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news you can trust I **FRIDAY 19 OCTOBER 2018 I vol. 15, no 165 I N300

Nigeria emerges fastest growing Airbnb market in Africa ... as hosts earn over $400m in 10 years on platform

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Lagos has more premium consumers than 46 African countries DIPO OLADEHINDE

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agos has more concentration of people with “discretionary” spending power of at least US$5,500 (N1.98 million) per annum than 46 other countries in Africa. Premium consumers are people, who af-

Port Harcourt has more premium consumers than Burkina Faso, Malawi, Rwanda 10 Nigerian cities among top 50 urban markets in Africa

ter spending on necessities like rent, food and school fees, still have at least N1.98 million left over to spend on what are con-

sidered luxuries like vacations, entertainment, or even buy a second car. The concentration of spending power in Lagos has

been highlighted in a report

by Fraym, a geospatial data Continues on page 34

OBINNA EMELIKE

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igeria is now the fastest growing Airbnd market in Africa. The platform, which allows home owners to earn extra income from hosting guests in their spare rooms for specific period has seen a significant growth of 213 percent in Nigeria in the last five years, making it the fastest growing market in Africa. The Airbnb platform offers alternative accommodation option and homestay experiences to guests who ordinarily would have stayed in hotels.

Chris Lehane, global head, public policy and public affairs, Continues on page 34

Inside Akwa Ibom has bigger economy than P. 2 Rivers – NBS

L-R: Herbert Wigwe, MD, Access Bank; Ibrahim Shehu Gusau, AFN president; Kiky Bob, Bet9ja; Olu Tikolo, vice president, Kia Motors Nigeria; Akinwunmi Ambode, governor, Lagos State; Jacky Hathiramani, MD, Kia Motors Nigeria, and Kweku Tando, chairman, Lagos State Sports Commission, during a press conference on the 2019 Lagos City Marathon at the Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja.

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Court fixes date for MTN $10.1bn suit against CBN, AGF Odunayo Oyasiji

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hearing date has been fixed in the suit instituted by MTN against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in September.

The hearing in the suit against the CBN has been fixed for October 30 while that against the AGF will be heard on November 8. Justice Seidu of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi Judicial division will hear the US$8.13 billion suit against the CBN while Justice Aneke of the same high court will be hearing the N242 billion and $1.28 billion suits against the AGF. The AGF had sent a letter to the MTN asking it to pay import duty, withholding tax and value added tax that should have been remitted to the purse of the Federal Government while the matter against CBN bothers on alleged illegal repatriation of US$8.13 billion in profits by the MTN. Even though the matter is already in court, the CBN is known to be engaging with the telecom giant to find an out of court resolution of the issues. It is not clear if the AGF is doing the same with MTN but those familiar with the issue say the AGF case is weak.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN recently told Reuters in London that the US$8.1 billion refund request from MTN could be reviewed downwards.

“I don’t think it will be staying at $8.1 billion,” Emefiele was quoted

by Reuters as saying during a visit to London on October 8, adding he expected the issue to be dealt with “amicably and equitably.”

“I want to believe that the figures will reduce. Whether they will be dropped completely, I honestly cannot say at this time.”

In the court documents earlier seen by BusinessDay, the CBN states that it would credit MTN with the naira equivalent of the US$8.1 billion as soon as MTN returns the fund which it insists the company took out of the country illegally.

“A refund of the foreign currencies purchased by the telecom company will result in MTN being credited with the Naira equivalent of the foreign currency,” the CBN said through its lawyer.

According to the court document seen by BusinessDay, the CBN said it acted in good faith for the benefit of Nigeria and exercised its statutory functions over the foreign exchange market in the $8.1 billion MTN refund saga.

The CBN further affirmed that it shall before or at the trial, raise an objection to the propriety of the suit against it.

“MTN has not disclosed any reasonable cause of action against it or any legal right to be protected in this application,” the apex bank stated.

“At all material times, the plaintiff had sufficient notice of the investigation on the banks and that it was given sufficient opportunity to make representations and substantiate its position.” Besides the US$8.1 billion refund, MTN is also faced with another US$2 billion tax request from the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami. MTN is also challenging that demand which has also left many foreign investors wondering how a tax demand will emanate from the attorney-general’s office.

The MTN issue has become the talking point at all investment road shows where Nigeria is present and has become a major distraction in the country’s quest to attract foreign direct investments.

Lagos House of Assembly tackles Ambode over Visionscape ... orders PSP operators to return to work JOSHUA BASSEY

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he Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday directed the chairmen of 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state to immediately mobilise Private Sector Partnership (PSP) operators in their areas to take up the task of domestic waste collection.

The Assembly’s directive which signals trouble might be in the offing for the outgoing Governor Akinwuumi Ambode, counters the extant law and executive order earlier issued by the governor, Akinwunmi Ambode ceding domestic wastecollectioninthestatetoVisionscape Sanitations Solutions Limited.

BusinessDay last week reported there have been concerns over the continuity of Visionscape, beyond Ambode who is billed to leave office in May 29, 2019 following the decision of his party- All Progressives Congress (APC) to deny him ticket for a second term in office.

Ambode introduced Visionscape, a municipal waste manager, to take over waste management in Nigeria’s most populous state, in 2017, a development which put him (Ambode) on collision course with the PSP operators.

Mudashiru Obasa, Speaker of

the Lagos State House of Assembly, who gave the directive to the council chairmen during a plenary on Thursday, also ordered Azeez Sanni, the clerk of the House, to invite Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, the commissioner for the environment, to appear before the House on the matter next week.

The action of the state legislators followed an urgent matter of public importance raised by Gbolahan Yishawu, a member of the House representing Eti-Osa Constitueny II bordering on mounting heaps of refuse scattered all over the state.

Obasa emphasised that the Lagos State government does not know about Visionscape, insisting that there are three arms of government including legislative, executive and judiciary, noting that the state government ought to have consulted the House on Visionscape before they started operation.

He said: “We once wrote the commissioner for finance, Akinyemi Ashade not to pay Visionscape again and that he would return any money he paid to them after our instruction to the coffers of the state government. We will go to that, when the time comes, but we have to do the needful now.”

•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com

L-R: Osayaba Giwa-Osagie, director, Nigerian-South Africa Chamber of Commerce (NSACC); Babatunde Fashola, minister, power, housing, and works; Oba Otudeko, life patron, NSACC; Foluso Phillips, president, NSACC/chairman, Phillips Consulting, and Robert Taiwo, managing director, Phillips Consulting, during the NSACC breakfast meeting sponsored by Phillips Consulting in Lagos, yesterday.

Pic by Olawale Amoo

Why NNPC extended crude for fuel programme till 2019 ... Killing hopes of early termination of dirty fuel imports ISAAC ANYAOGU

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he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has extended the Direct Sales, Direct Purchase (DSDP) arrangement, a model through which crude oil is sold directly to refiners and consultants, in exchange for products, till 2019 instead of the 12 months earlier planned, largely because the refineries continue to record subpar performance.

A Bloomberg report quoting sources with knowledge of the matter yesterday said the NNPC extended the DSDP program until June 2019.

The swap program accounts for about 70 percent of Nigeria’s fuel imports, with the remainder done through spot market. It was touted as evidence of NNPC improved transparency.

Following allegations of corruption in the management of the previous Offshore Processing Agreement (OPA), the NNPC replaced it with the DSDP programme, which was

meant to commence in April 2017 but began in July. Analysts say the delay was due to government’s plans to change the specification of refined product imports namely gasoline and gasoil as it seeks to shift towards cleaner fuels.

“The NNPC was betting that within a year, the refineries performance would have improved and the Dangote Refinery would be in sight, the calculation seems to be off,” says a source close to NNPC. NNPC has not responded for clarification before publication of the story.

Under the DSDP model, selected overseas refiners, trading companies and indigenous companies are allocated crude supplies in exchange for delivery of an equal value of gasoline and other refined products to the NNPC based on specified quality.

Government officials said that from July 1 the specification of gasoline imports would change to 150 ppm sulfur max from 1,000 ppm and gasoil imports will shift from 0.3 percent

sulfur to 50 ppm.

Yet most of the petroleum products consumed in the country are imported with sulphur content as high as 1,000 parts per million for petrol and 3,000ppm for diesel, even though NNPC is virtually doing all the importation. Hence, the continued adoption of the DSDP programme throws an uncomfortable spotlight on Nigeria’s refinery performance.

According to NNPC’s financial and operations report for May 2018, in April 2018, NNPC lifted 6,273,617 barrels of crude oil for domestic utilization translating to an average volume of 209,120.57 barrels of oil per day in terms of performance. Of this amount, 75.7 percent was processed under the Direct-Sales-Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme and 24.3 percent was delivered to the domestic refineries for processing.

•Continues online at www.businessdayonline.com

Akwa Ibom has bigger economy than Rivers – NBS LOLADE AKINMURELE, ENDURANCE OKAFOR, Lagos & Tony Ailemen, Abuja

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he National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday published estimates of the economic size of 11 states for the five-year period between 2013 and 2017.

The eleven (11) States selected for an initial phase of GDP computation by the state-funded data agency were Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Kaduna, Kano, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Rivers and Zamfara.

The NBS did not provide a timeline for completion of the next phase of computation for the remaining 25 States and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Akwa-Ibom had the largest economy of the 11 states with a GDP size of N5.14 trillion ($16.8 billion) in 2017. If Akwa-Ibom

were an African country, it would pip Senegal, which has a GDP of $16.463 billion, to the 21st largest of 54 economies.

Rivers state had the second largest economy of the pack, with a GDP of N5.11 trillion ($16.7 billion) and would rank 22nd when compared to the economies of other African countries.

The oil-rich Delta state’s GDP of $13.26 billion or N4.06 trillion means it ranks third.

The bottom three of the pack were Zamfara state (N1.10 trillion or $3.6 billion), Osun (N1.47 trillion or $4.8 billion) and Cross-River state (N2.31 trillion or $7.5 billion).

The economic size of all 11 states combined was N33 trillion ($109 billion) in 2017, at par with Morocco, Africa’s 7th largest economy and bigger than Kenya which had a GDP of $79.5 billion

and Ghana with a GDP size of $47 billion in 2017, according to World Bank data.

The combined GDP also imply that the 11 states accounted for a third of Nigeria’s N114.9 trillion nominal GDP in 2017.

In most countries, economic data is collected and reported at the national level and although it makes sense politically, it is a more arbitrary economic decision.

States GDP compilation is important and useful for various purposes.

First, it provides important information to support evidencebased policymaking. It also helps to identify key drivers of economic growth in each state and assess the performance of the state economy.

Further, by revealing the structure of the state economy, the contribu-

Continues on page 34

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Friday 19 October 2018

KANO STATE GOVERNMENT

Congratulatulations

KANO FELICITATES WITH WINNER OF WEST AFRICA’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS MEDIA AWARDS I, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje OFR, the Executive Governor of Kano State, on behalf of the government and good people of the state, felicitate with ADAM ALQALI, an indigene of Kano and the Editor of an online newspaper, African Newspage, who emerges WINNER of the 2018 West Africa Media Awards’ Prize for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Reporting, presented to him in Accra, Ghana.

We in Kano are also proud to be assiciated with and celebrate Alqali’s other previous proud feats and awards in journalism including the 2017 Travel Fellowship of the 10th World Conference of Science Journalists held at San Francisco, United States; finalist for the 2018 Media Awards of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (OFAB) held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; and 2nd Runner-up for African Media Initiative’s Zimeo Excellence Awards in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

As recipient of West Africa’s most prestigious media awards, you have no doubt proven yourself as a good ambassador, accomplished journalist committed to professional excellence who has done Kano and Nigeria proud.

The Government of Kano State believes that honouring working journalists, who in the discharge of their professional duties, choose to tread the path of honesty, integrity and strict professional ethical conduct as against unethical, yellow, junk journalism, ought to be appreciatated, honoured and celebrated to encourage the much-needed developmental journalism among our budding media practitioners.

Once again, I congratulate you on the conferment of the 2018 West Africa Media Awards’ Prize for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Reporting.

Signed: Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, OFR Executive Governor, Kano State

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Nigeria struggles with FDI

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igeria’s FDI has been struggling, according to a report from Proshare, a financial information service key focus on markets, business, technology regulation and the economy.

In a period when a number of countries in Africa enjoyed an exponential increase in capital investments, Nigeria reached a mediocre $981 million in 2017, a far cry from its previous peak of $5 billion in 2008.

While the partial marketoriented change to the exchange rate regime in 2016 encouraged the minor 2017 peak, an array of other fundamental problems such as prolonged insecurity, a poor investment climate and a significant infrastructure deficit, still make the country appear highly risky to long-term investors.

In the face of these challenges, Esosa JohnsonOmoregbe, an expert in FDI matters, finds that Nigeria could do a lot more with FDIs if it provides the necessary protection and encouragement, saying, “Not much has been done to encourage FDIs in Nigeria.

“The approach to seeking investors has always been one of ‘body language. And there is a strong lack of policies that addresses the notorious bureaucratic bottlenecks - across Nigeria’s parastatals and other branches of government - all of which are inimical to the sustenance of FDIs in Nigeria.

“Our intentional undercutting of FDI in Nigeria did not begin with this government or even the last one.

When billionaire Richard Branson launched Virgin Nigeria in 2005, he was lauded by the then-government for launching an airline company.

“By 2008, he accused Nigerian officials of ‘mafioso’ style tactics and we all watched the ignominious pull out and subsequent loss of a Virgin national carrier. Within the ambit of government imposed fine, MTN suffered a harsh penalty in 2016, when a hefty $1 billion fine was slammed on the telco over unregistered SIMs. “Smarting out of that, the telco has again been issued a $8.1 billion demand over concerns around repatriation of funds. The UAE-based environmental utility group, Visionscape is currently in the eye of a socio-political storm.”

He states further that countries like the United States of America and parts of Europe provide strong protection for foreign and domestic investors. This is why for decades; the US has remained the number one destination for FDI, followed closely by the United Kingdom and China.

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Periwinkle Lifestyle Estates to launch twin towers

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eriwinkle Lifestyle Estates is set to launch its multibillion naira twin high-rise towers to cater for the upwardly mobile/high network individuals who desire comfort, luxury and a new lifestyle in a planned smart neighbourhood with 24hour security surveillance.

The managing director of Periwinkle Lifestyle Estates, Chiedu Nweke, who spoke with newsmen at the pre-launch briefing, said the project was slated for launch October 25, in Peri-

winkle Lifestyle Estates, Lekki Phase One, Lagos.

Nweke, who christened the new project as Oxygen (O2) Apartments, said the project comprised of iconic twin East and West Towers each made up of 10 floors and located at a serene environment.

He explained, “Oxygen Apartments” are designed exclusively for those who desire a truly unique social environment devoid of emerging inconveniences of planning distortion that is swiftly characterizing Lekki. Each apartment incor-

porates a distinctive design with modern innovation to create homes with unique settings of spacious living.”

According to Nweke, Periwinkle Lifestyle Estates is offering one, two and three-bedroom apartments at very competitive prices, adding that it is “offering the prospective buyers flexible payment plan and the choice of buying any of the flats beginning with an initial deposit of N8 million.”

Nweke, while affirming that the project is set on “a fantastic location at the Periwinkle Lifestyle Estate, Lekki

Phase One, Lagos also stated that the company is selling off the one bedroom at N45 million; two bedrooms at N55 million and the three bedrooms at N85 million.”

On the infrastructure provided in the estate, Nweke said it provides a smart lifestyle surrounding, with walking, jogging and bicycle paths; provides 24-hour power supply; provides good access roads; water treatment plant; central sewer system; CCTV; integrated smart home devices and garden and green areas.

On why prospective buy-

ers would prefer patronizing the company’s current offer, Nweke said “the location is fantastic, pricing is very competitive in comparison to our competitors.

As the name implies, it is Oxygen in terms of ventilation, extremely spacious and boasts of unique terraces and keyless entry into the lift and 24-hour security, 24-hour fibre optic internet provision, Olympic sized swimming pool, gym, green areas, sit outs, parking spaces, modern equipped kitchens with gas cookers, and launderette.”

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A very bad dream SOJI APAMPA Olusoji Apampa is the CEO of The Convention on Business Integrity.

Twitter: @sojapa E-mail: aviga@ cbinigeria.com

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f social media reports are to be believed (and they are usually not), INEC suggests there will be 66m plus voters in February 2019. The list making its rounds, at least one version of it, is one I reproduce here mainly for illustrating the points I would like to make in this article. I am the first to agree the figures are unlikely to be accurate or final, but they could represent the sort of proportions of voter distribution. I would also point out the nice round numbers and we all know life doesn’t respond in such neat ways but please stay with me as I make the intended points.

First, is Nigeria once again at crossroad if many don’t realise it yet? The scholar, Richard Sklar, who has been studying Nigerian politics for decades has often warned that the game of brinksmanship loved by Nigeria’s political elite could one day bring the country to the precipice and then spiral out of their control.

Are we in that game right now and is there a danger that this time it might spiral out of control?

It has been our electoral pattern

OLUKAYODE KOLAWOLE Kolawole is the Head, PR & Communications - Jumia Group Nigeria

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he earliest mention of the phrase ‘Black Friday’ was used to describe the day after Thanksgiving in the United States in 1952, which is usually the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November — a day considered to be the beginning of the country’s Christmas shopping season. Black Friday was coined to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic that would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Twenty years after its first mention, the phrase became more widespread and represented the point in the year when retails began to turn a profit, thus going from ‘being in the red’ (losses) to ‘being in the black’ (profits). In 2003, Black Friday was the busiest shopping day of the year, and has retained that position every year till date. It has become a shopping day in the US for a number of reasons: as the first day after the major holiday before Christmas, it marks the unofficial beginning of the Christmas shopping season; some employers give their employees the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and, retailers in the country both big and small take advantage of the holiday by offering various sales

that North-South calculations dominate political permutations as well as thoughts of players and watchers alike and the electoral map after President Goodluck Johnathan’s 2011 victory underscored that dichotomy very well. In 2015, the world watched as it seemed Nigeria was about to hurtle over the edge and many an international gasp was sighed only for the elite to as it were pull-back from the brink with Jonathan conceding defeat in an unprecedented way.

The recent emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the flag bearer of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) however promises to shift the game in a way we haven’t experienced in recent times. There will now be two northern front runners, possibly from the same tribe, going head-to-head, each with a southern running mate (one Yoruba and the other Igbo). Like it or not, what we are setting up after many decades, is the possibility of re-introducing an East-West divide into Nigeria’s politics. Would this be more or less dangerous for elite manoeuvrings?

Given current political wrangling, the states shaded in yellow in the table above (Imo, Ebonyi, Plateau and Gombe) are likely to be pivotal as they are currently too close to call which way they might fall, towards the ruling APC or towards the challenging PDP? Now to the bad dream. I had a nightmare the other day and in it, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won the 2019 elections (and that is not necessarily the bad part) but by a slim margin. In that dream, they won in about 55% of the states and 55% of the popular vote. The challenger had about 44% of the

‘

the elites managed to bring Nigeria once again to the brink! Extrapolating from the new trend in Africa since Zimbabwe and now Cameroon, assuming security forces are neutral in processes of regime change or continuity would be foolish. The scenario quickly turned into a nightmare that one woke up from with a start, breaking out in cold sweat.

Thank God it was only a very bad dream! However, would it be prudent to imagine such a scenario and start to take steps against it?

What steps can one take? What could shift the balance of power clearly in favour of one candidate against the other? Clearly, economic growth and security would continue to be issues and the question of dealing with corruption is likely to be re-framed by one party and harped upon by the other, but what can or will sway the voters? Before we get to the voters, campaign finance and sources will also be an issue. Will the ruling party find enough support from the private sector or will its allegiance switch to the opposition? Where will Nigeria’s youth pitch their tent?

Of the two main contenders, neither side is fielding a candidate remotely close to the aspirations of the “NotToo-Young-To-Run” movement and it remains to be seen how well campaign issues resonate with these aspirations.

However, if history is anything to go by, much of what happens between now and December is expected to be dictated by the elitecontrolled “establishment,” what do you think?

Richard Sklar … warned that the game of brinksmanship loved

by Nigeria’s political elite could one day bring the country to the precipice and then spiral out of their control

’

popular vote and no party had won 25% of the votes in two-thirds of the states precipitating a constitutional face-off from which neither candidate was willing to back down. The PDP had won in states like Adamawa, Taraba, and was contesting Gombe, won in Kwara, Benue, the South-South excluding Edo and the whole of the South East but the APC was contesting Imo and Ebonyi.

So, what will happen in such a scenario? Would we have run-off elections, and would the parties accept the result? In the very bad dream, it was a clear scenario that Nigeria had to avoid at all costs. On the PDP side, the retired generals have pitched their tent with the flag bearer and on the APC side, the incumbent controls the current leadership of the army and thus,

Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.

Black Friday and Nigerian entrepreneurs incentives to attract traffic to their stores. Since the beginning of the 21st century, there have been attempts by retailers with origins in the US to introduce a retail Black Friday to other countries around the world.

Adoption of Black Friday in Nigeria Prior to the debut of eCommerce platforms in Nigeria, Black Friday was relatively unknown. Jumia introduced Black Friday to Nigerians as a shopping festival in November 2013.

Shortly after that, other ecommerce players created their own simulation such as the Yakata Sales, but unfortunately this didn’t command as much buzz as the Black Friday shopping festival. Similar to what it stands for in developed countries, especially its country of origin — the US, Black Friday has been known in Nigeria to be a day that online retailers — and until recently, offline stores — dedicate to offering jaw dropping discounts across all product categories in an attempt at attracting traffic to their platforms.

It is interesting to note that media reports have shown that Black Friday seems to be the most productive & profit driven period for most eCommerce platforms and their vendors.

It provides them opportunity to level up their sales target considering there’s usually an enormous influx of shoppers during this period. Lit-

tle wonder, most of the vendors selling on eCommerce platforms, Jumia for instance, always offer their products for sale at extremely low prices, in addition to offering free delivery and shipping for items above N10,000 in major cities such as, Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and many more.

Realizing that a day might not be sufficient to shop, and considering the fact that, unlike the US, Black Friday is not yet a public holiday in Nigeria, some eCommerce platforms have extended the shopping festival to cover a period of one month, usually starting mid November through mid December. Thus, providing shoppers an extended period to shop for the Christmas season. A case in point: last year Jumia held its simulation of the Black Friday between November 24th & December 24th, giving Nigerians ample time to shop for their favourite products at the best prices.

Other online retailers followed suit, but unfortunately couldn’t hold the fort beyond a period of one or two weeks. This might be understandable because only a few of these eCommerce platforms command enough patronage from the Nigerian shoppers, largely due to trust issues, substandard products, and inefficient delivery system. Safer for them to run the Black Friday campaign within a window period that allows them to quickly cash in and count their losses.

Sadly, this doesn’t benefit the shoppers in the long run, as many of them will rather take their time to shop during this period without fear of the amazing discounts closing out within just a week. Besides, shopping, to many, is therapeutic; it’s never done in a hurry.

Another advantage of the extended Black Friday campaigns which Jumia is championing year-on-year, is the opportunity it affords shoppers to compare prices with other online retailers before making a purchase decision. Customers wouldn’t have this luxury if the campaign only runs for a day, or at most a week. E-retailers therefore need to learn to always put the interest of the customer first before anything else. Jumia shows good leadership in this regard.

Life changing moment for Nigerian entrepreneurs The second biggest beneficiaries of the Black Friday shopping festival are the entrepreneurs who sell on various eCommerce platforms, and in offline stores. Although, while there’s no accurate & reliable data to show the percentage of customers who still patronise brick & mortar shops in Nigeria, the continuous rise in the usage of smartphones to shop — thanks to internet penetration — in both urban & rural areas provide a hindsight on where most shoppers might find most convenient to shop

for their everyday needs.

To maximize the sales opportunities during this period, entrepreneurs selling on eCommerce platforms, using Jumia as an example, must among other things, (1) offer the most competitive price for their wares. The eCommerce platform is a battlefield, only the seller with the best prices stands a chance to attract shoppers’ attention. This is one of the best time to grow the business on volume, even while selling — probably at half the price; the more the orders, the better for the business. Moreover, the products with the most competitive prices will, (a) likely be displayed on the first page of the eCommerce website, (b) likely be sent via newsletters to millions of customers signed up on the platform, (c) likely be included in paid online advertising, sponsored by the platform. (2) check the quality of your products. Customers who buy an inferior product oftener from your online store won’t return for a repeat purchase.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessdayonline. com/ Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline. com

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The imperatives of quality corporate governance

EDWIN AGWU Dr Agwu is Associate Professor of Strategic Management Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University

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rises often lead to reforms; hence the sharppractices in the murky waters of business drove stockholders and stakeholders to seek for shelter in the umbrella of corporate governance.

Corporate governance is viewed as a set of mechanisms that influence the decisions made by managers when there is a separation of ownership and control. Corporate governance primarily sets out to ensure predictability, sustainability and profitability of revenues year on year with the sole vision to create wealth legally, and ethically. This will however be feasible if the various constituencies which the organization serves are satisfied, viz., the customers, employees, investors, vendors and the societyat-large. This forward-looking vision must be translated into clear, welldefined and measurable objectives, which must be spread throughout the organization, guiding the responsibilities held by each agent in terms of governance. Corporate governance is of two folds: conformance and performance. Conformance includes elements of monitoring, supervising and being accountable to different stakeholders. Performance, describes the contribution of those who govern the organization to its achievements.

Governance, in short, is not only concerned with the processes of decision making but also with the controls that support effective accountability for performance related outcomes.

Corporate governance is domiciled in businesses, properties and family-owned businesses. The essential function in business is to generate sustainable wealth; for family, of which the main goal is to preserve its unity and cohesiveness, so that problems do not compromise the business, in addition to clearly defining the roles performed by each member of the family with a program for succession and development of heirs that takes into account the property aspect as well as the company’s professionalisation. It is essential that the mangers responsible for the direction of the organization understand the trends of the extremely competitive, turbulent, changing and fast-paced environment in which we live today. That is in addition to understanding the competencies required to generate sustainable wealth with more capital and knowledge, maximizing returns on investments and minimizing risk levels as encapsulated in the under listed nine pillars of corporate governance: - Corporations must adopt a formal corporate governance framework outlining the roles of the key bodies such as partners, shareholders, board of directors and management - They should formulate a succession planning process - Corporations should establish timely, open and transparent flow of information with shareholders - They must strive to establish effective and efficient board - Boards must have very clear mandates with sufficient resources

- Corporations must maintain credible books of accounts annually audited by competent external auditors - Corporations should set up an internal control framework in place and conduct a regular review of risks - Corporations should recognize stakeholders needs - Family-controlled companies should establish family governance mechanisms that promote coordination and mutual understanding amongst family members, as well as organize the relationship and corporate governance Several practitioners have argued that the divergence of interests between the principals (shareholders) and the agents (managers) leads to agency costs, which in most cases are usually high. This presupposes that effective monitoring approaches, such as governance mechanisms, facilitate the alignment of interests between shareholders and managers. That alignment reduces the firm’s agency costs and consequently improves the firm’s performance. Agency as a concept is built on the assumption that managers (agents) may engage in selfinterest decisions and therefore shareholders (principals) enforce governance mechanisms to monitor agents’ decisionmaking processes and consequently improve their firms’ performances. It is therefore important that the stakeholders are given an inlet into the performances of the firms through disclosures in order to further understand and appreciate the shareholders and agents working relationships and performance records.

Therefore, firms’ managers are inclined to provide voluntary disclosures on the best practices of governance adopted by their firms. These disclosures, makes financial statements users and other stakeholders aware of their managerial ability and avoid misevaluation

‘

Evidences abound to justify that role duality diminishes the board independence, reduces the flexibility of the board of directors, and consequently reduces the possibility that the board can properly execute its oversight functions

’

of their actions and performances. On the other hand, voluntary disclosure of governance practices will provide information to various stakeholders about how the concerned corporation is managed. It is worthy to note that the board’s disclosures are one of the essential mechanisms that enhance firm’s performance due to their oversight functions. This is predicated on the premise that the level of disclosures by the board of directors can have a significant impact on the firm’s performance based on the fact that disclosure enables stakeholders to have a clearer understanding of how decisions are made within the firm.

This however depends on the type of management in place. Some C-Suite managers often perpetuate themselves in power, thereby centralizing all the powers in one office. Unfortunately, some organizations have sacrificed role separations on the altar of power acquisition thereby acquiring dual roles. Role duality means that the same person undertakes two

different roles. For example, the role of chairman board of directors and chief executive officer are performed by one person. Based on corporate governance concept, it is however believed that the separation of the two roles improves the board’s monitoring capabilities. Evidences abound to justify that role duality diminishes the board independence, reduces the flexibility of the board of directors, and consequently reduces the possibility that the board can properly execute its oversight functions. These may also lead to poor auditing as it can be negatively influenced internally leading to cosmetic dressing of the firm’s financial reports. It is a general belief, that high‐quality auditors are more likely to detect questionable accounting practices and qualify the audit report than those influenced by the hitherto role occupiers. This is because audit qualities are the main factor that determines the credibility of firms’ financial information and consequently its financial performances. The take by academics and practitioners is that big and influential audit firms have higher chances to control opportunistic management behaviours and therefore improving the firm performances as opposed to the smaller ones that are in dire need of contract extensions.

The importance of management will be diminished in the eyes of managers and shareholders if the level of corporate governance does not affect the financial performance of their firms. To this end, organizational goals and objectives must be aligned with the effective corporate governance practices such that firms achieve its set goals while practicing efficient and effective corporate governance mechanisms.

Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.com

Adapting international best practice in engineering to Nigeria’s advantage

EMMANUEL UKO Uko is Advocacy Manager, Association for Consulting Engineering in Nigeria

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etween 2012 and 2016, at least fifty-four cases of collapsed buildings were recorded around the country, with corresponding injuries and deaths, according to reports from the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. In an age when technology leverages engineering practice, cases of failed infrastructure or poor quality engineering work portray an avoidable gap in the planning processes of a project. As the country seeks to take advantage of the gains of technology and international best practice in flood management, transportation, urban planning among others, curbing deficiencies in engineering infrastructure saves the country from loss of resources.

According to Professor I. G. Chendo and Architect N. I. Obi of the University of Nigeria, deficient infrastructure and building col-

lapses happen due to lack of an independent quality assurance process by a competent personnel, use of substandard materials, deviation from original design and lack of professionals in the planning process. Engineering consultants ensure that projects are properly designed and monitored to highest quality according to specification, within the public and private sectors. Consultants seek to rectify faults even when contractors may have overlooked them. They also manage projects to avoid overrun of costs and timelines.

Engineering consultants work within firms registered with the Association for Consulting Engineering in Nigeria (ACEN).

ACEN represents a pool of private, independent, business-minded engineering entrepreneurs of the highest technical skills, intellectual competence and ethical orientation. The association is collectively committed to providing the best professional expertise to the construction industry in a way that is environmentally sustainable and technologically compliant, stimulating economic growth.

ACEN, as the voice of consulting engineering in Nigeria, belongs to a wider international body, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (Fédération Internationale Des

Ingénieurs-Conseils – FIDIC). FIDIC is the global voice of consulting engineering with over 100 countries as members. There is a continuous mutual consultation and team work between the international body and national associations within FIDIC. ACEN, member of FIDIC, was established in 1972 and incorporated in 1979 as an association of qualified, independent and experienced consulting engineers.

ACEN seeks to develop consulting engineering practice in Nigeria by mobilising private sector engineering consultants for the advancement of the consulting engineering sub-sector in the built environment. It aims at the highest level of technical competence and business ethics that would result in good quality infrastructure at the most cost-effective prices for Nigerians.

Engineering professionals are an integral part of national planning and not just executors of such plans. This is because any national development plan prepared without input from Nigerian professionals, especially well-informed groups, results in limited success.

ACEN and its member firms help match plans for engineering infrastructure to available resources with due diligence, to create employment, economic prosperity and develop skilled manpower.

The Association consistently advocates for inclusion of indig-

enous engineering professionals in national development and the need to develop a national strategy aimed at achieving this objective.

The Presidential Executive Order 5, signed in February 2018, on local content in engineering projects, is, therefore, timely.

A major challenge confronting the construction industry in Nigeria is the absence of large indigenous engineering firms to break the dominance of foreign firms in large-scale contracts.

The perception is that foreign construction companies have international experience and expertise and therefore deliver better quality work than their Nigerian counterparts. In comparison with local construction companies these firms charge significantly higher but are preferred for their track record and timely delivery.

With implementation of the local content policy, indigenous firms would form mergers to meet the challenges that come with larger contracts, provide wider employment opportunities and work with allied professionals.

Another challenge for the industry is the perception that engineering consultancy attracts an additional cost to a project.

The reality is that, consulting is a cost-saving mechanism in the long term. The participation of a consulting engineer in a project guar-

antees an independently-monitored project and high standards of quality assurance processes, resulting in structural durability.

Consulting engineers provide solutions for the built industry at optimal cost with the highest possible standards of professional expertise, tools and technology.

Countries are leveraging technology in engineering practice.

Systems are also now being designed from concept to operation stage to enable managers have digital control over systems like flood and erosion management, integrated traffic management, public transportation services, public parking, waste and energy management, power generation and distribution, renewable energy and water resources management.

The construction sector has been generally known as the least digitised and slowest to react to changes in new technology. This will face radical disruptive changes in the nearest future, beginning from developed countries and trickling down to developing countries like Nigeria.

Note: The rest of this article continues in the online edition of Business Day @https://businessdayonline. com/ Send reactions to: comment@businessdayonline.com

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Editorial PUBLISHER/CEO

Frank Aigbogun EDITOR Anthony Osae-Brown DEPUTY EDITORS John Osadolor, Abuja Bill Okonedo NEWS EDITOR Patrick Atuanya EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS Fabian Akagha EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIGITAL SERVICES Oghenevwoke Ighure GENERAL MANAGER, ADVERT Adeola Ajewole ADVERT MANAGER Ijeoma Ude FINANCE MANAGER Emeka Ifeanyi MANAGER, CONFERENCES & EVENTS Obiora Onyeaso SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER Patrick Ijegbai CIRCULATION MANAGER John Okpaire DIGITAL SALES MANAGER Linda Ochugbua GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (North)

Bashir Ibrahim Hassan

GM, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (South) Ignatius Chukwu

Friday 19 October 2018

Shame of a nation

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his year, the federal government has bandied several figures as expenditure on fuel subsidy or under recovery as it prefers to call it, since it officially denies that it still pays subsidy on petrol.

The current figure we have is from Ibe Kachikwu, the hapless minister of state for petroleum, who, in April avers that Nigeria’s annual expenditure on fuel subsidy has risen to over N1.4 trillion ($3.9 billion). Going by the figures, it means about N3.76 billion is spent daily on subsidising petrol. This was a staggering 386 per cent higher than the earlier figure of N774 million daily given on March 5, 2018 by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, for the importation and distribution of petroleum products in the country.

As the price of petrol has continued to rise in response to the price of oil in the international market, that figure is now outdated and may soon reach or has even reached $5 billion a year. If Nigeria were a developed economy like the United States with massive and adequate investments in education, healthcare, and infrastructure and the economy is booming, that would be understandable.

But no; this is a country adjudged to be the poverty capital

of the world, with the highest number of people – over 87 million people - living in extreme poverty in the country. Worse is that the situation is getting worse with approximately six Nigerians sliding into the extreme poverty gap every minute and about 8,000 daily.

This is a country where the health, education and social infrastructure are almost broken and with little or no investments in these sectors. This is a country with record high unemployment rate, high dependency rate, security challenges and the absence of right economic policies and programmes that will be a catalyst to lifting people out of poverty.

Yet instead of concentrating on these concerns, the government is more interested in subsidising elite and middle class consumption of petrol.

Pray, what rational and sensible government could afford to leave millions of its citizens in poor health, ravaged by avoidable diseases such as malaria, yellow and Lassa fever, cholera, typhoid etc while it continues to spend billions of dollars and trillions of naira yearly to subsidise consumption of petrol by the rich and the middle class? Despite Nigeria being a signatory to the World Health Organisation recommendation for every government to spend at least 13 percent its annual budget to health, Nigeria has not allocated more than 6.57 percent of its budget to the health sector. A good

example is the 2018 budget where only N340.45 billion, representing 3.9 percent of the N8.8 trillion expenditure plan, was allocated to the health sector.

It took a Bill Gates recently to remind the Nigerian government of global statistics we are all aware of – that “Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth, with the fourth worst maternal mortality rate in the world, ahead of Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, and Chad,” and that “one in three Nigerian children is chronically malnourished.”

Pray, what rational government with a modicum of conscience could spend such humungous amount yearly on frivolous consumption of petrol that adds very little to the economy while allocating only a meagre N605.8 billion to education in a country of nearly 200 million people with a clear majority young population desperately in need of education? What country with a sensible government will be happy allocating far more to its consumption of fuel than educating and developing its future workforce and human capital?

We believe there can no longer be any rational or sensible explanation for the humongous amount of money spent daily on subsidising the consumption of petrol to the detriment of other critical sectors and needs in society. Petrol is a commodity like any other that is best left to mar-

ket forces of demand and supply.

The little political capital derived from maintaining the huge and extremely corrupt fuel subsidy regime is not commensurate with the long-term damage that is being done to the economy, growth and development of the country by that wasteful expenditure. Nigeria cannot afford to be travelling down an escalator that is clearly going up.

We are aware that the NNPC has remained for every government and president in power, a piggy bank, a source of slush fund – and this government, despite all its promise of transparency, has rather deepened the opaque culture in the NNPC. It was therefore not surprising when revelations emerged that there is in existence a slush fund of about $3.5 billion called the Subsidy Recovery Fund headquartered at the NNPC and solely managed by its group managing director and executive director, finance.

We believe this should be a source of great shame for all in government and for the elite and middle class. It is despicable and unfathomable that despite the existential threats and challenges facing the nation, all we could be concerned about is how to live luxurious life, finance elections, win elections and maintain political power. No sense whatsoever of enlightened self-interest. How more uncivilised and barbaric can we be? Meanwhile, we wait for the coming anarchy.

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Friday 19 October 2018

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MoneyInsight Personal Finance: Investing Retirement

Taxes

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Financing

Five ways to check if a business idea is right for you a good leader? Are you uncomfortable dealing with people?

The great thing about this rule is, anyone can learn the skills and acquire the knowledge if they are interested.

STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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n important point to consider while starting a business as a young entrepreneur is to check whether the business idea is right for you.

One question that keeps budding entrepreneurs awake at night as they struggle to set up their businesses is whether or not the idea is right for them; choosing a business idea is easy, anyone can do it.

Choosing the ‘right’ idea is often the tricky part.

John-Paul Iwuoha, an author and founder of Smallstarter Africa said “a business idea is like a shoe. If an entrepreneur with the wrong foot size tries to take it on, it may end up a horrible experience.”

Most times, new businesses fail because the ideas and entrepreneurs behind them are the wrong fit.

There are five basic questions that could help an entrepreneur clarify whether an idea is the right fit.

Does the business idea stir up a passion in you?

Humans are creatures of emotion, more so in the world of business.

The mind is a complex machine that can be brought to amazing action by strong feelings.

Passion is the defining quality of entrepreneurship that breeds positivity, ambition and perseverance – the critical nutrients that will nurture any business idea to become a remarkable success.

Most people start a business and focus too much on the money

that can be made. Focusing on the money is not totally bad, focusing ‘too much’ on it is!

Few businesses start making money almost immediately. Just like a baby, a new business needs to be taken care of until it can stand on its feet. Depending on the kind of business you are considering, this may take anything from 6 months to 5 years.

Do you have the patience, passion and belief to wait for your ‘baby’ to mature despite all the challenges you will be facing? The world of business is tough, and this is why almost 9 out of every 10 new businesses fail in their first year.

Can you apply your knowledge and natural abilities to the business idea?

The best business ideas are those that you can gain from your knowledge or natural abilities in the concerned area.

If you love to write, for example, becoming a blogger or running a content website will come very easy to you. Nigerians like Linda Ikeji have become financially successful doing things they ordinarily love to do. Almost everyone has some special skill or basic knowledge that can be made into a business.

If you already have a gardening hobby, turning it into an urban vegetable farming business will not change your love or dedication to it. Plus, you will be getting paid for it.

At the early stage of your business, you will likely be responsible for a lot of all the ‘technical’ tasks. You may be involved in producing or providing the product. You will also have to convince people to buy what you’re selling and deal with enquiries and complaints.

Do you have great organisation and presentation skills? Are you

Entrepreneurs need to read business classics, learn from masters STEPHEN ONYEKWELU

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oung entrepreneurs and start-ups find themselves caught up in so many activities meant to help their businesses survive and thrive but reading is usually not one of them.

Experts say it is important to read the classics in your field of endeavour, in order to understand how the masters in that field think and act. The classics contain the fundamentals.

Fundamentals are insights created by people who had to figure out everything, these are fundamentals on which everything else read about today is built on.

Technology may change, ideas evolve but fundamentals, the basics always remain the same.

Some young entrepreneurs like to proclaim their negligence toward reading, or claim they can learn the same lessons from videos, podcasts, and even life experience.

However, while all of those work too, reading has a unique quality you cannot get elsewhere.

It forces your brain to work differently. Besides, some of the brightest minds in history did not record YouTube videos, they wrote

books. To say you do not read is essentially to refuse learning some of the greatest lessons of all time.

“I always tell entrepreneurs, if you want to learn and master a topic, read the classics, find and read the classics. Here’s the question I get all the time: “But why Ronald? Why waste time with a book that’s old and dated?” Ikenna Ronald Nzimora, business coach said on his Twitter handle @ ronaldnzimora. “There’s a reason why when you want to learn a language, you start from learning the alphabets.”

Once the alphabets are in place, the words are strung together and woven into sentences.

Sentences give birth to paragraphs and onward the march continues.

For a start, here are three business classics to read: 1.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey This is one of those books you should read and then reread every year. Make it a habit because it is deemed one of the best business leadership books of all time for a reason. Stephen R. Covey gives actionable but extremely self-aware guidance to aspiring leaders who want to

lead by example. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is meant for individuals who are looking to improve themselves from the inside out.

2. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Tried and true, How to Win Friends and Influence People is one of the most popular business books of all time for a reason. With plenty of undertones of self-development, Dale Carnegie shows readers why handling business the right way is so imperative.

3. Zero to One by Peter Thiel Entrepreneurs everywhere say they want to do something different, that they want to change the world. Well, serial entrepreneur Peter Thiel has decided to tackle that topic head-on, and point out exactly what it takes to make something entirely unique and new. As he says, “The next Bill Gates will not build an operating system. The next Larry Page or Sergey Brin won’t make a search engine. Tomorrow’s champions will not win by competing ruthlessly in today’s marketplace.

They will escape competition altogether, because their business will be unique.”

Does the business idea suit your risk appetite?

Some business ideas are riskier than others. It is usually safe to bite only as much as you can swallow.

How large (or small) is your appetite for risk? How much of your physical and financial resources are you willing to bet on your business idea?

Risk is not totally a bad thing. After all, entrepreneurs are different people because they are willing to take a risk to achieve a return. So, risk is not the problem.

The problem is to know how much of it you are taking on. Most entrepreneurs are often too distracted by the profitability of a business idea and do not take the time to consider the risks involved.

Are you in for the long or short term?

Why do you really want to start this business? Are you desperate for extra bucks and need to start a business to supplement your current income? Or is the business part of your long term plan to become financially independent and secure?

All businesses are not the same.

Some may need long incubation periods before they become successful while some others are instant successes. An entrepreneur with a short term expectation is

bound to be impatient and may not nurture the business well enough to reap the benefits.

Even Facebook had to wait a full five years before it started making any money. You need to be sure you can wait for the rain to come.

Your long or short term expectation will surely affect how you deal with your business. A long term view is likely to lead to a patient and supportive attitude towards the business.

While a short term view would most definitely starve the business of the attention and resources it needs to pull through. A new business that becomes your personal Automated Teller Machine (ATM) may not last very long.

Are you inspired to take action?

Business ideas will remain ideas until someone takes action. Anyone can have an idea. You can be sure most of the successful businesses around us today were not started by the person who first got the idea.

A business idea is no use inside your head until you bring it to life.

Even if it passed the first four tests in this article, the idea still won’t be yours anymore if someone else beats you to it. You have to be inspired enough to start doing something about the idea. And fast. The best business ideas will likely not come to you in a flash.

There may be a lot of trial and error involved. However, you have to start to find out.

Fidelity’s launch of crypto company lifts pressure on market FRANK ELEANYA

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he announcement by Fidelity Investments – the largest brokerage company in the world - on Monday that it had launched a digital currency company to cater for clients diversified needs has sent a positive vibe across the market.

Fidelity administers $7.2 trillion in customer assets, has 27 million customers, and spends $2.5 billion per year on technology, partially through incubators that house its artificial intelligence and blockchain projects. Fidelity Digital Asset Services, the new company was created out of Fidelity Centre for Applied Technology, or FCAT. It will handle cryptocurrency custody and trade execution for institutional investors.

“Our goal is to make digitally native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors,” Abigail Johnson, CEO and Investments chairman. “We expect to continue investing and experimenting, over the long-term, with ways to make this emerging asset class easier for our clients to un-

derstand and use.”

Fidelity’s announcement sent the entire cryptocurrency market into the green zone. Total market capitalization surged pass $210 billion while bitcoin the largest digital currency hit a record high of $7,788 from a three week low of $6,200.

In Nigeria, data from LocalBitcoins showed that volume of bitcoin transaction dropped to N1.426 billion in the second week of October. Global trade volume which also exceeded $7 billion on Monday has pulled back to $5.8 billion which is still almost double the $3 billion it was.

“You might look at the crypto world and say, ‘Wow, is this a new thing? But we’ve been managing key materials for a long time,” Tom Jessop, head of Fidelity Digital Assets, said in an interview with CNBC. “We took our learnings in how to run enterprise security, then through our exploration of bitcoin and some of the people we’ve hired, quickly developed some of the crypt native expertise and federated the twp of those things.”

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Influencers

FUNDING

10 companies emerge winners in All On/USADF energy challenge Stories by ISAAC ANYAOGU

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en companies emerge winners in All On, USADF energy challenge on Wednesday and were awarded $100,000, half in grant and the other half a low interest loan to provide innovative solutions to improve energy access to millions of Nigerians without power.

Profile of successful companies 1. KABIN INTEGRATED RESOURCES LIMITED It is offering an off-grid Solar-Powered batteryrecharging kiosk analogous to a “solar-well”. Each i-Kabin comes with 500 re-chargeable batteries (i-Packs). The battery is to replace the use of kerosene lanterns with a healthier and more affordable source oflight and power.

The i-Packbattery provides 50 hours of capacity which is enough power to light two rooms for approximately 3 to 4 hours for about one week. A USB port is provided to charge/power mobile phones, radios, fans and even small televisions.

The conduit for payment is cashless using agnostic mobile money payment methods 2. AUXANO SOLAR NIGERIA LTD It is looking to scale up

p ro d u c t i o n by a d d i n g more than 175kW additional raw materials which will take us beyond 3MW annual production (50% capacity utilization); train 200youths on solar assembling & maintenance and raise 40 solar entrepreneurs.

3. DARWAY COAST NIG. LTD The value proposition is centered on the provision of modular Solar PV based micro grid with lithium battery energy storage. ~26.6kWp solar generation shall be installed at Ozuzu and ~6.6kWp at Akpoku communities. The project will provide electricity to over 35 businesses and over 40 households, create 20 direct and indirect jobs as well as 6 operational jobs when completed. It will impact over 600 people directly as a result of cost savings and potential job creation opportunity.

4. CREEDS RENEWABLE ENERGY LTD Creeds SME 50kW Solar Power project is aimed at boosting and sustaining productive income generating activities of 100 SMEs in Bakinciyawa, Plateau and Chicoco, Rivers States by reducing their energy spend, through the provision of standalone solar powered systems on a Lease To Own (LTO) basis. This ensures access to clean energy, affordable

households and 30 small businesses. Jakande is an agrarian community within Owo LGA in Ondo State, Nigeria. It is about 12km away from the national grid, hence, the major source of electricity in this community is petrol generators, and then kerosene lamps for lighting at night.

payment options, backed by robust PAYG technology.

5. A4&T POWER SOLUTIONS LIMITED. A4&T will be providing a 20KW peak Solar Mini Grid Power Plant connected through a prepaid smart metering in Ugbo Nla community Ondo State. The community is 30km away from existing National Grid and characterized with commercial activities like Agro processing mills and business centers. It has about 230 households and over 1500 people with large population of women and children.

6. EASTWIND LABORATORIES LTD Eastwind Lab is seeking to provide both general

and personalized solar powered cubicle refrigeration for electricity-starved citizens of Ile-If at Lagere, Osun State, targeted at 500 Micro and Small Scale Businesses, 500 Farm Produce Marketers and 20,000 Weekend Party Goers.

The solution will create locker-like refrigerated spaces for renters on per hour basis for clients and customers who need to refrigerate their commodities or other stuff. These people ordinarily have refrigerators that don’t work due to lack of access to electricity or are too expensive to run on diesel generators.

7. ALYX LIMITED The proje ct address es postharvest loss reduction on farms and rural electrification which are two

huge problems in Nigeria.

The four 5-ton refrigerated trailers is solar powered and is a farm tool that is used for storage while harvesting, it removes field heat in harvested perishable produce, it is also a refrigerated storage and mode of transport for perishable produce to market or aggregation center. The 5-ton trailer is a source of electrical energy for rural electrification serve to power homes of rural dwellers for powering their electrical appliances. This is targeted at 200 farmers in Zaria, Kaduna State.

8. PRADO POWER LTD Prado Power is solving this problem by deploying a 30kW Solar PV Mini-Grid to provide electricity in Jakande Community to 150

9. SOLMENZ ENGINEERING VENTURES LTD Solmenz Engineering is developing a 15kW Solar mini grid with agric produce cold storage center in Gwam Village of Paiko Local Government Area of Niger State to power up 150 rural households and 10 businesses on a pay-as-you-go bases in the community.

10. HAVENHILL SYNERGY LTD Having successfully deployed 2 commercially sustainable 60KW Minigrid in Kigbe and Kwaku communities of Kwali and Kuje area councils, FCT; Havenhill seeks to expand into Yebu, an off-grid rural in Kwali Area Council of the FCT. 40kW Solar Minigrid will be deployed, providing 165 new connections (households and commercial). This project will serve a population of over 1,600+ with a 24hour electricity access. Yebu will become Havenhill Synergy’s 3rd mini-grid in that axis co-funded by US African Development foundation.

India is leading a solar energy alliance to rival OPEC

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ndia wants the sun rays to take over the role of oil wells today so it is moving to steady an alliance of countries mostly between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn that receive plentiful sunshine formed in 2015 to rival OPEC. “The role of the oil wells today will be that of the Sun’s rays tomorrow,” Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister said according to reports by local media.

“In the coming years, when the world discusses initiatives for the welfare of humanity in the 21st century, International Solar Alliance’s name will be at the top. We have prepared everyone to ensure climate justice through this ISA forum,” Modi said as he

opened the International Solar Alliance or ISA’s first assembly with UN chief Antonio Guterres.

OPEC pumps a third of the world’s oil and has an overbearing influence on global energy market and India and other oil buyers want this influence curtailed.

The International Solar Alliance, launched by Modi and then French president Francois Hollande in 2015 and based in India, is an alliance of countries mostly between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn that receive plentiful sunshine.

It aims to reduce the costs of financing solar power and the required technology, and to mobilise more than a trillion dollars to build solar facilities and infrastructure by 2030.

“The International Solar Alliance represents exact-

ly what needs to be done and represents the future,”

Analyst: Isaac Anyaogu, Email: isaac.anyaogu@businessdayonline.com, 07037817378,

Guterres said at the event.

“We know what we need

to do, and by large, we have the tools to do it. What we still lack, fortunately not here in this room... is the political commitment to make the transformative decisions that will lead us onto a safer path,” he said.

With only a single degree Celsius of warming so far, the world has seen a climate-enhanced crescendo of deadly heatwaves, wild fires and floods, along with superstorms swollen by rising seas.

India’s population of 1.3 billion is particularly vulnerable to climate change. In August, the worst rains and floods in a century pounded Kerala, displacing 1.3 million people, with climate scientists warning that worse is to come if global warming continues unabated.

Graphics: Joel Samson

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‘Factoring will help Nigerian economy to blossom’

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C&I Leasing outperforms peers at NSE on net assets growth

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&I Leasing the second-best performing stock on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) since the beginning of the year, has grown its book value (shareholders’ equity) at the fastest pace in the last 5 years when compared to other companies on the Lagos bourse.

Book value analysis of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the last 5 years shows C&I Leasing’s performance of a compounded annual growth rate of 33 percent as the highest recorded growth by any company in terms of book value appreciation.

Paul Uzum, stockbroker at Golden Securities Limited attributed the growth of the C&I Leasing books to the size of its balance sheet. He explained that “their balance sheet is quite small so if you look at relative figures the percentage difference will be high but the size of the company typically scares off most investors because of availability of information.”

When companies grow net asset at a rate higher than inflation it typically stands as a metric to fish out investment opportunities as total equity is constantly increasing, and value

is not being eroded by inflation.

Also, the net assets serve as the total value of the company’s assets that shareholders would theoretically receive if a company were liquidated.

Therefore, an increase in the net asset per share of a company will mean that the company is more valuable today than it was in the past. This helps to explain why C&I Leasing is among the best performing stocks on NSE in the last two years.

On the flip side, the liquidity of the stock and poor coverage of C&I Leasing by investment analyst has made industry players sceptical about the position of the company. An industry expert who commented on the clause of anonymity described his scepticism based on the upcoming capital reconstruction of the company.

“Most times when companies have something to do, there is a possibility of manipulation by mopping up shares by the directors of the companies through proxies and it is not the market reacting to good performance but more of strategies to negotiate form a position of strength” BusinessDay analysts adjusted the 5-year trend in net

L-R: Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, president, Africa Public Relations Association; Alero Balogun, head, corporate communications, Oando Plc, and Olusegun McMedal, chairman, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations Lagos State Chapter, at the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Lagos State Chapter, Lagos Digital PR Summit in Lagos.

asset value for irregularities and changes in business models to identify the top performing companies by book value growth. C&I Leasing, Presco, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Linkage Assurance and Mobil were the

top 5 companies with the highest annual growth of net assets.

C&I Leasing lead the pack with 33 percent annual increase improving its net asset by over 300 percent since 2012.

Presco and Stanbic IBTC

Holdings recorded a 29 percent annual growth rate in that same period, while Linkage Assuarance and Mobil grew net assets by 27 percent and 26 percent respectively.

Revaluation gains of Presco

on its biological assets and the low dividend indicated yield of Stanbic IBTC Holdings had significant impacts on the net asset values and explains to a large extent the fast pace of growth of the firms.

Egina FPSO: LADOL denies Samsung’s Quickteller Paypoint effects charge-free $300m FDI claim in Nigeria transactions for customers AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE

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he Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) has accused its technical partner in the fabrication and integration of the $3.1 billion Egina FPSO and the parent company of SHI MCI FZE, Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) Limited, of misrepresentation in its claim that it made a foreign direct investment of $300 million into Nigeria during the construction of the fabrication and integration yard in LADOL Free Zone.

AstatementbyLADOLcounsel, Fidelis Oditah, stated that contrary to Samsung claims, SHI was paid as a contractor to build the fabrication and integration facility at LADOL as a part of the Egina FPSO contract.

Samsung, he insisted, is a contractor not an investor in respect of the facility, adding that it invested nothing in the construction of the yard.

According to him, “Samsung committed at least three frauds and misrepresentations in connection with the June 2014 Settlement Agreement in order to induce LADOL to surrender its 80 percent equity ownership of SHI MCI FZE and the fabrication and integration facility:Thefirstisthefraudbywhich Samsung took LADOL’s equity in

SHI MCI FZE and gave itself 70 percent ownership of a fabrication and integration facility which was approved by the federal government and funded by Total as the poster childofNigeria’slocalcontentpolicy inrespectoftheEginaFPSOproject.

“Samsung thus misappropriated a local content facility and claims it as its own facility with whichitcoulddoasitpleases.Thisis amassivefraudagainstLADOLand Nigeria by depriving LADOL and Nigeria of a capacity development project and creating at least 50,000 directandindirectjobs.Similarly,by completely excluding LADOL from the facility, Samsung ensured that there was no technology transfer to Nigerians.”

He added, “There was no US$214 million provision in the EginaFPSOcontractallocatedtothe construction of the new fabrication and integration facility at LADOL, with which fraud and misrepresentation it procured LADOL to surrender its 80 percent ownership of SHI MCI FZE, the fabrication and integration facility owning vehicle.”

Oditah stressed that there are threeaspectstothedisputebetween Samsung and LADOL. “The first is the ownership of SHI MCI FZE, which is a joint venture between LADOL and Samsung formed to perform the Egina FPSO EPC contract between Samsung and Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (Total).

“The second aspect is SHI MCI FZE’s sublease agreement with a LADOL affiliate, Global Resources ManagementLimited(GRML).The third is SHI MCI’s operating licence as a free zone enterprise within the LADOL free zone. Samsung, on the other hand, has remained consistent in its assertion of ownership of the fabrication and integration facilityonthebasisthatithadsinglehandedly funded the construction of the facility, which it claims to be US$300 million, “he said.

However, Samsung has remained consistent in its assertion of ownership of the fabrication and integration facility on the basis that it had singlehandedly funded the construction of the facility, which it claims to be US$300 million.

The management of LADOL Free Zone claimed that the integration and fabrication yard in the free zone does not belong to Samsung.

“This issue has even been brought in the Senate and has been cleared years back. However, LADOL brought this issue back to light to make their name famous by using Samsung as leverage. For therecord,SHINdidnotreceiveany money from any IOC for the establishment of the yard. One hundred percentoftheinvestmentwasmade

by SHIN’s own money. LADOL has not invested any cent into that yard and SHIN is fed up with LADOL’s misrepresentation,” it stated.

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rom now on, customers who conduct payment transactions on the Quickteller Paypoint platform will no longer be required to pay any charges for the service.

Before now, the customers were required to pay a fee of N100 on each payment transaction, Quickteller Paypoint has now paired with some of the organisation’s biller partners to bear the transaction cost. As a result, customers can now make most of their transactions at no additional cost to them.

While this takes off the burden of transaction fees from the customers, it has been carefully processed to safeguard Quickteller Paypoint agents, such that they are able to retain their customary commission and other incentives.

Titilayo Shogaolu, divisional chief executive officer (DCEO) of Interswitch Financial Inclusion Service, said: “At Interswitch Financial Inclusion Service, we are not only committed to closing the financial exclusion gap, we are continuously working to provide convenient services that will enhance the adoption of digital payments and this latest incentive is just one of the many ways through which we are achieving this”.

Quickteller Paypoint is a one-stop service that provides electronic payment solutions to the under-banked through agents who earn exciting commissions and other incentives. The over 16,000 agents, who are spread across the country offer various financial services to customers,

such as: bill payment, funds transfer, cash deposits, cash withdrawals, and airtime top-up.

The list of the billers that Quickteller Paypoint is partnering with to deliver this value service includes: Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDP), Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC), WAKABET, BETWAY, Kwese, Ariaria Market Energy Solutions Limited, Rensource and Zola Electric.

Shogaolu also spoke on the future plans of Quickteller. She said: “Quickteller Paypoint is not stopping at this. We are working hard to secure more of such deals in order to deliver better value to our customers, and more profit to our valued agents.”

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Friday 19 October 2018

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Cutix records N662m PBT in 2018 EMMANUEL NDUKUBA, Awka

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utix Plc, a leading electrical cables manufacturing company in Nigeria has declared N661.6 million as Profit Before Tax (PBT) for its 2018 financial year which ended on April.30.

The company disclosed this at the pre- 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM) media briefing in Nnewi on Wednesday.

Ifeanyi Uzodike, outgoing chief executive officer (CEO) of the company said the amount represented an increase of 79 per cent over N370.1 million recorded in 2017.

Uzodike said the company generated a total of N5.1 billion in revenue against N3.7 billion recorded the previous year, representing an increase of 38 per cent.

He said the company’s Profit After Tax indicated an increase of 71 per cent at N440. 3 million as against N257.5 realised in 2017.

Uzodike described the performance of Cutix plc in the financial year as fair considering the ‘economic situation of the country’.

He said the company’s operations were largely affected by macroeconomic variables including foreign exchange and inflation as the company was about 95 per cent dependent on imported raw material inputs.

According to him, most of the forex required by the company was sourced from the parallel market noting that the performance would have been better if the conditions were better.

He however, pointed out that the company did not lay off any staff in spite of the challenges.

“We are meeting our obligations to no fewer than 250 staff in our employ in terms of salary payment and welfare as well as our obligations to all company stakeholders,” he said.

Uzodike who was CEO for 10 years also introduced Ijeoma Oduoye as his incoming successor.

Aquadana extends CSR to cancer patients IFEOMA OKEKE

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shmina Limited, makers of Aquadana, one of Nigeria’s premier brand of table water, has supported the Children Living with Cancer Foundation as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility programme.

Speaking at the Childhood Cancer Awareness Walkathon organized by the Children Living with Cancer Foundation in Lagos, Glory Esen, senior sales manager of Ashmina Limited said, not many are aware that there are children living with cancer and this platform provides such great opportunity to create further awareness not just about cancer but as it concerns people, particularly children, living with it.

We also supported the foundation earlier to organize a quiz completion and art exhibition. Children from various schools in Lagos joined these afflicted children in the contest and in an effort toward making the children feel a sense of belonging in the society.

Children are the world’s most valuable resource and we believe that a great way to show love to them is to support and partner initiatives like this.’’

International Childhood

Cancer Day is a global collaborative campaign to raise awareness about childhood cancer, and to express support for children and adolescents living with cancer and their families. The day promotes increas ed appreciation and deeper understanding of issues and challenges impacting childhood cancer patients and improving survival success.

It also spotlights the need for more equitable and better access to treatment and care for all children with cancer, everywhere.

The day encourages individuals and organizations to stand up and speak out for kids with cancer, survivors of cancer, and their families. It is a call for solidarity in action: joining voices, connecting forces, and connecting initiatives when responding to the needs of all stakeholders working tirelessly to maximize the efforts and resources for promoting early detection and cures.

Aquadana is the first water brand in Nigeria to be produced by a company employing ISO 9001:2015 quality management systems. Offered in a variety of pack sizes and dispenser for all conveniences, the company’s mission is to deliver superior customer satisfaction through people engagement in a safe and environmentally friendly way.

L-R: Howlett Shannon Lise, coordinator, IB Diploma Programme, Ashbury College, Canada; Rose Omonubi, executive director, Nubi Education, and Elleen Powers, senior recruiter and adviser, The Great Lakes College of Toronto, during the NUbi Education 10th UK/North America Boarding School Fair seminar and exhibition in Lagos.

He said between 2009 and 2018 net assets of Cutix grew from N400.1 million to N1.3 billion, while revenue N1.32 billion to N5.1 billion.

He thanked the shareholders, staff and management of the company and urged them to show the incoming CEO greater support to enable her succeed.

CIPM 50th Anniversary to attract Osinbajo, business leaders, captains of industries AKINREMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan

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igerian number two, Yemi Osinbajo is to lead other African business leaders and captains of industries to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM) in Abuja.

With Osinbajo as the Keynote speaker, the Director, ILO Country Office, Nigeria, Ghana Sierra Leone, Dennis Zulu; COO, Corporate Services, NNPC, Isa Inuwa; Justice of the National Industrial Court, Justice Kenneth Amadi; a Price Waterhouse Coopers Uyi Akpata; the National President NNEW, Modupe Oyekunle are the speakers.

Olawale Adediran, vice president of CIPM, who represented the president of the body during the visit of the CIPM management to some

stakeholders in Oyo State including the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan yesterday said the conference is open to all business leaders, Human Resource Practitioners, University students and the general public.

Adediran said the body has continued to regulate the practice of Human Resource Management in Nigeria over the past five decades.

The Vice president stated that the Institute contributes to sustainable National development through constant promotion of excellence in the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills by practitioners through continuous innovation.

Also, the Registrar stressed that “in the last fifty years, we have contributed to the development of the Nigerian nation through our members who are key decision makers spread across diverse sectors”.

In her remark, Oduonye, who was the company’s secretary, said she would uphold the principle of quality and customer-centered ideal of the company.

She said she would be fair to all but will not compromise on the corporate focus of Cutix which have made it a flagship in the cable industry in Nigeria.

Fowler urges developing countries to grow VAT, digital economy revenue

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abatunde Fowler, chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service has advised developing countries to grow Value Added Tax and tax revenue from the digital economy to lessen dependence on revenue from natural resources.

Fowler, who is also the first vice chairman of the United Nations International Committee of Tax Experts and chairman, African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), gave the advice in New York in an address delivered at the opening of the Meeting of the United Nations’ Economic Council (ECOSOC) on Taxation on and Digitalisation of the Economy and Taxation of ODA-Funded Projects.

He reasoned that developing nations should focus on taxation, as they have no control over prices of goods produced by developed economies from the natural resources they export.

Using technology to capture all the VAT available, Fowler said Nigeria in the last one year has increased its tax revenue base by 800,000 corporate accounts and grown non-oil tax revenue to a stage that it accounts for 64.3 percent of total revenue from 42.8 percent between 2012 and 2014.

“We have moved away from an oil-dependent revenue source to a non-oil revenue source. At the same time, we have focused on VAT. VAT continues to be the fastest growing tax type in the world and I was quite amazed when

the UAE spoke about introducing VAT,” he said.

Fowler disclosed that Nigeria realised N767billion from VAT in 2015, N828 billion in 2016 and N972 billion in 2017, a growth of about 25 percent, a development he ascribed to political will, international collaboration and cooperation of the judiciary, which recently yielded a favourable judgement over Vodacom in the case of VAT liability for a non-resident company. He urged other developing countries to follow the Nigerian example, which includes tax treaties that assist collection and remittance.

He maintained that the only way to ensure sustainable socio-economic development is through taxation and called on developing countries to reform their tax processes, adding that 90 percent of items produced in developed economies is sold in developing economies, depriving that latter of profits and taxes.

On tax revenue from the digital economy, Fowler counselled developing countries to take a leaf out of the book of their developed counterparts so as not to be left behind and urged the UN to show greater interest in the tax affairs of the developing countries.

“If we look at the issue of Apple and Ireland, the other members of the European Union (EU) found out that Ireland, in giving certain tax benefits, had an undue advantage for business and the EU insisted that Apple should pay EUR13 billion as tax,” he explained.

Friday 19 October 2018

BUSINESS

COMPANIES & MARKETS

Business Event

DAY

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‘Factoring will help Nigerian economy to blossom’ Peter Mulroy, secretary general of FCI (previously Factors Chain International), which accounts for 90 percent of cross border factoring in the world, was on his 3rd visit to Nigeria and first time in Lagos recently.

BusinessDay reached out to him and he spoke on the significance of the development of factoring and trade receivables financing for the Nigerian economy in this interview with Hope Moses-Ashike and Gbemi Faminu.

Excerpt.

Peter Mulroy,

M

ay we know you?

My name is Peter Mulroy and I am the Secretary General FCI (previously Factors Chain International), a non-profit association based in the Netherlands representing the interests of the global open account receivables finance industry.

Judging from your visits to Nigeria, how would you regard the environment?

I have been to Nigeria three times over the past twelve months but this is my first time coming to Lagos state. I was invited by our member, the Nigerian Export Import Bank, together with the African Export Import Bank (AfreximBank) to do some sensitisation seminars for the Nigerian Legislature, the Senate and Congress, so they can approve a new factoring law for Nigeria. We have had a number of sessions with them over the past two years, and last July the congress held a hearing on the Factoring legislation which was applauded. I attended the hearing as a representative FCI and I was able to answer all of the questions regarding factoring, especially the benefits to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria and also the positive impact it has on international trade. The law was well received and there is, judging from the warm reception received there, the possibility that law will be taken up and approved before year end.

How important is factoring to Nigerian business?

First of all, factoring is the financing of SMEs through the use of receivables.

Receivables are normally dormant assets on their balance sheet and are therefore used as secure means for financial institutions to provide working capital. This makes it important because a number of SMEs have restricted access to bank loans, and they also cannot provide some of the “hard” collateral required to obtain a loan, but they have receivables which are based on actual commercial transactions conducted on open account credit terms. During the process of buying and selling, the buyer is allowed to purchase the products or services on credit, leaving them with a grace period of 60-90 days to pay for it. It is simply the business method of ‘buy now, pay later’. Factoring converts the receivables from dormant to liquid assets. Factoring finances the economy through trade because every factoring transaction is backed by an invoice, which represents the real economy, because of the products and services being sold.

How effective will factoring law be to the growth of the Nigerian economy?

Factoring will help the Nigerian economy grow because it plants seeds of development, by providing working capital to SMEs, and basically, 85 percent of the businesses making up the Nigerian economy are SMEs. The SMEs need capital and adequate funding in order to operate their businesses. Factoring will act as a new source of liquidity in the market economy. Once the government passes the factoring law and the Central

Bank of Nigeria passes a new policy to allow banks and non-banks alike to offer this service, it will give investors the confidence to come to Nigeria and invest in this sector. It will in turn raise much needed capital fors SMEs who did not have access before and, lastly, some predict that over 90 percent of global trade will be conducted on erms of open account which will ultimately increase receivable balances on their balance sheets.

How affordable is this kind of financing?

Typically financing an SME involves higher risk, obviously opposite for large corporations. Factors are able to migrate “down stream”as a result of the unique characteristics factoring affords. First, unlike a loan, which is a two way street conducted between a lender and borrower, factoring is based on a “triangle” that includes the seller (creator of the invoice), the buyer/debtor, and the factor. The factor purchases the receivables from the seller, which includes all of the rights of this asset class, and requires the seller’s customers to pay them. So advances are made available to the seller based on the recievables purchased by the factor, however the factor controls the cash by collecting the proceeds from the receivables paid by the seller’s customers to the factor . If the factor is comfortable with the spread of customers, they can support the business, because it stands as the primary source of repayment.

What risk factors do you see in factoring?

The major risk involved in factoring is fraud, because factoring deals with the invoice and underlying receivable and if a fake invoice is assigned to the factor, and the factor is unaware, it will be subject to a loss. The factor can protect itself by verifying the invoice with the client’s customer before being funded, which will reduce the rate of fraudulent activity. Some companies can also try to assig the same invoice to multiple factors, also causing a fraudulent scenario.

However, this can be mitigated by way of a receivables registry, where all Financial Institutions involved will register their receivables with a centralized registry.

It is our hope that the government will be able to create an effective receivables’ registry as part of the factoring law. Such a registry will reduce the the rate of fraudulent activity . Presently, Nigeria is still at the early stage of factoring although it is experiencing tremendous interest, therefore the enactment of the factoring law is very important.

How many countries are involved in factoring?

Presently, factoring is recognised and applied in over 90 countries worldwide, Africa is the last continent to get involved with factoring, as it is already operating in all the other continents.

South Africa was the pioneering country in Africa, having started in the 1960s and one bank in particular, Ned Bank, joined FCI as a member in 1969. Today thanks in great part to the efforts by the AfreximBank, factoring is spreading to

various parts of the sub Sahara Africa.

Do these countries have the legal backing?

Yes and no, some of these countries like Cameroon, Kenya and Nigeria have passed some legal reforms to allow for the financing against these intangible assets known as receivables, but most are either working on it or are in the very beginning stages. Thanks in great part to the work of the NEXIM and AfreximBank, Nigeria is well on its way to success.

Globally, what is the estimated value of factoring?

According to FCI’s global statistics, factoring turnover in 2017 generated over EUR 2.5 trillion. In Africa, factoring volume generated accounts for less than 1 percent of global volume, of which South Africa contributes 80 percent with EUR17.1 billion. The second largest market is Morocco, with EUR 3,4 billion while in third place is Egypt with EUR 418 million. Nigeria is just now setting up factoring operations. Besides NEXIM, FCI has aadmitted Factoring and Supply Chain Finance, based in Lagos as a member of the network. And four others are considering joining in the next year, awaiting the passage of the factoring legislation.

The African Export–Import Bank predicted that the value of factoring in Africa will rise from EUR 24 billion to over EUR 100 billion by the year 2020, how valid is this assertion?

The objective is for factoring to have a £100 billion value by the year 2020, although this will be very difficult to achieve considering the fact that the continent went through significant economic decline the past few years due to the reduction in commodity prices. This objective was set a number of years ago, but it is very realistic to assume that the industry will grow to significant levels as the legal infrastructure and confidence in the system is achieved. Also, the mind-set and culture of African business will have to change for financial institutions to finance against these intangible asset class, like most of the markets around the world have done over the past five decades.

With the upcoming elections in Nigeria, do you think factoring law will be recognised and applied?

For business inclined politicians and aspirants, the introduction of factoring will serve as a plus to them, especially when its benefits are examined. There is the possibility that the laws will be passed this year mainly because it serves as a significant benefit to businesses especially SMEs and it is also an avenue to bring fresh capital to Nigeria.

Tell us more about FCI. FCI is a non-profit organisation established in the Netherlands in 1968, and is considered the voice for the global receivables finance and factoring industry. FCI has nearly 400 members based in 91 countries, and form a trading network to provide cross border factoring services to allow our members to finance the foreign receivables in a safe and secure manner. FCI also passes on the necessary knowledge through a robust education foundation, the legal understanding and necessity to conduct business, coupled with the experience accumulated over the past 50 years, with the provision of an educational platform that teaches people what to do and more importantly what not to do. At FCI, there is an academy with 10 different elearning courses and six seminar series conducted globally each year.

What are the plans FCI has for factoring in Nigeria?

The first step is to get the law passed by the government, get the policy approved by the CBN and have the regulatory law established, after which we will start promoting factoring in the country to the general public, and SMEs and even large corporations,.

L-R: Oshoke Ayebae, head, development and strategy; Sobalaje Sodiq Akinyemi, star prize winner; Somefun David Taiwo, 1st runner-up; Friday Enaholo, marketing manager, and Olakunle Ajayi, management accountant, during the prize presentation today at Fidson Healthcare Plc Head Office, Obanikoro Lagos.

Rogers A.I Nwoke (l), managing director/CEO HASAL Microfinance Bank, welcoming Benneth Korie, managing director/CEO, BB King Oil West Africa Limited, at the bank’s 10th Anniversary dinner held recently in Abuja.

L-R: Richard Borokini, director general/secretary to council, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN); Eddie Efekoha, president/chairman of council and Sakiru Oyefeso, deputy president, during the CIIN interactive session with the media in Lagos.

L-R: Morenike Olabisi, head, food and beverages segment, corporate banking, Union Bank; Anders Kristiansson, incoming group CFO, Flour Mills; Emeka Okonkwo, head, corporate banking, Union Bank, and Jacques Vauthier, outgoing CFO, Flour Mills, during the bank’s visit to Flour Mills of Nigeria as part of activities to mark the 2018 Customer Service Week.

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INTERVIEW To ensure gas supplies, we have made strategic acquisitions says Eroton CEO EBIAHO EMAFO, Managing Director/ CEO of Eroton E&P, in this interview with BusinessDay, speaks about the dynamics of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and the spin-offs, as well the growth, activities and projections of the company going forward. Excerpts:

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roton E&P signed a strategic gas supply agreement with leading fertilizer producer Notore Chemical Industries in 2015.How has the agreement changed things for your firm?

It is indeed correct that we have a gas supply agreement with Notore but it would interest you to know that the acquisition of OML 18 acreage was in part driven by the need to ensure regular and steady supplies of gas to Notore and the domestic market as historical gas deliveries were epileptic and unreliable with the previous operator of OML 18.

What are your projections, considering that we are at a time when the country is looking forward to seeing more indigenous players in E&P? Our projections in terms of production goals are essentially to be the number one hydrocarbon producer in the country and the region in the nearest future. Since acquisition we have been able to ramp up production progressively via rigless activities and field re-entries from a rate of circa 10 kbopd to circa 50 kbpod of net oil production. We see ourselves doubling this production within the medium term time frame via our infield drilling campaign which is set to commence next month (October 2018).

Eroton E&P currently boast of seven oil flow stations with capacity ranging from 10kbopd to 60kbopd, a 120 MMscf/day capacity non-associated gas (NAG) and three associated gas gathering.

What are your plans as regards improving performance of this asset and your expansion plans going forward?

Slight correction, we had seven flow stations, unfortunately two (Buguma and Orubiri) were completely vandalised and inoperable. We have however resumed production from Orubiri, via our Alakiri flow station and intend to resume production in Buguma in the nearest future. In terms of performance, our operations and maintenance teams have been able to achieve facility uptimes above 85% and rarely have operational outages which is a stark difference from the previous operators track record

ducer’s financials. Finally, I will raise the issue of fixed / regulated pricing, this policy impedes the level of investment into the gas industry due to the less than desirable returns on investment. There is a need to review the policy to make it more appealing to investors, we hope the PIB would be able to address these issues but in summary those are the major challenges we face today.

What is your take on the delay in the award of marginal field licenses in the country and is your company planning to acquire a marginal field?

Well… like you, we await the commencement of the bidding round with great anticipation, due to the fact that it would allow more indigenous players to come into the oil and gas space and therefore increase and improve our collective technical, financial and human capital.

We heard last year that the process was to commence in the nearest future but have sadly heard nothing further till date. At Eroton, we constantly seek to increase our reserves via exploration and acquisitions, so we can never rule out any opportunity until we do our due diligence.

for various reasons. In terms of expansion, as you rightly mentioned, our facility capacities are yet to be constrained, so we are of the opinion that the existing facilities will be sufficient for our medium term production growth targets.

Gas however is a key area where we want to expand our footprint and we are therefore aligning ourselves with the seven Critical Gas Development Project championed by the NNPC, to grow our production and sales volumes.

What exactly are your plans to grow your gas reserves?

At the moment we have 2P reserves of circa 4.7 Tcf, so our primary goal at the moment is to develop those reserves and monetise them via either supplies to the domestic market or mid-stream opportunities.

Naturally, as we develop the reserves, our replacement strategy would be to at a minimum, replace what we produce (i.e. 1:1) and we are of the firm opinion that the asset has significant upsides in the exploration space.

What are the challenges you face in the gas to power space?

The gas to power market in Nigeria can be tough for a few reasons. First of all, you have a situation where the Disco’s are not able to collect all their revenues from their customers due to metering and collection issues that have plagued the industry for a long time. This fact now has a knock-on effect on the entire value chain.

The Genco’s don’t receive full payment and as thus cannot pay the producers for the gas supplied. The second major issue is in the area of billing currency and attendant FX rates applied. Gas supplies are invoiced in naira, whereas the industry primarily spends in USD. This would be alright if the FX rates applied were what was obtainable for the producers to utilise, but unfortunately the CBN rate of 305 is applied when the reality is that most producers are sourcing USD at 360.

This leaves a disparity of N55 on every dollar billed, which will naturally impact any pro-

What proactive steps are Eroton E&P taking in solving the problem of Crude oil theft?

Crude oil theft is a problem that cuts across many sectors and stakeholders in Nigeria.

At Eroton, we have applied a multi-faceted approach by involving the various stakeholders such as communities, relevant government agencies and security agents and deployment of novel technologies that assist with detection and prevention of intrusion on our pipelines.

Everybody has their role to play in curbing this menace and we are hopeful that the current regime will provide the enabling environment to address this issue. At the end of the day, crude theft happens because the people in the area feel they have no better alternative, so in our small bid to provide alternative means of income to our host communities, Eroton has undertaken several CSR initiatives. These initiatives have touched on rural electrification, educational grants and scholarships, access to medical care, skilled and vocational training, and a host our youth empowerment

schemes such as setting up poultry and fish farms.

Recently, there are a lot of misconceptions in the media about a gas fire that broke out at the Buguma 10 Gas Well, a gas well located within Oil Mining Lease 18 (OML18) which is one of your major asset....can you clarify that?

In terms of clarification, you are indeed correct that we experienced a well fire on one of our wellheads in the Buguma axis. This was unfortunately as a result of third party interference deemed to sabotage / vandalisation by the relevant authorities. As discussed earlier, Buguma is a field that we are yet to resume production on but nevertheless have to keep a vigilant eye on our all our assets, whether actively producing or not, in view of the potential attendant hazards to life and the environment.

It is pertinent to note that we addressed the situation in record time with no loss of life or property.

Dangote refinery said early this year, that they are already in talks with some local oil firms... is your company part of them?

As a corporate policy I’m not permitted to discuss commercial matters and would rather refer you to Dangote to get a more informed response.

What are your plans to improve collaboration with oilfield services to improve logistics?

We work very closely with our vendors and contractors as they form an integral part of our business. We recognise the need to enable and support our vendors so they can effectively carry out their activities.

In terms of plans, we already have in place vendor financing programs in collaboration with some financial institutions and also invoice discounting to assist with cash flow constraints. Our contracting and procurement departments also support our vendors with awareness sessions in order to ease and facilitate the contracting cycle. In particular, we pay special focus to our local and host community contractors and vendors by giving them opportunities that are within their technical and or financial capability.

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INTERVIEW ‘Drugs given to Nigerian women at childbirth have quality issues’

In 2015, it was estimated that 58,000 women in Nigeria died at childbirth, making the country retain an unenviable top spot in global maternal mortality. The situation is not one without solution, and one of these, as simple as it may seem, is proper storage of certain medicines meant to be administered when women are giving birth. BusinessDay’s CALEB OJEWALE discussed some of these issues with FIONA THEUNISSEN, program manager for maternal health with concept foundation, a nongovernmental organisation based in Geneva that works on access to quality assured reproductive and maternal health medicines.

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an you tell us what your work in Nigeria entails, and how long it has been?

We are working on some programs that affect Nigeria and we have been working on one specific program, which is around the quality of Uteritonics. It is a global project but we have focused on Nigeria, India, and Kenya. Nigeria and India specifically because they have very high numbers of maternal deaths and Uteritonics are one of the key interventions that can reduce maternal mortality.

What has your experience been so far and findings from working on this project in Nigeria?

Around the world, we have a lot of evidence on problems with the quality of reproductive and maternal health medicines, particularly the quality of Oxytocin and Misoprostol which are two drugs recommended by the World Health Organization for the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage. We know that these two drugs suffer from quality problems at the manufacture level and through degradations. Oxytocin is a medicine, which needs to be kept in the cold chain because when it is exposed to heat, it starts to decompose.

Misoprostol needs to be specially packaged and properly stored because if it exposed to moisture, it degrades. Therefore, when these products have less than the normal required amount of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient in them, they do not do what they are supposed to do.

Some of the work that we have been involved with in Nigeria is research with professionals on their experience of quality. We have worked with obstetricians, gynaecologists, nurses, and midwives to learn about their experiences in health facilities and quality of these medicines.

We know from research that there is widespread poor quality because physicians and healthcare workers are not seeing the effects that they expect from the drugs (used when women are giving birth). The World Health Organization recommends that every woman who gives birth is given an injection of Oxytocin or a dose of Misoprostol to help contract the uterus and that way, close off the blood vessels to prevent postpartum haemorrhage.

Now, if the woman is given a drug and it doesn’t contain what it should, then the uterus would not contract. Healthcare workers can detect when this happens

and will see that women are continuing to bleed through those blood vessels that have been left open after the baby has been born. So, what they are doing is often using two, three, four doses of Uteritonics to get those uterine contractions to stop this bleeding.

We also are aware of the study conducted by the United States Pharmacopoeia’s Nigerian office with NAFDAC on sampling of the quality of Oxytocin in Nigeria. That study showed that 64 percent of the Oxytocin sampled was out of manufacturer’s specifications. So we know anecdotally that physicians and healthcare workers are experiencing poor quality (in the use of this drug).

We know factually from testing, that poor quality exists out in the field. We also know from other studies in the past like the UN Commission on LifeSaving Commodities, United States Pharmacopoeia studies in a number of countries, and a number of other quality surveys that quality is a really big issue in maternal health medicines. This also applies to magnesium sulphate which is used for eclampsia and pre-eclampsia which are the number two killer of women during childbirth. What we are trying to do is bring these issues to life, increase awareness of these problems, and then try identifying solutions.

In your findings so far, you mentioned that there isn’t enough cold chain storage, so that makes some of the medicines go bad. What are you doing to help resolve this?

One of the other findings that

I am going to mention is that there is widespread belief that Oxytocin does not need to be kept in the cold chain. In Nigeria for example and a number of other countries, Oxytocin is procured from manufacturers that have labelled the product store at room temperature or store at twenty degrees, store under thirty degrees.

The WHO does not recognize this labelling as being correct for Oxytocin. We have collected together a number of studies on the stability of Oxytocin and together with the World Health Organization, USAID, the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition and Pact, contributed to a publication, which is an advocacy framework on the right messaging for Oxytocin, that it should be kept in the cold chain.

This is in order to ensure that by the time the woman receives it, it is going to be a quality medicine.

There is a misconception that

you can leave this product on the shelf and if you do that, there is a very good chance that it is not going to work as efficiently as it should. One of the things we have been doing is trying to increase awareness of the fact that Oxytocin should be kept in the cold chain. So we have our messages framework which we are starting to roll out, and there will be a number of publications around this topic.

Some of the actions that countries can do are ensure that cold chain goes the whole way to the last woman. It is ensuring that at every health post where a woman can give birth, there is cold chain. But it has to go the whole way from the manufacturer right down to the day before the woman receives it to be able to ensure that medicine is quality. No one person in that supply chain can generally tell what has happened before or what will happen after they handle it and in a supply chain, you have a really large number of people who will handle the medicine. Unless you say it is going to be refrigerated the whole way, nobody sort of knows what has happened at any other point. It can experience some temperature excursions but you do not know how many times it has experienced those or for how long. So the safest approach is to call interest in the cold chain.

The next approach is to use a heat stable medicine and there is a misconception that some Oxytocin is heat stable; it is not. There has been a number of activities over the last 10 to 15 years to look for a heat stable Oxytocin or a heat stable Uteritonic. Misoprostol is a heat stable Uteritonic and it can be used. So, as long as you procure quality Misoprostol and it is packaged properly, that is an alternative for countries. There is another alternative that is coming to low income countries

We know from research that there is widespread poor quality because physicians and healthcare workers are not seeing the effects that they expect from the drugs (used when women are giving birth)

through a collaboration between the World Health Organization, Mark for Mothers and Ferring Pharmaceuticals to introduce heat stable Carbetocin. It is Uteritonic injected just after the woman has given birth and it has proven stability studies. So at thirty degrees, the heat stable Carbetocin maintains its potency for three years. We are waiting for four-year stability studies.

It has a long shelf life at thirty degrees and at forty degrees for nine months. This is a significant progress over the stability of Oxytocin, a very significant one.

Which means for a country like Nigeria, Oxytocin is probably not a good idea?

No Considering electricity challenges in Nigeria, where some critical health procedures even get stalled because of it, how then will they provide refrigeration for medicines like this?

There are different medicines with different ways of acting on a woman and there needs to be a suite of options, so Uteritonics are used for up to four different things. You can use them for induction of labour which is starting labour, augmentation which is speeding up labour, prevention of postpartum haemorrhage and treatment of postpartum haemorrhage. Oxytocin can be used for all of those four things so it is a very important drug, and countries need to work on improving their cold chain. It is really important that we work on cold chain.

The number one killer of women is postpartum haemorrhage, so prevention and treatment are critical so having a drug that is going to work for that part is important. Misoprostol can be used for all of these things as well; however, there are ongoing studies around; induction, augmentation and the right doses. Heat-stable Carbetocin can be used for prevention.

WHO guidelines currently being drafted are likely to include heat stable Carbetocin but only for prevention, not treatment. It is important that all these things are available and at the right quality at the time the women receives them.

What is important is preventing postpartum haemorrhage because it kills women. Losing women’s lives has a number of different costs and this is a possibility through postpartum haemorrhage. This has a number of implications when it happens such as women requiring blood, which is not regularly available in Nigeria.

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Nigeria partakes in Africa’s first nutrition forum, offering $82mn investment opportunity ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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igeria has joined other African countries in the campaign to improve nutrition and food security on the continent as the world marks food day.

Focusing on Nigeria is important considering underweight prevalence (children who are too thin for their age) increased from 24.2% to 31.5%, stunting prevalence (children who are short for their age) increased from 34.8% to 43.6% while wasting prevalence (children who are too thin for their height) increased marginally from 10.2% to 10.8%.

These figures reflect the statistic for the country in a survey carried out in 2016/2017 by the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS), in collaboration with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) and National Agency for the Control of Aids (NACA) as part of the global Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) programme.

Leading business leaders, policy makers and prominent development campaigners joined over 200 delegates to launch the first ever Nutrition Africa Investor Forum in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday. The forum hopes to explore $82 million worth of investment opportunities available to over 60 fast-growing small and medium (SMEs) enterprises, which often face challenges accessing affordable finance.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Swiss Foundation, and Royal DSM a science-based company in nutrition, health and sustainable living are co-hosting this drive to generate greater investments to improve nutrition in Africa.

As part of the initiative, organisers partnered with the United Nations’ World Food Programme to hold the first Scaling up Nutri-

tion (SUN) Business Network Pitch Competition on the continent. The finals, held at the forum, saw 21 companies showcasing their work to tackle nutrition following national competitions in Nigeria, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia involving 450 businesses.

Opening the Forum, Jakaya Kikwete, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, described as a leading member of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement working to end malnutrition across the world, encouraged greater public, private and third sector collaboration to address this pressing challenge in Africa.

“The nutrition agenda is a key driver of development, dealing effectively with malnutrition and its attendant problems is a cardinal development imperative. Nutrition related problems have a direct bearing to economic growth and development of a nation. If there is no change or improvement in stunting and wasting among children and, anaemia among women, and also iodine deficiency, then a nation is bound to lose a lot in future productivity,” said Kikwete.

“Governments have to develop good agriculture, nutrition and food security policies, as well as take appropriate measures and actions to ensure implementation of those policies,” he added Lawrence Haddad, executive director, GAIN, stressed that Malnutrition is a massive problem in Africa and businesses have to be part of the solution for malnutrition in Africa.

“The big problem most businesses face, especially the small and medium-sized ones when it comes to engaging in the market, is that they lack access to finance. GAIN works with businesses to develop their deal flows and their business case and then link them to investors.

This is the first real effort within Africa to make it easier for businesses to provide nutritious food by making it more readily available, affordable and accessible.”

Highlighting the importance of unlocking investments across the nutrition value chain, Fokko Wientjes, vice president Nutrition in Emerging Markets said, “With 30-40 percent stunted children in Africa, there is an urgent need to make nutritious foods widely available, affordable but most importantly aspirational in the eyes of the consumer.”

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Using Facebook to predict depression

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ew research uses over half a million Facebook status updates to predict depression diagnoses in people at risk.

Depression is one of the most widespread mental health problems in the United States, with over 16 million adults having experienced at least one major depressive episode in their lifetimes.

Worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that unipolar depressive disorders will be “the leading cause of the global burden of disease” by 2030.

Currently, however, the condition remains underdiagnosed, particularly among young people and men.

New research aims to help create better screening and diagnostic tools for depression by using the information provided by social media.

Researchers, jointly led by Johannes Eichstaedt, founding research scientist at the World WellBeing Project (WWBP) in Philadelphia, PA, and H. Andrew Schwartz, a principal investigator of the WWBP, used an algorithm to analyse social media data from consenting users and picked out linguistic cues that might predict depression.

The team published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Johannes Eichstaedt is the first author of the paper.

Analysing half a million Facebook posts Eichstaedt and colleagues analysed data from almost 1,200 people who agreed to provide their Facebook status updates and their electronic medical records. Of these participants, only 114 had a history of depression.

Study co-author Raina Merchant says, “For this project, all individuals (have) consented, no data is collected from their network, the data is anonymised, and the strictest levels of privacy and security are adhered to.”

Then, for every person who had received a diagnosis of depression in their lives, the researchers matched another five controls who had not.

In this way, the researchers matched 683 people.

The scientists fed the information into an algorithm. In total, Eichstaedt and colleagues analysed 524,292 Facebook status updates from both people who had a history of depression and from those who did not.

The updates were collected from the years leading up to a diagnosis of depression and for a similar period for depression-free participants.

By modelling conversations on 200 topics, the researchers determined a range of so-called depression-associated language markers, which depicted emotional and cognitive cues, including “sadness, loneliness, hostility, rumination, and increased self-reference” — that is an increased use of first-person pronouns, such as “I” or “me.”

Eichstaedt and team proceeded to examine how often people with depression used these markers, compared with controls.

Social media as depression diagnostic tool The researchers found that the linguistic markers could predict depression with “significant” accuracy up to 3 months before the person receives a formal diagnosis.

“Unobtrusive depression assessment through social media of consenting individuals may become feasible as a scalable complement to existing screening and monitoring procedures,” conclude the authors.

The study’s first author also comments on the findings, saying, “The hope is that one day, these screening systems can be integrated into systems of care.”

“This tool raises yellow flags; eventually the hope is that you could directly funnel people it identifies into scalable treatment modalities,” Eichstaedt continues.

Why Nigeria attracts substandard, falsified drugs CALEB OJEWALE

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igeria is attractive for the dumping of substandard and fake drugs because the country is unable to provide an enabling environment and incentives to get foreign manufacturers to set up facilities, and manufacture medicines, which can be effectively regulated for use by Nigerians.

Currently, the country is unable to capture up to 80 percent of potential revenue from the pharmaceutical industry due to importation of medicines, many of which are of questionable quality and standards.

With a pharmaceutical spend now in the USD$1 billion region, less than a quarter of this is currently retained in the country, despite the need to conserve foreign exchange, boost the economy, create more jobs and effectively monitor the quality of medicines that are produced for use in Nigeria.

In an exclusive interview with BusinessDay, Moji Adeyeye, director-general, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), said “in Nigeria

we import most of our raw materials; it is only water that we do not import.

“Right now, we import 70 to 80 percent of our medicines and what we need is the opposite. We need to start manufacturing up to 80 percent locally, because that is the way we can have easy access and that is how medicines can become (more) affordable,” said Adeyeye during an interview at the Medicine Quality and Public Health conference which was held in the University of Oxford recently.

Adeyeye also explained that a delegation from Nigeria, led by Isaac Adewole, the minister of health, was in China a few weeks ago, discussing partnership between the Chinese government and entrepreneurs in order for them to collaborate with Nigerians and set up pharmaceutical factories.

“We do not want people to just come and sell; we want companies to come, set up and partner with local manufacturers,” Adeyeye said.

As she explained, the medicines may not be as cheap as would be desired in the beginning but part

of the discussions with the Chinese government is to attract manufacturers of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) as well as manufacturers of non-actives to come and start manufacturing in Nigeria. That way, the products (that is, medicines) will become cheaper later. Apart from contributing towards Universal Health Coverage, this is expected to also strengthen the economy, as people will never be able to buy medicines, no matter the discounts offered if the economy isn’t strengthened enough to engage them.

At the MQPH conference, BusinessDay correspondent observed that input from a number of delegates from different organisations in the medicine and public health space suggested India and China

are top on the list of countries where many substandard drugs emanate from and developing countries like Nigeria are the final destination.

Nigeria, with its overdependence on importation of medicines, has been exposed to an influx of substandard and falsified medicines which are shipped to the country and other developing nations at a discount, sometimes for as low as 15 percent of the original cost.

Jingying Xu, a doctoral candidate (and researcher) on Public Health Policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in an interview with BusinessDay, gave an instance of when a manufacturer of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) did not meet up to the standards set by a certain popular drug company (name withheld). The API manufacturer resorted to finding other companies that could sell the drugs to places in Africa and other developing countries. All the API manufacturer had to do was offer a 15 percent discount from the price it would have sold to the company that rejected the medicines on quality grounds.

Situations like this continue to expose Nigeria to Substandard and Falsified Medicines, particularly as the NAFDAC DG says many of those countries do not regulate what they label for export.

According to Adeyeye, “Tramadol, Codeine and others are being shipped from South-East Asia under ‘For Exports Only’ and their regulatory authorities don’t have control over what is labelled ‘For exports Only’. I have challenged them and asked; exports only to where? To Nigeria?”

While the NAFDAC boss explained that work is currently ongoing to ensure regulatory authorities have control of all drugs leaving their ports (not just what comes in), she charged the World Health Organisation (WHO) to strengthen its global monitoring system.

She said: “People know that most of our bad drugs come from SouthEast Asia; from India and China. If that has been narrowed down, then the light should be shone on those places so that they will know that the world is watching them and that will reduce influx.”

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Health workers require re-orientation on handling of medicines CALEB OJEWALE

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he need to provide reorientation for health workers in the handling of medicines, particularly those used for women during childbirth is being emphasised by experts in medicine quality and public health.

This need was reinforced when BusinessDay correspondent interviewed Chioma Ejekam, a public health physician, who works in the department of community health, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Ejekam, led a study on the quality of Oxytocins in the Nigerian market, assessing the clinical experiences of healthcare providers.

Ejekam told BusinessDay that some of the key findings indicated, “Respondents (comprising Doctors and Nurses) have experienced use of ineffective brands of Oxytocin and nothing is being done about it. They just particularly tilt towards a particular brand while there are several others available in the Nigerian market.

Ejekam explained that one major problem with Oxytocin is degradation, especially cold storage practices in the supply chain and even the health facilities. According to her, a lot healthcare providers did not know the proper storage should be at cold chain temperature (which is +2°C to +8°C). It is possible that this poor management had translated to poor storage practices.

An important finding according to Ejekam is that, even when some medical workers have experienced

explained, “The problem of poor quality, therapeutic ineffectiveness, is widespread across every therapeutic area. Medicines quality issue is everybody’s problem, from the manufacturer to the pharmacists, to the clinicians and to the consumer.

So, we should not be left to the care of the pharmacists or maybe the pharmacy vigilance system. Whatever they do, even if they do it right, there could be problems before it gets to the consumer.

“We found out that most times clinicians do not remember that medicines quality is one of those things to consider in the chain of events that could predict disease

progression, or poor disease treatment outcome,” said Ejekam One more thing it appears medical practitioners need to pay attention to, is whether the medicine they have given a patient could be poor, hence, the reason why that patient has not responded. Checking off this box accurately is largely, a function of how properly such a medicine may be stored. The findings from Ejekam’s research, support another study by NAFDAC and the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), which had found almost 70 percent of Oxytocins in Nigeria were degraded, mostly on account of how they were stored.

How noise, pollution, prolonged stay in traffic impact our health ANTHONIA OBOKOH

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s many Nigerians battle with increasing traffic congestion, particularly in urban centres, experts say noise, pollution, and long stay in traffic is an important public health issue with negative impacts on human health.

Studies have shown that being exposed to the daily hassles of traffic can lead to higher chronic stress; similarly according a study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that one in five people are daily exposed to noise levels that could lead to ‘significant’ damage on health. This is due to the sound and noise that humans are surrounded with on daily basis. Environmental noise is among the “top environmental risks to health” and people are most affected by road traffic noise.

BusinessDay findings show excessive noise, pollution, long stay in traffic can affect blood pressure, hypertension, affects sleep pattern, fatigue, stress and heart disease which can lead to heart attack and mortality from cardiovascular diseases.

“Long stay in traffic stress can translate into deeper health hazards with both physical and mental consequences,” said Richard Adebayo, a consultant psychiatric and clinical psychologist at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos.

Adebayo explained that a long hour in traffic is stressful and could cause orthopaedic problems, like back pains, leg pain which affect circulation of blood leading to deep vein thrombosis.

“It lowers effective ability of daily

HBL TEAM

NGO advocates for more awareness on endometriosis in Nigeria

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ineffectiveness of Oxytocin, “it is never discussed, and it is not documented”.

“It was evident that our respondents were using like three to four times the WHO recommended dose for use of Oxytocin for prevention of postpartum haemorrhage.

It just means that they do not get their desired contraction at the recommended dose so they had to increase until they get the desired effect, and of course we know that has its consequent effects,” she said.

The solution to this as she mentioned, starts with creating awareness of the proper storage and handling for Oxytocin. As she

activities, affects sleep pattern, causes tiredness, and for those who have the tendency of developing high blood pressure, it can worsen,” he said.

Another problem is that after a bad traffic, people tend not to let it go, Adebayo says. They walk into the office and complain about their experiences, which leads to entire conversations about bad traffic and bad drivers.

“The mental consequences when stressed leads to anger, frustration and individuals can no longer tolerate, so they become impatient which tends to turn into resentment and anger, and could in turn lead to road rage.

“Spending much time in traffic affects the temperature of the scrotum in men, which may affect sperm production, and cause male infertility,” Adebayo added.

Adebayo further said that sleep de-

privation can also affect performance, attention and long term memory.

“Lack of sleep can cause anxiety, exhaustion, frustration, impulsive behaviour, lower immunity and some mental health problem. It also encourages drug and alcohol use,” he said.

Oladoyin Odubanjo, chairman, Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHPN), Lagos Chapter also said, people are exposed to high air pollution and are soaked with the fumes generated from vehicles.

“Prolonged stay in traffic leads to a sedentary lifestyle, we have to be very careful with our living condition,” he said.

In other to curb noise pollution, the WHO Regional Office for Europe has developed guidelines, based on

the growing understanding of health impacts of exposure to environmental noise.

The main purpose of these guidelines is to provide recommendations for protecting human health from exposure to environmental noise originating from various sources: transportation (road traffic, railway and aircraft) noise, wind turbine noise and leisure noise.

They provide robust public health advice underpinned by evidence, which is essential to drive policy action that will protect communities from the adverse effects of noise.

Experts expect that some of the WHO guidelines can be adopted in Nigeria, in view of the health hazards posed by environmental factors such as traffic induced stress, pollution, and noise.

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ndoSurvivors International Foundation (ESIF), a NonGovernmental Organisation (NGO) promoting endometriosis awareness, is advocating the need to increase awareness and diagnosis of the disease in the country, as a way of managing the ailment.

Endometriosis is a condition when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus (the endometrial stroma and glands, which should only be located inside the uterus) is found elsewhere in the body.

The condition is said to affect an estimated 176 million women worldwide, regardless of their ethnicity and social background.

Many of such cases remain undiagnosed and are therefore not treated.

Olivia Nwankudu the founder of ESIF, said at the endometriosis conference recently held in Lagos that, it is a common clinical tenet that one woman out of ten develops endometriosis. In other words, 10 percent of the entire female population may have endometriosis.

“For a disease so prevalent, it is worrisome to find that there is little awareness about endometriosis, so much so that it takes an average of 10 to 12 years for a woman living with it to get a diagnosis in Nigeria and several parts of the world,” Nwankudu said.

According to Nwankudu, the endometriosis conference was organised to raise awareness about the health condition, and educate women, the public, as well as healthcare professionals.

“ESIF is committed to bringing an end to this infamous delay in diagnosis,” she said.

Also speaking at the conference, Dada Olu Shonibare, director of South-West Zone, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), encouraged the foundation to keep up the work with focus groups and organise educational programs that will not only raise awareness about endometriosis, but also equip people with relevant information they need to deal with the condition. “it is important to seek government assistance with such projects, I challenge the team to strengthen informal and formal groups that can tackle the issue of endometriosis awareness,” Shonibare said.

Similarly, Bosede Afolabi, head, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) urged general practitioners not to delay in referring adolescents presenting with a history of severe menstrual pain and chronic pelvic pain because it is better for endometriosis to be suspected, diagnosed and treated earlier than later.

Reaction to endometriosis can be different for different patients, but typically known symptoms pointed out by resource persons at the conference included: headaches, nausea and or vomiting during one’s period, and diarrhoea or constipation.

ANTHONIA OBOKOH and ANI MICHAEL / Reporters. Email: obokoh.anthonia@businessdayonline.com I David Ogar, Graphics

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Why Nigerian banks hardly lend you money ADEDEJI OLOWE (Guest writer)

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e all go broke at different times, and the natural thing would be to turn to our bankers. After all, we have been putting our meager savings in there for a while; and one good turn deserves another, right? Wrong!

You are probably rolling your eyes now because we all know that Nigerian banks hardly lend to individuals no matter how compelling the case is. Yes, I know a few connected or lucky souls get loans that don’t come from your account going into debit because of SMS alerts. I also know a few banks, such as Access Bank, will readily give you loans under 30 seconds.

These are outliers, and 2 trees don’t make a forest. The official numbers paint a grim picture. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (yes, they keep tabs!), loans to individuals, which averages N88,000, constitutes just 0.7% of all loans while the ones that collect N1 billion and above is 82% of all credits Nigerian banks have advanced.

Everyone who’s got at least a D in Economics knows that credit is the grease of every economy and the cogs are the individual spenders, while SMEs are the backbone. So why are bankers bent on keeping Nigeria from attaining great heights? I guess this is the reasons why bank CEOs get bashed at every turn for the poor state of the economy.

It has become unpardonable as they deliver multi-billion profit year-on-years.

It seems the bashing, name calling, and mudslinging doesn’t work on the bank CEOs anymore. They just don’t care.

To rub salt into injuries, the few times banks want to give you a loan, they demand so

much documentation and collateral that people are stumped “if I had this much collateral and documents, I wouldn’t even come for a loan!”.

So, let’s go get our pitchforks and deal with these evil bankers! Not so fast; there are at least two sides to every story.

Let’s do a walk back and ask ourselves, why does anyone even set up a bank in the first place? To make tons of cash! Shareholders are not Father Christmas. Nobody goes through the pain of setting up a bank for charity.

And the way banks make money is simple. They take money from those who have excess cash or who want to save and lend part of it to those who need money. The gap between the interests they pay savers and what they charge borrowers is their profit (after paying off your cousin’s salaries and the cost of the ATM withdrawal you made at another bank’s ATM).

If banks only make money when they lend, why are they

not lending to me and you?

Obviously, if the money won’t come back, they can’t lend it because if they can’t pay the savers when they come for their money, it’s trouble.

There are two critical things lenders look out for when thinking of handing over cash to you; ability to pay and willingness to pay.

Ability to pay refers to the capacity of your cash flow to pay back according to the repayment schedule, the probability of your business to grow as to generate enough revenue to pay, etc. This is where complex models are used to check you out. For example, it’s a standard practice that you must not use more than 33 per cent of your monthly salary to pay back loans because irrespective of the sincerity of your heart, anything more could impair your day-to-day ability to pay back. Therefore, when banks ask for your statement of account, payslips, invoices, contracts, etc. this is what they want to calculate.

If you ask for much more than a bank thinks you can pay back, they will reduce it or the bad ones will kick you out of their office.

Willingness to pay back loans is a big deal, and it is so fundamental to credit that if you get this wrong, you are dead. If the ability to pay back is impaired, a loan can be restructured, and it happens every time. However, when borrowers don’t want to pay back, hell boils over.

Willingness to pay back is a function of a working society and I am not sure if Nigeria can be classified as working, per se. In other countries where individuals get easy access to cash, you are in so much trouble if you don’t pay back. In fact, nobody needs to warn you to respect yourself.

In places like Dubai, it’s even a criminal offense not to pay back: you skip your loans; you find yourself a lovely prison studio apartment.

Nigeria, being a place where law and order is an il-

legal alien, banks go around this issue by demanding collateral, things they can sell on Jumia or Balogun market if you don’t pay back. And not only do they request these, they do extensive checks on the documentation to ensure it actually belongs to you and that you haven’t pledged it to another bank. Stories of fake documents used for loans are twelve a kobo.

Crosschecking validity of documents in Nigeria is extra difficult as our governments are not automated. Just try to confirm land titles and vehicle authenticity and you can have an idea of the stress.

Since these processes are painful, long and super annoying, Nigerian banks quickly wised up to save their energy for higher ticket loans.

Why spend 2 weeks on documentation for a N100,000 that you only make N2,500 on when you give someone for a month at 30% per annum?

It would take precisely the same efforts to document an

N1 billion that you make N2.5 million at the same rate.

Of course, loans go bad for small and big borrowers.

While we hear of the bigger boys with bad loans, the percentage (count) of smaller loans going bad is higher.

Banks can afford to get a Senior Advocate of Nigeria to go after the big boys to get their money back and lawyers are not cheap. What is the costbenefit analysis of sending lawyers after a N75,000 loan when the amount in question isn’t enough to even pay the lawyer for a day’s job?

The good news is that fixing willingness to pay, that is to make it extremely painful and expensive for borrowers to default, can be easily fixed.

The bad news is that it takes so many political balls only few would attempt it because it would hurt a lot of politicians. We don’t even need the national assembly to do any law, there should just be a regulation between banks, backed by the CBN, that if you don’t pay your bills, you should be banished from the financial system. No need to take you to court or send lawyers after you.

If that happens, expect banks to start lending easily without going through too much documentation. They know you will pay back. Easy credit will allow people to have access to good things (consumer spending) while paying back over months.

Mortgages will become available. Builders will build more and cheaper as there is a ready flow of buyers. Suppliers of labor and materials to builders will sell more.

Multiply that for every sector of this damned economy and you can only imagine how we will rule Africa.

Adedeji Olowe is a fintech expert and a trustee of Open Banking Nigeria.

BUSINESS DAY

Friday 19 October 2018

AgriBusinessInsight Market Insights

Analysis

Commentaries

Experts/Industry Views

Commodities watch

Policy Reviews

23

Send in Commentaries to caleb.ojewale@businessdayonline.com

What Nigeria can do to achieve the ‘2030 zero hunger target’ CALEB OJEWALE Twiiter: @calebtinolu

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his week, the world food day was obser ved, with the theme ‘Zero Hunger is Possible by 2030’. How much Nigeria is prepared for this goal being pursued by the rest of the world, however remains a subject of debate.

The country remains largely food insecure, with little evidence to show there are strategic efforts being made to boost agricultural productivity to such a level where hunger will be eliminated from the country.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN, noted in commemoration of this year’s world food day that; “Conflict, climate, the economy, inequality, are some of the reasons why the goal of a Zero Hunger world may seem more difficult to achieve than before. And tackling malnutrition, in all its forms, is increasingly complicated by overweight and obesity. But experience has shown that food security and nutrition can make great strides when countries, institutions and people work together.”

Building capacity and youth interest Nigeria has over 80 million hectares of arable land, only half of which is reported to be under cultivation. Yet, a large market exists for

the food market. The food import bill, estimated at $5 billion remains a source of strain on the country’s foreign exchange. More importantly, there is a large pool of unemployed Nigerians who could utilise more of the country’s Arable land; feed the nation, and be gainfully employed.

Despite these prospects, the country appears incapacitated in tapping into the enormous opportunities available in agriculture. Over 70 percent of farmers in the country are smallholders, cultivating one hectare of land on the average. Furthermore, farming activity is mostly crude and lacking mechanisation, therefore, discouraging much of the younger population from venturing into agriculture.

Audu Ogbeh, minister of agriculture while speaking at BusinessDay Agribusiness

Summit, said “I see large numbers of young people interested in agric but limited by resources which we have to deal with.

“The simple question is this, if you don’t get involved, who will feed you in 10 to 20 years time. By 2050, the Nigerian population may be about 450 million, which will be five percent of the world’s population estimated to be 9 billion by then. Just ask yourself how much rice we need to eat, and how much sugar, beans, chicken, eggs, yam, okro, melon etc. Do you imagine the quantities that will be needed to feed us?

And we also to a large extent feed West Africa in grains,” said Ogbeh.

However, little appears to be done in getting the youth take up more interest in agriculture, even as the current generation of active farmers continue to age rapidly. Un-

less land under cultivation is increased, expectedly by a younger generation of Nigerians, it is very unlikely the country will achieve zero hunger by the 2030 target.

Violence and conflicts Nigeria was recently identified along with 30 other African countries, which remain in need of external food assistance. The FAO’s Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, noted that in Nigeria; persisting conflict results in population displacements, market disruptions and limited access to food aid in northern areas.

According to the “Cadre Harmonisé” analysis, about 5.3 million people were assessed to be in need of assistance between June and August. Market functionality and livelihood activities remain disturbed by the ongoing civil insecurity, limiting

food access to vulnerable households. The areas inaccessible to humanitarian interventions are facing the worse food security conditions.

The report’s findings mirror BusinessDay investigations earlier this year, which showed that farming activities remain rather low in some parts of the Northeast, despite successes claimed by the government and Nigeria’s Armed Forces in the war against insurgency.

Apart from the Northeast, violence between farmers and herdsmen in different parts of the country, particularly the middle belt, has seen thousands of hectares of farmlands destroyed.

Many farmers have also been displaced, and communities have been deserted.

In an atmosphere devoid of peace, it is difficult to imagine food production making any progress, especially to such a level where hunger will be conquered in Nigeria. As the FAO noted, conflict and hunger are closely related, and most conflicts mainly affect rural areas, disrupting farming and limiting access to food.

Peace can be a driver for eliminating hunger, and food security can often help mitigate and even prevent conflicts.

Tackling post-harvest losses The Agriculture Promotion Policy of the federal ministry

of Agriculture noted that current post-harvest loss rates are as high as 60% for perishable crops. In Tomato for instance, out of an annual demand of 2.2 million metric tonnes, the country’s actual production is 1.5 million tons but 0.7M ton (almost half) is lost post-harvest.

As long as the bulk of food produced in Nigeria perishes, achieving food security could be no more than a mirage.

Emmanuel Ijewere, Vice president, Nigeria AgriBusiness Group (NABG) said in an earlier interview, that the biggest problem in Nigeria is preservation. “Immediately our crops are harvested we need to cool down the temperature which extends the shelf life for a very long time,” he said.

“Post-harvest losses are recorded at various stages and the transportation stage is the most notorious of all the stages. The freighting of tomatoes (for instance) by rail will attack the transportation stage loss,” Ijewere said.

However, the functionality of rail remains yet another unfulfilled dream in Nigeria. Yet, the regular road transport does more harm in transportation of agricultural products, than any possible good. Until these and other variables limiting a boost in agricultural productivity are adequately addressed, achieving zero hunger will be yet another target Nigeria will fail to achieve with the rest of the world.

Grass production business could boost N1.9 trn cattle market

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igeria’s cattle market with an estimated 19 million cattle heads, which on a conservative estimate of N100, 000 per cattle translates to N1.9 trillion, can see productivity improve tremendously when businesses develop an industry around grass production.

The prospect of readily available grass to feed cows across the country has the potential to curb recurring violent clashes in different parts of the country between farmers and herdsmen. It will also see the value of cattle improve as better feed implies improved beef and milk quality.

“That is the only thing we need in Nigeria if we want to improve cattle, dairy and beef production in Nigeria,” said Ayoka Adebambo, a professor of animal breeding and genetics, at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, in a phone interview with BusinessDay.

“We have the land required and instead of going to places like Brazil to import grasses, many places in the north can be used to produce adequate high quality grass,” Adebambo explained.

Soji Apampa, CEO, the Convention on Business Integrity, told BusinessDay, his organisation introduced cultivation of Napier grass in the Laduga grazing reserve in Kaduna state, where

cattle owners are reporting significant improvements in their livestock. The Laduga reserve according to the National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE) has a size of 88,411 hectares, and was officially gazzetted in 1996 by the Kaduna State Government. The Grazing Reserve is divided into six blocks for settlement of nomads with transhumant corridor for temporary settle-

ment.

Apampa told BusinessDay that before introduction of the grass in the grazing reserve, milk production hovered around 1 litre (and usually less) per cow, but within weeks of feeding, cows could produce as much as 3 litres of milk in a day.

He also explained that the business of grass production is gradually gaining traction as rural dwellers around the reserve sold N6 million worth of Napier seedlings.

This, he said can improve if deliberate efforts are made to encourage increase in production, and making it a structured business so as to attract the right investments.

Napier grass, also known as “elephant grass”, “Sudan grass” or “king grass”, is a fodder grass that produces a lot of high-protein forage. It is not entirely new in Nigeria, but now holds prospects of a profitable industry that

could as well end years of violent conflicts between farmers and herdsmen.

The grass is suited to high rainfall areas, but is drought-tolerant and can also grow well in drier areas.

For a cow to produce well, it needs feed of about 15 kg a day. Impliedly, Nigeria’s estimated 19 million heads of cattle will require about 285,000 metric tonnes of feed in a day. As many nomadic herdsmen may be unable to produce the grass required to feed their cattle, this opens an opportunity to grow grass in commercial quantity to meet the needs of this market, and improve cattle quality in the country.

Chryss Onwuka, a professor of ruminant animal nutrition and president of the Nigerian Society for Animal Production, had also expressed the view

that the normadic movement of cattle takes a toll on their energy, which in turn reflects on their weight ; bringing about weight losses that they had hoped to gain by moving.

“The little potential they have for weight gain is lost in the course of transiting from one place to another.

If they were sedentary, then their restricted movement would have translated into weight gain,” Onwuka said A grass growing industry is likely to resolve conflicts that arise when cattle herders migrate and graze. It will provide an alternative source of feed which and improve the quality of cattle in the country. The increase in cattle productivity as experts have observed, will not only be for beef production but also dairy production where Nigeria currently lags global averages.

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Hotels Beyond hospitality, Transcorp Hilton Abuja thrills guests with cultural offerings

Novotel Port Harcourt Address: 3 Stadium Road Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt Rivers State, Tel: 0809 713 5734

OBINNA EMELIKE

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s part of its contributions towards promotion of Nigerian c u l t u ra l a n d culinary heritage, Transcorp Hilton Abuja recently held its 2018 annual New Yam Festival.

The celebration, which held in the hotel premises, brought together friends and customers of the hospitality outfit to an evening of cultural performances.

Some of the guests include; Eze Jude Obidiegwu, the traditional ruler of Obodo Ukwu Kingdom in Imo State, Professor Joseph Ohaneku, vice chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, John Fashanu, former Nigerian professional footballer, among others.

New Yam Festival, an annual event obser ved by the people of South East geo-political zone of the country between the months of August and October, was adopted by the hotel few years back as one of its arts and culture promotional packages.

Since then, the event has continued to attract personalities of distinct tribes and religions.

Welcoming his guests, Valentine Ozigbo, managing director/chief executive officer, Transcorp Hotels Plc, owners of Transcorp Hilton Abuja, highlighted the significance of the festival to the hotel. Being a respecter of culture and tradition, Ozigbo, who is a titled chief, noted that the hotel has found it necessary to commemorate the day annually.

The MD, who gave a brief history of the festival, also emphasized the socioeconomic importance of yam, which he described as

Transcorp Hilton Abuja 1 Aguiyi Ironsi Street Maitama, Abuja Tel: +234-708-060-3000

Eze Jude Obidiegwu, performing the symbolic cutting of the new yam, while Valentine Ozigbo, MD/ CEO, Transcorp Hotels Plc, looks on

the king of all crops.He said: “New Yam festival has come to stay. It has been there for decades and centuries and it is a symbol of the great things our God has done for us”.

“It helps us to mark the end of a farming season, reaping of the harvest and the beginning of a new one. It is a cycle that keeps us going, especially in Igbo race and community.And it has come to be, not just a regional event, a national event but now, an international event. I was told that recently, Professor Wole Soyinka celebrated New Yam festival in Ife, and it is being celebrated all over Africa and the world at large”.

“It is something we are extremely proud of because of the symbolism of yam - the crop that our people showed their strength in and our God blessed us with. We call it the king of all crops, and we at Transcorp, being respecter of culture and tradition, find it necessary to commemorate a day like this each year.

“This will be the last time that it will witness a small gathering. Next year, we will ensure that every customer in the hotel takes

part in it. It is important to underscore the importance of this day.”

For Professor Ohaneku, VC, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, the yam tuber is not revered as the king of crops for nothing. According to him, the tuber, beyond its economic value, is equally nutritional and medicinal to humans. He however warned that if the crop was not given the desired attention, especially by the younger generations, it may suffer extinction. He therefore urged Nigerians, particularly the Igbos, to ensure that their children understand the significance of yam crop.

“I am happy that what we have started here will also re-enkindle our hope of food security in the country. We should start doing the needful by ensuring that we go back to our root. I say this with a sense of commitment and appreciation that when we value what we should, we have our sense of identity. What I see here tonight shows that we still have hope of preserving our identity. Someone coming here from another country will understand that we have a tuber that is grown

here, eaten here, revered and celebrated here”, the V.C stated.

Also speaking was Ozo Gburugburu, Ikechukwu Ifedi. He commended the hotel management for celebrating culture and uniting the nation. He informed that in the past, it was considered an abomination to eat new yam without observing the rites.

After the speeches, the symbolic cutting of the new yam was performed by Eze Jude Obidiegwu, supported

by Chief Ozigbo.

He said: “We tilled the land, planted the crop, we nurtured it and we reaped the harvest, but before we eat it, we give thanks to God. He therefore offered prayers on behalf of the management and staff of the hotel; for the guests and for the nation. With that, the Imo State-born monarch ushered in a bountiful harvest for the hotel as he cut the large, roasted tuber into two.

Then, the celebration began in earnest as cultural dance groups performed while palm wine and yam delicacies were ser ved to the satisfaction of the guests.

It’s exquisite guests’ experience at Radisson Blu Anchorage with Remy Martin

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adisson Blu Anchorage Hotel Lagos has partnered Remy Martin in Nigeria to continue to give its guests exquisite hospitality experience second to none.

At an exclusive cocktail event at the hotel in Victoria Island Lagos recently, guests and selected dignitaries had a taste of the world famous French distilled cognac brand, Remy Martin XO, VSOP and 1738 Accord Royal.

Stephen Jimba, brand ambassador, Remy Martin brand in Nigeria, took the

Top BusinessDay Partner Hotels

guests through the historical age and production of Remy Martin in France, as well as, gave insights on special tasting techniques that leave the taste buds with exquisiteness.

According to Kevin Kamau, general manager, Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel Lagos, the partnership with Remy Martin provides an opportunity to leverage on the rich history and global acceptability of the brand to continue to enhance service quality to guests of the hotel.

“Remy Martin is a premium brand that has got

a rich history and global pedigree that the Radisson Blu brand is proud to partner in giving our guests a superlative experience,” Kamau mentioned.

Also, Ahmed Raza, manager, food & beverages at the hotel, stated that Remy Martin is an established brand that will complement the delicious cuisines offering of the hotel, which will ultimately result to guests’ loyalty.

Xavier Carbonel, Remy Cointreau country manager Nigeria explained that Remy Martin brand represents

legacy and rich culture of fine premium French distillery. “The Remy Martin brand distillery is superior giving you same taste irrespective of the time in history. This uniqueness of the brand gives us an edge,” Carbonel affirmed.

The partnership between Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel Lagos and Remy Martin will see staff of the hotel travelling to France to learn the unique culture of the cognac brand to be replicated in enriching and elevating guests’ experience of Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel Lagos.

Protea Hotel Apo Apartments Address: Ahmadu Bello Way, Apo, Abuja Tel: 09 480 1818

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Abuja 1 Uke St, Garki, Abuja.

Tel: +234 9 4603900, +234 805 7522500

Chida Hotel International Address: Plot 224, Solomon Lar Way, Utako, Abuja Tel: 0810 871 8882

Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja #38/40 Isaac John St, Ikeja GRA100271, Ikeja Tel: +234-908-780 5555

206 Hotel Plot 206 Cadastral Zone B02 Opposite Kenuj 02 Mall, Oladipo Diya Road, Durumi District, Abuja Tel: 08119707993 Email: 206abuja@gmail.com

Radisson Lagos Ikeja #42-44 Isaac John Street, GRA Ikeja, Lagos

Protea Hotel (V/Island) Off Ajose Adeogun Street, V/ Island

Gombe Jewel Hotel, 22, Njamena Street, off Aminu Kano crescent Wuse 2, Abuja.

Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel 1A,Ozumba Mbadiwe,Victoria Island.

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‘Filmmakers should not borrow money to shoot films’ While many producers seek bank loans to fund their movie projects and live with the burden of paying back loans, two Nollywood heavyweights resorted to co-funding in Heaven On My Mind, their latest movie. In this interview, Uche Jumbo, one of the producers, shades light on the new film, funding and related issues to Obinna Emelike.

What informed the titled of the film ‘Heaven on my Mind’? irst of all, it is not a Christian movie as the title may connote. Heaven is a girl’s name in the film. You have to watch the film to know why the girl is on anybody’s mind. It premieres on December 7, 2018 while nationwide screening starts December 21, 2018.

that you are bringing your strengths.

Ini is hardly nervous, nothing freaks her out. On my part, I am very intense.

Sometimes, when I am in that mood, Ini will calm me down. I think having her as a partner in this project is the best decision I have ever made because I did not foresee that I will run into these problems because there are some things going into a project that will happen as emergency.

Is the film your first directorial movie and why going to the cinema now?

The film is not my first directorial debut, but it is the first film that I directed that is going to the cinema.

My directorial debut is a film called Lost In Us released in 2015, the year I gave birth, but it did not go to cinema.

I am probably one of my greatest critics. I feel the film is good for the cinema. I may shoot a film and intend it for the cinema, but after reviewing it, I may discover that it is slow and not fit for cinema. I feel that there is an audience for every film, but it is not all films that are meant for cinema.

But if a film has cinema quality, push it by all means. If it does not have such qualities, look for alternative route to release. Besides cinemas, you can go to TV, online, but not DVD because the market is no longer booming like before.

How do you switching between the acting and directing roles?

I just do both. But I have people who are on the lookout as well. Sometimes they are worried about my hair or other things, but they are there to give direction. One thing about combining the two roles is that it is tasking, but make sure you have someone to redirect you when you are not getting it right and also listen to them.

At some point, my PA was also doing that. It is just having the right people around you.

Sometimes, when I am in a director’s mood I do not really care about makeup or looking beautiful and forgetting that I am supposed to be acting too.

F

What makes a film fit for cinema?

Well, distribution outfits will tell you strong story, good casts, laughs here

Uche Jumbo

and there and a film that is well shot, are qualities that make cinema success for any movie.

Why the co-production with Ini Edo? I will rather say I have a co-investor.

The film is executive produced by Ini Edo and I. When I gave her the script, she liked it instantly and asked to be partner in it. The co-production with Ini Edo is probably the best decision I have ever made because this film stressed me more than any film I have been part of.

We started filming in 2017, and I

All eyes on Terry McMahon for Caged In The Creeks

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s Nollywood, the Nigerian movie industry, welcomes Terry McMahon, multiple award-winning Irish film director, to Nigeria tomorrow, there are expectations for exchange of ideas, mentorship and partnerships.

Nollywood will be welcoming the acclaimed director for an exciting opportunity to hear the filmmaker introduce his new project ‘Caged In The Creeks’, which promises to be exciting for its very revealing and thought-provoking themes.

Of course, the Irish film director best known for his roles in ‘Batman Begins’ and ‘Patrick’s Day’, is expected to produce one of the biggest films in Nollywood going by his credentials.

‘Caged In The Creeks’ a film by Riveting Integrated Entertainment Limited, the producer of the popular stage play, ‘Walking Stick’, is about projected to top Nollywood production budgets in recent times. McMahon will be in the country between October 20-30, 2018 to familiarise with the available equipments and film infrastructure in

the country.

McMahon, who is the director of ‘Patrick’s Day’ which received numerous awards and accolades, will be deploying his film production prowess on the new Nollywood project ‘Caged in the creeks’. Upon his arrival, he will visit Lagos, Ibadan, Rivers State and Abuja; locations of the movie with Port Harcourt as the main location.

He will also be meeting with top Nollywood actors to discuss on the cast of the movie and collaborations that could take place in the course of the production.

Following the pre-production of the film, McMahon will be joined by some Nigerian award-winning filmmakers on the platform designed to grow audiences for the movie, ‘Caged In The Creeks’, with the central theme of the story being the coming together of two different types of kidnapping in the Niger Delta region.

‘Caged In The Creeks’ exudes the story of a unique kind of crime: crossborder misfits (terrorists and militants) who are knitted together in a relationship that is as devilishly targeting and discomforting as it is suffocating to all.

McMahon, in 2005 played the role of Bad Swat Cop in ‘Batman Begins’ starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, and Morgan Freeman. Born in 1969 in Mullingar, Republic of Ireland, McMahon is an Irish director, producer, writer, actor and acting coach.

had an accident while filming and we had to stop. We reconvened in March this year to finish the filming. If I was just the sole executive producer, that would have stressed me. There were times we had to recast roles someone was playing; there was a girl who started with us but could not continue and we had to get another person to cast the role afresh.

Of course, that means more money to spend. If I was doing this project alone, I would have been exhausted long ago.

The thing about collaboration is

Why self-funding when there are loans and other credit facilities?

Interests on loans are very high and I do not want to worry about how to make someone’s money back. I always advocate that filmmakers should not borrow money to shoot

films. It is better to get an investor or investors to raise the needed fund because filmmaking is a risk. I rather get a person that will take the risk with me than going to borrow money because I have to worry on paying back the loan. As well, the uncertainty about what we do is glaring.

For me, filming something with the expectation that it will sell is a huge risk because things can go the other way. When you put money in a film production, you should understand the risk that goes with doing that.

Sometimes, it is amazing, sometimes, it is not. But you need to know that things do not always go the way we plan them.

Do you encourage such partnerships in Nollywood?

Partnership is amazing as long as you are bringing your funds, strengths together and also sharing the risks.

But you have to partner like-minds; people who are passionate about achieving the same goals you want to achieve. For instance, sometime we go on a location and I will be thinking from a director’s point of view, but Ini Edo will ask if I do not like the location and she will make alternative arrangements. That is her strength. As well, you have to partner people who are bringing equal strength to the table to ensure balance. That is what we are blessed with in this particular set.

I am more of a creative person, while Ini fixes every other thing.

It is all Shuga Coated this Sunday

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f you are a lover of live concerts, Shuga Band, one of the surviving musical bands in Nigeria, is inviting you to experience the best of music in the ‘Shuga Coated’ concert.

As the name implies, the concert will offer good music amidst all sorts of sweet ‘shuga’, and hence a must-attend.

Of course, it celebrates the 20 years anniversary of the Shuga Band led by Akinloye Tofowomo popularly known as Akiin Shuga.

As well, Akiin Shuga is promising fans experience of a lifetime this Sunday October 21, 2018 at Eko Hotel and Suites, venue of the concert.

The concert will be an opportunity for fans and lovers of the Shuga Band to celebrate the band’s journey while the band serves them musical dish like never before.

The Shuga Band is known for excellence and exceptional musical dexterity when it comes to live band in Nigeria and beyond. After traversing the whole country, continent and beyond in the last 20 years, performing for kings and queens, the musical band is set to celebrate with the Shuga Coated Concert - an unbeatable musical experience.

“This is not to brag but the only adjective that qualifies what anyone at the Shuga Coated Concert will experience is unforgettable.

Akiin Shuga

We have been rehearsing dutifully.

If these rehearsals are anything to go by, everyone who attends Shuga Coated Concert will not be able to forget it in a hurry. We call on all our friends and lovers in the last two decades to join us at this premium concert”, Akiin Shuga said.

While responding to rumours that the show has sold out already and there are no more tickets available, he said “The truth is that we were sold out but had to create more tables and spaces when the calls kept coming. Many important personalities have bought tables.

We have celebrities who are fans

of the brand and have signified their interest in the show. As a matter of fact, we are giving our event managers more work to do as we are now catering for more than we initially planned. But that is a good thing for us and we are excited that we have so many loyal friends and fans. We cannot wait to give them an experience of a lifetime at the Shuga Coated concert”, he concluded.

Shuga Coated concert will take place on Sunday, October 21, 2018 at Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites to thrill thousands of fans who get pass to the show.

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Business Etiquette

Movie Review: PEPPERMINT

with Janet Adetu

LINDA OCHUGBUA

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earching for a movie with a good balance of both thriller and action?

Look no further because “Peppermint” is the right movie for you.

I didn’t bother trying to guess what this one was about because the flyers and trailer already said a bit about its storyline. The hype before the movie was also on point and it created the right buzz ahead of time, which made a lot of people to flock to cinema upon release.

It was so nice to watch such a movie with a sweet storyline and what I like to call a ‘’comeback movie’’ for Jennifer Garner who played the role of “Riley”.

The movie was a simple story of a woman who sought revenge of the death of her family. It was a nice action movie with loads of stunts and chase, simple costumes and a few basic locations.

The movie started off with the scene where Riley was taking her daughter home from school; it was her birthday and she had invited all her class mates to come over.

Along the line, a rival in her class decided to fix a hangout at her own home that same day; everyone went over to hers instead of Riley’s daughter’s birthday party. By the time her mother got home, she was furious that no one turned up so Riley decided to take the family to the park to have some fun; this was when the movie entered a whole new dimension.

That night, her husband and daughter were killed by some bad guys, but she was lucky to have escaped. On getting to the court to testify against the guys, she found out that the whole system was corrupt from the judge, lawyers, the FBI Agent, down to the normal foot soldiers.

Everyone was working for the drug cartel boss and no one could act or take action. The sad aspect of this movie was that they also framed her as insane so that they

Bad Habits

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Cast: Jennifer Garner, Richard Cabal, John Gallagher Jr. , Juan Pablo Raba, Annie Ilonzeh, John Ortiz Genre: Action, Adventure, Mystery & Suspense Director: Pierre Morel Ratings: R (for strong violence and language throughout) Written by: Chad St. John Runtime: 102 minutes Studio: STXFilms could get rid of her completely upon arrival at the mental institute. But, she was lucky to have vanished while en-route.

She returned on the 5th anniversary of the death of her family and began killing everyone that had a hand in her family’s murder.

The best scene for me was when she killed the cartel boss. I enjoyed this movie from start to finish and I am sure you will.

My Verdict: It was an ‘’okay’’ movie and action packed as well, even though there were some totally unrealistic scenes which just didn’t add up.

Presently, Peppermint is still struggling in the box office despite being certain viewer’s choice.

Regardless of the above stated, this movie still gets a 7/10.

Movie Credit: Cast: Jennifer Garner, Richard Cabal, John Gallagher Jr. , Juan Pablo Raba, Annie Ilonzeh, John Ortiz Genre: Action, Adventure, Mystery & Suspense Director: Pierre Morel Ratings: R (for strong violence and language throughout) Written by: Chad St. John Runtime: 102 minutes Studio: STXFilms Feel free to review any movie of your choice in not more than 200 words and send via e-mail to linda@businessdayonline. com You also stand a chance of winning a free movie ticket when you answer the question of the week correctly on social media.

Twitter and Instagram @lindaochugbua

ave you noticed bad habits among your staff lately?

The workplace is the beginning of where your career begins or what I would say an important point of your life journey and experience. Whether this workplace is but for a temporary period or a place you plan to grow, develop and thrive on. In the past getting a job was such a great deal because it meant that one was now an adult capable of being independent and capable of making responsible decisions. This significance is seen in some cultures where young adults would honour those who educated them by giving them part of their first salary as an appreciation for taking them to that level. Millennials today have changed the face of the workplace, some almost do not care if they get a job or not. Some feel so entitled at work that they stroll in late consistently, others are quite restless on the job and always demand a pay rise for being in the company for what they term a whole year.

The change on the flip side is good in many ways, as business owners and corporate executives are forced to wake up and go with certain new technological trends.

The workplace is also where a large chunk of one’s active time is spent in the course of the week, some even add the weekends to their work schedule and almost barely get the chance to take time off. Spoken, written and face to face communication contact in the work space and certain like that month in month out.

With all this in mind the workplace is bound to experience an array of personalities, characters, attitudes, behaviour and above all habits, both good bad and at times the ugly. Habits are what employees pick up along the way, either from their lackadaisical behaviour, poor policy execution, limited repercussions, faulty management style and general poor attitude to work. It is important that when they are noticed they should not be overlooked as trivial but adhered immediately for impact.

Imagine: Tinuke has a habit of strolling into the office on average at 9:00am every day, at times almost at 9:30am, she claims the traffic from her distance residence is the reason for

this habit of lateness each day. By the nature of her job she meets clients on a regular basis. On a couple of occasions the client has reported her impolite lateness with no apology. To date management have failed to address this as it is deemed, Tinuke is one of the senior long serving staff who has a decision making capacity. The junior staff have frowned at her poor habits of coming late to work, late for meetings and late for in house appointments. This is a true story of a professional her poor habit leading to negatively impacting company policy and standards, create of the company extremely away important clients and dampen to productive minds of subordinates.

The implication is a reputation damage to the company and a fall in the overall bottom line, if drastic measures are not implied.

There are so many habits

that we see daily in the office space; it is time to correct habits that are beyond the norm.

Habits Needed to be Addressed: Persistent Lateness This is major creating many problems in the business and corporate space today. Running a few minutes late is acceptable with an apology or advanced notice. Appearing one hour or more after the scheduled time is what is not acceptable, for many reasons it speaks to the lack of ability to organize ones schedule or manage ones time. It is disrespectful to those who have made that effort to be there on time who are more structured. Everybody is busy, time is truly of essence, if you are unable to make the meeting it is safer to express so. When circumstances prevail that are out of your control, communicate this to the necessary persons and let things move on. Discipline with time is a skill that must be practiced, it is a bad habit and an image saboteur to be labelled a persistent late comer.

Sloppy Dressing Have you ever thought of needing the services of an

image consultant?

Are you stuck in a rut and always uncertain as to what to wear to work?

Are you in need of a huge image makeover?

Sloppy dressing cannot go unnoticed it speaks to an area that you are not conversant with. Slopping dressing is where you dress haphazardly regardless of the place, occasion, moment and time.

You dress not to be included, accepted or recognised, your coordination is poor and sense of colour is doubtful.

It is a bad habit to show up at work, a meeting or conference without considering the cause of the day. First impressions means a lot in business, the workplace directly influences your appraisal, recognition, assignment, external representation, promotion and more. As the adage goes “Dress the way you want to be addressed “. Do not sabotage your image or executive presence.

Failure to wash hands It is difficult to know how often one washes their hands in the workplace, however many reports have come in to say that it is not as often as expected. Whether this is in the office kitchen or convenience, washing of hands is majorly essential, It is a very bad habit not to recognize the importance of grooming for many health and safety reasons. I always say carry a bottle of hand sanitizer and hand wipes in every bag.

Nose Picking / Sneezing in the Hand To some people this may not be significant to many others it is clearly an act of indecency. Nose picking is an unconscious effort of many, it is commenced even before you are aware of it. It can be irritating more so when the act is seen and done in the public eye. Sneezing generally in the air with no regard for others in the office is generally considered a bad habit. It is also worse when the act of sneezing is done into ones hands especially without wiping immediately.

This for me is a complete No No, quite spontaneous but a health hazard all the same.

These habits should be done discreetly with a handkerchief in hand.

Watch out for part 2 on more bad habits committed in the workplace and environs. Share your experience with me Janet.adetu@jsketiquetteconsortium.com

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Harvard Business Review

Friday 19 October 2018

ManagementDigest

The tightrope Google has to walk in China Google dodged. But moving forward, U.S. firms will have to maintain stronger lines of communication with policymakers to resolve regulatory concerns on the front foot.

DIPAYAN GHOSH

W

ith over 1.3 billion people, the Chinese consumer market is a tempting target for Western technology companies. Of course, it’s also a risky place to do business. The recent news that Google is considering a re-entry into China further highlights a troubling balancing act faced by technology companies looking to do business there. The company last entered China in 2006 with a censored search engine, but pulled the plug on the operation four years later after it discovered that human rights activists’ Gmail accounts had been hacked. While the economic opportunity in re-entering China could be massive for the firm, there are very real dangers for Google or any internet firm in underestimating the threat posed by Chinese meddling.

Any internet platform company doing business in China has to negotiate a major business and ethical dilemma: The Chinese government enforces overbearing regulations that censor speech in the name of national security and, under common conceptions of international norms, violate human rights. Reports indicate that Google has discussed some of its re-entry plans with Chinese government officials, including offering a search service that would “blacklist websites and search terms about human rights, democracy, religion and peaceful protest.”

Google’s bind is a common one. Apple, for its part, gave in to a new, privacy-impinging

Chinese data security regulation last year when the firm announced it would build a data center in Guizhou, partner with a Chinese cloud service provider, and accommodate Chinese government demands that it should be able to examine private data held by Apple.

The potential loss Apple would have sustained had it not caved and, in the view of many, compromised human rights interests, was huge — its access to the vast Chinese market for devices, as well as its manufacturing base there. Reportedly, Facebook has also attempted to enter China, though it has faced tremendous public outcry and difficulty in doing so.

Google’s departure in 2006 and the maneuvers of other tech companies trying to negotiate this minefield illustrate the difficult choices their executives face. Companies are compelled to maximize shareholder value; should the firm’s executives ignore human rights concerns and seize economic opportunities, or should they take the more ethical course

and forego the profits to be had?

While ethical considerations should rightly be a central concern, there is an array of potential threats internet firms would be wise to think through as well as they seek to balance the costs and opportunities of entering China.

— INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THEFT: It is well-known that the Chinese government engages extensively in intellectual property theft. For internet firms like Facebook and Google that collect personal data and monetize it using proprietary algorithms, state theft of corporate secrets — and their potential exploitation by Chinese rivals linked to the government — would pose a serious threat.

— ESCALATING GOVERNMENT DEMANDS: It is now clear that companies operating in China are kept on a short leash even when they comply with governmental demands.

Indeed, the government can be expected, over time, to

make increasingly invasive demands. Qualcomm, despite its compliance, has received heavy regulatory fines succeeded by significant merger blocks. Apple, which complied with Chinese regulations last year, was subject to threats that the government would shut off access to the Chinese labor market should the ongoing trade war with the United States escalate.

— REGULATORY CREEP: Political backlash against the leading internet platforms is increasing. In the last year, we have seen novel rhetoric and regulation from governmental authorities in Brazil, India, the United States and elsewhere. Internet companies desire open markets and unconstrained internet service.

But by making concessions to China’s censorship and regulatory demands, companies will surely encourage other governments to impose their own restrictions on the industry. When questioned about its China plans on Capitol Hill,

2017 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

— ALIENATING EMPLOYEES: Until a few months ago, Google’s plans regarding China were a closely kept secret.

When employees learned that the company was considering censoring the search platform for the Chinese market, many signed a condemning internal letter — a petition to which the company’s CEO Sundar Pichai replied by noting only that Google doesn’t have immediate plans to launch a censored Chinese search service. Employees’ influence within technology corporations is growing; present and past Facebook employees (including former President Sean Parker) likewise have publicly condemned the company’s leadership for its lax data privacy practices; at Google some employees have left the company in protest of its policies.

China has long enforced a strict media and information regime.

It’s unlikely that this policy framework will change any time soon. The ethical case for resisting Chinese regulation is clear.

But internet companies need to also think carefully about the business costs of conceding to Chinese rules. In addition to the threat to their reputations, there are material risks that are equally dangerous.

Dipayan Ghosh is a fellow at New America and the Harvard Kennedy School. He was a technology and economic policy adviser in the Obama White House, and formerly served as an adviser on privacy and public policy issues at Facebook.

Friday 19 October 2018

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10 things Nigerians and the government - should know about competitiveness in the fourth industrial revolution

A

s globalization has led to unprecedented gains for many from the movement of goods, services, people and ideas, there are also those who are losing out – economically, politically or culturally.

This has in part contributed to the rise of polarized political debate and populist, nationalist and, at times, extremist agendas, both in the West and in emerging markets.

Against this context of citizens’ concerns about jobs, inequality and globalization, policymakers are looking for new pathways to prosperity.

A wide range of new technologyintensive, high-skilled occupations are expected to be in demand in the future, along with new growth broadly across sectors such as education, health, care, green energy and more, calling for a new approach to “industrial policy” in the digital age.

It is against this background that the World Economic Forum introduced the new Global Competitiveness Index 4.0, a much-needed economic compass, building on forty years of experience of benchmarking the drivers of long-term competitiveness and integrating the latest learnings about the factors of future productivity.

This 2018 global competitiveness ranking saw Nigeria falling from 112 to 115, well behind African peers Kenya, Ghana and Mauritius.

The GCI 4.0 is organized into 12 pillars: institutions; infrastructure; ICT adoption; macroeconomic stability; health; skills; product market; labour market; financial system; market size; business dynamism; and innovation capability. The Index also introduces a new progress score ranging from 0 to 100, with the frontier (100) corresponding to the goal post for each indicator and typically representing a policy target. This approach emphasizes that competitiveness is not a not a zerosum game between countries—it is achievable for all countries.

As countries reset their path to competitiveness, there are ten key take-aways for Nigerians and the government: 1. Competitiveness is not a luxury good. In fact, all economies must pursue the drivers of productivity, regardless of their current level of income or current areas of strength, if they want to grow faster in the future and build resilience against shocks. While there is a strong correlation between competitiveness and income level, some economies are over-performers and others under-performers when it comes to putting in place the building blocks of competitiveness at their current level of income. Economies that under-perform relative to their current income level may have difficulty sustaining that level without improving their competitiveness. There is no compensability between the twelve levers of competitiveness– a sound financial system cannot compensate for poor physical infrastructure, just as ICT adoption cannot compensate

aspects of the institutional environment as a factor of productivity. For example social capital—a broad concept that captures the quality of personal and social relationships, the strength of social norms and the level of civic participation in society—is highest rated in Australia and New Zealand, while freedom of the press is best rated in Norway and intellectual property protection most advanced in Finland.

for the lack of an entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem. Countries must pursue all twelve avenues but create their own sequencing strategy to balance and focus efforts, taking advantage of cheaper capital and technology.

2. Investing in people is good for social and economic outcomes.

There is no trade-off between social inclusion and a country’s level of competitiveness. In fact, the health, education and skills of a population are among the key drivers of productivity, particularly in the context of economic and technological transformations. With the right skills, workers can become the agents driving and managing such changes, rather than being displaced by them. Investing in people can no longer be an afterthought – it is a fundamental building block of growth and resilience in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

8. As do infrastructure and the financial system. The quality and breadth of transport infrastructure (road, rail, water and air) and utility infrastructure lower transportation and transaction costs and facilitate the movement of goods and people.

Basic elements of such infrastructure are still missing in many economies, encumbering their competitiveness. The financial system is also still an area of relative weakness for several economies. Finland, Hong Kong SAR, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Norway have the most stable financial markets (all scoring above 95), while India, China, Russia and Italy—all with a score of 84 or less—are among the G20 economies that have specific vulnerabilities in their financial systems.

3. Embracing globalization in the 4IR goes beyond free trade.

Openness remains a fundamental driver for competitiveness: more open economies are more innovative and their markets more competitive.

However, the definition of openness must look to concepts beyond trade and include the freedom of people’s movement and ideas exchange. Collaboration across borders is particularly critical for a dynamic innovation ecosystem. Using such a definition, we find that Singapore, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and the United States are some of the most open countries in the world, while Brazil and India emerge as relatively “closed”.

4. But open economies must also embrace social protection.

While openness is a ‘win-win’ between countries it is at times a ‘winlose’ within countries. This means that even as governments must pursue openness for greater long-term prosperity, they must also support those who lose out to globalization.

Attempting to address inequality by reversing globalization is counterproductive. Instead of protecting specific jobs or the products resulting from those jobs, policies should focus on improving the conditions of those specifically impacted by globalization through redistributive policies, safety nets, investments in human capital, more progressive taxation, and opportunities to transition to new economic opportunities.

5. Creating an innovation ecosystem goes well beyond research and development. Innovation has become an imperative for all advanced economies and a priority for a growing number of emerging countries. And yet for 77 of the 140 economies studied, innovation capability is the weakest pillar, with innovation powerhouses, such as Germany, the United States and Switzerland, still outliers. While scientific publications, patent applications, R&D expenditure and research institutions are all wellestablished aspects of developing

innovation capability, they are not enough. For good ideas to move through to commercialization, a number of “softer” factors are equally important. This includes the ability of companies to embrace disruptive ideas (where the US leads), the attitude toward entrepreneurial risk (where Israel leads), diversity of the workforce (where Canada leads), and flat hierarchical structures in companies (where Denmark, Sweden and other Nordic countries lead).

6. Technology offers a path to economic leapfrogging but only in combination with other factors.

While technology is not a silver bullet, it is a vital tool for growth and prosperity so its allocation and governance is critical. The promise of leveraging technology for economic leapfrogging remains largely unfulfilled. There are, at most, 4.5 billion smartphones in use in the world and more than half of humanity has never gone online. It is vital that economies provide greater ac-

cess to ICTs to the majority of their populations. At the same time, it would be misguided to rely on technology alone to solve all problems.

For many of the least competitive economies, the root causes of slow growth continue to be the ‘old’ developmental issues such as institutions, infrastructure and skills. For technology-based leapfrogging to offer a new path to development for low-income economies, these issues cannot be ignored.

7. Institutions still matter. Weak institutions—defined as including security, property rights, social capital, checks and balances, transparency and ethics, public-sector performance and corporate governance—continue to be the Achilles heel hindering competitiveness, development and well-being in many countries. For 117 of the 140 economies studied, their institutions pillar performance is a drag on their overall competitiveness score.

Governments must pay attention to both traditional and emerging

9. In a time of constant change, there is a need for constant agility.

Amidst the transformations and disruptions brought about by the 4IR, the adaptability and agility of all stakeholders—individuals, governments, and businesses—will be key features in successful economies.

For governments in particular, “future orientation” entails aspects such as adapting legal frameworks to digital business models, providing a stable environment for doing business, responding effectively to change and having a long-term vision. Singapore’s government is the most ‘future-ready’, followed

by Luxembourg’s and the United States’. The United Arab Emirates and four other Gulf countries appear in the top 10, which also features Malaysia. On the other hand, the governments of Brazil, Greece and Venezuela are perceived as among the least ‘future-ready’.

10. Achieving equality, sustainability and growth together is possible – but needs proactive, far-sighted leadership. There is a worldwide consensus on the need for a more holistic model of economic progress that promotes higher living standards for all, respects planetary boundaries, and does not disadvantage future generations.

While, there is no inherent trade-off between equality and growth, the relationship between performance on the GCI 4.0 and on environmental measures is less conclusive. The most competitive economies have the largest ecological footprints, but they are the most efficient (their footprint per unit of GDP is the lowest). It is therefore incumbent upon leaders to set longer-term priorities and put in place proactive efforts to create virtuous cycles between equality, sustainability and growth.

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LegalPerspectives

With

Friday 19 October 2018

Odunayo Oyasiji

Is executive order 8 legal?

T

he executive order 8 is titled Voluntary Offshore Assets Regularization Scheme. The order was signed on October 8, 2018 by the president.

Under the order, Nigerians with assets abroad are expected to declare all their assets abroad within 12 months. They are to voluntarily do this and pay a onetime levy of 35% on the total assets.

According to Garba Shehu (presidential spokesman), “any taxpayer who truthfully and voluntarily complies with the conditions of the scheme, pays a one-time levy of 35 percent on the total offshore assets or pays all outstanding taxes, penalties and interest after forensic audit of their offshore assets and income shall obtain immunity from prosecution for tax offenses and offences related to offshore assets, among others.”

He further stated that “In signing the order, President Buhari noted that under the Nigerian law, every citizen has the duty to declare his or her income and assets and pay taxes on them but regretted that this, in most instances, had not been the case. The sad reality is that efforts to recover these taxes from defaulters through litigation are often frustrated by the complications caused by the change in the character and nature of such assets, insufficient financial intelligence, long delays in courts, among several other reasons.”

LEGAL BASIS FOR TAXATION IN NIGERIA Section 4(1) of the Constitution vests the legislative power of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the National Assembly- consisting of the Senate and House of Representative. Section 4(6) vests the legislative power of a state in the State House of Assembly.

Section 4(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) vests the powers to make laws with regards to tax issues on the National Assembly.

The section states – “The National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation or any part thereof with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List set out in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Constitution.” A look at the exclusive legislative list under part 1 of the second schedule to the constitution shows that item 58 and 59 addresses the issue of tax- item 58 deals with stamp duties while item 59 deals with taxation of incomes, profits and capital gains.

It must be noted that exclusive legislative list simply mean that no other body can make laws with regards to items on the list.

To further buttress this, Section 4(3) of the constitution states that “The power of the National Assembly to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List shall, save as otherwise provided

in this Constitution, be to the exclusion of the Houses of Assembly of States.” This means that even State Houses of Assembly cannot make laws relating to the items on the exclusive legislative list. The foregoing is enshrined in Section 4(7)(a) of the constitution- “the House of Assembly of a State shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the State or any part thereof with respect to the following matters, that is to say: (a) any matter not included in the Exclusive Legislative List set out in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Constitution.”

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the powers of the National Assembly to make laws with regards to tax issues can be delegated to the states and down to local governments. This is provided for under part II dealing with concurrent legislative list. It reads- “7.

In the exercise of its powers to impose any tax or duty on - (a) capital gains, incomes or profits or persons other than companies; and (b) documents or transactions by way of stamp duties. the National Assembly may, subject to such conditions as it may prescribe, provide that the collection of any such tax or duty or the administration of the law imposing it shall be carried out by the Government of a State or other authority of a State. 8. Where an Act of the National Assembly provides for the collection of tax or duty on capital gains, incomes or profit or the administration of any law by an authority of a State in accordance with paragraph 7 hereof, it shall regulate the liability of persons to such tax or duty in such manner as to ensure that such tax or duty is not levied

on the same person by more than one State. 9. A House of Assembly may, subject to such conditions as it may prescribe, make provisions for the collection of any tax, fee or rate or for the administration of the Law providing for such collection by a local government council. 10. Where a Law of a House of Assembly provides for the collection of tax, fee or rate or for the administration of such Law by a local government council in accordance with the provisions hereof it shall regulate the liability of persons to the tax, fee or rate in such manner as to ensure that such tax, fee or rate is not levied on the same person in respect of the same liability by more than one local government council.”

The deductions that can be made from the foregoing is that nowhere in the constitution is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria empowered to make laws in form of orders with regards to tax issues as such power is vested in the National Assembly and can only be delegated to the states and from the states to the local government. Also, it is crystal clear from the wordings of paragraphs 7 to 10 of the part II dealing with the concurrent legislative list that the constitution forbids double taxation.

Therefore, a person shall not be under the liability of paying tax on the same liability twice.

Based on the foregoing, the Federal Inland Revenue (empowered by the FIRS Act) is responsible for tax collection at the Federal Level while states also have similar organs for the collection of tax.

It must be noted that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the grundnorm i.e. it is the

legal basis for our legal system.

Section 1(1) of the Constitution states that “this Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on the authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

And Section 1(3) states “if any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.” Therefore, any act by the presidency that contradicts the provisions of the constitution or which exceeds the powers vested in the president by the constitution is null and void.

PLACING EXECUTIVE ORDER 8 SIDE BY SIDE WITH OTHER LAWS AND TREATIES Implementation of Executive Order 8 will be tantamount to imposition of double taxation on Nigerians. It is safe to presume that a person who buys a house abroad must be paying tax on the property. Therefore, subjecting such a person to another tax in Nigeria amounts to double taxation- this is an area that the world is trying to eliminate through the signing of treaties that will ensure that a person that has been taxed in one country is not taxed in another country on the same thing. It must be noted that Nigeria is a party to some of these treaties.

Where will Buhari’s Executive Order 8 put Nigeria’s obligations under the treaties it has signed with other nations to eliminate double taxation? It must be pointed out that even the FIRS Act, 2007 recognizes the fact that Nigeria signed double taxation treaty with other countries

of the world. Section 50 (4) of the FIRS Act states that “Where under any law in force in respect of any double taxation treaty with any country, provision is made for the allowance of relief from income tax in respect of the payment of income tax in Nigeria , the obligation as to secrecy imposed by this section shall not prevent the disclosure to the authorized officer of the Government in that country of such facts as may be necessary to enable the proper relief to be given in cases where relief is claimed from the tax in Nigeria or from income tax in that country.” and Section 50(5) also reads “Where any agreement or arrangement with any other country with respect to relief for double taxation of income or profits includes provisions for the exchange of information with that country for the purpose of implementing that relief or preventing avoidance of tax, the obligation as to secrecy imposed by this section shall not prevent the disclosure of such information to the authorized officers of the Government of such country.”

Some of the countries Nigeria signed double taxation treaty with are – The United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Canada, South Africa, China, Philippines, Pakistan, Romania, Belgium, France, Mauritius, South Korea and Italy. It was observed from the cursory look into the provisions of most of the treaties that the aim is to secure a mutual understanding between two sovereign countries on issues bothering on tax by exempting someone who has paid tax in country A from being subjected to payment on the same thing in country B. Furthermore, both the Companies Income Tax Act and the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) exempts income derived from dividend, interest, rent and royalties, brought into Nigeria through government approved channels, from tax- Section 23(1)(K) of the Companies Income Tax Act and Section 19 of the Personal Income Tax Act (under paragraph 30 of the third schedule).The PITA specifically goes further to exempt fees and commission, received by a taxable person abroad, from tax, provided such fees and commission are brought into Nigeria through government approved channels. Therefore, why should a person who owns a property abroad (whether he earns rent from it or not) be required to pay tax on it to the Federal Government.

All the foregoing laws (PITA and CITA) derive their legality from the constitution as they are Acts of the National Assembly of Nigeria. Their provisions take precedence over an executive order.

Implementation of Executive Order 8 will amount to an attempt to enforce a phenomenon the world is working assiduously to eliminate!

Politics & Policy Friday 19 October 2018

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2019: PDP members in Diaspora move to vote Atiku as next president RAZAQ AYINLA

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ays after the public endorsement of the former vice president and presidential candidate of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar by his former boss, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, the London chapter of the party has pledged to elect Atiku as next president of Nigeria.

Thousands of Diasporian members of PDP are being mobilised to return to Nigeria in December 2018 and January 2019 to participate in the general election slated for February and March 2019, pledging to cast their votes for all aspiring candidates of the party in the elections.

Speaking through a press statement made available to BusinessDay on Thursday, Kenny Aluko, former chairman of PDP London chapter, declared that the coming home of party members was to contribute to the victory of presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku Abubakar, as well as other candidates of the party at all levels

Atiku Abubakar

of government.

He added that all card-carrying members of the party with Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) had started flight bookings for the proposed trips starting from this December through January, 2019, saying the party members were fully pre-

Muslims accuse Fayemi of political marginalsation RAPHAEL ADEYANJU, Ado-Ekiti

M

uslims in Ekiti State have accused Governor Kayode Fayemi of marginalising the Muslim community in the recent political appointments announced by the state government.

Addressing newsmen in AdoEkiti Thursday, the Muslims under the aegis of the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO), Ekiti State chapter, said the appointments of the Secretary to the State Government, the Chief of Staff and the Chief Press Secretary were not balanced, fair and against the Muslim community.

The Ekiti State Coordinator of NACOMYO, Tajudeen Olutope Ahmed, who addressed newsmen during the protest, said: “The exclusion of Muslims from the entire membership of the core principal officers of this administration is worrisome, unjust, condemnable and unacceptable.”

According to the NACOMYO chief, the Ekiti Muslim community saw the appointments “as a calculated attempt to exclude Muslims from the fundamental aspect of decision making process in Ekiti State.”

In picking holes in the appointments during the protest staged at the Central Mosque, Ado Ekiti, the Coordinator of NACOMYO in the state, Ahmed said excluding Muslims from the first three appointments announced by the governor were “shocking and highly disturb-

ing to all Muslim in the state.”

The group said Muslims in the state constituted about 40 percent of the Ekiti State population, and added that the governor was given their total support by voting massively for him during the governorship polls.

He held that “the exclusion of the Muslims in this regard is a violation of the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).

“The exclusion of Muslims from the core principal appointments of Dr. John Kayode Fayemi is a derogation of the motto of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as provided in Section 15 (1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended). Rather than projecting ‘Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress’; the recent appointments made by the Government will breed disunity, commotion and backwardness.”

They called on Governor Fayemi to “breathe life into Section 14(4) of the constitution which provided that ‘the composition of the government of a state, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all people of the federation.”

pared to flush out the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at all cost and elect Atiku Abubakar through legitimate means.

“No doubt and no going back, we are coming home to participate in the forthcoming general election, particularly the Presidential

election. We have mobilised all our members who have PVCs to return to the country and actively participate in the election. We are coming in, in thousands.

“Our mission and focus is to support our party to victory, and towards this, we have started arranging our flight tickets. We are also going to join Atiku campaign as soon as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifts ban on political campaign.”

Aluko also commended former President Olusegun Obasanjo for endorsing Atiku Abubakar, stating that the endorsement was a clean bill of health for the People’s Democratic Party Presidential Candidate.

“It is no more news that our ‘Baba’, the father of the nation, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Ebora of the world, has endorsed our party flag bearer, but the cheering news which follows is that, this is a plus for our candidate, and a clean bill of health.

“We appreciate and we are very grateful for this and thank the world leader for this big endorsement,” Aluko said.

Fayose to remain in EFCC custody as commission disowns fake audio tape INNOCENT ODOH, Abuja

T

here are indications that former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose may spend more time in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for more interrogation over alleged fraud of N4.7 billion slammed against the former governor by the anti-graft agency.

The spokesman of EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren told BusinessDay in an interview on Thursday that the governor is still in their detention facility saying, “it is not proper to talk about the matter now because it is still under investigation.”

When asked why the commission has kept Fayose against the provisions of the law, and when the former governor will be arraigned, Uwujaren said: “There is nothing that we have done that is against the law and you will be informed when he will be arraigned.”

Meanwhile, the commission has

Ayo Fayose

debunked an audio tape circulating on the social media in which the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, reportedly made comments suggesting that nothing will happen if former governor Ayo Fayose, dies in custody.

Uwujaren described the audio tape as fake, adding that the place where the conversation occurred as well as the person that Magu was supposedly talking to was not disclosed. “Members of the public are advised to disregard this disingenuous creation as it is the handiwork of mischief makers intent on distracting the Commission from the serious work of wrapping up the investigation into the corruption allegations against the former governor of Ekiti State.

“The audio recording is fake as the comments did not emanate from the Chairman of the EFCC. Purveyors of this fake news especially a former spokesperson of a leading political party are warned to desist,” Uwujaren said.

Fayose, on Tuesday, visited the old Head Office of Commission in Wuse 2, over alleged corruption charges slammed against him by the Federal Government.

He was accompanied to the commission’s office by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike; former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode; Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, human rights activist and member of Bring Back Our Girls campaign group Deji Adeyanju and a crowd of teaming supporters.

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Declare your asset, CACOL urges Fayemi INIOBONG IWOK

T

h e C e nt re f o r A nt i corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) has urged the newly sworn-in Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, to publicly declare his assets and those of his deputy just as he did during his first term in office.

In a statement to the media yesterday and signed by the antigraft organisation’s Coordinator of Media and Publications, Adegboyega Otunuga, on behalf of the Executive Chairman, Debo Adeniran, it said that it was imperative that the governor declare his asset to give his administration credibility, which would further serve as a pointer to other public office holders.

The statement further commended the governor, for moving fast to declare education free in the state-owned primary up to junior secondary school, stressing that such move would further consolidate the success recorded by the state in the education sector in recent time.

“Governor Kayode Fayemi, after his swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday, October 17, 2018, immediately sprang into action by announcing a ‘free education

Kayode Fayemi

programme’ for all pupils in the state-owned primary schools up to junior secondary school.

“This is a laudable step, considering the fact that education is one cardinal area the people of the state has consistently prided itself in, aside from the global avowal of the benefits accruable to any government, with an educated populace.

“However, for this and many other economic programmes he as the Governor, may want to implement to make his second coming memorable and noteworthy, he, like Caesar’s wife must come to equity with clean hands by declaring all his assets and those of his deputy, publicly,” it further said.

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Friday 19 October 2018

Sports Super Eagles rekindle 2019 AFCON hope … beats Libya 3-2 to top Group E

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he Super Eagles bounced to top of Group E of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying series for the first time after a hard –fought 3-2 win over Libya in Sfax, Tunisia on Tuesday.

Having not scored in 13 months, including all preWorld Cup friendlies and at the FIFA World Cup finals in Russia, Odion Ighalo added two to his hat trick he netted in Uyo, making a total of five goals in three days, effectively abbreviating the Mediterranean Knights’ chances of earning a place in Cameroon for the 2019 AFCON. Nigeria took it straight to the hosts from the beginning, and after nine minutes, Alex Iwobi stole from a fumbling Sand Masaud on the right but his pull –out was cut off by defender Motasem Sabbou. Four minutes later, Nigeria went ahead after Ighalo did the simplest of tap –ins following a brilliant combination between Iwobi and Captain Ahmed Musa.

Installed in one corner of the stadium, members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club made their presence felt with dancing, drumming and singing, and their performance appeared to match the rhythm of the Eagles’ flowing game. It was no surprise, given the extent of domination, when Ahmed Musa scored the second after beating two defenders in the box from a pass by Ighalo.

Somehow, the Eagles took their feet off the pedal,

Stories by ANTHONY NLEBEM

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allowing the Knights into the game, and it took an alert Etebo to heave the ball away as Mohamed Zubya cocked the trigger from a goalmouth melee. Five minutes later, the Libyans again came close when goalkeeper Francis Uzoho uncharacteristically punched the ball instead of cuddling it.

In the 25th minute, Nigeria could have been 3-0 up but Ighalo’s pass to Iwobi from a quick counter was well –read

by Mohamed Abdussalam.

Nine minutes later, Libya got a lifeline as Mohamed Zubya nodded into the net from a flicked header off a free kick.

In the second period, the Eagles re –integrated and once more, bossed proceedings.

But Iwobi wasted too much time from a counter and lost the ball in the 50th minute, before Zubya’s shot was blocked and Uzoho parried Ahmed Ben Ali’s shot over the bar.

Iwobi flashed a shot away in the 67th minute and Aina was alert to divert a ball meant for Ben Ali five minutes later, but a minute

later, Libya were level as the irrepressible Ben Ali shot past Uzoho from close range as the Eagles’ defence was caught napping.

Nigeria would have the last word, as Ighalo, from a teasing lob by substitute John Ogu that was headed down

by Musa, drove past the Libyan defence and blasted past goalkeeper Ahmed Azzaqeh.

Victory took Nigeria to nine points after four matches, one above South Africa’s Bafana Bafana who drew 0-0 with Seychelles in Mahe Island earlier in the day. Libya have four points while Seychelles have only one.

Leader of delegation, Barrister Seyi Akinwunm, told thenff.com: “This is a very sweet victory. I am happy with the performance and the three points. Going top of the group for the first time in the campaign is a delight, and we intend to remain there.”

Super Eagles will play the Bafana Bafana in a topof-the-table clash at Johannesburg’s Soccer City on 17th November.

Agbaje emerges best boxer at GOtv Boxing Night 16

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aiwo “Esepo” Agbaje, on Sunday night, emerged winner of the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial Trophy for the best boxer at GOtv Boxing Night 16, which carried a cash prize of N1.5million. The little known lightweight boxer kept the capacity crowd at the edge of their seats with his all-action style that saw him defeat Tope “TP Rock” Musa in a challenge contest. He was voted as best boxer by journalists at the event ahead of the similarly impressive Oto “Joe Boy” Joseph and Rilwan “Real One” Oladosu.

Oladosu, on the night, became the new West African Boxing Union (WABU) lightweight champion by seeing off the challenge of Ghana’s Benjamin Lamptey in one of the two international bouts at the event. The second Nigeria/ Ghana bout resulted in victory for Joseph, who knocked out Emmanuel Mensah. The show also delivered a freshly minted national champion in Adewale “Masevex” Masebinu, who avenged his previous defeat in the hands of Kabiru “KB Godson” Towolawi to

Chelsea fires warning at Real Madrid over interest on Hazard

claim the national lightweight title. Masebinu’s combination of determination and furious punching left his opponent in daze, forcing him to throw in the towel at the end of the fifth round.

In yet another big-name contest, Waidi “Skoro” Usman reinforced his superiority over Chibuzor “T Boy” Obi, whose bid to avenge a previous defeat ended in a third-round knockout. The show featured a clutch of discoveries from the last two editions of GOtv Boxing NextGen Search, who made their professional debuts. Opeyemi

“Sense” Elijah, best boxer at GOtv Boxing NextGen Search 4, made a winning debut by defeating Sheriff “Oshe” Ogunbanjo in their super bantamweight clash. Waheed “Showmax” Shogbanmu also saw off fellow GOtv Boxing NextGen alumnus, Azeez “Who Say So” Tijani, knocking him out in the first round.

Adeyemi “Spirit” Adekanla began his life in the professional cadre by defeating the more experienced Ganiyu “Energy” Kolawole, while Aminu “Lucky Boy” Akintayo defeated Mutiu “Machine” Lawal.

helsea chairman Bruce Buck insists the Premier League club will do everything to convince Eden Hazard to snub a move to Real Madrid.

Earlier in the month, Hazard reiterated his desire to one-day play for Real Madrid, revealing it has been his ‘dream’ since he was a child. The Belgian star contract at Stamford Bridge expires in the summer of 2020 and Real Madrid are believed to be plotting a move for him ahead of next summer’s transfer window.

Hazard has already scored eight goals for Chelsea this season and his form has led many to label him the best player in the Premier League. And Buck, Chelsea’s chairman since 2003, has attempted to reassure Blues fans that the club will do everything in its power to prevent Hazard from leaving. Speaking at a Financial Times future of football event in Doha, Buck said: ‘Every Chelsea fan in London and around the world loves Eden Hazard.

“He’s not only a great

footballer but I think he’s a wonderful lad. ‘We want him to stay and we will do what we have to do to entice him to stay.

“Let’s see how it goes between now and the end of the season.”

Hazard will hope to maintain his impressive run for the Blues on Saturday when struggling Manchester United travel to west London.

Former Arsenal and England star Paul Merson says Hazard is the best player in the Premier League, but has called on the Bel-

gian to be more consistent.

He told Sky Sports: “I would say so Hazard is the best in the Premier League. “He’s the top scorer, he’s making things happen.

“The problem with Hazard, and I’m a massive fan of his, is that he can go missing for six months at a time. You’ve seen it twice at Chelsea – last season, for instance.

“He’s got to sort his consistency out, more than anything. He’s been great this season, but we’ve seen that before, when Chelsea last won the league.”

Fulham owner Khan withdraws £600m offer to buy Wembley stadium

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ulham owner Shahid Khan has withdrawn his offer to buy Wembley Stadium from the Football Association (FA).

Khan had offered £600m for the national stadium, with the FA retaining the Club Wembley hospitality rights, which it valued at £250m to £300m.

The move was “more divisive then expected”, said FA chief Martin Glenn.

Khan has not ruled out making another bid in future if there is more support from FA Council members.

The FA had said it would invest the proceeds of the sale into improving grassroots football facilities.

FA executives made a presentation to the FA Council last week about why they were backing the sale to Khan, and the 127 council members were scheduled to vote on the proposed sale on 24 October.

But a senior FA source told BBC Sport that the board believed the odds were slightly against the purchase being backed, given the strong objections of some councillors to the home of English football being sold off.

FA chief executive Glenn said Khan had believed his

offer “would be well received by all football stakeholders”.

However, Glenn added: “At a recent meeting with Mr Khan he expressed to us that, without stronger support from within the game, his offer is being seen as more divisive than it was anticipated to be and he has decided to withdraw his proposal.

“Wembley Stadium is an iconic venue that is revered around the world and it will continue to thrive under the ownership and direction of the FA.” Khan, who planned to move his NFL American football team - the Jacksonville Jaguars - to Wembley, said he wanted “to do right by everyone in a manner that strengthens the English

game and brings people together, not divides them”.

He added: “Unfortunately, given where we are today, I’ve concluded that the outcome of a vote next week would be far from sufficient in expressing the broad support favoured by the FA chairman to sell Wembley Stadium.

“Until a time when it is evident there is an unmistakable directive from the FA to explore and close a sale, I am respectfully withdrawing my offer to purchase Wembley Stadium.”

The FA had pledged to keep showpiece events, such as most England internationals and the FA Cup final, at the stadium under a preagreed hire fee.

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Nigeria’s competitiveness ranking falls to 115

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igeria suffered a slump by three places to 115 in the 2018 global competiveness ranking of 140 countries, just released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The ranking of 140 countries saw Nigeria come down from the 112th position it occupied in 2017, coming behind Mauritius, the best in Africa at 49, Tunisia at 87, Kenya 93, Ghana at 106, Senegal 113, Cote D’Ivoire 114.

Nigeria’s fall appeared to have been accentuated by the poor performance of its financial system troubled by the collapse in oil price and the resulting increase in non-performing loans which saw the banks reducing their credit to the real sector.

Roberto Crotti, the lead competitiveness researcher

at WEF also pointed to Nigeria’s failing educational system and the unimpressive health sector, which has greatly affected life expectancy in the country.

On the other hand, Crotti said Ghana had greatly improved its skills sector leveraging better educational systems and higher ICT adoption as that country prepares for the fourth industrial re-evolution.

In arriving at the ranking, the researchers used 12 pillars including institutions where Nigeria occupied the 127th place, Infrastructure 124, ICT adoption 123, macroeconomic stability 139, Health 119, skills 124, product market 99, labour market 73, financial system efficiency 131, market size 30, business dynamism 83 and innovation capability 93.

A closer look at the ranking shows that Nigeria per-

formed particularly poorly in about a dozen indices including tourism 139, quality or roads 132, reliability of water supply 137 and availability of fixed broadband internet 136.

Other areas where Nigeria recorded its worst showing are inflation 133, vocational training 137, skillsets of graduates 135, critical thinking in teaching 131, domestic credit to the private sector 132, financing of SMEs 132 and the availability of venture capital 138.

This new ranking is bound to put pressure on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, which has frequently been berated for its poor showing on the economic front and adds to a pile of very unimpressive commentary about Nigeria which is now derided as the world poverty capital.

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BUSINESS DAY

Why FG recalled final tranche of N17.3bn Paris Club refund meant for Ogun RAZAQ AYINLA, Abeokuta

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ommissioner for finance, Ogun State, Adewale Oshinowo, has explained the rationale behind deliberate withholding of the final tranche of N17.3 billion Paris Club Refund meant for the state by the Federal Government.

The perception of the Federal Government that the refund might be used for another obligations by several state governments caused the withholding, Oshinowo said.

Recall that Ogun State had held a press conference on September 20, 2018, where both Taiwo Adeoluwa, Secretary to the State Government, and Adewale Oshinowo confirmed to the media that the Federal Government had deposited N17.3 billion to Ogun State coffers as the final tranche of Paris Club Refund for which the state government assured workers of immedi-

ate payment of salary deduction arrears, gratuities, severance package and social services.

But, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, said on Wednesday after Federal Executive Council meeting that Paris Club Refund was withheld to some states owing to their failure to use the fund to offset backlogs of salary arrears, which she said had caused some uproar in the country’s financial cycle.

Speaking after the question and answer session before Victor Fasanya-led Ogun State House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation on Thursday, Oshinowo said contrary to the Federal Government’s perception that the refund might be diverted to fund expenses that are different from what the refund was meant for, the State government had earlier resolved to offset salary arrears as directed by Fed-

eral Government.

He said, “The first tranche is N10.6 billion and government used that for deductions, gratuities and severance and we even added money to that first tranche which means, we used 100 percent of that fund on salary requisite.

“The second tranche was N5.7 billion and the government spent 85 percent on salaries while 15 percent on social services. The third tranche was N5.7 billion and 80 percent was spent on salaries while 20 percent spent on social services. The fourth tranche was N17.3 billion.

“I am a little bit set back.

Someone mentioned that we have received it and that it’s in one bank; why haven’t we revealed it out?

The truth is, we first received the money which we did a Press Conference on and we said we are going to use 60 percent on salaries and 40 percent on social services.

Edo restricts movement around Oba Ovoranmwen Square for Oba Ewuare II’s coronation anniversary

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L-R: Tobe Okigbo, corporate relations executive, MTN Nigeria; Kola Oyeyemi, general manager, customer experience, MTN Nigeria; Olusola Teniola, president of ATCON; Tajudeen Omokhide, senior manager, mobile financial services, MTN Nigeria, and Hassan el-Chami, chief technical officer, MTN Nigeria, at the 2018 NTITA Awards where MTN received five awards including telecom company of the year, in Lagos .

Pic by Pius Okeosisi

Executive Order 6 targeted at opposition - Atiku INIOBONG IWOK

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ormer Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the banning of 50 high-profile Nigerians from travelling out of the country by President Muhammadu Buhari based on Executive Order 6, describing it as an attempt to silent the opposition ahead of next year’s general elections.

Atiku stated this in a statement by his Presidential Campaign Organisation, noting that the move was capable of throwing the country back into recession and scaring away foreign direct investment, while expressing dismay that Buhari could give such order after swear-

ing an oath to abide by the Constitution of the country.

The statement further stated that the law was a reminder of Buhari’s evil Decree Number Two of 1984, which criminalised truth telling that was against Buhari’s military regime, adding that it was only the court that could authorise the President to curtail the right of Nigerians.

“Our attention has been drawn to the statement by the Presidency banning 50 unnamed Nigerians from travelling out of the country, purportedly on the strength of Executive Order 6.Their crime being that they are suspected of having property overseas and are involved in

tax dodging or other alleged financial infractions.

“We must be unequivocal in saying that we abhor any act of criminality, financially or otherwise, but the rule of law must be our guide at all times or society will descend to anarchy.

“Thus, we find it most undemocratic that in a nation governed by the rule of law, a President who swore an oath to abide by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does this.

“If past events are to be the judge, these 50 individuals will conveniently be critics and opponents of the Buhari’s administration. This is nothing short of intimidation ahead of the 2019 elections”.

he Edo State government has announced the restriction of movement around Oba Ovoranmwen Square (Ring Road), Benin City, on Saturday, October 20, to reduce traffic congestion in the area and allow space for the activities marking the second coronation anniversary of His Royal Majesty, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo, Uku Akpolo Kpolo, Oba Ewuare II. In a statement, commissioner for arts, culture, tourism and diaspora affairs, Osaze OsemwengieEro, urged residents in the area to use the alternative roads around the King’s Square for the period, as there would be traffic officers on duty to guide them.

According to Osemwengie-Ero, “This is to bring to the notice of the general public, especially motorists, traders and residents around Oba Ovoranmwen Square (Ring Road), Benin City that on Saturday, 20th October 2018, the area will be closed to vehicular traffic, due to the activities of His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolo Kpolo, Ewuare II, N’Ogidigan, Oba of Benin.

“Motorists are advised to use the alternative roads around the King’s Square for the period of the event, as they will be guided by traffic officers on duty.”

He said the state government would appreciate strict compliance with this directive.

Traders’ groups, drivers’ unions, others gear up for 2018 Alaghodaro Summit

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embers of different traders’ unions and market associations in Edo State have thrown their weight behind the 2018 Alaghodaro Summit, noting that they are fully in support of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s focus on enriching the life of the people.

The 2018 Alaghodaro Summit is an event to mark Governor Godwin Obaseki’s second anniversary and showcase his administration’s people-centered policies, programmes and initiatives and his commitment to bettering the life of the people by opening up the state to investors, upholding law and order and expanding the economic space.

Leader, Market Women Association in Edo State, Madam Blacky Omoregie, JP, in an interview with journalists, said the market women in the state are excited about the event as it will give them opportunity to appreciate the governor for all he has done for them.

According to her, “We are excited about Alaghodaro 2018 because the governor has said it is focused on the people and we are very much in tune with his vision for the event. He has shown that he truly cares for the people with the numerous programmes he has championed since coming into office.

“We know what he has done with the fight against

human trafficking, through which he has rescued our children from the grip of human traffickers. He is bringing investors to the state with projects such as the Benin River Port, the Edo Modular Refinery and the Benin Industrial Park.

Not many states in Nigeria are having it as good as we are in Edo State.”

Chairman, Edo State chapter of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Odion Olaye, on his part, said that the event is a testimony to the peoplecentric government run by the governor in the state, noting that different unions in the state can testify to the administration’s unflinching stance for the people.

34 BUSINESS DAY NEWS Lagos has more premium consumers than...

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company. The report also ranks Nigeria as second, among African

countries, with the largest number of premium consumers.

“Nigeria alone has 10 mega cities among the top 50 urban consumer markets in Africa. The mega-city of Lagos alone has a larger consumer class than all but six African countries,” Fraym said in its report titled “Finding the Dynamic African Consumer”.

Fraym classifies consumer class based on A, B, and C1 segments which consumer facing companies typically view based on those who can purchase premium products.

While Segment A and B can do so regularly, C1 do so less regularly although frequent enough to be a target customer for these categories.

According to the Fraym report, the ABC1 consumer in Nigeria spends $9 daily or more daily, measured on Purchasing Power Parity

(PPP) basis, which segments them as population that live well above the poverty threshold. A consumers spend almost $14 PPP daily while E consumers spend less than $3 PPP daily, which correlates with the extreme poverty measure determined by the World Bank. C2DE consumers spend an average of $4 PPP daily.

The average Nigerian ABC1 consumer households allocate $5,500 (N1.98 million) to discretionary spending, outspending C2DE households by more than 3 times.

Breaking down consumers based on what they spend, the report notes that ABC1 households spend $1,200 PPP annually on media while C2DE households spend less than $400.

Mirroring media spending trends, Nigerian ABC1 consumers spend nearly $550 on fast-moving consumer goods annually while C2DE consumer households spend roughly $200.

The report also notes that ABC1 consumer households spend al-

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most $350 PPP on beverages annually, spending more than 2.5 times more than C2DE households ABC1 households spend almost $100 on alcoholic beverages annually, spending roughly three times more than C2DE households.

ABC1 households spend almost twice as much on dairy beverages compared to C2DE households.

ABC1 households spend 2.5 more on other non-alcoholic drinks (water, malt, soft drinks, fruit drinks) than C2DE households.

Egypt has the largest African market with the ABC1 consumer class of 78 million people followed by Nigeria with 52 million consumers while South Africa, Morocco and Algeria have a consumer class population of 36 million, 29 million and 25 million respectively.

Ali Djire, the country head of Fraym said retail currently accounts for 16 percent of the Nigerian GDP and considers it as a new frontier of growth for local and international investors.

L-R: Daniel Maegerie, director; Nelson Akerele, group head, retail; Kenny Odogwu, chairman, and Adeyinka Ojora, director, all of Royal Exchange plc, during the 49th annual general meeting of the company in Lagos, yesterday.

Pic by Pius Okeosisi

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speaking at the Airbnb’s Africa Travel Summit, which held in Langa, Cape Town, South Africa.

He disclosed that since the emergence of Airbnb in 2008, African hosts have earned over $400 million income from hosting guests on the platform.

He said that Airbnb has recorded 3.5 million guests who arrived at its listings across Africa in the last 10 years.

South Africa is leading the continent on Airbnb listings. Out of the $400 million income earned by African hosts in 10 years, South Africa earned $260 million, hosted 2 million guests on the platform and over 22,000 jobs have been supported since then.

Lehane said the growth of Airbnb in South Africa is because the country encouraged the growth of Airbnb through strategic campaign for community-based tourism, which saw over 35,000 hosts (65 percent of which are women) registering their properties on the Airbnb platform, as well as, over 10,000 persons who offer local experiences to the guests.

Lehane explained that the growth in South Africa was also courtesy of the huge earnings, which help hosts to make ends meet while still staying at home and also the freelancers, part-time and stay-at-home parents options on the platform.

“The average earnings for someone who hosts experiences in South Africa about six times per month is $14,000 annually. The earnings are growing

ing in dynamic and exciting ways; population growth and rising incomes are swelling the ranks of the consumer class, while urbanization and technology are swiftly shifting consumption habits,” the Fraym report noted.

The Fraym report reinforces an earlier research by McKinsey Global Institute, the business and economics research arm of McKinsey & Company that predicted that Nigerian households with incomes of more than $5,000 a year will increase from 20 percent of the population in 2013 to 27 percent by 2020, putting them within the target customer base of formal retail chains.

McKinsey said much of the growth in the consumer class will be due to migration from rural areas toward cities, where job opportunities are more plentiful. “Nigeria’s rate of urbanization is one of the fastest in the world, with almost half of the population living in urban areas in 2011 and an ongoing urbanization rate of 4 percent a year.”

McKinsey said eight Nigerian cities with 16 percent of the nation’s population will drive 36 percent of its growth, as per capita consumption in large cities is much higher than in Nigeria as a whole. “In Lagos, for instance, consumption is 134 percent greater than the country average” according to the McKinsey report.

McKinsey said what will be driving consumer spending is the growing presence of women working outside the home, a trend that’s prompting an increased demand for foods offering convenience and time savings.

“We are already seeing a decline in the consumption of complex ethnic dishes, which often take more effort and time to prepare. Many workers prefer to buy their lunch out rather than bring it from home.”

“Nigeria’s retail market is both capturable and too large to ignore.

Companies that act now to build a winning business model will be getting in on the ground floor of one of Africa’s biggest growth opportunities,” McKinsey advised.

Akwa Ibom has bigger economy than...

Nigeria emerges fastest growing Airbnb...

Airbnb, disclosed this this while

The report notes that Nigeria’s household consumption has grown by an annual compound rate of 9.3 percent over the last decade while overall; the Nigeria ABC1 consumer class has increased by roughly 20 percent point in this period.

“Nigerians are clearly moving up the consumer ladder in large numbers despite some of the more recent economic headwinds,” according to the Fraym report.

About 95 percent of Africa consumer class are located in just 20 countries while five countries including Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco and Algeria have a combined consumer class of 219 million people, which accounts for two thirds of the continent’s total.

Lagos has the second highest number of consumer class of nine million people among all the states in Africa, followed closely by Johannesburg despite its out-sized global profile and role in African business coming third with 8.5 million in the consumer class.

Cairo has the largest consumer class by far of 16 million people.

“In Lagos, the proportion of consumer class expanded at a robust rate of approximately 16 percentage points with an additional 4.7 million people joining this consumer status,” Fraym said.

But the Fraym also showed that Nigeria has a concentration of premium consumers in Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Kano, Benin City, Onitsha, Aba and Kaduna.

Port Harcourt is one of the most prosperous and vibrant consumer hotspots in Nigeria as nearly three quarters of Port Harcourt’s population is classified as premium consumer with a population of approximately 1.9 million people, which is more than that of Burkina Faso, Malawi, Rwanda, or Benin.

Majority of premium consumers in Port Harcourt are concentrated in several sections of the city including Amadi, GRA, Elekahia, Oroworokwo, Umueme and Orogbum.

“African consumer power is grow-

Friday 19 October 2018

because modern guests, especially millennials are leaving formal hotel accommodation options to home-stays where they will be offered authentic experiences and opportunity to explore life and excitement from different perspectives”, Lehane said.

Beyond South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Mozambique are among top eight fastest-growing countries for guest arrivals in Africa.

Airbnb noted that it has witnessed more hosting of properties by Nigerian and Ghanaian home owners, especially in the last five years with Nigeria leading with 213 percent yearon-year growth, Ghana 141 percent and Mozambique 136 percent yearon-year growth in guest arrivals.

According to Lahane, the West African growth is fueled by the quest for alternative accommodation by global business travellers that visit the region, especially Nigeria.

In the same vein, Ikechi Uko, CEO, Akwaaba African Travel Market/ African hospitality expert, noted that Airbnb is growing in Nigeria because those who see Nigerian hotels as over-priced are taking advantage of the cheap option provided by Airbnb.

He noted that before the economic recession, international hotel brands in Nigeria charged as much as $500 for a standard room. So, business or leisure travellers on budget are resorting to the Airbnb platform to book cheap options, while those after authentic African experiences are more likely going to subscribe to the platform for

the home-stay experience.

While Sam Onoka, a hotelier, queried the safety and standards of the Airbnb offerings, Lahane explained that Airbnb has assessors who ensure properties meet minimum standard before they are listed on the platform and also train the hosts on experience offering to ensure guests’ expectations are met.

PartofthegrowthinNigeriaistheincreasingnumberofunoccupiedhouses whose owners do not want to rent or turn to hotels, hence the temporary use

by Airbnb guests and extra income to maintain the property combine to woo more listing on the platform in Nigeria.

But Onoka noted that some hotel staff are encouraging Airbnb growth by pointing some guests who cannot afford extended stay in hotels to Airbnb options.

“I have been told that some of my staff run Airbnb business with some home owners in Ikoyi. All they do is to givethegueststheaddressofthehomes andgetcommissions later.But,it isdifficult to find out because some guests are on budget and can fall for any money saving offering”,Onoka lamented.

As travel to emerging economies is expected to grow at twice the rate of travel to advanced economies from now until 2030, Airbnb arrivals in Africa, an emerging economy, is expected to double in 10 years from now.

However, Airbnb is already spurring the African growth with Airbnb Africa Academy and a $1 million investment in 2017 through 2020 to promote and support communityled tourism projects in Africa.

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tion of each state to the national output can be determined.

“The results are expected to inform policymakers at all levels regarding absolute and relative magnitudes of economic activities in the selected States,” the NBS said in a report Thursday.

In 2013, Bayelsa state reported the highest oil contribution to GDP by state analysis. The state’s oil sector contributed 77.1 percent to its GDP, this was followed by Akwa Ibom with 67.3 percent contribution while Delta and Rivers recorded oil contributions of 58.1 percent and 57.5 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the remaining 7 states which were also surveyed, did not report any oil contribution to their various states in the year under review.

On the other hand, the non-oil sector contribution for the 11 states analysed by the NBS showed that Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, recorded non-oil sector contribution of 42.5 percent, 41.9 percent, 32.7 percent and 22.9 percent respectively.

For Cross River, Kaduna, Kano, Ogun, Osun, Oyo and Zamfara states, their economies are solely non-oil driven, meaning they all record non-oil sector contribution of 100 percent.

Not much had changed in 2017.

Bayelsa remained more depen-

dent on oil than the other states, as was the case in 2013 while Cross River, Kaduna, Kano, Ogun, Osun, Oyo and Zamfara states recorded zero oil contribution to GDP. For the year ended 2017, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom Delta and Rivers states reported 68.4 percent, 59.8 percent, 49.3 percent and 44.4 percent of oil contribution to GDP respectively.

Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta states reported 40.2 percent, 31.6 percent,55.6 percent and 50.7 percent as non-oil contribution to states’ GDP respectively. While for the same year under review, the remaining seven states analysed by NBS reported 100 percent non-oil contribution to GDP. BusinessDay gathered that States GDP Computation started in 2012 with Seven Pilot States, including Rivers, Lagos, Gombe, Cross River, Kano, Anambra and Niger State, following the expressed interests of states to measure their economic competitiveness over time, understand the structure of their economies and assess contribution to national output Efforts are ongoing to complete the next phase of compilation for the remaining 25 states and the FCT. The second phase of the study will include Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Anambra, Gombe, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Lagos, Ondo, Jigawa, kogi, Niger, FCT”

Friday 19 October 2018

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35 OPINION

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Conversation with the young...

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Cannabis?

They giggled. At length one young man found the courage.

‘Musicians and artists like it. Some say it makes them creative.’

‘Can you be creative without drugs?’

“Yes’.

‘A number of users end up with mental illness. I see them in my practice.’

Cocaine? Crack cocaine?

Silence.

You explained.

Stimulants?A mphetamines? Ecstasy?

The ‘designer drugs’?

‘They make you ‘high’’ “And they mess up your brain.’

Opoids, opiates? Tramadol? Codeine?

‘They say it makes them feel cool’’ Some laughter.

‘Yes. They are brain depressants. They reduce pain.

They also constipate you. You may get addicted and need to have more. And if you don’t, you start ‘jonesing’. Have you heard of ‘jonesing’?

Some tittering, but no answer.

‘That is the physical with-

drawal. Sometimes it’s so bad the person dies.’

And sleeping tablets?

You explained a bit.

And glue? And the bizarre ones – such as sniffing latrines?

‘They damage your brain permanently.’

It was the question and answer session at the end of it all that was the real eye opener for you. It showed why the ‘preaching’ approach to drug abuse advocacy, such as was done by government,

by NDLEA and well-meaning individuals and NGOs appeared never to do any good.

They talked at the young people, assuming they knew nothing, instead of talking with them, to find out what they thought they knew, and to correct them.

‘What happens to you if you have to sit for a long time close to someone smoking ‘igbo’? Can it harm you?’ one young man asked.

‘If they say codeine is a drug of abuse, how come it helps treat cough and pain?’

‘If you say cannabis is bad, how come some people take it for a long time and nothing happens to them?’

Oh – at a point you talked with them about Olamide’s popular song about ‘mixing

chemicals’. Did they know the words?

Of course, they knew ALL the words, but nobody volunteered to sing them, obviously for fear of their teachers.

What did they think he meant by ‘mixing chemicals’?

They began to laugh. Everyone knew it was about

glamourizing substance abuse.

Conclusion?

They all agreed that it would help if they started ‘Drug Free Clubs’ in their schools, to drive advocacy among their peers. They agreed it would help the message if powerful ‘role models’ such as Olamide

stopped singing songs that glamourized drug misuse.

They agreed it would be a killer punch if ‘big stars’ like Davido and WizKid preached the message of a drug-free life, and actually lived it themselves. They agreed if one such star were to come to a school event to sing an anti-drug message, the place

would be jam-packed with an audience of eager listeners twenty times the number of those in the hall.

There was, you decided in the end, an ongoing battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation, and, despite the sanctimonious protestations of society, it was not at all clear who was winning.

of the founding-fathers of our country.

I am also deeply influenced by late Eze Dr. Akanu Ibiam, one of the greatest Nigerians of all time. As a young man I used to visit him in Uwana, Afikpo.

I revere the late Chief Simeon Adebo, the greatest civil servant Nigeria has ever produced. He was our Chairman when I was a young Research Fellow at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru. I am inspired by the ideals of goodness and virtue as found in our great Nigerian culture. The Yoruba define it as “Omoluabi” while among Ndigbo it is known as “Ezigbo mmadu”.

But my greatest inspiration in terms of leadership philosophy is Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo. He was an economist, lawyer, philosopher and statesman of the highest order. When he passed away, the London Times obituarist declared that he was a man who could have headed any western country.

He once confessed: “While many men in power and public office are busy carousing in the midst of women of easy virtue and men of low morals, I, and a few others like me, am busy at my desk thinking about the problems of Nigeria and proffering solutions to them. Only the deep can call to the deep.”

I believe that if Awo were President today, he would have brought his profound scientific mind to bear on the enormous

challenges facing Nigeria today. For one thing, he was extremely parsimonious with respect to public finances.

He would have stemmed the mindless borrowing that has blown our national debt to more than N18 trillion. He would have ensured that we cut costs across all departments of government to free enough money to finance vital development projects.

He would not have left the arduous business of governing in pursuance of common thieves. Rather, he would have put in place effective systems to checkmate financial haemorrhage. He would also have reorganised the civil service to ensure a developmental state apparatus that delivers optimal performance rather than the Byzantine nightmare of grand larceny, nepotism and sloth that we have today. He would have applied rigorous management principles to supervising and implementing infrastructure projects.

He would have tackled frontally the electricity and power deficit.

Awolowo would also have taken bold steps to reorganise the military and salvage the morale of our armed forces which is today at its lowest ebb. He would never have borrowed to fight Boko Haram, just as he did not borrow to execute the civil war. He would have called the bluff of the Fulani militias.

Above all, he would have placed a premium on education, innovation and full employment. He would have launched an industrial revolution; constructing world-class infrastructures. He would have built high-speed rail networks linking the entire country. He would have embarked upon a programme of political reform and restructuring to place our federation and democracy on a better footing to meet the demands of the twenty-first century. He would have built a social protection safety net for the poorest groups and the physically challenged and would have embarked on mass job-creation schemes for the youths. His cabinet would have comprised the best and highest talents that our country could boast of.

Like all great men, he was not without some weaknesses.

He was sometimes inflexible and could rather be blunt. He was easily predictable to his enemies. This is why he was denied the ultimate prize.

More than ever, Awolowo’s ideas and philosophy are needed to salvage our ship of state from the jaws of catastrophe. Despite his shortcomings, he was a great nationalist and patriot; an avatar who saw the future; a statesman of great vision who understood Nigeria’s high destiny. He shall be our model and our guide.

Outside Nigeria, I have been inspired by Abraham

Lincoln, one of the most illustrious statesmen in the history of the American republic and

by Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela. Among the European leaders, I admire Vaclav Havel of the former Czechoslovakia and Angela Merkel of Germany. My ideals of social justice were shaped by political philosophers John Rawls and Sir Isaiah Berlin and a log of Muslim thinkers from Jalaluddin Rumi to Muhammad Iqbal and Ali Shari’ati. I have been influenced by the ideas of policy scientist Yehezkel Dror. As an economist, I share the views of Nobel laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen. I love Nigeria; I love Africa.

I am a citizen of the world and a corresponding member of Socialist International.

I believe that to lead is to serve. My name Obadiah means “Servant of the Most High”. And Mailafia in the Hausa language means “the harbinger of peace”. We are called to serve. The Nigeria that we want is a country that will be at the front ranks of civilised nations; a progressive, technological-industrial society anchored on the rule of law, peace, justice and equity. In the words of Micah the prophet: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

What I believe Continued from back page

by Gandhi’s teachings about nonviolence.

Two figures that have inspired me for much of my life were directly inspired by Gandhi. The first is the German protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945).

Bonhoeffer was the son of an upper class German neuropsychiatrist and eminent professor of medicine. He earned a doctorate in theology at the precocious age of 21 and was among the first voices to rise in opposition against Adolf Hitler as early as 1933. In a famous radio programme Bonhoeffer condemned the concept of Fürher as a sacrilege against God Himself.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer must have changed his mind at some stage on the applicability of nonviolence in the circumstances of Nazi Germany. He joined in the underground movement to assassinate Hitler. When the plot was discovered he was imprisoned and eventually executed in April 1945.

African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr (1929-1968) was indubitably the greatest disciple of Mahatma Gandhi in the twentieth century. The King approach to nonviolent social resistance resonated powerfully throughout the United States and beyond.

His message was embraced by

white men and women of conscience, including the likes of influential evangelist Rev. Billy Graham who supported King both financially and morally.

As evil increases in our world, while intolerance, injustice and violence become the defining feature of our age, we need the message of Gandhi more than ever before.

We need Satyagraha in the way we do our politics and in the manner in which we exercise leadership. For my part, I have been a Gandhian since my teens. I have never lifted my hand to commit violence and have never advocated the use of violence against any individual or group. I believe that love conquers hatred. To love even those who hate and revile you is to have the Mind of Christ.

I am also an admirer of late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first and only Prime Minister. I believe in his ideals of “Mutumin Kirki”, i.e. in terms of integrity, humility, compassion and love of justice and fairness. Mallam Aminu Kano, whom I met as an undergraduate at Ahmadu Bello University, is my ideal of the organic intellectual and progressive politician. Like him, I aspire to serve the talakawa with dedication and commitment. The late Chief Solomon Daushep Lar was like a father to me. I identify with his politics of emancipation. I admire Nnamdi Azikiwe as a great nationalist and one

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How inadequate power supply, others ruined We have reduced state debt to N228.3bn - Okowa Nigerian textile industry - stakeholders IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, Benin

JOSHUA BASSEY

… over 400,000 direct jobs lost

takeholders have painted a pathetic picture of how dwindling power supply among other factors ruined the once vibrant Nigerian textile industry, leaving Africa’s biggest economy at the mercy of inferior foreign and smuggled fabrics with grave consequences on job creation.

According to the stakeholders, Nigeria was a hub of textile manufacturing in 1970s and 1980s with companies such as Asaba Textile Mills, Aba Textile Mills, Kaduna Textile Mills, Afprint Nigeria plc and Enpee Industries, among others, now dead owing to unbridled smuggling of Asian textiles, high cost of energy, poor patronage as well as lack of cotton to feed the mills.

Isa Aremu, general secretary of National Union of Textile, Garment and

Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), says over the years, more than 400,000 active jobs had been snatched from the textile industry that ranked among the biggest employers of labour in the 1980s.

Aremu spoke at the 40th anniversary of NUTGTWN in Lagos on Wednesday, saying, “In 1983, Nigeria became the largest employer in West Africa with about 200 textile companies. Today, many of those factories have shut their operations. Before now, the industry employed more than 500,000 direct workers, but today it has less than 60,000 workers.

Necessary infrastructure must therefore work at its optimum to revive the textile industry.”

Aremu’s position is in sync with Grace Adereti, president of Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association (NTMA), who lamented the

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inability of local manufacturers to compete given the prevailing poor infrastructure and the flooding of the Nigerian market with cheap and smuggled textile materials from neighbouring countries.

“What we need is the enabling environment.

We cannot compete with the level of smuggling and counterfeiting going on now. We used to have close to 200 textile firms in Nigeria, but that has come down to just a few. We had the revival loans but this didn’t work because our biggest problem has never been money,” Adereti said at a Made-in-Nigeria stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos.

According to the textile manufacturers association, about 85 percent of the $1.4 billion worth of textiles that flood the Nigerian market are smuggled, mainly from neighbouring countries.

Illegally repatriated $8.1bn dividends: Experts urge FG to settle CBN-MTN impasse

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inancial experts on Thursday urged the Federal Government to ensure a quick resolution of the impasse between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and MTN Nigeria over illegally repatriated dividends.

The experts told the News Agency of Nigeria in separate interviews in Lagos that the issue needed to be resolved quickly in the interest of both parties and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

Bamidele Ilo, acting head, Department of Banking and Finance, Olabisi Onabanjo University AgoIwoye, Ogun State, said the issue had lingered for too long and must be settled.

The CBN in September said it had investigated the activities of MTN and four banks in connection with what it called illegally repatriated dividends of $8.1 billion between 2007 and 2016.

Ilo said the issue should be resolved with dispatch, noting that the nation was losing as well as the company, saying, “The issuance of the MTN Nigeria Initial Public Offering (IPO) and listing of the shares on NSE would have brought a major boost to the market in terms of liquidity and market capitalisation.”

According to Ilo, the listing if not for the impasse would ensure further attraction of foreign portfolio investment funds into

the economy, especially in a market where primary issues/new listings appear to have dried up in the last one decade.

“This delay in the issuance of the IPO and listing of the company’s share will definitely have negative implications on the activities of the NSE as foreign investors may also not have sufficient confidence investing the market,” he said.

Noting that the market had been on the downward trend since the beginning of the year, Ilo said foreign investors were already seeking alternative foreign investment widows due to usual uncertainties often associated with election period.

West African professionals task to embrace global M&A processes, practices KELECHI EWUZIE

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ndustry experts in the field of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have tasked Nigeria and indeed other African professionals on the need to embrace contemporary trends in global M&A processes and practices.

International experts while speaking at a day event organised by DLA Piper Africa, in conjunction with Olajide Oyewole LLP, DLA Piper Africa member firm in Nigeria, provided an overview of the key stages of the M&A process as well as covering areas such as preliminary agreements, warranties, indemnities and insurance and due diligence.

Chris Baird, corporate partner at DLA Piper in United Kingdom in his pres-

entation, focused on M&A processes and preliminary agreements, subscriptions and minority investments.

Baird speaking to mid and senior level associates working in corporate finance, private equity, inhouse legal teams and strategy departments of organisations observes that there are the different technical skillset required for professionals in the Africa M&A market in comparison to global M&A. He further opines that while the majority of the transactions in Africa relate to buyouts, there is significant investment M&A as well, specifically: share subscriptions, minority investments or acquisitions, joint ventures and combinations of share sale and subscription transactions.

Samuel Salako, partner at Olajide Oyewole LLP, DLA Piper Africa member firm in Nigeria, shares knowledge on due diligence as it pertains to M&A. Peter Bradshaw, location head of corporate for DLA Piper in South Africa, who focuses his discussion on warranties, indemnities and insurance, while Ashley Zefira, corporate senior legal consultant at DLA Piper in Dubai, presents on purchase price.

Olajide Oyewole LLP, DLA Piper Africa member firm in Nigeria, regularly advises on M&A transactions and the firm is uniquely placed specifically on the African continent – to offer professional training and client training programmes for the enhancement of knowledge in this field.

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elta State government says it has reduced the debt inherited from the Emmanuel Uduaghanled administration to about N228,328,360,009 billion.

The state governor, Ifeanyi OKowa, made the disclosure at the presentation of the 2019 budget estimates of N376,095,083,451 billion to the Delta State House of Assembly n Wednesday in Asaba.

Okowa said in his inaugural address on assumption of office as governor in 2015 that he inherited revenue board and debts to commercial banks totalling N98.2 billion (principal sum) and outstanding contractual obligations of N538,601,962,421,50 billion.

According to Okowa, “Mr Speaker, you will recall that in my inaugural address to this honourable house I disclosed that the government was beset with a Revenue Bond and indebtedness to commercial banks totalling N98.62 billion (principal sum), while outstanding contractual obliga-

tions was N538,601,962,421.50 billion. I am happy to announce to you that this exposure has been significantly reduced to about N228, 328,360,009 billion.”

He said the state government was able to achieve the feat through revalidation, repudiation, reconciliation and value for money exercise, and promised to remain committed to sustaining the exercise through prudent awards of contracts and payment of same to key and significant projects.

The governor, who commended the legislators for their cooperation and support in reducing the deficit, noted that the synergy between legislative and the executive arm of government had been “nothing short of superlative.”

He noted that the sense of mission and unity of purpose were what governments needed to engender longterm economic development, social harmony, political stability, and general well-being of citizenry.

He also appreciated the Civil Service Establishment,

the Nigerian Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and all workers’ unions and associations for their understanding and support.

In reviewing the 2018 budget performance from January to June, the governor said the state generated N150.9 billion representing a performance of 97.7 percent over the expected proportionate revenue receipts of N154.4 billion.

Out of the amount, N108.6 billion was received as Statutory Allocation from the Federation Account representing 122.1 percent performance over the proportionate estimate of N89 billion.

He also said N6.4 billion was recorded as receipts from Value Added Tax (VAT) out of the proportionate projected estimates of N5.4 billion, representing a budget performance of 118.8 percent for the period under review, the sum of N31.2 billion recorded as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) out of the proportionate projected revenue of N35.8 billion, representing a budget performance of 87.3 percent in the first half of the year.

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Pompeo calls for Saudis to be given more time in Khashoggi probe Turkish and Saudi forensic experts spent five hours at scene as Trump awaits briefing KATRINA MANSON, AYLA JEAN YACKLEY & LAURA PITEL

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he US’s top diplomat has said Saudi Arabia should be given “a few more days” to wrap up an investigation into the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, as the US and European governments abandoned a high-profile Saudi investment conference.

Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state who returned from Saudi Arabia and Turkey on Wednesday, told reporters on Thursday he had advised Donald Trump to give the kingdom more time, but did not specify a deadline.

The White House also said that Steven Mnuchin, US Treasury secretary, would not attend next week’s Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, a business gathering closely associated with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The announcement came after UK trade secretary Liam Fox pulled out of the conference, along with the French finance minister Bruno Le Maire and his Dutch counterpart Wopka Hoekstra.

A roster of senior business figures have already abandoned the FII. Mr Pompeo declined to answer specific questions about what happened to Mr Khashoggi, who disappeared after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

“I’m going to allow the process to move forward,” he said.

US officials told the FT they expect Saudi Arabia to announce soon Mr Khashoggi is dead.

The US is seeking to balance concern over Mr Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, with its desire to preserve vtial economic and security ties to Saudi Arabia.

The secretary of state briefed Mr

A Turkish forensic officer searches for evidence at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul where journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen © AFP

Trump on a day Turkish and Saudi investigators concluded their latest search for forensic evidence in the disappearance of Mr Khashoggi.

Investigators spent five hours inspecting the building, garden and diplomatic vehicles at the Saudi consulate, according to the Turkish newspaper Milliyet. The same team had previously spent nine hours scouring the home of the Saudi consul-general.

Turkish officials have said Mr Khashoggi was killed at the consulate by a team of Saudi hit men who tortured and killed him before dismembering his body, which has not been recovered. Saudi Arabia has vehemently denied the allegations.

German investigation into tax wheeze spreads to Spain’s Santander Scheme allegedly let investors reclaim €55.2bn of tax they never paid

DAVID CROW, CAROLINE BINHAM & OLAF STORBECK

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pain’s Banco Santander is the latest big bank to become embroiled in a sprawling German fraud investigation into a share-swapping scheme that allegedly allowed investors to reclaim billions of euros of tax they never paid.

Prosecutors in Cologne, Frankfurt and Munich have spent several years probing so-called cum-ex transactions, which allowed investors to exploit a legal loophole that enabled multiple parties to claim a refund of taxes paid on share dividends.

A spokesperson for Santander said it was “fully co-operating with German authorities” and that the Madrid-based bank was conducting its own internal investigation into the matter.

A cum-ex deal involved a trader borrowing a block of shares to bet against them using a technique called short selling in the run-up to dividend day

and then selling them on to another investor.

A loophole in the German tax code meant parties on both sides of the trade could successfully claim a refund of withholding taxes paid on the dividend — even though authorities contend only a single rebate was due.

An investigation published on Thursday by Correctiv, a German nonprofit investigative journalism group, and 19 news organisations, cited leaked spreadsheets that show “an organised theft from the tax coffers of at least ten European states, besides Germany” that it claimed had cost taxpayers about €55.2bn.

The German finance ministry said: “In the past, we have informed several countries about the proceedings of cum-ex transactions. The German government in recent years took steps to prevent cum-ex transactions in Ger-

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Investigators found DNA material at one or both of the sites and now want to obtain samples from Mr Khashoggi’s family to see if there is a match, CNN Turk news channel said, citing unnamed officials.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said investigators were searching for “toxic” materials and suggested that some evidence had been covered up by being painted over.

In the US on Wednesday President Donald Trump said he was awaiting a briefing on the case from Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, who has just returned from a trip to Riyadh and Ankara to discuss the Khashoggi case.

Fearing arrest, Mr Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia and became a US

resident, writing columns for the Washington Post that condemned Prince Mohammed’s crackdown on dissent since assuming power last year.

The Washington Post on Thursday published what it described as Mr Khashoggi’s final column in which he lamented the crackdown on the Arab press from Egypt to Saudi Arabia.

“Arab governments have been given free rein to continue silencing the media,” he wrote. “These actions no longer carry the consequence of a backlash from the international community. Instead, these actions may trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence.”

Mr Khashoggi’s disappear-

ance has stained the kingdom’s international image and forced Donald Trump, a supporter of the Saudi royal family, to defend them against grisly murder charges.

Mr Trump said the US had asked for a recording of Jamal Khashoggi’s suspected killing “if it exists”, but stressed that Washington did not want to walk away from Saudi Arabia as it came under mounting pressure over the case.

Mr Trump said he sensed that “rogue killers” might be behind the plot after speaking with King Salman this week.

Saudi Arabia is the one of the world’s top oil producers and global investors and one of the Middle East’s biggest military powers.

Italian bonds hit by prospect of Rome-Brussels stand-off Spread over German Bunds hits widest level since April 2013 KATE ALLEN

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talian government debt has hit the skids again, sending a key measure of the perceived risk of holding it to a five-and-a-halfyear high, as investors eye the growing likelihood of a budget stand-off between Brussels and Rome.

The yield on 10-year Italian debt reached 3.7 per cent in Thursday’s trading, carrying it to a spread of 3.28 percentage points over the equivalent German Bund — the highest since April 2013.

The move came after reports that the EU economic commissioner Pierre Moscovici is preparing to present Italy with a letter raising concerns about the country’s draft budget. Mr Moscovici is expected to see Italian finance minister Giovanni Tria in Rome later on Thursday.

Italian markets have experienced repeated waves of selling in the past five months, since a populist Eurosceptic coalition government took power.

The spread is a widely watched indicator of eurozone market stress, but in recent weeks it has also become a particularly politicised one.

Matteo Salvini, leader of the hardright League party which shares power in the governing coalition, has regularly invoked the idea of “the lords of the spread” to suggest that investors are attempting to influence politicians’ financial decision-making.

The coalition’s draft budget, which was sent to Brussels on Monday night, proposes a significant hike in public spending. EU rules limit members’ fiscal deficits.

Earlier on Thursday, the head of Italy’s big business association Carlo Bonomi gave a sharply critical speech in which he hit back at weeks of sustained attacks against big business by politicians from the ruling Five Star and League coalition.

“We have already paid a high price for the way in which the government has put out the draft budget, and then modified it — without

convincing either markets or Europe,” Mr Bonomi said.

Nadia Gharbi, an economist at Pictet Wealth Management, said the combination of national and European politics “makes the current situation highly complex and uncertain”.

“The European Commission lacks the means to force the Italian government to back down on its 2019 budget,” she said. “At the end of the day the market rather than Brussels may make the difference.”

Italian bonds face “recurrent volatility spikes”, she added, and an escalation of the tensions could result in Italy being locked out of the financial markets and potential contagion to other eurozone economies.

Although there have so far been few signs of contagion in other eurozone bond markets, yields did move on Thursday. The 10-year Portuguese yield rose by 6 basis points with the Spanish equivalent gaining 7 bps and thinly traded Greek 10year debt seeing a 14bp yield bump.

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Swedish oil bosses set to be charged over South Sudan deaths

German investigation into tax wheeze spreads to...

Continued from page A3 many. The fight against cross-border tax fraud and aggressive tax avoidance schemes is high on the agenda.”

The German investigation into cumex trading is part of a pan-European probe into the practice by a number of national regulators that includes a well-advanced investigation in Denmark, according to regulators briefed on the matter.

“It is large-scale greed, and we will pursue the culprits until the last krone is paid back,” Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Denmark’s prime minister, said on Thursday. “They are criminal acts and it must make us think what we can do.

And the answer to that is closer international co-operation.”

Santander said that its “current understanding” was that the main focus of the investigation related to activities between 2007 and 2011. Germany attempted to close the cum-ex loophole by banning the practice in 2012.

The Spanish bank said the probe involved three former employees that left the bank “a number of years ago” and that there was no evidence that senior managers were aware of the activities.

Santander is one of several banks to have been caught up in the probes. In Frankfurt earlier this year, five former employees of HypoVereinsbank, the German subsidiary of Italy’s UniCredit, and a lawyer were charged with tax fraud worth €100m.

HypoVereinsbank paid a total of €19.8m in fines between 2015 and 2017 and in its annual report it said that all criminal investigations relating to cumex transactions had been settled.

The German finance ministry said it was aware of 418 different cases of cumex tax fraud with a combined value of €5.7bn, adding that any guess about the total damage caused was “speculation” as the investigations were still ongoing.

A spokesperson for the Cologne prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the overall investigation, which he said was still continuing.

The Paris offices of France’s Socété Générale were also raided in 2014 in relation to the investigation, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Last month, Macquarie, the Australian bank, said it believed the Cologne prosecutor’s office would want to interview up to 30 members of its staff regarding cum-ex trades, including its outgoing chief executive and CEO-designate.

Macquarie said the individuals were likely to be formally classified as “persons of interest or suspects” under German law. Nicholas Moore, the outgoing CEO of Macquarie, and his planned successor Shemara Wikramanayake could not be reached for comment.

The Australian bank also said it had already resolved “two other matters involving German dividend trading” between 2006 and 2009, and that the settlements were “not material”.

Macquarie said it was one of more than 100 financial groups involved in this type of dividend trading, and that it withdrew from the market in 2012.

The bank said it had received “extensive external legal” advice in relation to the trades and “believed that it was acting lawfully”.

Barclays also participated in cumex trades, according to tax documents lodged at HM Revenue & Customs in 2012-2013, which were subsequently shared with the German tax authorities.

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Lundin’s CEO and chairman set to be charged with aggravated crimes against human rights RICHARD MILNE

L Theresa May in Brussels on Wednesday evening: ‘The last stage will need courage, trust and leadership on both sides’ © Bloomberg

EU leaders shelve plans for special Brexit summit next month ‘New ideas’ awaited from Theresa May in talks that could still take ‘weeks or months’ ALEX BARKER, MEHREEN KHAN & MICHAEL PEEL

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U leaders shelved plans for a special Brexit summit next month, saying they were waiting for Theresa May to make a decisive move in a negotiation that could still take some “weeks or months”.

The decision came at a short, low-key dinner on Brexit in Brussels, where Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, noted that talks had hit a “deadlock” and other leaders expressed frustration at political paralysis in Westminster, according to diplomats briefed on the meeting.

Theresa May told the EU27 leaders meeting in Brussels for a summit that she was confident a breakthrough was close, but several leaders left the dinner saying it had achieved nothing in moving the two sides closer.

In co-ordinated public statements, leaders stressed that insufficient progress had been made to call a special meeting in coming weeks. But in a more conciliatory gesture, the EU27 said they would “stand ready” to call a special meeting when warranted.

Michel Barnier, chief EU negotiator, said: “We need time, we need much more time, and we will continue to work in the next weeks calmly and patiently.” Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, expected it would take “weeks or months” to resolve outstanding issues.

In an upbeat, 15-minute address, the British prime minister told the gathering that a deal was

within reach. “We have shown we can take difficult decisions together constructively,” she said. “The last stage will need courage, trust and leadership on both sides.”

However, in the discussion over dinner after Mrs May had left the room, the German chancellor struck a pessimistic tone, saying that London needed to bring “new ideas”, according to two diplomats.

A third said that Ms Merkel had advocated the EU’s holding firm in coming weeks.

Juha Sipila, the Finnish prime minister, said it was almost not worth holding the meeting “because we knew all the things we have been told”.

In a sign of how protracted the talks may be, he noted that leaders had discussed what would happen if a deal were not done by the end of the year. “Of course, the work will continue. We will not stop,” he said.

While EU negotiators are still confident they can settle the dispute over a “backstop” to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland, the biggest outstanding issue, they are stepping up preparations for a disorderly Brexit.

France published a draft bill to handle a no-deal exit in March 2019 that empowered the government to use emergency decrees to reimpose customs checks and impose visa requirements on British citizens visiting France.

Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, said he had a sense of both “confidence and urgency” about the withdrawal agreement talks. “I have confidence because

progress has been made and there is a collective wish to move forward. But we’re not there yet — and now we need to decide.”

Antonio Tajani, president of the European Parliament, said that Mrs May had brought “nothing new in content” but there was a willingness to keep negotiating with the UK and welcome “body language”.

“The content is not yet acceptable but the tone is someone who wants to continue with negotiations and not let them break down,” said Mr Tajani.

Downing Street will be relieved, however, that some of the more dire forecasts for the evening did not materialise, including threats of calling a special summit to discuss no-deal contingencies.

EU leaders took pains to avoid confrontational language, fearing a repeat of the acrimonious atmosphere over Brexit at their previous summit in Salzburg last month.

Senior EU diplomats expressed relief at the measured tone of the summit, which should allow for negotiations to pick up again once Mrs May is ready.

Mark Rutte, the Dutch premier, said he admired Mrs May’s “tenacity”. “As a political professional, I am impressed,” he said.

Dalia Grybauskaite, Lithuania’s president, articulated a frustration felt by some EU leaders when she called for “concrete understanding of what the UK really wants”.

“We don’t know what they want,” she said. “They do not know themselves what they really want.

That’s a problem.”

Blackstone garners record capital inflows in private equity boom Industry has benefited as investors have sought returns in low-rate environment MARK VANDEVELDE

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lackstone reported record capital inflows of $125bn over the past 12 months and beat analysts’ forecasts for quarterly profit, as chief executive Stephen Schwarzman hailed “powerful momentum throughout our existing business lines” and a new push into life sciences.

The New York-based investment firm has been taking advantage of a favourable fundraising environment as investors, starved of returns by a decade of loose monetary policy, are increasingly willing to embrace illiquid and complex investments as

a way of driving extra returns.

Earlier this year Blackstone closed the first $5bn of commitments to its Saudi-backed infrastructure fund, which the firm hopes will eventually raise $40bn to be spent largely on projects in the US. Half of the total is set to come from the desert kingdom, where Mr Schwarzman had been due to attend the Future Investment Initiative conference later this month.

He was one of several financiers to withdraw from the gathering over the weekend, in the wake of the suspected killing of a prominent Saudi journalist.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to match other investors’ commitments to the infrastructure fund, up to a maximum of $20bn. If the full amount is raised, the Saudi contribution would amount to more than 4 per cent of Blackstone’s current portfolio of assets.

Blackstone recorded net income of $949m in the three months to September 30, ahead of consensus estimates of $912m, according to analyst forecasts compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The group was helped by $4bn in proceeds from sales of office blocks in America and the UK, and by strong realisations in its credit funds.

undin Petroleum’s chief executive and chairman are set to be charged with aggravated crimes against human rights over the Swedish oil company’s role in causing thousands of deaths in South Sudan.

Sweden’s justice minister warned that the duo could face potential lifetime prison sentences if found guilty after the country’s centre-left government approved the request to indict by prosecutors, a necessary step as the offence took place outside the country.

Human rights organisations claim that the start of oil exploration in South Sudan at the end of the 1990s by a consortium led by Lundin sparked a war that led to the deaths of thousands of people, the forced displacement of almost 200,000, and numerous cases of rape, torture and abduction.

Alex Schneiter, Lundin’s chief executive who was head of exploration at the time, and Ian Lundin, the company’s chairman and son of its founder, have been suspects since 2016 when they were interviewed by prosecutors.

Both men have strongly denied the allegations and Lundin on Thursday called the ministry of justice’s decision “totally unacceptable”. Mr Lundin lives in Switzerland and his family’s trust owns 27.7 per cent of the company, which has a SKr95.6bn ($10.6bn) market capitalisation.

“Strong submissions were made to the ministry, supported by independent expert legal opinion, highlighting the jurisdictional and legal flaws why it should not be allowed to proceed . . . We remain convinced that there are no grounds for any allegations of wrongdoing against any representative of Lundin,” the company said.

Morgan Johansson, Sweden’s justice minister, underscored that the government’s decision made no judgment on the accused’s guilt.

Shares in Lundin fell 2.5 per cent on Thursday.

Jonas Sjostedt, leader of the ex-Communist Left party, earlier this year called it an “incredible scandal” and urged Swedish pension funds and banks to sell out of Lundin.

Lundin is one of Europe’s largest independent oil companies, whose main activity now is oil production and exploration in Norway. It sold out of what was then Sudan in 2003.

It insists that its presence had improved living conditions for people in the region.

But a coalition of human rights groups published a report in 2010, claiming that Lundin may have been complicit in the alleged crimes committed by the Sudanese government and its main opponent in a bloody civil war.

Swedish prosecutors have universal jurisdiction for certain international crimes and have used it, for instance, to successfully prosecute several people for genocide in countries such as Rwanda.

Friday 19 October 2018

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A5 NEWS

BUSINESS DAY

FG to slash 2019 budget to N8.6trn, proposes $60/b oil benchmark CONRAD OMODIAGBE, Abuja

M L-R: Ernest Obiejesi, group managing director, Nestoil; Val Uche-Obi, company secretary, and Okechukwu Mbonu, non-executive director, during the board meeting of Nestoil Limited in Lagos.

Nigeria increases power generation by 1,000mw/pa in 3 years DIPO OLADEHINDE & MICHEAL ANI

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inister of power, works and housing, Babatunde Fashola, says there have been remarkable improvement in the power sector in the last three years, as power generation, which was previously at 4,000mw has grown to 7,000mw. This implies there is an incremental energy of about 1000mw per annum (pa) generated.

Speaking at the monthly breakfast meeting at the Nigeria South Africa Chamber of Commerce (NSACC), sponsored by Phillips Consulting, Fashola shared his views on the true situation of electric power and the prospects for the future.

The problem will not be solved by mere proclamation but by hard work and more commitment, as the government has done remarkably well in increasing incremental generation,

transmission and distribution, the minister said.

Also, transmission has improved from 5,000mw to 7,000mw, which implies that about 2,000mw of transmission have been added at an average of 666mw incremental transmission capacity in three years, according to Fashola.

“Also, distribution which was averagely 3,000mw in 2015 as peak to 5,222mw at January 2018, which is the highest the country has ever distributed.

“The power may not be constant, however, but it has come. Location such as Mowe, Magboro, Ondo North and Ondo South who have not had light since 2014 now have electricity,” he said.

He explained to the audience that by the end of this year another 945mw would be ready to come on grid from Azura 459mw, Afam IV of 240mw, Kaduna 215mw, and Kashimila 40mw.

The minister said between

2019 and first quarter of 2020, Zungeru hydro power plant in Niger State would be ready to produce about 700mw and Omoku plant in Rivers State would produced another 450mw, making another 1,150mw ready for generation.

“This does not include the installed but not operating 7,000mw, which was as a result of inadequate power gas or non-connection of transmission line.

“We recovered 690 containers of power equipment abandoned at the port for decades which is part of the things affecting the power sector for over 16 years, this were the problems affecting the installed but un-operating 7000MW,” he said.

According to Fashola, the ministry also has plans of Independent Power Plant (IPP) in nine federal universities, which is different from another 15 IPP targeting major market to power 85,000 shops across the country.

“The aim is to decentralising the whole system and show that privatisation can work in the sector the same way it worked in the banking and telecommunication sector,” he said.

We need to change the conversation from generation problem to distribution problem, as the country has about 2,000mw undistributed, he disclosed.

“I invited Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) to a meeting and tell them the problem is not electricity but how it can get to them. We have already started engagement and making progress,” he said.

Also, the ministry has started the policy of eligible customer, implying that if a customer uses up to 2mw of power and is not satisfied with the quality or quantity being given they can apply to be an Eligible Customer and they can take energy directly from the generating company, he said.

inister of budget and national planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, says the Federal Government will cut budget for 2019 fiscal year to N8.6 trillion compared with the N9.1 trillion 2018 record budget.

It also envisages a total revenue collection of N7.9 trillion, reductions in both borrowing and deficit financing as contained in the 2019- 2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy paper unveiled on Thursday in Abuja.

Addressing members of organised private sector, Civil Society Organisations, media, development partners on the MTEF, Udoma admitted that Nigeria was still facing significant medium-term fiscal challenges, especially with respect to revenue generation, assuring that key reforms would be implemented with increased vigour to improve revenue collection and expenditure management.

Udoma however assured that going forward, government would trim down drastically on borrowing by “cutting coat according to size of pocket and increasing revenue substantially.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has projected an oil production volume of 2.3 million barrels per day at an oil price of $60 per barrel, an exchange rate of N305 to dollar; inflation rate of 9.98 percent and GDP growth rate of 3 percent for 2019.

The minister said the government projected an

oil revenue of N3.6 trillion in 2019 against N2.9 trillion figure of 2018, and non-oil revenue projection of N1.385 trillion as against N1.348 trillion in 2018 budget.

According to the breakdown of non-oil revenues, for 2019 government projects Company Income Tax (CIT) of N799.5 billion as against 2018 figure of N794.6 billion, VAT projection of N229.3 billion against 2018 figure of N207.5 billion; share of federation account levy at N54.1 billion against 2018 figure of N57.8 billion.

In the coming year, the government hopes its top nine Owned Enterprises (excluding NNPC) would generate a total of N955.3 billion, with N624.5 billion expected from independent revenue sources compared with 2018 figure of N847.9 billion.

For expenditure, government protected statutory transfer of N506.8 billion against 2018 figure of N530.4 billion, debt service of N2,144,014,113.092 trillion against 2018 figure of N2,013,833.365 trillion; sinking fund of N220 billion against 2018 figure of N190 billion.

For 2019, the government intends to commit more funding in paying pension, gratuities and retirement benefits of retired employees as it proposed N527 billion against 2018 figure of 241.9 billion.

The minister explained that notwithstanding small size budget being proposed, certain critical items would be given priority, and listing such important areas as human capital development, health, education, pension payment and few others.

For the second time, NHIS Executive Secretary suspended over corruption allegations Commuters paid less for transport in September OYIN AMINU, ABUJA, & ANTHONIA OBOKOH, LAGOS

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he Federal Government has directed the Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf, to proceed on an indefinite suspension to pave way for proper investigation of series of allegations levelled against him.

Yusuf was suspended by the Minister of Health in July 2017, but was called back by the Presidency in February 2018.

The new directive that he should go on suspension was contained in an official communication signed by the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, according to the chairman of the NHIS governing council, Ifenne Enyanatu, who briefed the media after a two-day closed-door meeting at the Abuja head office of the scheme on Thursday.

He said the Council took the decision to suspend Yu-

suf after reviewing various documents on allegations and petitions levelled against him. He said the council equally resolved to constitute an administrative panel to investigate and submit their report in the next three months.

“The Executive Secretary is suspended indefinitely to pave unfettered space for the committee to do thorough investigations into the matter,” Enyanatu stated, as “the suspension became necessary to allow for an uninterrupted investigation.”

Yusuf was however directed to handover to the next most senior general manager in the Agency.

According to Enyanatu, “The council has also resolved that Abubakar Sadiq Adamu immediately step into the acting capacity of the Executive Secretary to allow activities to run smoothly.”

BusinessDay obtained documents showing some of the allegations being levelled

against Yusuf to include - that he is running the NHIS without an approved budget.

“Unfortunately, management of the Scheme seemed unmindful of the financial and operational risks and consequences of running a public entity without approved budget. Sadly, 10 months into the financial year, the Scheme has no approved budget.”

The budget of the NHIS was said not have been approved due to a demand by the Finance Committee that certain specific provisions be removed. These include: “Removal of the N264 million padding discovered in the budget proposal.

“Reduction of the 2018 training budget from over N1 billion to a realistic N250 million to avoid the training stampede in 2017, when N919,664, 800 was spent, in just three months, without needs assessment and departmental training plans.

“Removal of the N100

million posting and transfer provision since the Council had adopted an earlier policy that transfers/postings shall be contingent upon outcome of comprehensive staff audit to enable the scheme align transfers and posting with needs, structure, skills and organizational strategy.

“Removal of the frivolous provision of N50 million for an additional SUV for the ES considering that one was acquired for him only last year.”

However, the document notes, “After many reminders through council members, the ES forwarded the budget document on the 6th August, 2018 Without The Amendments as directed. The chairman subsequently, returned the budget document two weeks later with detailed analysis. Significantly, till date there has been no response, compliance nor correspondence on the matter whatsoever from the ES despite written reminders sent to him by the Chairman.”

BUNMI BAILEY

N

igerians paid less for bus transport in September 2018 than August, according to the newly released National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) September transport fare report.

From the report, the average bus transport fare within the city decreased marginally by 0.7 percent (month-on-month) to N185.5 in September this year from N186.7 in August. Also, the average paid by commuters for bus journey intercity reduced by 0.03 percent to N1, 813.8 in September 2018 from N1,814.4 in the previous month.

Out of the 36 states in the country, Abuja FCT , Cross River and Abia were the states with the highest bus journey fare with-

in city, which recorded N385, N300, and N280, while states with lowest were Rivers, Anambra and Bauchi, with N125, N100.9, and N110, respectively.

Abuja FCT, Adamawa and Borno were the states with the highest bus journey fare intercity with N4,500, N3,430 and N2,790, respectively, and states with the lowest were Jigawa, Anambra and Zamfara, having N1,230, N1,200 and N1,150.

Interestingly, while bus transport fare reduced, the fare for air and water both increased in September. The average fare increased by 0.15 percent to N32, 378.9 in September 2018, from N32,330.4 in August 2018.

The average paid for water way passenger transport increased by 0.21 percent to N595.5 in September 2018 from N594.3 in August 2018.

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Friday 19 October 2018

Friday 19 October 2018

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A7 NEWS

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Edo N-Power, Google train 3,000 Ebonyi procures 70 security Dividend income, recoveries utility vans worth N847m raise GTBank PAT by 11% in Q3 beneficiaries on digital skills CYNTHIA IKWUETOGHU & DAVID IBIDAPO

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he surge in dividend income and recoveries from its previous figure recorded in the same period last year caused a growth in GTBank profit after tax (PAT) by 11 percent at the end of third quarter (Q3) 2018.

According to the group’s Q3 financial result released on Wednesday, dividend income and recoveries grew 3,300 percent to approximately N6.1 billion from N179.3 million, causing a growth in Other Income from its loss in Q3 2017.

The earnings of the group increased by 11 percent to N46.6 billion in Q3 2018 from N41.9 billion in the same period in 2017, and by 13 percent in nine months ended September.

According to the results, interest income declined 8 percent as a result of less income from loans and advances to banks. Interest expenses on the other hand increased slightly by 3 percent from more interest on deposit to banks.

GTBank Group recorded a positive figure on loan impairment charges as N295.2

million from its negative of N1.1 billion in Q3 2017.

However, at the end of nine months, impairment charges decline by 79 percent to N1.7 billion from N8.4 billion as the bank posted no figure on increase/(reversal) in collective impairment and increase in specific impairment.

Fee and Commission income increased during this period as well as fee and commission expenses.

During this period, the bank posted more gain in foreign exchange, which caused a boost in Net gains on financial instrument (held for trading) by 102 percent. The bank also posted a decline in Net impairment loss on financial assets on absence of other assets balances written off during the period as uncollectible in Q3 2018.

Meanwhile, operating expenses increased in Q3 due to payment of insurance premium, professional fees and other consulting costs.

A review of the financial position of the Group showed that total assets increased marginally by 2 percent to N3.43 trillion from N3.35 trillion. Total liabilities also grew by 6 percent to N2.9 trillion from N2.7 trillion as of September 2018 ending.

O

ver 3,000 beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s Social Investment Programme (SIP) have undergone digital skills training to broaden their skill set and equip them with expertise to exploit opportunities in Nigeria’s booming digital economy.

Speaking with journalists in Benin City, the focal person, Edo State Social Investment Programme, Osayuwamen Aladeshelu, said the training was in line with the objective of the programme to equip N-Power beneficiaries with entrepreneurial skills.

The training is in partnership with Google Digital Skills for Africa and is to help the participants gain skills to explore opportunities in the digital economy, Aladeshelu said.

“Our focus today is on the Seven Local Government Areas in Edo South Senatorial District. We have about 3,000 participants present here. Edo Central and North Senatorial Districts will take their turns as we target to train the entire 10,000 N-power

beneficiaries in Edo State,” she said.

According to Aladeshelu, the programme will also provide the participants with critical digital literacy skills to become entrepreneurs, so that they can meaningfully contribute to national development.

The facilitator and leader of the Google Team, Chunu Tejiri Jerry, urged the participants to leverage the skills to grow businesses, advance their careers and tap from the various opportunities available on the Internet to create wealth.

Meanwhile, beneficiaries of SIP programme under the N-Agro scheme in Edo South Senatorial zone, organised a seminar for farmers in the state, to mark the World Food Day celebration.

Addressing the participants, the programme manager, Edo Agricultural Development Programme (Edo-ADP), Peter Aikhiomobhogbe, noted that farmers are crucial to Nigeria’s economic advancement, urging famers in Edo State to take advantage of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s agricultural initiatives.

JACOB OGODO, Abakaliki

E

bonyi State has signed a memorandum of understanding with an indigenous vehicle dealer, Emmanuel Motors, for the supply of 70 brand new utility vans worth more than N847 million.

The vehicles when procured and delivered to the state government, would be donated to the Nigeria Police Force, the Army, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp as well as the Neighbourhood Security Watch to assist the agencies in carrying out effective security operations in and around the state during the Christmas celebrations and next year’s general elections.

According to Governor David Nweze Umahi, each of the vehicles is valued at N12.11 million while the payment would be by instalment with a target of completing it before March 2019.

Governor Umahi stated that the gesture would be the Ebonyi State government’s assistance to security agencies towards ensuring a violent and crime free state as another election year approached.

The van procurement deal was witnessed by the state

Executive Council members and chairmen of local government councils.

In the same vein, the state government has entered into an agreement with a Chinese firm to establish a solar panel and inverter factory worth $4 million.

Speaking at the event at Government House, Abakaliki, Governor Umahi emphasised that it was aimed at bequeathing the state with enough energy for industrialisation.

Meanwhile, no fewer than five Ngbo indigenes in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have been killed in a renewed communal clash between Agila of Benue State and Ohaukwu of Ebonyi.

The state commissioner of police, Musa Kimo, who visited the scene, said everything had been brought under control and called on the people of the area to remain calm and go about their lawful businesses.

The governor, who was represented by the deputy governor, Kelechi Igwe, expressed shock over the gruesome murder of the people when he visited families of the affected persons at Ekwashi and Ukwagba communities.

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Friday 19 October 2018

BUSINESS DAY

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NEWS YOU CAN TRUST I FRIDAY 19 OCTOBER 2018

Opinion

What I believe

I

believe that this universe was created out of nothing, an endless boundless, universe.

There is a Creator – the First Mover – according to the great deist philosophers. But I am not a deist like the JewishDutch philosopher Baruch de Spinoza. Neither do subscribe to the god of the theosophists and the masters of the occult. I believe in the Creator-personal God; the Father of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; a personal God who knows me by name.

For only a personal Creator could have created sentient beings such as ourselves; beings who enjoy the enchantments of love, the beauties of the setting sun, the symphonies of Mozart and the immortal sonnets of Shakespeare.

I believe that all men and women are made in the image and likeness of the Eternal.

And He made us to fellowship with Him. And because this is so, all life is sacred. I believe in the philosophy of the FrancoGerman thinker, musicologist

and medical missionary Albert Schweitzer. His theology may have been rather dodgy, but his heart was in the right place. I share his philosophy of reverence for life – Erfurt vor dem leiben. I therefore do not believe in capital punishment; believing that it serves society no purpose to take the life of even the worst of killers.

Yes, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. I was born into the evangelical reformed tradition of the missionaries that visited the Middle Belt of Nigeria at the end of the nineteenth century led by a German–English missionary known as Dr. Karl Kumm. But I am also a believer in the unity of the body of Christ. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church.

I believe in the priesthood of all believers. I am completely at home with teachings of the Catholic Church and with all denominations that teach the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

But I am increasingly drawn towards the Eastern Orthodox faith: the Fathers of Alexan-

THE NEW WEALTH OF NATIONS dria, the monks of Mount Athos and the saints of the Russian Orthodox communion.

I believe in the communion of saints and in the life to come. I do not believe that this world is all there is to it. If everything were to end in this world then we would be of all men the most to be pitied.

‘

I believe that if Awo were President today, he would have brought his profound scientific mind to bear on the enormous challenges facing Nigeria today. For one thing, he was extremely parsimonious with respect to public finances. He would have stemmed the mindless borrowing that has blown our national debt to more than N18 trillion.

,

HumanAngle FEMI OLUGBILE Physician, psycho-profiler and essayist

I

t was world mental health day on tenth October.The theme for this year’s celebration was ‘young people and mental health in a changing world’.

You had been invited to give a lecture at a seminar on substance abuse organized for young people by the medical group of the Methodist Church of Nigeria.

The venue was a church in Surulere.

There is, in your heart, a certain fondness for Surulere.

You grew up there.

A lot of change has taken place in Surulere in half a century, and it has not all been for the better. More people, more houses; more chaos, more crime. Less sense of community.

You had initially thought the Church organized the event to mark world mental health day. Just before you took the podium you learnt that it was all just coincidence.

In the hall were gathered students from different secondary schools in the metropolis, with a sprinkling of adults.

Straight-off you told your youthful audience it was ‘synchronicity’ – a meaning-

There is life after death and there are only two destinies open to human souls: those who live pure and holy lives will live in everlasting joy with the Almighty and the angels and saints; those who pitch the camp with the demons will roast with him in everlasting flames. God is a God of justice.

He is holy. Nothing unclean can come near Him. And only the pure in heart shall see His face.

I am also persuaded that there are elements of truth in all religions. I learned some Quranic verses as a child. I still know large chunks of them by heart. Some members of my extended family are of the Muslim faith. And because I lived and worked in the ArabIslamic world, I am very much at home with Muslim culture.

I am in awe of the Golden Age of Muslim civilisation, particularly Medieval Spain and Cordoba, al-Andalus and Samarkand. I have been in awe of the medieval Arab-Muslim thinkers such as al-Farabi, al-Kindi, Ibn Khaldun and Jalaluddin

Rumi. I have a fellow-feeling with modern Muslim intellectuals such as Mohammed Iqbal and Ali Shari’ati. I believe that Muslims and Christians are all children of Abraham.

I happen to believe that the Jewish people are the firstborn of Abraham, the father of faith. I am at home with the Talmud and Zohar. I have drunk deep from the fountains of Jewish mysticism –the Baalshem Tov, Martin Buber and Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. Jewish philosophers have always resonated with my deepest intellectual quests; from Albert Einstein to Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin and Yehezkel Dror. I believe in the Jewish philosophy of vivek olam. It teaches that humanity’s vocation is to partner with God in making the world more perfect.

I am also a student of the Bhagavad Gita and the other sacred texts of ancient India. I have been in awe of the royal priest and Emperor Asoka as I am of the realism of Kautilya.

I have been influenced by the

thought, you said.

There was momentary silence. Some of the students squirmed in their seats and cast uncomfortable sideways glances at their teachers.

Everyone here, you said, knew someone who had

of the people misused drugs.

Between three and six million bottles of codeine-containing cough syrup sold in one day in the North West of Nigeria, mostly to be abused.

Had any of them heard of Tramadol? And Codeine?

A few of the students began to giggle, but nobody volunteered anything.

‘Alright -cannabis. Let’s talk about cannabis. What is it called in our neighborhood?’

More giggling. Still no volunteers.

‘Igbo’ one of them said, at length. Laughter.

Did anyone know anyone who smoked ‘igbo’?

Silence. A few titters.

Some students whispered among themselves.

You took a different tack.

‘What motor-park is close to your school?’

‘Sabo’ replied a young lady.

You put her on the spot.

‘Have you been inside the park before? What is the atmosphere like?’

‘Rough. They say some people take drugs…’

‘They say?’

Everybody laughed.

You proceeded to tell them about the motor-park health outreach the state ministry of health had carried out some years ago. Ten percent of the long-distance drivers surveyed had cannabis in their blood stream.

And alcohol.

You had their attention now.

Beyond ‘gisting’, there was technical information that needed to be put across.

Conversation with the young on world mental health day ful coincidence, that you were gathered on world mental health day to discuss youth – meaning themselves,

ger of suicide, the need to build resilience in an often challenging and unfriendly world, the need to develop

taken a drug of abuse at least once, had heard of someone who had abused a substance, or had himself or herself misused a substance.

The silence got deeper.

You proceeded to give them a few statistics – the Lagos State Mental Health Survey that showed 2.8% of the population displayed evidence of psychoactive substance use disorder. The NDLEA statement in 2010 on the North West – that 11%

‘

and their mental health in a changing world. A major factor in that changing world, and a major danger to that mental health, was the increasing scourge of substance use disorder. Of course, there were other issues – depression, the dan-

an attitude free of stigma to the whole subject of mental health and illness.

You let it be known that this was going to be less of a lecture and more of a ‘gisting’ session.

You wanted to know what they knew, and what they

There was…an ongoing battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation, and, despite the sanctimonious protestations of society, it was not at all clear who was winning

,

OBADIAH MAILAFIA Dr. Mailafia is a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, a development economist and public finance expert with a DPhil from Oxford obmailafia@gmail.com; 08036590990 (text messages only)

great cultural renaissance that gave birth to modern India – Rabindranath Tagore, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi. I have been influenced Continues on page 35

The age of first ‘recruitment’ into substance misuse was between ten and thirty years.

177 million people misused cannabis world-wide, 60 million used opoids and opiates, 35 million used stimulants (called Amphetamine type substances), almost 19 million used ‘ecstasy’ and ‘designer drugs.

Had anyone heard of designer drugs?

‘Yes’ came a tentative female voice. The speaker quickly covered her mouth with her hand and tried to shrink into her seat, as if that would ensure that nobody saw her.

You ran them through the major drug groups. For each one, you would insist that they tell you what was ‘good’ about the drug, according to the users. You could tell they were not used to discussing such delicate matters except in whispers among their friends.

Alcohol?

‘It helps you forget your sorrows.’ (‘Yes – temporarily. It’s a central nervous system depressant. The effect wears off after some time. Your sorrows are still there. It damages your liver, your nerves, and other organs, in excess’) Tobacco?

‘They say nicotine relaxes you’ (Yes – it makes your brain feel alert, and at the same time relaxes your muscles.

It also causes cancer – of the lungs and other parts)’.

Continues on page 35

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Tel: +233243226596: email: mail@businessdayonline.com Advert Hotline: 08034743892. Subscriptions 01-2950687, 07045792677. Newsroom: 08169609331 Editor: Anthony Osae-Brown. All correspondence to BusinessDAY Media Ltd., Box 1002, Festac Lagos. ISSN 1595 - 8590.

WOMEN’S HUB Friday 19 October 2018

ELISHAMA

ROSEMARY ROSEMARY IDEH for the love of her country

BUSINESS DAY

2 BUSINESS DAY

EDITOR’S NOTE

W

elcome to this edition.

Our Cover Personality and Leading Woman for this week is the undaunted and truly inspiring Elishama Rosemary Ideh, whose passion for Nigeria led her to run for the office of the President.

Find out all she has to say. This is truly revealing.

Despite bringing in about $50bn to Nigeria’s economy annually, the event management industry is challenged with obstacles that hinder their efficiency.

Find out more on this in this edition.

The Nigerian fashion industry is about to experience a new development as Plus size Fashion Week Africa promises diversity.

There are lessons to be learnt from Ford, Kavanaugh’s case.

You will find this an interesting read.

There is also the write-up on how brands should market to Millennials in Nigeria.

These and more we have for your reading pleasure.

Enjoy!

KEMI AJUMOBI kemi@businessdayonline.com

Graphics by David Ogar

Friday 19 October 2018

Leading Woman

E

lishama Rosemary Ideh was born in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital in 1964. Her father was an officer in the Nigerian police, while her mother was a businesswoman. Both parents hailed from Ewohimi in Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria.

She had her early education at the legendary Mayflower Primary School in Ikenne, Ogun State, and at the Federal Government Girls College (FGGC), Onitsha, Anambra State.

She thereafter left for the United States, where she enrolled at Bowie State College in Maryland for a degree course in Mass Communications.

On her return to Nigeria, she ventured into the challenging but exciting world of real estate. Armed with her American experience, her sagacity, and innovative business acumen were soon rewarded with outstanding success. She focused her trade on low-income traders and market people who ordinarily could not afford shops in upscale or medium-income locations. She later ventured into the oil and gas business, achieving further success in this very challenging sector as well.

In her quest to actualize her burden for social mobilization and empowerment, Ideh founded Christ the Ever-Present Ministry (CTEM) and the Elishama Ideh Ministries. Both are faith-based humanitarian organisations formed to support, strengthen and rehabilitate lives, especially among vulnerable groups such as widows, orphans and the destitute.

She was honoured with the award of an honorary Doctor of Mission degree by the Freedom Bible College of Holmes School of the Bible in the United States, as well as a Certificate from the International Executive Leadership Course (1-CEU 120) of the University of Sound Doctrine, also in the USA. Over the years, as her profile metamorphosed into that of a veritable voice for the voiceless, her concern for suffering humanity and her passion for empowerment has grown into a deeper concern for the state of her country as a whole, and a passionate desire for far-reaching and fundamental change in her nation. The contract of obligations, responsibilities, and rights between the government and the people, and especially the role of government providing for the people’s welfare and security, is one she feels has not been properly consummated – hence the need for the awakening of a new consciousness on the part of all stakeholders in the Nigerian enterprise in the quest for national rebirth.

To this end, Elishama Ideh set up the Partnership for a New Nigeria (PFANN) a social advocacy group aimed at promoting this rebirth by restructuring both the polity and it’s institutions on one hand, and the attitude of Nigerians (leaders and led alike) towards building a culture of patriotism and a stronger sense of civic duty on the other, not just to the society and the nation, but to neighbouring countries as well, especially to the less-privileged. Her decision to run for office of the President in 2019 is a bold move in a country where only few women would dare.

Earlier Years I grew up in a family of five children and I was the only girl. Well dotted upon by my parents and siblings. My late father was a police officer and my mum a business woman. My childhood years was growing up in a clean and green police barracks environment, nothing like what we see in this present day.

Nigeria at 58, anything to celebrate?

If we have to look at the present state of our Nation, the natural thing to say is that there is nothing to celebrate but we have to look beyond all that is happening and focus on love of the country, and celebrate the fact that despite all we are going through as a Nation, Nigeria is still standing; there are Nations that have not experienced 1/10th of what we have been through as a people and such nations are totally disintegrated and their social political stability has totally collapsed but that is not the case with us...that’s enough reason to celebrate and thank God and when we keep releasing such ‘spirit’ into the atmosphere, then hopefully we are held together as a people.

Why the decision to go into politics? Why the the office of the President?

My decision to go into politics came up by the reason of my work as an evangelist and witnessing first-hand the plight and suffering of the masses, taking care of a marginalized sector of our society like the homeless, displaced people, abandoned, widows, orphans, people who lived on the streets and others who the government should have made adequate provisions to take care of and rehabilitate because, the primary reason for governance is to take care of the security and the welfare of the people and there was a major void in our system concerning the fulfilment of the stated roles by the government. This void increased my passion for reformation of my land…Nigeria! I became a voice to the voiceless and through this burden to see a true change in our nation; I founded Partnership For A New Nigeria –PFANN, a socio-advocacy group committed to awakening the consciousness of all Nigerians towards engendering the birth of a NEW NIGERIA and the realization of God’s Agenda for Nigeria. I decided to run for the office of the president because I realized that the great problem plaguing our nation is that of bad leadership. For there to be a major change in the way the affairs of our nation is being discharged, we need a transformational leader and for that leader to be able to cause a shift in the present status quo, it has to be through the executive power of

Friday 19 October 2018

good people from coming into the terrain so they can continue to have a filled day of ‘raping’ Nigeria but if we don’t give up and we keep pressing in, then there is hope for the average Nigerian in the near future.

The saying ‘The youths are the hope of tomorrow’. How feasible is this in the present day reality?

Yes...that saying still stands true but the youths themselves have to rise up to fight to take their future back from the people that are holding unto it, it will not be given to them on a platter of gold. The people holding it won’t it give up without a fight.

You recently stepped down for Fela Durotoye, why this decision? What next going forward?

I got involved in PACT(Presidential Aspirants Coming Together)which was a very laudable idea for us all to come together to pick one candidate amongst us so we can collectively push that person instead of running all over the place thereby scattering our votes making it so easy for the opposition that we are trying to push out come back unopposed. A lot of the aspirants fell off the table of agreement along the way but I gave my word in a public declaration and I had to honour that word because Fela Durotoye was elected as the consensus candidate so I could not run against him in our party again for the flag bearer of the party.

How many times have you contested? Will you run again?

This is my very first time and yes I will run again if the mandate I am pursuing is nowhere visible in governance.

What future do you see for Nigeria? What do you hope for?

I see a future in the new faces that are showing up in the political terrain, the ones that have the love of the country and the sincerity of seeing the birth of A New Nigeria emerge. If they are given the chance in governance, then there will be a shift over our nation and Nigeria can rise out of her abyss of hopelessness at this hour. I hope to see a New Nigeria where basic amenities are put in place and it works. Amenities like light, food, health care, education, good roads, clean water, security and affordable housing.

Challenges experienced in participating in politics in Nigeria?

Gender bias and money playing major ‘roles’ in politics

To every woman or young lady out there, what advice do you have for them?

Aim high, don’t be limited because of gender, be all God has created you to be.

Final words Nigeria belongs to all of us, we cannot sit on the fence and watch Nigeria disintegrate. We must all rise to our civic responsibility to salvage her by making sure we use our votes right in this season. Your vote is your life, whoever you give it to will determine the quality of life you will have in the next 4-8 years as a Nigerian.

ELISHAMA ROSEMARY IDEH For the love of her country

KEMI AJUMOBI the president backed up with the power of the constitution, that is why I am running for the office of the president and again beyond that, Nigeria needs an equal representation of Women in governance for there to be a balance in building a very healthy nation.

Are there enough women in active politics? What in your view is responsible for this? What is the solution?

No there are not enough women. We have a society that is pre-dominantly patriarchal and also very gender biased, where the women have been programmed into a mind-set that they cannot aspire beyond a certain limit. Also, politics in this clime is very dangerous and it is all about money. These issues have really boxed women into a corner. The solution is that women should be encouraged to step out boldly, rise up to support aspiring women and not further castigate them because it takes a lot of boldness and courage for any woman to rise up in our society to say they want to run for any public office...that effrontery doesn’t come cheap at all, such women should be cheered on, supported and applauded at every level.

Do you foresee a day where a woman will be at the helm of affairs in this nation?

Of course, I see it in the very near future if someone like me came into the terrain and I ‘broke the ground’, then I believe the future is set for women in Nigeria.

With the way ‘democracy’ is being practised in Nigeria today, where is the hope of the average citizen?

The hope of the average citizen looks deem but we cannot give up because the intention of the political class is to scare

WOMEN’S HUB 7

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Friday 19 October 2018

There’s There’s more more to to the the event event management management industry industry Stories by DESMOND OKON

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vents have become an essential part of human existence, no doubts. In this time, the evolution of the event industry has given rise to a trend of social ratings based on the kind of events one is able to pull off, and this, has also led to people having some sentimental attachment to events –whether corporate or social, it has to be ‘lit’ or a talk-of-the-state event because your social status depends

on it.

But what happens when you have to postpone that dinner or cocktail event because your event planner is grappling with clearing the materials needed to beautify it with the Nigerian Customs?

Apart from its sometimes unorganised nature, (which has always been an issue) the challenge the Event Planning industry is facing majorly, is customs and clearing, as players find it tough getting materials into the country, said Christine Ogbeh, founder Quorum West Africa, The Wedding Guru and The Wedding Mall, in an interview with Women’s Hub.

“Customs and clearing is one of our major challenges in the industry. We have serious limitations getting things into the country”, she reiterates.

Also finding the right staff with the right attitude, hardworking, well trained and ready to do the work poses another strong challenge, according to her.

But despite the stumbling blocks, her evaluation of the industry stemming from her long stay in it, was punctuated by positive remarks. She also expressed hopes that the industry would get to a point of competing with other countries.

“The Nigerian event industry has really evolved in the last couple of years. There are amazing event planners and designers out in Nigeria, and you can see from their work on social media –how everybody is just trying to push themselves and push beyond their current boundaries, and that’s what we would like the industry to grow into.

We want to be able to compete with other markets like the Middle East and America as well. We want to have our designs emerging from Africa, our own specific look, so that we are also on the events map of the world as Nigerians”, she said.

But to achieve this, “Some form of standardisation has to be enforced”, Ogbeh said. “I think what the Association of Professional Party Organisers and Event Managers of Nigeria, APPOEMN is doing now, getting all the event professionals registered on some form of body that provides that kind of backing, is a good move. So we would expect this sort of association to get people within this industry registered so that they are working at specific standards that can compete with the world,” she adds.

Early this year, APPOEMN said at the unveiling of its annual conference (which held last month) that professionals in the event management industry contribute over 50 billion US Dollars to Nigeria’s economy annually.

According to its Public Relations Director, Bose Abisagboola, the industry has continued to contribute to Nigeria’s economy directly as well as provide employment for Nigerians, who can be gainfully employed in different fields of the economy. This further shows that the event industry is a significant factor in boosting Nigeria’s economy.

However, Ogbeh advised starters to work very hard because it’s not a situation of getting rich overnight because a lot of people feel that the event industry has a lot of money. “You need to put in the work, stay ahead of the game, and constantly distinguish yourself to stay ahead of the game,” she said.

Plus-size Fashion Week Africa promises diversity T

he organisers of the Plus-size Fashion Week Africa, PFWAfrica, have said that lovers of fashion should look out for diversity at this years’ fashion show coming up in November 3 and 4, as plans are afoot for plus-size models of different kinds, skin colour, race to walk the run way.

The founders of PFWAfrica, Temi Aboderin-Alao and Wilson Alao made this known to journalists at a media chat, on Thursday, the 27th of September.

This promise of diversity is the distinguishing factor from previous editions, because “we are going to see different kind of models this time. It’s not strictly a certain kind of model you are expecting to see everything time, but this time, we are going in to make sure that we have diversity on skin, diversity in country, diversity in race and on the run way. And also we are making sure of having more from neighbouring African countries to come on board. We have some already on ground, and we have some from the UK and the US who are also going to be showcasing,” Wilson Alao, MD, and co-founder, PFWAfrica.

The fashion show will hold at Oriental Hotel, Lagos, and it will run with the theme “Beautifully Me” which aligns with the intention to promote the beauty and curves of the African thick and ‘bold’ woman, encourage her to feel beautiful, confident and comfortable in their own skin.

“This year’s theme is ‘Beautifully Me’ so what we are expecting is see designers to showcase that beauty, and also our exhibitors as well, they should bring in beautiful pieces, beautifully crafted for the curvy and plus size lady”, Aboderin-Alao stated while explaining her motivation for theme.

Plus-size Fashion Week Africa is an international standard platform that focuses on plus size industry, and caters for the needs of plus-size designers and plus-size models in order to get more jobs also and to get more exposure with the designers’ outfit on the runway.

Speaking about the idea to celebrate plus-size women and designers through fashion, and to popularize an aspect of the industry that has been overlooked for years, Adoderin-Alao said she realized there was a level of hostility towards the plus size brands while on the journey.

“We would be at shows and people will say ‘can these models walk?’, ‘they are going to fall’ or ‘you are promoting obesity’ and all kinds of negative things were said. But things have changed so drastically and I’m grateful to God for that,” she said with a

mirth that validates the huddles she’s crossed to get here.

In addition, it was learnt that there will be two runway showcases –“one in the afternoon and one in the evening”. Also, to further encourage pachydermous women to be positive about their form, and dispel criticisms that the show promotes obesity, there will be a master class on the 4th of November “where we’ll be talking about body positivity, mental health, and startup business”, Aboderin-Alao told newsmen.

Reacting to concerns about the age range of models and the process of selection, Wilson Aloa said models will be from the age of 16 to 25, and because he realized Nigerians have a knack for boycotting rules, they (the models) will go through two stages of rigorous auditions that will test their ability to work with their agency, Golden Curvy. “And if you can’t follow our rules (called the ‘Holy Grail’) you can’t work with us”, he said. “So on our runway this year, you have to pass through all the trainings that the Golden Curvy models are passing thorough,” he adds.

This year’s show will feature the AfricanNextPlussizeModel competition where the winner will get an international deal with an agency to be revealed during the event.

The members of the panel at the press conference included Yetty Ogunnubi head publicist and CEO.YD Agency, Olubukola Akanbi, PFWAFRICA Project Coordinator, Dumebi Agbakoba, award-winning Chef, Feyi Luther, Chef, Immaculate Dache, music ariste/influencer, Nkechi Blessing, actress, Monalisa Stephen actress, Mor Okonwo, music artiste, and Modavi Couture boss.

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WOMEN’S HUB

Accolades for Akin Tofowomo, as Shuga Band turns 20

Friday 19 October 2018

WOMEN’S HUB 5

KEMI AJUMOBI

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Challenges facing Nigeria’s Digital Technology Adoption MOMOH-ONIMISI-EBENEZER

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n less than 20 years of Larry page and Sergey Brin breakthrough innovation of the Google, were in danger of turning the fictitious global connectivity into a reality; with internet connectivity soaring above global population index and internet accessibility easier than access to good toilet. While much has changed, what are the road blocks to Nigeria’s adoption of digital technology especially with global forecast pegged at 50% of global economy?

Telecommunication effectiveness With Nigeria’s 63 million internet users representing arguably the greatest market potential within Africa, effective and reliable internet access will not only propel business innovation but also reduce the cost through the use of cloud based applications. Take a look at the Chinese e-commerce giant “ Alibaba “ whose network based transaction has further fueled its dominant market share allowing market penetration and placing it at 7th most valuable company globally.

Cisco survey further explains that 89% of Chinese respondent use internet shopping apps on smart phones not less than once on a weekly basis against 40% globally triggering 1.1 million dollars in GDP of Chinese economy.

An effective blend of broadband access coupled with effective and reliable internet connectivity will also go a long way in fast tracking business productivity and thereby promote digitalized business behavior which in reality is the bone of future economy.

Digital adoption through education Ensuring that rising generations have the right skill

through the adoption of well-organized technology based curriculum can further advance knowledge pool and promote critical thinking, creativity and digital literacy. Emerging ideas from the 3d modeling to the dizzying pace of artificial intelligence calls for modification of school curriculums in accordance with modern global best practices. Better welfare and financial incentives for foreign based expatiates can be adopted in creating knowledge base of instructors who can further digitalize technological advancement. Especially with digital technology affecting global economy by almost 50%.

Effective electricity supply A recurring decimal in Nigeria’s economic backwardness has also been poor electricity supply which in recent years has fueled the exodus of large scale firm to neighbouring nations with adequate power supply. Going by the much publicized 1580MW of electricity is to go by; developing alternative energy source and decentralization of electricity supply may just be the antidote to Nigeria’s age long head ache. Following the footsteps of nations like America with coal-39%, natural gas-27%, hydro-19% other sources7%. Another flag ship for effective digital technology integration for business is cyber security and digital safety. The world cyber threat map ranks Nigeria in 16th position of countries with high cyber security risk. This however acts as a chick in the armour of business owner and repels easy adoption of digital banking mechanism which are fast becoming norms. However sanctions on intellectual property theft and cybercrimes through the adoption of individualized online identity password can ease fraud and help track down excess online fraud.

The listed policy imperative is to propel ideas, strategic guidance and innovations which can be adopted if Nigeria hopes to join the global league of digital frontiers.

assion, creativity commitment, opportunity, networking are some of the adjectives and nouns that help define the keys to the vocal powerhouse’s success so far.

Grinding in the music industry is physically, mentally, and emotionally difficult, but he’s been able to break the routine.

From nothing, having built trust and knowledge of his craft in a vicious and complicated industry, he’s truly shattered the ceiling out of smallville into reckoning and matchless relevance, thus becoming a success in Nigeria’s competitive music business. With 20 years on the grind and counting, with a honed craft and a robust fan base, his appetite for good music and artists is insatiable, whilst his ability to continually adapt and adjust in the music industry has been critical to his survival.

More about the Shuga Man He no doubt started with the profound idea of playing music out of passion.

Over the years his influences, style, philosophies and adopted techniques have demystified the age-long tradition, thus making him outstanding in his career.

Tofowomo and the Shuga Band are all perpetually chasing something ineffable.

He’s spent his career trying to create the perfect conditions to get what they’re after; it just so happens that they also have the kind of training and know-how to exact an impressive range of sounds from their musical instruments, whenever inspiration strikes. Quality and timeless musical roots are usually traced back to genres like blues, folk, highlife and country, by watching the bandleader Akin Tofowomo in the hey days or now, bounding around a Lagos or Washington stage with his band, excellence remains constant.

Of Supreme Passion, Talent, Market Niche and the Ultimate Formula Growing up in the music business, it used to be as simple as watching the veterans make the stew, then you could repeat for yourself. The formulas and ingredients were pretty well defined and the outcomes predictable. Akin Tofowomo’s life through music has declared that the music industry’s music-stew is not repeatable any more. One of the most frustrating parts of being an artist today is understanding that timing is everything. The supremely passionate live performer and game changer has created a legacy of dance floor favourites that sees clients enjoying every bit of his tunes. By way of a great leap in creating a very specialised and robust market niche through his Shuga Band, he has dictated how much attention people gave to the music being by live musicians.

The Survivor For the Polio survivor, asides, professionalism, brand positioning, experience, work ethic, fan connection, flexibility and an enviable net worth in cash and assets, the musician’s talent is probably his most obvious staying power. In this clime, talent is a broad description mostly pigeon-holed into the artist’s skill of voice or instrumentation. However, talent is a much bigger ingredient because it can encompass things like originality, stage presence, audience psychology and connection, dance and song writing, amongst the long list. A total package evaluation of the vocal phenomenon is a better definition of his true essence.

His passion makes his talent off the charts and has for sure defined his success. For those who know how he’s weathered the storm of the life of an artist, those experiences are the “seasoning” of the stew that has given his music its flavour, his music and artistry its reliability.

Beyond the Rush, and Lighted Stage…

As an artist, he is organised and committed to a disciplined routine of practice and getting better and successful. It shows in everything the Shuga Band says and does on and off stage. People around them and observers afar know that they’re not dabbling or kidding around. With local and internationals awards and endorsements, it is with no iota of doubt that he’s

first among equals.

20th anniversary pet project With his 20th anniversary pet project, existing, emerging and struggling music live bands in Nigeria would be taught to understand the moving parts of the music

industry, how royalties and revenue streams work, how a publishing deal works. With the band’s anniversary approaching, Akin Tofowomo seems to want nothing more than just to be himself. Ultimately, that’s what keeps this towering music icon forever young and that’s the difference between playing music and being music!

In telling stories like The Boomerang, sexual abuse can be checked KEMI AJUMOBI

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here is hardly a day that goes by without hearing cases of sexual abuse in Nigeria especially with minors. As sad as it is, there are those who are still perpetuating this wicked act and are walking around freely like nothing can be done to them. I read recently of a man who had been molesting his two daughters and even when they told their mum, she was living in denial and by the time she found out, the children had been battered beyond measure.

Child sexual abuse is an offence under several sections of chapter 21 of the Nigeria’s criminal code. The age of consent is 18 but sadly, some 18 year olds are also victims of molestation so even adulthood doesn’t necessarily guarantee respect of choices, choices like “NO! Don’t touch me”

doesn’t make sense to a desperate predator seeking young girls/boys they can suppress to their demands because they are stronger.

UNICEF reported in 2015 that one in four girls and one in ten boys in Nigeria had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. According to a survey by Positive Action for Treatment Access, over 31.4 percent of girls there said that their first sexual encounter had been rape or forced sex of some kind.

Issues like these are reasons why Oluwaseun Adejumobi, a film maker recently produced a movie titled The Boomerang. A movie that addresses the ordeal of the sexually abused, “the movie comes with a message of healing and restoration to the victims” he tells me and adds “it is my social campaign against Rape cases and I will love to show it in various

places to create more awareness”.

In The Boomerang, a molested girl child whose voice and confidence had been taken away from her as a result of the traumatic experience of sexual assault and molestation was brought to the fore. “It is no gain saying that we have a lot of such promising young girls in our society whose hope and aspiration in life appear to have been dashed. Interestingly, the movie comes with a soothing message of healing, hope and restoration.” He reiterates.

According to Adejumobi, “our plan is to premiere the movie in various places whilst counsellors, Psychologists and medical personnels who will be fully on ground will attend to persons that might have had

such similar debilitating experiences in time past and are looking forward to restoration.

As stated earlier, the essence of this is to restore and reignite the hope of glory in them and set them on the right pedestal of life and purpose again.”

Faced with challenges like lack of partnership, inability to reach a larger audience and most especially funding, Adejumobi says going to more places to show the movie and enlighten the public on child molestation has been daunting but he however remains optimistic that he will be supported to show the movie in more locations by organisations and even the government to take this message around Nigeria and beyond.

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How Brands Should Market To Millennials In Nigeria

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s Nigeria recently clocked 58, even with an obviously low-key and gloomy Independence Day celebration due to the downtrend of the nation’s economic and social life, there has been more outcries that women should be given opportunities to handle the helm of affairs of the country, considering the fact that women given the chance, would perform better than their male counterparts.

This was the view of Appolus Chu, the Egbere Emere Okori Eleme, Rivers State, who chaired a women’s summit recently in Abuja.

According to the organisers, the summit was a deliberate women agenda to ensure a greater representation and participation of women at all levels of governance.

Subtlety tagged, “Increasing Women Participation in Nigeria Democratic Process”, the summit held in Federal Capital Territory, was organised by the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), National Council for Women Societies and Women in Politics Forum in Collaboration with the Office of the Wife of the President.

Chu who applauded the role and contributions of women to the development of the society, describing them as effective managers who need to be encouraged, charged the women to be confident in themselves and learn to support one another.

“You would agree with me that women are leading and are doing extremely well in various organisations and in whatever portfolio they are given. Nigerian women are not known for sabotaging government efforts, they are diligent managers and we have seen that mostly from those occupying ministerial positions and other top offices across the federation. One advice I will give to you is to learn to support each other knowing that the men are your major competitors. The energy you would have used to campaign for a man, use it to support your fellow women”, the royal father noted.

The summit which is geared towards strategising means to strengthen women participation in politics and encourage gender equality had in attendance President Muhammadu Buhari and his wife, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari.

Chu was quick to applaud President Muhammadu Buhari and his wife for their contribution and support to women generally while also commending the President’s anti-corruption crusade.

He advised the men not to use their strength to dominate the

illennials (18-35yr olds) are a savvy and demanding bunch, often ruthless in destroying all preconceived notions brands have about them and quick to dissociate and call out the brands that are bringing less than their A-game to the market. What is however not in doubt is that in exchange for their attention and loyalty, Millennials expect to be entertained and the brands that can cleverly weave entertainment into their marketing communication in a genuine way will likely record greater acceptance from Millennials.

PEER-TO-PEER MARKETING Getting through to Millennials through their passion points is an effective way of reaching out, however, this shouldn’t be the only thoroughfare to reaching younger audiences. Today, Nigerian brands are all about music, dance and talent shows and Millennials are, quite frankly saturated by the onslaught of media hype around these passion areas. The average young Nigerian is well versed in digital and social media and there is an overwhelming need to be authentic and real in our marketing, in the same vein Millennials are quick to spot fake wanna be cool brands, who are looking for that occasional cheap high, without the corresponding value, authenticity and knowledge that is required to market to Millennials in the digital age.

THE MILLENNIAL SOCIAL MEDIA WARRIOR That the average young Nigerian is social media savvy is no story at all, however, what makes for a good story is that brands are still clueless on how to reach and engage with young audiences online. Every brand understands the need for a comprehensive social media strategy, but almost all brands pay lip service to this. Developing a social media strategy that influences your social media activities is the first step to reaching out to the target millennial audience.

EARNING THEIR ATTENTION Let them come to you, by creating content that is valuable, fun and entertaining you enjoy the attention of Millennials who crave to be entertained. Also Millennials are notorious for sharing content they find entertaining or informative, hence keep in mind that this demography is the reason why stuff goes viral on the Internet.

GET CREATIVE Using football news and content as bait isn’t a sustainable content strategy for social media, if your brand isn’t a sports brand, then think about using football or other sport related news sparingly. Instead, think creatively to come up with interesting areas that will get your followers engaged.

VISUAL STORYTELLING Millennials have notoriously short attention spans; a good content strategy to attract Millennials would have to invest in strong visuals to tell your brand story, use inspiration of real people using your product to emotionally connect with Millennials.

MEETING MILLENNIALS ON MOBILE 85% of millennials use their mobile phones to access the Internet; there also is a growing number of millennials using smartphones. Research indicates that by 2020, 4 in every 5 mobile phone will be a smartphone. How does mobile affect a brand’s long-term strategy to attract millennials? We have already heard that mobile is the future, apparently that future might be closer than we all- think it is. Whether it is planning an integrated marketing campaign across various customer touch points or developing a mobile marketing strategy that may include mobile applications or SMS marketing, the key to getting success with millennial marketing is to understand the various devices that Millennials use and then develop all platforms to suit these devices.

– Amplify Digital

Nigeria at 58: More women needed in politics IFEOMA OKEKE women while also tasking various political parties to accommodate women in their planning, so as to give space for the women to rule.

Present at the event were wives of governors, political party leaders, female political aspirants from the 36 states and other concern citizens.

One of the participants, Janet Febisola Adeyemi, a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and a fellow of the Geological Society of Nigeria, who has shown interest in running for Senate having notably served in Nigeria National House of Representative at several points, said,. “One of the critical points is that Nigeria cannot continue to slide down the robe. The National Assembly is supposed to be a place for making good laws. We need to revise our laws in Nigeria and make adaptable to the development of our country.”

Another woman, Roseline Ada Chenge, a female governorship aspirant in Benue State who has had unsuccessful attempts at politics in the past but has still not given up hope shared her bitter experience. “It has been pains all through.

We are grateful our Excellency is here today to hear us. I am re-contesting and this is my third time. I am so encouraged because I know that this time around, our pains will not be in vain.” She said.

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