sector.

According to the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, Nigeria needs over 10,000 housing units yearly to meet the growing housing demands as he also noted, that in all, the country will require about 120,000 new housing units annually.

Investigation by National Mirror confirmed that since its establishment in 1973, the FHA has been able to deliver only 35,309 housing units nationwide.

With the growing population of over 170 million, the nation’s housing shortage still stands at over 17 million, thus putting the incoming President on a tight corner.

Construction experts have estimated that over 70 percent of Nigeria’s population is at the mercy of shylock landlords, blaming the past leaders for reneging in their housing promises, just as they warned the candidates of different political parties in the country to shun promises they would not fulfil, especially in the housing sector.

Already, President Goodluck Jonathan had during the 2014 May Day, promised to provide millions of housing stocks to Nigerian workers, even as some workers noted that the promise for affordable housing stocks is quite realistic, but actualisation is the main issue.

Jonathan had said, he would establish Workers Estate for the teeming Nigerian workers.

“In fact, some time ago, I was told when I was a very young man that look, I must save to build a house, because so many people when they go to PortHarcourt, after retirement, they die very quickly, because they have no houses of their own, but with this nationwide housing projects, workers will now begin to have their own houses. I will build Workers Housing Estate”, the President promised.

Continuing, he also said, “the federal government is committed to ensuring that the huge housing deficit in our country is bridged through a number of mass housing delivery schemes. Government is prosecuting mass housing projects from three main fronts through partnership with labour unions, including the NLC, TUC as well as the Civil Service Unions”. This, he said, would

Jonathan

Buhari

IN FACT, SOME TIME AGO, I WAS TOLD WHEN I WAS A VERY YOUNG MAN THAT LOOK, I MUST SAVE TO BUILD A HOUSE, BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE WHEN THEY GO TO PORTHARCOURT, AFTER RETIREMENT, THEY DIE VERY QUICKLY, BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO HOUSES OF THEIR OWN, BUT WITH THIS NATIONWIDE HOUSING PROJECTS, WORKERS WILL NOW BEGIN TO HAVE THEIR OWN HOUSES also involve mortgage refinance along with the private sector.

Osagie noted with dismay that such promises should not be like the past ones, urging Jonathan to make real his promises by implementing such housing projects, adding that if he implements such housing policies, the cost of houses would not only go down in Nigeria, but give Nigerians the ample opportunity to own decent accommodations.

Recently, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akron Eyakenyi said, government is committed to ensuring that every worker lives in his own house, disclosing that over 44,000 houses have been added to the nation’s housing stock.

She however noted that government has been reducing the affordability gap, just as it is assuring better living conditions while improving access to decent houses through various housing programmes.

President of Trade Union Congress, TUC, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama while reacting on Jonathan’s May Day housing promises, described the planned Workers Estate as a watershed in the history of Nigerian workers, urging the President to try to actualise these goals.

He therefore pleaded that all infrastructure necessary for speedy completion of the project should be put in place, hoping that the housing project would be completed on schedule to enable Jonathan commission them before the end of the first quarter of 2015 In the same vein, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC,

Comrade Abdulwahed Omar noted that homes are the most important requirements for the happiness of every Nigerian worker.

Umar however recalled that Jonathan made the pledge during the 2014 May Day celebration in Abuja, adding that Nigerian workers will always show appreciation for Jonathan, if he would take the bold step to follow-up on his housing promises.

He said, the federal government has allocated the plots of land, where the housing projects are now being constructed for the workers, despite the initial claims that the land was reserved for some serving governors and senators.

“We want to thank Mr. President for standing on the side of the workers and insisting on allocating the land for workers housing scheme and for regarding every citizens as equals”, Umar noted while appealing to him, to prevail on relevant Ministers to ensure that all wavers given so far, are translated to a reduced housing cost for Nigerian Workers.

Currently, Nigeria’s housing needs have been high as a result of population growth, which has averaged 3.0 percent per annum as well as rapid urbanisation due to rural-urban migration as well as high cost of building materials, ineffective and insincere housing policies among others.

Estimates show that Nigeria needs an average of 1 million housing units per year not only to replenish decaying housing stock, but also to meet rising demand A Lagos-based lawyer with special

Mallam

interest in real estate, Barrister Bobajo Omowole toldNational Mirror, that the United Nations Education and Scientific Cultural Organisations (UNESCO) recent reports revealed that Nigeria is having a shortfall of 17 million housing stocks, noting that the country needs about 1.5 million housing units annually in the next 15 years to be able to withstand the test of time.

While encouraging Nigerians to invest in the nation’s housing sector, instead of going abroad, the legal luminary chided the federal and state governments for not addressing the housing problems, claiming that both governments have failed in their statutory responsibility to deliver housing units to the teeming Nigerians as promised.

According to him, from 2005 till date, the nation’s housing deficits are going up, noting that unless governments intervene in the sector and make real, their promises, the verdict will still remain the same-a balance sheet of growing housing shortfall, which imposes serious challenges to the incoming President.

He therefore regretted that some Nigerian investors are investing in foreign properties without ascertaining the legal implications of such investments, advising Nigerians to invest in the country to reduce the percentage of the housing deficits.

“Nigerian investors should be wary of the marketing gimmicks of those foreign firms in the country, who are trying to rip-off many unsuspecting Nigerian investors in the name of juicy properties abroad. Instead of investing in properties abroad, Nigerian investors should take advantage of the shortfall in the property stock in Nigeria to put their money, where their mouth is”, he said.

Nigeria’s housing sector is facing a lot of challenges. From land tenure system to mortgage financing and down to unstable policies, the problem has remained the same.

Stakeholders said, the biggest challenges on the sleeves of the incoming President would be the housing crisis affecting the country.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

MORTGAGE NOTES

‘Affordable housing, no longer for low income earners’ Sylva Emeka-Okereke

with Adenike Fasanya-Osilaja

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Fasanya-Osilaja

Email: Nike@MVPSolutionsinc.com https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=35277333

Appraisal standardisation in Nigerian finance industry-A Utopian fantasy?

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friend told me recently that his family house in Lagos had just been sold for several millions of naira.

When I asked how they had arrived at the amount as a correct reflection of the value of their home, he informed me that an appraisal had been completed on it, and actually gave me access to the appraisal.

An analysis of the appraisal left me totally confused. It seemed that the appraiser (from a well-known company) had just pulled numbers out of the air by magic. There were figures included in the valuation that had absolutely no source or basis. I was left extremely concerned, and in fact upset, by the sheer incomprehensibility of the document. My friend then gave me his opinion–“In Lagos, the value of a property is simply what your buyer is willing to pay for it”. Wow! I decided to do a little research in property values in Lagos, and I don’t know if anyone has done this recently, but I promise you will be stunned by the sheer numbers out there. Anyone want to buy an office building in Victoria Island? I found one for a mere N65, 000,000,000.00. (Cue the incredulous laughter). Oh, and if you prefer to build your own custom property, I found a piece of land that can be yours for N12, 000,000,000.00.

Okay, so you can’t afford to live on the island. Let’s see….I found some land in Ipaja, Agege listed for N7, 500,000.00. Am I the only one convinced that there is something seriously and sadly wrong with this picture? Some locations in Lagos boast property prices higher than London, New York or Abu Dhabi for no sensible reason other than that someone was willing to pay the asking price.

So, I went further and asked a few people in Lagos, who have real estate knowhow what they consider to be the reason for the outrageous pricing on property in the state and got the overwhelmingly same response – as long as people are willing to pay the price, property values will continue to increase. My questions then are these: 1. Where are these values coming from, and why are we will-

ing to just accept them as they are?

2. Are banks seriously giving out trillion naira loans? What does one have to do to qualify for such a loan amount?

3. Is there any widely accessible database to guide property valuation for mortgage lending purposes? If so, how standardized is it?

4.

Who are the people buying these properties? Is anybody paying cash for them? How are they able to afford them?

I could go on and on. We really have to rethink some of our practices in the housing industry. It is critical that property sales and mortgage transactions are based on verifiable, standardized and sensible valuation indices.

Appraisals should not be treated as a minor detail in the documentation and underwriting analysis for a loan, but as the most important factor in the securitization and guaranteeing of the loan taken out. It seems that loans are being given out on the premise that property values can only go up and therefore the bank is sure to recoup its money simply by selling a distressed property. The risk of distress is only partially mitigated by the physical asset. I’m sure every Lender would really prefer to receive their monthly mortgage payment rather than to take over their borrower’s property.

Another concern this raises on the micro-economic side is that it seems that the average income earner is completely priced out of the market. This is why some people work on Victoria Island, yet lives in Ogun state. This is why some parents become absentee parents, who don’t see their children at all during the work week, leading to unsupervised or even worse, abused and angry members of our future generation. This is why the instances of road rage and armed robbery are on the rise, with people leaving their homes for work as early as 4.30am and not returning home until 11.00pm.

The expectation that such a person should be alert and fully functional on the job, is truly baffling to me.

So what possible solutions can there be? The idea of trying to put

caps on property values by government edict is a non-starter because such edicts have simply been ignored every time they have been issued. Enforcement ability (or will?) is almost sporadic at best, and the edicts just fizzle out without effect. The solution must be market based, since price will not reduce unless demand reduces. The lending institutions should lead this effort, by insisting on cogent, competent data based appraisals on properties they finance.

Such appraisal values should be based on financed properties and not cash purchases because as is well known, some people have amassed so much (well or ill gotten) wealth, that they will buy anything they want, at whatever price. Financing should only be based on the verifiable value of the property, and the finance institutions should immediately start to educate and encourage their borrowers to reject any property valuations that cannot be professionally substantiated.

The process might be painful and the journey may be long, but it must be started with all urgency. Valuation based financing is going to be the only way to xxxxx have a long-term sustainable mortgage economy in Nigeria.

In fact, it should be a criminal offense to purport to finance property at untenable prices.

I am perpetually optimistic that the Nigerian housing finance industry can evolve into a world-class, investment friendly market. I am less optimistic that our children will be homeowners through their own efforts, rather than generational wealth. This should be the goal of any society and our children can only benefit from it.

My next piece will discuss the global implications and consequences of appraisals, as well as concrete suggestions regarding the implementation of appraisal standardization processes. Your comments and questions are welcome as always. Happy New Year, and have an amasing 2015.

ABOUT THE WRITER Fasanya-Osilaja a lawyer and mortgage expert has owned and operated Marvel Ventures Mortgage, Inc. (www.marvelmortgage.com), a Chicagobased Mortgage Brokerage Company since 2000 and has worked in the US Mortgage industry since 1996. She also consults and facilitates industryrequired activities, from set up of mortgage organisations to documentation, training and compliance.

27

irector-General, Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, Mr Benjamin Dikki has regretted that the few affordable houses meant for lowincome earners in the country are now in the hands of few rich Nigerians.

The BPE boss, who disclosed this in Lagos state recently said, ’’There are only few housing stocks in Nigeria and the few remaining ones are in the hands of the top echelon of the society’’.

He however noted that government is initiating a housing policy, aimed at redefining the legal and regulatory frameworks of the sector, so that the private sector can also invest in housing as it is in other developed countries.

According to him, in other countries of the world, the private sector participates in housing projects by building affordable houses for low income earners by bringing down the cost of houses. ’’We are also looking at the land tenure system because lands are very costly in the country, which has been the major cause of the growing housing costs. We are also looking at the policy issues that can encourage investors to build houses for the

common man at the affordable costs.

Noting that a steering committee headed by the Minister of Housing with other representatives drawn from various agencies of the government are working out modalities to address some housing issues in the country, Dikki assured that before the end of this year, the committee will come up with the draft bill that will turn around the fortunes of the nation’s housing sector. ’’We have gone to Singapore to look at their model. You know the country has provided houses for over 95 percent of the total population. We are also looking at the South Africa’s housing model that will make housing working in the country among other countries’’, he stated.

He said, the intention of the federal government is to provide enough housing stocks for the low-income earners in the country and to ensure that many Nigerians would have their own houses.

According to his statements, “We are looking at reforming the sector to ensure that it takes its right place in ensuring adequate housing stocks for the teeming Nigerians. We are not there yet, but we will definitely get there one day:’’.

FHA sets up restructuring team Olufemi Adeosun ABUJA

M

anaging Director, Federal Housing Authority, FHA, Prof. Mahammed Al-Amin has set up a re-structuring team to handle various aspects of its operations for effective service delivery.

According to him, the team is on dispute resolution, contracts, partnership, assets and liabilities as well as income generations.

Other terms of reference include, securing and perfecting titles for the authority’s landholdings, special interventions, new projects, corporate governance and career issues among others.

Inaugurating the team at the authority’s headquarters in Abuja, Al-Amin said, the authority’s Interim management team took the decision to generate quick actions, aimed at improving the fortunes of the FHA while maintaining its viability as a national institution.

He noted that the wide range of consultations had been carried out, noting that the management of the authority came to the conclusion that it needed to get out of its shell to be able to achieve its mandate within its time frame..

While noting that, the existing line of duty would be retained, the FHA boss also said, the restructuring team would be used as intervention structure to achieve the set goals, stressing that the management is poised to implement the wide range reforms that would give the authority a new lease of life.

He therefore praised the Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, for coming up with a reform document accompanied with a good implementation mechanism for the authority.

Al-Amin further noted that his management team was of the view that members of the staff as part of the critical stakeholders could drive the reform agenda, adding that all assignments envisaged in the reform document had been broken into various parts for various teams to implement.

In doing so, he said the management expected the staff to seize the opportunity to send a strong message to the public that they could do it.

Each of the team, he said, is being given a time-lag for its assignments as members are expected to articulate deliverables as key performance indicators.

28

Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Stylish di Whether your style is formal or family friendly, use these design tips and decorating ideas to update your dining room.

Mix Color and Style Play with furniture styles to achieve a personalized look. Just unify with color. These red lacquer bamboo-style side chairs add a bold punch of color that coordinates with the cabinet interiors of this space.

Layer Neutrals for a Relaxed Look “To give Country French my minimalist spin, I avoid the expected ruffles and plaids and keep it about the painted antiques and white linens,” says homeowner and designer Regina Lynch. She, along with designer Destiny Lynch (who also happens to be Regina’s daughter) came together to create this “less-is more” style.

Soften the Space with Linens Simple details like the finish of your linens help set the tone of your dining space. This round table and antique chairs are covered in simple linen and checked fabrics. A dainty scalloped edge on the chairs and table topper adds a decorative touch.

Save Space with Built-Ins Add storage to a small dining area with a built-in china cabinet. You’ll not only save floorspace, but you’ll also have the opportunity to integrate architectural details like decorative trimwork.

Give a Dose of Tradition

Let ing in follow sociat projec to Leta collab to fit a archit

Create

Get the in sliding room, closed

Create

Wa ate a s

Lighten

Nat netic. living amps unites

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Ref decked from

Experts say Nigeria may lose more forest reserves Sylva Emeka-Okereke

U

nless urgent steps are taken by federal and state governments to sustain the tempo of tree-planting campaigns, Nigeria may be at the verge of losing more that 400,000 hectares of domestic forest yearly as a result of consistent felling of trees, a report from the Nigeria Conservation Centre revealed.

Already, the report shows that the country is losing over 400,000 hectares of forest annually, about 1percent of the total available estates.

Experts had before now and even presently, raised alarm over rampant felling of trees in the country, noting that apart from abating the impact of other environmental threats like desertification, pollution, self degradation as well as loss of diversity, it makes conservation

activities more challenging as well as very difficult, They also noted that as population increases, demand for trees required for construction, fuel wood, charcoal and many other human needs also increases.

Currently, report has shown that, the pace of tree felling, coupled with its concomitant environmental challenges, increases with population growth, forcing clearance of large tracts of land annually, paving way for agricultural land as well as other human activities, including new settlements.

The Coordinator, North-East Project of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), Mr. Ashimi T.A had noted, that the problem of tree felling has been caused majorly by liberation of trade, which has seen tones of high value timber being freely shipped daily to lucrative markets in major cities in Nigeria.

According to the organiza-

tion, timber is often harvested in an unsustainable way, at the expense of the environment.

Apart from human activities directly contributing to forest cover loss, there are also exogenous factors associated with climate change, which are blamed for uncertain rainfall and temperature patterns, droughts, food and water shortages, Experts have warned against losing the entire forest cover within the next ten to sixty decades, if more is done to reduce the current rate of deforestation, adding that better natural resources management strategies are not only required, but necessary to mitigate the situation.

According to them, there is an urgent need to carry out an extensive public awareness campaigns on ecological implications of deforestation, bush fires and unsustainable agricultural practices, poaching, hunting and logging.

Rceently completed Oroki Housing Estate Road, Osogbo, Osun State.

There are needs for drastic steps to be taken to increase the awareness of tree planting all over the country as part of overall environmental strategy and loss of forest cover cannot be allowed to continue, else it would be too late to stem the tide, Afforestation, the experts said should be the way forward in order to limit the production of greenhouse gases while limiting the negative effects of climate change, including drought, flooding, poor harvests

and water shortages.

Both public and private organizations should be mobilized towards the success of the campaign.

Federal Ministry of Environment should be given the desired supports to coordinate the campaign with supports from states and local governments.

Deliberate steps should also be taken to sustain projects that have shown the potential to bring turnaround.

Some successful initiative in-

clud whe man be s P vidu port sori pers dist lecti The villa port

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

29

ining room ideas

ta Foster has spent the last 35 years designnteriors so well that her three daughters wed in her footsteps, becoming the “& Astes” in her firm. When this breakfast room ct in an early-1900s Richmond home came a, she tapped daughter Sallie Giordano to borate. Together, they decorated the space a young family while honoring its original tect, William Bottomley.

made from branches.

e Privacy with Pocket Doors

Make a Small Dining Room Look Larger

t the free traffic flow of an open plan and ntimacy of a closed dining room by using g pocket doors. On the left side of this , reclaimed heart-pine pocket doors can be d to hide the kitchen.

Visually expand a small dining room by keeping the palette monochromatic and furnishing it with a round table and armless dining chairs. This crisp green dining room feels airy and open even though the space is small.

e a Calming Palette

Add Height

alls covered in subtle blue grass cloth creserene space that’s inviting and warm.

Emphasize the height of your dining room with vertical stripes. Floor-to-ceiling windows also help this space feel lofty and light.

n Up with Windows

Multitask Dining rooms can easily be made into multiuse spaces. A large dining table work surface makes this room a perfect place to double as the homeowner’s design office. Books and samples can quickly be stowed in cabinets when guests come over.

tural lighting makes a dining room magA clutch of chairs normally found in a g room, including two English wing chairs, up this room’s style. Canvas upholstery s the mismatched vintage chairs.

Plan Ahead for Flexibility

pholstery

Build a Banquette

d textural depth by mixing upholstery cs. These dining chairs sport patterned lstery cushions, and the backs are covered oordinating solid.

Built-in banquette seating is a great option if you’re short on space. It not only adds seating, but the space beneath the seat can also be used for storage. Using the same upholstery fabric helps tie together the mixed seating in this space.

Your Cue from the Natural Surroundings

flecting its forested location, this house is d out in a variety of natural materials— rough-hewn beams to rustic furniture

des forest management projects, ere villagers are encouraged to nage their forests better should sustained.

Private sector, including indiual businesses can also play imtant roles in this regard by sponing environmental awards for sons or communities that have tinguished themselves in the coltive struggle to restore nature. ey may donate money to enable agers raise tree nurseries or supt similar relevant activities.

Add shelves for greater flexibility. A wall of library shelves in this dining room enhances the cozy cabin feel and offers homeowners the option of converting the space into an office.

and surfaces are spill-proof. These host chairs, designed in a modified Parsons style, are upholstered in durable outdoor fabric to withstand upset cups and plates.

Think Outside the Color Box Try a nontraditional color scheme. This formal dining room jazzes up a traditional foundation with unexpected color combinations. The graphic green upholstered chairs play off of the distinctive orange-and-gold wallpaper. Gilded accents pick up the metallics in the pattern of the paper.

Hang Plush Drapery Set the mood with lush window treatments.

Luxurious curtains hung near the ceiling give grand scale to this dining room.

Go Neutral Even if you’re not a fan of bright colors, you can still create a striking dining room. This mostly neutral dining room is anything but boring. A variety of linens and rich browns punctuated by small colorful accents gives a warm and inviting look to the room. Lots of natural light keeps the dark brown walls from visually closing in the space.

Splurge and Save Prioritize your spending. Instead of a more expensive chandelier, a paper lantern glows over the table in this dining room. It adds big style for a low price.

Vary Your Finishes Go for Durable Make sure all of your dining room materials

Use mixed finishes for a casual look. These painted chairs are paired with a round ma-

hogany dining table. The mix of finishes on the room’s various furnishings provides a collected, casual appeal.

Achieve Balance Use a formally balanced layout for a traditional dining room. This room highlights the homeowner’s preference for symmetry and clean lines. A new built-in china cabinet looks original to the circa-1920s house.

Design for Durability When selecting your finishes, think about the wear and tear that your dining room may experience beyond spills. The white oak plank flooring with a limed finish in this coastal cottage dining room is perfect for disguising sand tracked in from the beach. A clear wax on top keeps it sealed and hardy.

Customise Colors Tell a cohesive color story in connected spaces. The wall color in this dining room was custom mixed to match the blue undertones of curtains in the adjoining living room.

Accent with Patterns Add an unexpected touch to an elegant space by including playful patterns. The jazzy zebra upholstery on these dining chairs keeps the otherwise subdued room from feeling stuffy.

Show Your Age Instead of refinishing antique pieces, let the natural character shine. Antique iron chairs surround a rustic table in this dining room.

These vintage items lend stylish history to the newly constructed space.

NCF plans sustainable environment lectures

O

ne of the leading environment groups, Nigerian Conservation Foundation, NCF, has concluded plans to ensure sustainability of environment and agriculture in the country, Stakeholders in the sector would this week meet at the 13th Chief Shafi Lawal Edu Memorial Lecture aimed at shoring the fortunes of the sectors as the major driver for economic development of most developing economies.

Nigeria, as a leading economy in Africa, will not only depend on foreign exchange earnings from oil and gas, but also rely on agriculture prod-

ucts for improved Gross Domestic Products, GDP. In a lecture to be delivered by a Professor of Plant Breeding & Crop Production and Head, Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan, Professor Victor Adetimirin with the theme, “Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment”, the issue of the environment and sustainable agriculture, especially production, processing and marketing of agriculture to support substantial yields will be extensively discussed.

Some factors, including maintaining environmental services and ecosystem integrity are major func-

tional elements of sustainable agriculture.

The NCF believes that all efforts, aimed at developing agriculture in Nigeria will only bring a rewarding future, if all issues regarding ecosystem functioning are given proper attention, hence the lecture will focus on all issues relating to sustainable agriculture and the environment as Nigeria progresses in her agriculture transformation agenda.

According to a statement from the NCF, signed by the Director General of the NCF, Adeniyi Karunwi, the event will also be used to award scholarship grants to another set of

doctoral students in Nigerian Universities, supported by Chevron Nigeria Limited. Such research grants are for Nigerians wishing to undertake research works in fields related to nature conservation as well as sustainable livelihood. The grant shall be for three years leading to a Doctorate degree.

“The Nigerian Conservation Foundation will continue to encourage students, who embark on research that meets its mission of the preservation of a full range of Nigeria’s biodiversity, which includes species, ecosystems and genetic biodiversity.

25% forest cover by 2015 not feasible –Report Sylva Emeka-Okereke

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xperts in forestry have noted that, the anticipated target of 25 forest cover by 2015 may not be achievable due to serious pressure on forest resources.

Labode Popoola, a Professor of Forest Economics in one of his interviews said, the way Nigeria is going about the massive afforestation,

shows no sign of achieving the 25 percent forest cover, saying it is just a policy statement.

‘Nigeria used to achieve this percentage in the 70s. There was a time Nigeria had close to 30percent of its land area under forests, but the figure is as low as less than 10 percent now and there is no way we can achieve 25percent by the year 2020. It is impracticable’, he stated.

According to him, Nigeria can re-

turn to its past glory if the country engages in massive afforestation as government is spending so much on seedling production, instead of engaging in tree planting.

‘Without forest, we are all dead. In our own little spheres, we should try as much as possible to plant at least one tree a year, even in your backyard. If he plants one, I plant one and you plant one, it means we already have three trees. If 10percent of 150

million Nigerians plant a tree each, that means 15 million trees each year.

He therefore urged federal and state governments to be involved in massive afforestation as they can use their forestry departments to achieve this, instead of using contractors, adding that, if the state and federal departments receive money to plant trees and fail to do, they will be held responsible, but if it is contractors, they may not be found.

30

Real Estate & Environment

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Global property to rise by 6% in 2015 –Investigation G lobal house prices, especially in the UK are predicted to rise by 6% in the first quarter of 2015, but will slow by May as general election approaches in the country, according to a forecast.

Prices could even start to drop by around 2% in the last half of the year and it could be a worse scenario if the current opposition Labour party wins, says the prediction report from low cost online estate agents.

Hatched also predicted growth to continue at somewhere around 4% to 5% in 2015, whilst warning home owners to be prepared for a rocky spell around April, May and June, with the uncertainty that a general election inevitably brings.

According to Adam Day, the

firm’s managing director, a Labour victory in May could potentially have a hugely disruptive effect on the property market as the party is known for surprising voters with unexpected measures and excessive red tape.

He pointed out that the last Labour win led to the introduction of Home Information Packs which then had to be scrapped.

‘The way they were introduced wasn’t thought through. The government announced the specific date that HIPs were to become a legal requirement, which led to hundreds of thousands of home owners rushing to put their house on the market in an attempt to avoid the cost and bureaucracy associated with their production,’ he explained.

‘It was this slapdash strategy,

which consequently led to an oversupply of properties that brought on the beginnings of the crash in 2008,’ he added.

Interest rates are also expected to rise in 2015, although for many home owners it will not have a huge impact. But it is likely to affect first time buyers who tend to spend a higher percentage of their income on home costs.

However, Hatched expects in-

terest rate rises to be a contributor to the slowdown for the housing market in the final half of the year.

Day also expects there to be a significant reduction in high street agents. ‘Many agents will have over staffed themselves this year because it has been so busy, so when the property market does begin to slow in the middle of the year, they will have over extended themselves,’ he sug-

gested.

He believes that 2015 will see online estate agencies continue to prosper and traditional agents, who decide to join the online revolution and thus respond to customer demand by driving efficiencies with the aim of lowering their fees, should also enjoy success and stand out in a market which is likely to get tougher as the year progresses.

Saudi Arabia residential prices to go up

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ver the years, the residential prices in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia have risen from 5 percent to 7 percent, according to the residential research report from international real estate firm, Knight Frank.

It points out to the fact, that there have been variable performances across the capital’s districts, with congestion issues in the south, which is due to price stagnating.

Meanwhile, in the north, which has seen notable development activity, prices have seen a healthy uplift of around 9 percent.

In the short to medium term, with new supply unlikely to be able to fully-offset pent-up demands, the firm expects residential prices to continue to move to upward direction.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia’s residential construction sector has been expanding rapidly. Indeed, the latest available data from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency shows that

the value of residential building construction across the kingdom rose for the ninth consecutive year in 2012, increasing by 11.4 percent year in, year out.

Riyadh is an important driver of construction activity in Saudi Arabia and the capital city accounted for an average of 27 percent of all residential and commercial permits issued across the Kingdom between 2003 and 2013.

Moreover, the number of permits issued in the capital rose by 319 percent over 10 year period, outperforming Saudi Arabia as a whole, which experienced a 215 percent increase.

The report points out that despite the rising development activity demands for residential units, the demand continues to outstrip supply in Riyadh.

Indeed, the capital has a requirement for around 50,000 housing units per annum over the next five years and has an estimated housing inventory of 1.15 million units.

A house in Saudi Arabia.

Uncertainties trail UK property market

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s the year rolls by, uncertainties have beclouded investors in the United Kingdom over the likely situation of the property market in the next 12 months.

Some of the likely issues that would bother the investors would be the fluctuation of property prices, mansion taxes, the general elections and interest rates among other burning issues.

However, the good news is that, most experts are predicting that house prices will rise in 2015, albeit much slower than in 2014, with forecasts ranging from 3% to 5%. But, there may be few big events that might affect the prediction, which include the gener-

France optimistic of property growths this year

N

ext year looks brighter for property investors in France as they are very optimistic about 2015, expecting the market to remain buoyant, particularly in the most-sought areas of France, however buyers are looking for a deal and sellers have to be realistic about prices.

‘We expect confidence to slowly continue growing in 2015 as people discover the flexibility of prices.

The French General Elections in 2017 is likely to result in a change of government and savvy investors are taking advantage of the current favourable buying condi-

tions to reap rewards later,’ said Tim Swannie, director of Home Hunts.

‘2014 was such a year of contrasting halves, so we cannot predict a huge rise in property prices for 2015 but, we can confidently say the market should remain buoyant, particularly in the most sought after areas of France,’ he added.

For Home Hunts, 2014 started strongly and January was the busiest month for about four years with 16 sales agreed and lots of interest from international buyers.

‘Bearing in mind that January is

usually one of the quietest months of the year in terms of sales, we took this as a sign that things were set to explode,’ Swannie said.

But the market slowed down. In France, it started to pick-up again with busy months in May and June and this momentum continued into the summer months and with a lot of interest in July and August. The second half of the year saw even more interest, especially from UK buyers because of the strength of the pound verses the euro and this continues to be the case.

‘We have had buyers from all

al elections in May as well as the possible rise of the interest rate.

The general election will depend who wins, as it is most likely that collation combination emerges. The Labour Party has recently confirmed that it will introduce a Mansion Tax, if it wins power, so there are expert commentaries that the December changes to Stamp Duty would negate such a move, which would be unfounded if Labour wins.

Less clear cut is the interest rate rise. It had long been predicted that a small rise was going to be introduced before the end of 2014, but that never happened.

Then, it was going to be early 2015, but that is now looking un-

likely.

With property set to be high on the agenda for the general election, it is now looking like this could be postponed until after the May vote.

Interest rates have the potential to have a huge impact, if polls on what it means for home owners are to be believed. It was reported that many home owners with a mortgage will struggle to cope with a 1% rise and a 3% rise would be devastating. But a 3% rise isn’t on the cards. No one really believes that the Bank of England would suddenly impose such a rise and 0.25% is the most likely opener with perhaps another 0.25% by the end of the year.

over the world including China, the Middle East, America, South Africa, Brazil, and Russia as well as Europe. We have also sold a huge range of properties such as apartments in Cannes and Paris, vineyards in Bordeaux, a chateau in Provence, waterfront villas on the Riviera and chalets in the French Alps,’ Swannie noted.

He also explained that there has been no real pattern in nationalities of buyers, areas or property styles that our clients have been looking for, but the common factor in all of the purchases has been that every single buyer has been

looking for a ‘deal’.

For example, clients are taking advantage of the current French housing market to find their dream home, in their dream destination, at their dream price. The properties selling at the moment are those, which have either been put on the market very recently and have been aggressively priced to sell or those where the owner needs to sell and is willing to be flexible.

If owners are not willing to take an offer, then their property will sit on the market for a long time, according to Swannie.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Aviation

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

31

Multiple taxation, bane of aviation cargo business The Managing Director of the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited, SAHCOL, Alhaji Oluropo Owolabi in this interview with OLUSEGUN KOIKI speaks on the state of ground handling business in Nigeria, the recent closure of the warehouses of the ground handlers by the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, current state of aviation and the need for the government to grant waivers to ground handlers in the sector, just like it gave the indigenous airlines recently. Excerpts: Sir, what was the volume of cargo handled by the Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited, SHACOL in 2014?

SAHCOL handled about 38 per cent of the entire cargo that came into the country in 2014. But I can’t be more specific for now on the tonnage that we handled in the past year. This is January and we are still collating and don’t forget that during the past year, we had issues between the clearing agents and the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, which affected our operations within the year.

Up till now, some of the cargo are still inside the warehouse and uncleared. So, there is no way we can lay a finger to the total tonnage of cargo handled in the past year.

Cargo movement is a very important aspect of aviation, how can this contribute to the Gross Domestic Products, GDP, of the country and boost the sector as agitated for by the Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka?

Having four hefty freezers; two in and two out in our new warehouse, which is aimed at taking fresh products both as export and import shows how serious we are to handle cargo for importers and exporters. And I believe that with the designation of some airports as cargo terminals, this will further help in boosting the GDP for the industry and the country at large. I want to say that the ground handlers are ready to handle importation and exportation of cargo that are given to them by the agents.

But, I think the private sector too should be encouraged to participate in this drive especially in the packaging of the cargo that we are exporting out of the country. So, I am seizing this opportunity to appeal to the federal government to create an enabling environment for private investors to come into this aspect of cargo. That is what they do abroad. Countries like the United States, Europe and even some African countries like South Africa, Kenya and Ghana package most of their imports to make them look more acceptable to the public.

I think the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON, and the Ministry of Agriculture should come together by assisting farmers in the issue of packaging of these products. When I say farmers, I mean big time farmers who are in the business.

Training of technical personnel is very essential for this sector, how effective are your men to handle some of the security gadgets that you have just acquired for operations?

The fact is that we are to support the operations of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN. For instance, we acquired explosive detective machines and installed them in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt Airports.

These stations are very important to us. We also bought screening machines, which is just to aid security and assist FAAN. These are at added cost to us, but we have zero tolerant to the issue of theft in the system.

So far, how much has been expended on the construction of this modern warehouse by SAHCOL? The facility we have here speaks for itself. At the initial stage, we had budgeted about N2bn for the completion of this project, but already, we have surpassed that amount of money and yet, the warehouse is yet to be completed.

We are coping through the banks that we run to regularly whenever we are short of funds.

the same time, it should be supportive when handling companies are buying new equipment to be able to facilitate passengers and airlines’ needs.

So, I sincerely believe that since airlines are enjoying zero tariffs on aircraft spare parts, the same should be extended to handling companies on the equipment being imported by giving us duty free on spare parts. We have been agitating on this for long.

The airlines operate, but not as much as we operate for them. After the aircraft must have landed, all the supportive operations either on landing or about to take off are being taken care of by the handling companies.

Can you mention some of the equipment you have acquired in recent time to improve your operations especially with the new warehouse?

We have the best ground handling equipment so far in the country. We are however not satisfied yet, because the more we improve and expand on our service delivery, the more we will need to acquire additional equipment to meet up with the demand of our clients. The type of equipment we use, are not the type you buy and keep. The more the need arises, the more equipment we add.

Owolabi

All the multi-million naira equipment we invested and pay duties on are stationed at the tarmac for our operations and cannot be parked on the street, yet we

are still being billed by

FAAN

When we finish this project, I want to say it here that we still need the support of the government and FAAN because there are certain things they need to do too especially the security aspect of it. It takes everybody to do the right thing and for us to get good result.

What is your say on the call for removal of tariffs for ground handling companies as was approved for airlines in the sector recently?

It has always been a serious issue, which has not been resolved, but I understand that presentation has been made to the new Minister of Aviation, who has passed it to a committee to look into it and make appropriate recommendations.

I am very positive that government will look into it and out ways to assist us. All the multi-million naira equipment we invested and pay duties on are stationed at the tarmac for our operations and cannot be parked on the street, yet we are still being billed by FAAN. Do you expect us to take our equipment like the FMC to the street? Government meant well for the industry when it said it was embarking on the upgrading of airports and at

As at the moment, what is the total number of your clients both foreign and local?

We have many airlines that we currently handle. In this business, you gain some and lose some. That is the game. I can assure you that those we handle enjoy our services very well. We look forward for more customers in 2015. We have several foreign and local airlines in our stable.

Our customers come first in our in our line of thought before any other thing. So far, on the domestic scene we handle almost 80 per cent of the airlines while on the international we have 40 per cent of the business.

Your counterpart, the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, NAHCO, Plc is on the stock exchange, are there plans by SAHCOL to follow the same part in the future?

We are surely working towards being listed on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE. And not only that, we also have plans to move to some countries in the West African countries, but the outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease in the region slowed us down a bit.

However, any time from now we will move again. Once we get the green signal on the resolution of the Ebola crisis, we will go back to those countries to resume negotiations.

We look forward to the eradication of the virus very soon.

How have you been able to achieve greater industrial harmony in the past year?

Industrial harmony has been paramount in the mind of the Chairman, Mr. Taiwo Afolabi, the Board and Management of SAHCOL. We appreciate that if the staff are not cooperative, it’s hard to achieve positive changes.

The staff have been wonderful in making SAHCOL a success story. The management and board of the company have ensured that they are well remunerated and their welfare taken care of including training and re-training so as to improve on their skills and proficiency. Our staff will continue to smile and smile as we improve on our services.

32

Aviation

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Air Côte d’Ivoire commences direct flight operations to Lagos

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nother foreign carrier has joined the league of airlines operating direct flights into the country.

The national airline of Ivory Coast, Air Côte d’Ivoire, has announced the commencement of four weekly flights from its base in Abidjan to Lagos, Nigeria.

An online statement by the media consultant to the airline in Nigeria stated that Air Côte d’Ivoire commenced flight operations into Lagos on the January 3, 2015 with its Airbus A319-TUSTSA with capacity for 12 Business and 96 Economy passengers while the inaugural flight departed Lagos on Sunday 4th January 2015.

The statement stated that the four weekly frequencies is scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays at 10:10 am from Lagos to Abidjan and returns on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The statement added that the airline also plans to commence additional frequencies from Lagos to

Airside shegzzy4live2000@yahoo.co.uk 08186007273

Honourable minister sir, the touts are still there

O

Former Nigeria Airways Managing Director, Mr. Andrew Okunuga, former DirectorGeneral, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren and the Managing Director, Med-View Airline, Alhaji Muneer Bankole at a dinner party to mark the 2nd year anniversary of the airline in Lagos recently.

Kinshasa via Abidjan three times a week soon.

Air Côte d’Ivoire based in Abidjan succeeded the former country’s flag carrier, Air Ivoire. It was set up on 15 May 2012, as a private-public entity, partially owned by Air France, which intended to make Port Bouet Airport a regional hub— and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED).

From its Hub in Abidjan, it operates to over 14 destinations in West and Central Africa including: Accra, Bamako, Brazzaville, Conakry, Cotonou, Dakar, Doula, Freetown, Kinshasa, Lagos, Libreville, Lome, Monrovia, N’Djamena, Niamey, Ougadougou, Pointe Noire and Younde.

Air Cote d’ivoire is represented in Nigeria by its General Sales Agent Airlines Representatives West Africa.

Etihad Airways commences Airbus 380 aircraft to London

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he national airline of the United Arab Emirates, UAE, Etihad Airways has announced the departure of its inaugural Airbus A380 flight at Abu Dhabi International Airport last weekend.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the departure gate as part of the festivities, attended on behalf of Etihad Airways by Chief Operations Officer, Richard Hill, Senior Vice President Network Operations, Chris Youlten, Senior Vice President Technical, Jeff Wilkinson, Vice President Guest Experience, Calum Laming and Vice President Guest Services Aubrey Tiedt.

An online statement by the media consultant of the airline in Nigeria stated that the event took place before Flight EY11 took-off to London Heathrow at 02.35am.

The statement added that special gift packs were handed to guests on the inaugural flight, containing luggage tags, passport holders, commemorative A380 certificates and complimentary Wi-Fi vouchers.

In addition to being Etihad Airways’ first A380 service, the flight marked the debut of the airline’s new First Apartments, Business Studios and Economy Smart Seats, together with The Residence by Etihad – a three room suite with living room, bathroom and bedroom.

It was also the first flight to operate with Etihad Airways’ ‘Facets of Abu Dhabi’ livery.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Etihad Aircraft

Meanwhile, the airline stated that it has signed a codeshare agreement with Aerolíneas Argentinas, one of South America’s leading airlines.

Effective February 1, 2015, the agreement would offer Etihad Airways’ guests greater access to South America via Aerolíneas Argentinas’ Buenos Aires hub.

As part of the agreement, Etihad Airways will place its ‘EY’ flight code on Aerolíneas Argentinas’ operated flights across the Argentinian airline’s extensive domestic network, as well as to key destinations in South America including Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay.

Guests will be able to travel on Etihad Airways’ marketed flights to Buenos Aires and from there to 20 popular destinations in South America including: Asuncion, Bariloche, Bahia Blanca, Comodoro Rivadavia, Cordoba, El Calafate, Iguazú, Mar del Plata, Mendoza, Montevideo, Neuquén, Rio Gallegos, Rio Grande, Rosario, Salta, San Juan, Santiago de

Chile, Trelew, Tucuman and Ushuaia.

Flights under the codeshare agreement can be booked from mid-January 2015 via travel agents or through the airlines’ sales offices and contact centres.

ver four weeks after the Minister of Aviation, Choef Osita Chidoka gave the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, two weeks ultimatum to rid the nation’s airports especially the Murtala Mohammed Airport, MMA, Lagos of touts and touting activities, Airside says the touts are still within the airport environments.

Chidoka had said in a forum in Lagos that the government could not afford to continuously sit down and overlook corruption in the system and warned that the government would at any moment from now come down hard on touts within the airports.

In order to stem the tide, he informed that the government would very soon install new Closed Circuit Television, CCTV, cameras in all the stra-

tegic places within the airport and monitor the activities of all the officials of the agencies while discharging their duties.

Airside was as usual at the international wing of the terminal last week and was amazed at the level of touting that pervades the terminal despite this order. Rather than decrease, Airside feels it is increasing at a high speed.

Airside insists that these touts who pretend to be passengers and other users of the airport are known to the Aviation Security, AVSEC, personnel of FAAN, but look the other way whenever they are carrying out their daily ‘business’ at the terminal.

Airside uses this medium to inform the minister that the touts are still at our airports especially the Lagos Airport.

When aviation women are in disarray

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omen In Aviation, WIA, as a group first gained recognition in the United States of America, USA. In the US where the group originated from, it has been able to protect the interest of women in the sector and push for several policies that favour its members.

Its leadership example made some aviation countries around the world including Nigeria to emulate the group and form such in their respective domains.

But, not long after its formation in Nigeria did problem start. Initially, they started as

one group, but few months later, power sharing split it into two. Ironically, the two arrow heads are from the two major agencies in the sector; one a landlord while the other is a regulator. And both are close to the powers that be in the sector and even in the polity.

Airside advises the two splinter groups to reunite in order to be able to protect the interest of the women they claim to care for well. If not, WIA will fade away sooner than later in the country.

Women in the sector need a group to protect their interests and not a divided house.

FAA gives airlines 2018 ultimatum to adopt SMS

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o reach the next level of safety, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, has issued a final rule that requires most U.S. commercial airlines to have Safety Management Systems, SMS, in place by 2018.

The rule builds on the programmes many airlines already use to identify and reduce aviation risk.

SMS is the formal, top-down, organisation-wide approach to managing safety risk and assuring the effectiveness of safety risk controls.

It gives airlines a set of business processes and management tools to examine data gathered from everyday operations, isolate trends that may be precursors to incidents or

accidents, take steps to mitigate the risk, and verify the effectiveness of the programme.

“Aviation is incredibly safe, but continued growth means that we must be proactive and smart about how we use safety data to detect and mitigate risk,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary, Anthony Foxx. “SMS gives airlines the tools they need to further reduce risk in commercial aviation.”

The rule requires airlines to implement a safety management system within three years. They must submit their implementation plans to the FAA within six months.

The rule also requires a single accountable executive to oversee SMS. An SMS defines “what” is expected

rather than “how” the requirement is to be met. This allows each air carrier to design an SMS to match the size, complexity and business model of its organization. An SMS does not take the place of regular FAA oversight, inspection and audits to ensure compliance with regulations.

“Our commercial aviation industry is a world-leader and model for risk mitigation and I’m proud that so many airlines have embraced the SMS culture voluntarily. Now the FAA and the air carrier industry are taking the next step,” said FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta.

“The FAA’s workforce also is transitioning to a proactive, risk-based culture so we can effectively target our resources.”

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Insurance Why life assurance business should be encouraged in 2015 –Experts

33

The insecurity in the workplace; coupled with the sense of fear that observers say pervades the nation’s landscape should be enough reason why the business of life assurance should be booming in Nigeria this year, as against the current discouraging trend the sub sector is experiencing, writes MESHACK IDEHEN.

I

nsurance experts said it was in recognition of the peculiar security challenges the nation is currently going through that compelled the Federal Government to recently restate its intention to strengthen the group life assurance scheme for its workers in order to achieve the desired productivity and economic objectives.

To others however, the consistently recorded poor performance of life assurance business in the country maybe responsible for the government’s plans to improve on its life assurance scheme for its workers.

Nonetheless, that move coming from the Federal Government, analysts said, iscoming a little bit too late.

According to a Federal Civil Servant, Mr. Atkins Iguemo, who is of the opinion that the development hasbecomes more imperative when consideration is given to the large numbers of workers at both Federal and state levels that have paid the supreme price in the course of discharging their responsibilities, providing life assurance for workers is the way to go in this days of glaring threats to lives and limbs even in the supposed safety of the office.

Atkins told National Mirror that the statement from the Federal Government on the need tostrengthen life assurance scheme for its workers, and which was credited to the Director in the office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Tope Ajakaiye, should not be limited to workers in the federal service alone.

He pointed out the scheme should also be extended to states and local government workers this year, including those in the private sector, if part of the objective is to give a boost to life assurance business in the country.

However, industry experts explained that the move by the government may still not be enough to expand the business of life assurance in Nigeria and inject the needed boost in 2015, due largely to the apathy with which most Nigerians view operators of life assurance business.

Alongside that, other analysts explained that majority of some of the lapses that has been observed in the processing and settlement of life assurance claims, as well as improper documentation mainly from the part of operators are issues which prevented effective and efficient introduction andimplementation of the scheme in years earlier has not been addressed.

Life Assurance Marketer, Mr. Mark Obote, in explaining why life assurance business should be encouraged in the country insurance industry this year, said the group life assurance scheme is a statutory provision of Section 9(3) of the Pension Reform Act, 2004, which requires that all employers with

Minister of Finance, Okonjo-Iweala

Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel

Until there is an environment where a man can take care of his needs reasonably and comfortably, he cannot start to think about future security.The low penetration of insurance in previous

years especially life assurance, is also a function of all these dynamics not less than five employees maintain life assurance policy in favour of each employee for a minimum of three times of the employee’s annual emolument.

He said the benefits of taking a life assurance policy know no limit, saying the scheme provides in the event of the death of any serving officer, that his next of kin will be given a relief three times the annual total emolument of the deceased, in addition to the normal entitlement of the deceased officer after service.

According to him, life insurance business is low in Nigeria, unlike in developed economies where there are viable life insurance industries and life insurance business that generally drives the insurance industry by contributing significantly to the industry deepening and to thenation’s overall Gross Domestic Product, GDP. Obote said unlike what obtains in Nigeria where life insurance business contributes less than 20 per cent of the industry’s total premium that the sub sector alone makes the industry flourish in other climes. He said if encouraged that the business of life insurance alone can take the insurance industry to its desired level.

Insisting that Nigeria’s huge population of over 150million people is capable of driving the biggest life insurance market in Africa in 2015 and beyond,the Managing Director

of City Insurance Brokers, Mr. Robin Igunbor, said thecounty has continued to record minimal patronage in Africa’s life assurance market because the sector’soperators and regulators have not deemed it fit to invest quality time and resources on making it appealing to the generality of Nigerians and even foreigners living in the country.

Comparing the country to South Africa which has the largest conventional and life insurance market in Africa, but with only a population of about 40 million people,Igunbor said the insurance sector in general in South Africa contributes about 80 per cent of the continent’s premium, while its life assurance sub sector contributes more than 60 percent, unlike in Nigeria where the insurance industry contributes less than one per cent of the country’s GDP and only about 2.3 per cent of the continent’s total premium.

“The life assurance sector is even worse, as its contributions to the sector and the nation’s GDP is not even felt. The life arm of South Africa’s insurance market alone generates about 70 per cent of the industry’s total income. In Nigeria, the life arm contributes far less thanthat”, he added.

He added that with the potential available in Nigeria’s population that if the country is well positioned, it can become Africa’s hub in insurance business, especially life

assurance, explainingif infrastructural problems are solved, and the disposable income of the masses increased, there will be positive effects on life insurance business in the country.

Also speaking in the same vein while saying that life insurance on its own has the potential to stimulate individual patronage through innovative products,Immediate Past President of the National Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mrs. Laide Osijo, told National Mirror that the high level of poverty amongst the populace is also responsible for the poor performance of life assurance business in Nigeria.

She said because the per capital income of many Nigerians is on the low side, that it becomes extremely difficulty to convince people to take up life assurance policies, despite the numerous benefit associated with the move.

Osijo said to encourage life assurance to make a rebound in the country this and subsequent years that underwriters should add more incentives that can enable people to see the advantages in taking up the policy, adding the situation can also be linked to many Nigerians attitude of “leaving everything in the hands of God” According to her, holders of life assurance policy in time past can approach financial institutions like banks for loan once their policy is mature, saying that incentive should be brought back, in order for the sub sector to move forward, adding agents selling life assurance should also be motivated to make people see the needs and benefits of taking up life assurance policies.

Also harping on the need to encourage life assurance business in Nigeria due to its many benefits, Managing Director of Royal Exchange Prudential Life, Mr. Larry Ademeso, said life insurance business is still developing in the country, notingwhat the operators had done in the past is to sell the same traditional products until recently when new products became visible.

Like the former NCRIB president, Ademeso explained that insurance; life or conventional is not accorded high priority

by Nigerians due to the low economic power of the average man. He wondered how a man, who is struggling to feed his family and have a roof over his head will want to talk about tomorrow because insurance, includinglife’s is all about tomorrow.

“Until there is an environment where a man can take care of his needs reasonably and comfortably, he cannot start to think about future security.The low penetration of insurance in previous years especially life assurance, is also a function of all these dynamics”.

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Insurance

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Unity school cover: Appointment of NICON Insurance in order –Expert STORIES: MESHACK IDEHEN

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s commendations continue to trail the innovation by NICON Insurance to insure all the unity schools across the country, insurance experts have said the appointment of the company as underwriter of students welfare insurance scheme is in the right direction and followed due process at the Federal Ministry of Education.

This development is coming, even as the management of the insurance firm said it will continue to create innovate products in order to deepen and grow the insurance industry in Nigeria and on the continent.

Senior Manager in charge of Corporate Affairs of NICON, Mr Ade Adesokan, said that the new scheme, which is the intellectual property of NICON Insurance Limited, was presented to the Federal Ministry of Education and due process was followed before its appointment as the underwriter.

He explained NICON Insurance Limited was democratised and privatised in 2006 and duly acquired by Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim, CFR as the core investor, saying also that the appointment of the company as sole underwriter was based on the recommendations of the committee put in place by the tender board of the ministry where other insurance companies were screened.

“Despite the fact the scheme is an intellectual property of NICON Insurance Limited; other insurance companies also participated actively before the company was finally appointed as the underwriter. The Committee also noted that it was only NICON Insurance Limited that has regional and branch offices in all the 36 States of the federation where the unity schools were presently located.

Jegede

“The committee also affirmed that only NICON Insurance’s branch network that could access the unity schools all over the federation within an hour. For the avoidance of doubt, the scheme was packaged under the normal Group Life and Personal Accident insurance cover”, Adesokan further explained.

According to him, the statute that established NICON Insurance has not been repealed by any Act of parliament and therefore the company could insure the assets and liabilities of the Federal Government.

“Other competitors in the insurance market should always think outside the box not relying on NICON Intellectual Property to reap where they did not sow”, he stated.

Concerned with students’ welfare and continuity of their studies nation-wide, NICON Insurance Limited in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Education recently in Abuja packaged the Students Welfare Insurance Scheme.

The scheme, which insurance stakeholders have hailed as aiming to bring succour to students that may lose their parents or sponsors either through accident or by natural means, was packaged for students of 104 unity schools throughout the country.

“The Students Welfare Insurance Scheme for Unity Schools is a combination of Group Personal Accident and Group Life Assurance Schemes,” Adesokan added.

Speaking in the same vein, Insurance Expert and Managing Director of First Line Brokers Limited, Mr Eghes Odiase, said in the case of accidental death of a student, that the firm has promised that the sponsor named in the policy would be entitled to N500, 000.

He also commended the move

by NICON Insurance which says in the event of the death of the sponsor or guardian of a student, that the pupil would be entitled to the payment of school fees up to the year of graduation from the secondary school up to a maximum of N500, 000 per annum.

According to him, the situation where in a pupil accidentally sustains permanent disability and he/she will be entitled to N500, 000 as compensation is not only commendable but praise worthy, not even to added for accidental medical expenses, where a pupil would be entitled to N50, 000 for medical treatment.

According to the NICON spokesperson, some conditions are also to be fulfilled before a student could enjoy the benefits. Some of these include duly completed claim form signed by the pupil or sponsor and countersigned by an authorised officer in the Principal’s office; and production of medical certificate of cause of death (for death benefits only).

Others are medical report confirming extent of disability (for permanent disability benefit only); certificate of burial (for burial expenses benefit only) and evidence of actual medical expenses incurred e.g. receipts of payment for drugs purchased and other medical treatments.

Leadway accuses customer of insurance fraud

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he management of Leadway Assurance Company Limited has denied reports that the insurance company refused to pay claim to one of its customers, saying the affected policyholder was actually trying to commit insurance fraud.

There was a report recently alleging a default on the part of Leadway to meet the obligations on a purported policy under which one Nike Oladunni Omorodion was claiming for loss suffered following fire damage to a property at 8, Aduke Close, Maryland, Lagos.

Reacting to the report, the insurance firm, however, stated that policyholder was only at-

tempting to blackmail the organisation through the press to obtain claim by fraud.

In a statement issued by the company in Lagos and made available to journalists, Leadway said it is sad that the press is being used to foster blackmail against an insurer of repute in order to fraudulently secure a payout on a policy that was issued in respect of another property located at 5, Olaperi Street, Maryland, Lagos issued to an Oladunni Olunike Morenike.

Insurers are custodians of pools of funds on behalf of various insured and owe a trust/fiduciary relationship to ensure that they do not bankrupt the

pool by paying non-genuine or fraudulent claims.

“We expect that the Press will make every effort to educate the public on insurance practices and values, not sensationalise a purported fraud to compel payment through blackmail and defamation,” the company said.

“The value of insurance is key in safeguarding individual wealth and it is our responsibility to ensure that we protect our insured and pay their claims when they have suffered losses to property insured with us. If an insured omits to insure a particular property, it cannot then decide to transfer

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Tips for finding affordable individual health insurance in a new year

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ffordable individual health care plans have always been difficult to find. Unlike groups where insurers have a number of employees to help spread the risk, individual plans can only deal with health realities of the insured. These tips will help in that regard.

It is best to buy health insurance when you do not need it and keep it until you do-- Healthy people get the best insurance rates. Generally, with adults, younger is better.

Even with middle aged adults, individual health insurance policies that are not too over priced can be found. Once you have health issues to factor into the cost of insurance, the chances of finding truly affordable health insurance virtually vanish.

If you have an individual health insurance policy, you need to hold onto it once you develop any type of serious health issue-- Your current insurer should not cancel your coverage for having claims, but no other company will give you a decent price or coverage without enrolling in some type of group policy. By staying with your current policy, you can avoid the huge leaps in price and keep good coverage.

As long as you remain healthy, you can continue to shop for the best price possible for health coverage.

If you are a retired person, do not miss the chance to buy a Medicare supplement when it is offered along— the age minimum of 65 might exclude a lot of people. You have to buy this type of coverage within a short time or the best plans will not be offered to you. You will also be penalized on price if you fail to buy the drug coverage.

For the average person looking for individual health insurance, the options can be quite varied-One of the best deals going today is to start a health savings account. This gives you some tax benefits while allowing you to save up to cover large health insurance deductibles

and co-pays. There are insurance policies designed to work with your health care savings account.

Shop multiple companies before making a decision-Ask friends and relatives for suggestions about what agent and company might be good for you to consider. You may even want to go through the yellow pages and find several other options. Get quotes from many agents. Individual insurance policies can be constructed to meet your personal wants for coverage.

Additions increase the premium, and things that you leave out will decrease it. Be very precise in explaining any coverage that you do not want or need. For example, a man would opt to leave off pregnancy and childbirth coverage.

Discuss the options carefully with each agent. You will get educated during the process.

Some agents and companies automatically include some options and others do not. When you compare rates, watch for these variations in coverages.

Watch for maximum benefit amounts-- Some low priced insurance also has low lifetime benefit amounts. Others may not add back claim amounts over time. You might buy a big lifetime benefit without add back. If you develop a long term chronic illness, this amount can be consumed quicker than you might think over a decade of illness. Once your lifetime benefit is exhausted, without an add back feature, you have no insurance.

You also will want to make sure that you understand how the company regards a claim-- Some will continue an ongoing claim through a year end. Others will reset the deductible if your claim goes through December 31 and into January. This will mean two deductibles and possibly more expenses will be incurred.

These differences may be acceptable if there is enough savings involved, but make sure you understand this before you purchase the insurance.

Source: www.insure.net

the insurance of one to another by itself after a loss to the uninsured property.”

According to the insurer, journalists should ensure that they always investigate and verify the facts freely availed by both parties before putting forward their publication, stressing that it would not be blackmailed into paying an uncovered loss of an uninsured property by filing an unjustified claim.

MD Leadway Assurance,Hassan Odukale

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Money

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

35

Regulators, operators unite on mortgage financing

The Nigerian mortgage industry requires a vibrant primary mortgage market, but experts say efforts of all stakeholders are needed to move the sector forward UDO ONYEKA reports.

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egulators in the financial sector and other Stakeholders are not unmindful of challenges militated against the growth of the mortgage sub sector and they are united in their efforts at redressing these drawbacks.

Taking a look on the vexed issue of mortgage in the country, Head, SIID, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, Mr. J.J Etopidiok recently in Katsina, Katsina State, said that the reform in the financial sector particularly the recapitalisation of the mortgage would go a long way in addressing the sectors challenges.

Etopidiok said before the recent recapitalisation requirement of Primary Mortgage Banks, PMBs by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, PMBs were poorly capitalised with some having a capital base of N100m or less, which accounts for their inability to impact positively on the developmental efforts going on in the country.

“The CBN approach towards addressing this issue by sanitising and strengthening the subsector resulted in the introduction of a tiered capital bases for PMBs operating at different levels. These were N5bn for mortgage institutions which wish to operate nationwide and N2.5bn for those which wish to operate in a state.”

According to Mr. J. J Etopidiok under the new guidelines, PMBs under the new would only be allowed to perform such duties such as mortgage finance, real estate construction finance, acceptance of savings and time/term deposits and acceptance of mortgage- focused demand deposits, adding that the 2013 guidelines clearly stream lines the activities of a PMB to provision of mortgage finance and exclude other related activities such as the provision of estate management duties.

Etopidiok said to address the finance challenge of mortgage sub sector more attention should be given to corporate governance in managing and reporting on the activities of PMBs in the country, manpower development, amendment of the land use act, timely conclusion of CBN;s PMBs recapitalisation.

Corroborating Etopidiok, President of the Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria, MBAN, Femi Johnson, said recapitaliasation of the mortgage sector is germane to the growth of the system, noting that at the end of the process, operators who would remain in business will run the business the way it should be run.

Johnson said a lot of the operators have decided to operate at state levels while a few others are ready to operate at the national level, adding that those, who cannot make it to the national level for now, can operate at the state and upgrade to the national level later.

Managing Director, UACN Property Development Co Plc, Mr. Hakeem Oguniran, identified five drawbacks in mortgage financing as cost, character, capacity, collateral and condi-

MD, NDIC, Umaru Ibrahim

MD, FMBN, Gimba

The CBN approach towards addressing this issue by sanitising and strengthening the subsector resulted in the introduction of a tiered capital bases for

PMBs

operating at different levels tions.

According to him, counterpart funding for mortgages remained an issue in mortgage financing, adding that the country’s system is people-driven rather than system driven.

This kind of system, he stressed, is dependent on the availability of a particular person to run smoothly, calling for a one-stop shop to facilitate transaction.

Many analysts believe that the revised guidelines would bring a positive turnaround in the mortgage industry, hoping that it will, in the first instance, provide a level playing field for all operators and engender confidence in the mortgage banks.

They pointed out that the revised guideline is an opportunity for the mortgage sector to be more creative, envisaging that growth will be witnessed among those mortgage banks that are able to add value to their customers in terms of product offering and cost of doing business.

According to a mortgage finance expert, Mr. Frank Ogunbor issues of liquidity challenges cannot be ruled out; mortgage banks have the options of raising capital through rights issue, private placement, public offer, business combination, mergers and acquisition, take-over or downscaling.

In the same vein a financial expert, Mr. Lawrence Ekeh said access to mortgage provision is key to affordability, especially when the cost and tenure of finance are very competitive.

“The interest rate/charges payable on a mortgage and the tenure of the loan are critical elements of affordability.”

He reasoned that, the lower the rate and

the longer the tenure, the more affordable the house type because it means more people will be able to take and repay such loans based on their current earning since constitutionally, individuals are not allowed to spend more than about 30 percent of their earnings on housing.

“Interest rates at a very high rate, the problem of access to long term fund for housing must be addressed. Right now you have people, who are working, earning salary and paying rents; paying rents that if we structure mortgage properly, their rent is higher than mortgage.

In other climes especially in the advanced economies housing finance is synonymous with mortgage, because in such societies, the only known way of buying and owning a home is by applying for, and accessing a mortgage facility.

But in Nigeria, the story is different. This is a country where homeownership is realised almost 100 percent from own savings or through communal and co-operative efforts.

Experts have revealed that housing finance by public authorities in Nigeria is about 10 percent; mortgage banks contribute about 2 percent, while contribution from banks and other institutions is insignificant.

On his own MD/CEO, Resort Savings and Loans plc, Abimbola Olayinka, says the Land Use Act should be used to empower the people and not as an economic and political tool by state chief executives, adding that the Act should be taken away from the constitution so that it could be easily tinkered with.

He recommends that land administrators should adopt what he called three-one-three

strategy for land registration, explaining that land titles should be perfected in three days at one central place, and at the cost of 3 percent of the value of the land.

Nigeria’s secondary mortgage institution, the Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company, NMRC, has advocated complete implementation of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Management System, IPPIS, by civil servants in order to conform with the eligibility criteria for NMRC refinancing.

As part of its role to develop the mortgage market by standardising mortgage practice, NMRC recently published a revised draft of its Uniform Underwriting Criteria for Mortgage Loans advising that Primary Lending Institutions must conform before any mortgage loan is granted to a borrower eligible for NMRC refinancing.

In a statement by the NMRC Chief Executive Officer, Sonnie Ayere, he says, “some of the additional requirements are that mortgage repayments must be made by deduction from income at source to help reduce credit risk and improve investor confidence in the mortgage sector.

This requires the implementation of electronic payment systems for salary remittances”.

Accordingly, as part of the minimum criterion, public service organisations must enroll civil servants on the IPPIS platform in line with the eligibility criteria for NMRC refinancing.

NMRC is established to provide long term loans through mortgage and commercial banks to eligible Nigerians (including civil servants). The borrowed loan is spread over 20 years at a reasonable interest rate, making it easier and comfortable for repayment.

Under the NMRC project, the Federal Ministry of Finance is proposing a housing finance programme that will consist of a private sector led and managed mortgage liquidity facility in collaboration with CBN, MBAN and the World Bank/IFC, with the principal objective of addressing the long-term funding constraints hindering the growth of the primary mortgage market, and reducing the funding cost of residential mortgages and availability of housing to Nigerians.

The NMRC is substantially owned by the private sector consisting of commercial banks, primary mortgage banks, insurance companies, pension funds, private equity investors and international financial institutions.

According to a source close to the NMRC and the Ministry of Finance, the NMRC is to help grow the nation’s critical housing sector in the Nigerian economy by bridging the funding cost of residential mortgages and promoting the availability and affordability of housing to Nigerians by increasing liquidity in the mortgage market.

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Taxation

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Electronic filing of returns, an outcome of the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS) (2) P ROCEDURES FOR e-FILING AT A GLACE STAGE A 1. Obtain “e-filing Access Application Form” from any FIRS Tax Office nearest to you or download from FIRS website: www.firs.gov.ng 2. Complete the form by nominating Officers or Agent that will represent your organization on tax matters 3. You will indicate on the form the access the nominee should have either to declare (file returns), view only or declare and view rights.

4. Upon returning the completed form to FIRS Tax Office where your tax matters are handled, the FIRS will use the information on the form to issue system generated Username and Password 5. The username and password are the only key that gives you access to the e-filing site to transact tax business with FIRS. 6. You are required to change your password upon first log-in 7. The platform is user-friendly, hence you will be promptly able to navigate your way through to filing completion 8. You can check your account balance, change relevant registration details and connect to tax office using customer centre to make enquiries.

Note: FIRS e-filing works best on

Minister of State for Finance, Amb. Bashir Yuguda

google chrome or any version of internet explorer not less than version.

STAGE B 1. After a successful login, you are positioned in your Home page in which you can see a summary of the declarations (i.e. tax returns) which need to be filed.

2. You are required be in custody of either hard or softcopy of the return you want to file.

3. To start your declaration, you have two choices: 4. On the Home page either click on

FIRS Chairman, Mashi

the View all declarations to be filed hyperlink or on the Taxpayer Service tab 5. The Tax Declaration page opens by default in the collapsed form 6. Click on “view all tax declaration” then click on the tax type for which you want to file and the tax period which are yet to be filed are displayed.

7. The expanded form is displayed and the “File now” hyperlinks are shown, for the relevant tax period 8. Click on the “File now” hyperlink, 9. The return page opens and relevant form lines are displayed. Then, Enter

Line Details.

10. In this page you can enter the amounts for the required form lines in the filing currency previously authorised for the tax account for which you are filing or you can upload csv file 11. When you finish, click on the “Submit declaration” button. This brings you to a confirmation step where you can verify whether the entered amounts are correct or not.

12. If you are sure, then click on “Yes”. For the returns to be submitted 13. Following this action, your declaration will be submitted to the tax office and the page showing “End Declaration Process” step is displayed.

14. Click on the hyperlink “here” and you are led to the View Filed Declaration page which gives you a summary of your declaration and 15. Document number is displayed at the top right hand corner.

16. Copy the document number which is required at the bank to settle the tax liability.

For more Information on e-filing, please contact: o itas.change@firs.gov.ng o itasproject@firs.gov.ng o 08115900301 o 08115900021

TAX LAWS AND ISSUES

UK govt publishes Northern Ireland CIT bill

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he UK Government has published legislation that provides for the devolution of corporation tax powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly from April 2017.

The Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Bill was presented to the UK House of Commons at Westminster on January 8, 2015, by Chancellor George Osborne.

Under the Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Bill, the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont would have the power to set the corporation tax rate.

The rate would apply to most trading profits in a new Northern Ireland corporation tax regime, but would not extend to non-trading profits, such as income from property.

Northern Ireland would therefore be able to set a different rate of corporation tax from the rest of the UK. Power

over the corporation tax base, including reliefs and allowances, would remain with the UK Parliament at Westminster.

Profits from some trades – including lending and investing activities; asset management; finance leasing; long-term insurance; and reinsurance activities, covering both general and life insurers – would remain in the main UK regime. There would be no devolution of the UK’s oil and gas tax regime.

The current UK headline rate of corporation tax stands at 21 percent. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, where the corporation tax rate is 12.5 percent.

The UK Government said that the design of the proposed “NI CT” regime reflects its own overarching principles. The system should be attractive to businesses, encourage genuine

economic activity in Northern Ireland, ensure that costs for the Northern Ireland Executive are proportionate and kept to a minimum, and satisfy European Union (EU) state aid rules.

It is also intended to minimize opportunities for avoidance and profit-shifting, the Government said.

The legislation includes a special regime for smaller companies to avoid the imposition of disproportionate administrative burdens. It uses existing international rules for larger companies, to avoid unnecessary complexity, but likewise aims to ensure robust profit allocation. It contains rules on the treatment of capital allowances and tax reliefs, including in the creative sector and in research and development (R&D), as well as on the treatment of profits and losses in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Canada launches anti-evasion electronic funds transfer initiative

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ew Electronic Funds Transfer, EFT, rules have entered into force in Canada, requiring certain financial intermediaries to report incoming and outgoing transfers of CAD10,000 (USD8,446) or more to the Canada Revenue Agency.

On January 7, 2015, Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay announced the launch of the CRA’s EFT initiative. Effective January 1, 2015, the new reporting requirements are designed to allow the CRA to better identify higher risk taxpayers and filers. In turn, the Agency should be able to effectively identify taxpayers who participate in aggressive international tax avoidance and attempt to conceal income and assets offshore.

The CRA’s EFT requirements are the same as those for reports currently provided to the Finan-

cial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, FINTRAC. Financial intermediaries will therefore submit one report to both FINTRAC and the CRA, at the same time.

EFTs must be filed no later than five working days after the transfer occurred. Information that must be reported includes that relating to the transmission of instructions for a transfer of funds through any electronic, magnetic, or optical device, telephone instrument or computer, made at the request of a client.

The following financial intermediaries are required to submit EFT reports: financial entities (i.e. banks, credit unions, caisses populaires, financial service cooperatives, trust and loan companies, and crown corporations that accept deposits); money service businesses; and casinos.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Capital Market

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Entertainers should participate in capital market – Okumagba The President of Chattered Institute of Stockbrokers, Mr. Albert Okumagba, speaks on the relevance of entertainment industry to the capital market and sundry issues of market development in this interview with JOHNSON OKANLAWON. Excerpts: What actually informed an alignment of entertainment industry in the capital market at the conference of the institute?

The theme of the conference was borne out of a number of factors. One, there is the belief that the entertainment industry has not really benefited from the capital market. The coverage and spread of Nollywood and the Nigerian music industry without any doubt, goes beyond the shores of Nigeria. The popularity and brand visibility of Nigerian actors and musicians within Africa appear to be unparalleled with any other country’s within the continent.

Hence, if it can access the needed capital that can run a life line in its system, the entertainment industry can be a major export earnings source to the nation. Given that the capital market has series of financial instruments that are available for the entertainment industry to optimize for both practitioners in their personal capacities and also their companies, we believe that this conference would provide the opportunities for these engagements.

Besides, we are of the view that the industry has the potential to do more than it is contributing to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, at the moment if it is well funded.

What were the critical issues raised at the conference?

The most critical issues raised are lack of regulatory structure in the entertainment industry, lack of knowledge on the part of capital market operators, the entertainment industry is dominated by individuals and not corporate organisations, lack of data and poor record keeping by the practitioners in the entertainment industry, general misunderstanding of the role of capital market as bank financing was regularly confused with the role of capital market and piracy in entertainment industry.

How would you advise the operators in the entertainment industry to access the market i.e what are the options?

Special funds should be created for the entertainment industry. The fund should be sold to investing public by capital market. The funds should capture the characteristic of the each area of entertainment industry been funded.

To what extent can you say the operators in the entertainment industry are qualified to access fund from the capital market?

There are still structural issues to be sorted out secondly the operators need also to be transparent in the dealings. They need to start to employ professionals in keeping of the financial records. They should incorporate companies for the businesses and start separating their businesses from themselves.

Is the market ready to absorb them against the background of some complaints of the operators’ lack of structure?

Yes they can be treated on individual basis based on track record and recognition. Infact immediately

Okumagba

the operators need also to be transparent in the dealings.

They

need to start to employ professionals in keeping

of the financial records.

They should incorporate companies for the businesses and start

separating their businesses from themselves there is one success story of access to fund through capital market others will follow and the capital market will then dictate the structures they want.

In your own opinion, what are the challenges affecting the entertainment industry in Nigeria?

Lack of access to funds, piracy, lack of data and high operational cost.

Is it true that the rebasing of the Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, brought into fore the contribution of this industry for the first time?

We have always known this but the rebasing put monetary value to it even though the figure may not be correct as we do not have the data to generate the accurate figure.

What should the investors look for before they invest in the entertainment industry?

This is difficult to say knowing how the industry works. It is not all their work that turns out successful but as in all investment the character or track re-

cord of the promoters should guide an investor.

Other things that could be looked at are the size and structure of the market of the products, the level of development of the industry in terms of maturity, the level of competition amongst players, average cost of doing business, industry average revenue/returns and the market share of the artiste being considered as the venue of investment.

What is the current market state and what is your own view of the market outlook at the end of this quarter?

The market is presently bearish but with capacity to rebound and close in one digit positive territory at the end of the quarter.

An answer to this question should be approached from first having a good understanding of the cause(s) of present state of the market. Some of the reasons for the bearish state of the market are economic risk borne out of the reducing international oil price and building political risk surrounding the impending general elections which are all likely to make foreign investors averse to investing in the country. And given the percentage of foreign participation in the Nigerian market, their withdrawal is largely felt by the market. However, since the reasons are not tied around the performance of the listed companies and the continuous attractive opportunities that the Nigerian market presents, the market has the possibility of returning a positive return soon.

What is your message to the investors?

Investors should take position at the demand territory of the market to benefits upon rebound of the market. There is always opportunity to make money either when the market is up or down.

Were there issues that re-occurred at the conference?

Lack of structure, data and capital market operators’ limited knowledge of the entertainment industry. Need to curb piracy.

The institute is becoming more visible. What is the secret?

The secret for the visibility of the Institute is anchored on dynamic and virile leadership now experienced in the institute and enhanced network of relationship by the leadership of the Council of the Institute.

What would you like to put in place for more exciting conference in 2015?

Reconfiguration of conference fees to attract more participating members in the next annual conference. We also intend to do a comprehensive post mortem of the conference with a view to learning from areas where few challenges were met in order to have a better conference in 2015. Furthermore, there is likely to be an improvement in the awareness of the conference as well as the time interval between when the conference is announced and the time of the conference.

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Features

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Appraising Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in rice production SYLVA EMEKA-OKERE

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he economic diversification of the federal government is taking its tolls in the nation’s agricultural revolution plans.

The paradigm shift from oil to non-oil sector has witnessed tremendous lifelifting policies, particularly in agro-allied subsector. The federal government has continuously demonstrated its avowed determination to ensure that the nation arrives at self-sufficiency in rice production. Stakeholders have been encouraged to support government to meet its target on robust rice policy.

Though, some stakeholders are trying to undermine the good intentions of the federal government by raising doubts over some waivers granted to rice dealers, including millers, farmers as well as importers in the country.

The rice allocation quotas to investors are meant to realise the federal government’s self-sufficiency objective on rice.

But it appears, some groups are kicking against such gesture meant to boast rice productions in the country.

Investigations have shown that for the first time in many years, no member of Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (RiMIDAN) and Nigerian Millers Association have benefitted from such incentive, aimed at ensuring the backward integration policy on rice.

Congregating under the aegis of Nigeria Rice Investors Group, the stakeholders including RiMIDAN, they lauded government on its gesture.

Under the scheme, the existing rice importers as well as new investors were required to post a Domestic Rice Production Performance Bond. This, according to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Minister, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina would be used to demonstrate clear commitments of the beneficiaries to domestic investment plans in rice production and processing.

The bond value for each importer and new investor would be equivalent to 30% of the value of the quota received. The bond must be secured at a qualifying bank approved by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

For the avoidance of doubt, the federal government made it clear that rice imported under the quota allocation will be charged 10% duty and 20% levy while the products imported since May 2014 in excess of approved quotas will be charged a higher tariff of 10% and 60% levy payable within 60days.”

Government also announced that rice importers, who have already exceeded their allocated quota, would not be given a quota to import more rice, until after a new quota was announced while failure of any importer/investor to comply would result to forfeiture of import quotas.

The resistance given to the new investors by aggrieved rice dealers was actually misplaced, observers noted. Before granting the import quotas, government sounded it clearly that “the rice investment plans will be strictly monitored

Bags of rice

THE TRUTH IS THAT MANY HAVE WITNESSED THE OLD SYSTEM, WHERE SOME HIGHLY CONNECTED PEOPLE INFLUENCED THE RICE

QUOTA ALLOCATION.

THIS ADMINISTRATION

MADE SURE IT WENT TO RICE FARMERS WITH VISIBLE INVESTMENTS

Adesina

against key milestones,” adding that failure to execute these plans would lead to withdrawal of the bond by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Actually, there was a Presidential InterMinisterial Committee on Rice Supply Gap made up of Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy/Finance Minister, Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment as well as Minister of national planning. The Committee was mandated

by Mr. President to determine the national rice supply gap and appropriate volume of import quotas to be issued in order to close the gap and advance the rice supply the rice transformation agenda and objectives of the National Rice Policy.

In fact, there has been a deliberate policy by the government to boost the potential of local industries, such as imposing high tariffs on commodities, which could be produced in the country, export promotion drive as well as ensuring that the backward integration policy of the

government in line with the agricultural transformation agenda succeeds. Government as a matter of need encourages the processing, production and marketing of paddy rice via the deregulation of seeds and fertilizer markets as well as private sector coordinated commodities market.

Before now, the nation has been losing over N20 billion worth of the product due to smuggling. So, the back ward integration plan of the federal government would help in this direction.

According to Tunji Owoeye, who doubles as the President of Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (RiMIDAN) as well as Chairman, Nigeria Rice Investors Group, “What the federal government has been doing in the last three years is to get investment plans in the rice industry.

Owoeye said, “The issue could be addressed as the policy is still in its early stage, if some people fell aggrieved over it. We have come a long way to ensure that this policy works. Twenty-two companies got the import quota allocations. Some of them least expected that they would make it. Federal government took the measure to encourage local content investments”.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Rice Investors’ Group has lauded the import quota allocation. It said it was the first time; import quota was being allocated to the right

people with verifiable investments in rice production.

Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, and Secretary, of Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN), Michael Aondoakaa said prior to the emergence of the present administration, nobody had wondered who gets what quota.

“The truth is that many have witnessed the old system, where some highly connected people influenced the rice quota allocation. This administration made sure it went to rice farmers with visible investments,”Aondoakaa said.

On his part, the President of Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors’ Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Mohammed, noted that five years ago, there was only one processing mill in Nigeria, but the number grew to 24 by 2014.

“We process 800,000 tonnes of paddy rice annually and government is putting measures in place to produce additional 360000 tonnes. All these happened within this period.

An observer, Angela Okisor said there is greater need for all stakeholders in the rice production sector to key into the federal government’s plan of ensuring self-sufficiency in rice production in the country. Observers say the situation in the sector calls for more understanding.

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Features

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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School boy, 9, expelled over long hair style

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nine-year-old schoolboy has been banned from classes because his ‘extreme’ short back and sides hair style is too long.

Billy Eddleston, from Darwen, Lancashir has been sent home for three days running over his hair, which his headmistress says is too long on the top.

Billy, who says plenty of his friends at Hoddlesden St Paul’s CE Primary School have the popular hair style, said he will not be allowed to return to classes until he has had his hair cut again.

His mother Connie Eddleston, 30, a self-employed painter and decorator, has branded the decision a ‘disgrace’.

She said: ‘Billy has had the same haircut, in varying lengths, pretty much his whole life.

‘I feel like Billy’s been victimised, and he feels picked on. I feel like the school is failing my child. ‘It won’t stop him learning. If he gets it shorter he’ll look like a thug. He’s losing out on his education.’

Mrs Eddleston first received a letter about Billy’s hair before he broke up for Christmas. She admits that she tried to cut her son’s hair herself, but she had to take him to the barbers to get it fixed because it was ‘a mess’.

The mother-of-four said: ‘Billy walked through the school] doors on Monday and

not a word were said. On Tuesday the head collared me and said it was still too long on the top and could I deal with it.

‘I took him straight from school to the barbers and had it done. On Wednesday both the head and the deputy head were waiting for us and he was sent home.

‘On Thursday and Friday I got him ready for school as normal, made him a packed lunch and put on his uniform and the same thing happened. I can’t understand, it’s just a short back and sides.

‘He has to watch his sisters Isobel, eight, and Olivia, six, walk through the gate in the morning and the head teacher waits for him and tells him he can’t come in. It’s so trivial.

‘I have considered getting his hair cut again, but it’s the principle of the thing now. I want them to apologise to my son.’, she said.

The school’s prospectus states: ‘Shoulder length hair must be tied back. We have a no extreme or ‘current trend’ hair policy at our school. Plain red headband/headwear for girls and no hair gel for girls or boys.’

Despite this, Billy has not been allowed to classes and it is still unclear whether he will be able to attend on Monday morning.

Billy, who also lives with his father, engineering manager John, 33, and Brother

Edward, two, said: ‘I feel like the school are bullying me. There are other boys with the same hair design and they are allowed to stay.’

Mrs Eddleston will meet with headmistress Bernadette Bickerton, as well as the school’s governors and an educational welfare officer from Darwen Council on Wednesday to discuss the matter further.

Head teacher Bernadette Bickerton

said: ‘Billy has not been [permanently] excluded from the school and we hope to see him back in class as soon as possible so any disruption to his education is kept to a minimum.

‘Both parents and pupils are made aware of our high expectations and aspirations before they choose the school and we have a very clear uniform policy.’

Algebra, fractions and trigonometry are the least favourite homework topics, while Roman history and long division also baffles parents

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Global Business

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

German industrial production falls Canada funds’ bid for amid plunge in energy output Telesat hit financing snag G T wo pension funds are having trouble financing a deal to acquire Canadian satellite company Telesat Holdings Inc., people with knowledge of the matter said.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Public Sector Pension Investment Board were working toward a deal to acquire Telesat shareholder Loral Space & Communications Inc. for about $85 a share, or $2.6 billion, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private information. That effort has stalled amid a

Stephen Harper

regulatory clampdown on the leveraged-loan market, the people said.

Using borrowings to fund a purchase can boost the overall returns to an acquirer, and the deal may have to be restructured if the pension funds can’t borrow as much as they had expected. It’s the latest setback in an on-again, off-again sale effort that’s been complicated by a lawsuit and a tangled ownership structure.

Though the two sides have stopped work on the deal, both are still hopeful they’ll be able to close it, the people said.

Telesat owns 14 satellites and manages the operations of satellites for third parties, according to its website. The company was founded in 1969 and launched the world’s first commercial, domestic communications satellite in geostationary orbit in 1972.

Deborah Allan, a spokeswoman for Ontario Teachers, and Mark Boutet, a spokesman for the Public Sector Pension, declined to comment.

Wendy Lewis, a spokeswoman for Loral, didn’t respond to voice-mail

messages seeking comment.

The New York Post reported earlier that the deal talks have ended amid the financing concerns.

Loral and PSP called off another sale effort for Telesat in 2011, after offers fell short of expectations. Talks started again last year before stalling in June because Mark Rachesky, Loral’s largest shareholder, couldn’t agree with PSP on a price to sell the company, failing to bridge an equity gap of about $100 million, people said then.

The latest effort to acquire Telesat was complicated by a patentinfringement suit that ViaSat Inc. brought against Loral’s former subsidiary Space Systems/Loral LLC. That was settled in September and an agreement on how to divide the payment was reached in December.

PSP is already an owner of more than one-third of the equity in Telesat. Under the agreement the funds had proposed, PSP would increase its equity stake to 50 per cent, while cutting back its voting rights to the same amount.

Audi chases BMW with SUV, Roadster in year of new cars

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udi will kick off one of the most aggressive two-year model expansions in the luxury-car industry at the Detroit motor show as the German marque closes in on BMW, which sold a record of more than two million cars last year.

After narrowing No. 1 BMW AG’s lead further last year, Audi will target buyers of big cars in Detroit with a revamped version of the Q7, its $48,300 sport-utility vehicle. Still to come later this year is Audi’s first electric sports car for aficionados of technology and speed.

“The most impressive launch schedule in the coming two years will most likely be at Audi,” Jochen Gehrke, a Frankfurt-based analyst for Deutsche Bank, said in a note.

Audi plans to spend 24 billion euros ($28.3 billion) on technology and production in the next five years, with most of the money going to expand its lineup to 60 cars from 50.

Audi’s goal is to wrest the No. 1 spot in the luxury-car market away from BMW by 2020, in a three-way race that also includes Mercedes-Benz, which has declared the same ambition.

Including Mini and Rolls-Royce vehicles, BMW delivered a record 2.12 million cars last year, a gain of

7.9 per cent. Growth was paced by a 9.5 per cent gain at the namesake brand to 1.81 million cars. With Audi growing 11 per cent and posting a new sales record of 1.74 million autos, BMW’s lead over Audi narrowed to 70,619 from 79,658 a year ago.

Third-place Mercedes delivered 1.65 million vehicles, a gain of 13 per cent, giving it the fastest growth rate among the top three in the luxury segment.

It’s been good times all around for upscale carmakers. Porsche and Bentley, which are units of Volkswagen AG like Audi, saw sales hit all-time highs last year. BMW unit Rolls-Royce also posted a record.

BMW car

Audi’s push might not be enough to unseat BMW, which expanded with the X4 SUV coupe this year. The Munich-based company’s namesake brand will probably sell 2.22 million cars in 2020 compared with 2.1 million for Audi and 1.95 million for Daimler AG luxury unit Mercedes, according to estimates by IHS Automotive.

“The second-generation Q7 is of course a hugely important model in terms of Audi’s SUV strategy –- with the model competing headto-head with BMW’s X5 and Mercedes-Benz’s M-Class,” said Tim Urquhart, a London-based analyst at IHS Automotive. “The new car looks much more honed.”

erman industrial production unexpectedly fell for the first time in three months in November as energy , slumped, signaling that the recovery in Europe’s largest economy remains vulnerable.

Output, adjusted for seasonal swings, fell 0.1 per cent from October, when it climbed a revised 0.6 per cent, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said today. Economists in a Bloomberg News survey predicted an increase of 0.3 per cent, according to the median of 25 estimates. Production dropped 0.5 per cent from a year earlier.

The Bundesbank has said the German economy managed only a “modest start” to the fourth quarter, after effectively stagnating in the prior six months. While surveys have shown that economic sentiment in the country is improving, the outlook is clouded by the euro area’s struggle with sluggish growth, falling prices and Greek political instability.

“The most important message is that we have to be a bit more patient,” said Andreas Rees, chief German economist at UniCredit MIB in Munich. “In terms of business sentiment, there is more and more evidence that German companies already

Angela Merkel

turned the corner. However, in line with economics 101, hard data typically lag behind such leading indicators.”

Energy output declined 2.4 per cent in November from the previous month and construction fell 0.6 per cent, this data show. Manufacturing rose 0.3 per cent, driven by gains in output of investment and consumer goods.

“Industrial production has passed the trough” and “should have embarked on a moderate upward trend,” the Economy Ministry said in the statement.

Exports fell 2.1 per cent in November from October, when they declined 0.5 per cent, separate data published today by the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden show. Imports rose 1.5 per cent in November.

Citigroup to cut traders’ bonuses after weak year-end

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itigroup Inc. reduced the bonus pool for fixedincome and equities traders and salespeople after their division’s lackluster performance in the final weeks of the year, according to a person briefed on the matter.

The bonuses will drop five per cent to 10 per cent on average, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing compensation. Citigroup, the thirdbiggest U.S. bank, planned as recently as mid-December to keep the bonus pool unchanged from 2013, a person briefed on the matter said at the time.

Chief Executive Officer Michael Corbat, who said last month that fourth-quarter trading revenue would decline by about five per cent, is adjusting compensation for employees to fit the bank’s performance. The bonus cuts suggest the drop could be steeper than Corbat predicted, said David Hilder, an analyst at Drexel Hamilton LLC.

“It’s an unpleasant surprise when it’s in the last two weeks of the quarter and everyone has set up their budgets,” said Hilder, who recommends investors buy Citigroup shares. “To the extent you give up revenue in the businesses where you have a lot of variable comp, like trading, you don’t have to pay people as much. That’s how it works.”

Jamie Forese, 51, who heads the institutional clients group that includes the trading businesses, briefed the bank’s trading-desk chiefs about the bonus cuts earlier this week, the person briefed on the matter said. The adjustments were necessary because revenue failed to meet the bank’s projections, the person said.

Corbat, 54, said at a Dec. 9 conference that he expected fourthquarter markets revenue to slide in the “the five per cent-ish range, maybe a bit more” from the same period a year earlier, when the bank brought in $2.86 billion from trading stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Foundations donate $90m to grow Niger Delta economy CHIDI UGWU ABUJA

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iger Delta Partnership Initiatives NDPI, a Chevron-supported foundation and the Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta PIND have donated $50 million, and $40 million respectively for the economic development of the oil rich region.

The donation was made known recently in Washington at the maiden Niger-Delta Development Forum NDDF hosted by the NDPI. NDPI, a foundation working to develop new solutions to address

economic and social challenges in the Niger Delta, stated that the donations was to spur economic growth and activities in that region.

Chairman and Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria Limited, (CNL) Mr. Clay Neff described the PIND/NDPI seed grant as an investment catalyst to economic development in the Niger Delta from 2015 to 2019.

CNL boss who reiterated the importance of partnership to the growth of business in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria said that the foundation is working to develop new solutions to economic and so-

cial challenges in the Niger Delta.

During a panel discussion on ‘Partnering to Grow Business in the Niger Delta’, Neff stressed the importance of partnership between the public and private sectors for the growth of business in the Niger Delta on Nigeria. He stressed that such a partnership must be mutually beneficial and should entail extensive dialogue with all stake holders.

According to him, “I believe that public and private sector entities should seek mutually beneficial solutions, and at Chevron we are interested in all the solutions available for the economic

Akwa Ibom PDP women in Lagos waiting for their gubernatorial candidate at the National Theatre, recently.

and social development of the Niger Delta,” “Chevron has seen firsthand the importance of working with people closely and building solutions where they feel very much a part of the process. It never works to simply ram things through, nothing lasts that way,” he noted.

On his part, Executive Director, PIND, Sam Daibo, said the foundation has been making agriculture attractive to youths through enlightenment campaigns focusing on the many opportunities in the agriculture value chains.

“It’s not just about going to the farm and planting cassava. You

PHOTO: SAMUEL ADETIMEHIN

can be the one who supplies the fingerlings for fisheries, or tractors and land clearing services.

Agriculture isn’t just one thing.

It’s an entire value chain with very real potential to see high income generation for young people,” Daibo added.

To achieve this, he said that PIND intends to encourage young people to go into agriculture, through a partner-centric approach based on regional knowledge to understand the root causes of economic instability and forge community owned, market-driven results. PIND was established in 2010 as a nonprofit foundation in Nigeria and it serves the operational entity of NDPI. Its main function is to help alleviate poverty and promote peace in the Niger Delta region by building dynamic, innovative programmes and multi- stakeholder partnerships that provide broad stakeholder support for projects in four main focus areas of economic development, capacity building, peace building and analysis, as well as advocacy.

On the other hand, NDPI has a broader function which covers developing new solutions to economic and social challenges in the Niger Delta.

The forum, which was attended by the private and public sectors, NGOs and government representatives from Nigeria and the Unites States of America , aimed at exploring collaborative efforts for creating long-term economic stability in the Niger Delta.

Council boss empowers the downtrodden RICHARD NDOMA CALABAR

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uturo Rita Agbo, Council Chairman for Ogoja Local Government Area in Cross River State has lent a helping hand to widows,and the physically challenged in Urban 1 and 2 within her council area just to put a smile on their perhaps as a way to begin the new year. The council boss distributed bags of rice, jericans of groundnut oil, cartoons of tomatoes, with several brands of food supplement which includes forever living products, cartoons of maltina drinks, twenty thousand each to widows and while the physically challenged had to smile home with ten thousand naira each describing the chairman`s benevolence as an act of God. As if it was not enough the council boss appealed to the less privileged in the remaining eight

wards who were unable to benefit from the largesse to be patient as arrangement is still on ground to ensure that they benefit in the second phase of her empowerment programme scheduled for April this year, before the Easter celebration comes up.

Addressing beneficiaries at the council hall, Buturo Rita Agbo stated that it has been her desire to see that her administrative policy thrust is to carry everyone along irrespective of sex, age and religion with priority attention given to the vulnerable ones . She called them out to celebrate this New Year with them and to enable them know that they had not been abandoned and thanked them for the support she had enjoyed from them since she came on board.

The council boss pointed out that she decided to give them the items so that they can celebrate the season with their very loved ones in their various homes and charged them to use the money

given to them judiciously to establish small scale businesses to enable them become financially independent and promised to pay school fees of the children of widows and the physically challenged to enable their wards scale through secondary school level until her tenure elapsed even as she used the occasion to thank the state governor Senator Liyel Imoke, his wife Barr.

(Mrs.) Obioma Imoke, the people’s Democratic Party for sustaining the dividends of democracy in the state, and assured the party of the total support of the people of Ogoja in the forth coming general elections.

On her part, the chairperson of Ogoja Local Government Council, Miss Mercy Ayim charged the beneficiaries to make use of the items given to them by the council chairman judiciously to enable them meet the needs of their families and showered encomiums on the council boss for her benevo-

lence and the for nurturing the courage to impact positively on the lives of the less privilege On his part,the chapter chairman of the people’s Democratic Party in Ogoja Local Government Area, Engineer Thomas Aruku lauded the chairman for the stride she had made in improving the lots of the vulnerable ones.

She urged the people to vote wisely to help reduce restiveness in the society and made a passionate appeal to the Ogoja people to come out en mass to support the People’s Democratic Party.

In the same vein, chairman of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employee[ NULGE ] Ogoja Chapter, Mrs. Philomena Ugan, thanked the chairman for embarking on the programme stressing that Agbo`s empowerment programme was first of its kind since she joined the civil service adding that this is the first time that a chairman of council had called the people out to say thank

Rose Anyim

you.

Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Madam Ajoro Igogo described the council boss as an Amazon and a great woman, and a mother of the motherless describing the council boss as a true leader of the people who had distinguished herself from others and assured the chairman that the money given to them would be judiciously used for the purpose in which it was meant for.

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Oshiomhole: ITV assault report fabricated, demands apology from station SEBASTINE EBHUOM HAN BENIN

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overnor Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole of Edo State has demanded immediate retraction of a story which said that his aides beat a certain reverend father into coma last week in Ujogba.The story was allegedly carried by a local television station , Independent Television Station [ITV].

All efforts made to clarify the ITV allegation from the Catholic Mission in Edo State failed since Monday morning after the spokesman of the Benin Metropolitan See of the Catholic Church, Reverend Father Steven Okojie, refused to pick calls made to his mobile telephone after he explained to a media enquiry that

Catholic Church was not aware of such incident.

But in a reaction the Governor made on Monday evening through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria, the government denied such incident ever took place even as it contested and denied the TV station’s claim it occurred during his visit to Ujogba in Esan West Local Government Area when Oshiomhole and Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN) commissioned Ujogba Road.

“We watched with great shock the concocted news that was reported by Independent Television (ITV) owned by a PDP chieftain, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion stating that the Governor’s aides beat up a Reverend Father at Ujogba. The said report is not only callous,

malicious and wicked, but clearly portrays ITV and its proprietor as the devil’s advocates who churn out falsehood to denigrate the Oshiomhole administration.”

“While we state that the Governor was never at Ujogba as reported by the TV station, the Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is known to be proudly Catholic and has boasted about his faith at many fora. The State Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Pius Odubu is also a practicing Catholic as well as the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Uyi Igbe.”

“It is a fact that the Governor enjoys a robust relationship with the Catholic Church more so as a baptized practicing Catholic.

He is also in good standing with the Archbishop, Priests and Laity

of Benin City Archdiocese, Auchi Diocese and Uromi Diocese.”

“The Governor as the father of everybody in the state would never encourage anyone to beat up anybody, let alone directing that a Priest of God, from whom he receives the Holy Communion, be beaten up.” If the purported incident as reported by Independent Television (ITV) were correct, why has the Church which has unfettered access to the Governor not reported the incident?

To the best of our knowledge, the ITV report was deliberately fabricated to promote hate sentiment against the Governor by the Catholic faithful.”

“It is however heart warming that the Catholic Church is able to see through this deliberate deception, utter blackmail and

wicked machinations of the ITV.” “In spite of this crude attempt to rubbish the Governor because of his faith, he renews his commitment to the Catholic Church, to all Catholics, all Christians and indeed people of all faith in the state.” “We use this medium to call on ITV to retract the said offensive report and tender an unreserved apology to the Governor, through the same station for dragging the Governor’s name into a matter totally unconnected to him.” According to ITV, the alleged victim, Reverend Father Peter Udo, is attached to Saint Dennis Catholic Church in Ujogba. He was allegedly beaten into coma and hospitalized by the governor’s aides because he refused to give the rights of way.

Boat owners, JTF engage oil thieves in Bayelsa waterways OSAHON JULIUS, YENAGOA

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The Ogbia-Nembe road being undertaken by the Seriake Dickson led Restoration Government in Bayelsa State, nearing completion.

Youths endorse Edo government’s empowerment programme SEBASTINE OMNUOHAN BENIN

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coalition of Edo youths have hailed the administration of Governor Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole for continuously empowering youths in the state. The youths have also called on their contemporaries believed to be hustling in foreign countries, some of whom they said were merely wasting their lives in a bid to obtain greener pasture, to begin to consider returning home now so as to take advantage of opportunities that now abound in Edo State and positively turn their lives around.

In a release made available to Sunday Mirror in Benin City on Saturday, the Initiative for Youth

Awareness on Migration, Immigration, Development and Reintegration (IYAMIDR) particularly thanked and appreciated the efforts of a former Secretary to Edo State Government, Dr. Simon Imuekemhe, for his assistance to Edo youths when he was in office.

Recalling the progress of his group since they were re-integrated after their return, Mr. Solomon Okoduwa, Executive Director of IYAMIDR, a non-governmental organization formed by Edo State returnees from Libya and other African and European countries, revealed that Imuekemhe singlehandedly ensured that Edo state government assisted as many returnees as possible to gainfully engage in farming after related vocational trainings besides

those that were assimilated into the state civil service.

Okoduwa therefore urged Edo State government to do more in order to absolve more youths from the teeming population of jobless Nigerians. Okoduwa, who recalled the active engagement of about 250 members of IYAMIDR, said that they are now farming a colony of oil palm plantation on an expanse of land, measuring about 16, 666 hectares at Ugbogui Community in Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State after a state government facilitated agrarian training and support programme through the office of the former scribe.

Okoduwa said, “Since 2011, events that have unfolded from the Arab-spring have given rise to

a surging population of returnees from various countries in Africa, Europe, Americas and even Asia.

This has necessitated the need to engage the returning youths through IYAMIDR as a common front for advocacy for returnees of various countries.”

“For example, through this initiative, we have since been able to secure employment and vocational training for over 280 returnees.

The lives of all these people were secured through the effort of Dr. Simon Imuekemhe, who took it upon himself to rehabilitate and reintegrate Edo youth returnees with the support of Edo State Government, particularly, and other faith based agencies,” he added.

oat owners and drivers in Bayelsa state and the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) aka Operation ‘Pulo Shield’ are set to unite against all forms of oil theft and sea pirates in the Niger Delta, vowing to eradicate all other illegality in all ramifications.

With the recent development, the boat owners, in conjunction with the security outfit had set up a special taskforce with the mandate to identify and assist security agencies in arresting suspected sea pirates and illegal oil bunkerers operating in the state.

The synergy between the boat drivers and maritime workers, under the aegis of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, (MWUN), Bayelsa state chapter, is expected to witness the exchange of e information and engagement of unemployed youths by the taskforce. The collaboration according to both partners is also expected to carry out campaigns in coastal communities against illicit arms dealing and other violent crimes.

State chairman, of MWUN, Mr. Lloyd Sese, while speaking with journalists in Yenagoa, the state capital, said the partnership with the JTF would ensure the setting up of the maritime task force.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Politics

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

43

t for political power –Agbakoba UNLESS, WE FOUND STATESMEN AND STATECRAFTS TO DEAL WITH

ABUJA PROBLEM, TAKE THE POWER FROM ABUJA AND SPREAD IT DOWN, NIGERIA IS NOT GOING

THIS

ANYWHERE

and it led to a civil war. Before the civil war, the political leaders at the time went to Aburi in Ghana at a time to sit down and discuss how to move forward and the agreement was a confederation. On return, Yakubu Gowon, who is now leading a national prayer, failed to implement the agreement of a confederal system because the super permanent secretaries of the time interested in political powers told him that a pyramid federation was the best, which is power at the centre.

That has been the problem and that is what Ojukwu and Awolowo said. But if you have six sub-pyramids in the six geo-political zones, we won’t have these problems. The contest will not be as fired up as this.

Let me give you an example of how you can create and resolve a national order. In the United Kingdom, there are four entities; Welsh, Irish, English and the Scots.

The Irish were mistreated and they lost the Southern half of Ireland and it became the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland was run from their ‘Abuja’, and it led to the rise of IRA and there was no peace, until a statesman came in the shape of Tony Blair. When he came, he created the Good Friday agreement that devolved power to Northern Ireland, then peace. When Scotland tried to go out of United Kingdom, because they felt that it could be a country of its won, what other parts of UK did was to promise Scotland political devolution, more powers.

So, a statesman uses the opportunity of power to bind a country.

Our leaders, Nnamdi Azikwe, Gowon, IBB or OBJ, have failed to rise to the level where they use statecraft to create a Nigeria. So, we are at position where the danger of Nigeria facing catastrophe stares us in the face.

Don’t you think the happenings in the country may be giving credence to the prediction that Nigeria will break in 2015?

I don’t think Nigeria will break in 2015. I saw the US Ambassador on TV denying such prediction. Nigeria is

too strong a country to break up; that is out of the question. The challenge, however, is that Nigeria would not be able to harness its full potential in seemingly little things like lack of a national carrier before we even move to the big things.

For example, if you want to be a big country, you have to show yourself to the world whether in sports or other endeavours. Apart from Blessing Okagbare and a few others, Nigeria is gone, no potentials in sport, we have no potential in anything.

The one that always strikes me because I travel around the World is that I see Air Gambia, Air Mauritius, Air Zambia, but I have never seen Air Nigeria. I say what a shame. What they have done in the Middle East is to create enabling environment that attracts you there. So, they have their Emirates, Etihad; that is how a country is great because they are showing their flags.

One of the most ridiculous ones I have seen is that if ten containers come to the Central Africa which contained about 18 countries, eight belong to Nigeria. Out of that eight, five go to other ports because they find your ports inefficient. How can you say you are great country?

The reason for that sometimes is simply the fact that the Federal Government is too big, owns all the ports, whereas Lagos State should own the port.

So, unless a statesman is prepared to say I want to reconfigure Nigeria by a redistribution of political power, we won’t move forward. You can see as Apapa is.

Apapa produces almost the equal of our oil wealth, but because it is not tapped and nobody cares, it has stayed like this. The Federal Government is too far and the Lagos State government is completely incapacitated to do anything. Resources from shipping by the way double the national budget, it’s about N7 trillion, the national budget is about N4 trillion, but because it is nobody’s business, it goes and then you have foreign ship owners, foreign terminal operators operating. So, when you talk about unemployment, it is related to the political configuration of Nigeria. Unless, we found statesmen and statecrafts to deal with this Abuja problem, take the power from Abuja and spread it down, Nigeria is not going anywhere.

Do you think Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC is ready for the February polls?

I don’t think so. INEC is not in that readiness mode to conduct the election, because 75 per cent of the voters does not have the Permanent Voter Cards, PVC. So, if INEC is insisting that you have to present your voters card before voting and 75 per cent of those to vote in four weeks time don’t have it, then it calls for concern.

On today’s information, INEC lacks the fundamentals to conduct elections, let alone free and fair, on the grounds that the logistical framework to conduct it is not there.

The politicians don’t think that our votes count, because if they thought so, I am unable to understand why two major political parties will launch their campaigns four weeks to the election, when typically the campaign

should have been launched two years ago. The politicians are not interested in your votes, they are interested in power.

Sometimes people talk about the followers, but the followers are very hungry Nigerians and therefore they are not in position to make informed decisions; so I don’t blame them when they take a loaf of bread with 20 naira inside it. There are 40 million unemployed youths and poverty levels are at about 90 per cent. The wealth income distribution is so bad that only about 500 Nigerians own 90 per cent of the wealth. With that type of challenge and bondage, it only takes a statesman who will say to himself that this will not continue to make a change.

Some people have argued that the fault lines are as a result of our defective constitution. Whose responsibility is it to sort out these fault lines?

It is a mixed bag of issues that I found myself in. Who does what, who is that statesman in the traffic who will step out and direct the traffic when everybody is fighting. The best example of how society is ordered is what Durkhem, the founder of social organisation said, that people who are called upon to exercise political power have a special duty to carry out and when they fail to do their work, people begin to resent them and it leads to social revolution.

The first way out of our predicament is the people’s revolution which will absolutely overthrow the system, that has its challenge. The second way out is civil society doing it on behalf of the people. Civil society does not mean human rights group as people keep thinking, they mean those critical elements of the society that represents the people and there are two most important ones; the church and the traditional rulers. Not one traditional ruler has said anything meaningful about the way the country is going. Most religious leaders speak to their personal interest. Can you imagine if we are able to have a Christian-Muslim handshake of our leaders, politicians will shake and terrified. If the Christians and Muslims will come together and say ‘politicians, if you don’t answer to these questions in the following way, we will tell our people not to vote for you’, it will work. The relevant components of the civil societies are incapacitated. I have not heard labour speak in a long time because you have to look at the people who lead the masses. That is the challenge; it is the challenge of a long traffic jam and people have been sitting there for four hours and no one is prepared to give a space. So, there is no leader prepared to say I am going to shrink my powers in order to establish a strong democratic institution.

Nigeria is in intensive care unit and as political doctor alongside other doctors; we are looking and exploring different types of treatment. I have suggested one, people’s revolution and I have look at the pros and cons with my other political doctors and we found out that it is very hard to organise because you need the relevant component of the civil society to act.

But it was IBB that perfected the system of perverting civil society even to the point where he got the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, down. What you do as political dictator is to dismantle the strong structures of civil society. As a political doctor, I doubt that the present crops of leadership I see are able to set aside their personal interest to treat the patient. So, I go to the third one, which is the new one. Can we ask the political parties whether they are prepared to pledge that if their man wins, he will be a statesman and if he fails to do so, in the next four years, the party will not get another opportunity?

Those are the options, which will work, I don’t know.

Having being in this political stuff for a while, I doubt if the civil society is strong enough because the compromise of civil society is very deep and you see that they are all dismantled. Let us find somebody who will go in there and represent us but we can only do that by asking the questions now from these two parties.

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Politics

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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Why I’m in the race for Delta gov –Emerhor OLAJIDE OMOJOLOMOJU

D

elta State All progressives Congress, APC, gubernatorial candidate, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, has said that his desire to emancipate Deltans from the shackles of poverty, which the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has put the people in the last 16 years, necessitated his intention to run for the state’s number one po-

sition.

Emerhor also said that he was in the gubernatorial race to use his vast experience garnered over the years in the private sector as a turnaround expert, to take Delta State to the next level.

The gubernatorial aspirant declared these during a parley with journalists in Lagos yesterday, saying that 16 years of PDP rule in Delta State was nothing but wasted years of the cankerworm, adding

that the misrule of PDP in Delta State was also manifested at the centre, which now necessitated the mass movement for change, which has permeated the entire political landscape of Nigeria and Delta State.

He said his administration will focus among others, on addressing unemployment by within 100 days of his governorship empower youth, women and middle-tier business with a N10 billion fund. He said access points would

be set up where the fund could be accessed by the categories of people it was meant for.

Another of his agenda was bringing government closer to the people by supporting the local councils, which is the government nearer to the people, to discharge their constitutional responsibilities to the rural dwellers.

Emerhor also said that development of agriculture would also be key to his administration, to

make it become the major contributor to the state’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP and economic development.

He also pledged to run a private-sector-led government to allow for counterpart funding in developing major infrastructure in the state, adding that his administration will also take stock of what is on ground in the state and take necessary steps

to reactivate all moribund companies and industries in the state.

Accusing the PDP “of running on a record of failed promises,” Emerhor said: “My priority as governor would be to get things done in the right perspective. I pledge to create job for 1 million Delta youths, meet the yearnings and aspirations of every Deltan and banish poverty from Delta.”

Adamawa: Senator Bent warns of imminent doom for PDP •Says party never holds primaries in Adamawa OBIORA IFOH ABUJA

A

Crowd at Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, rally in Ibadan, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

We’re yet to endorse any candidate –YOANEA OLUWATOSIN FASANYA

A

s the 2015 general elections draw near, Youth of All Nations, YOANEA, has declared that it is yet to endorse any candidate for any of the elective offices in next month’s general elections.

This declaration was made against the backdrop of the rumour that YOANEA has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for presidency and other governorship candidates.

While unveiling its proposed projects for 2015 in Lagos at the weekend, YOANEA Youth Leader, Comrade Jeff Echezona Joshua, said the youth body wants the best for Nigerian youths, adding that the youths are of course not ready to settle for less.

Joshua said: “We will engage all the candidates.

We want to know how they will implement their youth empowerment programmes. We believe that the youth deserve more and as such, we want to see more youths empowered economically. We

want policies on education, health, social welfare and the government structure in place to drive them to deliver more.

YOANEA president, Comrade Babatunde Afolabi Ifenuga, pointed out that representation at various states and National Assembly shall be subjected to quality debate, adding: “Only candidates who understand the weight of governance and are better equipped to get the job done will get our endorsement.

“YOANEA, will endorse right candidates only, our members will

go out and vote. We know that will make a lot of difference.”

Vowing that Nigerian youths are going to vote massively to decide the outcome of the 2015 general elections at various levels, YOANEA, with over 2.7 million registered members in 23 states across Nigeria and with largest concentration in Lagos State, said the youths will speak with one voice, cautioning politicians who may want to use some of the youths to destabilise the electoral process to rethink because they will not succeed.

MEND endorsement of Buhari, a bad signal –NDF ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

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head of the 2015 general elections, National Democratic Front, NDF, has decried recent endorsement of the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, by Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, saying that it sends bad signal about Ni-

geria to the international community.

NDF further said MEND is capable of destroying the moral fabrics of Nigeria’s true African spirit of honour.

In a press statement issued by its National President, Comrade Philip Agbese in Abuja yesterday, NDF said such endorsements, coming at a time when the whole world is united in condemning and fighting terror

groups, has the potential of painting Nigeria as a country that engages in wholesale sponsorship of terrorism.

Agbese said MEND and Boko Haram are two of a kind with no good agenda for the wellbeing of the masses of this country and should not be contemplated in any discourse regarding our democracy and national development at any point in time.

“It is worrisome that

MEND came out to openly endorse Buhari and he did not distance himself from them within minutes.

“Even if he wants to claim not to give any credence to the action of the group, which ordinarily should not be in existence anymore, the stridency with which MEND continue to market the said endorsement is enough incentive for the APC candidate to repudiate their offer of support.”

stakeholder in Adamawa State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Grace Bent, has advised the party to urgently correct the anomaly in the gubernatorial and National Assembly primaries in the state to prevent what she described as its imminent defeat in the coming general election in the state.

Bent said that stakeholders of Adamawa PDP still believe that no primary was held in Adamawa to pick gubernatorial and National Assembly candidates in the state, because those who were eligible to vote during the primary were disenfranchised.

In a statement in Abuja, Bent said: “Besides, none of the gubernatorial and National Assembly aspirants cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to participate in the primary elections were allowed to contest in the PDP primaries.

“Adamawa electorate is yet to come to terms with the kangaroo primary purportedly held in Abuja, and hence would not recognise those fielded as candidates of the PDP because the process which produced them were heavily compromised and flawed”.

The one-time chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology explained that a fake list of delegates was used to elect the party’s candidates at the expense of the original list widely subscribed to by all stakeholders.

Faulting the sudden change of venue of the PDP

primaries as unlawful, because such was never supported by the PDP Electoral Guidelines for Primary Election 2014, Bent said the turn of events has predisposed PDP to electoral doom in Adamawa, noting that on the strength of disenchantment with the manner the primaries were handled, some key members of the party had defected in droves into other parties.

She alluded to the low turnout of supporters for some of the candidates as they intensify campaign for the February election as a sign that the PDP was fast losing ground in Adamawa.

She said: “With the turn of events, PDP national headquarters must do something urgently, because the situation is bad for the party. Many PDP members today are moving into other political parties because of the injustice done to them.

“As far as we, stakeholders are concerned, no primary took place in Adamawa. Those presented as candidates of the party were not elected, but imposed. Besides, they are not capable of winning election because they are not popular.”

She said the PDP flouted its own Guideline for Conduct of Primaries (2014) by ordering the gubernatorial and National Assembly primaries to be conducted in Abuja, rather than in Adamawa where the guideline recognised.

She said, “Those who voted in the so called PDP primaries in Abuja, if you cross check were fake delegates. The original delegates were in Adamawa waiting patiently to vote.”

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Politics

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

45

2015: When Jonathan flagged-off his re-electioneering campaign in Lagos CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 dates and you see how many of them that is of your age bracket. Which other party will give that kind of opportunity?”

President Jonathan said he was going to speak on three things because “those who say they want to take over power from PDP have been telling a lot of lies.

They have hired people from all over the world and those of you in the social media carry all forms of lies, painting all kinds of colours and giving me all kinds of face that I cannot defend.

“If you listen to us in the 37 places we will address these issues, you will now know where to cast your votes. I will address you in all the places on three issues.

“The first is the issue of insecurity. I am also going to address whether this administration is fighting or encouraging corruption. I am going to address the issue of weak government and unfocused government that has no plans. Yours is to listen and compare with everything that has been done before in this country and take a decision.”

He then talked about the voter’s card saying: “First when we came in here, we saw some placards, some of you complaining that we are yet to get a permanent voter card. Only yesterday, I directed that every Nigerian (of voting age) must vote. Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, must make sure and government will not allow a situation where some (eligible) Nigerians will not vote; we will not allow it. All Nigerians must vote and I mean it.

“Those of you in the age bracket of 20 to 24, if you go back, ask your uncles, before 2011, no Nigerian complained that he had no voter card. People voted themselves into office. We came and said every Nigeria vote must count and since then, the voter’s card has become relevant.

“This is the party that is giving political strength to all Nigerians. Already you have been told from intelligence reports that some people are already cloning cards so that your voter’s card will no longer be relevant. Is that the kind of people you want to take over government? (Crowd shouts No…!)

“They want to take us to the old days when nobody saw voter’s cards but results

PRISCILLA DENIS MINNA

P

eoples Democratic Party, PDP, has lambasted former Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, describing him as a destroyer and an ungrateful party member.

It said Maku rose from being a commissioner in Nasarawa State to deputy governor and minister, yet, he turned around to bite the finger that fed him.

North Central PDP National Vice Chairman, Alhaji Yussuf Ayitogu, who came heavily on the former minister during a reconciliatory visit to PDP members who lost in the primary election in Niger

Akpabio

Ali

NEXT MONTH’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WILL SURELY BE A TITANIC BATTLE BETWEEN THE

MAJOR CONTENDERS,

PRESIDENT

JONATHAN AND GENERAL BUHARI were announced. They want to take us to the old days when ballot papers would be in South Africa and results would be announced. Are you going back to the old days? (Crowd shouts NO…!)

“Nigeria must move forward, Nigeria is for the youths. Nigeria is not for old people like us. The young generation must redefine this country. We must take this country to where we want it to be. Nobody can push us backwards. The past is past. They have led us backward and backward.

He also took time to explain what his administration had done to tackle the issues and what he will do if voted back to office.

President Jonathan argued that Nigeria

was no longer prepared to live in the past as he was prepared to move the country forward through new initiatives and innovative programs for the youths, saying that his second term would be for the youths and women. He pointed out that his administration prefers to govern by keeping to the rule of law.

On security, he took the past leaders who had ruled the country to task saying that they ruled without equipping the Nigerian military.

According to him, “all of them including the General boasting that he would fight security did not purchase a single riffle for the military, when they were there and this is why I want you and all Nigerians to ask them what they have done with the huge amount of money they voted for defence when they were ruling the country.”

He argued that his administration met an unequipped armed forces which had no air fighters, good equipment and it was ill equipped armed forces, saying that the challenges now has made his administration to start procuring proper equipment for the military.

His words: “No country equips its army overnight because what they use are expensive. Armed Forces capacity is build over the years. Even if you spend $10 billion today, you cannot equip the Air Force, Army and Navy, the capacity is built over the time.

They refused to build the over the years.

“They talk about insecurity, that they will fight insecurity but we ask: are our Armed

Forces weak; are Nigerians in the Armed Forces weak? If there is problem, what is the cause of the problem? It is because they don’t have platform. He (Muhammadu Buhari) said he want to fight insecurity, when he was the Head of Government did he bought one rifle for the Nigerian soldiers.

These people didn’t buy anything. They refused to equip them. Ask them what they did with the defense budget.”

On the allegation that his government has no plan for the country, he pointed out that they have initiated several programmes and projects to show that the government has a plan for the country saying that part of the programmes was the reactivation of Egbin power plant, rehabilitation of roads, re-equipping the railways for effective rail system, privatisation of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, and industrialisation policy of the government which dealt with empowerment of the youths to be self reliant.

He argued that through the proper planning of the government, the nation is now producing young and promising entrepreneurs.

On corruption, he said that his administration refused to adopt the old style whereby people are clamped into detention without getting to the root of the matter. According to him, clamping people into detention could not solve the problem but blocking means and ways that could encourage or facilitate corruption.

He further said that, his administration had prosecuted more corrupt related cases than his predecessors. He pointed out that what his government was doing is total blockage of avenue for corruption by employing IT and communication experts who are working on gadgets that would prevent corruption and people having access to money. He admitted that, there were some cases of corruption and which the government was looking into adding that the perpetrators would be dealt with.

Next month’s presidential election will surely be a titanic battle between the major contenders, President Jonathan and General Buhari of the All progressives Congress, but flagging off his campaign in Lagos has been describe as strategic for President Jonathan, in his bid for re-election next month.

PDP lambasts Maku: You’re a destroyer, ingrate cannot win any election in Nassarawa State, Ayitogu said that people who served under President Goodluck Jonathan are the ones betraying him.

He said it is unfortunate that Maku dumped PDP for APGA, which is nowhere in Nassarawa State, but only

State, said it is the PDP that made him what he is today.

He said Maku’s defection to All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, after losing out at the gubernatorial primaries is designed to reduce the votes of the PDP in Nasarawa State.

His words: “Maku is a

destroyer who wants to reduce the votes of the PDP in Nasarawa State; he is biting the finger that fed him.

It is PDP that has made him what he is today, rising from commissioner to deputy governor and lately a minister.”

Declaring that Maku

EBERE NDUKWU

Ayinde donates campaign materials to Ambode

O

ne of the All Progressives Congress, APC, gubernatorial aspirants in the last APC primary election in Lagos, Tayo Ayinde, has donated campaign materials to APC gubernatorial candidate, Akinwunmi

Ambode, in his bid to ensure that the party wins the gubernatorial election slated for February 28.

Aside his campaign team which has been working hard to ensure victory for APC in the coming elections, Ayinde took his support further by sponsoring some campaign

songs branded for Ambode to boost his electioneering campaign in the state.

The songs were composed and produced by a popular female artiste, Kenny Saint Brown, and specially packaged in branded compact disks with larger parts of it to be delivered in

has an office in Keffi out of the whole local government areas and wards in the state.

He then urged all those contesting elections on PDP platform to be mindful of the fact that they have an agreement with the party that must be kept whatever the circumstance.

the campaign office of the gubernatorial candidate, while others are to be distributed among members and supporters of the party across the state.

Ayinde has also urged all citizens and residents of Lagos State to collect and keep their Permanent Voter

Niger State governor, Babangida Aliyu, described many of those that left the PDP as driven by inordinate ambition and greed, while blaming the crisis that followed the outcome of the party primaries on the automatic waiver given to new members of the party.

Cards, PVCs, very safe for the coming elections, saying: “It is our power and strength to collectively effect the desired change in the presidential election come February 14 and vote the party back to power in the gubernatorial election slated for February 28.”

46

Politics

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

GSG resists attempt to scuttle Jonathan’s victory EZEKIEL TITUS BAUCHI

B

ogoro/Dass/TafawaBalewa federal constituency chapter of Jonathan Support Group, GSG, at the weekend berated the faceless hoodlums behind the destruction of the billboards and posters of President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing them of attempts to scuttle the re-election of the President next month.

This was just as the Emir of Dass, Alhaji Bilyaminu Othman disassociated the Emirate from destroying the billboards and posters of President Jonathan in Dass Local government Area of Bauchi State, saying those behind linking the Emirate council with politics are not true patriots of Nigeria and its corporate existence.

GSG coordinator in the federal constituency, Mr. AYuba Kushi Lusa made the statement weekend while briefing journal-

•As Emir dissociates self from destruction of President’s billboards, posters action of the irate youths saying as royal father, nothing links the emirate with politics, expressing worry on why some groups are attempting to smear the image of the emirate.

He said: “As a royal father I have respect for constituted authority and government of the day and is in conformity to the roles of traditional rulers regarding development of

every society and I stand to distance any of my agents from involving in this act of barbarism.” said Othman.

Charging politicians to always respect the traditional institutions following their contribution in nation building especially now that we are in democracy, where there is need for peace and tranquility among Nigerians, Othman

pointed out: “The claim that I was responsible for supervising the destruction of Jonathan billboards and posters was cheap political blackmail against my emirate.”

Fresh facts emerge that the earlier report indicting the emir, the deputy speaker of Bauchi Assembly, Hon. Abubakar Dumba and Hon. Ibrahim Usman Dankade was in error.

ists in a press conference, saying that his group was ready to protect votes cats for Jonathan.

Cautioning mischief makers from fanning the embers of discord, Lusa frowned at the plot by some faceless people linking some top Federal Government officials with the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, without proof, saying the Federal Government under Jonathan has done a lot to move Nigeria to its present pride of place.

He said: “We want to caution mischief-makers who are desperate to rob our leader of his office just because he is coming from the minority.

“We assure Jonathan of our 100 percent votes from Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa-Balewa axis as done since the advent of democracy. There is no need for character assassination against our leader who has contributed

immensely to the country at large.”

In the same vein, the Emir of Dass, Alhaji Othman described the linking of his emirate to the destruction of Jonathan’s posters and billboards as act of perfidy by some selfish individuals, desperate to drag the emirate into politics.

In a chat with newsmen, the Emir condemned the

and vote on election days and ensure that their votes are correctly counted and count in the overall result.”

Commending President Jonathan for instructing INEC to decentralise the distribution of PVCs to enable the electorate collect them with ease, SEDN said: “It is a giant step forward towards credible, free, fair and transparent elections.

“We are concerned that in Anambra State with 1,665,342 registered voters, 862,747 (51.81 per cent) have collected their cards remaining 802,595.

“Similarly, in Imo State with 1,252,307 registered voters, only 682,046 (54.46 per cent) cards were collected remaining 570,261.

“The need for registered voters to collect their PVCs cannot be overemphasised in elections that will redefine governance in Nigeria and provide effective leadership to the citizenry.

“SEDN rejects the call by some unpatriotic Nigerians for the postponement of the February general elections and constitution of an interim national government.”

L-R; Kwara State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed; President, National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Alhaji Najim Yasin; Kogi State APC gubernatorial candidate, Prince Rotimi Obadofin; Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, and vice president, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu during a courtesy visit to Governor Ahmed at Government House, Ilorin, at the weekend.

SEDN urges Nigerians to collect their PVCs ADEOLA TUKURU ABUJA

S

outh East Democratic Network, SEDN, has called Nigerians to collect their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, to enable them exercise their franchise in the forthcoming general elections that will consolidate the nation’s democratic process.

SEDN said the number of uncollected voter cards is enough to swing votes to a generally accepted candidate for presidency in this first tight race between President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and All Progressives Congress, APC, respectively.

In a press statement signed by its General Secretary, Hon Okereke Elvis Orji, SEDN explained that it’s amazing that 15,567,219 PVCs are yet to be collected by registered voters a month to the long awaited presidential polls.

Orji said: “Since sovereignty belongs to the people, we urge Nigerians to be patriotic and perform their civic responsibility by collecting their PVCs

Delta: Angry protesters condemn PDP over candidates’ imposition THEOPHILUS ONOJEGHEN WARRI

H

undreds of aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Patani Local Government Area of Delta State have protested what it described as unlawful substitution of the names of those who emerged winners at the recent PDP primaries in the state, es-

…Want Deputy Speaker’s name restored for Patani pecially the substitution of the name of the Deputy Speaker, Mr Basil Ganagana, who won the ticket for Patani constituency.

The protesters fingered the party’s hierarchy in Abuja for subverting the will of the people by imposing an unpopular candidate who lost the November 29, 2014 House of Assembly primary to the

Deputy Speaker.

They condemned PDP National Chairman and Deputy National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu and Uche Secondus, respectively, accusing them of masterminding the electoral fraud against the people of the area.

They explained that Delta Assembly Deputy Speaker won the primary with

31 votes to defeat Tonye Timi who polled 18 votes, wondering why the PDP national leadership decided to give the ticket to Mr Timi who was defeated by Ganagana, demanding however the immediate restoration of the people’s mandate as reflected in the election won by the lawmaker or move against the party in the general elections.

Agbaje to sack APC not workers EBERE NDUKWU

L

agos State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has denied the allegation that its gubernatorial candidate, Jimi Agbaje, plans to sack workers when voted in as governor on February 28.

The party said rather than sack workers, Agbaje will sack the All Progressives Congress, APC, government in the state.

State PDP Publicity Secretary, Taofik Gani,

while denying the allegation in a press statement made available to National Mirror, said: “After sacking APC, Agbaje will employ more workers and improve their welfare to international standard.”

Lagos APC through its publicity secretary, Joe Igbokwe, had issued a statement alleging plans

by Agbaje to sack Lagos workers as allegedly done

by Fayose in Ekiti.

Gani said: “For sake of clarity, Fayose sacked APC in Ekiti and not

workers. Fayose has in fact, employed workers in Ekiti and with better remuneration than Kayode Fayemi did. The workers now under probation in Ekiti, were hurriedly employed by Fayemi to burden Fayose. Many of them are not even with employment letters. Fayose is screening them and we can assure you that the qualified workers will continue in office and others redeployed to proper offices.

“Interestingly, in La-

gos, even Akinwunmi Ambode is planning to declare emergency in employment drive by inaugurating employment trust fund, an admission of inadequacy in that expectation. This is an indictment on APC in Lagos.”

Gani said that APC has failed Lagos workers and is jittery of the resolve of Lagos workers to reject it in the February election, adding that it is aware of plans by Agbaje to improve welfare of Lagos workers.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Capital Market

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Equities regain vigour, up 0.3% HANNAH AYANGBILE

T

rading in equities halted yesterday on a bearish trend at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, as investors took position on some stocks.

Though a lot o f banking stocks were offered for sale, the renewed interest in the energy and industrial subsectors lifted the lead indicator.

The All share Index, which is the benchmark for equities trading, appreciated 0.30 per cent to close at 30,234.72 points, as against the decline of 0.91 per cent recorded on Friday to close at 30,143.02 points.

Market Capitalization gained N31bn to close at N10.01trn, in contrast to the

loss of N92bn recorded on Friday to close at N9.979trn.

However, The entire banking sub-sector has felt the flood of recent regulations as well as unfolding global and local events in their operations.

These in turn negatively affected banking stocks as only three of fifteen stocks ended 2014 on a positive note, eleven closed in the negative while one remained flat.

On the sectorial indices, the NSE 30-Index depreciated 0.51 per cent to close at 1,353.49 points, while the Banking Index shed 1.93 per cent to close at 298.85 points.

The Insurance index dropped 0.84 per cent to close at 144.77 points, while the Consumer Goods Index dipped 1.91 per cent to close

at 784.81 points.

The Oil and Gas Index rose 1.83 per cent to close at 362.99 points, while the Lotus Islamic Index added 0.45 per cent to close at 1,950.70 points.

The Industrial index gained 2.33 per cent to close at 1,949.01 points. The Alternative Securities Index remained flat at 1,213.36 points.

Seplat Plc led the gainers’ table with N15.00 or 5.00 per cent to close at N315.00 per share, followed by the Union Bank Nigeria Plc with 40 kobo or 4.99 per cent to close at N8.42 per share.

Nacho Plc was up 24 kobo or 4.92 per cent to close at N5.12 per share, while Dangote Cement Plc appreciated N7.75 or 4.88 per cent to close

at N166.40 per share.

Pharma-Deko Plc rose 10 kobo or 4.67 per cent to close at N2.24 per share.

Conversely, Julius Berger Plc declined N5.07 or 9.75 per cent to close at N46.95 per share, while the NEM Insurance Plc shed three kobo or 5.00 per cent to close at 57 kobo per share.

Nascon Plc depreciated 32 kobo or 5.00 per cent to close at N6.08 per share, while the Nestle Nigeria Plc dipped N42.75 or 5.00 per cent to close at N812.25 per share.

Glaxo SmithKline Plc dropped N2.13 or 4.98 per cent to close at N40.66 per share.

A total of N327.5 million shares valued at N3.615bn were traded in 4,530 deals.

Gwarzo emerges acting DG, SEC JOHNSON OKANLAWON

F

ormer Executive Commissioner, Operations, in the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, has taken over from outgoing Director General of the Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh, as acting Director General.

A statement from SEC yesterday said Oteh announced the appointment in Abuja while handing over to Gwarzo.

Oteh, who described her five year tenure at the commission as absolutely outstanding, attributed it to the co-operation she received from every member of staff.

She said, “When I joined the SEC in January 2010, I was absolutely certain about why the SEC was important

and what it’s role and what the agenda was. I was able to articulate it in one phrase building a world class market.

“To have a vision and have everyone being able to connect and align around it for me whether it is capital market operators, shareholders and other stakeholders for me was very rewarding. But I don’t think it would have been possible without each and every one of you accepting the challenge to try something in a different way or to do something in a way that you are not quite sure of.”

She said that what the commission has been able to achieve in summary is to lay a foundation for the nation to see a capital market that will help tackle its infrastructure challenges; that will help people who are setting up busi-

nesses, who own businesses raise millions of naira in capital.

“Our aim is to build a meritocracy so that it is the viable businesses that get funded, not necessarily the ones that have connections so that we can also tackle some of what we are seeing in our world today, whether it is security challenges we face or the security challenges that everybody faces.

“My view is that one of the things that will address it is if people can feel that they are included, that they have economic access; that they can create wealth, that the income inequalities that we see around us can be addressed.

And I believe that the capital market is the answer and what we have done in the last five years is to lay a founda-

tion; there is still a lot of work to be done” Oteh said.

She therefore appealed to staff to continue to work hard and support the leadership to ensure that the brand that has been built is not eroded.

The acting DG, Gwarzo was born 50 years ago in Kano and attended Bayero University, Kano and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Economics in 1987.

In 1991, he proceeded to the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom where he obtained a Post Graduate Degree in Development Finance. Mr. Gwarzo is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Stock Brokers; in 2005 he became a Fellow of the Institute.

European equity rebound fizzles out as oil extends slide

E

uropean shares gave away early gains to trade flat yesterday, led by oil stocks as crude prices extended their slide to fresh five and a half year lows.

The equity sell-off, which started on Wall Street and quickly spread to Europe, mirrored a new plunge in the price of oil, with Brent crude setting a new low at $47.61/barrel as the United States trading day got underway.

Traders blamed a report by analysts at bank Goldman Sachs, who cut their threemonth forecasts for Brent to $42 a barrel from $80.

“Goldman Sachs’ report

on oil has turned up in the hands of US traders and here are the results,” IG strategist Vincenzo Longo said.

The STOXX 600 Oil & Gas index was down 1.9 per cent.

The broader FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European shares was down 0.1 per cent at 1,347.66 points, off a daily high of 1,363.64 points.

Trading volume spiked during the dip, which saw the index trading as low as 1,342.96 points before paring losses.

“It’s already subsiding,” the head of a trading desk said. “Our desk is for “sale” but the buy tickets from last week are all on pause so far this morning.”

The oil slump had its winners, however.

German airline Lufthansa rose one per cent in brisk volume after saying it expects the lower price of oil to cut its fuel bill for 2015 by 13 per cent after the cost of hedging, setting it on course for a rise in profit this year.

“The tremendous oil price collapse is not adequately reflected in the airlines’ share prices in my view,” said Jochen Rothenbacher, research and sales director at Equinet Bank in Frankfurt.

“Historically, oil price collapses coincided with a weakening economy. This time it’s different and the market has to learn that.”

German automotive supplier Continental rose 1.3 per cent after saying it expects sales growth to quicken to around five per cent this year as global passenger car production rises moderately.

Investors are on tenterhooks ahead of next week’s European Central Bank policy meeting, which may bring further stimulus measures, and a parliamentary election in Greece next week.

“Expect volatility to remain for the European stock markets in the near-term,” said Hampstead Capital LLP hedge fund manager Lex van Dam.

47

Source: NSE

Market indicators All-Share Index 30,234.72 points Market capitalisation 10.01trn

Stock Updates GAINERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

CHANGE

% CHANGE

SEPLAT

300.00

315.00

15.00

5.00

UBN

8.02

8.42

0.40

4.99

NAHCO

4.88

5.12

0.24

4.92

DANGCEM

158.65

166.40

7.75

4.88

PHARMDEKO

2.14

2.24

0.10

4.67

CHAMPION

6.58

6.87

0.29

4.41

AGLEVENT

1.31

1.36

0.05

3.82

CUSTODYINS

3.57

3.70

0.13

3.64

PRESCO

26.10

27.00

0.90

3.45

OANDO

15.05

15.54

0.49

3.26

CHANGE

% CHANGE

LOSERS COMPANY

OPENING

CLOSING

JBERGER

52.02

46.95

-5.07

-9.75

NEM

0.60

0.57

-0.03

-5.00

NASCON

6.40

6.08

-0.32

-5.00

NESTLE

855.00

812.25

-42.75

-5.00

GLAXOSMITH

42.79

40.66

-2.13

-4.98

ETI

16.27

15.46

-0.81

-4.98

CONTINSURE

1.02

0.97

-0.05

-4.90

DANGFLOUR

4.54

4.32

-0.22

-4.85

SKYEBANK

2.31

2.20

-0.11

-4.76

ETERNA

2.85

2.72

-0.13

-4.56

FGN Bonds Offer

Bid Description

Price

Yield

Price

Yield

13.05 16-AUG-2016

1.59

97.20

15.06

97.35

14.95

15.10 27-APR-2017

2.29

99.45

15.36

99.60

15.28

16.00 29-JUN-2019

4.46

102.25

15.28

102.55

15.19

16.39 27-JAN-2022

7.04

104.70

15.27

105.00

15.20

14.20 14-MAR-2024

9.17

94.50

15.32

94.80

15.26

10.00 23-JUL-2030

15.53 71.30

14.75

71.60

14.69

Closing Market Prices of January 12, 2015

Treasury Bills Maturity Date

Bid

Offer

16-Apr-15

11.70

12.06

25-Jun-15

13.60

14.49

07-Jan-16

13.75

15.91

NIBOR Tenor

Rate (%)

O/N

9.6667

1M

13.5800

3M

14.4366

6M

15.6803 The Fixings of January 12, 2015

48

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Community Mirror 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.

GOVERNOR OF LAGOS STATE – BABATUNDE FASHOLA

Millions lost to inferno at Balogun market FRANCIS SUBERU AND DARE AKOGUN

G

oods worth millions of Naira were destroyed at the popular Balogun Market on the Lagos Island and over 100 shops were lost to the fire.

The fire it was gathered started around 4:00 am it was attributed to a power surge in one of the affected shops.

The fire destroyed six buildings housing hundreds of shops and warehouses where assorted materials like clothes, shoes, electron-

ics and others are being sold.

Confirming the incident, Superintendent Olarenwaju Smith of the Ebute-Ero Police Division, said “We were told that the cause of the fire was an electrical spark from a transformer which later spread to an electricity generator.

“Considering the weather, the fire service men are doing their best to put out the fire. We are equally here to protect lives and property.

“The way shops are built here makes it difficult for both the police and fire service officers to have access

to the affected buildings.

“No death or casualty has been recorded so far” he added.

Director, Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe told our reporter that the fire started around 4:00 am and that six buildings were involved, saying that about six fire tankers had been deployed to fight the fire.

He stated that he could not ascertain what led to the inferno but lamented that the presence of large crowd is affecting the fire operation, noting that, the fire has affected several shops in the buildings.

Fadipe said fire trucks from Sari Iganmu, Isolo, Ilupeju and Alausa were brought in to battle the fire.

Mr. Pascal Olokungboye, Chief Fire Officer, Lagos State Government Fire Service, said that fire fighters from the state arrived at the scene few minutes after a distress call was made to their station.

“We received a distress call around 4 a.m. and immediately we rushed down to the scene.

“We have exhausted two tankers with capacity of 10, 000 liters of water and we have also called for backup

from our stations as the water is not enough.

Olokungboye also thanked God that there was no casualty in the incident.

General Manager, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu corroborated Fadipe’s report that the incident started around 4.00am, adding that, the agency and others were on ground to put out the fire.

He added that the damage caused by the fire was unquantifiable and serious.

While counting their losses traders said they arrived the market this morning and met it on fire.

Some of the traders whose goods were affected were seen crying and lamenting their losses, while others were also seen sympathizing with them.

Mr. Boniface Okeke, one of the traders, said that two of his warehouses were razed, adding that he lost goods worth over N5 million.

“I was brushing my teeth this morning in preparation to come to the market when I received a call that my shops are on fire.

“All my goods are destroyed. All that I have laboured for is gone,’’ he lamented.

Officials of the Federal and State Fire Services, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Civil Defence Corps, Police Lagos State Building Control Agency, LASBCA, and Julius Berger officials were on ground to battle the fire.

Annual Oodua Festival kicks off AYO ESAN

T Children gather round a fire to warm themselves and tackle the cold wheather in Bauchi, yesterday.

Youths protest imposition of council chairman DARE AKOGUN

T

he youth wing of All Progressives Congress in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Lagos State has described the swearing in of the Council’s Executive Secretary as an imposition on the people of the area.

Speaking at a protest at the council secretariat to drive home their grievances, the APC youth leader in the area Ayodele Okusoga, noted the youth aspiration was jettisoned in the council, as the chairperson was

imposed on them by the state party secretariat.

Okusoga alleged that the imposition of Mrs. Dupe Ojodu on the residents of the council by the former chairman of the local government and the violence that erupted prior to the primaries was staged managed, purposely to scare away genuine delegates from the venue.

He said, “We the APC youth in Amuwo Odofin and residents are tired of impositions on us by the elders in the party, both at the local and the state level.

“If the kangaroo executive secretary imposed us is not reversed, APC will lose in Amuwo in this forthcoming election because over 25,000 youths in the area will vote massively for other political party, which will believe it would not augur well for the party,” he stated.

Speaking earlier APC Chairman in the council area Mr. Waheed Gbadegeshin, noted that “what we are experiencing in Amuwo Odofin today is a total disregard for the youths and leader of the party in the council.

“We cannot allow the stooge of the former council chairman to impose his own candidate on us. Because will don’t want the locust year we experience during his tenure to raise its ugly head again,” he said.

He alleged that some names that had make the list before, were suddenly removed by the power that be, saying that they are not ready to condone such anymore.

Efforts by our reporter to get officials of the party to comment on the matter, proved abortive.

he 2015 edition of the annual Oodua Festival being organized by the Olokun Festival Foundation kicks off with a Yoruba Quiz Competition in Ile Ife Osun State.

Speaking with Journalists in Lagos, the Chief Promoter of Olokun Festival Foundation, Otunba Gani Adams said the grand finale of the festival will take place in Ile Ife Osun State on Thursday, 22nd of January 2015.

Other activities of the festival according to him are, Ayo Olopon, slated for Monday January 19th, Festival Lecture, Tuesday January 20th and Beauty Pageant, Wednesday January 21st 2015.

Speaking on the festival, Adams said Oodua Festival is not just an important event to a particular section of the Yoruba race but a common heritage to all descendants of Oduduwa, who are spread across all the continents of the

world.

He added that, it will at some point in time serve as the rallying point for all the festivals in any part of the world, where Yoruba language is spoken.

He said the Oodua Festival is expected to form a platform through which the Yoruba cultural heritage will be developed and a forum for Oodua descendants from all parts of the world as well as allow tourists to learn the history of Oduduwa.

Adams also called on Yoruba monarchs and the governments at all level to play their expected role in the development of the cultural heritage of the race saying the gains in developing tourisms are enormous.

“Our traditional rulers also have a big role to play in projecting our cultural heritage to world tourism standard. They should dig deep and research into the history of their different domain and invite expert to suggest ways to explore”, he said.

49

Capital Market

Tuesday, January 13 28, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Stock exchange daily equities summary Equities as at January 12, 2015 1st Tier Securities

1st Tier Securities Sector

Company name

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

Sector

Company name

No Of Deals

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded

Value of Shares(N)

52 50

Sports

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

World News US relationship with France is not about one day or one particular moment

Netanyahu defied France to join march –Reports 51 PAUL ARHEWE

WITH AGENCY REPORTS

D

ivers retrieved one black box yesterday and located the other from the AirAsia plane that crashed more than two weeks ago, key developments that should help investigators unravel what caused the aircraft to plummet into the Java Sea. The flight data recorder was pulled from beneath a piece of the aircraft’s wing and brought to the sea’s surface, and the cockpit voice recorder was found hours later, said Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, operation coordinator for Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency.

He said the voice recorder was about 20 meters (66 feet) from the data recorder but remained lodged beneath heavy wreckage, and divers were struggling to free it at a depth of 32 meters (105 feet).

Searchers began zeroing in on the location a day earlier after three Indonesian ships picked up intense pings from the area, but they were unable to see the devices due to strong currents and poor visibility.

The two instruments, which emit signals from their beacons, are vital to understanding what brought Flight 8501 down on Dec. 28, killing all 162 people on board. They should provide essential information about the plane and all of the conversations between the

–United States Secretary of State, John Kerry

Divers recover black boxes in AirAsia crash

he number of people killed after drinking a “poisoned” homemade beer in Mozambique has risen to 69, state radio has reported.

The beer, usually made from millet, may have been contaminated with crocodile bile, a health official said.

A toddler was among those killed after apparently drinking the beer at a funeral in Tete province on Saturday.

An official said it was the worst such tragedy to hit Mozambique, with 39 people still being treated in hospital.

The government declared three days of national mourning in a decree published on Sunday.

WORLD BULLETIN

ECOWAS condemns Paris terror attack The Economic Community of West African States has condemned last week deadly terrorist attack against the offices of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, France.

“In these difficult times for France and quiet reflection in the memory of the illustrious dead, martyrs of freedom, ECOWAS joins in the mourning of the French Nation and offers heartfelt condolences to H.E. François Hollande, President of the French Republic, his Government and bereaved families”, après release form the bloc stated.

‘China quietly toughens travel restrictions on W’Africans’ Indonesian air force personnel carrying Flight data recorder of the ill-fated AirAsia Flight 8501 that crashed in the Java Sea, at airport in Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia, yesterday.

captain and co-pilot for the duration of the flight.

“There’s like 200-plus parameters they record,” said aviation safety expert John Goglia, a former U.S. National Transportation Safety Board member. “It’s going to provide us an ocean of material.”

The flight data recorder will be taken to Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, for evaluation, and the

other black box will be sent as soon as it is retrieved. It could take up to two weeks to download and analyze their information, said Nurcahyo Utomo, an investigator at the National Committee for Safety Transportation.

The slow-moving hunt, which has often gone days with little progress, was boosted over the weekend when the Airbus

A320’s tail was lifted from the seabed. It was the first major wreckage excavated from the crash site, but the black boxes were not found inside as hoped.

Search efforts have been consistently hampered by big waves and powerful currents created by the region’s rainy season. Silt and sand, along with river runoff, have created blinding conditions for divers.

Mozambique beer poisoning death toll now 69

T

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

The beer, known as “phombe”, is traditionally served at functions in Mozambique’s Tete province. Deaths from drinking it are rare, correspondents said.

Carle Mosse, the province’s health director, said it was suspected that the poisoning had been caused by crocodile bile although this had yet to be confirmed in tests.

It was not immediately clear how the beer had been contaminated and whether it was intentional.

The woman who brewed the beer and several members of her family were among the victims, Radio Mozambique has reported.

China has been quietly toughening travel restrictions on students and businessmen travelling from Ebola-hit West Africa even as it increases support to fight the deadly disease on the ground in the region, diplomats said.

Beijing-based ambassadors from Liberia and Sierra Leone, whose countries along with Guinea are the hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak, say some of their nationals are staying away from China due to the new procedures.

No cases of Ebola have so far been reported in China.

“You have many Liberians, Guineans and Sierra Leonians who come frequently to conduct business,” Dudley Thomas McKinley, Liberia’s ambassador to China, said in an interview. “Of course this has impacted them in a negative way and has slowed it down.

Google honours oldest Kenyan pupil

A man drinking a homemade beer in South Africa

Google has created a doodle to honour a Kenyan believed to be the oldest person to have enrolled in primary school.

The doodle on the internet giant’s Kenya home page marks the 11th anniversary since Kimani Maruge went to school for the first time, aged 84.

Maruge, who died in 2009, said when he started lessons that he wanted to learn to read the Bible and to count.

Google said its doodle was a reminder that it is never too late to learn something new.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

WORLD BULLETIN

‘ISIS hacks US Centcom Twitter account’ US Central Command’s Twitter account appears to have been hacked by a group claiming to back Islamic State.

One message said: “American soldiers, we are coming, watch your back.”

It was signed by Isis, another name for the Islamic State. Some internal military documents also appeared on the Centcom Twitter feed.

US Centcom told the BBC it was preparing a statement. The hack happened as President Barack Obama prepared a speech on cybersecurity.

Afghan President unveils unity government Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has unveiled his unity cabinet more than three months after he was sworn in.

The names of 25 ministers were read out at a ceremony in Kabul presided over by Mr Ghani and government chief executive Abdullah Abdullah.

The announcement comes after tortuous negotiations between the two former rivals who agreed to work together following disputed elections last year.

The cabinet still needs to be approved by parliament.

Ghani’s cabinet contains three women, for the portfolios of women’s affairs, culture and higher education.

As widely rumoured, his new foreign minister is confirmed as Salahuddin Rabbani, son of former president Burhanuddin Rabbani who was killed by a suicide bomber in 2011.

New heads for Afghanistan’s National Bank and the NDS, Afghanistan’s National Security Directorate, were also announced.

BBC Afghan’s editor in Kabul, Waheed Massoud, says almost all the cabinet are new faces. Some are hardly known to the public.

Many of the new ministers are young and have not been deeply involved in the years of political fighting and war which have blighted Afghanistan’s recent past, he says.

“The government will refer them to the parliament for a vote of confidence,” Mr Ghani’s chief of staff, Abdul Salam Rahimi, said. He did not say when the vote might be held.

World News

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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Netanyahu defied France to join march –Reports

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rance asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stay away from a weekend solidarity march in Paris but he ignored the request and attended anyway, Israeli media reported yesterday.

The same message was conveyed to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in a bid to avoid the commemoration of the 17 people killed in Islamist attacks in the French capital last week being clouded by the Middle East conflict, the reports said.

But when Netanyahu rejected the appeals of the French government, Abbas was swiftly invited, Channel Two television and Israeli newspapers reported.

President Francois Hollande had wanted to “focus on solidarity with France, and to avoid anything liable to divert attention to other controversial issues, like Jewish-Muslim relations or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the liberal Haaretz newspaper reported.

There was also concern Netanyahu would use the event to “make speeches” as he prepares for a March 17 general election, in which he is seeking a fourth term.

The request to stay away was made by Hollande’s national security adviser, Jacques Audibert, to

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ewly-released CCTV footage appears to show the partner of Paris supermarket attacker Amedy Coulibaly arriving at an Istanbul airport in Turkey.

The video purports to show Hayat Boumeddiene passing through passport control with another man on 2 January. She is thought to now be in Syria.

French police are seeking her after Coulibaly and two other gunmen launched deadly attacks on Paris last week.

About 10,000 troops have been deployed in France following the attacks.

Hayat Boumeddiene has been identified as a suspect by French police, although she left France before the attacks.

The Turkish foreign minister said she arrived in Turkey on 2 January from Madrid, before continuing to Syria six days later.

French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pose for photographers at the Elysee Palace

his Israeli counterpart, Yossi Cohen, and was initially accepted, Haaretz reported.

But on Saturday evening, the rightwing prime minister’s hardline rivals in the governing coalition, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, announced they would travel to Paris.

“When Netanyahu heard they were going, he informed the French he would be attending the march after all.”

Haaretz said that the prime minister’s actions had infuriated the French president, who had demonstrated his “anger” at a cer-

emony at Paris’s main synagogue to commemorate four Jews who were among those killed.

“Hollande sat through most of the ceremony, but when Netanyahu’s turn at the podium arrived, the French president got up from his seat and made an early exit.”

The mass circulation Yediot Aharonot newspaper also reported the apparent snub to the Israeli premier.

“Before Netanyahu began his speech, President Hollande left with his entourage... The impressive delegation of leaders from the Muslim community who attended the ceremony also chose

to leave. They all, apparently, had prior commitments.”

Netanyahu’s conduct was widely criticised by Israeli commentators.

“It was embarrassing, not to say disgraceful, to see Israel’s prime minister yesterday trying to push his way onto a bus that he was not supposed to board, making his way determinedly from the second row (where he was placed) to the row of leaders walking in front (which he took over), behaving in a mourning parade as in an election rally,” Ben Caspit wrote in the rightwing Maariv newspaper.

‘Paris terror suspect caught on Turkey’s CCTV’ Meanwhile, France will deploy 10,000 soldiers on home soil by Tuesday and post almost 5,000 extra police officers to protect Jewish sites after the killing of 17 people by Islamist militants in Paris last week, officials said.

Speaking a day after the biggest French public demonstration ever recorded, in honour of the victims, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the country remained at risk of further attacks. Soldiers would guard transport hubs, tourism

French police had named Hayat Boumeddiene (L) and Amedy Coulibaly (R) as suspects

sites and key buildings and mount general street patrols.

“The threats remain and we have to protect ourselves from them. It is an internal operation that will mobilize almost as many men as we have in our overseas operations,” Le Drian told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

The security footage, published by Haberturk newspaper, was released by Turkish police. It appeared to show Hayat Boumeddiene and a man at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul.

Turkish officials told the BBC the man was Mehdi Sabri Belhouchine, a man of North African origin, and that he was not on a watch list. Officials believe he crossed into Syria with Hayat Boumeddiene.

Saudi executes Myanmar female child-killer

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audi Arabia said yesterday it beheaded a Myanmar female child-killer, bringing to seven the number of death sentences carried out this year in the conservative Muslim kingdom.

After a trial, Layla bint Abdul Mutaleb Bassim was executed for killing her husband’s

daughter Kalthoum bint Abdul Rahman bin Ghulam Gadir, aged six, the interior ministry said, quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Authorities identified Bassim -- executed in the holy city of Mecca -- as holding “Burmese nationality”, using the former name for Myanmar,

but did not specify if she was from its Rohingya Muslim community.

The child, also “Burmese”, died from a beating and being raped with a broomstick, the ministry said.

The United Nations describes Rohingya as one of the world’s most persecuted minorities.

Buddhist-majority Myanmar views its population of 800,000 Rohingya as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and denies them citizenship.

Myanmar’s embassy in Riyadh said that without seeing her passport, it could not confirm whether or not she was a citizen of that country.

52

North

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

NDLEA arrests 5 suspects, seizes 265kg Indian hemp WALE IBRAHIM LOKOJA

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Outgoing Adamawa State Independent National Electoral Commision Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Kasim Gaidam (right), handing over to his successor, Alhaji Baba Yusuf, in Yola, yesterday.

Prison congestion: Katsina considers amnesty for prisoners JAMES DANJUMA KATSINA

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atsina State Government says it is working to grant amnesty to some prisoners including those condemned and serving life sentences as way of decongesting prisons.

To this end, the state government has set up a Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy which is chaired by the state’s Attorney General and Com-

missioner for Justice, Ibrahim Dantsoho.

Speaking yesterday on the issue, Dantsoho said prisoners to be considered for amnesty covers those tried by the High Court in the state who are serving various sentences in prisons within and outside the state.

He said some prisoners tried in the state had been moved to prisons in neighbouring states as result of prison congestion, but that such pris-

oners would also be considered for the amnesty programme.

He said condemned prisoners including those convicted for manslaughter, and those serving life sentences would be considered, but that showing of remorse, acquisition of vocational skills, and religious piety, would serve as criterion for beneficiaries.

Dantsoho said depending on what the committee finds on ground, some

beneficiaries serving life sentences would have terms reduced, those on death row would be converted to life, while others that showed remorse would gain their freedom.

He said those granted amnesty would be given financial assistance to enable them start businesses, while families of victims killed by some of the beneficiaries would be reached out to for their consent and understanding.

Yuguda bemoans insecurity in North East EZEKIEL TITUS BAUCHI

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overnor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State has lamented the prevailing insecurity in the North East sub-region and urged the Federal Government to tackle the problem as the 2015 general elections draws nearer.

The governor made the remark in a sensitisation workshop organised by Arewa Youths Forum, AYF, tagged ‘Confliction Mitigation and Peace Building Projects’ aimed at addressing the current insecurity challenges in the region.

Yuguda attributed the insecurity problem to unemployment rate following the failure of past government to create jobs for the masses and urge the youths not engage in behavious capable of creating violence in the society.

According to the governor, the neglect of agricultural sector in the country remains a great concern which he added, is the highest sector of the economy towards massive employment.

“We in the North are blessed with natural resources that we are not even suppose to depend on the oil which is now a theater of concern between the six region only that there is need for combine effort among levels of government and individuals to harness same,” Yuguda said.

The governor also use the medium to challenge politician against using restive youths during electioneering campaign and advise the youths not to allow themselves to be used.

He assured the forum of the state government support in their renewed commitment to bring

peace and tranquility, not only to the northern region but the country as a whole.

Speaking earlier, National President of the AYF, Alhaji Ibrahim Gambo Gujungu, said the aim of the forum is to compliments Federal Government efforts towards bringing an end to the security challenges.

Gujunju added that the pilot programme was initially introduce in Bauchi, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Taraba state to set the pace for peace and conflict resolution in partnership with government at various levels.

Gov. Yuguda

The forum according to Gujungu, has done a lot to sensitise northern nationals on the need to live together as partners and brothers.

ogi State Command of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested five suspected illicit drug dealers including a 45 years old woman and seized a total of 265 kg of cannabis sativa.

The state commander of NDLEA, Alhaji Idris Bello who disclosed this while parading the suspects at the command headquarters in Lokoja yesterday said the arrest was made at different locations by men of the command.

Bello explained that a woman, one Bose Jide Katsina, was arrested

by NDLEA operatives at Jamata Bridge along Lokoja - Abuja high way along with the driver of a commercial bus who was scheduled to deliver large quantity of live cat fish in Abuja.

He stated that the suspect absolved the driver because he was not aware of what was concealed in the bags with bitter leaf.

Bello stated that when the bus was stopped and searched, the operatives discovered that 29.7 kg of cannabis sativa was concealed in bitter leaf bags to be delivered in Abuja.

The NDLEA boss also paraded two suspects who were caught along Okene Auchi

road on January 7, 2015 at about 1 am with articulated truck where a total of 246.5kg of cannabis sativa were concealed.

The suspects’ names are Friday Nwafor and Ernest Onotu who came from Onitsha.

Bello advised all commercial drivers to always check what is contained in the luggage they are carrying to avoid embarrassment Another suspect who was arrested is Shemilu Abubarka, a 22 year old from Kano with 18.8kg.

Speaking with journalists, Mrs Bose Jide Katsina admitted that she was caught with four bags of weeds concealed in vegetable bags, adding that the driver did not know the content of the bag because she told him it is bitter leaf.

The driver stated that he and the motor boy were eating at a restaurant in Owo, Ondo State when Bose approached them for help to Abuja and promised to pay N2,000, stressing that he did not know the content of the bags.

Friday Nwaifor told journalists that he in Onitsha when somebody called him to come to Auchi to help take a lorry to Abuja to move some property back home.

While Shemilu admitted he came all the from Kano to Benin to buy the cannabis sativa

Gombe police parade 22 for hooliganism, armed robbery DANJUMA WILLIAMS GOMBE

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wenty two youths arrested by the Gombe State Police Command, have been paraded for acts of hooliganism and armed robbery.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Fwaje Atajiri, while parading the suspects, said the command would not rest in its determined efforts to stamp out ‘Kalare’ and stop their re-emergence in Gombe State.

He said the command has continued to press harder in this campaign which has resulted in the arrest of the 22 youths, while robbing in-

nocent citizens after a tipoff at Buba Shongo area of Gombe metropolis.

He said the prompt action by men of the command, facilitated the culprits arrest who were each armed with cutlasses of various dangerous objects. ‘’In a bid to escape police arrest, few of the suspects in a Keke NAPEP on a tree,’’ he said.

The command lamented criminal activities by youths in the state which it attributed to high rate of consumption of hard drugs.

According to him, such cases were so alarming that over 700 of such youths were behind the

bars awaiting trial for various crimes.

The police also exhibited assorted items ranging from mattresses, household items and consumables which it claim were recovered from the suspects who he said has confessed to have stealing them within Gombe metropolis, adding that they would be charged to court as soon as investigation is completed.

The PPRO re-iterated the Command’s regular call upon members of the public to remain conscious of things happening around them or in their neighbourhood and report suspicious movements and activities to security agents.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Whether we will buy this January? I think at the moment, we are just still looking at the grey areas –Arsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger

53

Sport

Messi: I asked not out of Barca 54

R o n a l d o wins third FIF

Ballon d’Or

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

A

Highlights of 201 Highlights 2014 Gala: FIFA Ballon d’Or winner: CRISTIANO Ronaldo FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year: NADINE Kessler FIFA Puskas Award: JAMES Rodriguez FIFA World Coach of the Year for men’s football: JOACHIM Low FIFA World Coach of the Year for women’s football: RALF Kellermann WORLD XI: Neuer; Lahm, Ramos, David Luiz, Thiago Silva; Di Maria, Iniesta, Kroos; Messi, Ronaldo, Robben

Cristiano Rona Ronaldo (right) recieving his a award from Thierry Henry y yesterday

FIFA Presidential Award: HIROSHI Kagawa FIFA Fair Play Award: FIFA Volunteers

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eigning African Footballer of The Year and captain of the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire, Yaya Toure, has praised the home-based Eagles for their display during their international friendly match in Abu Dhabi last Sunday.

In a statement yesterday, Super Eagles Media Officer, Ben Alaiya, said the Toure lauded the Nigeria home lads while speaking to the media and later to Coach Dan Amokachi after the game.

Toure said at a point he believed that his mates were deceived to believing that Nigeria was going to parade a wholly home-based side but was convinced that it was not the case.

Amokachi had to tell him that apart from Steve Ukoh, who plays in Switzerland and had his first cap for the Eagles all the other players are from the Nigerian Premier League.

“At a point I had to tell my teammates to slow down the pace of the game and when we

Siasia drills Dream Team VI players in harmattan cold

Toure gives home-based Eagles credit

scored we could not wait for the final whistle, because the boys were all over us. They must be commended for their confident display,” the Manchester City midfielder was quoted as saying.

Also speaking on the match, NFF Technical Committee Chairman, Chief Felix Anyansi-Agwu, General Secretary, Musa Amadu and HOD Technical Department, Dr. Emmanuel Ikpeme, commended the grit with which the Super Eagles approached the game after staying together for only nine days in camp.

Anyansi nyansi said it was a fantastic advertisement for the Nigerian league, noting that with more time together the team will go o places and probably be champions ions of the forthcoming CHAN tournament.

Amadu madu on his part, said he believed ed that despite observable lapses, the team was simply in a classs of its own, especially againstt the backdrop of the fact that they hey were playing against a much h more experienced side. and Hussein Modibbo, who were both oth in Abu Dhabi to cheer the team. am.

P

Toure

layers of the National U-23 Team yesterday morning defied the chilly harmattan weather in Abuja to commence the team’s build up for their first game against Gabon next month.

Though some of them jokingly asked one another who switched on the “airconditioner” as they came out of their rooms to face the cold outside, they were not deterred.

As early as 5.30am Coach Samson Siasia and his back room staff were already by the team’s bus waiting for them, this attitude told the boys they were in for serious business.

On getting to the practice pitch of the Abuja National stadium, the players had a first-hand feel of what to come on the tartan track where physical exercises were dished at them by the coaches, which they did for an hour before the session was called off by Siasia.

54

Sports

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

‘How Red Devils fell at Old Trafford’

S

outhampton Manager, Ronald Koeman, said targeting Manchester United’s defensive flaws was behind the 1-0 win that put his side third in the Premier League.

The Red Devils failed to register a single shot on target as Dusan Tadic’s goal secured the Saints’ first league win at Old Trafford in 27 years.

“You analyse your opponents,” Koeman said.

“You know they have difficulties building up

with three centre-backs. We have had good organisation all season. We now have 11 clean sheets in 21 games and that is key to being successful,” the Dutchman added.

Southampton leapfrogged United in the table following its latest victory and lies three points clear of fifth-placed Arsenal as it

looks to secure ure the top-four place which would give them side Champions ons League football next season. son.

Koeman, who is in his first season at St Mary’s after replacing Mauricio ricio Pochettino in the summer, mmer, says European ambitions are now realistic. istic.

“Now we can say we fight for a European place until the last game,” me,” he further said.

Sissoko

AFOLABI GAMBARI

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Sissoko

Messi: I asked not B

out of Barca

arcelona forward, Lionel Messi, insists he does not want to leave the club, saying reports that he demanded to quit are fabrications.

It was reported the 27-yearold wanted to leave after a row with Coach Luis Enrique.

“I have no intentions of leaving for any team, not Chelsea nor Manchester City,” Messi said yesterday.

“I’m tired of all the things that people have been saying. I didn’t ask the club to fire anyone,” the Argentina captain added.

Messi has spent his entire career at the Nou Camp, winning a host of team and individual honours since making his debut in 2004.

“People make it out as if I run the club and that’s not how it is.

I don’t ask anyone to make decisions. Everything that has been said is lies and I want people to know that. Everything that has been said is false.”

It had been suggested Barcelona’s record goalscorer might leave the Catalan club following reports of a training-ground

row with Enrique, who took over last summer.

“People say these things because they want to cause us harm. It hurts because it came from Barca people. We must be united.”

Messi’s inspired 3-1 victory in a La Liga match with Atletico Madrid on Sunday lifted the mood at Barcelona following a tense week where incumbent President Josep Maria Bartomeu called for presidential elections at the end of the season.

NWPL: Confluence grabs Sunshine trainer

eyes Gunners’ move

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ewcastle forward, Moussa Sissoko, remains firmly focused on Newcastle United, despite admitting a move to Arsenal would be a dream for him.

Sissoko told supporters on Twitter last week to ignore rumours about him wanting out of St James’ Park after the departure of Manager Alan Pardew.

But the 25-year-old has admitted he would be interested in a move to a bigger club and the lure of Arsenal could prove too much for him to ignore.

“The transfer market is open, so things can happen any day, but I am focused on Newcastle,” her said.

“If Arsene Wenger calls, I’ll have a man-to-man discussion with him and then we’ll see. Arsenal has always been the club of my heart.

“I hope I will improve to win the Champions League one day.”

Newcastle paid only £1.7m to bring the midfielder to St James’ Park two years ago-after he had agitated to leave Toulouse-but Newcastle is reportedly looking for £20m for one of its biggest assets.

ormer Sunshine Queens goalkeeper trainer, Alao Olaniyi Adeyemi, was yesterday confirmed as the new goalkeeper trainer of Confluence Queens FC of Lokoja.

Confluence has already commenced preparation ahead of the new season.

“As part of our preparation for the coming season, the management has decided to appoint Mr. Alao Olayini Adeyemi as our new goalkeeper trainer,” Media Officer of the Lokoja club, Tosin Ojo, said in a statement.

“We rely on his wealth of experience as he has trained good goalkeepers in the Nigeria Women League in the past,” Ojo added, even as the new gaffer has pledged to give his best to the side.

“The likes of former Falconets star Damilola Akano who is now in the United States of America and Super Falcons goalkeeper Tochukwu Oluehi have played under the coach in the past.”

“Confluence Queens have talented goalkeepers who just need little touches to get to their peak,” Adeyemi said.

Adeyemi

Khalifa blow for Tunisia

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unisia have been dealt a major blow with the news that striker Saber Khalifa has suffered a muscle injury which could rule him out of the group stage of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.

The 28-year-old, who plays his club football with Tunisian giants Club Africain, picked up the injury in the Carthage

Eagles’ 1-1 friendly draw with North African rivals Algeria at the weekend in Rades.

Khalifa underwent medical tests yesterday to determine the extent of his injury, but it is feared that he will be out of action for two weeks, ruling him out of Tunisia’s first round against Cape Verde, Zambia and DR Congo.

National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Sports

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

AFCON 2015: Africa-based players swoop on E/Guinea C

ongo DR club TP Mazembe will enjoy the largest representation of players from clubs based on the continent at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea.

Mazembe will have nine players in total led by veteran Congo goalkeeper Robert Kidiaba, in addition to defenders Joel Kimwaki and Jean Kasusula.

Black Stars winger Solomon Asante, Cote d’Ivoire striker Roiger Assale and Malian defender Salif Coulibaly will also repre-

Zambia midfielder Nathan Sinkala signposts the Africa-based players that will will be in Equatorial Guinea

sent Mazembe at the AFCON. Zambia’s trio of striker Given Singuluma, midfielders Rainford Kalaba and Nathan Sinkala, who has just finished a six-month loan spell at Swiss club Grasshopper, complete the list.

Congo side AC Leopards has six representatives while South African champion Kaizer Chiefs has five players.

Esperance of Tunisia, its rival CS Sfaxien and DR Congo club AS Vita all have four players four players each.

Squash: Ettah re-elected O’Trafford chairman

Aussie Open 2015: 380 ball boys assembled

Mashaba

EVEREST ONYEWUCHI

A How Cameroun sharpened S/Africa –Mashaba

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afana Bafana Coach, Shakes Mashaba, believes the international friendly match against Cameroun gave his side the right test for what lies ahead in the Africa Cup of Nations.

South Africa held the Indomitable Lions to a 1-all draw on Saturday in Libreville, Gabon.

“They were all over us in the opening 30 minutes but my boys were very resilient and withstood the pressure and showed great grit,” Mashaba said yesterday.

“They really gave us what to expect in Equatorial Guinea.

“Camerounians are strong,

big and physical and this is what you expect from West Africans.

“We are happy we were able to compete in this match and it helped us a great deal with our preparations.”

Meanwhile, out-of-favour Bafana Bafana midfielder, Teko Modise, has wished the national team well ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.

“We are not far from the goal of doing well in the tournament. I hope that the boys will make us proud as a nation and I wish them all the luck,” Modise, a veteran of 66 international matches, said.

55

head the 2015 Australian Open that begins on January 19, 380 ballkids aged between 12 and 15 years from Australia and overseas will participate in the annual ballkid team photo at Melbourne Park today.

In a statement sent to our correspondent yesterday, organisers of the annual grand slam said the squad is comprised of 327 ball boys from Victoria, 25 ball boys from interstate and 28 ball boys from overseas including 20 from Korea, six from China, two from Singapore Last Saturday, the wildcards for the threeweek tournament was released, as the next generation of Australian tennis - James

Duckworth, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Luke Saville, John Millman, Olivia Rogowska, Arina Rodionova and Storm Sanders - secured their spot in the main draw at Australian Open 2015 after being awarded wildcards in to the men’s and women’s singles event.

They join Jordan Thompson and Daria Gavrilova, winners of the AO Play off in December.

The statement added that France’s Lucas Pouille and Océane Dodin were awarded wildcards thanks to a reciprocal agreement between Tennis Australia and the French Tennis Federation.

They join Asia Pacific wildcards, China’s Ze Zhang and Chinese Taipei’s Kai-Chen Chang who won their place in the main draw at the Australian Open 2015 Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-off in Shenzhen late last year.

Americans, Denis Kudla, and Irina Falconi are the recipients of the US Open reciprocal wildcards, thanks to finishing atop the USTA Pro Circuit Australian Open Wild Card Challenge standings.

Australian Open 2015 will take place at Melbourne Park from January 19 to February 1.

Serena William Williams

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roup Managing Director/ CEO, UAC of Nigeria Plc, Larry Ettah, has been re-elected as the Chairman of O’Trafford Squash Club, Ikoyi.

Ettah was returned unopposed to the office he has held for one year at the second Annual General Meeting of the club. Also re-elected were Hakeem Oyeneyin, Vice Chairman; and Cyril Ayemere, Secretary.

The new officers joining the governing board include Remi Adeseun, Treasurer; Tunji Olaniyi, Social Secretary; Taye Ige, Director of Publicity; and Biyi Mabadeje, Captain, all of whom were elected unopposed.

“Giving me the opportunity to serve for the second time is an expression of the confidence you have in my ability and I will give my best not to fail you,” Ettah said in his post-election speech.

He attributed his first term feats to what he called unalloyed support of the governing board members.

“They worked ceaselessly to maintain the club’s ideals and made it a force to reckon with in Nigeria’s squash fraternity,” the chairman added.

Barrister Akinwunmi Akintola, who swore in the new governing board members, maintained that Ettah’s re-election was in appreciation of his leadership quality.

The first set of the governing board was elected for a renewable term of one year, while the new governing board was elected for a renewable term of two years.

Members of the O’Trafford Squash Club, reputed as a melting pot of high-flying professionals, have won laurels at invitational tournaments across Nigeria, which include LEE Squash Championship and Satek Squash Series, among others.

WORLD RECORD

Loudest blow of an alphorn Vol. 05 No. 1025 Tuesday, January 13, 2015

N150

Connecting with the future F or four days last week, the management retreat for top managers of the Energy Group held in Igbotako, Ondo State inside the palatial home of the publisher, Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim, CFR. Those days, for some of the participants, will remain unforgettable not only for the serenity the venue provided but also for the volume of life transforming impartation of knowledge particularly on what it takes to take a corporation to a limitless world of exploits by operating timeless principles and tested strategic roadmap that have continued to turn the fortunes of major companies and global brands around for the bet-

The loudest blow of an alphor n was 111,1 dBA and was achieved by Rainer Bothe (Ger many) in Munich, Ger many, on 9 September 2012.

A standard Alphor n was used.

TALKINGPOINT Seyi Fasugba

seyifasugba@yahoo.com 08053069514 (sms only)

ter.

The country home location for the retreat also provided a perfect blend for the four days of intermeddling with the wining wisdom that will shape the structure of things to come in the corporate world and particularly for the companies in the Energy Group. One significant thing very obvious from the start and throughout the programme was total focus having been strategically tucked away from the distractions of the cities.

The ambience also provided a perfect blend with nature and modernity while looking into the future.

There is no doubting the fact that the business climate is fraught with danger and except for corporations that are well primed and positioned to tackle the challenges surmounting the hard times will remain an uphill task as we enter the New Year. This was more emphasized as we struggle with the challenges of surviving recession which started in 2009 and has so far continued to cripple the sophisticated economies of Europe and America.

The climate looks hopeless the more even with the emerging statistics of the falling oil prices to which there seems no immediate solution to confront emerging challenges. As was unveiled at the retreat, individu-

THE ENDURING STRATEGIC ROADMAP NOT ONLY PROVIDED SOLUTIONS TO THE DAUNTING CHALLENGES BUT TODAY STILL STANDS STRONG...

als are not even spared as people now resort to alternatives, no matter how difficult; just to keep surviving the tough time.

The popular adage has it that when the times are tough only the tough keeps going. But one is bound to be frustrated by relying on the conventional way of doing things to survive an unusual time such as we have been experiencing since 2009. Recessions in history are periods characterized with tough economic climate which however gives the individual the freedom to work out his own survival. The way it applies to the individual, so it is with nations as well.

It had been in existence even from the Biblical times as was recorded that

money failed in Egypt, a reference to modern day rising inflation which seems to have defied all known economic palliatives to bring succor and hope to mankind. And as was succintingly pointed out at the programme, strategic application of timeless principles will produce amazing results which will douse the burden of tough economic climate which currently envelopes the world economy.

From the first paper expertly delivered by the professor of turnaround himself, everyone at the summit was convinced that there was need for personal sacrifice to work out a survival strategy out of the debilitating effects of the recession. As was demonstrated in previous times of recession, organizations which cared to embrace the enduring strategic roadmap not only provided solutions to the daunting challenges but are today still standing strong among several competitors.

How realistic these principles are these days were also demonstrated in the subsequent papers delivered by those who have also followed the path of the GMD to Oxford University as they supplied insights into what makes corporation survive hard economic climate as prevailing now.

Through time tested and proven organizational behaviours, roadmap as strategic driver for development, identifying markets before choosing where to operate.

One fundamental thing which must however be embraced to see changes in life is a deliberate effort to bring about shift in attitude in all areas of life. Another which is closely related is the extent of investment in knowledge for the four days of the retreat.

Needless to say that everyone departed lighted and empowered to make the difference in approach to work and life. And the parting word for all is to be connected to the future.

Sport Extra

B

ritish boxer Amir Khan has given p o u n d - f o r- p o u n d pugilist Floyd Mayweather up to this weekend to decide whether he wants to fight the former at some point this year.

Khan is growing in-

Boxing: Khan gives Mayweather ultimatum over bout creasingly frustrated at the behaviour of Mayweather’s camp and says there is little more he can do in the ring to tempt the 37-year-old into fighting him.

The Bolton-based welterweight, who was a convincing winner over Devon Alexander in his most recent outing in December, also looks to squaring Filipino Manny Pacquaio in

the event of Mayweather not responding.

“I want to fight in May and I want the Mayweather fight but it’s not getting any closer,” Khan said yesterday.

“I’ve answered all the things Mayweather wanted me to do.

“There is a lot of money in a fight with me, not just in America, but he’s trying to avoid me.

Khan

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