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SATURDAY

Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS /newtelegraph

Vol. 1 No. 293

Monday, December 8, 2014

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

N150

Mark, Akpabio, jang win senate tickets, Ndoma-Egba crashes out

}9

lWe're ready for hitch-free presidential primaries, says Mohammed

}6

APC: Saraki, Tinubu, Akume, Ngige fight for senatorial slots Business }21

Editorial }19

Travel Advisory Guide to local and international flights }4

PDP guber war

l233 aspirants scramble for 29 tickets lThe contenders, pretenders lLikely winners lIhedioha, Bankole, Wike, Shagari, Ohakim, }13-17 Udom, Ugwuanyi, Obanikoro, Odom in hot race

Ihedioha

Udom

Obanikoro

Shagari

Odom

Maku

Wike

Ohakim

Anyanwu

Bankole

Yayale

Ugwuanyi

2

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

3

4

Travel Advisory

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

International Flight Schedule

Local FLIGHT SCHEDULE FIRST NATION AIRWAYS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06.50; 09:30; 11:45; 16:00 (SAT) 06:50; 11:45 (SUN) 11:45; 16:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 11:30; 13:40;18:30 (SAT) 09:00; 13:40 (SUN) 13:40; 18:30 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 14:45 (SAT) 16:15 (SUN) 14:45 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:50 (SAT) 18:20 (SUN) 16:50 AEROCONTRACTORS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06:50; 13:30; 16:30; 19:45 (SAT/SUN) 12:30; 16:45 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 13:00; 19:00 (SAT) 12:30 (SUN) 15:30 MEDVIEW AIRLINES LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:50; 12:00; 15:30 (SAT) 10:00; 15:00 (SUN) 17:30; 18:30 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 14:00, 15:00; 18:30 OVERLAND AIRWAYS LAGOS-ILORIN (MON-FRI) 07:15 LAGOS-IBADAN (MON-FRI) 7:00 IBADAN-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:00 IBADAN-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:30 ILORIN –ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30 ILORIN –LAGOS (MON-FRI) 17:00 ABUJA-ASABA (MON-FRI) 10:00 ASABA-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 14:15 ASABA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 11:30 LAGOS-ASABA (MON-FRI) 13:00 ABUJA-ILORIN 16:00 ABUJA-IBADAN 15:00 ARIK AIR LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:00; 09:00; 11:00 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SAT) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SUN) 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00; 20:00 (SAT) 07:00; 09:00; 11:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 (SUN) 09:00; 13:00; 15:00; 17:00; 19:00 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI)07:00; 09:30; 11:00; 13:30; 15:00; 17:30 (SAT) 07:00; 11:00; 15:00 (SUN) 09:30; 11:00; 13:30; 15:00; 17:30 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 09:00; 11:30; 13:00; 15:30; 17:00 (SAT) 07:30; 11:30; 09:00; 13:00; 17:00 (SUN) 11:30; 13:00; 15:30; 17:00 ABUJA-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 06:45; 10:10; 13:30; 16:50 (SAT/SUN) 06:45; 10:10; 13:30 PORT-HARCOURT-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30; 11:50; 15:10; 18:30 (SAT/SUN) 08:30; 11:50; 15:10 AZMAN FLIGHT SCHEDULE WEEKLY SCHEDULE Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Abuja 10:30am Abuja-Lagos 12:40pm Lagos-Abuja/Kano 4:00pm Abuja-Kano 5:45pm Kaduna-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kan 10:10am Kano-Abuja/Lagos 12:40pm Abuja-Lagos 1:00pm Abuja-Lagos 2:40pm Lagos-Kaduna 5:00pm WEEKEND SCHEDULE SATURDAY Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Abuja 10:30am Abuja-Lagos 1:00pm Lagos-Kano 4:00pm Kaduna-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kano 4:00pm Sunday Kano-Lagos 8:00am Lagos-Kano 10:30am Kano-Abuja/Lagos 1:20pm Abuja-Lagos 2:40pm Lagos-Kaduna 5:00pm

British Airways flights from Nigeria (Mon - Sun) Flight path

Departure

Arrival

Lagos (LOS) to London Heathrow (LHR)

23.30hrs

05.30hrs

Abuja (ABV) to London Heathrow (LHR)

08.00hrs

14.00hrs

Flight path

Departure

Arrival

London Heathrow (LHR) to Lagos (LOS)

11.00hrs

17.30hrs

London Heathrow (LHR) to Abuja (ABV)

00.00hrs

06.00hrs

British Airways flights to Nigeria

Daily flights from Nigeria (Lagos, Abuja) (Mon - Sun) Airliner

Airports

Departure

Arrival

Arik Air

London to Lagos

21:30hrs

03.30hrs

Arik Air

Lagos (LOS) to New York (JFK)

23:35hrs

05:30hrs (NY time)

Arik Air

New York (JFK) to Lagos

12:00hrs (NY time)

06:00hrs (Nig. time)

Delta Airlines

Atlanta to Lagos

23:00hrs

16:00hrs

Delta Airlines

Lagos to Atlanta

22:20hrs

05:30hrs

Emirates Airlines

Lagos to Dubai

14:30hrs;

12:50hrs

KLM

Lagos to Amsterdam

23:10hrs

05:10hrs

KLM

Amsterdam to Lagos

11:30hrs

05:30hrs

Virgin Atlantic

Lagos to London

11:00hrs

17:00hrs

Lufthansa

Abuja to Frankfurt

23.10hrs

05.10hrs

Lufthansa

Lagos to Frankfurt

21.00hrs

03.00hrs

South Africa Airways

Lagos to Johannesburg

22.15hrs

03.15hrs (SA time)

United Airlines

Lagos to Housten, Texas

22:10hrs

-

Fly Direct

Air France

Abuja to Paris

23:55hrs

05:55hrs

Air France

Lagos to Paris

21:20hrs

03:21hrs

Ethiopia Airways

Abuja to Addis Ababa

20.10hrs (Nig Time)

00.10hrs (Addis time)

Ethiopia Airways

Lagos to Addis Ababa

14:00hrs (Nig Time)

18:00hrs (Addis time)

At the time of publication, the only direct flights between the United States and Morocco are those operated by Royal Air Maroc between New York JFK and Casablanca. This flight runs at least three times a week and often more frequently; check the Royal Air Maroc website (royalairmaroc.com) for the most up-to-date flight schedule.

Qatar Airways

Lagos to Doha

14.23hrs

-

Air Maroc

Lagos to Casablanca

06:25 hrs

12:45 hrs

Etihad

Lagos to Abu Dhabi

09:50hrs

-

Air Ivoire

Lagos to Abidjan

10:15hrs (Sun and Mon)

-

Cam Air

Lagos to Yaounde

15:25hrs (Mon, Tues and Wed)

How to Travel to Morocco From the USA Morocco takes up the northwest corner of Africa, covering an area slightly larger than California. It enjoys good weather and is rich in heritage and culture, with nine UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the famous medinas, or historic centers, of Fez and Marrakech. U.S. passport holders do not need a visa to visit Morocco as long as your stay is for less than 90 days. To reach Morocco, your only option is to fly.

Fly via Europe Flying via Europe really opens up your travel options to Morocco and provides the opportunity to add a European city to your itinerary. In addition to the main airport in Casablanca, Morocco has airports at Agadir, Fez, Marrakech, Ouarzazate, Rabat and Tangier. These alternative destinations are accessible from a variety of European cities. For example, if you fly via Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport you can choose from onward flights to Casablanca, Nador, Tangier, Marrakech and Agadir.

Other possible transit cities include London, Frankfurt and Paris.

Flight Times Flying from New York to Casablanca is a long-distance flight, so be prepared. Your flight time is likely to be around six hours.

The flights leave New York in the early evening, but the difference in time zones means that you’ll arrive at around 6.30 a.m., feeling like it’s the early hours of the morning. From Europe, flights are a lot shorter. Expect a flight from Amsterdam to Tangier to take just over two hours, although the longer journey to Agadir in the Morocco south will take more than five hours.

Domestic Flights Once you’re in Morocco, most destinations are accessible by public transportation or rental car, making air travel an option only for the longest journeys. Rough Guides recommends considering taking a flight to Laayoune or Dakhla in the Western Sahara due to the distances involved. However, internal flights are often delayed and can be quite expensive, so it’s worth looking at Moroccan trains and buses before making your journey plans.

News

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

5

APC: Saraki, Tinubu, Akume, Ngige fight for senatorial slots Ayodele Ojo

F

ormer governors, serving senators and political heavyweights will today battle for 109 senatorial tickets of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the main opposition party holds its National Assembly primaries across the federation.

Some APC senators have opted out of the race to pursue governorship ambition.

Senate Minority Leader and former Governor of Benue State, George Akume, is expected to pick the APC zone B senatorial ticket while former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, is primed for victory in Anambra Central.

In Kwara, former Governors Bukola Saraki (Kwara Central) and Sha'aba Lafiagi (Kwara North) look good for victory.

In Lagos, Senators Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) and Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East) are the candidates to beat in their senatorial zones. Mrs. Tinubu is the wife of the APC National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu.

Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, is poised to pick the Sokoto Central ticket while former permanent secretary, Abubakar Danbaba Danbuwa, is tipped to replace Senator Dahiru Tambuwal in Sokoto South. Senator Tambuwal lost the APC governorship primaries on Thursday to House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal.

In Nasarawa State, former governor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu will face a fierce battle from former General Officer Commanding (GCO) 1 Division, Kaduna, General Ahmed Abokie (rtd) for the APC ticket. Senator Musa Nagogo may get a return ticket for the Nasarawa North.

Also in Gombe State, a former governor, Danjuma Goje, is running for the Gombe Central senatorial ticket.

None of the incumbent senators is contesting the APC ticket in Ogun State as Senators Gbenga Obadara, Adegbenga Kaka and Akin Odunsi have defect-

ed to the newly registered Social Democratic Party (SDP) on whose platform they will run.

In Rivers State, Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Magnus Abe, who just lost out in the governorship race, is favoured to pick the ticket for the Rivers East Senatorial District. Senator Wilson Ake will pick the Rivers West Senatorial District slot.

A chartered accountant, Femi Olaore, may emerge as candidate for the Oyo South ticket, which Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, who has defected to Accord Party, occupies.

In Jigawa, former depu-

ty governor, Ubale Shitu, is expected to pick the Jigawa North senatorial ticket.

In Ekiti, the three serving senators Tony Adeniyi (Ekiti South), Olubunmi Adetumbi (Ekiti North) and Babafemi Ojudu (Ekiti Central) are primed to pick the ticket in today’s primaries.

Despite the security challenges in Borno, politicians are jostling to win the Senate seats today. In Borno Central, serving Senator Ahmed Zannah is contesting while Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume may emerge as the candidate for the Borno South.

In Edo, Senator Ehigie Uzamere (Edo South) will

face a tough challenge from the Chief of Staff to Governor Adams Oshiomhole and former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon.

Senator Domingo Obende, currently seeking reelection to represent Edo North, will slug it out with the Secretary to the Edo State Government (SSG), Prof. Julius Ihonvbere.

In Osun State, two of the senators, Babajide Omoworare (Osun East) and Sola Adeyeye (Osun Central), may retain their seats while Hussein Mudashiru (Osun West) has lost out. He will be replaced today by former governor of the state, Senator Isiaka

Adeleke.

In Zamfara, Senators Rufa’i Ahmed Sani (Zamfara West), Sahabi Ya’u (Zamfara North) and Kabiru Garba Marafa are expected to pick the tickets with the support of Governor Abdulaziz Yari.

In Katsina State, two of the serving senators – Abu Ibrahim (Katsina South) and Hadi Sirika (Katsina North) – are contesting in the senatorial race.

Also, Senator Ibrahim Kabiru Gaya (Kano South) has been endorsed by the stakeholders in Kano State while in Adamawa State, Senator Bindawa Jibrilla is sure of picking the Adamawa senatorial ticket.

L-R: Managing Director, DERMALOG Identification Systems (DIS) GmbH, Germany, Gunther Mull; Group Managing Director, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Mr. Phillips Oduoza, and Sales Director (Middle East and Africa), DIS, Jan Nack, during the company's visit to Oduoza in Lagos...at the weekend.

We're ready for hitch-free presidential primaries, says APC Johnchuks Onuanyim and Temitope Ogunbanke

T

he Progressives Congress (APC) has promised to ensure hitch-free presidential primaries on Wednesday.

The party, at a press conference in Lagos yesterday to on its preparations for the primaries, also said it would provide Nigerians with a candidate that will provide a credible alternative to President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the sole candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

APC National Publicity Secretary and Chairman, Media and Publicity sub –committee of the party’s national convention, Al-

haji Lai Mohammed, said the party would also present candidates that would drive the change at various levels of government.

“As you are all aware, our dear country is in a dire need of change. The All Progressives Congress (APC) is determined to bring that change. The process of effecting that change has commenced with the effective mobilisation of Nigerians to demand the change in the 2015 general election.

“The APC as a party that is committed to seeing Nigeria leave its present sorry state and take its rightful position in the comity of nations, is set to ensure this change by presenting for election, cred-

ible and purpose-driven candidates that would drive the change at various levels of government.

“The party’s congresses and election of candidates for the various positions that commenced earlier in the month will climax in the election of the APC presidential flag bearer in the February 2015 presidential election,” he stated.

Speaking on the party’s national convention, he said: “No fewer than 8,000 delegates, drawn from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are expected to participate in the convention and the presidential primaries that would elect the party’s flag bearer out of the five presidential aspirants of

the party.

“The five aspirants of the party are eminent citizens with proven credentials. It is our belief that at the exercise one of them would emerge the presidential flag bearer of our dear party in the coming election.

“The aspirants are: a former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari; a former vice-president of the country, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; Governor of Kano State; Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and Publisher of Leadership Newspaper Group, Sam Nda-Isaiah.

“The five aspirants would address the del-

egates, stressing their programmes before the commencement of voting, which will be by secret ballot.

“Adequate arrangements have been made by the National Convention Committee (NCC), headed by former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, for a hitch-free convention. The various sub-committees are working round the clock to ensure that the convention succeeds and become a reference point in the political history of the country.

“We are also collaborating with relevant agencies to ensure effective security, crowd control, traffic management, medical attention among others.

And for the millions of

Nigerians who may not be opportuned to be at the venue of the convention, arrangements have been made for effective live coverage of the entire process by some radio and television stations.”

Meanwhile, Atiku yesterday stated that he was set for the presidential primaries, having concluded his state tour to canvass for delegates' votes.

The Director of Media, Atiku Campaign Organisation, Mallam Shehu Garba, told New Telegraph that his boss was set for the primaries having toured all the 36 states and the FCT. Garba stated that the only state that Atiku did not visit was Akwa Ibom because of the crisis in the state chapter of the party.

News

6

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

FG considers electricity tariff hike in Jan Adeola Yusuf

E

lectricity consumers may pay more from January as the Federal Government is considering a new 'supplementary' tariff hike, New Telegraph has learnt.

A source at the Nigerian Electricity Regulating Commission (NERC) said at the weekend that the implementation of the supplementary tariff, if ratified, would be reflected in the January bill, to be distributed to customers in February 2015.

NERC commissioner, Dr. Abba Ibrahim, had earlier hinted on the tariff hike on the sideline of a forum in Lagos, saying it is meant to cushion the effects of naira devaluation and the falling crude oil prices in the global market.

The supplementary tariff is to reflect inflation caused by a major change in foreign exchange rate and major changes in oil and gas prices.

Checks by New Telegraph showed that talks had begun with new assets owners, who have been pushing for the supplementary hike.

"They (new assets owners) are of the belief that the devaluation of

the naira and the falling crude oil prices are two major elements that have caused inflation, which has direct and indirect effects on their businesses.

"The foreign exchange rate plays a vital role in the newly privatised electricity industry and anytime the naira is devalued, it reflects on the budget, revenue target and profit margins of the companies.

"Also, the falling prices of oil at the international market affect one way or the other, the willingness to produce and supply gas to the power generation.

"I can tell you that moves are being made to get approval for the tariff to reflect differentials in the naira devaluation and that of the oil prices, which became frightening in November.

"By January, this may reflect on bills if approval is made, or better still, the Multi-year Tarrif Order (MYTO) may be fasttracked to accommodate this," the source said.

Meanwhile, the NERC boss has said it is becoming more expedient for distribution companies to key into the credited advance

payment for metering implementation (CAPMI) scheme to ensure that customers are not cheated.

"Our commitment at NERC is to ensure that we use this medium to get complaints from consumers as we did today and to get feedback from distribution companies on strategies employed for the implementation of CAPMI. "Here, we discovered that the Eko Electricity Distribution Company, which employed the CAPMI has been able to connect over 16, 000 customers while the Ikeja EDC con-

nected about 4, 000 because it is yet to adopt CAPMI. "We are told that they will present their strategy next year and we hope that this will propel them to do as much as Eko EDC," Ibrahim had told reporters.

Executive Secretary, Nigerian Metres Association, Mr. Muyideen Ibrahem, who said over two million pre-paid metres were lying fallow in the warehouses of manufacturers, called on NERC to prevail on the distribution companies to patronise them.

He said: "I want to ap-

peal to Ikeja DISCO to patronise Nigerian local manufacturers. We have over two million pre-paid metres in our warehouses.

"NERC should kindly prevail on the DISCOs to patronise local manufacturers of metres, our businesses are folding up, our products have international standard and we keep wondering why we should have them in our warehouses while customers keep complaining of crazy billing resulting from unavailability of metres," he said.

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST LAGOS

31oC

26oC

Mostlly Sunny L-R: Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Chairman, CMA Investment Holdings, Rakesh Wahi and Vice-President, Sid Wahi, at the 2014 “Forbes Africa Person of the Year” award bestowed on Dangote in Kenya

ABUJA

37oC

22oC

Mostly Sunny

PORT HARCOURT

27o C 18oC Thunder Storms

KANO

34oC

14oC

Sunny

ENUGU

36oC

23oC

Mostly Sunny

IBADAN

33oC

22oC

Mostly Sunny

CALABAR

31o C 23oC Thunder Storms

MAIDUGURI

ONITSHA

37oC 17oC Sunny

34oC

23oC

Mostly Sunny

Court stops Obasanjo from publishing autobiography Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

A

n Abuja High Court has restrained former President Olusegun Obasanjo from proceeding with plans to publish or have someone publish on his behalf, a new autobiography titled: ‘My watch’.

Justice Valentine Ashi made the restraining order on Friday after listening to motion ex parte brought by a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Buruji Kasahamu, through his counsel, Alex Iziyon (SAN).

In the motion marked: FCT/HC/M/2392/2014, Iziyon had argued that the content of the book relates to issues contained in Obasanjo’s December 2, 2013 letter to President Goodluck Jonathan and former PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, where he (Obasanjo) claimed that Kashamu

was allegedly a fugitive, wanted in the United States.

He further contended that since the content of the letter was the subject of the libel suit which his client filed against Obasanjo and still pending before the court, it was wrong for the expresident to be allowed to proceed to comment on, write books about or make publications on the issue yet to be decided by the court.

Delivering ruling, the trial judge, Justice Ashi, restrained Obasanjo from either publishing the book or have it published on his behalf by anybody, pending the determination of the main suit still pending before the court.

“The defendant, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, whether by himself, his agents, servants, privies or any other person by whatever name called and howsoever described, is hereby restrained from

publishing or caused to be published in the yet to published book, ‘My watch’ or any autobiography or biography and any extracts of same, by whatever name called or howsoever titled, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice hereof,” the court held.

The court further restrained Obasanjo and his agents “from further writing, printing, publishing or causing to be published or printed or circulated, or otherwise, publishing of and concerning the plaintiff, the statement contained in the Daily Sun (pages 47-49) and The Leadership (pages 3 to 8) newspapers of December 12, 2013 and which statements are alleged to have reproduced the letter written by the defendant to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria titled: ‘Before it is too late or similar statements pending the

determination of the motion on notice.”

In addition, the court ordered the applicant to “execute a bond with the Registrar of the court to pay such damages as shall be assessed should it turn out that the order ought not to have been granted in the first place.”

He later adjourned hearing on the main suit to December 10.

Kashamu had, shortly after the content of Obasanjo's letter became public, sued Obasanjo for alleged defamation of character.

He argued in the suit that Obasanjo “maliciously and recklessly published a letter titled, ‘Before it is too late,’ which contained words which he (Obasanjo) knew to be false.”

In his writ of summons, Kashamu stated that the criminal imputation made against him by Obasanjo in his letter, has injured him (Kashamu).

He is praying the court to award in his favour, and against the ex-President, N20 billion for the damage he has suffered as a result of the allegation.

He also wants the court to declare that the words complained of and published by the plaintiff against the defendant in a letter titled: “Before it is too late,” addressed to President Jonathan and dated December 2, 2013, which inter-alia carried criminal imputation against the plaintiff and published in several newspapers on December 12 is defamatory of the person of the plaintiff.

He further seeks for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendant, his agents, servants or privies from publishing or further publishing or cause to be published any defamatory words against the plaintiff to any person or persons; and the sum of N100 million as cost of this action.

News

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

7

DHQ probes seized arms-laden aircraft lFrance claims ownership of cargo Onwuka Nzeshi and Emmanuel Onani Abuja

T

he Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has begun probe into the content and the origin of an airplane laden with arms and ammunition that was seized on Saturday at the

Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.

In a post on its official blog site yesterday, the DHQ confirmed the arrest of the aircraft, saying that details of investigations will be made public.

The Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major General Chris Olukolade, in a statement posted on the website, said: "An

Antonov Cargo aircraft carrying some military hardware was arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in the early hours of Saturday, 6th December 2014.

"Investigation is ongoing to determine the content and the origin of the aircraft. Further details would be made as soon as the investigation is com-

Cjn accuses lawyers of contributing to rot in judiciary Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

T

he Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, at the weekend accused lawyers of aiding and abetting corruption.

Justice Mahmud told the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), led by the President, Chief Augustine Alegeh (SAN), during a courtesy visit that lawyers, who decried the rot on the bench, are the first to seek a court order to stop the National Judicial Council (NJC) from investigating judges alleged to have acted wrongly.

He said: “You are the first to jump to the court to seek restraining order on NJC to stop it from the investigation and trial of a judge based on a petition brought against the judge before the council. How then is the principle of fair hearing sustained?”

Justice Mahmud also called on lawyers to assist in finding solution to the situation in Rivers State judiciary.

“The perpetual closure of court in River State is unacceptable. NJC has never said governors can’t appoint state chief judges.

"But the violation of the principle of checks and balances by the state governor in Rivers State as enshrined in the constitution for the appointment and disciplining of an erring chief judge or judges is equally unacceptable. Seniority is part and parcel of the legal profession.

"To just appoint a chief judge from any position without recourse to seniority arrangement is an invitation to anarchy in the system just as we are now witnessing in Rivers State,” the CJN stated.

However, Alegeh said he had personally made some efforts and had met with the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who is disposed to a consensus candidate on the grounds that the NJC withdraws a letter for appointing Justice Daisy Okocha as administrative judge of River State.

Alegeh then suggested

that if the next most senior judge in that state High Court is not acceptable to all the parties, a justice of the Court of Appeal can be appointed to head Rivers State judiciary for two years.

But Justice Mahmud wondered what would happen if the appeal court justice is younger on the bench than some of the current judges in the state high court before his or her elevation.

pleted."

The aircraft was loaded with military hardware and equipment, including AK-47 rifles, a helicopter, as well as bulletproof vests, and was suspected to be heading to N'djamena, the Chadian capital, when it was impounded by security operatives at the airport after it made an emergency landing.

However, Russia, which has been linked to the seized airplane, has disowned the aircraft.

In a denial posted on its twitter handle, the Russian embassy said: "According to the information of the Embassy, the plane detained in Kano, allegedly carrying military hard-

ware on board is not Russian.”

According to a source, the mandate given the investigators is "to dig deeply into the origin and source of the plane and its contents, to enable the Federal Government reach an informed decision."

Meanwhile, France yesterday claimed ownership of the cargo in the Russian aircraft.

The French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Jacques Champagne de Labriolle, admitted that the plane was on its way to Ndjamena but had to divert to Kano due to unfavourable weather conditions at the Ndjamena airport.

But he said contrary to

speculations, the aircraft was conveying two light helicopters and had no arms and ammunition on bard.

In a statement from the French Embassy in Nigeria which was given to New Telegraph, Labriolle said that the Russian commercial plane was carrying two light Gazelle helicopters belonging to the French Army and which was to be deployed between Chad and Central African Republic as part of the French effort to support regional cooperation against terrorism, as agreed by the heads of state of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon during the security summit held in Paris in May, 2014.

L–R: Group Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Peter Amangbo; Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Dr. Jibril Aku; Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele; President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Mrs. Debola Osibogun, and Deputy Governor, CBN, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, at the 48th annual bankers' dinner in Lagos…at the weekend

Jonathan winning war against corruption, says presidency Anule Emmanuel

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he presidency has said President Goodluck Jonathan is making steady progress with his transformation strategy as far as tackling corruption is concerned.

Senior Special Assistant to the president on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in a statement yesterday in Abuja, explained that the different ratings of the country by international organisations showed that corruption has been drastically contained.

"A few days ago, the global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI), released its Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2014. In this latest report, Nigeria’s rating improved as it moved eight places from the 144th

position it was last year to 136 this year.

"The latest TI rating is proof that President Jonathan’s effort in the fight against corruption is yielding positive results.

"Nigerians will recall that last year when the 2013 report was released and critics of the Jonathan administration had used the occasion to declare that the Federal Government was not doing enough to fight corruption, we had assured them that the Jonathan administration remained focus in its determination to completely eradicate corruption in public service.

"There is no doubt that since President Jonathan came on board as president of this country, the fight against corruption has been taken several notches higher. Unlike any

previous administration in the country‘s history, the present administration has instituted institutional reforms aimed at giving fillip to the anti-corruption war," Okupe stated.

He identified areas where the present administration has fought corruption to include the agricultural sector, where he said the administration, through its Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), ended 40 years of corruption in the distribution of fertiliser to farmers.

"The same thing applies to the reforms in ports where we have successfully plugged many loopholes which some corrupt officials had exploited to delay genuine business transactions and harm the Nigerian economy," he added.

According to him, the old corrupt system of government's direct procurement and distribution of fertiliser as well as the operations in the various ports and government agencies have hitherto contributed to the negative rating of Nigeria by the TI and other global watchdogs.

"Also, the determination of President Jonathan to tackle corruption head on has seen the government take some other far-reaching steps like the cleaning up of the import waiver system, which before his coming, was fraught with corruption, nepotism, arbitrariness and other irregularities.

"As a result of this, billions of naira were lost to the economy as the real business people failed to benefit.

"While it is important for suspects involved in corruption cases to be tried and if found guilty sent to jail, what is more important is for the development of mechanism, the institution of structures and the enactment of policies that would plug loopholes and foster transparency such that the propensity for corruption is made more difficult and eliminated completely.

"This is what the Jonathan administration has been doing and this is the template adopted by countries like Denmark and New Zealand, which are at the top of the TI index," Okupe said.

He assured Nigerians that the president will not relent in his efforts to ensure that the war against corruption is won.

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monday, december 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

2015: PDP not threatened by opposition, says Mark Chukwu David Abuja

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L-R: All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode; his wife, Bolanle and Pastor Yinka Gbajabiamila, during Ambode’s victory thanksgiving service at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Throne of God Parish, Ikoyi, Lagos…yesterday

proactive

CBN governor moves to reduce pressure on the dollar Godson Ikoro

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he Central Bank Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has called on Nigerians to embrace import substitution in order to reduce the demand for foreign exchange by importers and ultimately conserve the nation’s hard-earned foreign exchange .

He made the call at the at the 48th annual bankers’ dinner organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos at the weekend.

The apex bank is struggling to prop up the naira, which has taken a beating over the past few months

Naira: Nigerians must embrace import substitution, says Emefiele as falling oil prices shake confidence in Nigeria’s economy.

As the banking watchdog has been forced to tighten monetary policy to defend the currency, it also risks hurting Africa's biggest economy as high interbank rates will constrain credit growth and could create bad loan problems for lenders.

The CBN devalued the naira by 8 per cent in a one-off move last week to stem a decline in its foreign exchange reserves but the currency has traded below the bank's new target band since the devaluation.

The bank also last week increased banks' cash reserve ratio for holding private sector

bank deposits to 20 per cent, from 15 per cent, and raised interest rates by 100 basis points to 13 per cent, the first change in more than two years, as part of efforts to defend the currency.

In a bid to reduce pressure on the dollar, Emefiele said that the CBN was collaborating with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the Ministry of Agric and Rural Development as well as the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to aggressively begin the first phase of the import substitution programme that would take advantage of the current situation.

He also called on banks to partner with the Fed-

NAFDAC arraigns drug baron over importation of fake products Akeem Nafiu

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he National Agency for Foods, Drugs, Administration and Control(NAFDAC) has arraigned a drug peddler, Obiageli Ohams Miracle, before Justice Saliu Saidu of a Federal

High Court in Lagos for allegedly importing an unregistered ‘’clear velvet soap’’ product into the country.

The middle-aged woman is standing trial on a three counts charge of importation, distribution and packaging of the un-

registered product.

The offence is contrary to Section 1 of the Food, Drugs and Related Products(Registration, etc) Act Cap F.33, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and Punishable under Section 6(1)(a) of the same Act.

Dearth of air traffic engineers hits NAMA Wole Shadare

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he National Association of Air Traffic Engineers( NAAE) have called on the Federal Government on the need to engage more hands to replace retiring engineers in the Nigerian Airspace

Management Agency (NAMA). They said it is to ensure continuity.

Speaking in Lagos yesterday, the National President of NAAE, Makanjuola Ebenezer, said the call became necessary as a result of number of engineers that will be dis-

engaging from the system next year.

According to Ebenezer, the association was trying to avoid the negative safety implications of not replacing retired engineers in NAMA as soon as they were out of the system.

eral Government in encouraging import substitution; stressing that it beats his imagination to understand why the country cannot grow rice, produce milk and sugar in Nigeria.

He said there was no reason for Nigeria to be facing the volatility it is facing today if Nigerians

had embraced import substitution.

According to him, the CBN has spent a substantial amount of its reserves in shoring up the naira and in contrast, inflow of foreign exchange into the banks or the country has been less than anticipated in view of dwindling oil prices.

Kwankwaso: Jonathan has no reason to seek re-election Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential aspirant and Governor of Kano State, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso, has again lampooned President Goodluck Jonathan, stating that he has no reason to seek re-election for having failed in the last four years.

Also, the APC presidential aspirant over the weekend pulled well over N1.5b through donations to bankroll his presidential ambition next year.

The donations came in from political associates, well wishers and many other Nigerians, who graced the fundraising ceremony organizing on behalf governor in Abuja on Saturday night.

Kwankwaso's fund raising dinner came ahead of the presidential primary elections of the APC in Lagos on Wednesday this week.

Lamenting over the in-

security situation, he said that many Nigerians had been killed in the north eastern part of the country.

He further stated that a country which was in the past noted to have the best military in the world can no longer protect its citizens.

He said: "I always feel terribly bad as a member of the extended family of the Military in this country that today we cannot protect ourselves. I always remember those days when our military was in Liberia, Sierria Leone, Dafur and other parts of Africa. These were soldiers that did extremely well by even the world standard. Those days, we were not even talking of protecting ourselves. We were protecting others on this continent.

"Many years before then, this country had the capacity to support other African countries to even remove them out of apartheid and other serious international issues."

resident of the Senate, Senator David Mark, has said that in spite of the emergence of opposition political parties in the country, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would not be threatened ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Mark stated this at the weekend while congratulating four House of Representatives' members elected as flag bearers of the party in his Benue South Senatorial District.

He said: "We should renew faith in the PDP. It remains the party for the people of Nigeria devoid of any religious or ethnic sentiments. It is a national party that accommodates all and promotes peace and unity".

The four elected PDP flag bearers for 2015 House of Representatives in Benue South include; Samson Okwu ( Obi/Oju), Ezekiel Adaji (Otukpo / Ohimini), Adamu Entonu (Agatu/Apa) and Chris Abah (Ado/Okpokwu/ Ogbadibo).

The President of the Senate told the successful aspirant after the PDP primaries on Saturday that their integrity, experience and track records of achievements earned them the mandate of the delegates to return to the National Assembly next.

Court to hear suit against SON, January 7 Akeem Nafiu

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ustice Saliu Saidu of a Federal High Court in Lagos will on January 7, 2015, hear a suit filed by an human rights group, Alliance Against Monopoly (AAM) against Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) over the latter’s recent directive to cement manufacturers on industry standard.

Hearing of the matter was stalled due to the absence of the DirectorGeneral of SON, who is the first defendant in the case.

Plaintiff ’s lawyer, Ogbonnaya Agbafo, during the last proceedings told the court that SON’s officials refused to sign for the court processes delivered to them. He then asked for a short adjournment to enable him find an alternative means of serving the process.

NEW TELEGRAPH monday, december 8, 2014

Mark, Ekweremadu, Akpabio, Jang, others pick senate tickets l Ndoma-Egba, Chukwumereije lose out

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he Peoples Democratic Party, yesterday concluded its primaries into senatorial seats across the

country. While Senate President, David Mark; Governors Godswill Akpabio, Jona Jang, Theodore Orji of Akwa Ibom,

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pdp primaries

Plateau,and Abia States respectively picked their tickets for the February elections, one of the major casualties was the

Senate Majority Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, who lost his reelection battle to Owah Enoh by 37 votes to 217.

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Enugu: Ekweremadu dedicates victory to Chime Uwakwe Abugu Enugu

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t was a mixed grill of positive developments and parallel senatorial primary elections for Enugu State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party yesterday as the Deputy president of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, dedicated his victory to Governor Sullivan Chime who had stepped down for him.

Ekweremadu formally endorsed the PDP consensus governorship candidate, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi .

However, in the parallel senatorial primary elections held in Enugu North senatorial zone, former Commissioner for Trans-

port in the State, favoured

by Governor Chime and most PDP bigwigs in the zone, Hon. Chuka Utazi emerged winner at the election held at Government Field, Nsukka, attended by Hon. Ugwuanyi and a teeming number of leaders while the national chairman of the PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, was elected in the one held at Nsukka Civic Centre.

Also in Enugu East, three parallel primaries held with Mrs. Ifeoma Nwobodo, the chartered accountant, who served Chime as a chief of staff, emerging winner at the election held at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu just as at the one held at Nkwo Nike, incumbent, Gil Nnaji was announced winner.

Niger: Aliyu, Kure, Halidu win Dan Atori MINNA

N Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (left) and a National Youth Service Corps member, Adeyemi Oluwatomilayo, during the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise, at Ward G3, Unit E002, State Junior Grammar School, Itolo Street, Surulere, Lagos…at the weekend.

Etok steps down for Akpabio Confusion in Delta

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enator Aloysious Etok representing Ikot Ekpene Senatorial district yesterday stepped down from recontesting the Senate seat, just as he publicly declared his support and endorsement for the candidature of Governor Godswill Akpabio.

Etok, who said his decision to step down for Akpabio was taken after serious consultations with his

constituency and in the interest of peace and unity of the party, congratulated Akpabio on emergence as the party's candidate.

Two other aspirants, Inibehe Okorie and Ekperikpe Ekpo, were conspicuously absent from the primaries, but it was gathered that they must have decamped to the All Progressives Congress(APC) to actualise their ambition.

Suswam, Mark, Mku emerge in Benue Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

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overnor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State yesterday emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party candidate for the Benue North East senatorial election.

Senate President, David Mark emerged for Benue South as his rival and

former permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defense, General Mike Onoja had stepped down for him; while former Personal Assistant to former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Mr. Mike Mku won the seat for Benue North West, where incumbent Senator and Senate Minority Leader George Akume hails from.

Dominic Adewole and Joe Obende ASABA

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he whereabouts of the Peoples Democratic Party’s National Assembly Primary Election Panel sent for the Delta North Senatorial race yesterday triggered confusion in Asaba.

As at 5 p.m yesterday, the panel members were nowhere to be found.

Also, the Cenotaph in Asaba, venue of the exercise was empty of contestants and delegates.

The state chapter of the party had two days ago rejected the selection of the panel members, including one Pere Egbe Ganfo (chairman), Edith Uso (Secretary) and Hon. Benard Ochepe (mem-

Plateau: Dariye narrowly escapes defeat Musa Pam Jos

Lagos: Ade Dosunmu beats Braithwaite Wale Elegbede

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he ticket for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Lagos Central Senatorial District was decided yesterday at the gymnastics hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, with the 2011 governorship candidate of the

PDP, Dr Ade Dosunmu, emerging victorious.

He trounced Olumide Braithwaite, son of prodemocracy activist, Dr Tunji Braithwaite and 2007 governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) Mr Hakeem Gbajabiamila to secure the ticket.

ber) posted to the state.

Hundreds of policemen that were drafted to the venue to maintain law and order, following the much publicized faceoff between the former state chairman of the party, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi and wife of the former national chairman of the party, Dr. (Mrs.) Marian Nneamaka Ali, were frustrated.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan's withdrawal from the senatorial race became fully confirmed yesterday when the PDP primary in Delta South held between incumbent Senator James Manager and a retired air-vice marshal, Terry Okorodudu, at the Warri City Stadium.

Uduaghan voted in the primary as a delegate.

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he incumbent Senator representing Plateau Central Senatorial Zone, Sen. Joshua Dariye has finally won the PDP primaries and narrowly escape defeat. Dariye won with 104 votes of out 260 total votes cast. He defeated his four opponents which included Alexander Molwus former Political Adviser to Gover-

nor Jonah Jang, who got 84 votes, while member representing Pankshin, Kanke and Kanam Constituency, Hon. Emmanuel Go'ar scored 46 votes. Mr Dayiling Abbas scored 14 votes and Senator Sati Gogwim scored 12 votes.

Meanwhile there is strong indication that the Southern Senatorial seat will be won by the former FCT Minister Gen. Jeremiah Useni, while Jang won the Plateau South Dsitrict.

iger State Governor Dr. Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, has emerged winner at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial primaries held

at the state PDP secretariat in Minna, the state capital.

Aliyu, yesterday defeated Alhaji Adamu Idris Kuta with 281 votes against 86 votes to emerge the party flag bearer for Niger East (zone B) senatorial election in 2015.

Ogun: Kashamu, Taiwo win

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he chairman, Mobilisation and Organisation Committee of South West PDP, Buruji Kashamu, and former Commissioner for Agriculture, Waliu Taiwo, yesterday won the party's ticket to contest for senatorial elections.

While Kashamu polled 365 votes to beat other contenders at the Ogun East Senatorial District primaries held in IjebuOde, Taiwo polled 191 votes to beat four other aspirants at the primaries for Ogun West Senatorial District in Ilaro.

Ekiti: It’s Olujimi, Fatima Raji-Rasak, Faseyi Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

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ormer Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Mrs Biodun Olujimi, former members of the House of Representatives, Mrs Fatima Raji-Rasak and Hon. Duro Faseyi on Sun-

day clinched the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) tickets to contest next year's election into the Senate.

Olujimi emerged victorious in Ekiti South Senatorial District, defeating other aspirants including former Senator Akinyede.

Speaker, ex-Minister win Kwara primaries Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

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peaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Alhaji Razak Atunwa, former Minister of State for Health,

Princess Funke Adedoyin and former Special Adviser on Security matters to former governor Bukola Saraki, Yinka Aluko won yesterday primary elections into federal seats in Kwara State.

Abia: Abaribe, Orji, Ohuabunwa pick tickets Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

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enate Spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe yesterday won a landslide victory for the Peoples Democrat-

ic Party (PDP) Abia South Senatorial primary election. That was even as Governor Theodore Orji and Chief Mao Ohuabunwa picked the tickets for Abia Central and North respectively.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

10

Metro Policemen earn peanuts, we

give them money, says suspect GENTLE, BUT DEADLY A robbery suspect, who claims to be gentle, humble, but extremely dangerous during operations, says his gang does not kill policemen because they too have loved ones Juliana Francis

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suspected robber said members of his gang took oath never to kill policemen because they too have families and dependents.

The suspect, Tunde Aribisala, 33, alias ‘Two minute,’ added that he used to give policemen and soldiers money after every successful operation because their “take home pay is poor”.

Aribisala, who has been arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS), Lagos, told journalists that he was an easy going person.

He said: “I’m very quiet and humble, but very dangerous during robbery operations. I have never killed a policeman or a soldier. I used to give them money any day I succeeded in operation because their take home pay is poor.’’

Aribisala confessed that his three children - two boys and a girl - attend one of the best private schools in Ikoyi.

The suspect said, with a sense of pride, that his children were very brilliant.

File picture of robbery suspects

Aribisala also said he had deposited a substantial amount of money for his children’s education, which he believed would take care of them and their mother.

He said: “My beautiful wife does not know that I am a robber. She thinks I am a car dealer. I have car stands in Lagos, Ibadan, Kwara, and Lekki. But nobody know that I snatched cars and also robbed innocent Nigerians.’’

Aribisala also explained why his gang refused to kill policemen and soldiers.

He said: “We could have killed a lot of policemen, especially during robbery opera-

tions. But we took oath in our gang never to kill any policeman. We took that oath because we agreed in our gang that they are human beings like us and also have dependents like us.”

Aribisala, who claimed that his gang only used toy guns for robbery operations, said that the gang loved snatching vehicles belonging to corporate organisations because such cars, “sell like sachet water”.

The suspect said greed and poverty forced him into armed robbery and car snatching.

Aribisala was arrested after a tip-off by a police informant. The gang was in a middle of a tense

argument when police burst into the gathering. A shootout ensued.

Recalling how he was arrested, Aribisala said: “The person leading had been killed in one of our operations. We needed someone to replace him. This was the argument we were having when the police stormed our hideout. The gang leader was killed by policemen.

“His death made us to start discussing the rationale in not killing policemen when they were killing our members and were ready to kill us. We were also arguing on how to share the N5 million we snatched on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

dent, the suspect and his father engaged each other in a serious argument. The suspect angrily picked up a scissors and stabbed his father on the neck.”

Nwosu added that when policemen from Festac Police Station visited the scene of the

incident, the man’s body was found lying in a pool of blood.

According to him, the scissors, which was covered with blood, was also recovered.

The PPRO said three suspects had been transferred to SCID, Panti, Yaba, for further investigation.

Son stabs father to death Taiwo Jimoh

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former student of the University of Lagos, Oluropo Tifase, has allegedly stabbed his father, Moses Tifase, to death over an argument.

The incident occurred on Saturday at Mile 2 Estate on the outskirts of the Lagos metropolis.

The suspect, who allegedly

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

stabbed his father to death with a scissors, is being held at the Homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos.

The residents of Mile 2 Estate told the police that Oluropo murdered his father.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident.

He, however, said those in police custody were Comfort Tifase (wife of the deceased), Oluropo and Olufunmbi Tifase.

Nwosu said that the suspect had been having a running battle with his late father, over his unruly behaviour which the deceased was not happy about.

He said: “The suspect and his late father had a sour relationship, due to his unruly behaviour. The father and the son have not been in good relationship, but on the fateful day of the inci-

Customs intercept N20.4m contraband Camillus Nnaji

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he Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have impounded some contraband such as like poultry products, cooking oil and rice.

The Acting Controller, Western Marine Command, Mr Johnson Gabriel, told journalists in Lagos that the items valued at N20.4 million were impounded during two separate operations by his men.

He said on October 15 at the Badagry axis of Lagos State, his officers impounded 70 cartons of poultry products, 11 bags of rice and eight kegs of cooking oil, all valued at N567,982.

Gabriel added that the second operation took place at the Yekeme area of the state on October 18 with the seizure of 2,200 bags of rice valued at N19.89 million.

He said: “The command made these seizures in two different operations around Badagry and Yekeme area of Lagos State and the calculations showed a duty paid value of over N20 million. The actual value of the first seizure is N541,225 and the duty is N26,757, giving a duty paid value of N567,982.

“For the second seizure, the rice is valued at N11.70 million and a duty of N8.19 million, giving a duty paid value of N19.89 million.’’

The acting controller ascribed the success of the operations to the immense contributions of the Customs Intelligence Unit which he regarded as a vital part of the operations of the service.

According to Gabriel, during the seizures, the operatives defied late night rains and worked with intelligent reports they gathered to carry out the operations.

“The seizures were made possible through the intelligence report and I must say it took precise calculation because the smugglers wanted to take advantage of the rains,” he added.

Gabriel, however, warned smugglers to steer clear of the area, saying the command was adopting new strategies to deal with smuggling.’

He said: “We keep evolving new strategies in fighting smuggling and one of which is zero tolerance for this act that is detrimental to our nation’s economy.

“At any point in time, smuggling destroys the nation’s economy, so, we will fight against it tirelessly.

“At the heart of our operation is the growth of the nation’s economy and we must do it with every sense of patriotism.”

Metro 11

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Woman kills husband over N10 sweet Juliana Francis

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22-year-old housewife, Aminat Aiyemobola, has allegedly stabbed her husband, Babatunde Aiyemobola (40), to death over N10 TomTom sweet.

The mother of two is being detained by detectives attached to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Homicides section, Panti, Yaba, Lagos.

The suspect was said to have stabbed her husband to death with a kitchen knife.

The incident, which occurred at No. 4, Magbon Alade Street, Ibeju-Lekki area on October 12, was reported to the police by the elder brother of the deceased.

Aminat was said to have asked her husband for N10,

so that she could buy TomTom for their daughter.

But the deceased allegedly refused. Instead he chided her for always buying sweet for their kid.

Soon the couple started quarrelling over the issue.

The argument was said to have degenerated into name calling. And before anyone knew what was happening, the angry woman stormed into the kitchen and came out with a knife stabbed her husband three times in the chest.

While undergoing interrogation, Aminat told homicide detectives that she did not know what came over her, which prompted her to pick the knife.

“I loved my husband.

He was a very caring man to me and my children.

Muritala Ayinla

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Oga, I don’t know what came over me. We loved each other. We have been living happily as husband and wife. In fact, I don’t know whether I’m under a spell. God please forgive

me,” she reportedly said.

The deceased was a casual worker with one of the Indian companies.

The suspect, according to the police, will soon be arraigned.

Man murders wife, dumps body in the bush Juliana Francis

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45-year-old man, Ismaila Salau, has reportedly murdered his wife, Silifat Yakubu, after suspecting her of cheating on him.

The suspect allegedly killed the mother of two with a pestle, dumped the body in the bush and later went to the police to report his wife missing.

The incident occurred at Igbele village, Araromi in Badagry area of Lagos State.

Police said Salau, an electrician, returned from office and could not find his wife at home.

He waited for several hours until the woman came home around 11pm.

Before that day, the couple had been having incessant quarrels over cheating.

A few minutes after the wife arrived home, accusations and counter-accusations ensued. Salau was said to have accused his wife of adultery.

Apparently blinded by rage, Salau picked a pestle and smashed it on his wife’s forehead. She died instantly.

Answering questions from homicide policemen attached to the State Crim-

inal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba, Lagos, Salau said he did not intend to kill Silifat.

He said he was shocked to discover that Silifat died after he slammed the pestle on her head.

The suspect said that because he was confused and did not know what to do, he waited till midnight to move the body.

“When it was midnight, I dragged her body into the bush and left it there. Two days later, I went to the police to report that Silifat was missing. Before I went to the police, I organised a search party. The search party was led by the Baale of our village,” Salau told interrogators.

But before the search was organised, Silifat’s elder brother had come looking for her. Salau told him that she travelled. Salau said that Silifat would be back after three days.

After the man left, Salau told people around that his wife was missing.

The search party eventually found Silifat’s body in the bush. But the people became suspicious when they noticed bruises and injuries on her body.

“After discovering the body in the bush, the husband was invited to come

Lagos CP, Kayode Aderanti

and identify the corpse.

But Salau said the body was not that of his wife.

“Before then, Salau had gone home to destroy all evidences that could reveal what transpired on the fateful day he killed his wife. The Baale later invited police after the brutalised body of Silifat was discovered in the bush,” a police source said.

Salau was eventually arrested under the suspicion that he knew more than

Shiloh begins December 9

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he Living Faith Church Worldwide will from December 9 to 13 hold this year’s Shiloh tagged: ‘Heaven on Earth’ at Canaan Land, Km. 10, Idiroko Road, Ota, Ogun State.

This year’s event is the 16th in the series of the annual prophetic Shiloh events.

President of the Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo, said apart from the main sessions,

Shiloh 2014 would also feature Business Summit and Special Healing services daily throughout the event.

Shiloh 2014, like past events, according to a statement, will be broadcast live via satellite, enabling participants who may not be on ground at Canaan Land, to partake of it on the screen at the various viewing centres located in Living Faith

5,000 youths get Ashafa’s empowerment tools

Churches worldwide.

Oyedepo enjoined all members to endeavour to take advantage of Shiloh 2014 as God has always honoured the theme of every Shiloh event.

According to him, Shiloh 2014 shall be a mountain of divine visitations and supernatural transformations.

He said: “We are all witnesses today that, Shiloh since its inception has

he was telling the people.

Salau’s story of his missing wife did not tally with the story he told Silifat’s brother that she travelled.

Under the heat of interrogation, Salau caved in.

He alleged that Silifat was dating too many men.

He told the police that before now, they had been having serious misunderstanding over her infidelity.

The suspect reluctantly told police how he killed and attempted to conceal the act.

always been a mountain of revelations, divine encounters, signs and wonders, divine guidance, healings/deliverances and supernatural breakthroughs.”

Oyedepo explained that Shiloh 2014 shall definitely be a turning point in the life of every participant and that as God appeared to Samuel at Shiloh by His word, He will surely appear to every participant.

he lawmaker representing the Lagos East Senatorial District, Gbenga Ashafa, yesterday empowered 5,000 youth leaders across the five local government and local council development areas in his constituency.

The senator said the gesture was to sustain the peace and tranquillity enjoyed by the constituents.

Presenting the empowerment tools at the Mercy Hall, IkosiKetu, Ashafa urged the youth to remain calm and ensure the items were put to good use.

The lawmaker said that he was determined to make the youth become employers of labour rather than being job seekers.

He said: “If you are empowered today, you will also in no time, become employers of labour. An idle hand is the devil’s workshop. If you have something to lay your hands on, there is no way you will foment trouble or disturb peace of others in your neighbourhood.

“I also understand the fact that some of you are responsible for the peace our people have enjoyed in this area.

“This was what prompted me to hold meetings with some of you to enable me to know the challenges confronting you. In the course of my interaction with you, I realised that some of you have skills in various vocations but lack the wherewithal to set up a business for yourself and become self-employed.

This is why I deem it fit to empower you with these tools to make you selfemployed, having as-

sisted you financially earlier.”

Ashafa, who was represented by Mr Laide Adesanya, said that a strategy had been put in place to monitor the progress made with the empowerment.

He added that he would hold meeting with them on a quarterly basis to know their progress and challenges.

One of the beneficiaries, Jimoh Balogun, commended the lawmaker for the gesture.

He said: “It is unfortunate despite the rate of unemployment in the country; nobody is looking at our direction. They look at us as touts who cannot contribute to the society if empowered. This is the only elected representative that cares to know our plight and challenges. I hope to make good use of these tools and become employer of labour soon.”

One of the youth leaders, Gbenga Omogbolahan, also lauded Ashafa for remembering them in his empowerment programme.

He said: “The man is the king of empowerment; no one is empowering his constituents like this.

Almost everybody has benefitted from his empowerment programme - the old, young, students, market women, market leaders, clerics. We will try our best to remain grateful and responsible because to whom much is given, much is expected.”

Some of the items distributed included sewing machines, hair dryers, barbing kits with generators, vulcanizing machines, grinding machines and school bags for their children.

Adesanya (right) presenting the items to the beneficiaries

12

News

monday, december 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

nation's capital

Man on trial over ‘Boko Haram' comment Caleb Onwe Abuja

A

47-year-old civil servant, Williams Onyeka of Kurudu Army Barracks has been charged to Grade 1 Area Court, Karu Federal Capital Territory Abuja for calling someone “Boko Haram”, assaulting and breaking his head.

82

The Prosecutor, Francis Udofia, through a first information report with reference number CR/529/14 told the court that the accused committed criminal force, assault and causing hurt, which is against the spirit of section 265 of the penal Code laws.

He further informed the court that the victim, one Hamza Seidu of block B1, State House Qaurters, Karu-Site Abuja came to

The life expectancy of women of Channel Islands at birth in 2006.

Source: Un.org

Karu Police Station on November 19, 2014 and reported that the accused on November 18, 2014 parked a car in front of his gate, and when he wanted to know his purpose of blocking his entrance, the accused became enraged and engaged him in hot argument.

The victim also alleged that the accused became more violent when he insisted that he must remove

£583,000

The average yearly salary of Brazilian League players in 2013-2014 season.

Source: Soccernet.com

the car from the front of his gate. According to him, his insistence stems from the fact that the increasing insecurity challenge in the society has assumed a dimension where everyone around you is a ‘suspect’, and calls for security consciousness.

The height of the alleged lawlessness was when the accused allegedly started calling the victim a ‘Boko Haram’

318

The number of pending asylum seekers of Morocco at the beginning of 2010.

Source: Blatantworld.com

and because of the stigma and negative connotation of such name, the victim said he protested and told the accused never to call him such name.

The accused, instead of taking caution, allegedly threatened to shoot the victim; and to prove he was not issuing an empty threat, he allegedly went to his car and picked up an iron and broke the victim’s head.

17,363

The total area (in sq. km) of Swaziland.

Source: Worldfactsandfigures.com

L-R: Executive Director, Administration, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Mr. Zubairu Bayi; recipient of 45 years Long Service Award, Mr. Shoga Felix; his wife, Blessing and Executive Director, Finance, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Mr. Wolfang Kollermann, at Julius Berger's long service awards in Abuja... at the weekend.

FCT VIO rakes in N2.2bn in 11 months Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

T

he Directorate of Road Transport Services (DRTS) of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has generated not less than N2, 210,257,119.54 into the coffers of the FCT Administration between January and November

this year.

Assistant Director Operations, DRTS, Mr. Wadata Bodings, who made this known during a press briefing, said the agency, which is also known as the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), would continue to ensure that traffic offenders in the nation’s capital territory are duly prosecuted.

“So far, N2, 210, 257,

119.54 was what was generated from January to November by the directorate, this is the summary of the Internal Generated Revenue (IGR),” he said.

According to Bodings, 3,590 motorcycles, 855 tricycles, 1,050 vehicles were arrested and impounded during the period.

Speaking on the various projects embarked upon by

the FCT Administration to boost the level of transportation, the Transport Secretary, Engr. Jonathan Ivoke, said the Abuja Light Rail project and the high capacity buses provided by the administration would go a long way in addressing the challenges of Abuja commuters.

He said: “The present administration has done

so much to make available a decent means of transportation, however, the influx of people into the city makes the system grossly inadequate."

While reiterating the commitment of the FCT Administration to reintroduce ‘Park and Pay System’ to ensure sanity in the way vehicles are parked, Ivoke frowned on the frequent vandalisation of transport facilities in some parts of the city.

Why Mpape will be demolished, by FCTA Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

T

he Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) yesterday restated its readiness to gradually demolish Mpape settlement, which was once abandoned over public outcry.

The administration said the present state of the community is not healthy for human habitation.

The Director, FCT Department of Development Control, Yahaya Yusuf, who disclosed this during a media parley organised by the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) said the suspension of the demolition exercise in Mpape was to allow residents secure accommodation in other places.

He dismissed claims that the suspension was as a result of the forthcoming general election.

“Mpape is a settlement that was spontaneous, because people want to take advantage of the quarry activities going on there and for the fact that it is not part of the city.

“For now, there is no planning for the layout, so the residents are just there in the interim, but while they are there, they have generated certain level of wastes, they are having a disorganised settlement, you will find out people defecating close to water sources,” Yusuf said.

Speaking further, Yusuf said the complaints of residents of the sprawling community, court cases and the cost of relocating affected persons also played a major role in the suspension of the demolition exercise then.

“There was public outcry that we are human, that we are going to remove structures without providing alternatives."

DG NATFORCE: FG should deploy Customs officers to border

IPC unveils nutritional value of sweet potato

NCP holds FCT N' Assembly primaries

Yusuf Shuaib

Yusuf Shuaib

Johnchuks Onuanyim

Abuja

T

he Director General, National Taskforce on illegal Importation/smuggling of small arms, ammunition and light-weapons (NATFORCE) Chief Osita Okereke, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan, to as a matter of urgency, redeploy all the customs officers and all other securities agencies that have

served more than two year at the borders and replace them with new ones.

Osita’s call was contained in a press statement at the weekend. He also suggested that all area commanders should be transferred with immediate effect; arguing that redeployment of all security officers at the border posts and the transfer of other officers will help government curb the menace of insurgency.

Abuja

I

n line with the transformation agenda of the Federal Government to improve the productivity of sweetpotato in the country, most Nigerians do not know that there are some varieties of sweetpotato that are not just rich in carbohydrates but rich in micronu-

trients, Dr. Olapeju Phobee has said.

Phobee made this known on the occasion of the International Potato Centre (CIP) sensitization program with the theme “Orange Fleshed Sweetpotato: A Domestic and Industrial raw Material for Improved Health and Wealth in Nigeria” held at the Raw Material Research Development Council Abuja.

Abuja

N

ational Conscience Party (NCP) will join other political parties to participate for the contest of the National Assembly seats next year, as the party over the weekend elected its Federal Capital Territory candidates.

The primaries, which was held at the National

Secretariat of the party, produced Comrade Abe Fisayo Makanjuola as the NCP Senatorial candidate for FCT. Other candidates, who emerged on the platform of the party for the House of Representatives elections next year are: Hajia Sadat Yahaya, AMAC and Bwari Federal Constituency and Mr. Bashar Salihu Segun, Kwali, Abaji and Gwagwalada federal constituency.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Succession plan

13

2015

Deputy Governors lose out in power play

Obanikoro, Agbaje draw battle line

16, 17

20

Politics 233 PDP guber aspirants The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set for the big battle today.

Twenty-nine governorship candidates are set to emerge among the 233 aspirants in today’s primaries. AYODELE OJO reports

scramble for 29 tickets

T

oday is the D-day. After months of intrigues, politicking and intense electioneering, thousands of delegates will file out in 29 states of the federation to elect the standard bearers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 28, 2015 governorship election.

Governorship primaries will not hold in Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Kogi and Bayelsa states. Governorship elections are to be held on different dates in those states following various court judgements that have resulted in staggered polls in Nigeria.

No fewer than 233 governorship aspirants are contesting today’s primaries for 29 seats. Nineteen former ministers and five erstwhile governors are among the governorship aspirants.

Only three PDP incumbent governors – Ramalam Yero (Kaduna), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), James Ngilari (Adamawa) are seeking reelection. All the 14 incumbent governors who are on the last lap of their tenure are poised to produce their successors.

The politics of producing successors at the weekend practically forced Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) and Sullivan Chime (Enugu) to withdraw from the senatorial race as a bargain to produce the party’s governorship candidates. Uduaghan is throwing up Tony Obuh as successor while Chime is supporting Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, a member of the House of Representatives.

In today’s contest, 18 senators are vying for governorship seats in 13 states. They are: Gyang Pwajok (Plateau), Helen Esuene (Akwa Ibom), Nkechi Nwaogu (Abia), Ayoade Adeseun (Oyo), Ayogu Eze (Enugu), Chris Anyanwu (Imo), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Simon Ajibola (Kwara), Paulinus Nwagwu (Ebonyi), Ben Ayade (Cross

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY Editor, POLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Wike

River) and Victor Lar (Plateau).

Others are Solomon Ewuga (Nasarawa), Isa Galaudi (Kebbi), Muhammad Magoro (Kebbi), Bashir Lado (Kano), Adamu Gumba (Bauchi), Abdul Ningi (Bauchi) and Babayo Garba (Bauchi).

Also, eight members of the House of Representatives are gunning for the governorship seats in six states: Emeka Ihedioha (Imo), Ndudi Elumelu (Delta), Gujbawu Kaka Kyari (Borno) Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Bethel Amadi (Imo), Bello Mutawalle (Zamfara), Shehu Ibrahim Gusau (Zamfara), and Abiodun Akinlade (Ogun).

Already, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and chairman, House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Dakuku Peterside on Thursday emerged as All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidates in Sokoto and Rivers states respectively.

Three sons of former military heads of state are also participating in today’s PDP governorship primaries. Mohammed Babangida, son of former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, is poised to succeed Governor Babangida Aliyu in Niger State. In Kano, two children of former Heads of State are gunning for the PDP ticket: Mohammed Abacha, son of late General Sani Abacha and Abba Mohammed, son of late General Murtala Mohammed.

The future of some PDP deputy governors participating in today’s

Bankole

Three sons of former military heads of state are also participating in today’s PDP governorship primaries

Ikpeazu

election hangs in the balance as their principals are opposed to their ambitions.

The five ministers who recently resigned their appointment to contest the governorship in their respective states would try their luck today. Except a miracle happens, former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godsday Orubebe; the immediate past Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, and former Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Industry, Dr. Samuel Ortom, are going to lose the governorship primaries in Delta, Abia and Benue states respectively. There is also uncertainty over the chances of former Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu in Ebonyi.

It is almost certain that the former Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, will emerge today in Rivers State while the recent political development in Taraba State has brightened the chances of Dairu Ishaku in Taraba. Ishiaku resigned as Minister of State for Niger Delta.

Former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, and onetime Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro look set to win the primaries in Nasarawa and Lagos.

Akpabio to enthrone Udom Governor Godswill Akpabio will today show critics that the PDP structure in Akwa Ibom is firmly in his grip. Despite opposition from his predecessor, Obong Victor Attah, and several others, Akpabio’s anointed candidate, Udom Emmanuel, will likely emerge as PDP flag bearer.

Emmanuel is the immediate past Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government (SSG) and onetime Executive Director of Zenith Bank.

The reality of today’s primaries has forced Umana Okon Umana, former SSG, to the APC where he emerged as the governorship candidate on Thursday.

There are 15 other aspirants in the race: Helen Esuene, Effiong Abia, Okpolu Etteh, Mike Sabastine (Akpabio’s in-law), Nsima Ekere (ex-deputy governor), Ekpeyong Ntekim, Assam Assam, Asuquo Okpo, Ime Albert Akpan, Jerome Isagagihi, Pastor Ita Umoh, Assam Ntekim, Benjamin Okoko, Prof. Richard King and Dr. Samuel Udonsek.

The state governorship has been zoned to Eket Senatorial District.

Coronation of Wike in Rivers The Rivers contest has generated so much heat in the past days with protests by supporters of aspirants at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja. About 14 of the 17 governorship aspirants were disqualified by the screening committee. It took the intervention of the national secretariat to reverse the decision.

With the immediate past Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, in firm control of the party structure in Rivers, today’s primaries may be mere formality for Wike after all.

Other aspirants participating in the contest are: Bek Dagogo-Jack, Ben Dimkpa, Nimi Walson-Jack, OsCONTINUED ON PAGE 14

14

Politics

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Wike, Ikpeazu, Bankole, Nasko, Shagari, Pwajok, Emmanuel, Ayade set to emerge C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

eleye Dennis Ojuka, Lancelort Ayanya, Dennis Oshuka and Tamunosisi Jaja, Captain Nwankwo Sunday, Dumo-Lulu Briggs, Gabriel Pidomsom, Abietedoghu Bob-Abbey Hart, Senator Lee Maeba, Prince Tonye Princewill, Barrister (Mrs.) Biobele Dodiyi Odesola and Samson Ngerebara.

Chukwu’s fate hangs in the balance Except a miracle happens, Governor Martin Elechi’s anointed candidate, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, may not go beyond today’s primaries in his bid to govern Ebonyi State in 2015. Chukwu had resigned his appointment as Minister of Health to contest the governorship position after stakeholders adopted him as the consensus candidate.

The deputy governor, Engr. Dave Umahi, is in control of the party structure recognised by the national headquarters of the PDP. Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, and former Governor Sam Egwu are supporting Umahi against Elechi.

The contest has been reduced to a straight fight between Chukwu and Umahi.

Others in the race are chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Igwe Paulinus Nwagu; former Minister of Education, Aja Nwachukwu; Engr. Paul Okorie, Offia Nwali and Hyacinth Ikpor.

Ihedioha, Ohakim set for titanic battle Today’s contest promises to be interesting in Imo State. The governorship contest is crowded with 19 aspirants. Some are political bigwigs while others are merely in the race for the fun of it.

The real contest is between former Governor Ikedi Ohakim and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha.

A veteran in governorship contests, Senator Ifeanyi Ararume, may also pull some weight. He contested the 2007 election on PDP platform and 2011 poll on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Others in the Imo governorship race are: former Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chuka Odom; a media practitioner, Senator Chris Anyanwu; former Vice Chancellor of Imo State University, Prof.

Jude Njoku; a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ahamba; member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Bethel Amadi, Chris Brown Amadi, Clara Njoku, Charles Amanze, Julius Kpaduwa,Charles Onuoha, Jerry Chukwueke, Charles Onyeagbakor, Barr Ken Njemaeze, Ambassador Obina Adim, Ken Orji and Ifeyinwa Maureen.

Nasko to clinch Niger ticket Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Chief of Staff to Governor Babangida Aliyu, Umar Nasko, is the preferred candidate among the eight aspirants in Niger State.

He is set to clinch the party’s ticket with the support of the governor.

Other aspirants in the race include, the deputy governor, Mohammed Musa Ibeto; Saleh Darangi, Aminu Isa Kantagora, Hannafi Sudan, Nuhu Aliyu, Mustapha Bello, and Mohammed Babangida.

Odds favour Ugwuanyi in Enugu The truce between Governor Chime and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu is all that is needed to earn a three-term member of the House of Representatives, Ugwuanyi, the PDP governorship ticket in Enugu State. Ugwuanyi has been adopted by stakeholders, senatorial leaders and various groups in the state. Even Ekweremadu is not opposed to his choice.

Nsukka Senatorial District, where he hails from, has not produced the governor of the state since 1999.

Nasko

Obuh

Pwajok

Emmanuel

Ayade

Ugwuanyi

senators from the state.

The aspirants are former deputy governor, Ibrahim K. Aliyu; Senator Isa Galaudi, former PDP state chairman, Mansur Shehu, General Bello Sarkin Yark (rtd), Abubakar Gari Malam, General Mohammed Magoro (rtd), a senator and Sani Kalgo, a member of the House of Representatives, as aspirants.

the former governor was in the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).

A former Managing Director of Bank of the North, Alhaji Mohammed Bulama; former commissioners, Engr. Mohammed Makinta and Eng. Ibrahim Abuana; former chairman of the defunct ANPP, Alhaji Mohammed Imam; Hon. Gujbawu Kaka Kyari, a member of the House of Representatives and a member of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Abba Jautau, are in the race.

Four other aspirants are also participating in today’s governorship primaries in Enugu State. They include: the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Eugene Odo; Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Ayogu Eze; Chinedu Onuh and Samuel Maduka Onyishi.

Shinkafi on a return journey In Zamfara, former Governor Mahmuda Aliyu Shinkafi will battle four other aspirants for the PDP governorship ticket. Two members of the House of Representatives – Mohammed Bello Mattawale and Ibrahim Shehu Gasau – and Bashiru Adamu Imad and Sagir Mohammed are also in the race.

Shinkafi stands a good chance to pick the ticket.

Ex-minister Ishaku to replace Suntai Four aspirants are battling to succeed ailing Governor Danladi Suntai for the Taraba governorship ticket. Until the recent judgement of the Supreme Court which sacked the acting governor, Garba Umar, he was coasting home to victory for the PDP ticket. But the court verdict has changed the tide. The immediate past Minister of State for Niger Delta, Dairus Ishaku, is set to emerge as the candidate.

Ishaku is being supported by loyalists of Suntai and backed by former Defence Minister, General T. Y. Danjuma.

Musa John Jen and David Sabo Kenke are also taking part in the primaries.

Generals battle for Kebbi ticket Kebbi State is home to many retired generals and customs officers. Since 1999, the state has been in the hands of retired customs officers: Adamu Aliero and Saidu Dangigari, both retired customs officers, have been in charge of the state.

This time around, two retired generals are battling for the PDP ticket. So, also all the

Twelve aspirants battle for Suswam’s seat In Benue State, 12 aspirants are struggling to succeed Governor Gabriel Suswam.

The old rivalry between the Tiv and Idoma is also playing out in the governorship contest. Three former ministers - Michael Aondoakaa (Justice), Samuel Ortom (Trade and Investment) and Sam Ode (Niger Delta) are in the contest. The deputy governor, Steven Lawani, also wants to succeed his boss. But the equation does not favour him.

Others in the Benue race are Eugene Adegba, Hingah Biem, Simon Anchaver, Terhemen Tazor, Gabriel Nyitse, Felix Atume, David Ker, Eugene Alegbe and Simon Anchaber.

Although, Suswam has not endorsed any of the aspirants, the battle for the Benue PDP ticket is a straight fight between Biem, a former Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Internal Services, and Tazor, the former Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly.

Ode, an Idoma, may end up being a running mate.

Sheriff’s loyalists race for Borno ticket Former Borno State governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, will determine who emerges the PDP governorship candidate among his lieutenants. In fact, Sheriff’s younger brother, Mala, is in the race.

Seven aspirants are seeking to fly PDP flag in the 2015 governorship race in the Boko Haram ravaged state.

Former Presidential Liaising Officer to the National Assembly, Alhaji Kashim Imam, is again trying his luck for the PDP ticket.

He was PDP governorship candidate in 2003 and 2007, and contested against Sheriff when

Dicey contest in Kwara In Kwara, nine aspirants including a female are in the governorship race. The aspirants are former vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Shuaib Abdulraham Oba, Senator Suleiman Ajadi, Chief John Dara, Alhaji Jani Ibrahim, Senator Simon Ajibola, Chief Sunday Babalola, Mr. Dele Belgore (SAN), Senator Gbemisola Saraki and Alhaji Hakeem Lawal, son of the former governor, Mohammed Lawal.

Despite the fact that Saraki’s group dominates the exco, she is unlikely to get the PDP ticket. The gender issue is a major problem as Kwara make up is averse to a female governor. Her brother, Senator Bukola Saraki, is also in control of the APC in the state. This will count against her in the primaries.

As it is, the decision is dicey.

Obuh to replace Uduaghan The governorship contest in Delta State is being fought by political heavyweights.

No fewer than 17 aspirants are contesting today’s primaries. All indications point to the direction of Tony Obuh, the anointed candidate of Governor Uduaghan, as the likely winner of today’s contest. David Edevbie, ex-principal secretary to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua is being rumoured as the underdog.

The aspirants are: Deputy Governor Amos Utuama (SAN), former Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe; Victor Ochei, a member and former

Politics

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

15

refused to defect with Governor Aliyu Wamakko to the APC, may pick the PDP ticket.

Gumba and Garba – are among the six aspirants contesting the governorship primaries.

Former Minister of State for Health, Dr. Mohammed Ali Pate, is also in the race.

The Bauchi race is too close to call. Ultimately, the former friends – Mu’azu and Yuguda – will test their might in today’s primaries. The PDP national chairman may use his influence to sway support for his candidate.

Obanikoro

Yayale

THOSE IN THE RACE Incumbent governors

Ex-governors

Ramalan Yero

Kaduna

Mahmuda Aliyu Shinkafi

Zamfara

Ibrahim Dankwambo

Gombe

Ikedi Ohakim

Imo

James Ngilari

Adamawa

Adebayo Alao-Akala

Oyo

Jibrin Bala Yakubu

Nasarawa, Military

Buba Marwa

Adamawa, Military

Deputy Governors Mukhtar Shagari

Sokoto

Dameshi Luka

Nasarawa

Musa Ibeto

Niger

Emeka Ihedioha

Imo

David Umahi

Ebonyi

Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi

Enugu

Ahmed Gumel

Jigawa

Mohammed Mattawale

Zamfara

Ignatius Longjan

Plateau

Ibrahim Gasau

Zamfara

Steven Lawani

Benue

Bethel Amadi

Imo

Ndudi Elumelu

Delta

Gujbawu Kaka Kyari

Borno

Abiodun Akinlade

Ogun

Senators

Reps in the race

Gyang Pwajok

Plateau

Helen Esuene

Akwa Ibom

Nkechi Nwaogu

Abia

Ayoade Adeseun

Oyo

Dairu Ishiaku

Taraba

Ayogu Eze

Enugu

Chuka Odom

Imo

Chris Anyanwu

Imo

Sam Ode

Benue

Ifeanyi Okowa

Delta

Michael Aondoakaa

Benue

Simon Ajibola

Kwara

Maina Waziri

Yobe

Yerima Ngama

Yobe

Paulinus Nwagwu

Ex-ministers

Victor Lar

Plateau

Godsday Orubebe

Delta

Solomon Ewuga

Nasarawa

Nyesom Wike

Rivers

Ben Ayade

Cross River

Onyebuchi Chukwu

Ebonyi

Isa Galaudi

Kebbi

Aja Nwachukwu

Ebonyi

Muhammad Magoro

Kebbi

Yusuf Suleiman

Sokoto

Bashir Lado

Kano

Emeka Wogu

Abia

Adamu Gumba

Bauchi

Taoheed Adedoja

Oyo

Abdul Ningi

Bauchi

Sharafa Isola

Ogun

Babayo Garba

Bauchi

Mohammed Ali Pate

Bauchi

Musiliu Obanikoro

Lagos

Labaran Maku

Nasarawa

Sons of former heads of state Mohammed Babangida

Niger

Aliyu Idi Hong

Adamawa

Mohammed Abacha

Kano

Samuel Ortom

Benue

Abba Mohammed

Kano

speaker of the State House of Assembly; former Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Project Monitoring, Prof.

Sylvester Monye; Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Godswill Obielum, Mr. Peter Okocha, Senator Emmanuel Agariawodo, Gabriel Chukwuma Oyibode, Andrew Warri (female), Ogbuefi Abanumi, Oghenovo Omene, Ngozi Olejeme (female), Akwara John Ewere; former SSG, Ovie Omo-Agege; and former presidential liaison officer to the House of Representatives, Esther Uduehi (female).

The real contenders are Obuh, Edevbie, Okowa, Orubede and Ochei.

Zero challenge for Yero, Dankwanbo For Governors Yero of Kaduna State and Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe, it is a winwin situation for the duo.

Dankwambo is the sole candidate in Gombe. Hence, today’s primaries will basically be for his ratification.

In Kaduna, the primaries will be a walkover for Yero. His only challenger, John Bako, is not a threat to him securing the PDP ticket.

Ex-Heads of State’s sons battle for Kano ticket Save for the defection of Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso to the APC, he would have been

a major decider of today’s primaries. But former governor of the state and Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, will play a major role.

Four aspirants are contesting the Kano PDP governorship ticket. Two sons of former Heads of State; Mohammed Abacha, heir of late Sani Abacha and Abba Mohammed, son of late General Murtala Mohammed are in the contest. Others are Dr. Akilu Indabawa, former Special Assistant to the President on Political Affairs; Dr. Umar Mustapha, and Mallam Salihu Sagir Takai.

Takai contested the 2011 election on the platform of the ANPP. He is a candidate of Shekarau.

Abacha and Takai are tipped for the ticket.

Mu’azu, Yuguda test strength The choice of who emerges as Bauchi State PDP governorship candidate will be determined between the former governor and party’s national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, and Governor Isa Yuguda.

While Mu’azu is backing former SGF, Ahmed Yayale; Yuguda has reportedly thrown his weight behind the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Aminu Ammayo.

The three senators from Bauchi – Ningi,

Jang casts lot with Pwajok Governor Jonah Jang might have his way today in Plateau State despite opposition to his preferred choice, Senator Gyang Pwajok.

Though his deputy, Ignatius Longjan, is in the race, Jang has cast his lot with Pwajok.

Eight other aspirants are participating in the race. They are: former director of engineering services, Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA), Arc. John Alkali; former Speaker of the House of Assembly, John Clark Dabwan; Air Vice Marshal Jonah Wuyep (rtd); former PDP chairman in the state, Dr. Haruna Dabin; Engr. Jimmy Cheto; Senator Victor Lar; a female aspirant, Hon. Kemi Nshe; and Mr. Nabasu Yakubu.

Imoke’s choice, Ayade emerges In Cross River State, Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Senator Ben Ayade, will most likely emerge today as the PDP governorship candidate.

Ayade is the candidate of Governor Liyel Imoke.

Four aspirants on Saturday backed down for Ayade. The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Larry Odey; former Executive Secretary, National Planning Commission (NPC), Ntufam Fidelis Ugboh; immediate past SSG, Barr. Mike Aniah and the immediate past Commissioner for Works, Barr Legor Idagbo stepped down for Ayade, a serving Senator representing the Cross River North Senatorial District.

Others still in the race are: former National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Emmanuel Ibeshi; Goddy Jerry-Agba, Fidelis Igbo, and Barr. Joe Agi. Bankole tipped in Ogun Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, may emerge as the candidate of the party in Ogun State. The presidency and national leadership of the party are rooting for him.

Bankole will battle 11 other aspirants for the ticket. A member of the House of Representatives, Abiodun Akinlade; former gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), Gboyega Isiaka; former minister, Sharafa Tunji Isola; Kayode Amusan, Abayomi Majekodunmi, Adeyanju Lipede, Omoba Segun Adewale, Remilekun Bakare, Rafiu Ogunleye and Anthony Ojesina, are trying their luck in today’s primaries.

Obanikoro, Agbaje divide Lagos PDP In Lagos, the primary election is a straight fight between the immediate past Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, and Mr. Jimi Agbaje.

The party has been divided into Obanikoro and Agbaje blocks.

The duo participated in the 2007 governorship election. While Obanikoro was PDP candidate in the election, Agbaje was the governorship candidate of the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA).

The outcome of today’s primaries will show who actually controls Lagos PDP between its former Deputy National Chairman, Chief Bode George, and Obanikoro.

Engr. Adedeji Doherty, Babatunde Gbadamosi, Dr. Modupe Chukwuneke, Dr. Adegbola Dominic and Tokunbo Kamson are just in the race to add colour to the contest.

Shagari set to clinch ticket in Sokoto In Sokoto, the deputy governor, Mukhtar Shagari, is battling former Minister of Youth Development, Yusuf Suleiman; Nigeria’s Ambassador to Morocco, Abdulla Wali; and Senator Abubakar Gada.

Shagari, as a loyal PDP member, who

Ikpeazu: Coasting home to victory in Abia Governor Theodore Orji will today have his way in Abia State. The process leading to today’s primaries has been skewed in favour of the governor’s anointed candidate, Okezie Victor Ikpeazu. Already, a leading contender in the race, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has backed down. Also, former Managing Director of Diamond Bank, Chief Alex Otti, has pitched his tent with the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Among the aspirants in the race are former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu; former MD of Hallmark Bank, Senator Nkechi Nwogu, Chief Mark Wabara, Friday Nwosu, Okay Emuchay and Uche Ogah.

Except the unexpected happens, Ikpeazu is set to emerge today as the PDP governorship candidate in Abia.

Akala, Folarin, 10 others race for Oyo ticket The fallout of today’s primaries in Oyo State may be difficult to manage. Violence and litigation had trailed the party congresses in the state.

There are allegations of undue interference of the Presidency in the choice of the governorship candidate. Former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, is said to be the choice of Abuja. But other aspirants are kicking.

Others in the governorship race are: Alhaji Azeem Bolarumi, Dr. Isaac Owolabi, Taoheed Adedoja, Seyi Makinde, Prof. Soji Adejumo, Mr. Olufemi Babalola, Alhaji Hazim Gbolarumi, Dr. Azeez Adeduntan, Senator Ayoade Adeseun and Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja.

But the Oyo contest will be fought by AlaoAkala, Folarin and Makinde.

Ngilari faces opposition in Adamawa In Adamawa, Governor James Ngilari will contend with heavyweights like former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu; Speaker of the House of Assembly, Umaru Finitiri; former Political Adviser to the President, Ahmed Gulak; Awal Tukur, son of the suspended former national chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur; former Minister of State for Health, Aliyu Idi Hong; James Barka, Andrawas Sawa, Abubakar Girei, Markus Gundiri, Ahmed Modibbo, Umar Ardo, Jerry Kumdisi and former Military Administrator of Lagos, Mohammed Buba Marwa.

It is uncertain who will emerge today as PDP candidate. There is stiff opposition to Ngillari’s bid. Ribadu may emerge as the candidate in the primaries holding in Abuja instead of Yola, the Adamawa State capital.

Tight race in Katsina, Yobe, Jigawa, Nasarawa In Katsina, nine aspirants want to succeed Governor Ibrahim Shema. They are: Musa Nashini, Barrister Ibrahim Idah, Arc. Ahmed Aminu Yar’Adua, Engr. Kabir Barkiya, Umar Abdullahi Tsauri (Tata), Gide Aminu Yar’Adua, Engr. Musa Nashuni, Engr.

Nura Khalil, Ambassador Tukur Mani, and Alhaji Tukur Jikamshi.

Nashuni, Shema’s immediate past Commissioner for Resource Development, is set to clinch the PDP ticket.

In Yobe, a veteran governorship aspirant and former Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Maina Waziri, is trying his luck again. Former Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama and Ibrahim Talba are also participating in the primaries.

In Jigawa, Alhaji Danladi Auyo, Abba Anas, Arc. Aminu Kani, Barr. Bashir Dalhatu, Aminu Ringim and the deputy governor, Ahmed Gumel are battling for the PDP ticket.

Governor Sule Lamido is rooting for Ringim, his former Chief of Staff.

In Nasarawa, former governor, Aliyu Akwe Doma, will be contending with the immediate past Minister of Information, Labaran Maku; deputy governor Damishi Barau Luka; former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Solomon Ewuga, John Michael Abdul and former military administrator of Zamfara, Col. Jibrin Bala Yakubu (rtd).

16 Politics

D

eputy governors in Nigeria are usually taunted as mere ‘spare tyres’, who are at the beck and call of their principals – the governors. They are not assigned any role by the constitution, save for what their ‘masters’ deem fit to let them handle. They are even specifically handpicked by the governors, and also dumped when they fall out of favour with the governors.

In Nigeria; many deputy governors have fallen on bad times by simply indicating an intention to succeed their principals. Surprisingly, as the February 2015 general election approaches, no fewer than 18 of the state governors are in their second term, shopping for who will take over from them. But only one of the governors is looking in the direction of his deputy to succeed him.

Majority of the governors do not find their deputies worthy to succeed them.

New Telegraph correspondents take a look at the governors who will leave their seats by May next year, the chances of their deputies who have indicated interests to take over from them and the political future of those who seem uninterested in being addressed as governor.

Lawani out of Suswam’s calculation Benue State deputy governor, Chief Steven Lawani, is one of the 12 governorship aspirants wishing to succeed Governor Gabriel Suswam on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.

Suswam’s body language over who would step into his shoes is not tilted towards his deputy. He is said to be working towards handing over to “a younger person” from the MINDA geo-political bloc of Tiv extraction where the next governor is likely to emerge from.

One factor working against Lawani is that Senate President David Mark has already received the blessing of his people from the seven local government areas that make up the senatorial district to embark on his fifth missionary journey to the Red Chamber of the National Assembly. The governor seems not to be comfortable with the zone producing a senate president and governor at the same time. The possibility of Governor Suswam handing over power to his deputy (an Idoma man) is slim.

Lawani is likely to return to his business if he loses his governorship bid.

Yayales: Son opts out for father The working relationship between Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State and his deputy, Sagir Aminu Saleh, has been very cordial ever since the confirmation of the latter by the State House of Assembly after the impeachment of then deputy governor, Garba Mohammed Gadi, in 2009.

Saleh is the son of former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Aminu Saleh. His father is contesting for the governorship.

Utuama to return to legal practice In Delta, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan is not looking in the direction of his deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama, for a successor.

Instead, the governor has anointed a former Permanent Secretary (Government House), Sir Tony Obuh, as his successor.

Utuama was the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the James Ibori administration.

The zoning factor is affecting Utuama. He hails from Delta Central Senatorial District of the state, where Ibori hails from; a factor seriously militating against his choice.

Since the advent of democracy in 1999, no deputy governor in Delta has succeeded his boss. The deputy to Ibori, Chief Benjamin Elue, simply retired from active politics to his hometown

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Deputy Governors lose out in power play

Lawani

Orelope-Adefulire

Utuama

Cobham

Longjan

Ikuru

in Obior, Aniocha North Local Government Area of the state.

Except Utuama is nominated for a ministerial or ambassadorial appointment, the Professor of Law may have to return to his legal profession where he will give his law firm – the Prime Chambers, in Warri, the much-needed attention.

Uncertainty over Cobham’s future In the history of Cross River State, no deputy governor has succeeded the governor. In the build up to the 2007 elections, the late John Okpa was determined to take over from Donald Duke.

That ambition led to crisis in the state which culminated in his removal as the deputy governor. Dr. Walter Eneji was thereafter drafted to finish his tenure.

Expectation was high, and the northern part of the state, where Eneji hails from (Ogoja) was ready to celebrate in 2007, but Senator Liyel Imoke left his plum job as Minister of Power to scuttle the excitement.

Seven years down the line, Imoke has stuck to his deputy, Mr. Efiok Cobham, who until his new assignment was the PDP state secretary. But again, the tradition of sending the deputy to the street will continue given the factors which are already characterising permutations for the next election.

If there was a desire on the part of the deputy governor to eye Imoke’s seat, the zoning arrangement has put paid to that desire. Duke, a southerner ruled

wanted to get his deputy out of the way so that he can anoint and impose who we all know now,” he said. for eight years. Imoke, from the Central district, is heading towards his eighth years. In his wisdom, Imoke decreed, as it were, that the north should see the glimmer side of justice by taking a shot at the governorship seat. That decision has completely shut out the deputy governor. He is not contesting in the governorship race.

Asked what his boss will do after leaving office, the Chief Press Secretary to the deputy governor, Mr. Efiong Okon said the man will return to his law practice. He added that his boss would also assume the status of a statesman in the state.

Old age counts against Longjan In Plateau State, Governor Jonah Jang is backing Senator Gyang Pwajok against his deputy, Ignatius Longjan.

Governor Jang has always insisted that he is leaving the stage with Longjan due to old age.

New Telegraph investigation revealed that the smooth working relationship between Jang and Longjan has been ruptured over 2015 bid.

The media director for Longjan’s campaign, Hon. Daniel Manjang, said the governor’s reasons could not have been altruistic “Why did Jang fight Dariye to a standstill to succeed him at his age. Is Dariye not younger? The truth is that Jang

Shagari at it again Sokoto is one of the states presently administered by a governor and deputy governor operating on different political platforms. Governor Aliyu Wamakko has defected from PDP to APC, his deputy and former Minister of Water Resources, Mukhtar Shagari is contesting the PDP governorship ticket today with Nigeria’s Ambassador to Morocco, Senator Abdullah Wali; a former Minister of Sports, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman and Senator Abubakar Umar Gada.

The PDP arrangement at the state level allows the Sokoto South zone to produce the next gubernatorial candidates. Such development favours both Wali and Shagari who hail from the zone, while Senator Gada and Suleiman are from Sokoto East zone.

Shagari may eventually get the PDP ticket, but his major battle is the main election where Wamakko stands to undo him.

As the cold war deepens between the governor and his deputy, observers note that the deputy rarely attends official functions of the state.

Ikuru going off Rivers’ radar Rivers State deputy governor, Engr.

Tele Ikuru, has served in that capacity since 2007 when the Supreme Court sacked Sir Celestine Omehia as gover-

Politics 17

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, on August 26, Rev. Ralph Ifeanyichukwu Nwoye, was appointed the new deputy governor of the state. Nwoye was nominated by Governor Sullivan Chime.

For now, and as expected, Nwoye is not opting to vie for any elective position come 2015.

Ibeto

Faskari

nor, and declared Rotimi Amaechi governor. To some observers, this is a huge achievement on the part of Ikuru, who was a commissioner under Dr. Peter Odili.

Ikuru, who was Omehia’s running mate managed to survive the bitter politics of that era, and hold on to his position.

From afar, it is clear that Ikuru has done what is expected of him, working behind the scene to get things running, and venturing out in public to represent Amaechi on official capacities. When the governor dumped PDP for the APC, Ikuru did not hesitate, but participated fully in the transition, while making his voice heard.

Ikuru understands the state like the back of his palm and commands respect among the people of the state. He is eminently qualified to succeed Amaechi, and could make a successful governor, continuing from where Amaechi stops in 2015.

But he is not running for the governorship, which the APC has zoned to his Rivers South East senatorial district.

Like his predecessor, Sir Gabriel Toby, who served for two terms as deputy governor under Odili, Ikuru might go off the political radar after the governorship election in 2015.

Ibeto calls the bluff of Aliyu Hon. Ahmed Musa Ibeto, the deputy governor of Niger State has been with Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu from 2007 till date. Ibeto is disappointed as the governor settled for Umar Nasko, his former Chief of Staff.

Ibeto had always nursed the ambition of succeeding his boss from the beginning of their second tenure in office, when he formally made his intention to contest the 2015 governorship elect known, because by the state PDP’s zoning arrangement, Niger North Senatorial District where he is from, is to produce the next governor.

Damishi

Ebe

His greatest undoing will be his boss.

He has vowed never to give up or yield to persuasion by his boss to step down for Nasko. Although, the governor has pledged his support for Nasko, Ibeto seems not perturbed whether his boss supports him or not.

Ibeto is not being schemed out because of the zoning arrangement by the PDP but because of interests. Accordingly, his traducers still vehemently link him with former governor of the state, Engr. Abdulkadir Kure, who’s relationship with the incumbent governor is like that of cat and mouse.

Since the inception of the state, no deputy governor has succeeded his boss. In 2007, most political analysts had thought that Dr. Shem Nuhu Zagbayi would succeed Kure but he was smartly schemed out. If Ibeto eventually succeeds his boss, then history would have been made in the state.

Aliyu, it was gathered, has on different occasions talked to his deputy to step down for Nasko, but the deputy declined.

While calling the bluff of his boss, Ibeto had said that his party, the PDP and the electorate would determine his emergence as governor and not Governor Aliyu. He stated this when he submitted his gubernatorial forms at the national secretariat of the PDP. Damishi loses out on all fronts The hope of Nasarawa State’s deputy governor, Mr. Luka Damishi, to clinch the PDP governorship ticket is hanging in the balance. Damishi defected from the ruling APC to the PDP with the hope that he would succeed Governor Tanko Al-Makura if impeached by the state’s House of Assembly. Damishi’s hope was dashed when the PDP-dominated Assembly failed in their bid to impeach the governor.

Umahi

Ganduje

Damishi’s lack of control of party structures both at the state and his Akwanga home town level, is likely going to deny him the party’s ticket.

There are stronger aspirants who Damishi will find difficult to defeat. The likes of former governor, Aliyu Akwe Doma; the immediate past Minister of Information, Labaran Maku; Senator Solomon Ewuga, John Michael Abdul and Jibrin Bala Yakubu.

As it is, Damishi has lost the deputy governorship slot while his chance of picking the PDP ticket is remote.

Orelope-Adefulire backs out In Lagos, the situation is not different.

The deputy governor, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire is not in the race to succeed Governor Babatunde Fashola.

At the weekend, she also withdrew from the senatorial race. The deputy governor has served as member of the House of Assembly and commissioner.

Faskari opts for senatorial race Deputy Governor Abdullahi Garba Faskari, a onetime Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Katsina State, was at the expiration of Governor Ibrahim Shema’s first term in office picked as running mate for the governor in the 2011 general election.

Many had expected that Shema would nominate Faskari to succeed him, but the governor has nominated his Commissioner for Resource Development, Engr. Musa Nashuni, to run for the governorship seat in 2015.

Faskari is contesting the senatorial seat. The question now is if Faskari scales through the PDP primaries, can he win the election given the influence of former Head of State and APC presidential aspirant, Major General Muhammadu Buhari?

No politics for Nwoye in Enugu Following the impeachment of the former deputy governor of Enugu State,

Akpabio’s deputy, Ebe, retires!

Akwa Ibom State has had three deputy governors under Governor Godswill Akpabio since 2007. The first, Engr. Patrick Ekpotu served in his first term between 2007 and 2011; the second, Obong Nsima Ekere served for only 17 months of the second term while Lady Valerie Ebe is the incumbent deputy governor.

Of the three, two have thrown their hats in the ring to take over Akpabio’s job while the incumbent has no interest in contesting. However, there is nothing on ground to suggest that either of the ex-deputy governors has the blessings of the governor.

Lady Ebe, who is in her 70s, has not shown any interest in continuing with active politics beyond 2015. Ebe who upon her appointment publicly declared her unalloyed loyalty to the administration of Governor Akpabio said she will only go the direction Akpabio desires.

New Telegraph gathered that the choice of Ebe after the exit of the two other deputy governors was to allow the governor operate without the distraction of an ambitious deputy. So, come 2015, the chances of a former deputy governor succeeding Akpabio is non-existent.

Umahi tests strength with Elechi The cordial working relationship between Governor Martin Elechi, and his deputy, Engr. Dave Umahi, has fallen apart for about three months now. This was as a result of the deputy governor’s interest to contest the governorship primaries today.

Trouble started when Elechi during a stakeholders’ meeting held at the Government House, Abakaliki publicly announced the former Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, as his successor.

As things stand, their political feud has brought crisis into the fold of the PDP in the state which resulted in members holding parallel meetings. On zoning, the deputy governor stands a good chance of winning both primaries and the main election, as he hails from the Ebonyi South senatorial zone of the state.

The deputy governor, has perfected plans to succeed his boss. Already, he has put in place structures across the 13 local government areas of the state in readiness for the party’s primaries hoping to emerge victorious.

New Telegraph learnt that Umahi has packed out of the Government House lodge and has stopped attending official assignment. He is likely going to emerge as the PDP governorship candidate today as his faction controls the PDP structures in the state and he has the support of the SGF, Anyim Pius Anyim.

Gumel out in Jigawa In Jigawa, the deputy governor Alhaji Ahmad Mahmud Gumel is not having the support of Governor Sule Lamido.

Lamido prefers his former Chief of Staff, Mallam Aminu Ringim, as his successor.

Lucky Ganduje The only deputy governor who has emerged as governorship candidate is Dr. Abdulahi Umar Ganduje. Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has thrown his weight behind his deputy who emerged as APC governorship candidate on Thursday. Ganduje will fly the Kano State APC flag in 2015.

Obanikoro, Agbaje draw battle line –page 20

18

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion Too clever for our own good C. Ikehara - This is pretty sophisticated stuff that I would call artificial intelligence outside human control.

T

hat quote is from “Arms pick whom to kill” (November 24) which also reported that “As these weapons become smarter and nimbler, critics fear they will become increasingly difficult for humans to control — or to defend against.”

Does that mean that technology is aiding humans in becoming not only more destructive, but even self-destructive? Has the notion that unbridled experimentation can bring on unforeseen problems ever been predicted?

The Chinese scholar Cheng Tingzuo (1691-1767) said, “...Apart from [mathematics], everything else [Europeans] do is excessive ingenuity...So often to play around with things is to bring a myriad burdens on oneself. They have investigated to the utmost such cruel things as firearms.” A century later, a Chinese poem began, “When the ancient sages fashioned tools they forbade excessive ingenuity...”

Just as modernity encouraged men to leave be-

hind the authorities, traditions and even responsibilities of the past, could we have now allowed our technology to develop to the point where it is on the verge of breaking free from the intentions, goals and even values of its human creators?

Jean Renoir said, “Progress is based on perfect technology” and Kant said, “Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.”

Can we ignore the fact that anything we create is in our image and could man’s yearning for ever more freedom have somehow been built into our technology without our realizing it? According to the physicist Heisenberg, “Every tool carries with it the spirit by which it has been created.”

Considering that 21st-century technology has become unimaginably powerful and that weapons now have a destructive capability that is beyond not only comprehension and but also possibly control, would not the authorities of the past have said that the extremes that we see in our times is caused by “excessive ingenuity” that is also creating even greater inequality between people who are now finding themselves in a world where those in charge no longer see it as their responsibility to preserve and promote norms by doing more to regulate the creation, application, development and spread of technological innovation?

Have we finally managed to outsmart ourselves

and can no longer expect to be saved from our burning desire to see just how far we can go with what we have learned? Are our hopes for a future where we will have even more knowledge at our disposal not only blinding us to the wisdom of the past but also diminishing our fear of the unknown to the point where we are becoming more careless, reckless, destructive and even self-destructive?: - Fear is an emotion indispensable for survival.

(Hannah Arendt) Are we on the verge of unleashing unintended or even unforeseen consequences and will soon be at their mercy only because we have turned a deaf to ear warnings about the dangers of “excessive ingenuity”?

In the 21st-century, will the excessive along with the exaggerated and the extreme become a way of life as norms get pushed aside by ever more “new normals”? Are we living in a hyperreality of our own creation which has led us to think that not only is anything possible, but also is causing us to believe that it is never too late?

Will we soon realize that we have managed to outsmart ourselves by being too clever for our own good?

Will the ultimate downfall of humanity be due to its inability to simply accept limits?

• Ikehara (ikeharac200901@gmail.com) is a freelance writer.

Pending tasks before INEC Adewale Kupoluyi

G

oing by the timeline of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), campaigns for presidential and National Assembly elections should commence this month as well as those for governorship and state houses of assembly elections. Since the commencement of the Fourth Republic, the nation has been experiencing various challenges in building virile institutions, fighting sectarian crises and corruption in a bid to ensure that good governance and dividends of democracy are enshrined. Our electoral system too has not been spared the series of upheavals troubling us as a nation.

No doubt, the functions of INEC are contained under Section 15, Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 2 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). These laws, among other functions, empower the commission to organise elections into elective public offices while that of conducting local government area chairmanship elections, which were hitherto vested in states’ Independent Electoral Commission, is hopefully being transferred to INEC, going by the amendment to the laws. Preparatory to 2015, INEC has, among others, deployed advanced software identification system (ASIS); produced permanent voters cards (PVCs) complete with biometrics, which are readable electronically; commenced continuous voter registration (CVR); updated the electoral register and has set up an Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), to address security concerns.

Despite these laudable efforts, many Nigerians, local and international observers are already expressing their worries over a number of issues that should be sorted out without further delay if we are to truly have free, fair and credible elections in the country. Not a few believe that there’s a relative improvement in our

No doubt, the functions of INEC are contained under Section 15, Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 2 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). These laws, among other functions, empower the commission to organise elections into elective public offices

electoral process in terms of computerisation, coding of ballot papers, ballot boxes and polling units. For instance, the distribution of permanent voter cards, as part of efforts towards having comprehensive and up-to-date voter register, got public criticism as the recent nationwide voter registration exercise recorded several irregularities as reported in the states mapped out for the third phase.

With a biometric system in place, it is expected that the system should be cleaned of fraudulent registration and manipulation. Not only that, the PVCs are yet to be synchronised with the national identity card, to enable eligible voters participate in elections with minimal paper work.

Again, INEC will still have to contend with the problem of voter apathy as this

may frustrate genuine efforts at ensure hitch-free elections. It the last exercise, it was reported that less than 50 per cent of registered voters in the states could actually collect their cards since the collection exercise started six months ago and now barely three months to the elections. Hence, unless there is an attitudinal change, many eligible voters might be disenfranchised.

Another factor is the inability to put in place, electronic voting. This will not only make many Nigerians in Diaspora to participate, it would eliminate all shortcomings associated with manual conduct of elections. At the moment, only citizens residing in the country at the time of registration of voters can vote at any election, whereas in other countries, their citizens are able to discharge their civic duties due to the opportunity offered by the technology of e-voting. INEC will still need to contend with the registration and deregistration of political parties. Many political parties seem not sure of their fate.

This should be sorted out before they go deep into electioneering. The insecurity pervading the North-East is another grey area that should be addressed. Despite the ongoing terrorist acts by the Boko Haram sect, INEC has assured that it would conduct elections in the area, which is mostly affected by the insurgency that has assumed a more frightening dimension in troubled states.

Increasingly worrisome also is the massive deployment of security personnel and hardware to elections as happened in recent cases in Ekiti and Osun states, where the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police, the Department of State Security, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and other security apparatus were deployed in thousands for the governorship elections.

INEC boss, Professor Attahiru Jega, had backed a proposed amendment that would confer the exclusive power to assign security men during elections by limiting the role of the military at such exercises; this is coupled with the appearance of masked security agents suspected to be DSS operatives. This has sparked protests from the opposition party and other Nigerians, who believe that it could serve as an avenue to perpetrate crime. Or, is it not possible

to hold free and fair elections without such a barrage of security forces? This feature of military rule is an aberration and should not have a place in any modern day governance. Electoral offenders are still not being punished because of the absence of special electoral offence tribunals constituted for that purpose.

INEC should ensure that violators of the electoral law are made to promptly face the full wrath of the law.

As the people eagerly look forward to the future, the wishes of voters should be accurately reflected, a salient consideration that has been in short supply since the 1963 elections in the annals of the nation.

Voters should ask aspirants cogent questions that require convincing answers on matters that border on their living. These should cover the pervading insecurity, unemployment, corruption, decadent power, education, health services and infrastructural deficit, just to mention a few. We should seriously be concerned on how informed are the electorate today about issues of franchise and choice in terms of the level of their confidence in the existing structure. Certainly, no government can provide purposeful leadership without having well planned, articulated and sustainable programmes. The aspirants should thoroughly be made to scrutinise intending public office holders and be able to freely determine whether they are fit to be entrusted with their mandate. Apart from public education programmes by the commission, we should be able to know how far have the civil organisations have also gone in preparing the minds of the people for what they should do and be seeing doing. The National Assembly should do more by moving swiftly, to remove all the legal encumbrances hindering INEC from performing its functions creditably and more importantly, the umpire should have the courage to deliver results of elections with absolute sincerity, irrespective of the winners or losers. This time around, the people should get the best from their country. Afterall, that is the real essence of democracy.

• Kupoluyi writes from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, vide, adewalekupoluyi@yahoo. co.uk, Twitter, @AdewaleKupoluyi

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

19

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Unclean N9.2bn clean cooking stove scheme

A

few days ago, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by the Vice-President, Namadi Sambo, approved a whooping N9.2 billion for the purchase of ‘clean cooking stoves’ and ‘wonder bags’ for rural women.

Wonder bag is a stand alone, non-electric insulated bag designed to reduce the amount of fuel required in the cooking of food in developing nations.

It was invented by a South African eco-entrepreneur, Sarah Collins.

The clean stove project, according to the Federal Government, is to check deforestation through the felling of trees as well as to reduce hazards associated with cooking with firewood.

The Supervising Minister of Information, Dr. Nurudeen Muhammed, who briefed journalists after the FEC meeting, said the N9.2 billion, which included Value Added Tax (VAT), was approved under the National Clean Cooking Scheme for the procurement of 750,000 units of clean cooking stoves and 18,000 wonder bags.

The minister added that the stoves, to be delivered within 12 weeks, would be assembled locally and would provide jobs for Nigerians, among other benefits.

Muhammed said the National Clean Cooking Scheme was an

aggressive drive to engender clean cooking culture among the poor rural women.

According to him, it is to reduce and possibly eliminate cooking with solid fossil which is detrimental to health.

The scheme is expected to provide 20 million clean stoves over a five-year period at the rate of four million stoves per annum, which will be distributed free of charge.

It is also to reduce incessant felling of trees, which exposes the country to ecological problems.

He said: “Furthermore, additional benefit to Nigeria in switching over to this technology by the rural households is the carbon credits arising from the registration by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The country stands to gain 50 per cent subsidy of the price through the generated carbon credits.”

As good as the scheme is, the question is; will it come to reality? Like every good project or scheme of the government in the past, implementation has always been the problem.

One of such laudable but failed policies was the one to encourage the use of cooking gas.

If it had succeeded, it could have also helped the country solve the problem of gas flaring.

There is a deliberate policy by the Indonesian government to encourage the massive use of cooking gas. But in Nigeria, the price of cylinder and cooking gas is atrociously out of the reach of the low income earners. For instance, an empty 12.5 kilogramme cylinder goes for about N10,000 while the price of the cooking gas hovers around N3,000 and N3,500.

In April, the Director-General of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr Joseph Odumodu, announced the new Federal Government policy on cooking gas.

Odumodu said under the policy, expected to have taken off in June, individuals would not be allowed to own cylinders.

According to him, the cylinders will now be owned by firms licensed by the Department of Petroleum Resources.

The DG said the new policy was designed to hold companies responsible any time there was a challenge by the end users of the product.

But nothing concrete has been done on the implementation of the policy.

Another failed policy, unfortunately, was the supposed subsidy on kerosene. It was designed to make kerosene available to the rural poor to discourage the use of fire would, believed to be responsible for the death of about

four million people annually across the world.

Federal Government’s directive to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to peg the price of the commodity used by more than 70 per cent of the population at N50 per litre has come to nought, as usual. The implementation of the policy has been bogged down by corruption. The pump price of kerosene hovers around N125 or N135 a litre at filling stations in major cities across the country. It could be more in the rural areas where it is mostly needed.

Rather than implement the directive, NNPC and the marketers are engaged in a game of buck passing, while the consumers continue to groan and grumble.

It is perhaps a misplacement of priority on the part of the government to vote N9.2 billion for the procurement and distribution of 750,000 units of clean cooking stoves and 18,000 wonder bags while there is not conscious effort to ensure the very few lucky rural women that would benefit have something to cook on the stoves.

The cost of procuring and distributing 20 million units in five years may run into about N240 billion or more. With sincerity of purpose, this money is enough to put food on the tables of millions of poverty-striken Nigerians.

Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief n Eric Osagie Deputy Managing Directors n Gabriel Akinadewo

Felix Oguejiofor Abugu

Managing Editor n Suleiman Uba Gaya

Editor, Daily n Yemi Ajayi

Editor, Saturday n Laurence Ani

Editor, Sunday n Emeka Madunagu

Deputy Editors, Daily n Emeka Obasi, Ayodele Ojo

Bureau Chief, Brussels n Leo Cendrowicz

Bureau Chief, Washington DC n Marshall Comins

Editorial Coordinator, Europe n Sam Amsterdam

Ag. Bureau Chief, Abuja n Onwuka Nzeshi

News Editor n Geoffrey Ekenna

Business Development Manager n Taiwo Ahmed Sales/Circulation Manager n Abiodun Oyebanji Head, Graphics n Timothy Akinleye

Head, Admin. n Robinson Ezeh

20

Politics

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

M

ore than ever before, the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has increased its momentum to end its 16-year drought of the governorship seat in the state by 2015. Armed with the realisation that its problem at every election in the state is first internal, the party leadership decided to set a target aimed at keeping itself under one roof using the instrumentality of reconciliation and persuasion.

For a space of time, the approach paid off. Some aggrieved members of the party were appeased; the party raked in some few

Obanikoro, Agbaje draw battle line Today, political attention will shift in Lagos from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as party delegates file out to decide who will be its standard bearer for the 2015 governorship election. In this report, WALE ELEGBEDE writes that the gubernatorial primaries is a two-horse race between the erstwhile Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and Jimi Agbaje members from the opposition, and perhaps the biggest feat achieved by the party was the fence-mending between a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George and a former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe.

The former foes now

turned allies, decided to throw their common weight behind the aspiration of pharmacist turned politician, Jimi Agbaje.

The risk paid off as some elders in the party like Mrs. Kofoworola AkereleBucknor, a former deputy governor in the state bought into it; hence, the

forming of the Network Group which is now backing Agbaje’s candidature.

But a spanner was thrown into the wheel of the Network Group with the resignation of the erstwhile Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro. The whole equation changed

and the seamless primary envisaged may not be after all.

Aside Obanikoro and Agbaje, the party has cleared five other aspirants for the governorship primary and they are Dr. Modupe Chukwuneke, Dr. Adegbola

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Dominic, Babatunde Gbadamosi, Adedeji Doherty and Tokunbo Kamson.

The party’s candidate in the 2007 election, Dr. Ade Dosunmu opted out of the race to contest the Lagos Central Senatorial district ticket.

The first crossfire between the George and Obanikoro camps was the intrigues that followed the cancellation of the November 1 ward primary congresses in the state by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party. The rescheduled congresses for November 24 didn’t go without banters thrown from both sides and they both lay claims to being the winner of the fresh congresses conducted by the Alhaji Adamu Waziri-led committee.

With that done, the next turf was the state House of Assembly primaries. On one hand, the George group beat its chest that it had the majority from the election, but Obanikoro’s group denied such assertion.

The George’s caucus said it got 27 tickets from the 38 seats available, while the Obanikoro camp claimed it made 27 out of the 38 constituencies.

Today’s governorship primaries will see some special delegates and three delegates picked from the 248 wards across the 20 local governments vote for who becomes the party’s flag bearer for the February 28, 2015 election.

To analyst, the battle for the PDP ticket is a re-enactment of the 2007 election governorship primaries where the story was exactly the same as it is now. After the brutal murder of Engr. Funsho Williams, who had been projected as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2007 election, the PDP stakeholders in the state led by George, decided to give Williams’ widow, Hilda, the party’s ticket.

From nowhere, Obanikoro came into the picture and got the ticket from Hilda, regardless of being the choice of the elders.

In fact, some pundits believe that the quagmire the delegates face is whether to maintain their loyal status to George, or turn face and embrace overtures from Obanikoro.

As it stands, both candidates are evenly matched on paper but the deciding factor will be whether the party’s headquarters won’t interfere in the process. Head or tail, if the party comes out unscratched from the primary election, it may give the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which last week nominated Akinwunmi Ambode as its candidate, a good run during the election.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

21

Overnight rate rises after CBN withdraws N300bn

Airline Services and Logistics: Hit by competition

Stock Watch

Insurance

Ebola: FG baits volunteers with N71m cover

‘Poor electricity, telecoms’ biggest challenge in Nigeria’

35

37

38

42-43

Money Line

Interview

Business International airfares What's news

Nigeria’s growing retail market guarantees real estate openings Nigeria’s macro-economic stability has made the country the most favorable destination for retail in Africa, guaranteeing opportunities for commercial real estate, a new report has said.

p.22

Biggest UAE bank mulls expansion into Nigeria The clamour by foreign investors to have a share in Nigeria’s fast developing economic sphere is gaining ground, as the biggest bank in the United Arab Emirates by assets, is planning an incursion into the country as part of its money management business expansion to tap growth in emerging markets.

p.22

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

Deputy Editor (Business)

Bayo Akomolafe

Asst. Editor (Maritime)

Sunday Ojeme

Asst. Editor (Insurance)

Godson Ikoro

Asst. Editor (Money Market)

Dele Alao

Industry & Agric Editor

Dayo Ayeyemi Property Editor

Adeola Yusuf Energy Editor

Wole Shadare Aviation Editor

Chris Ugwu

Capital Market Editor

ATTRACTION

Nigeria is an attraction to international travel because of high passenger movement

Wole Shadare

I

ndications emerged at the weekend that international airfares may rise following the continous depreciation of naira, which currently exchanges for N168 per dollar at the official market. The currency is sold at N181 and N188 to the greenback at the inter-bank and parallel markets.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had, last week Tuesday, devalued the naira by 8.3 per cent or N13, from N155 per dollar to N168.

While the United States dollar has been stable, the depreciation of Nigeria’s currency to an all time low of N188 to the dollar, means that naturally, fares would go up by over 20 per cent.

While there may not be a sharp increase in domestic travel because of high-level competition occasioned by huge capacity, the same cannot be said of international airlines, whose fares are fixed and broken down into many components.

For domestic operations, fares are as low as N9, 000 because of the unhealthy rivalry that the Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka feared could jeopardise safety.

While briefing the media on Tuesday, he said that his Ministry and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria (NCAA) were already monitoring the airfare war in the sector with a view to ensuring that airlines do not cut corners by not going for their mandatory aircraft maintenance checks.

A top official of one of the foreign airlines who pleaded anonymity, told New Telegraph that Nigeria might witness a

may rise by 20%

drop in international passenger traffic due to the belt tightening policy of the government and individuals in the New Year.

The source noted that bookings had dropped drastically on most airlines for the Yule-

tide, explaining that a few who normally flew Business Class have now downgraded to premium economy class and economy class.

He reiterated that costs of operations are very high in Nigeria, adding that airfares

for European, American and Asian carriers are quoted in dollars. Consequently, he ruled out possibility of fare cuts by international airlines.

Foreign airlines had claim CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

L-R: Chairman, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Vice-Chairman, GE Global, John Rice and CEO and President, GE Africa, Jay Ireland, at the Lagos Garage graduating ceremony.

Kunle Azeez

T

he number of telephone lines that have ported from one network to another since the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) scheme was introduced into the nation’s telecoms market some 16 months ago, has reached 179,898, New Telegraph has gathered.

This was contained in the latest MNP status report released at the weekend by telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission

Nigeria’s ported phone lines hit 179, 898 (NCC).

The report accessed by New Telegraph revealed that the country recorded its highest monthly porting profile of 19,682 lines in September this year.

The data was the aggregate ported telephone lines on all the four Global System

for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks in the country including MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat.

MNP was launched by the NCC last year as a Value-Added Service, which provides opportunity for the over 134.5 CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Abdulwahab Isa Finance Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE October 2014............................8.1% September 2014.....................8.3% August 2014............................8.5%

LENDING RATE InterBank Rate....................12.57% Prime Lending Rate...........17.93% Maximum Lending Rate...26.83%

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parellel As at Dec. 5)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N188 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N291 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N229.50

l Foreign Reserves – $36.44bn as at 5/12/2014

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Official As at Dec. 5)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N169 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N264.50 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N208.49

22

Business | News

WARNING Lower end of the residential market must address the lack of affordable housing, to avoid crisis Dayo Ayeyemi

N

igeria’s macroeconomic stability has made the country the most favorable destination for retail in Africa, guaranteeing opportunities for commercial real estate, a new report has said.

The report tagged: “Lamudi’s White Paper on Real Estate in The Emerging Markets,” pointed out that industries such as real estate, automotive, IT, construction and retail are becoming increasingly attractive investment opportunities as a result of infrastructure devel-

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Nigeria’s growing retail market guarantees real estate openings –Report opments.

It stressed that Nigeria’s macro-economic stability and continued growth have offered a positive outlook for the country’s development over the next five to 10 years.

According to the report, while the luxury residential market in Nigeria might soon experience oversupply, the lower end of the residential market must address the lack of affordable housing, to avoid a housing crisis in the next decade.

It emphasised that infrastructure investment remained a key driver for the real estate sector, adding that multinational companies were expanding to Nigeria, with investments from Procter & Gamble,

GSK, Nestlé and Diageo seeking industrial sites for new production facilities.

“With the creation of the Lekki Free Trade Zone – the largest free trade zone in West Africa, covering 165 square kilometers – Lagos will continue to attract investors as a prime location for industry,” it stated.

The MCO’s Lagos Real Estate Investment Report, had stated that the demand for commercial real estate would continue to spread across the country, as the population grows, salaries increase and Nigeria continues its rapid urbanisation.

The report said: “We see opportunities in

addressing the largely unmet, aspirational lifestyle and real estate desires of the emerging “new rich,” made up of knowledgeable investors, entrepreneurial professionals and business owners.”

Quoting CEO, Fine & Country West Africa, Udo Okonjo, the report maintained that Lagos

remained the largest retail market in Nigeria, with an estimated one mall for 1,700,000 people.

It stated: “Like many emerging markets, Nigeria has ambitious development goals for the next decade, with particular focus on improving employment rates and reaching poverty reduction goals.

International airfares may rise CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

that high charges were as result of hostile Nigerian operational environment, where they are required to pay all kinds of charges, provide security for crew members and pay exorbitant rates for hotel accommodation and other services.

Although, Nigeria is an attraction to international travel because of its high passenger movement, costs of services at the airports are very exorbitant.

The situation is so bad that aviation agencies in Nigeria still pay many charges, which had

long been rested in other parts of the world, where aviation authorities encourage foreign airlines to operate with very low charges as incentive.

It has been established that Ghana, for instance, charges zero taxes for cargo export and relatively minimum charges for scheduled flight operations for international destinations.

In March 2013, British Airways charged $10,070 for a First Class flight ticket from Abuja to London, while the same First Class ticket from Accra to London costs $4,943.

Ported phone lines hit 179, 898 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

million telecoms subscribers in the country to be able switch their current service provider to another network, when their existing network is no longer servicing them with good services, without changing their lines.

“The MNP service provides the flexibility needed by telecoms consumers in a telecoms market like ours where it is hard to say operator ‘A’ is better than operator ‘B’ in the area of service delivery,” said a telecoms industry analyst, Mr Rarsack Olaegbe.

According to the new MNP status report, between May 2013 and end of September 2014, the numbers of telephone lines that are ported by their holders have grown from 7,164 to 19, 682 lines monthly.

According to a breakdown of the data, from

7164 lines that ported in May 2013, the figure decreased slightly to 5, 759 lines in June but picked up in July with monthlyported lines of 6, 870.

In August and September, the figures increased impressively to 14, 440 lines and 16,185 lines respectively.

The figures in October declined to 8, 112 ported lines; increased slightly to 8, 242 telephone lines in November and in December, the porting activity witnessed lull as the year ended with 6, 962 ported lines monthly.

The 2014 started on a downward note as total ported lines further nose-dived at 6,888 ported telephone lines in January but the trend changed with monthly ported lines of 7,265 in February; and the figure almost more than double at 13,757 telephone lines CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

L-R: Deputy Manager, Corporate and Investment Banking Division, Access Bank Plc, Charles Odum and Manager, Commercial Banking Division, Access Bank Plc, Olufemi Odukoya receiving the award for the 2014 Financial Institution of the Year Award at the Oil Industry Awards Ceremony from the Financial Secretary, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, Mrs. Edith Akwaeke, in Port Harcourt.

INVESTMENT DESTINATION Nigeria is still the preferred investment destination Sunday Ojeme

with agency report

T

he clamour by foreign investors to have a share in Nigeria’s fast developing economic sphere is gaining ground, as the biggest bank in the United Arab Emirates by assets, is planning an incursion into the country as part of its money management business expansion to tap growth in emerging markets.

Bloomberg reports that the bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, plans hubs in nine global cities to gain from an expanding middle class and trade and investments flows within a “west-east corridor” extending from West Africa to China.

The Chief Executive Officer, Alex Thursby, said, “NBAD will open a branch in Mumbai on June 30, becoming the first bank from the UAE to win a licence in Asia’s thirdbiggest economy in about 35 years. It is also “likely” to set up a hub in Nigeria and

Biggest UAE bank mulls expansion into Nigeria is accelerating investment in Hong Kong and Malaysia.”

Thursby pointed out that assets under management rose 51 per cent this year to 11.3 billion dirhams ($3.1 billion), about half coming from institutions and wealthy individuals, adding that funds management “is a really important ingredient to our future and non-funded revenue.

“I believe we can expand that again in the west-east corridor, not in every country, but by choosing markets.”

Increased profit from the wealth business has helped the bank counter the impact of competition in retail and commercial banking, which cut the net interest margin in those operations by one percentage point, Thursby said. The bank is working to reduce its reliance on lending, while building on fees from areas such as share and bond sales as well as overseeing wealth.

Thursby said: “I have no ability to be a good manager for Chinese securities, I am not sure I can for India, but maybe Malaysia, maybe some parts of Africa,” he said.

NBAD’s operating profit from global wealth, one of four business segments, surged 86 per cent in the nine months to September from a year earlier, contributing 12 per cent to the total, according to a results presentation on the bank’s website. Overall, nine-month profit grew 15 per cent to 4.2 billion dirhams.

The company’s assets are in almost 20 funds spread across equities, fixed-income, exchange-traded funds and hedge funds. Emirates NBD PJSC, the UAE’s secondranked bank, said assets under management exceeded 10 billion dirhams.

The assets overseen by NBAD’s retail and commercial banking business, which includes trade finance and lending to small and mediumsized companies, increased 20 per cent this year, as it hired workers and rebuilt the business, Thursby said.

“We want to get to an 8-9 per cent market share in commercial” from about two per cent now by focusing on segments that have international trading and expansion needs, he said.

INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

In collaboration with

Copyright © 2014 The New York Times

Sanctity of Truth

Drones’ New Use: Making Mischief

In U.S., Racial Divide Festers

By MICHAEL WINES

By NICK WINGFIELD

Photographers and Hollywood filmmakers turn to them for lush overhead shots. Geologists use them to look above the seas for oil-bearing rocks. Amazon executives are pushing to use them to plop packages onto doorsteps.

But now drones — the unmanned flying vehicles the size of a pizza box — are also a favorite tool for more unruly groups: pranksters and troublemakers.

As the price of drones has fallen, the machines have emerged as central characters in stunts from the puckish to the criminal.

In recent months, drone pilots have tried to smuggle contraband into prisons and disrupt

Pranks are forcing public safety officials to look up.

DON HOGAN CHARLES/THE NEW YORK TIMES

sporting events. Animal rights groups have turned to drones to stalk hunters. And a dozen illegal flights over nuclear power plants have unnerved French authorities.

The antics are forcing public safety officials to look at the air above them as a place for potential trouble. And for groups pushing drones as legitimate business tools, the high jinks are an unwelcome headache — one, they fear, that will bolster a push by regulators to keep a tight leash on the machines.

In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration has said that drones raise safety concerns, like running into people and planes. The agency said it receives about 25 reports a month of drones operating near manned aircraft. The agency is expected to propose new rules for

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

THEN:

A policeman in the 1967 riots in New Jersey says racism remains ‘‘pervasive.’’

NOW:

Blacks are jailed at a rate six times that of whites. In Ferguson, Missouri.

Con­­tin­­ued on Page 26

WHITNEY CURTIS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

INTELLIGENCE

WORLD TRENDS

Self-absorption alters travel rituals. PAGE 24

A mounted patrol for Jordan’s desert. PAGE 25

MONEY & BUSINESS

Falling demand for iron affects mining. PAGE 29

PAUL MCLEMORE, THE first African-American to become a New Jersey state policeman, was on the streets of Newark in 1967 when riots following a police beating of a black taxi driver left 26 dead.

He spent decades as a civil rights lawyer and years as a municipal judge in Trenton. His wife and children have gone on to enjoy accomplished careers. “Of course, there’s been a lot of progress” since Newark’s days of rage, he said recently.

But asked whether a young black man today could find the justice that was believed to be absent in Newark 47 years ago, he gave a response that was starkly different.

“No, period,” he said. “There’s pervasive racism — white racism.”

For whites and blacks alike, that duality may be the takeaway from a grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson, a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a young black man: Much has changed, and nothing has changed.

A nation with an African-American president and a significant, if struggling, black middle class remains as deeply divided about the justice system as it was decades ago. A recent Huffington Post-YouGov poll of 1,000 adults found that 62 percent of African-Americans believed Officer Wilson was at fault in the shooting of Mr. Brown, while only 22 percent of whites took that position.

In 1992, a Washington Post-ABC News poll found that 92 percent of blacks — and 64 percent of whites — disagreed with the acquittal of the Los Angeles police officers videotaped beating a black man, Rodney King.

“What’s striking is just how constant these attitudes have been,” said Carroll Doherty, the director of political research for the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in Washington.

In Pew polls, black mistrust of the police and courts is far more pervasive than it is toward other institutions.

However, a Pew poll earlier this year suggests that African-Americans under age 40 — the demographic that made up most of the people who took to the streets in Ferguson in August — are much less likely than their elders to believe that racism is the main force blocking blacks’ advancement.

That whites and blacks disagree so deeply on the justice system, even as

Con­­tin­­ued on Page 26

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Beauty of Scotch, in a glass’s bottom. PAGE 31

24

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

O P I N I O N & C O M M E N TA RY The once-distant promise of clean, affordable hydrogen-powered cars is starting to become a reality. Several automakers, including Toyota, Honda and Hyundai, have started or will soon start selling these cars, which will be more expensive than gasoline models but a lot cheaper than they were just a few years ago.

Executives at Toyota say that the cost of making the critical components of hydrogen vehicles has fallen 95 percent since 2008.

That is why the company plans to market its first mass-produced hydrogen car, the Mirai, in the United States next year. Other companies, like General Motors, Ford and Audi, are working on similar cars.

The broad adoption of hydrogen-powered cars, which emit

ED I T O R I A L S O F T H E T I M ES

Hydrogen Cars Move Forward only water and heat, could play an important role, along with electric vehicles, in lowering emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants responsible for climate change.

Cars like the Mirai have fuel cells that combine hydrogen with oxygen from the air to generate electricity that powers a motor.

The hydrogen is stored in tanks that can be filled in a few minutes, just like a conventional gasoline tank. By comparison, a gasoline-electric hybrid car like the

Toyota Prius also uses an electric motor and generates electricity in part by burning gasoline. And all-electric vehicles store power in batteries that are usually charged from the electricity grid.

Most hydrogen today is created from natural gas in a process that generates carbon dioxide.

But scientists say fuel cells are still good for the environment, because making hydrogen produces far fewer emissions than burning fossil fuels. Hydrogen could be produced more clean-

ly by using alternative energy sources like solar and wind power to split water into hydrogen and oxygen atoms. And it can be generated from renewable sources like sewage and animal waste.

Auto companies, universities and government labs have been working for decades to make fuel cells cheaper, more reliable and more efficient. In the early 2000s, hydrogen concept cars cost automakers as much as a million dollars to make. The Mirai will sell for $57,000. Another car al-

ready on the market, the fuel-cell version of the Hyundai Tucson, is available on a $499-a-month lease.

But cost isn’t the only problem. There are just 13 hydrogen fueling stations in the United States today. Big investments will be needed, and some are on the drawing board. The state of California plans to spend up to $200 million to build 100 fueling stations in a decade. Countries like Japan and Germany are also investing in refueling stations.

Some critics of hydrogen cars say they remain expensive and impractical compared with electric vehicles. But that is shortsighted. The real competition is the gas guzzler. There is little doubt that the world will need many transformative technologies to deal with climate change.

INTELLIGENCE/TIMOTHY EGAN

PAUL KRUGMAN

Grand Tour of the Self

Being Bad Europeans

Barcelona, Spain From the castle grounds atop Montjuic, you can see the warrens of the old city running into the Dr. Seussian spires of the new one that sprouted from Antoni Gaudí’s imagination. Below or up high, Barcelona is a tapas menu of urban surprise.

But a new breed of visitor bouncing from one sight to another in the warm November sunshine barely pauses for a taste. These peripatetic pilgrims may be at the Boqueria market, or inside Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Família basilica, but they are not lingering to soak in Catalonia’s ageless delights. Instead, they are looking at themselves from smartphone cameras at the ends of thin poles — selfie sticks, the latest and most obnoxious tool in the kit of digital narcissism.

The intrusive extensions are everywhere, waving above Roman ruins or ribbons of sliced jamón, poking strollers along La Rambla, all to get the best view of Me While There. The stick operates by timer or Bluetooth wireless remote. And the purpose — to avoid the fisheye angle of a hand-held selfie — is understandable. But viewing the world through a selfie stick is like skiing in that artificial snow park in Dubai. It further isolates and cocoons the visitor inside a zone of self-projected experience.

As an advertisement in the shopping magazine of Lufthansa airlines put it: “Gone are the Send comments to intelligence@ nytimes.com.

days when you had to ask a perfect stranger to take your photograph.” Right, because you wouldn’t want to actually speak to a stranger in a foreign land.

“Like it or not,” a recent post on BuzzFeed reported, “everyone is going to be wielding a selfie stick.”

Everyone? It’s annoying enough that people taking pictures of their food have made restaurants resemble the runway ramps of fashion shows.

Check out this kale stack! We can’t just shut up and eat, as The New Yorker magazine pleaded in its recent food issue. We have to shoot and post our paella before tasting it. Let’s hear it for chefs who are banning food selfies from their tables, no doubt fighting for a lost cause.

Technology, when it shrinks the globe, or makes life less burdensome, or provides easier access to knowledge, is a wonderful thing. The smartphone has dramatically changed the world, mostly for the better. The jet aircraft opened far reaches of the planet to average people.

And the selfie stick, as a simple device to take a better portrait, is largely harmless.

But when technology changes the travel experience itself — from immersion and surprise to documentary one-upmanship — it defeats the point of the journey. We travel to freshen senses dulled by routine. We travel for discovery and reinvention.

Not long ago, a park ranger in Washington State told me about a group of kids trying to get a fix on 500-year-old trees at the lower elevation of Mount Rainier. They could not fully fathom

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what they were experiencing, he said, until they could filter it through their phones — as pictures or Wikipedia definitions. Nature deficit disorder, so called, is a symptom of being connected to everything, while being unable to connect to anything.

Of course, it’s nothing new to place yourself for posterity in the middle of the Colosseum or atop Mount Kilimanjaro. No proper grand-tour rite of passage in 19th-century Europe was complete without a commissioned portrait of a dandified squire posing in a room with a view.

But the portrait was not the point of the travel. Take it from Mark Twain, in “The Innocents Abroad,” his account of an 1867 trip overseas. “Day after day and night after night, we have wandered among the crumbly wonders of Rome; day after day and night after night we have fed upon the dust and decay of five-and-twenty centuries — have brooded over them by day and dreamt of them by night till sometimes we seemed mouldering away ourselves.”

Twain made great fun of his innocents. But as the above passage shows, full immersion, even from a professional smart mouth, was the point of transporting your worldview to take in another.

There is, blessedly, a selfie-stick backlash. In several languages, I heard people snarl at clusters of boom-wielding tourists. The urge to say “Put that thing down” is great, but no one wants to be a grumpy Luddite.

When the author Tom Wolfe called the 1970s the Me Decade, he could not have fathomed what Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have done to allow everyone to be the star of his own movie in the twenty-teens.

And perhaps travelers of today are no more self-absorbed than those of any other time. But you wouldn’t know it by how they billboard the experience.

The American economy finally seems to be climbing out of the hole it entered during the global financial crisis. Unfortunately, Europe, the other epicenter of crisis, can’t say the same. Unemployment in the euro area is stalled at almost twice the American level, while inflation is far below the official target and outright deflation has become a looming risk.

Investors have taken notice: European interest rates have plunged, with German long-term bonds yielding just 0.7 percent.

That’s the kind of yield we used to associate with Japanese deflation, and markets are indeed signaling that they expect Europe to experience its own lost decade.

Why is Europe in such dire straits? The conventional wisdom among European policy makers is that we’re looking at the price of irresponsibility: Some governments have failed to behave with the prudence a shared currency requires, choosing instead to pander to misguided voters and cling to failed economic doctrines. And if you ask me, this analysis is essentially right, except for one thing: They’ve got the identity of the bad actors wrong.

For the bad behavior at the core of Europe’s slow-motion disaster isn’t coming from Greece, or Italy, or France. It’s coming from Germany.

I’m not denying that the Greek government behaved irresponsibly before the crisis, or that Italy has a big problem with stagnating productivity. But Greece is a small country whose fiscal mess is unique, while Italy’s long-run problems aren’t the source of Europe’s deflationary downdraft.

If you try to identify countries whose policies were way out of line before the crisis and have hurt Europe since the crisis, and that refuse to learn from experience, everything points to Germany as the worst actor. Consider, in particular, the comparison between Germany and France.

Since the euro came into exis-

tence in 1999, France’s gross domestic product deflator (the average price of French-produced goods and services) has risen 1.7 percent per year, while its unit labor costs have risen 1.9 percent annually. Both numbers are right in line with the European Central Bank’s target of slightly under 2 percent inflation, and similar to what has happened in the United States. Germany, on the other hand, is way out of line, with price and labor-cost growth of 1 and 0.5 percent, respectively.

And it’s not just France whose costs are where they ought to be.

Spain saw rising costs and prices during the housing bubble, but all the excess has been eliminated through years of crushing unemployment and wage restraint.

Italian cost growth has been a bit too high, but it’s not nearly as far out of line as Germany is on the low side. In other words, to the extent that there’s anything like a competitiveness problem in Europe, it’s overwhelmingly caused

by Germany’s policies, which are in effect exporting deflation to its neighbors.

Yet European policy makers seem determined to blame the wrong countries and the wrong policies for their plight. The European Commission is warning France, which has the lowest borrowing costs in its history, that it may face fines for not cutting its budget deficit enough.

What about resolving the problem of too little inflation in Germany? Very aggressive monetary policy might do the trick, but German monetary officials are warning against such policies because they might let debtors off the hook.

What we’re seeing, then, is the immensely destructive power of bad ideas. It’s not entirely Germany’s fault — Germany is a big player in Europe, but it’s only able to impose deflationary policies because so much of the European elite has bought into the same false narrative. And you have to wonder what will cause reality to break in.

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

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WORLD TRENDS

Russia Suspected In Fracking Protests

Patrols In Jordan Save Spot For Camels

By ANDREW HIGGINS

By BEN HUBBARD

WADI RUM, Jordan — Hitched up in the sandy lot by the police station, next to the four-by-four trucks and the dune buggy, is some other important equipment for enforcing the law in this forbidding desert valley: eight camels.

Six of the towering beasts are saddled up regularly for patrols in rugged areas or to show off for tourists. The other two are thoroughbred racing camels, males, kept around to provide another kind of service.

“Any resident who wants to bring his lady camel by can come,” said Kayed Nasser, a handler in the station’s camel unit. “It’s a free service that we provide to citizens.”

This is the local station of Jordan’s Royal Desert Forces, a 4,000-man-strong branch of the national police force that is responsible for patrolling the sparsely populated desert areas that cover four-fifths of this Middle Eastern monarchy.

The force is descended from a camel corps founded in the 1920s, when Britain, which had a mandate to rule the area, separated the region of Transjordan from Palestine. Today, the camel patrols are a small but important part of efforts to catch smugglers, track down stolen cars and keep family feuds from turning murderous.

Officers hail from Jordan’s Bedouin tribes, meaning that they know how to operate in the desert and how to navigate the intricate social codes of the hundreds of thousands of Bedouin who live in those areas.

“The child of the city does not know how to interact with the Bedouin who live in the desert,” said Captain Enad al-Jazi, a Bedouin and the deputy chief of the Wadi Rum station. “We do.”

Ranya Kadri contributed reporting.

WARRICK PAGE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Four-fifths of Jordan consists of sparsely populated desert.

Members of the Royal Desert Forces.

Throughout its history, the monarchy of Jordan has had good relationships with the country’s tribes, and heavily recruited their members into the army and security services, analysts say.

This has to do with Jordan’s past, which has left its eight million citizens split between “East Bankers,” or native Jordanians, such as the Bedouin, and “West Bankers,” or the descendants of Palestinians displaced by

As four wheels replace four legs, a tradition endures. the creation of Israel and its subsequent wars with its Arab neighbors. Jordan’s rulers have long seen those descendants of Palestinians as a demographic threat to their rule, according to Ora Szekely, an associate professor of political science at Clark University in Massachusetts, who studies Jordan.

The ruling family has heavily stocked the security services with East Bankers, who get perks like pensions and education benefits for their children.

PARIS JOURNAL

By SUZANNE DALEY

PARIS — The last skyscraper built in Paris opened in 1973, an unadorned block rising 59 stories — the Montparnasse Tower.

To this day, Parisians joke that the tower offers the best views in the city, because it is the only place from which it cannot be seen. City officials went to work banning future skyscrapers.

Now, Paris is considering a new skyscraper — a triangular, 42-story glass tower by the Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, in the city’s southwest corner.

Over the years, Parisians have come to embrace some bold architectural adventures, such as the glass pyramids inside of the Louvre courtyard or the Pompidou Center, built with its colorfully painted water pipes

The importance of those ties between the tribes and the state has become more clear with the rise of the jihadists of the Islamic State in neighboring Iraq.

Many blame the discriminatory policies of Iraq’s former Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for enraging and alienating the country’s Sunnis.

“Here in Jordan,” said Mr. Jazi, “the tribes are the nerves of the state.”

Much had changed, Mr. Jazi said, since the days when the deserts lacked roads and phone coverage and when officers did multiday camel patrols carrying only lentils, flour, ghee and powdered milk. Now, Jordan’s army staffs most of the borders, and Mr. Jazi and his men work in trucks, or by cellphone.

They spend little time in their boxy white police station, preferring to drink tea and gossip with the Bedouin who come by to visit in the red and black tent.

The camels rest nearby. All have names as well as official government numbers branded into their necks.

The officers acknowledge that technology has largely made the camels unnecessary but say that the force of tradition keeps them there. “They are the heritage passed down from our grandparents,” said Mr. Nasser.

“And we love them.”

PUNGESTI, Romania — Vlasa Mircia, the mayor of this destitute village in eastern Romania, thought he had struck it rich when the American energy giant Chevron leased a plot of land he owned for exploratory shale gas drilling.

But the village drew activists from across the country opposed to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Violent clashes broke out between the police and protesters. The mayor, who sided openly with Chevron, was run out of town, in what activists presented as a David versus Goliath struggle between impoverished farmers and corporate America.

“I was really shocked,” recalled the mayor, who is now back in Pungesti. “We never had protesters here and suddenly they were everywhere.”

Pointing to a mysteriously well-financed and well-organized campaign of protest, Romanian officials say that the struggle over fracking in Europe does feature a Goliath, but it is the Russian company Gazprom, not Chevron. Gazprom, a state-controlled energy giant, has an interest in preventing countries dependent on Russian natural gas from developing their own supplies of energy.

This belief that Russia is fueling the protests, shared by officials in Lithuania, where Chevron also ran into protests, has not been proven. But circumstantial evidence, plus Cold War-style suspicion, have added to alarm over Russian meddling.

Before stepping down in September as NATO’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said, “Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called nongovernmental organizations — environmental organizations working against shale gas — to maintain dependence on imported Russian gas.”

What has become a tide of protest against fracking in Eastern Europe began three years ago in Bulgaria, a member of the

Cringes Follow a Plan for a New Tower and air-conditioning ducts on the outside. But the resistance to skyscrapers has been fierce.

For some, the bulding would disfigure one of the city’s key features — a 19th-century skyline. For the last few decades, they say, the city has done very nicely by keeping office towers outside the city limits in areas like La Défense. But the mayor, Anne Hidalgo, has been arguing otherwise, delighted to see a huge investment in an area of Paris that is not much to look at.

For now, the area is a collection of conference centers between the highway that runs

around the city periphery and an undistinguished residential neighborhood in the 15th Arrondissement.

The tower would provide 5,000 construction jobs, city officials say. It would offer marquee office space. Backed by Unibail-Rodamco, a top European property developer, the Triangle Tower would cost about 500 million euros, or about $627 million.

“There are many selling points to this project,” said Jean-Louis Missika, the city’s deputy mayor for architecture and urbanism.

He argues that a project like

the new tower would act as a kind of lighthouse, giving distinction to the entire neighborhood.

Olivier de Monicault, the president of SOS Paris, an association founded to oppose architectural projects, said there were all kinds of arguments to be made against the tower, including that it would cast a huge shadow on the surrounding neighborhood.

But perhaps most fundamental, he said, is the fear of doing damage to the look and feel of the city: “Tourists do not come here to see Manhattan,” he said.

European Union but far more sympathetic to Russian interests than any other member of the bloc. Faced with a surge of street protests by activists, the Bulgarian government in 2012 banned fracking and canceled a shale gas license issued earlier to Chevron.

George Epurescu, the president of Romania Without Them, said his group shifted its focus to fracking after it “found out about the shale gas problem” from Bulgarian activists. He dismissed allegations of a Russian role. “It is very easy: If you can put Russia in the equation you win your argument,” he said, adding that Romania, unlike Bulgaria, has a long history of feuding with Russia. He said his group gets no outside funding beyond small donations from activists.

Romania is far less reliant on Russian energy than are other countries in the region, but a sharp expansion in domestic production would allow it to export energy to neighboring Moldova. Like Ukraine, Moldova has come under strong pressure, notably through gas prices, to stay within Russia’s economic and political orbit. “Energy is the most effective weapon today of the Russian Federation — much more effective than aircraft and tanks,” said Victor Ponta, the Romanian prime minister.

Early predictions of enormous shale gas reserves in places like Poland are crumbling in the face of disappointing results from test wells. Ukraine, which is thought to have large reserves in the east, has also fallen flat. Romania, too, could turn out to be a shale gas flop.

Meanwhile, Gazprom’s Serbian subsidiary, Nis, is looking for shale gas and oil in western Romania near the border with Serbia. Unlike the Chevron project at the other end of the country, however, the Gazprom effort has stirred no mass protests. Protest leaders say the difference merely reflects the fact that Chevron carried out exploratory drilling while the Gazprom subsidiary has so far done only geological survey work.

A poll conducted last year by the B.V.A. polling agency found that most Parisians — 62 percent — were against any new skyscrapers. Often it seems it is the younger Parisians who are more inclined to see the new Triangle Tower in a positive light.

“For me it makes economic sense,” said Ralph Hippocrate, 28, a publicist for a French television channel. “For jobs it might create, but also for the good it might do for the businesses in the neighborhood.”

But many older Parisians fear that city officials did not learn the lesson of Montparnasse.

“I like it that in Paris I am not surrounded by enormous buildings,” said Danielle Outreman, 60, who is retired. “I think that putting them all in La Défense is just fine.”

26

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Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

WORLD TRENDS

Latest Use of Drones: Making Mischief Con­­tin­­ued from Page 23 commercial use soon.

“It’s now in the hands of all types of people — good people, bad people, tricksters, pranksters, kids,” said Patrick Egan, a consultant on commercial drone projects and editor at sUAS News, a drone news site. “All hell is going to break loose as far as the shenanigans that are perpetrated with drones.”

For the most part, flying a drone is legal for recreational purposes in the United States, as long as operators follow a few guidelines, like staying below 122 meters. Declining prices — a four-rotor model with a mounted camera can cost as little as $500 — have attracted more buyers.

Teal Group, an aerospace research firm, estimates the global civilian drone market to be worth $450 million this year, up 45 percent from last year.

The machines now regularly make mundane appearances at parks and weddings, often to supply overhead photography. As the number of drones has grown, though, so has the impishness of some owners. The rise of online video and social media has motivated some operators to outdo one another.

Just over a year ago, Tom Mabe, a comedian in Louisville, Kentucky, came up with a prank in which he rigged a mannequin of the grim reaper to a drone.

The video, showing terrified people in a park, has generated more than seven million views on YouTube.

“I’m hoping I’ll be the drone comic,” Mr. Mabe said.

Outdoor sporting events, which offer open-air environments with large audiences, have become a particularly hot target.

In October, a soccer match in Belgrade between the Serbian and Albanian national teams was paralyzed when someone hovered a drone over the field that held a flag for Greater Albania, a charged symbol for many in the stadium. A Serbian player yanked down the flag, which led to a scuffle among the players and rioting by fans.

Drones have also buzzed professional soccer matches in Britain and college football games in the United States. In August, a student from the University of Texas at Austin was arrested

ONLINE: TAMING DRONES

Video about possible moves to limit drone use: nytimes.com Search drones misbehaving

after piloting a drone over the school’s stadium, which was filled with 93,000 fans. The student is facing possible charges, according to the university police. On October 14, a drone operating over Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium in Florida struck someone, causing a “mild abrasion,” the F.A.A. reported.

With security concerns mounting among stadium operators, the F.A.A. recently explicitly prohibited drones from flying near major sporting events. Commercial use of drones is also largely prohibited in the United States, but a few Hollywood film companies have become an exception to the rule.

Brendan M. Schulman, a lawyer in New York who represents commercial clients interested in using drones, said the mischief comes from a few people and should not overshadow the legitimate use of drones.

“It’s important for us to balance those two things,” he said, “and not curtail it just because we see a handful of people doing things that are objectionable.”

Last year, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals began offering a $325 PETA-branded drone, promoting it as a way to record illegal hunting. James Rodgers, a director of innovation at the organization, said it had sold “dozens” of the drones, which he said should not be used to interfere with lawful hunting.

But Nick Pinizzotto, chief executive of the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, a hunter lobbying group, said he had heard from hunters in New York that a drone was used to scare off their ducks.

“They always talk about, ‘We’re not trying to interrupt hunting, we’re just trying to find bad guys,’ ” Mr. Pinizzotto said.

“To PETA, everybody who hunts is a bad guy.”

Ryan Calo, a law professor at the University of Washington who studies drones, said the troublemaking should come as no surprise.

“It would be the rare technology,” Professor Calo said, “that some people didn’t abuse.”

PETA

The animal rights group PETA promotes its drones as a way to monitor illegal hunting. Hunters say they scare away prey.

WHITNEY CURTIS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The war on drugs targets blacks, experts say. A store burning in Ferguson, Missouri.

Racial Divide Festers in U.S. A well-educated man in Denver said people only ‘‘see a black man.’’

Overturning a police car in Ferguson.

Con­­tin­­ued from Page 23 some other racial gulfs show signs of closing, is perhaps not as odd as it seems. Decades of changing laws and court decisions mean that the two races now work together, play sports together, attend school together. But they frequently go home to separate worlds where attitudes and experiences toward the police and courts not only are not shared, but are not even understood across the racial divide.

At the end of 2013, 3 percent of all black males of any age were imprisoned, compared with 0.5 percent of whites. In 2011, one in 15 African-American children had a parent in prison, compared with one in 111 white children.

Patricia J. Williams, a law professor at Columbia University in New York, said that the war on drugs disproportionately affected blacks — in California in 2011, a black man was 11 times more likely than a white to be jailed for a marijuana felony.

Beyond such disparities, “it’s the little things, like stop-andfrisk, like racial profiling and million-dollar block demarcations” — law enforcement tactics that saturate a high-crime area with police officers — that reinforce blacks’ negative attitudes toward the justice system, she said.

Kenny Wiley, 26, a black man who grew up in a prosperous white suburb of Denver, is one who has seen both sides. The Ferguson shooting, he said, destroyed any notion that his race did not matter — that he could “opt out of the negative parts of blackness.”

“I grew up with a lot of economic privilege,” he said, “and still because of my race and my age and my gender, I’m still in certain situations perceived as a threat.”

JIM YOUNG/REUTERS

In America, feeling much has changed and nothing has.

Mr. Wiley said that when he walks down a street, people don’t see his college test scores, “they see a black man.”

“I don’t believe most white people are malicious. I think most white people are oblivious. And I think that there’s a lot of work to do.”

Brian Willingham, a church pastor and black police officer in Flint, Michigan, said he was conflicted by the grand jury’s decision, but concluded that it was correct.

“I now realize that we who consider ourselves leaders in the black community can’t just be against racism. We have to also be against a portion of black culture that has become increasingly anti-authority and antisocial to a point of self-destruction,” he said. “This is an enemy we’ve yet to engage in the black community.”

Blacks and whites who are friends found the case a delicate topic of conversation.

In Atlanta, Georgia, Nneka Ekechukwu, 23, a South Carolina native of Nigerian descent, was having lunch with Denise

Henderson, 45, a white friend and co-worker at an information-technology company.

Ms. Henderson, who grew up in a heavily white part of Oklahoma, said she was concerned that the prosecutor in the Missouri case had brought too much of his own perspective to bear in bringing the evidence of the Brown shooting before the grand jury. “I do think that so much of it was wrong,” she said.

“But I do think it was wrong for Michael Brown to be fighting with a police officer.” Then she looked at her black friend. “But I feel like my saying that, I don’t know, is that an affront to you?”

It was not, Ms. Ekechukwu said, but the same words might rankle her if they came from the lips of someone she suspected of prejudice. For a person of color, she said, it is difficult not to view the Ferguson shooting as part of a continuum: the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager, by a white Florida man who was later acquitted of murder; the 2009 fatal shooting of an Oakland black man by a white transit officer who was found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder.

When she heard the recent news that a 12-year-old Cleveland boy had been shot by an officer while wielding a toy gun, Ms. Ekechukwu said, “my first question was, ‘Is he black?’ ” He was.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

27

WORLD TRENDS

Mexico Struggles With Climate Push

Mexico has passed laws that regulate emissions and establish funds for renewable energy, but analysts say the country’s climate initiatives are falling short.

By VICTORIA BURNETT

EJIDO RANCHO OJO LAGUNA, Mexico — For six years, while drought ravaged Chihuahua State, Mario Ruiz clung to his small herd of cattle.

The pasture where his cattle graze, about 70 kilometers north of the city of Chihuahua, turned bare. Many of his cows starved.

Others he sold to buy fodder for those worth saving. Of 130 cows, just 30 are left.

Now that the rains have returned, turning the dusty steppe a rich green, farmers like Mr. Ruiz, 41, are struggling to restock their herds. They fret that the drought, which devastated crops and killed 400,000 head of cattle in Chihuahua State, just south of the United States border, could become a familiar enemy.

“If it rains, we’ll survive,” Mr. Ruiz said. “But it seems like it rains less and it rains later.”

Faced with the growing threat of extreme weather — droughts, hurricanes and rising coastal waters — Mexico has positioned itself as a leader in the fight against climate change. It pledges to curb the rise in emissions significantly by 2020 and to produce one-third of its energy from clean sources by 2024.

Mexico, the world’s 13th-biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, has passed federal and state laws that regulate emissions, promote sustainable forest management and establish funds for renewable energy and energy efficiency. In 2012, it became one of the first countries in the world to pass a climate change law.

Critics say a nation is failing to back its energy ambitions.

But as world leaders meet in Lima, Peru, to lay the groundwork for a new agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, some analysts doubt that Mexico can meet its much-lauded targets.

“Mexico put on the climate change T-shirt because it was in vogue,” said Carlos Tornel, a public policy analyst at the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, known as Cemda, an environmental advocacy and research organization. “We are the champions of the climate change fight — the good boy who does his homework — but the resources dedicated to climate change are few.”

The government introduced a carbon tax in January, and Mexico’s stock exchange started a platform to trade carbon credits last year.

Mexico has also been among the most diligent of developing nations in submitting its inventory of greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations convention, according to Globe International, an organization that promotes sustainable development laws.

But there are no penalties for missing emissions targets, and environmental experts say current initiatives are falling short.

HENRY ROMERO/REUTERS

While there is a detailed plan for federal entities to reduce emissions — aiming to cut 83 million tons of carbon dioxide between 2014 and 2018 — there is no equivalent, experts say, for reductions by the private sector, or by state and municipal institutions.

Rodolfo Lacy Tamayo, under secretary for planning and environment policy, said the government would pursue a series of initiatives, including cutting pollutants like methane and shifting from diesel and gasoline to natural gas in cars and public transportation.

“We set an objective,” he said, “and we are getting sectors on board: states, municipalities, the paper industry, the timber indus-

try, the farmers, the auto sector.”

More than 80 percent of current consumption comes from fossil fuels. But measures passed in August, which opened Mexico’s oil and gas reserves to foreign investors, reduce incentives for renewable energy, critics argue.

“There is a very strong perception that oil is part of our culture, and that renewables aren’t viable,” said Miguel Soto, spokesman for Greenpeace Mexico’s renewable energy program.

Harsh climate is a growing burden. The government estimated that the annual average cost of disasters was $2.1 billion between 2000 and 2013, about three times the annual average between 1980 and 1999.

The country has lost about 30 percent of its cattle. And in Chihuahua, drought and the expansion of farmland have produced a fierce contest for water.

Mr. Ruiz, who has no permit to dig a well and cannot afford one anyway, stopped sowing beans and corn on the communal land near his house 15 years ago, he said, because the rains came too late in the season.

He is not sure he will make it if the drought returns next year. He cannot afford to buy new cows, because the price has shot up to about $1,000 a head. He said many of his neighbors had given up.

“If you can’t sow your land, if you can’t keep your cows, what do you do?” he said. “You sell up.

You migrate to the city.”

Unspoiled Approaches to Sharing Food There are people who go hungry each day in countries all over the world, and yet a global estimate of the food lost or wasted is about 1.3 billion tons a year, enough LENS to feed the world’s population of seven billion.

Germans are doing their part to address this with two initiatives that try to limit how much food is tossed in the trash.

One of them, Foodsharing.de, has set up about 100 sites around the country where people can contribute unwanted food.

These shared refrigerators and shelves are “stocked with leftovers from private parties and restaurants, and open to the public,” The Times reported.

The edibles might be given by people who are going on vacation and have food that will spoil by the time they return, or others who simply have “too many delicious organic potatoes for one person to eat.”

For comments, write to nytweekly@nytimes.com.

GORDON WELTERS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Two German groups are working to make food available where it is needed. A shared refrigerator in Berlin.

The site has 55,000 regular users, and there are a few rules that must be followed: nothing with a “sell by date,” no fresh meat or fish, and no salads that have been sitting out in the sun. The Times noted: “As a rule of thumb, people should share food that they would want to eat themselves.”

Foodsharing.de is incorporating Lebensmittelretten.de, a like-minded website that arranges for food savers to collect

unwanted goods from grocers, bakeries and other stores. With about 9,000 participants in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the effort has saved about 1,000 tons of food in the past year, organizers estimate.

The site screens potential savers for qualities like punctuality.

“Our goal is 100 percent reliability,” Raphael Fellmer, its founder, told The Times. “Otherwise store managers feel like, ‘Aha,

those hippies again.’”

Nor is it just hippies in France who are increasingly conscious of the need to reduce food waste.

Though it is not an entirely new phenomenon for customers in French restaurants to take home their uneaten food, the authorities in the region around Lyon are leading a campaign that encourages diners to use doggie bags more often.

“Our consumer study showed that while most consumers — a large majority — favor encouraging this custom, most really hesitate to ask because they are afraid of looking stingy,” Elisabeth Manzon, who directs the project at a government agency, told The Times.

Taking home food from restaurants was once a more common practice, said Jean Terlon, vice president of the food branch of the Union of Hospitality Trades and Industries. “It was something that used to be done, and now the French are struck by snobbery, and they don’t ask anymore,” he said.

Then again, as several chefs pointed out, if food portions are appropriately sized, there should be no food left over or wasted.

There are also limits to the

Steering leftovers to the refrigerator instead of the trash. food a person might rightfully take home. A question was asked of The Times’s Ethicist column recently concerning a company that offers free food like cereal in its office pantry. One employee eats a free serving of cereal from the pantry each day, but argues that he should be able to take the cereal home instead and eat it before coming to work, to increase his productivity.

This misses the point, Chuck Klosterman, the columnist, replied. “The problem is that you are conflating perks with obligations,” he wrote, noting that the company had not promised to provide breakfast to its staff.

“It’s not as if Brandon would be justified in going on strike (or even complaining) if the Cheerios suddenly stopped appearing,” Mr. Klosterman added in reference to the employee. “These Cheerios aren’t owed to him.”

TESS FELDER

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THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

WORLD TRENDS

Refugees From Syria Test Germany’s Tolerance

By ALISON SMALE

BERLIN — Ahmad Mahayni, a 38-year-old businessman from Damascus, is one of about 200,000 people expected to throw themselves on Germany’s mercy this year and apply for asylum.

Mr. Mahayni seems determined to build a future for his family. He helps out in the refugee facility where he was sent after arriving at the Berlin airport and telling the police that he was seeking asylum.

Three and a half years of war in Syria have produced the world’s worst refugee crisis, the United Nations says. In Germany, refugees are arriving by the thousands, and even in the country where a Nazi past evokes reminders of a duty to help, some Katarina Johannsen contributed reporting.

Germans are expressing doubts.

Cities from Hamburg to Munich to Berlin have variously resorted to tents and modified shipping containers, and even talked of using vast ships.

The problem has grown so acute that the vice chancellor, the Social Democratic leader Sigmar Gabriel, has urged the allocation of an extra billion euros, or about $1.2 billion, in aid to hard-pressed communities.

Citizens — who say they have nothing against foreigners but voice fear for their children and the “Ruhe und Ordnung” (peace and order) so treasured by Germans — have organized protests in several places where refugee centers are planned.

One such location is in an affluent part of Hamburg, where a former army recruiting center will be turned into housing for

220 refugees. Scores of residents have banded together to help advise the displaced, amuse their children and integrate them.

Others, like Mikko Gehlhaar, 69, the owner of a bar, doubt that the refugees will feel at home at the neighborhood’s upscale stores.

“It’s not really the right spot, when there is far and wide no place for them to shop,” he said.

Occasionally, refugees themselves protest, particularly against swifter processing of people fleeing Syria. The police last month broke up about 30 refugees staging a hunger strike in Munich. Dozens of Africans have occupied a school in Berlin.

The government has reduced to three months from nine the waiting time before refugees can seek work. There are almost 160,000 applications for asylum pending now; experts expect the

total this year to top 200,000.

Berlin is playing an increasing role in the refugee crisis. About 340 million euros have flowed this year to the crisis region itself for refugee care, German officials say; more will be spent at home. Each of Germany’s 16 states gets a share of refugees and determines how to process them. Western states take in more refugees than those in the former East Germany — much as in Europe as a whole, where calls are mounting for more of the burden to be shared across the European Union.

At a former hostel on Hamburg’s outskirts, Germans came by with gifts of old clothes, toys and furniture; children from different lands played harmoniously; and parents from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and West Africa voiced satisfaction with their

prospects.

Mohammad Salaho, 23, a trained chef who showed what he said were scars from jail and torture in his native Syria, said he wanted to be able to tell people here what he had endured. Siyamend Hassan, who studied engineering in Syria, wants to learn the language to make a new life.

As Mr. Mahayni trudged to a bus stop near Berlin, reporters asked a passer-by what he thought of the refugees. “One hundred percent we should help people escaping war,” said the man, who identified himself only as Steffen, 53. “I come from the former East Germany,” he continued, adding that he had served three and a half years in jail there after a failed escape attempt.

“We know how a dictatorship works,” he said, and are ready to help Syrians escaping one.

Saudis Trying to Add Women to Workforce

By DIONNE SEARCEY

GRAHAM CROUCH FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Master of Memory Credits Meditation

By MAX BEARAK

MUMBAI, India — The young man sat cross-legged on an ornate stage, surrounded by other Jain monks in white cloth. His lip occasionally twitched, his hands lay limp in his lap, and for the most part his eyes were closed.

From daybreak until midafternoon, members of the audience approached the stage to show the young monk a random object, pose a math problem, or speak a word or phrase in one of at least six different languages. He absorbed the miscellany silently, letting it slide into his mind, as onlookers jotted everything down.

After six hours, the 500th and last item was uttered. An anxious hush descended over the crowd.

The monk opened his eyes and recalled all 500 items, in order, detouring only once to fill in a blank he had momentarily set aside. When the note-keepers had confirmed his achievement, the crowd of 6,000 at a Mumbai stadium broke out into triumphant chants. The event last month was part of a campaign to encourage children to use meditation to build brainpower, as Jain monks have done for centuries.

Jainism is the smallest of

“It takes no effort. I’m simply able to extract it from my subconscious, where I have stored it.”

MUNISHRI AJITCHANDRASAGARJI

A monk who links sacrifice to brainpower

India’s major religions, with around five million adherents.

Many followers have been successful in politics, science and business.

But even by Jain standards, the monk — Munishri Ajitchandrasagarji, 24 — is special.

His guru, P. P. Acharya Nayachandrasagarji, said no other monk in many years had come close to his ability. “Munishri’s mind is like a computer during the download process,” the guru said. “Many processes can happen in his mind at one time.”

“Like when I forgot Number 81,” Munishri chimed in. “The rest of the processes continued, and then, later, that one process began and I remembered it. It takes no effort. I’m simply able to

extract it from my subconscious, where I have stored it.”

The guru, now 58, said he had worked in a diamond-cutting workshop as a young man, but became disillusioned by the material world and renounced it.

He set out to walk across India barefoot, praying and translating Jain scripture from Sanskrit into Gujarati.

In 2000, he passed through Unjha, where Munishri was a 10-year-old boy known as Ajay.

Ajay gained the blessing of his family to join the guru, and two years later he, too, began a life of itinerant solitude, meditation — and total recall. Munishri has committed more than 20,000 verses of Jain scripture to memory, the guru said, adding that in the privacy of the temple, he has been able to retain as many as 800 random items in order.

The monk does not see himself as specially endowed, or some kind of rare genius.

“I have sacrificed everything, and that is why I can do this,” Munishri said. “Anyone can do this, it is not a miracle. My message is this: When you know your own capacity, when you get rid of your distractions, the power of your mind is immense.”

Claudia Goldin, a Harvard professor, is not just an expert on working women. As one of the United States’ most prominent economists, she also exemplifies the growing stature and independence of women in American society. So it was unusual to find Ms. Goldin covered in an abaya while meeting in Saudi Arabia not long ago with government officials from the kingdom in an opulent hotel that offered male-only seating areas and forbade women from using its spa.

Her trip was part of an effort by a group of star academics who, working within the cultural context, have taken on a project with the Saudi government aimed at helping women there overcome hurdles that prevent them from getting jobs.

The Muslim nation is socially conservative, with rigid cultural attitudes and restrictions on women that include preventing them from driving.

Saudi Arabia is home to 20 million Saudi citizens, as well as several million foreigners. As of last year, roughly 680,0000 Saudi women were employed, less than 11 percent of adult women, in contrast to about four million Saudi men at work, or 60 percent, according to government figures.

Maha K. Taibah, adviser to the Saudi minister of labor on human capital development, says that the government hopes to double the number of working women over the next few years. Policies to do so include building day care facilities near job sites and creating jobs for women in sectors like health care, manufacturing and information technology.

“Currently in Saudi Arabia, women perceive staying at home as the default,” Ms. Taibah said.

The Saudi labor ministry has enlisted Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to help

find more jobs for women as part of a broad project to get more Saudis, men and women, to work in a nation that has long relied on a foreign work force in the private sector.

It is clear many more Saudi women want to work; about a third of those with bachelor’s degrees report being unable to find a job. The Kennedy School and the Saudi labor ministry are analyzing data on the Saudi labor market and trying to come up with solutions for matching women to jobs, said Rohini Pande, a leader of the project.

Ms. Goldin and her research partners are working on how to evaluate a government plan to hire more Saudi women for retail jobs.

The challenge is complex.

Some women in Saudi Arabia are reluctant to take the jobs, viewed as foreigners’ work. But the bigger problem is getting to work.

Saudi officials have created a pilot program to offer transportation subsidies for taxis to women taking new jobs at one of Riyadh’s shopping malls. But the cost of expanding that program could be so expensive that government officials might as well create a public transit system. But would they need special, women-only buses?

The effort to find jobs for women could have big implications for Saudi society, which is why it is bound to stir controversy among the more traditional elements of the kingdom.

If more women join the work force, overall attitudes about them could begin to change, much the same as happened in America decades ago when women went to work in huge numbers, said Patricia Cortes, an associate professor of markets, public policy and law at Boston University, who is working with Ms. Goldin.

“Changes in the labor market pushed changes in norms or beliefs,” she said.

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Sanctity of Truth

29

MONEY & BUSINESS

Globe’s Ore Producers Contend With Falling Demand

By KEITH BRADSHER

BUKIT BESI, Malaysia — Giant mining equipment strips away palms trees and gouges long furrows on a jungle bluff here with a Malay name that translates to “Iron Hill,” scooping out the black iron ore. The Chinese-controlled CAA Resources, which reopened the long-dormant mine this year, has rapidly ramped up production to an annual rate of 454,000 metric tons, with plans to double it by next year.

Its ambitions, though, are being undermined by the shifting global terrain: Iron ore sells for less and less these days.

“China still needs a lot of steel for infrastructure, housing projects and rails,” said Li Yang, CAA’s chief executive. “The only problem is the pricing.”

With seemingly insatiable demand from China, the price of iron ore soared for most of the past decade. China manufactures half the world’s steel, which is made from iron and used for housing construction, rail lines and more.

The boom helped support the rapid growth of companies like CAA, as well as the economies of developing countries rich with resources. From Indonesia and Australia to Peru and Brazil, multinationals and Chinese companies embarked on largescale, long-term investments in mines.

But China’s economy, once growing in the double digits, has slowed to around 7 percent, with industrial output dropping even more dramatically. Many commodity companies, though, have ramped up production to meet that earlier pace of demand.

The result is a double blow to natural resources companies and emerging markets, with few sectors hurt more than iron ore. Prices in recent weeks were down 48 percent since the start of the year, to $70 a metric ton, a five-year low.

RAHMAN ROSLAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Mining in Malaysia, Brazil and Australia has been hit by China’s slowing growth. An iron mine in Malaysia.

Vale of Brazil said in August that it wants to double shipments to China in five years. BHP Billiton of Australia announced plans the same month to invest $2 billion in mine expansion projects.

Rio Tinto, a company based in London with operations in Australia, is bolstering production 13 percent by next year.

Chinese companies, too, have been expanding overseas. In Malaysia, the number of iron ore mines has increased more than sevenfold since 2007, mainly from Chinese investment.

As iron ore demand has fallen, mines like the one here in Bukit Besi, which runs around the clock, have kept running partly by digging deep into the most iron-rich part of their seams, instead of developing them more

evenly, mining the poor-quality ore with the good. That has kept a torrent of iron ore entering the market even as prices have plummeted.

“They exacerbate the problem by everyone doing the most profitable part,” said Bruce Diesen of Carnegie ASA, an Oslo-based asset management company.

Mr. Li, 27, the scion of a Chinese family that had grown wealthy in the mainland iron ore industry, has worked to build ties with political leaders in Malaysia as well as with its royalty. Mr. Li said that he had paid for each of the ruling party politicians with indirect stakes in the mine to receive the royally granted title of “dato,” which roughly translates as “the honorable.” It costs about $100,000 to arrange

each royal grant, he said.

A lthough anti- corruption groups have campaigned against such arrangements, Mr. Li said he was simply following common practices in Malaysia.

To avoid potential labor issues, Mr. Li has largely imported workers from low-wage countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam, who are not unionized. And he has avoided filing an environmental-impact statement by dividing the mine in two.

CAA’s biggest challenges are from outside forces. Bukit Besi’s ore is less rich in iron than what rivals produce in Australia or Brazil. Less concentrated iron ore needs to go through a costly extra step before it can be sold.

That eats into CAA’s profit.

Transportation, too, is costly.

NEWS ANALYSIS

Time for Uber to Grow Up, Fast

By FARHAD MANJOO

In just four years, Uber has ignited a new global ride-sharing industry with the promise of transforming urban transportation and helping many people get by without owning cars.

But now the hot start-up is facing its toughest challenge yet — taming its most offensive impulses before its aggressive culture begins to turn off investors, employees and customers.

The recent revelation, reported by BuzzFeed, that an executive suggested investigating the private lives of journalists who criticize Uber was only the latest unflattering news about the company’s tactics.

Uber has grown into one of the most valuable start-ups in Silicon Valley, with outposts around the world. It has raised about $1.5 billion and is valued at more than $17 billion, with talk of

A start-up’s tactics concern journalists, riders and investors. a public offering.

Uber’s hard-charging culture may be characteristic of startups, but fostering such a culture can quickly become a losing proposition.

“The more stories that come out about Uber behaving badly — whether it’s about the way it competes with rivals or the fact that an executive discussed looking into journalists — the risk is that it starts to become the main story about the company, rather than the great service it provides or its low prices,” said Jan Dawson, an industry analyst.

Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief executive, made an apologetic series of posts on Twitter regarding the executive, Emil Michael, who made the comments about journalists. Mr. Michael’s future with the company was not mentioned.

Technology companies live and die by culture; ultimate success or failure is determined less by technological prowess than by the values and behavior of people who work there.

This may be particularly true for Uber: It owns no cars, its drivers are at-will contractors who can easily switch to rival services, and its customers are just one tap away from some other service.

Uber has recently been dogged by accusations of various sorts. Last New Year’s Eve, a driver hit an immigrant family in San Francisco, killing

RICHARD PERRY/ THE NEW YORK TIMES

Travis Kalanick, Uber’s chief, apologized for an executive who suggested investigating journalists. a 6-year-old and leading to a wrongful-death lawsuit. There have also been several accusations of drivers sexually assaulting passengers. Some drivers have protested over their wages and working conditions. And this summer, The Verge reported that Uber was waging a campaign to recruit drivers from its rival, Lyft.

Mr. Kalanick later told Vanity Fair magazine that he also tried to crimp Lyft’s fund-raising by calling venture capitalists and

Australian and Brazilian iron ore mines are connected by rail lines to deepwater ports that can handle large freighters. That limits their shipping costs to China to around $8 a ton. By contrast, it costs $16 a ton to ship Malaysian iron ore to China because Malaysian ports are shallower.

The Chinese steel industry — and the Chinese government — have been reluctant to rely exclusively on Australia and Brazil, given past difficulties.

“There is a strategic imperative — China does not want to be solely dependent on Australia and Brazil,” said Tim Huxley of Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings, a Hong Kong shipping company. “They’ve done that before, and it cost them a lot of money.”

telling them that anyone who invested in Lyft could be blackballed from investing in Uber.

Some passengers have worried whether the company protects riders’ privacy — whether an employee can track where you went, and with whom. Uber says it has a policy forbidding employees and drivers from checking into riders’ habits.

Still, the new revelations could increase that fear. The idea that a senior executive thought it would be fine to reveal a plan for spying makes you wonder if anything is considered off-limits at Uber — and that may be the sort of worry that apologetic tweets can’t fix.

“Uber today is at the stage where Facebook was several years ago — they’re growing ridiculously fast, and we’re all wondering whether this will be the moment that they see they need to make a change,” said Mark Rogowsky, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has followed the battle between Lyft and Uber.

He added, “We just don’t know yet.”

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Sanctity of Truth

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

MONEY & BUSINESS

Spain Is More Open To New Enterprises

By NICK LEIBER

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAM YIK FEI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A double bed fills the bedroom of a 40-square-meter Hong Kong apartment.

Hong Kong Housing Defies Logic

By ALEXANDRA STEVENSON

HONG KONG — There are breathtaking views of Victoria Harbor from a 23rd-floor apartment that recently sold for $722,000 in the new Le Riviera building. The high-end German appliances and marble countertops evoke European luxury.

In the entrance of the building, wire mesh sculptures by Spanish artists hang from the ceiling.

There is just one catch. The apartment is only 25.5 square meters, with a bedroom just large enough for a double bed.

“If we don’t buy now, we might not be able to afford it later,” said Frank Wu, 60, the new owner of this “microflat” in Shau Kei Wan, a former fishing village on the northeastern edge of Hong Kong Island.

Real estate defies logic in this city, one of the world’s most expensive places to live, with once improbable living spaces selling quickly at astronomical prices.

At Le Riviera, three-quarters of the units sold so far have been microflats like the one Mr. Wu purchased. And Hong Kong developers are putting smaller and smaller units on the market — one recently built 15-square-meter apartments.

But the housing boom, and the inequality it has exposed, have been taking a toll. The high property costs faced by young people added to the discontent that prompted thousands to take to the streets in pro-democracy protests this autumn.

For many young adults who live with their parents, it is becoming harder to imagine having a place to call their own.

Rents have skyrocketed. And some here now worry that the real estate market could stumble, particularly if the United States’ Federal Reserve starts to raise interest rates next year. Lending here is tied to the American rates, and mortgages are not set at a fixed rate.

Since a low point of Hong Kong’s property market in 2003, average house prices have increased by more than 300 percent, according to data compiled by the real estate agency

The finishes are high-end in a 25.5-square-meter microflat in Hong Kong. A similar one sold for $722,000.

Centaline and the City University of Hong Kong.

Helping propel this rise has been Hong Kong’s thriving economy, which significantly expanded over the last 10 years after the rapid growth of China.

Strong demand from wealthy mainland Chinese and limited land supply have also helped to prop up prices, although this effect has slowed with government cooling measures, like

High apartment prices contribute to youth discontent. additional taxes on property purchases.

First-time buyers now dominate the market, spurred on by the ultracheap interest rates.

“The mortgage rate is below 2 percent, so it is very attractive for the buyers,” said Patrick Wong, a property analyst at BNP Paribas. At Le Riviera, only one buyer so far did not need a mortgage, according to Hip Shing Hong, the project’s developer.

Mr. Wu, a retired engineer who lives in the Mid-Levels, a more expensive part of Hong

Kong Island, bought his microflat as an investment. He already has a potential tenant, a Canadian woman whose family lives in the neighborhood, and said he planned to charge more than $2,000 per month.

To Pui-lui, a real estate agent who has sold two units of similar size in the building, hints at looming trouble ahead. She recently advised her daughter, a doctor, against buying right now.

“It’d be disastrous if the price falls from such a high point,” Ms. To said.

Developers seem undeterred as they continue to build new properties, increasingly with incentives like tax waivers, which can amount to a 10 percent discount. Microflats are a small part of the offerings, but they are growing, with a handful of developers jumping in. This is partly because the overall price tag looks cheaper than bigger units — especially farther afield from Hong Kong Island — making them more affordable to a wider swath of buyers.

Mr. Wu, who acknowledged the risks of buying the Le Riviera microflat when prices were so high, does not seem too concerned.

He said that he and his wife could always move in, he said, surveying the empty bedroom.

“It’s all right for me.”

Last year, after more than a decade in California’s Silicon Valley, Stacia Carr helped sell the company she was running and went looking for a change.

“The Bay Area is supersaturated,” she said. “It’s very expensive; it’s hypercompetitive.”

After a friend connected her with Iñigo Amoribieta, a former chief executive of Groupon Spain, Ms. Carr and Mr. Amoribieta started talking about creating an online video business together that would be based in Madrid, his hometown.

Ms. Carr, 42, assumed that it would be “next to impossible” to get a work permit when many economies were struggling.

Then she learned of a law that Spain’s government passed in September 2013 to help domestic businesses and to woo foreign talent and investment. It included a visa category for foreign entrepreneurs, requiring them to have little more than a business plan, health insurance and enough money to support themselves in Spain.

When Ms. Carr contacted Spanish consulates in the United States, she couldn’t find people who knew the entrepreneur visa existed. She moved to Madrid from San Francisco in November 2013, and, early this year, she and Mr. Amoribieta, 37, incorporated their venture, Vidnex, while working from a business incubator in the city.

Vidnex allows fitness instructors to teach classes remotely, streaming live video to their students with the student and the instructor able to see each other and talk in real time.

One of the first applicants to try to use the law’s new entrepreneur visa, Ms. Carr found government workers unprepared to answer her questions, but she managed to gain approval for her renewable, two-year entrepreneur residency permit in March, about a month after she applied.

She acknowledged that Spain, a country where unemployment reached a record high of about 27 percent last year, might seem an unlikely place to start a business. But when compared with European start-up magnets like London and Berlin, Spanish cities have lower costs and fewer competitors — and still have sufficient talent to get started, she said.

The new law, known as the Ley de Emprendedores, is Spain’s latest effort to help domestic businesses and make the country more attractive to wealthy and talented people outside the European Union. Billed by the government as reforms that would help create jobs, the legislation created five visa categories, covering investors who buy at least 500,000 euros (about $625,000) of real estate; entrepreneurs who plan to establish businesses; highly skilled professionals; researchers, scientists and teachers; and employees and trainees.

The policy goes further than in some other countries in that it offers speedy residency to other

immigrants, not just the wealthy, said Josep Herrero and José Manuel Novo, lawyers at a firm in Barcelona that guides people through the process.

“The Spanish law is much more inviting and much simpler than England’s law, Canada’s law and France’s law,” Mr. Novo said.

According to Mr. Herrero and Mr. Novo, Spain borrowed the best ideas from other countries with immigration policies intended to lure talent and investment — such as Canada, Britain and Chile.

Spain’s changes send “a message to the world that Spain is liberalizing its economy, and at the same time internationalizing its economy,” said Miguel Ángel Vidal of Foro Español de Expatriación, a lobbying group for Spain’s biggest companies.

He emphasized that businesses in Spain could now easily hire foreign nationals, bring in employees from overseas and train clients in Spain.

So far, fewer than 100 foreign entrepreneurs have been granted residency, but more than 280 million euros have been invested and an additional 265 million euros have been pledged for projects, according to the Economy Ministry.

Immigration reform that Silicon Valley can only envy.

Juan Martínez-Barea, a Spanish entrepreneur who also promotes Singularity University, a technology-focused institution in Silicon Valley, to tech circles in Spain, said that few within his network were familiar with the visa. “The law is on the right track but needs measures that would make it a little more revolutionary,” Mr. Martínez-Barea said, noting the Chilean government’s popular Start-Up Chile program grants $34,000, along with one-year residency, to founders who relocate to that nation.

Chile’s effort, started as a pilot program in 2010, has attracted nearly 2,000 entrepreneurs, whose businesses have raised more than $100 million in financing.

An incentive that the Spanish government should highlight, Mr. Martínez-Barea said, is its unsecured lending program, which has about 100 million euros to lend. Last year, Enisa, the public financing company making the loans, made more than 600 loans to entrepreneurs, with an average amount of about 131,000 euros. Ms. Carr and Mr. Amoribieta received approval for up to 75,000 euros.

Mr. Martínez-Barea says that if more foreign entrepreneurs knew about the loans, they’d find Spain more enticing: “My friends at Singularity University say, ‘Wow, I want this.’ ”

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

Sanctity of Truth

31

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Ernie Button, a photographer, discovered the ‘‘otherworldly’’ patterns that formed at the bottom of whisky glasses. He and several scientists set out to figure out why it happened.

Fluid Dynamics in a Whisky Glass

By KENNETH CHANG

Ernie Button, a photographer in Phoenix, Arizona, found art at the bottom of a whisky glass.

Howard A. Stone, a professor at Princeton University in New Jersey, found the science in the art.

Eight years ago, Mr. Button was about to wash the glass when he noticed that drops of Scotch had dried into a chalky but unexpectedly beautiful film. “When I lifted it up to the light, I noticed these really delicate, fine lines on the bottom,” he said, “and being a photographer for a number of years before this, I’m like, ‘Hmm, there’s something to this.’ ” He began experimenting. The Scotches with smoky, peaty flavors, like those from the islands of Islay and Skye in western Scotland, were inconsistent, needing more trial and error to produce the patterns. But those from the valley around the River Spey in

northeastern Scotland “seem like they’ll work every time,” Mr. Button said.

“It takes just a drop or two to create a really nice image,” he said. He started photographing the residues, using colored lights “to give it that otherworldly effect,” he said. He called the series “Vanishing Spirits — The Dried Remains of Single Malt Scotch.”

Mr. Button’s experimentations revealed other liquor insights. A 12-year-old Scotch made patterns indistinguishable from a more expensive 18-year one.

Bourbon, the American whiskey made primarily from corn, works, too, although not the young ones, which sit in barrels for only about a year.

Mr. Button became curious about the science of what was going on. He found Peter J. Yunker, then at the University of Pennsylvania, who had done research on

the coffee ring effect. Dr. Yunker was not able to help.

An Internet search then led Mr. Button to Dr. Stone, who responded even though he is not much of a drinker. “I’m not sure I’d even recognize the taste of whisky,” Dr. Stone said.

After buying some single malt Scotch — Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Macallan — Dr. Stone and scientists in his laboratory, including Hyoungsoo Kim, were able to create similar rings, and then they started making their own mixtures of particles and liquids to decipher what was happening.

In the coffee ring effect, water drying at the edges is replenished from the center of the droplet, and that fluid flow carries particles to the edge, forming the ring. Dr. Yunker had shown that was not always true. If the particles were shaped like grains of rice instead of spheres, the

particles deformed the surface of the droplet, and instead of clumping at the edges, the particles formed a loosely packed network across the top of the liquid and dried evenly.

Dr. Stone’s group found that the key difference in whisky is that unlike coffee, it consists of two liquids — water and ethyl alcohol. The alcohol evaporates more quickly, and as the fraction of water increases, the surface tension of the droplet changes.

That, in turn, generates complex flows that contribute to the patterns Mr. Button photographed.

Dr. Kim notes that the story is even more complicated, because their artificial mixture of water, alcohol and particles does not quite reproduce the whisky patterns. It appears that whisky also contains a surfactant — a chemical that reduces the sur-

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERNIE BUTTON

face tension of the droplets — and stringlike molecules known as polymers, which attach to the glass, providing a template for the brushlike stroke patterns seen in the images. Both the scientists and Mr. Button suspect the molecules enter the whisky during the aging process.

Finding ways to deposit particles evenly can have practical applications like improved inks for printers. Dr. Stone said, “I wanted to tie it to something that might be more general in the materials sciences.”

The Frightening Side of Intelligent Robots Ebola can make me have nightmares. Bird flu and SARS also scare me. But what terrifies me most is artificial intelligence.

The first three humans can stop.

The last, which humans are creating, could become unstoppable.

ESSAY Consider what artificial intelligence is. Grab an iPhone and ask Siri about the weather. Her answer is artificially intelligent.

These artificially intelligent machines are cute now, but as they are given more power in society, these machines may not take long to spiral out of control.

In the beginning, the glitches will be small but eventful. Maybe a rogue computer momentarily derails the stock market. Or a driverless car freezes on the highway. But the upheavals can

NICK BILTON

escalate quickly. Imagine how a medical robot, programmed to rid cancer, could conclude that the best way to obliterate cancer is to exterminate humans who are prone to the disease.

Nick Bostrom, author of the book “Superintelligence,” lays out some doomsday settings.

One envisions self-replicating nanobots, which are microscopic robots designed to make copies of themselves. These bots could fight diseases in the human body or eat radioactive material. But, Mr. Bostrom says, a “person of malicious intent in possession of this technology might cause the extinction of intelligent life on Earth.”

Artificial-intelligence proponents argue that programmers are going to build safeguards.

But didn’t it take nearly a half-century for programmers to stop computers from crashing

Reasons to fear a day when rogue machines roam. every time you used them?

Stephen Hawking, one of the smartest people on earth, wrote that successful A. I. “would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last.”

One fear is that we are starting to create machines that can make decisions, but these machines don’t have morality and likely never will. A more-distant fear is that once we build systems that are as intelligent as humans, they will be able to build smarter machines, often referred to as superintelligence.

That, experts say, is when things could really spiral out of control.

We can’t build safeguards into something that we haven’t built ourselves.

We don’t know what superintelligent machines will look or act like. “Artificial intelligence won’t be like us,” said James Barrat, author of “Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era,” “but it will be the ultimate intellectual version of us.”

Perhaps the scariest setting is how these technologies will be used by the military. Bonnie Docherty, a lecturer at Harvard University, said that the race to build autonomous weapons with artificial intelligence — already underway — is reminiscent of the early days of the race to build nuclear weapons, and that treaties should be put in place before machines are killing people on

the battlefield. Machines, she said, “should not be given power to kill.”

So how do we ensure that all these doomsday situations don’t come to fruition? In some instances, we likely won’t be able to stop them. But we can hinder some of the potential chaos by following the lead of Google.

This year when the search-engine giant acquired DeepMind, an artificial intelligence company based in London, the two put together an artificial intelligence safety and ethics board that aims to ensure these technologies are developed safely.

Demis Hassabis, founder of DeepMind, said that anyone building artificial intelligence should do the same thing. “They should definitely be thinking about the ethical consequences of what they do,” Dr. Hassabis said. “Way ahead of time.”

32

Sanctity of Truth

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Solving the Mysteries Of an Ancient Computer

By JOHN MARKOFF

Bronze gears and display dials made by early Greeks.

ERICH BARTELS /MOTE MARINE LABS

Divers gluing coral onto dead skeletons off Florida. A quarter of the earth’s coral has died off.

Project to Speed Growth of Coral May Help Revive Struggling Reefs

By RICHARD MORIN

SUMMERLAND KEY, Florida — David Vaughan plunges his arm into one of nine tanks where thousands of tiny colonies of coral are growing at an astonishing rate next to the Mote Tropical Research Laboratory.

“Now this is the exciting part.

You ready for this?” he asks. Dr. Vaughan, who is executive director of the laboratory, retrieves a rock from the bottom. A colony of brain coral, around 20 centimeters wide, has grown on the surface, nearly covering the rock.

A year ago the colony began as fragments that were less than four centimeters wide, cut from the same parent colony. These coral “seeds” began to grow 25 times as fast as they would in the wild. And when arranged apart on the rock, the mini-colonies advanced across the surface to become a single grapefruit-sized organism.

Other species grown from tiny coral seeds in the Mote lab have developed even faster — up to 50 times their normal rate. Dr. Vaughan and a staff biologist, Christopher Page, say this technique, called microfragmenting, may make it possible to mass-produce corals for transplanting onto dying reefs that took centuries to develop.

“This is easily the most promising restoration project that I am aware of,” said Billy Causey, a coral expert who oversees all federal marine sanctuaries in the Southeastern United States for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A quarter of the earth’s corals have disappeared in recent decades, and the Mote scientists say no one can predict what will happen if the oceans continue to warm, pollution increases and overfishing further decimates species beneficial to coral. “At worst, we’re buying a little time,” Mr. Page said. “At best, we could

restore the ecosystem.”

Dr. Vaughan, 61, has spent the past three years focused on “massive” corals that create most of the structure on a living reef. These corals have proved less susceptible than others to rising ocean temperatures and changes in water chemistry. But they naturally grow less than five centimeters a year. Until now, that has stymied efforts to produce them for reef restoration.

Dr. Vaughan stumbled upon the microfragmenting idea eight years ago. He was transferring colonies between aquariums. He retrieved a colony growing on a concrete puck. “Part of the coral had grown over the back side and had attached to the bottom of the aquarium,” he said. “It broke off and left two or three polyps

Scientists see hope in mass-producing coral colonies. behind. I thought I just killed those.”

A week later, “I noticed that those one to three polyps were now five to seven polyps,” he said. “They not only had lived — they had grown and had doubled in size.” He cut a few more polyps from the original colony. “And they grew like crazy. The coral seems to want to repair itself quickly and grow back over its lost ground.”

But it wasn’t until Mr. Page was hired in 2011 that Dr. Vaughan first applied this insight to largescale production of massive corals. Mr. Page, 29, knew that live-coral dealers split growing colonies into pieces. “I had done it as a hobbyist,” he said.

Three years later, he said, he

can produce 1,000 microfragments just one centimeter square in four days. And with more space and adequate funding, he added, “the sky’s the limit.”

Last year he planted eight fragments of brain coral on 18 dead coral “heads” — colonies of genetically identical polyps — each more than half a meter wide. “They’re sheeting over the entire structure really nicely,” he said. “In a year or maybe two from now, you will see one continuous colony that would have taken 15 to 30 years to grow” in the wild.

In June, Mote scientists won approval to create a living coral thicket on the skeleton of a dead reef off Big Pine Key. They have started planting 4,000 corals — symmetrical brain, boulder star, great star and massive starlet — on the one-hectare test site.

Those will join more than 1,000 staghorn coral raised by another team. The goal, Dr. Vaughan said, is to create “in a very short period of time a reef like the reefs we remember.”

The project is the first largescale effort in the Florida Keys, and one of the few in the world, to restore massive corals in the wild, Dr. Vaughan said. The first planting, on July 25, was a disaster. Parrotfish found the nursery-raised corals tasty. The researchers adjusted their technique. Instead of transplanting corals directly from the nursery to the test site, they temporarily placed them under wire cages.

“Predation significantly decreased after they acclimatized to site conditions,” Mr. Page said.

Planting will continue indefinitely. If successful, the researchers plan to restore other degraded reef sites throughout the Keys and train others to set up their own coral factories.

But as Mr. Page noted, time is running out. “This may be our last, best chance,” he said.

A mystery for the ages may be a small step closer to being solved: Who made the famed Antikythera Mechanism, the astronomical calculator that was raised from an ancient shipwreck near Crete in 1901?

The complex clocklike asof history’s most famous mathsembly of bronze gears and display dials predates other ematicians and inventors. In known examples of similar 2008, a group of researchers retechnology by more than 1,000 ported that language inscribed years. It accurately predicted on the device suggested it had lunar and solar eclipses, as been manufactured in Corinth well as solar, lunar and planeor in Syracuse, where Archimetary positions. The mechanism des lived. also tracked the dates of the But Archimedes was killed Olympic Games. Although not by a Roman soldier in 212 B.C., programmable in the modern while the ship carrying the sense, some have called it the mechanism is believed to have first analog computer. sunk between 85 and 60 B.C. Archaeologists and historiThe new finding suggests the device may have been old at ans have long debated where the time of the shipwreck, but the device was built, and by the connection to Archimedes whom. Some believe it must seems even less likely. have been influenced by one of An inscription on a dial used a small pantheon of legendary to date the Olympic Games reGreek scientists — perhaps Archimedes, Hipparchus or fers to a competition in Rhodes, Posidonius. Its purpose has according to Paul Iversen of been debated, too. It has been Case Western Reserve Univerdescribed as, among other sity in Ohio. things, an eclipse predictor, Alexander Jones of New an astrological forecasting York University said he, like system and an astronomical most experts, would place his teaching device. bet on the device being made in Now a new analysis of the Rhodes. dial used to predict eclipses But Dr. Evans said he reprovides another clue.

Christián C. Carman of the National University of Quilmes in Argentina and James Evans of the University of Puget Sound in Washington State suggest the calendar of the mysterious device began in 205 B.C., just seven years after Archimedes died.

The mechanism was most likely housed in a wooden box and operated by a hand crank.

The device itself bears THANASSIS STAVRAKIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS inscriptions on the front The Antikythera Mechanism, a and back. In the 1970s, complex astronomical calculator, engravings on the dewas found in a shipwreck in 1901. vice were estimated to date from 87 B.C. But more recently, scientists examining the forms of mained cautious about atthe Greek letters in the inscriptempting to identify the maker at all. tions dated the mechanism to “We know so little about an150 to 100 B.C. Writing recently in the jourcient Greek astronomy,” he said. “Only small fragments of nal Archive for History of Exwork have survived. It’s probact Sciences, Dr. Carman and Dr. Evans took a different tack. ably safer not to try to hang it Starting with the ways the on any one particular famous device’s eclipse patterns fit person.”

Babylonian eclipse records, Since new information bethe two scientists used a progan to emerge about the Ancess of elimination to reach tikythera Mechanism in 2006, a conclusion that the “epoch it has been the source of several date,” or starting point, of the books, replicas and computer Antikythera Mechanism’s calsimulations, even a Lego modendar was 50 years to a century el. A growing research commuearlier than had been generally nity of Greek scholars, archaebelieved. ologists, astronomers and hisThe finding supports the torians is chasing its secrets. idea, scientists said, that the Last fall, an expedition led by mechanism’s eclipse predicGreek government and Amertion strategy was not based ican scientists began the first on Greek trigonometry, which systematic, scientific invesdid not exist at the time, but on tigation of the site of the shipBabylonian arithmetical methwreck where the mechanism was found. The dive was shortods borrowed by the Greeks.

Scientists have speculated ened to just five days because of that the mechanism might have bad weather, but the scientists been linked to Archimedes, one plan to return next spring.

33

Sanctity of Truth

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

PERSONALITIES

F R A N C ES M C D ORM A N D

An Actress Who Cares Little About Appearances

By FRANK BRUNI

Frances McDormand’s Oscar, for “Fargo,” isn’t easily spotted.

It’s tucked into a corner of the floor-to-ceiling shelving in the foyer of her Manhattan home, a glint of gold among hundreds of books. But odder than its hiding place is its eyewear. She has fastened tiny sunglasses to Oscar’s venerable head.

Sunglasses or no, the statuette serves as a metaphor for the mischievous distance that Ms. McDormand keeps from the industry that gave it to her. She chafes at Hollywood’s conventions; she defies its norms. Her relationship with her trophy illustrates that, and so does her latest project, “Olive Kitteridge,” a four-part mini-series on HBO. Adapted from Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of stories, “Olive” is set in an unremarkable Maine town and traces several decades in the emphatically ordinary existences of its title character — a frumpy, grumpy math teacher — and her timid husband, a couple played

by Ms. McDormand and Richard Jenkins. It focuses less on uncommon events than on everyday grievances, on the compromises that accumulate as the years crawl by, the regrets that pile up.

Ms. McDormand set the entire project in motion, acquiring the rights to the book more than five years ago, signing on as one of the main producers and helping to assemble the creative team.

It’s also a statement of intent.

She’s not going to wait for other people to bring her good parts.

“You are someone who, beneath that white hair, has a card catalog of valuable information.”

ALISON COHEN ROSA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

And she won’t emulate other actresses in her age range — she’s 57 — and cast herself in the most flattering light possible.

“It’s a subversive act,” she said. While she partly meant the subtlety of “Olive,” she mostly meant the showcase that it affords older actors playing older people with late-in-life worries.

“Olive” is her answer to an industry and a society that she finds perverse in their fixation on youth.

“We are on red alert when it comes to how we are perceiv-

ing ourselves as a species,” she said. “There’s no desire to be an adult. Adulthood is not a goal.

It’s not seen as a gift. Something happened culturally: No one is supposed to age past 45 — sartorially, cosmetically, attitudinally.

Everybody dresses like a teenager. Everybody dyes their hair.

Everybody is concerned about a smooth face.”

Well, not everybody. Her own short hair on this late September afternoon was an impish chaos of dark and white patches and untamed tufts pointing every

which way. She’d done nothing to disguise the lines around her mouth and eyes, and her brow furrowed readily and completely.

She showed me.

“I have not mutated myself in any way,” she said.

Looking old, she said, should be a boast about experiences accrued and insights acquired, a triumphant signal “that you are someone who, beneath that white hair, has a card catalog of valuable information.”

The actress learned at the start of her career not to care too much

about appearances. “I was often told that I wasn’t a thing,” she said. “ ‘She’s not pretty enough, she’s not tall enough, she’s not thin enough, she’s not fat enough.’ I thought, ‘O.K., someday you’re going to be looking for someone not, not, not, not, and there I’ll be.’ ” She specialized in idiosyncratic characters: the pregnant, waddling police chief in the Coen brothers’ “Fargo” (1996); the bossy mother in “Almost Famous” (2000). That has made aging less fraught for her, and so has her enduring marriage to Joel Coen, whom she met when he and his brother, Ethan, put her in their (and her) first movie, the 1984 thriller “Blood Simple.”

“I’ve been with a man for 35 years who looks at me and loves what he sees,” she said.

The character Olive is described in Ms. Strout’s interlaced stories — which read, in aggregate, like a novel — as large, plain and clumsy. And she’s defined by what she doesn’t do: show her emotions; speak in more than a sentence or two.

Ms. McDormand gave her Olive a recurring quirk that Ms. Strout’s version didn’t have and that caught the writer by surprise when she watched a scene in which Olive ambled reluctantly to her son’s wedding.

“Fran was walking and belching, and I was like, ‘You go!’ ” Ms. Strout said. “My Olive would never have belched, but her Olive is belching, and it’s fabulous.

I wished I’d thought of it. It was amazing. It was beautiful.”

L AUR A COD R UTA KOV ES I

Striking Fear Into the Corrupt in Romania

By ANDREW HIGGINS

BUCHAREST, Romania — Television crews are on permanent standby outside the offices of Laura Codruta Kovesi, ready to transmit live images of the next episode of Romania’s most talked about and, for the country’s corruption-addled business and political elite, most terrifying drama in 25 years.

Nobody in Romania these days wants to be seen entering the wooden door on Stirbei Voda Street that leads to Ms. Kovesi, who heads Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate, a once-sleepy agency now leading a vigorous drive against graft.

“This calm and self-effacing lady has become the most feared and, for some, the most hated person in Romania,” said Vladimir Tismaneanu of the University of Maryland who headed a commission set up in Romania to examine crimes committed before the 1989 fall of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Those caught in Ms. Kovesi’s sights and their allies denounce her as a Stalinist and accuse her agency, which is known by its Romanian initials as D.N.A. and re-

“The most negative attacks, the most defamatory statements, come from people who are being investigated.” lies heavily on wiretaps, of reviving methods used by Mr. Ceausescu’s feared and omnipresent security service, the Securitate.

Ms. Kovesi dismissed the allegation as absurd. She said that she and her team of prosecutors “graduated after 1989, so we have no idea what Securitate methods are.” Wiretapping, she added, was “not invented by D.N.A., but is used all over the world” by democratic countries.

Her critics — notably a media group controlled by Dan Voiculescu, a political and business baron sentenced in August to 10 years in prison for corruption — have waged a relentless campaign to disparage her.

Jurnalul National, a newspaper controlled by Mr. Voiculescu, called Ms. Kovesi Romania’s

“Stalinist prosecutor” while another of his properties, the Antena 3 television channel, likened her to Hitler as well as Stalin and accused her of taking money from a mobster.

Ms. Kovesi said she had grown accustomed to the slurs, noting that “the most negative attacks, the most defamatory statements, come from people who are being investigated by D.N.A.” A tall former basketball player who works out regularly near her home in Bucharest, Ms. Kovesi shuns round-the-clock bodyguards but is watched over by the Protection and Guard Service, a state body responsible for protecting officials.

“I have a very normal life,” she said, shrugging off the risk. “I go to the cinema. I go to the gym.”

Ms. Kovesi said ordinary people she met never asked her to back off Mr. Voiculescu or others prosecuted by her anticorruption directorate. “Every time I go to the market, to the store or the cinema, I meet friendly people who congratulate me and who encourage the work we do here,” she said. “Not everybody in Romania commits corruption.”

Yet she acknowledged being dismayed that the general public, whatever its stated distaste for corruption, keeps voting for politicians suspected or even convicted of larceny. “It is extremely difficult to explain this contrast,” she said.

A career prosecutor whose father was also a prosecutor, Ms. Kovesi, 41, studied law in Cluj.

After graduating in 1995, she took the first in a series of jobs in a Romanian justice system that the European Commission has regularly assailed as skewed by political interference and corruption. But despite much digging by her opponents, no solid evidence has come to light of any wrongdoing on her part.

Since Ms. Kovesi took over D.N.A. last year, what was a trickle of high-profile arrests and prosecutions has become a flood. Nearly all have ended in convictions, with her prosecutors recording a success rate of over 90 percent.

Her agency’s biggest conviction so far has been a former prime minister, Adrian Nastase, sentenced in January to four years in prison for taking bribes.

CRISTIAN MOVILA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

He spent only six months behind bars, securing release for good behavior. But his conviction sent tremors through Romania’s political class.

So far this year, 16 legislators — seven senators and nine members of the lower house of Parliament — have been indicted, along with an army general, four prosecutors and 18 judges. Among those already placed in pretrial detention is Viorel Hrebenciuc, a Social Democratic power broker who was once considered untouchable.

“Nobody expected this to ever happen,” said Sorin Ionita, a policy analyst in Bucharest. “It is unbelievable to see people like this put in jail.”

34

Sanctity of Truth

THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL WEEKLY

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

ARTS & DESIGN

‘Human Zoo’ Bares Strife Over Racism

By DOREEN CARVAJAL

PARIS — Jelle Saminnadin plays a black odalisque, a Congolese slave gazing in a mirror.

A leather bond encircles her neck and chains her to a bed in a scene mimicking a colonial human zoo of the early 20th century.

The image is one of a dozen living portraits in a traveling art installation, “Exhibit B,” by the South African playwright and installation artist Brett Bailey, who calls it a critique that exposes the roots of racism in the human menageries that flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly in major cities of Europe.

But the silent performances have also unleashed debate and demonstrations in Europe about the boundaries between artistic freedom and exploitation, censorship and political incorrectness.

For more than four years, Exhibit B’s performers roamed a European circuit without much attention, appearing in a German ice store; in the Hofburg, the Viennese palace; and an ancient Avignon church, a performance hailed in 2013 by the French daily Le Monde as a “grand ceremony, between revelation and prayer.”

In the beginning, the work at-

tracted small demonstrations, but with growing attention, opposition is rising. Hundreds of protesters massed outside a London theater to press successfully for the cancellation of its opening night in September. Now French groups are demanding to halt shows this month, calling them an affront to human dignity.

Museum and theater directors from 14 countries that have hosted the installation issued a letter denouncing censorship and defending “Exhibit B” as a “subtle and humane” work that has drawn more than 25,000 spectators.

“I see the impact on visitors,” said Ms. Saminnadin. “Women, in particular, cry. And it is almost as if they share my suffering.”

The show’s creator, Mr. Bailey, 47, said he was inspired to create the work in 2010 after reading about the human zoos.

The phenomenon spread across Europe, surfacing as well in the United States, where a Congolese man was displayed in 1906 at the Bronx Zoo monkey house, armed with bows and arrows.

“Human zoos really legitimized the colonial process by dehumanizing people,” Mr. Bailey said. “Colonizers could stride

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARLENE AWAAD FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Critics of ‘‘Exhibit B’’ have called for the living scenes to be canceled in France. Brett Bailey, far left, says he is exposing the roots of racism. Others say the work attacks human dignity.

Some call a work degrading, others say it’s humane. into people’s lands and destroy their social, cultural and political systems because they portrayed them as barbarians. These images legitimized the systems I grew up with — apartheid.”

At the Musée de Ste.-Croix in Poitiers, France, Mr. Bailey rearranged 19th-century oil paintings to match symbols with his living portraits. “Remember, you are the real spectators, and they are the performers,” he said, coaching the artists.

In one tableau, a woman sat beside an enormous pot, holding a skull and a glass shard. A placard recounted how African women in a concentration camp in German South-West Africa (now Namibia) boiled and scraped skulls to send to Germany.

It is a bleak past that insti-

tutions and museums are still reckoning with. The Canadian government is discussing the repatriation of the skulls of five Labrador Inuits from the collection of the Musée de l’Homme in Paris. They died of smallpox while exhibited in a human zoo in January 1881 at the Jardin d’Acclimatation park here.

During a dress rehearsal, the songs of a Namibian choir drifted from a scene in which the singers were encased in white pillars except for their heads. Nearby was a Somali man strapped in a row of airline seats, his mouth taped shut. In front of him was a tally of 14 asylum seekers who died of asphyxia or heart attacks on forced returns to their home countries from Europe since the 1990s.

Critics are not satisfied with Mr. Bailey’s explanation that he is exposing racism, particularly because he is white, and the black performers remain mute.

“It shows a lie, really,” said John Mullen, a history professor at the University of Paris East.

“The black victims are silent, immobile and fetishized, while the colonialists are absent.”

Mr. Mullen organized a petition on change.org calling for the cancellation of the Paris shows, so far gathering more than 19,000 signatures. He is part of a newly formed opposition group, Against Exhibit B, that is laying the legal groundwork to challenge the performance as an attack on human dignity.

“I consider it exploitation of black bodies,” said Bams, a rap and electro singer. “The performers are reduced to objects who cannot speak a word. Brett Bailey says he wants to sensitize people to racism, but I think it is simply racist.”

In St.-Denis, the theater’s new director, Jean Bellorini, said the four nights of the exhibition there are sold out.

“There is no degrading moment in this exhibit,” Mr. Bellorini said. “It forces us to analyze history and to question very clearly how we came to where we are.”

Modernization in China Spurs a Rebirth of Science Fiction

By AMY QIN

BEIJING — With a stateowned power plant in nearby Shanxi Province temporarily shut down to reduce air pollution, one of its engineers, Liu Cixin, is using the free time to work on his hobby: reigning as China’s best-selling science-fiction author.

Along with working on a new novel and advising on screenplay adaptations of his earlier fiction, Mr. Liu, 51, has been promoting the English translation of “The Three-Body Problem,” the first book in his best-selling apocalyptic space opera trilogy. It is one of the few Chinese science-fiction novels to be translated into English and was released last month in the United States.

The success of the “ThreeBody” series, as it is called in China, has gained a following. Since the third book was published in

2010, each entry in the series has sold about 500,000 copies in the original Chinese, making Mr. Liu the best-selling Chinese science-fiction author in decades.

In addition to the usual high school and college-age fans of science fiction, China’s aerospace and Internet industries have embraced the books.

Many interpret the battle of civilizations depicted in the series as an allegory for the ruthless competition in the nation’s Internet industry.

The series has reinvigorated a genre that, here as elsewhere, the literary establishment often marginalizes.

The genre went from being a vehicle for popularizing science for socialist purposes to drawing criticism in 1983 from Communist Party newspapers for

“spreading pseudoscience and promoting decadent capitalist elements.” When the prestigious People’s Literature literary magazine published four of Mr. Liu’s short stories in 2012, it was a sign the genre was back in favor.

In fast-changing China, stories that lay out what coming years may hold have found deeper resonance among readers. “China is on the path of rapid modernization and progress, kind of like the U.S. during the golden age of science fiction in the ’30s to the ’60s,” Mr. Liu said. “The future in the people’s eyes is full of attractions, temptations and hope. But at the same time, it is also full of threats and challenges.”

Chinese science fiction serves another purpose in the eyes of

Xia Jia, a science-fiction writer and professor at Xian Jiaotong University. “Chinese science fiction, in a way, has borne the weight of the ‘Chinese dream’ since the genre first appeared in China in the late Qing dynasty,” she said, referring to the turn of the 20th century. “The dream is about wanting to overtake the Western countries and become a very powerful modern China while still preserving these old elements,” she added.

The “Three-Body” tomes chronicle a march of the human race into the universe set against the recent past, the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution.

It is a classic science-fiction story in the style of the British master Arthur C. Clarke, whose work Mr. Liu says he grew up reading.

Some experts link the popularity of the “Three-Body” series to a growing confidence among Chi-

A literary genre reflects Chinese global ambitions. nese about their country’s role on the world stage.

“There have always been science-fiction stories that contemplated China as a leader in the world,” said Wu Yan, a science-fiction scholar and professor at Beijing Normal University. “People may have liked them, but, in their hearts, they didn’t truly believe them, or they thought it was really far off in the future. Now, with the ‘ThreeBody’ series, people think, ‘Wow, it really could be possible that China might be given a say in the fate of humankind.’ ”

Business | Money Line

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

INFLOW Traders expect naira to stabilise this week

N

igeria’s overnight rate spiked to 30 percent at the weekend from 12 percent penultimate week, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) withdrew around N300 billion ($1.7 billion) from the system as part of

Godson Ikoro

T

he Bank Verification Number (BVN) - a biometric registration of by which banks identifies their customers, will forestall the palpable fears and issues of anti money laundering expressed by stakeholders, Head of payments Systems Policy and Oversight Division, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Musa Itopa Jimoh, has said.

He made this assertion while fielding questions from journalists at the NDIC workshop for journalists in Katsina.

Given that cases of both armed robbery and cybercrimes and money laundering still ravaged the regular banks

Overnight rate rises after CBN withdraws N300bn efforts to support the naira, hit by falling oil prices.

The apex bank, which is trying to curb naira liquidity, last week Tuesday hiked banks’ cash reserve ratio for holding private sector bank deposits to 20 percent,

from 15 percent previously.

The bank also raised its benchmark interest rates by one percentage point to 13 percent and devalued the naira by 8 percent, as it sought to stem losses to its foreign reserves from defending

the currency against weaker oil prices.

Meanwhile, the naira closed at N180.1 to the dollar at the weekend, the same level as its previous close, after the banking watchdog stepped into the market to sell US currency to

BVN to forestall fears, money laundering –Apex bank despite the security in place compared with the mobile money agents with less security, Jimoh said that the fears raised by prospective mobile money users, will be allayed as soon as the ongoing Bankers Committee’s programme of BVN is completed in July 2015.

He said that the mobile money will operate in categories, namely super agents, agents and sub agents whose daily cash limits categorised as tier 1 to tier 3 will be based on turnover.

By the time every sin-

gle individual has his or her biometrics captured; it will take care of issues of money laundering because nobody can duplicate his or her fingerprints.

Going by the mobile money framework, the status of an unbanked, whose Know Your Customer (KYC) level stops at name and phone number, will have a maximum case limit between N3000 to N30, 000; tier two category described as the semi banked with partial KYC including reference to CBN manual

and money laundering prohibition of Act N10, 000 to daily N100,000.

It would also be fully banked with a daily keep of N100,000 to N1million.

He argued that rather than take the shine off the banks, the mobile money will reduce the cost of sorting of cash, moving cash from one bank to another and to CBN, loading of cash to Automated Teller Machines (ATMS) and gradually reduce the operational cost, which will be passed to customers amidst other advantages.

Economic Indicators As at M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

N14,737,618.7m N16,509,472.5m 8 0.0000 12 10.899 7.96 17.01 US$109.9 US$42,604,781,796.6

Description

TTM

4.00% 23-Apr-2015 13.05% 16-Aug-2016 15.10% 27-Apr-2017 16.00% 29-Jun-2019 16.39% 27-Jan-2022 10.00% 23-Jul-2030

1.21 2.53 3.22 5.39 7.98 16.47

Tenor (Days) Call 7 30 60 90 180 365

Rate (%) 11.9167 12.3333 12.6667 12.9167 13.2167 13.5000 13.7500

NIBOR

Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 2/5/2014 1/20/2014 11/6/2013 Dec, 2013 Dec, 2013 1/20/2014 2/5/2014 Source:CBN

FGN Bonds Bid Price 90.20 99.25 104.10 109.35 114.15 76.60

Offer Yield 13.01 13.40 13.47 13.49 13.44 13.59

Price 90.35 99.40 104.40 109.65 114.45 76.90

Tenor (Months) 1 2 3 6 9 12

Rate (%) 12.1827 12.2737 12.3744 12.8521 12.8535 13.8443

Treasury Bills Maturity Date 08-May-14 07-Aug-14 22-Jan-15

Bid 12.10 12.10 12.05

FX

35

Bid Spot ($/N) 163.28 THE FIXINGS –NIBOR,NITTY and NIFEX of February 6,2014

NITTY

Yield 12.86 13.33 13.35 13.42 13.38 13.53

Money Market Offer 11.85 11.85 11.80 Offer 163.38

Open-Buy-Back (OBB) Overnight (O/N)

Rate (%) 11.33 11.63

NIFEX Spot ($/N)

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

some commercial lenders, dealers said. The currency remains below a new target band of N160-N176 to the dollar, set by the CBN after it devalued the currency by 8 percent.

The naira eased slightly in early trades at the weekend, weakening to N182.65 against dollar, before apex bank intervention helped it recover, dealers said.

Traders expect naira, which has hit a record low of N187 to the dollar, to steady this

week, anticipating dollar sales by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), according to Reuters.

“We are expecting large dollar sale from NNPC next week (this week) and some of the oil companies to boost dollar liquidity in the market and further calm the market,” another dealer said.

The naira closed at N180.10 to the dollar on the interbank market on Thursday, weakening from 177.40 penultimate week.

Sterling Bank plans big for children

S

terling Bank Plc at the weekend said that it is partnering Shoprite to float the Shopping Dash programme, a full time fun for Children with I Can Save accounts with the lender, in four states, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Abuja.

A statement from the bank said the programme affords lucky children the opportunity to do a one-minute shopping dash and pick items of their choice at shopping malls selected for the programme.

Essentially, the programme is meant to reward existing I Can Save Accounts holders, an account for children and those willing to open the account during the programme at the stated locations.

While stating that the programme is strictly for children between the ages of 4 and 8, the bank explained that the build up to the programme was already creating a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, as many children accompanied by their parents now visit the offices of the bank to open the account nationwide.

The Shopping Dash according to the lender, will kick off in Lagos at Shoprite, Adeniran Ogunsanya Shopping Centre, Surulere on December 6, 2014 followed by an exciting show at Shoprite, Polo Park Amusement Centre, Abakaliki Road, Enugu and Shoprite, Ikeja City Mall, Alausa both on December 13, 2014.

Going by the schedule, on December 14,

2014, the train will move to SPAR, Guru Plaza, Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 11, and Abuja.

This will be followed

by SPAR Port Harcourt Mall, Azikiwe Road, on December 20, 2014. The programme will climax in Lagos on December 21, 2014 at the SPAR, Park ‘n’ Shop Shopping Centre, Behind NICON Town and Total Filling Station, Ikate Elegushi Layout, Lekki Express Way, Lekki, To participate in the programme, parents/ guardians of children with ‘I CAN SAVE’ accounts should contact their nearest branch for a voucher that would grant them access to the shopping dash or call Sterling Bank’s Customer Care.

“This is the first of its kind for children.

We have had shopping sprees for parents and adults, but not one specifically tailored for children. We believe that we should create excitement and fun for the children this time around”, the bank said in a statement.

In furtherance of this, the bank said that the services of child minders who will be following the children around to ensure they are very safe have been engaged to ensure that the kids are well taken care of and protected.

“We will ensure that medical personnel are in place as well. On the fun side, our children will have balloons and other giveaways to ensure that they leave the mall with smiles on their faces”, the lender said.

36

Business | News

TRADE DISPUTE Policy against trade facilitation and economic growth is being promoted Bayo Akomolafe

F

our countries in West Africa - Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad and Mali - are displeased with Nigeria, Brazil, Pakistan, Argentina, India and China over the subsidies these countries give to their farmers to grow cotton.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Cotton subsidies: Four countries move against Nigeria, others These subsides are meant to mitigate the lower prices and higher production costs.

The aggrieved countries christened ‘Cotton-4’ by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), complained that the prices of cotton were falling in the international market.

Nigeria, which produces 0.3 per cent of

world’s cotton output, had offered subsidies to farmers across the country to raise production of the commodity from 120,000 tons to 760,000 tons by the year 2015.

Statistic revealed that in 2014/15, world production is projected to remain stable at 26.2 million tons.

India, China, the United States and Pakistan

are expected to account for 80 per cent of the total global production.

Bukina Faso, the regional leader, is targeting an output of 800,000 tons in 2014/15. Benin (350,000 tons), Cameroon (245,000 tons), Ivory Coast (425,000 tons), Mali (600,000 tons), Senegal (30,000 tons) and Togo (120,000 tons).

The upset countries said that there should

be cuts in subsidies and tariffs to allow them to compete internationally.

They also want other nations to slash policies that distort markets as part of WTO trade negotiations.

It was learnt that weaker demand from China and more stocks in the market had led to a recent fall in cotton prices.

In October, the fibre was trading at 155.07 cents per kilo, whereas three months ago, it was 184.4 cents per kilo.

The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) noted that cotton production will remain the same in 2014-15 at 26.2 million tons.

Because of the subsidy being given by Nigeria, it was learnt that over 40,000 farmers from Bauchi State had registered to participate in cotton production this year.

Government is offering improved cotton seeds and chemicals to cotton farmers at a subsidised rate of N11,130 as against N23,700.

Ported phone lines hit 179,898 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22

at the end of first quarter.

In April this year, the ported telephone lines crawled upwards to 14, 603; but crashed to 9, 424 ported lines in May and in June, ending second quarter. The figure maintained a rise to 10, 815 total monthly-ported lines.

It further grew to 11, 320; 13, 560 and 19, 682 ported lines in the months of July, August and September respectively, according to the NCC latest report.

Meanwhile, industry analysts have attributed the gradual increase in the uptake of MNP to the unsatisfactory quality of service (QoS) provided

by GSM firms.

Speaking with New Telegraph on the development at the weekend, Chief Executive Officer of AA Infotek, Mr. Akin Akinbo, said, “Ordinarily, if I am on a network and I am satisfied with the service I get, there is no point switching; but if not, I may see a need to port out of my networks to another network.”

He, however, noted that the fact that some people were switching from their current networks to another is an indication that they were not satisfied with the services on either existing networks and “since NCC has provided telecoms consumers with the freedom to vacate their existing networks to competitor’s network, whose service is adjudged better.”

Business | Stock Watch

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

TOUGH TIMES The company has continued to lose its market share

Chris Ugwu

Airline Services and Logistics: Hit by competition

T

he importance of airlines services in enhancing the movement of passengers and freight cannot be overemphasised.

Remarkably, airline services have indeed improved generally in Nigeria.

This progress according to market watchers, is generally tied to the concept of deregulation and globalisation that induced competition among the airline operators.

However, in spite of all these laudable developments, there are some challenges still prevalent in the system. These include poor customer relations, flight delay, double taxation, high cost of aviation fuel and decreasing passenger traffic. Others are high cost of airplanes and spare parts acquisition, missing luggage and security issues.

These challenges have indeed hampered the activities of airlines in the country, including some of the companies that service the industry. Airline Services and Logistics Plc (ASL) got its fair share, as its fortunes have continued to dwindle.

The monumental drop in profit the company witnessed in the full year 2013 from the peak figure recorded in 2012, led to profit crash in the first, second and third quarters of 2014, as the company remained under attack from both declining revenue and rising cost.

Market analysts have also predicted that the company’s profit and revenue are likely to decline further in the 2014 full year, following a disappointing start for the year.

Given the dwindling fortunes of the company, coupled with the recent lull in the equities as a result of the apprehensions over the drop in oil price, devaluation of the naira and the forthcoming general elections, market sentiment for the shares of the company has also not been favourable.

The share price, which closed at N3.23 per share in December 31, 2013, has recorded a dip in growth. At the close off business last Friday, the company’s share price had fell to N1.65, indicating a decline of N1.58 or 95.7 per cent year to date.

Corporate profile Airline Services & Logistics Plc was established in 1996 to provide catering and related services to airlines operating within the Nigerian aviation industry. The company operates international standard inflight catering facilities, lounges and restaurants at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

With its rapid growth and consistent business success, ASL is now a public listed Company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Due to its proposed listing in 2007, the NSE created a new sector in its daily official list, the

37

Share price movement of Airline Services and Logistics Plc 2014

Patrick Dele-Cole

Airline services sector and admitted ASL into this sector.

ASL’s success is not only reflected in its culture of excellence but in every aspect of its operations and world standard catering facilities for both international and indigenous airlines in Nigeria. The company prides itself as a company that delivers bespoke services to its various clients.

Financials Airline Services & Logistic’s 2013 FY results showed a big drop in bottom line. The group recorded a turnover of N3.50 billion against N3.83 billion in 2012, a decrease of 9 per cent. The reduction according to the company was mainly attributable to the effects of the loss in market share due to a new entrant in the industry.

A profit of N91 million was recorded compared with N493 million in 2012, a decline of 82 per cent, which was also said by the company to be mainly due to the costs incurred in implementing its strategies in a bid to increase revenue base and the one–off debt recovery that was experienced in 2012. However, total non-current assets increased by 31 per cent.

Riding on the back 2013 full year results, the company began the first quarter with a wrong statement, as it recorded a 74 per cent drop in pre-tax profit.

The group in a filing with the

Market analysts have also predicted that the company’s profit and revenue are likely to decline further in the 2014 full year, following a disappointing start for the year

Exchange posted a profit before tax of N25.302 million for the first quarter ended March 30, 2014, as against N95.757 million during the comparable period of 2013, accounting for a drop of 74 per cent.

Turnover also fell by 8 per cent from N873.154 million in 2014 to N804.993 million during the period under review.

The poor showing continued in the second quarter following a 67 per cent decrease in profit after tax.

The company in filing with the Exchange posted a profit after tax of N22.788 million for the half year ended June 30, 2014, as against N69.571 million during the comparable period of 2013, indicating a drop of 67 per cent.

Its revenue also dropped by 7 per cent from N1.756 billion in 2014 to N1.628 billion during the period under review.

The trend continued in third quarter of the current year, as the company’s net earnings also dipped by 36 per cent.

According to a notice to the NSE, profit after tax for the nine months ended September 30, 2014 stood at N50.877 million in contrast to N79.295 million posted in 2013. This translated to a drop of 36 per cent. Rvenue also dropped by 4 per cent, from N2.658 billion in 2013 to N2.555 billion in 2014.

Challenges Chairman, Airline Services & Logistics Plc, Dr Patrick Dele

Jan 31

N3.23

Feb 28

N2.98

Mar 31

N2.60

Apr 30

N2.14

May 30

N2.15

Jun 30

N2.34

Jul 31

N2.11

Aug 29

N2.08

Sept 30

N2.01

Oct 24

N1.83

Nov 21

N1.58

Dec 31

N1.65

Cole had at the18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) said that 2013 was a tough year for the company.

“As is expected with competition, we lost part of our market share to the new entrant in the Nigeria in-flight catering industry.

He however, noted that the management was committed to pursuing the implementation of measures to improve earnings with plans to develop the company strategically.

Speaking in the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Richard Akerele said”: From the results point of view, 2013 has to be characterised as one of the most trying years especially when compared with 2012, which was one of the best years on record.”

“While much of the down turn can be attributed to your company’s determination to invest in the future by expanding into other regions of Africa, developing new facilities back at home and diversifying our revenue base into areas such as oil and gas, other factors such as competition from international players and possibly most important of all, the lack of an encompassing and cohesive strategic government policy that would on one hand provide for planned growth and on the other support local service providers has in no small measure had an impact on this company and the industry at large”.

Future outlook Cole said the company has continued to take major steps to lead the group towards a successful future by actively pursuing the venture into oil and gas catering business, setting up catering unit in Rwanda and expanding the operation in Abuja in preparation to meeting its short-term medium-term targets .

“I am convinced that we will make a substantial progress in 2014 towards achieving our targets,” he said.

38

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Insurance

Fire: Fashola advises residents on insurance cover p.39

Ebola volunteers in protective gear. Inset: Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel

CHALLENGING It has now become increasingly difficult to convince health workers to attend to the patients Sunday Ojeme

F

ederal Government’s desire to ward off Ebola Virus Disease from the country received another boost last week when it extended insurance cover to 250 health workers who have volunteered to assist in the containment of the disease.

The health workers, who have been trained for departure to ravaged countries on the continent, will each be insured for N71.749 million.

The contingent has been dispatched to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, where the virus has been killing victims on a regular basis.

Details of the insurance package revealed that $96,016 will be for personnel accident and disability, $190,000 for medical expenses and $100,000 benefit to be paid to beneficiary in case a volunteer dies.

According to the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Linus Awute, the government will provide all it takes for its contingent to work with the highest possible standards.

It will be recalled that during the outbreak of the disease in the country, the Federal Government mooted the idea of life insurance cover for health workers

Ebola: FG baits volunteers with N71m cover and volunteers.

The immediate past Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, while briefing representatives of foreign missions in the country on the measures being taken to contain the disease, said that since the country was facing some challenges as regards the outbreak of the diseases, the new thrust was needed to encourage health workers.

He specifically said the country was facing some challenges and as a result, there was need to encourage workers, especially when some nurses and doctors had died of the disease.

He said, “It has now become increasingly difficult to convince health workers to attend to these patients, but we have to and we are making effort to get people. We have also improved their confidence level.

“What we have decided is that all the people taking part, even if they did not have insurance before, they must have insurance.

“This one is not indemnity for now alone, it is life insurance to protect them and their families, so that in case anything happens to them, their families will not suffer double loss.”

The process, however, did not go down well with medical personnel as they expressed doubts

Any health worker that is managing an Ebola patient is risking his/ her life and that of his family

over Federal Government’s seriousness.

The Lagos State Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association, Dr. Tope Ojo, had challenged the federal and Lagos State governments to provide protective kits and address the issue of hazard allowance for doctors, nurses and other health workers ready to be involved in treating infected persons.

He also faulted the life insurance cover, saying its provisions had yet to be spelt out.

The NMA said, ‘‘Any health worker that is managing an Ebola patient is risking his/ her life and that of his family.

Ebola has killed over 61 doctors in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It is a serious issue.

“You don’t just dangle life insurance without documents.

We cannot endanger our lives unless we know what is at stake.We should be assured that should anything happen to us, our families are catered for.

“The terms of the insurance must be in public domain in a transparent manner.

“It is sad that it had to take an Ebola outbreak for government to realise that health workers need life insurance cover.”

In the same vein, Ghanaian

medical doctors also demanded that the country’s government provide insurance cover and risk allowance for medical staff in the face of the virus alert in the country.

President of Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Opoku Edusei, said that although government had put in place measures to avert a possible outbreak of the pandemic disease, much had not been done to protect health workers against the alert.

He said, “GMA is not holding the country to ransom, but we are asking for protection for our members in the face of the Ebola virus scare.”

Edusei added that there were not enough equipment, especially protective covers, for the health workers in case the unfortunate happened.

He said this had become necessary following reported death of doctors on the frontline of the battle against the world’s worst ever outbreak. In the face of the Ebola threat, government has put in place various committees to monitor the situation in all the 10 regions as a way of preventing possible outbreak of the disease which had reportedly killed people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.

Business | Insurance

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

CAUTION Dry season is a period to be more careful with inflammable materials Dayo Ayeyemi

A

s the dry season approaches with threats of fire incidence heightening, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has advised residents in the state on the need to purchase insurance policy against fire.

The governor gave the advice at the weekend while handing over 34 customised firefighting trucks and equipment to the Lagos State Fire Service with an appeal to residents to protect and maintain street signs in their localities to enable the fire service locate them in times of emergency.

He said residents must be conscious of the dry season, when the risk of fire outbreak will be very high.

Fashola said, “There is need to take out a fire

39

Fire: Fashola advises residents on insurance cover policy for our personal effects, homes, jewelleries, electronic and household appliances. Insurance can help to mitigate the losses that we may suffer.”

He further advised residents to keep inflammable materials away from their homes.

“We hope that those who are responsible for providing fuel will continue to do so, so that people will resist the temptation of storing fuel at home. We hope that in this festive season, we will manage our excitements and our festivities in a way that will safeguard our life and property,” he added.

Besides, he warned the residents to desist from hampering the work of the emergency responders.

The fire-fighting equipment handed over at the Lagos State Fire Service Headquarters, Alausa, Ikeja, consist of

15 fire eagles, 15 rapid eagles, two aerial telescopic turn-table ladder and two maintenance vehicle workshops on wheel as well as firefighting apparels for the personnel.

Fashola pointed out that there was need for citizens to assist the professional fire-fighters to do the job for which they were trained by making way for them to reach the crisis location on time and carry out their work without hindrance.

This, the governor said, could be achieved by citizens not crowding at the scene of fire or other emergencies and by maintaining and protecting street signs in their localities to direct first emergency responders to the points of crisis.

Praying that the government would have no frequent need for the vehicles, Fashola appealed to residents that when accidents occur, they should not only grant

access to the fire men or other first emergency service responders but also stay away from the scene of the crisis.

Asserting that his administration’s commitment to the protection of life and property remains undiminished, the governor said he had already trained a total of 570 young men and women, 10 from each of the 57 Local Governments Areas and Local Council Development Areas of the state as

first emergency service responders to work in collaboration with the State Emergency Management Agency in the case of emergencies in any of the council areas.

He said, “Across Lagos today, there are 570 young men and women working with the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency who are first responders and who know what to do. Please listen to them when the incident of fire does happen.”

North East pensioners depressed over backlog of arrears

D

espite being faced with the problem of insurgency in the region, pensioners in the north eastern part of the country are also battling the state governments to pay their arrears of entitlements that have accumulated to about N61 billion.

Report has it that the Zonal Vice President, National Union of Pensioners (NUP), North East, Alhaji Mohammed Inuwa, and the Bauchi State NUP Chairman, Habu Gar, deplored the attitude of the state governors as the pensioners have been passing through severe hardship and could no longer take care of their needs and meet obligations to their families.

Inuwa said they were worried over the nonpayment of heavy backlogs of gratuities as the pensioners were suffering neglect after serving the states and the federation.

He said it was a pity that they no longer had money to pay their children’s school fees as well as meet other commitments.

Speaking in the same vein, Gar said the Bauchi

State Government had refused to pay the backlog of arrears even after the review of pension and gratuity payment in the state after making a promise to pay them.

He said the government had failed to pay local government pensioners their benefits including gratuities for two months, lamenting that many pensioners had died without enjoying their benefits.

The chairman gave the government till end of December to settle the arrears, adding that retirees would take to the streets to protest after the ultimatum.

He called on the state governor to personally intervene and ensure immediate payment of their gratuities and pensions in the state.

He said, “As a body, we are aware that the backlog of pensions, gratuities was inherited by the present administration. But we believe that government is a continuous process and since Governor Isa Yuguda is on a restoration mission, we plead that the governor should look into the plight of the pensioners.”

L-R: Transitional leader, Deloitte Nigeria, Tawanda Gumbo; Managing Director, Kitskoo, Tunde Fafunwa; Finance and Control Director, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Syed Saiful Islam and Advisory leader, Deloitte West Africa, Mike Vincent, at the Deloitte CFO survey report summit in Lagos. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Mansard ends year with awards

T

he year is ending on a bright note for one of Nigeria’s leading underwriting firms, Mansard Insurance Plc, as the company added two outstanding awards to its growing list of 2014 awards and recognitions in just one week.

The company emerged the first place overall winner in Insurance & Pensions category at the 2014 Nigerian Risk Awards.

Also, Omokayode Oluwole of the Enterprise Risk Management Unit of Mansard emerged the first runner up for the Risk Manager of the Year award. The Nigerian Risk Awards organised by Conrad Clark Nigeria Limited, in collaboration with Business Day and UK Institute of Risk Management, is dedicated to rewarding organisations and individuals who have achieved results through the effective implementation of enterprise risk

management principles.

A statement made available to New Telegraph said winners of the Nigerian Risk Awards were chosen by a panel of 18 high caliber judges from Risk Management Consultants background in the UK, USA, Cyprus, Germany and Nigeria.

The statement added that the initiatives deployed by the company which were key to its emergence as the first place overall winner in Insurance & Pensions category included, reinforcement of risk culture and awareness and building of capacity through communication and training, both local and overseas.

Also at the fourth edition of Marketing World Awards, Mansard was adjudged Insurance Brand of the year.

The Marketing World Awards is an annual event organised by Instinct Wave Group to reward, recognise and celebrate companies with

outstanding marketing initiatives.

In the same vein, the Nigerian Stock Exchange recognised the top underwriter as one of the companies quoted on the exchange with outstanding corporate governance performance endorsed and recognised among seven other pilot companies. This was disclosed by the NSE when it recently announced its newly introduced Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS).

The regulators further disclosed that it was now mandatory for all quoted companies as the Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS) is designed to rate companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange based on their corporate governance and anticorruption culture, thereby improving the overall perception of and trust in Nigeria’s capital markets and business practices.

Business | Financial Market News

40

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

5-Dec-14

The DQL contains data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities and instruments in the financial market (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute professional, financial or investment advice. We attempt to ensure the Information is accurate; however, the Information is provided “AS IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE” basis and may not be accurate or up to date. We do not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for a particular purpose of any of the Information, neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information.

Bonds FGN Bonds

Price

Rating/Agency

Issuer

NA

NA

Description 4.00 23-APR-2015 13.05 16-AUG-2016 15.10 27-APR-2017 9.85 27-JUL-2017 9.35 31-AUG-2017 10.70 30-MAY-2018 16.00 29-JUN-2019 7.00 23-OCT-2019 16.39 27-JAN-2022 14.20 14-MAR-2024 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.1493 18-JUL-2034

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

23-Apr-10 16-Aug-13 27-Apr-12 27-Jul-07 31-Aug-07 30-May-08 29-Jun-12 23-Oct-09 27-Jan-12 14-Mar-14 28-Nov-08 22-May-09 20-Nov-09 23-Jul-10 18-Jul-14

4.00 13.05 15.10 9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 16.39 14.20 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00 12.1493

535.00 573.89 452.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 396.68 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 150.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,730.13

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,541.58

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

23-Apr-15 16-Aug-16 27-Apr-17 27-Jul-17 31-Aug-17 30-May-18 29-Jun-19 23-Oct-19 27-Jan-22 14-Mar-24 28-Nov-28 22-May-29 20-Nov-29 23-Jul-30 18-Jul-34

0.38 1.70 2.39 2.64 2.74 3.48 4.57 4.88 7.15 9.27 13.98 14.46 14.96 15.63 19.62

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

14.28 13.76 13.82 13.79 13.79 13.81 13.86 13.82 13.74 13.46 13.28 13.28 13.28 13.44 13.15

13.85 13.66 13.74 13.71 13.72 13.70 13.77 13.72 13.68 13.40 13.23 13.23 13.22 13.39 13.10

96.25 98.90 102.50 91.49 90.12 91.61 107.05 76.32 111.75 103.80 110.81 94.96 69.24 77.70 93.00

96.40 99.05 102.65 91.64 90.27 91.91 107.35 76.62 112.05 104.10 111.11 95.26 69.54 78.00 93.30

#

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

24-May-12 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 3.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.47 1.20 2.01 2.37 2.58

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

16.59 16.78 15.73 14.77 14.78

92.77 100.63 100.28 97.57 94.62

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.97

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

315.11

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.74

4.44

18.76

95.81

A/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.58

3.23

17.23

98.48

A-/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

6.27

30-Jun-16

0.86

4.46

19.03

95.74

A+/Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

7.37

30-Jun-16

0.87

3.48

18.06

97.97

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.37

5.59

19.36

82.81

13.75

29.92

30-Jun-17

1.42

1.00

15.17

98.25

A-/Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

A/Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

3.07

1.79

15.59

96.20

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.25

1.80

15.56

97.38

A-/Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

3.83

1.00

14.82

97.60

A/Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

14.96

09-Dec-18

2.24

1.00

14.76

99.53

A-/Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

11.13

12-Dec-18

2.24

4.78

18.54

91.78

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.63

1.00

14.78

99.48

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*GOMBE

15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019

02-Oct-12

15.50

16.23

02-Oct-19

2.88

1.00

14.79

101.76

Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR

LAGOS

14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019

22-Nov-12

14.50

80.00

22-Nov-19

4.96

1.00

14.82

98.88

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019

12-Dec-12

14.75

27.51

12-Dec-19

2.85

2.74

16.53

96.12

A/Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

11.40

10-Oct-20

3.40

1.00

14.81

99.89

13.50

87.50

27-Nov-20

5.98

1.00

14.76

95.09

Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR

LAGOS

13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020

27-Nov-13

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020

31-Dec-13

15.00

5.00

31-Dec-20

6.07

1.94

15.69

97.31

A/Agusto A-/GCR

*EKITI *NASARAWA

14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

31-Dec-13

14.50

4.78

31-Dec-20

3.55

1.44

15.25

98.09

06-Jan-14

15.00

4.79

06-Jan-21

3.59

1.95

15.77

98.09

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

471.68 451.03

Corporate Bonds Aa/Agusto Nil

GTB NGC

13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014

18-Dec-09

13.50

13.17

18-Dec-14

0.04

5.21

21.06

99.69

µ

17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014

01-Apr-10

17.00

2.00

31-Dec-14

0.07

8.71

24.38

99.36 96.34

Bbb-/Agusto A-/Agusto

*UPDC

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

17-Aug-10

10.00

3.61

17-Aug-15

0.46

4.88

18.89

*FLOURMILLS

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

09-Dec-10

12.00

13.62

09-Dec-15

0.53

1.00

14.91

98.05

BB+/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.60

06-Jan-16

0.61

2.63

16.70

98.55

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.82

1.00

14.85

97.10

A-/Agusto

FSDH

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.89

1.34

15.14

98.54

A/GCR

UBA

13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.82

1.00

14.79

95.94

BBB-/GCR

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.64

30-Nov-17

1.84

1.88

15.71

104.28

Nil

*C & I LEASING *DANA#{r}

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

6.30

09-Apr-18

1.84

3.48

17.31

98.32

A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.90

09-Sep-18

2.01

5.20

18.93

98.88

#

AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR

*TOWER

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.80

09-Sep-18

2.01

5.06

18.79

101.85

A/Agusto; A/GCR

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

22-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

22-Sep-18

3.80

1.35

15.17

96.65

Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.40

18-Oct-18

2.12

2.29

16.03

99.76

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

17-Feb-12

17.00

0.41

17-Feb-19

2.20

6.11

19.86

95.41

BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR

#{r}

Nil

*DANA

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

3.07

2.16

15.96

100.16

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

5.94

2.76

16.52

95.26

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

11.93

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.82

1.00

14.23

87.95

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.82

1.00

14.23

94.84

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

144.08

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

140.10

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

11-Feb-18

3.19

1.00

14.80

88.59

Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P

AfDB

11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021

10-Jul-14

11.25

12.95

01-Feb-21

4.41

1.00

14.84

89.10

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

24.95 22.17

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value ($mm)

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

5.54

5.36

106.19

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

FGN

BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

107.19

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.66

4.40

101.52

102.40

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

5.84

5.71

103.56

104.48

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,500.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,556.39

Corporate Eurobonds B/Fitch; B-/S&P

AFREN PLC I

11.50 FEB 01, 2016

01-Feb-11

11.50

450.00

01-Feb-16

8.39

8.39

103.30

103.30

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

4.77

4.77

103.75

103.75

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

7.47

7.47

99.48

99.48

B/Fitch; B/S&P

FIDELITY BANK PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

10.06

9.55

90.98

92.35

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

7.09

6.76

96.32

97.42

B/Fitch

AFREN PLC II

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

9.67

9.67

102.00

102.00 95.50

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

7.47

7.47

95.50

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

9.88

9.59

96.00

97.00

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

8.12

8.12

99.75

99.75

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

10.71

10.71

82.25

82.25

9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021

24-Jun-14

9.25

400.00

24-Jun-21

10.33

10.06

95.13

96.38

8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

23-Jul-14

8.00

450.00

23-Jul-21

9.28

9.28

92.88

92.88

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

8.96

8.78

98.00

98.88

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

AFREN PLC III

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC II

B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK LTD

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,760.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,604.31

**Treasury Bills DTM 20 27 34 41 48 55 62

FIXINGS Maturity 25-Dec-14 1-Jan-15 8-Jan-15 15-Jan-15 22-Jan-15 29-Jan-15 5-Feb-15

Bid Discount (%) 15.75 15.00 16.10 15.30 14.20 14.80 14.85

Offer Discount (%) 15.50 14.75 15.85 15.05 13.95 14.55 14.60

Bid Yield (%) 15.89 15.17 16.35 15.57 14.47 15.14 15.23

Money Market

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 25.4217 15.5542 15.8640 16.4375

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

29.17

O/N

30.92

Tenor Call

REPO

Rate (%) 28.67

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M

180.00 180.88 181.19 182.00 183.67

180.10 181.10 181.50 182.69 184.71

Agency Bonds 0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

FMBN ***LCRM

24-May-12 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

24.56 3.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

322.97

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

315.11

Sub-National Bonds

A+/Agusto NEW TELEGRAPH

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 KADUNA DECEMBER 8, 2014 MONDAY,

A/Agusto

*EBONYI

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

14.00

6.27

24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.47 1.20 2.01 2.37 2.58

2.63 2.27 2.00 1.00 1.00

16.59 16.78 15.73 14.77 14.78

92.77 100.63 100.28 97.57 94.62

Business | Financial Market News

41

31-Aug-15

0.74

4.44

18.76

95.81

30-Sep-15

0.58

3.23

17.23

98.48

30-Jun-16

0.86

4.46

19.03

95.74

A-/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

A+/Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

7.37

30-Jun-16

0.87

3.48

18.06

97.97

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.37

5.59

19.36

82.81

A-/Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

29.92

30-Jun-17

1.42

1.00

15.17

98.25

A/Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

3.07

1.79

15.59

96.20

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

34.14

30-Sep-18

2.25

1.80

15.56

97.38

A-/Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

3.83

1.00

14.82

97.60

A/Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

14.96

09-Dec-18

2.24

1.00

14.76

99.53

A-/Agusto

*NIGER

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

A/Agusto; A-/GCR

*GOMBE

Weak naira may affect capital raising –Analysts HARD TIME

Experts predictLAGOS tough year A/Agusto; A-/GCR *OSUN A/Agusto *OSUN for NSE Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR LAGOS

Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

A/Agusto A-/GCR

*EKITI *NASARAWA

Stories by Chris Ugwu TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

P

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

ersistent fall in the of the naira Aa/Agusto would further GTB dampNGC Nil en the ability to raise Bbb-/Agusto *UPDC capital on the Nigerian Stock A-/Agusto *FLOURMILLS Exchange (NSE), financial BB+/GCR *CHELLARAMS A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO analysts have said.

A-/Agusto FSDH In its latest report, FBN A/GCR UBA Capital noted that capital BBB-/GCR *C & I LEASING raising concerns *DANA are likely to Nil A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR continue to cast a*TOWER shadow on AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR *TOWER the sector following weakenA/Agusto; A/GCR UBA ing of the naira and delay the Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR *LA CASERA timing of any recovery in the BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR *CHELLARAMS sector in 2015. *DANA Nil Corporate value Bonds

µ

#{r}

#

#

#

#{r}

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 The Central Bank of Nige15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 ria (CBN) had last week Tues15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 day14.50 devalued the naira by 8.3 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 OSUN per 14.75 cent or 12-DEC-2019 N13, from N155 per 14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020 dollar to N168.

13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 Noting the naira weak15.00 KOGIthat 31-DEC-2020 14.50 EKITImade II 31-DEC-2020 ness has life more dif15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021 ficult, the experts said banks are expected to have a relatively challenging year given all the regulatory headwinds 13.50have GUARANTY TRUSTto 18-DEC-2014 they had contend 17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 with.

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 They said: “In the longer 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 term, believe the 14.00however, CHELLARAMS we 06-JAN-2016 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 recent sell-off has tipped the 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 risk-reward balance on Ac13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 cess18.00 Bank, GT Bank, Stanbic C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 IBTC and DANA Zenith Bank favourMPR+7.00 9-APR-2018 MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 ably”.

MPR+5.25noted TOWER 9-SEP-2018 They that only two 14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018 of the five NSE indices have 15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 posted gains so far this year MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 with the NSE Oil & Gas index 16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

12-Dec-13 14.00 gaining around 19 per cent to 14-Feb-12 15.50 lead the group.

02-Oct-12 15.50 22-Nov-12 14.50 They said: “We believe that 12-Dec-12 14.75 investors are of the view that 10-Oct-13 14.75 the sector is likely to benefit 27-Nov-13 13.50 from 31-Dec-13 the recent decline in 15.00 14.50 crude 31-Dec-13 oil prices. However, the recent06-Jan-14 devaluation of15.00 the naira could put a dent in that theory as the local downstream sector is largely dependent on 18-Dec-09 13.50 imports.

01-Apr-10 17.00 “The NSE Insurance in17-Aug-10 10.00 dex is09-Dec-10 the other sector to 12.00 post gains a rally, 06-Jan-11sparked by 14.00 13.00 week which29-Sep-11 began in the last 25-Oct-13 14.25 of November, coinciding with 30-Sep-10 13.00 AXA SA’s, a Paris-Based in30-Nov-12 18.00 surer,09-Apr-11 announcement 16.00 of an 09-Sep-11to buy a 18.00 agreement majority stake 09-Sep-11 (77 per cent) 16.00 in Man22-Sep-11 sard Insurance for14.00 around 18-Oct-13 15.75 US$246million.

17-Feb-12 17.00 “The Industrial, 16.00 Banking 01-Apr-14

11.13 12-Dec-18 2.24 and Consumer sectors have 27.00 14-Feb-19 2.63 been the laggards declining 16.23 02-Oct-19 2.88 80.00-23 per cent, 22-Nov-19 4.96 by -23 per cent 27.51 -20 per cent 12-Dec-19 2.85 and respectively.”

11.40 10-Oct-20 3.40 They also noted that since 87.50 27-Nov-20 5.98 January the NSEASI has been 5.00 31-Dec-20 6.07 4.78 laggard of 31-Dec-20 3.55 the the three stock 4.79 06-Jan-21 3.59 market indices in Africa they 471.68 intermittently track but its 451.03 relative underperformance vs Nairobi and Jo’burg has 13.17 0.04 fallen to new18-Dec-14 depths.

2.00 31-Dec-14 “It was last in positive0.07 ter3.61 17-Aug-15 0.46 ritory ytd on 01 September 13.62 09-Dec-15 0.53 and per cent in0.61 the 0.60 shed 8.0 06-Jan-16 15.00 29-Sep-16 alone. 1.82 month of October The 5.53 25-Oct-16 index’s ytd decline of 18.81.89 per 20.00 30-Sep-17 2.82 cent compares with gains of 0.64 30-Nov-17 1.84 4.9 and 7.2 per cent 6.30 per cent 09-Apr-18 1.84 2.90 Nairobi 09-Sep-18 for and Jo’burg2.01re0.80 09-Sep-18movements 2.01 spectively.

These 35.00 22-Sep-18 3.80 are all expressed in local cur2.40 18-Oct-18 2.12 rency terms.

All three took 17-Feb-19 2.20 a 0.41 hit start of tapering 4.50from the 01-Apr-19 3.07

18.54 91.78 by 4.78 the US Federal Reserve in 1.00 14.78 99.48 Q1,” they said.

1.00 14.79 101.76 1.00 14.82 98.88 The analysts explained 2.74 Nigeria’s 16.53 greater 96.12 that woes 1.00 14.81 99.89 could be traced to the corre1.00 14.76 95.09 lated in the crude 1.94 declines 15.69 97.31 oil 1.44 and the 15.25 98.09 price naira exchange 1.95 15.77 98.09 rate.

The impact according to them, is felt in different ways on the listed banks and con5.21 99.69 let sumer goods21.06 companies, 8.71 24.38 99.36 alone the small oil and gas 4.88 18.89 96.34 segment of the market.

1.00 14.91 98.05 “Reforms on the Exchange 2.63 16.70 98.55 1.00 as the launch 14.85 such of 97.10 securi98.54 ties1.34lending,15.14 the development 1.00 14.79 95.94 of 1.88 seamless15.71 market-making 104.28 and another 17.31 review of 98.32 the fee 3.48 5.20 18.93 98.88 structure would all be help18.79 101.85run ful.5.06 Yet a convincing bull 1.35 15.17 96.65 requires investor confidence 2.29 16.03 99.76 that turn6.11the macro 19.86 story is 95.41 ing2.16 for the better.

15.96 100.16

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

5.94

2.76

16.52

95.26

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

11.93

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.82

1.00

14.23

87.95

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.82

1.00

14.23

94.84

Shareholders endorse NB, CB merger

HMK Reit to raise N13.39bn IPO

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

144.08

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

140.10

T

he Boards of DirecThe statement also con- companies, Heineken NV, Nigerian firmed that the name of the which is in favour of the 10.20company IFC 11-FEB-2018arising AAA/S&P Breweries IFC Plc and enlarged merger, had11-Feb-13 the right to 10.20 11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021 Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P AfDB 10-Jul-14 Consolidated Breweries from the merger would be vote in the separate court- 11.25 TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE ordered meetings. But the Plc have received approv- ‘Nigerian Breweries Plc’.

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION als from their shareholdFollowing the endorse- company decided not to ers to combine both com- ment, the companies will exercise its voting right, Description Rating/Agency Issuer Issue Date Coupon (%) panies by way of a scheme proceed to the final stage avoiding any possible of merger. of the regulatory process doubts on its integrity/ FGN Eurobonds conflicts of07-Oct-11 interest in 6.75 The approvals accordwith the aim of perfecting 6.75 JAN 28, 2021 BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P ing to a statement, were the scheme by the end of the deal. Heineken’s deciBB-/Fitch; FGN 2014.

5.13 JUL 12, 2018 12-Jul-13 obtained at two separate sion was taken to give the 5.13 BB-/S&P Court Ordered Meetings, The merger of 6.38 Nigerian minority shareholders of 6.38 BB-/Fitch; JUL 12, 2023 12-Jul-13 BB-/S&P which were held in Lagos Breweries Plc and Consoli- both companies sole disTOTAL at theOUTSTANDING weekend. VALUE dated Breweries Plc is ex- cretion as to whether to apTOTAL CAPITALISATION In MARKET a joint statement pected to create value for prove the proposed merger. signed by Mr. Nico Vervel- all key stakeholders, drive With the approvals of Corporate Eurobonds the shareholders for the 11.50 de (Managing Director/ benefits from increased 11.50 FEB 01, 2016 B/Fitch; B-/S&P AFREN PLC I 01-Feb-11 economies of scale and CEO of Nigerian Brewermerger, for every five ordi- 7.50 7.50 MAY 19, 2016 B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I 19-May-11 ies Plc) and Mr. Boudewijn adnary shares held in Consol- 7.25 7.25and JUL 25, 2017 B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC enhance operating 25-Jul-12 Haarsma Direcidated Breweries 6.88 MAY 09, 2018 B/Fitch; B/S&P (Managing FIDELITY BANK PLCministrative efficiencies.

09-May-13as at the 6.88 6.00CompaNOV 08, 2018 B+/Fitch; GTBANK PLC 08-Nov-13 In line with the tor ofB+/S&P Consolidated BrewTerminal Date, the share- 6.00 10.25 APRAct, 08, 2019 holders of 08-Apr-12 B/Fitch AFREN PLC II nies & Allied Matters eries Plc), the companies the company 10.25 APR 22, 2019 B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P ZENITH BANK PLC thanked all shareholders the Scheme of 6.25Merger will receive 22-Apr-14 four ordinary 6.25 8.75 May 21, 2019 B/Fitch; B/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC 21-May-14 8.75 for their active support document was presented shares in Nigerian Brewer- 8.25 8.25 AUG 07, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK PLC 07-Aug-13 for the proposal by their to shareholders at the ies or a Cash Consideration 6.63 DEC 09, 2020 B-/Fitch; B/S&P AFREN PLC III 09-Dec-13 6.63 overwhelming vote of BANK ap-PLC IIseparate COMs. As a ma-JUN 24, of2021 N120 per 24-Jun-14 share of Con- 9.25 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 B-/Fitch; B/S&P ACCESS 8.00/2Y USD 2021 B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK LTD 23-Jul-14 proval. jor shareholder in SWAP+6.488 the twoJUL 23solidated Breweries held. 8.00 Supranational tors Bond of

B-/S&P

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

8.96

cated in Government Reserve Area (GRA) Ikeja, Ikeja 1.00 14.80 88.59 and Central Business district 1.00 14.84 89.10 Ikoyi respectively .

The Reit will invest in a portfolio of high quality residential and commercial real Offer Yield (%) Bid Price Offer Price estate properties that are already income, Prices generating & Yields other potential high yield real 5.36 106.19 107.19 estate assets and money mar4.40instruments.

101.52 A minimum 102.40 ket of5.71 90 per cent will be invested 103.56 104.48 in Real Estate and Real Estate related assets, while a maximum of 10 per cent will be in Liquid Asset Investment.

The investment objec8.39 103.30 103.30 tive of the Reit is to provide 4.77 103.75 103.75 Unit 7.47 holders 99.48 with regular 99.48 and income, sustain9.55 stable 90.98 92.35 6.76 long-term 96.32 97.42 in able growth 9.67 102.00 102.00Net dividend payment and 7.47 95.50 Asset Value95.50 (NAV) per unit.

9.59 96.00 97.00 It 8.12 aims to achieve a long-term 99.75 99.75 appreciation of its assets and 10.71 82.25 82.25 maximise returns on 96.38 capital 10.06 95.13 9.28 92.88 92.88 employed.

8.78

4,760.00

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

T

he Directors of the Fund Manager and 12.00 11-Feb-18 3.19 sponsor of Haldane Mc12.95 01-Feb-21 4.41 Call Real Estate Investment 24.95 Trust (HMK REIT) have en22.17 dorsed plans to conduct an Initial Outstanding Value Public Offering (IPO), Maturity Date Bid Yield (%) ($mm) which opened December 4th, 2014 and closes January 14th, 2015.

500.00 28-Jan-21 5.54 The decision was taken at 500.00 12-Jul-18 Board Meet4.66 the Completion ing of the 12-Jul-23 HMK Reit held in 500.00 5.84 Lagos, according to a state1,500.00 ment from the company.

1,556.39HMK is of fering 2,600,000,000 units of N5.15 each valued at N13.39 billion 450.00 01-Feb-16 8.39 with a minimum purchase of 500.00 19-May-16 4.77 10,000 units25-Jul-17 and multiples 350.00 7.47 of 2,000 thereafter 300.00 02-May-18to the invest10.06 400.00 ing public 08-Nov-18 via an Initial7.09 Pub300.00 9.67 lic Offering08-Apr-19 (IPO).

500.00 22-Apr-19 The proceeds of the 7.47 offer 200.00 21-May-19 9.88 will be used principally for 300.00 07-Aug-20 8.12 the acquisition of a diverse 360.00 09-Dec-20 10.71 portfolio of residential10.33 and 400.00 24-Jun-21 450.00 23-Jul-21 9.28 locommercial properties

98.00

98.88

5-Dec-14

4,604.31

The DQL contains data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income FIXINGS securities and instruments in the Money financialMarket market (the “Information”). The Information does not **Treasury Bills Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) constituteDTM professional, financial orMaturity investment advice. We ensure the Information is accurate; AVAILABLE” basis and may not be accurate or up to date. We do not Bidattempt Discountto (%) Offer Discount (%) Bidhowever, Yield (%) the Information is provided “AS IS” and on an “ASTenor Rate (%) NIBOR 25-Dec-14 15.75or fitness for a particular 15.50 purpose of any of 15.89 guarantee 20 the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, performance the Information, neither do we accept liability for the results taken on the basis OBBof any action 29.17 Tenorof the Information.

Bid ($/N) Offer ($/N) FGN

27 34 41 48 Bonds 55 62 Rating/Agency 69 76 83 90 97 111 118 125 132 139 NA 146 153 160 244 272 363

1-Jan-15 8-Jan-15 15-Jan-15 22-Jan-15 29-Jan-15 5-Feb-15 Issuer 12-Feb-15 19-Feb-15 26-Feb-15 5-Mar-15 12-Mar-15 26-Mar-15 2-Apr-15 9-Apr-15 16-Apr-15 23-Apr-15 NA 30-Apr-15 7-May-15 14-May-15 6-Aug-15 3-Sep-15 3-Dec-15

15.00 16.10 15.30 14.20 14.80 14.85 Description 14.60 13.80 4.00 23-APR-2015 14.85 14.00 13.05 16-AUG-2016 13.95 15.10 27-APR-2017 14.00 9.85 27-JUL-2017 13.85 9.35 31-AUG-2017 14.80 10.70 30-MAY-2018 13.50 16.00 29-JUN-2019 13.90 7.00 23-OCT-2019 13.15 13.00 16.39 27-JAN-2022 12.90 14.20 14-MAR-2024 13.20 15.00 28-NOV-2028 13.05 12.49 22-MAY-2029 13.35

8.50 20-NOV-2029 10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.1493 18-JUL-2034

14.75 15.85 15.05 13.95 14.55 14.60 Issue 14.35Date 13.55 23-Apr-10 14.60 13.75 16-Aug-13 13.70 27-Apr-12 13.75 27-Jul-07 13.60 31-Aug-07 14.55 30-May-08 13.25 29-Jun-12 13.65 23-Oct-09 12.90 12.75 27-Jan-12 12.65 14-Mar-14 12.95 28-Nov-08 12.80 22-May-09 13.10

20-Nov-09 23-Jul-10 18-Jul-14

15.17 16.35 15.57 14.47 15.14 15.23 Coupon 15.01 (%) 14.21 4.00 15.37 14.50 13.05 14.49 15.10 14.62 9.85 14.50 9.35 15.59 10.70 14.19 16.00 14.68 7.00 13.88 13.75 16.39 13.67 14.20 14.48 15.00 14.46 12.49 15.39

Bonds

8.50 10.00 12.1493

*for the Amortising bonds, the average TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUElife is calculated and not the duration

Issuer

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Rate (%) 25.4217 15.5542 15.8640 16.4375

O/N

30.92

REPO

Tenor Call TTM 1M(Yrs) 3M 0.38 6M

Bid16.41 Yield (%)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Maturity Date

535.00 NITTY 23-Apr-15 Tenor Rate (%) 573.89 16-Aug-16 1M 14.2803 452.80 27-Apr-17 2M 14.5233 20.00 27-Jul-17 3M 14.5732 100.00 31-Aug-17 6M 14.5953 300.00 30-May-18 9M 14.9313 351.30 29-Jun-19 12M 15.2693 233.90 23-Oct-19 600.00 27-Jan-22 396.68 14-Mar-24 NIFEX 75.00 28-Nov-28 Current Price ($/N) 150.00 22-May-29 BID($/N) 181.0000 200.00 20-Nov-29 OFFER ($/N) 181.1000 591.57 23-Jul-30 150.00 18-Jul-34

1.70 13.76 13.66 2.39 13.82 13.74 2.64 13.79 13.71 :Benchmarks 2.74 13.79 13.72 * :Amortising Bond 3.48 13.81 13.70 µ :Convertible Bond 4.57 Management Corporation 13.86 13.77 AMCON: Asset of Nigeria 4.88Government of Nigeria 13.82 13.72 FGN: Federal FMBN: Federal of Nigeria 7.15 Mortgage Bank 13.74 13.68 IFC: International Finance Corporation 9.27 13.46 13.40 LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables Management 13.98 13.28 13.23 NAHCO: Nigerian Aviation Handling Company 14.46 13.28 13.23 O/N: Overnight 14.96 13.28 13.22 UPDC: UAC Property Development Company 15.63Africa Portland13.44 13.39 WAPCO:West Cement Company 19.62 13.15 13.10 NOTE:

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

FMDQ FGN BOND INDEX

<3 ***LCRM 3<5

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

>5 Market

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

16.42 14.28 17.03

180.00 180.10 180.88 181.10 Price 181.50 181.19 182.00 182.69 183.67 184.71 Bid Price Offer Price 185.00 186.55 189.54 192.87 96.25 96.40 199.03 206.27

98.90 99.05 102.50 102.65 91.49 91.64 NA :Not Applicable 90.12 90.27 # :Floating Rate Bond 91.61 91.91 ***: Deferred coupon bonds 107.05 107.35 †: Bond76.32 rating expired 76.62 N/A :Not Available 111.75 112.05 {r} :Issuer in receivership 103.80 104.10 110.81 111.11 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 94.96 95.26 UBA: United Bank for Africa 69.24 69.54 77.70 78.00 93.00 93.30

4,541.58

Agency Bonds Modified Duration FMBN Buckets

Rate (%) 28.67

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2MYield Offer 3M (%) 6M 13.85 1Y

4,730.13

# Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

Rating/Agency

Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 Total Outstanding Volume(Bn) 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 1,031.69 1,026.68 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 1,046.57 951.30 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

Porfolio Market Value(Bn)

1,010.90

1,138.25

3,089.16

3,116.23

24-May-12 Weighting by Outstanding Vol 03-Apr-12

09-Dec-11 32.95 20-Apr-12 30.53 06-Jul-12

36.53

100.00

0.00 Weighting

by Mkt Value 17.25

0.00/16.00 33.40 0.00/16.50 33.88 0.00/16.50

32.72

100.00

24.56 3.00 112.22 116.70 0.33 66.49 0.31

Bucket Weighting

322.970.37

1.00

315.11

24-May-15 % Exposure_ Mod_Duration 03-Apr-17

#

Risk Premium (%)

09-Dec-16 14.17 20-Apr-17 29.52 06-Jul-17

0.47 1.20 2.01 13.79 2.37 13.78 2.58

13.40

2.00 117.8843 1.00 130.1736 1.00 100.4298

100.00

13.57

115.2603

56.32

Implied Yield

2.63 Implied Portfolio 2.27Price

Valuation Yield (%)

16.59 16.78 15.73 1,119.66 14.77 1,102.26 14.78

INDEX

1,174.20

Indicative Price

YTD92.77 Return (%) 100.63

100.28 11.9660 97.57 10.2260 94.62

17.4201

1,100.64

10.0635

Sub-National Bonds A+/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.74

4.44

18.76

95.81

A/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

4.18

30-Sep-15

0.58

3.23

17.23

98.48

A-/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

6.27

30-Jun-16

0.86

4.46

19.03

95.74

A+/Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

7.37

30-Jun-16

0.87

3.48

18.06

97.97

A+/Agusto; A+/GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

2.37

5.59

19.36

82.81

A-/Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

29.92

30-Jun-17

1.42

1.00

15.17

98.25

42

Business | Interview

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘Poor electricity, telecoms’ Mr. Mathew Willsher is the Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat Nigeria. Following its entry into the Nigerian telecoms market six years ago, Etisalat has recorded over 20 million subscriber base with a record of being the first telecoms company to deploy the fastest 3.75G data network in the country. In this Interview with KUNLE AZEEZ, he spoke on sundry issues regarding broadband revolution in Nigeria’s telecoms industry. Excerpts:

Willsher

Today, the drive in the telecoms industry is tending towards broadband revolution. Why do you think this is the next frontier for the industry?

Broadband access is one of the key enablers of socio-economic growth of any economy. Nigeria’s telecoms industry has grown significantly in the last one and half decades and, during this period, the country has seen an unprecedented growth in mobile subscriptions from about 450,000 telephone lines to over 34.5 million, going by latest data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission. Having recorded this great feat in the voice segment, the next big thing should be for the country to focus on data.

By data, we are talking of having pervasive broadband access in the country, where businesses and individual Internet users are able to have access to high-speed Internet services.

It has been proven that broadband plays a very important role in fostering economic development as well as enabling innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation. The importance of broadband as a strategic tool in any nation cannot be over emphasised and government and stakeholders across the continent are making concerted efforts to boost the adoption of mobile broadband. In Nigeria, the Federal Government is spearheading efforts at creating an enabling environment for the development of broadband in the country through the public and private sectors.

Do you see the 30 per cent broadband penetration target set by government by 2018 as achievable?

The telecommunications industry is a constantly changing one. These targets are set based on available infrastructure and expected investments in both human and material resources for the benefit of the Nigerian consumers. It is instructive to note that the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology, in 2013, initiated policies that will help drive broadband penetration

and strengthen competition and in the long run, shape the Nigerian telecoms industry.

So, the National Broadband Plan 2013-2018 already put in place by the ministry and NCC will help improve connectivity and satisfy the consumer’s needs. At Etisalat, we believe that the telecoms industry is important to the success of Nigeria. However, success is not about the policies themselves, but about successful implementation. Looking at the future trends, appropriate spectrum pricing and timely availability will help drive the success of the policies. You will recall that the NCC, in February this year, auctioned the 2.3 gigahertz spectrum band and we were all expecting the 2.6 gigahertz spectrum auction early this month before the regulator announced its postponement, citing ‘administrative’ for the action. We believe that NCC is a committed regulator and it is working to ensure it meets its 30 per cent penetration in collaboration with telecoms operators. So, the need to improve broadband penetration in Nigeria is not negotiable because broadband revolution is what countries around the world are trying to achieve because of its positive socio-economic impacts, especially its projected contribution to Gross Domestic Product.

A frequently-cited World Bank study found that low-income and middle-income countries experienced about a 1.38 percentage point increase in GDP for each 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration between 2000 and 2006. The World Bank further found that the development impact of broadband on emerging economies is greater than for high-income countries which enjoyed a 1.21 percentage point increase in per capita GDP growth per 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration. The study also demonstrates that broadband has a potentially higher growth effect than other ICTs, including wire-line telephony, mobile telephony and the Internet.

Are there key initiatives by Etisalat to support government’s objective of deepening broadband

Etisalat was the first telecommunications company to launch the 3.75G HSPA into the Nigerian market. We have a great reputation for data, best customer satisfaction as well as the best netpromoter score in the country

penetration in the country?

Etisalat was the first telecommunications company to launch the 3.75G HSPA into the Nigerian market. We have a great reputation for data, best customer satisfaction as well as the best net-promoter score in the country.

Since launching our broadband Internet service, Easyblaze, in 2011, we have continued to put in place the right technology, the best-in-class infrastructure and the best people, all working together to deliver the best broadband services to our customers. We are constantly introducing a wide range of devices and data plans that allow our customers to enjoy the full capabilities of the service.

There are smartphones and USB modems with various speeds, MiFi modems that allow for multiple devices sharing through a single connection, amongst other products and services.

So, with over 134 million active subscribers in Nigeria, only about 60 million have active data subscriptions. Therefore, it is our belief that there is more to do and a lot of teamwork with the various stakeholders that is required to achieve success. So, today, Etisalat is working hard on improving broadband access with our products and services, such as EasyBlaze and EasyFlex, as I earlier said, and our customers can obtain the fastest internet connectivity at very affordable rates. We believe that when you transform connectivity, you transform an individual and in turn transform a nation.

Etisalat is one of the telcos that has embraced outsourcing. What is the logic behind this business model?

Outsourcing is about specialisation and specialisation is about improving efficiency and leveraging capabilities. Through outsourcing, we are able to concentrate on our core business of providing quality services for our over 20.5 million subscribers.

At Etisalat, we are dedicated to providing innovative and best quality telecommunications services to our customers. The outsourcing of our IT services to Huawei early this year was part of the fulfilment of our promise to continuously deliver excellent communication experiences to our customers at all times.

Our decision to outsource aspects of our IT function follows the adoption of a new model, which is effectively aligned with Etisalat’s corporate vision of creating more value for customers by improving quality, reducing costs, embedding innovation and increasing the speed of delivery. So, this is the way to go and it is not only Etisalat that is looking at this future-proof model of running busi-

Business | Interview

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

43

biggest challenge in Nigeria’ nesses. Each company should learn to play more in its area of greatest competence. Infrastructure sharing, outsourcing and collaboration are areas I suggest that investors should explore in addition to government support to achieve maximum last-mile connectivity in Nigeria.

BIODATA Education:

Holds M.A. in Physics, Oxford University, UK; MSc. in Management, McGill University, Canada.

Experience: Has over 20 years experience in telecommunications business and brand management Former positions: Chief Commercial Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria (August 2013- June, 2014); Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat UAE; Executive Vice President, Marketing at Etisalat Group (2011-2013); Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Maxis (2008-2011); Chief Operating Officer, CSL Limited (2005 -2008); Commercial and Marketing Director, Telstra Australia (2001-2008).

What are your views on the on going plan by NCC to license infrastructure companies?

The importance of infrastructure in business cannot be over-emphasised. All stakeholders, including government, know that mobile network operators need adequate infrastructure to deliver on services promised and expected by consumers. So, we are not averse to the licensing of the infrastructure companies to the extent that this will further help in boosting the lack of adequate infrastructure that is bedevilling the telecoms sector, notwithstanding, network operators are working hard to boost infrastructure.

The NCC, sometimes ago, came up with determining Dominant Player Status in the country. What is the significant of this to fair competition in Nigeria?

Part of the duties of regulators is to ensure fair competition. What this means is that while companies are free to expand, develop and deploy services, none of these should be seen as aimed at taking out the competition entirely. In every segment of the economy, big players have their roles, so do small players. Fair competition guarantees consumers fair deals and the NCC has been playing a significant role to ensure that there is fair competition in the industry.

nesses, other players too are doing the same thing.

So, what has been the level of investment of Etisalat in Nigerian telecoms sector?

Since starting operation in 2008, we have continued to invest in building and expanding our network to ensure that we deliver quality services to our customers. As we make investment on our network, we also invest in our people, who are the most important assets to us.

Beyond and above several investments we have made after our entering Nigeria, in May 2013, we announced the signing of a $1.2 billion medium-term syndicated loan facility with a consortium of banks to continue our network rollout across Nigeria.

We aim to continue to focus on our network expansion, our investment in 3G, as well as ensuring we offer the uncompromising network quality and customer service our customers have come to expect from us as their network of choice.

Quality of service has always been one of the Willsher most highly-articulated problems by telecoms subscribers. How do you think we can work to overcome this?

Etisalat Nigeria has been repeatedly commended on the quality of services we render to Nigerians. For instance, the other operators were banned for a time and fined because I can tell of their network quality, whereas Etisalat was you that seen as delivering overall quality that met the required standards of the regulator. So, I our greatest am very proud of the team and their achievechallenge ments in the area of quality of service. Having said that, we will continue to build and is power, expand our network, invest in upgrading though this and expanding our network and capacity in order to meet the communications needs of affects other our customers.

What are the key challenges confronting Etisalat’s operations and the industry at large?

Etisalat is known to have excelled in the most challenging terrains. This means that we came into Nigeria fully aware of the challenges we will encounter in building our network.

As you are aware, in Nigeria, the environment itself creates challenges. There are not many operations in the world where you have to deliver power by yourself. But that is what we have to contend with as a player in Nigeria but I can tell you that our greatest challenge is power, though this affects other sectors too.

We have to deliver power to our base stations 24 hours each day; 365 days a year. This is a unique challenge in Nigeria, amongst others issues such as lack of adequate infrastructure, multiple taxation and restiveness/insurgence.

sectors too.

We have to deliver power to our base stations 24 hours each day; 365 days a year. This is a unique challenge in Nigeria

There have been agitations on the need for Telecoms Critical National Security Infrastructure Law which has not seen the light of the day. Is Etisalat worried about this?

Definitely, we are worried, but for Nigeria, we know there is light at the end of the tunnel. Everywhere in the world, investors would like to put their money in an economy where their investments are secure.

Telecoms infrastructure, though owned by private companies, is today key to the economy as a whole, driving all sectors of the economy, be it oil and gas, banking and e-payment sector, education, agriculture and even government’s ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). Beyond the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 which provides different levels of protection for telecoms investment, we are also saying that government should increase this protection by enacting Critical National Security Infrastructure Law that will criminalise cases of vandalism and wilful damage to telecoms infrastructures. Today, a fibre cut can paralyse the entire operation of a government organisation and a bank, for instance.

Despite huge bandwidth capacity in the country, last-mile connectivity remains a challenge. How can this be addressed?

I agree with you that there is over 10 terabit of bandwidth capacity sitting on the shores of the country and less than 10 per cent of this capacity is being utilised, creating a challenge to last-mile connectivity in the country.

The situation we have now is one classical example of where outsourcing can help busi-

Having operated in Nigeria for six years, the regulator has come out to say that Etisalat is not yet making profit like other operators. What do you want the public to believe about this?

Our modest achievement of 20 million subscribers has been recorded in a six-year period. You probably know that telecommunications is capital-intensive, so as we make money, we still invest it in making sure that we provide top-notch services for our subscribers. So, the more capital outlay a start-up requires, the longer it takes to break-even. Etisalat Nigeria is not peculiar.

We are approaching break-even point. However, Etisalat came to Nigeria fully prepared to delight consumers with quality services.

The strategy to offer best-in-class service has been in place right from inception. What we have done is to install quality infrastructure, hire, train and motivate the highest quality human resources to ensure that this plan is implemented. We are focused on it.

In terms of growth, where do you intend to take Etisalat to in the next three years?

The intention is to sustain Etisalats’ status as the preferred mobile network provider in Nigeria. I will be pleased if, in the process of doing this, I take Etisalat to rank among the top three mobile network operators in Nigeria in this period. In the long term, we want to be the network of choice in Nigeria!

Will you say that Mobile Number Portability scheme is working since its launched last year?

As you know, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) was introduced by the NCC in collaboration with the GSM companies to provide wider choice for telecoms consumers, as they are able to switch from network to another without changing their number. The MNP scheme is working very well. Anything that guarantees the rights of consumers is welcome by us at Etisalat Nigeria. The MNP has helped telecommunications services’ consumers exercise ownership of their telephone lines. It has also made mobile network operators sit up and evaluate their service delivery.

The MNP offers checks and balances in the business of telephony, which is welcome.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

44

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MOYIN & FRIENDS

By Ayo Oyerinde

Y C Y S L Z M T H M P Q Q Q 1 V M C Y T R F Q T B R C P A 1 0 D E S N E F E D F L E S X Y T W F M L C A A W D L B Y G F A P V L X L 0 C K R X 1 1 V A M N R U P K V A X D T V W S A T P D A A z X Q T C C N A P E E R E T F E P 1 C H P C 1 R A p 0 E A T I E C A G D N E R T N L S G T 1 N N D M M w S K D L D 0 L E 1 Y G N K E J W T A 1 F C Q M P H U T Y A G R N N A P A N E L R X 0 N T S B V U U 0 s D V E 0 D B T T V R B 1 R U 1 G N E 1 D U N s T T T Y P 0 H B V S D 0 S B T G Y E N K w 0 c 1 p G A L F Q D R 0 B R E T M L W N Y L S 1 K W N T L B 1 P Q N S W K F 1 J S Z L 0 S U B Y L H 0 E 1 Q G N E A X X G Q D F H M F Q w E X H A R A T K 0 K M A D S C V 0 J K 1 F R L w A C F L Q R Y V 0 N X W B H G I p M Q H L 1 E A L Y Q L 1 D W S S 1 L H U L V Z K B T E U T R T S V R T A S N V U H R V C L E S X C K U F H R E G H A A T 1 K E K 0 M E E R M 0 w J A A L N Z A S N L Y D N 0 R B S T B G L T U R L 1 P H R R T T T 0 1 L 1 K 1 1 U K E E A N T A S A J K B A B R 1 A L G V 0 Z U H D C L 1 K J 1 E w J w C Z 0 M 1 0 R G H K S D M B W A E N R C V H R J B A B U V M N T X T N E G R G z H R S F 0 0 K S 1 V B N L Q S E E A 1 T K A 1 S V A M U U R L P B 1 F M S J 0 D U R 0 L Y S U 0 G K Z E P Q U A A V E F N S U B J P C U L E N A P R A L 0 s P E R P C Z Z

survival BOV batteries garden training preps BOL maps fishing knowledge longtermstorage BOB twowayradios sustainable hunting water warmclothing solarpanel hammer silver shelter cannedgoods selfdefense saw cash firstaid energybars navigation ammunition coins calories pocketknife security carbine firestarter flashlight paracord filtration fuel radio tarp backpack

NTJokes The Hunter

SUDOKU - Answer to No 7

SUDOKU - No 8

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Family Friend

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One day, an uncle came to greet us, you know those uncles that are not related through any bloodline but were just old enough to be uncles and were constantly in our house on Sundays because of the free lunch (no offense but its true!).

Anyway, our family dog liked this uncle because he knew how to scratch his ears and ruffle his fur. Bingo used to love to sit by this uncle’s side, while he performed his magic, and this particular day was not different.

We were all in the living room watching TV when a sudden odious smell spread round. We children escaped to the balcony one by one, and breathed fresh air, but Mother would not leave the room, because of the guest. Five minutes later we returned and settled down, but we had to run out again after ten minutes because a fresh wave of the smell circulated round.

When it happened the third time, Mother shouted, “Leave now before the smell kills you!”, and the man proceeded to stand.

Mother quickly added, “Not you, I am talking to Bingo.”

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How to play

Sudoku

ALIU EROJE

CHIEF CARTOONIST aliu.eroje@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

A 90 year old man goes to a doctor.

He said: “Doctor, my 28year old wife is pregnant, what’s your opinion?”

Doctor replies: “Let me tell you a story. A hunter in a hurry grabs an umbrella instead of his hunting rifle. He moves into the jungle, sees a lion, lifts the umbrella pulls the handle and....BANG!!!...d lion drops dead!”

Old man exclaims: “That’s impossible! Someone else must have shot the lion.”

Doctor: “EXACTLY MY OPINION.”

The objective is to fill a 9x9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3x3 boxes (also called blocks or regions) contains the digits from 1 to 9.

A cell is the smallest block in the game. A row , column and region consists of 9 cells and the whole game consists of 81 cells. A region has thicker lines surrounding it. This simply makes it easier to play the game.

For the record 45

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Nigeria Stock Exchange Asia road show Singapore Opening remarks by Her Excellency Nonye Rajis-Okpara, High Commissioner of Nigeria to Singapore at the Nigeria Stock Exchange Asia roadshow December, 2014

I

t is indeed a great honour for me to participate inthis important event, the Nigeria Stock Exchange AsiaRoadshow. I am particularly happy that Singapore waschosen to kick off the Asian Roadshow, because I consider the Island state to be the gateway not only forthe Southeast Asian markets, but also, for the entire Asia Pacific region.

Let me start by congratulating the leadership of the Nigerian stock exchange, Mr Oscar Onyema, the Chief Executive Officer and the entire organising teamfor the foresight and wisdom in organising this Roadshow and for bringing the thriving Nigerian capital markets and the abundant opportunities Africa’s largest economy, to the doorstep of Asia’s economies.

I wish also to express my delight at seeing some of the top echelon of captains and chieftains of industries, as well as, the cream of the crop of Nigerian private sector here in Singapore, Welcome to Singapore. I want to thank you for the invaluable support you are giving to this Roadshow, promotingthe Nigerian Stock Market and exposing the quantum of business and investment activities in the Nigerian economy to Asia and the rest of the world.

Your respective roles in job creation and overall contributions to the growth of the Nigerian economy as we have it today, has made huge positive impacts in the lives of many, particularly the youth of our society. Your great efforts towards nation building will be remembered by posterity, I assure you.

One of my key objectives in Singapore, has been to create awareness in Singapore of the enormous business opportunities in Nigeria and to encourage more partnership between Nigeria and Singapore businesses. Bilateral relations between Nigeria and Singapore have deepened in recent timesand both countries are experiencing an auspi-

Rajis-Okpara

cious time of very warm relations.

In this regard, Temasek Holdings, a Singaporeangovernment company, established in June 1974, marked its 40th Anniversary. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was in attendance.

Temasek’s net portfolio value was estimated at US$219 billion (US$ 173 billion) in 2013 and covers a broad spectrum of sectors; including, financial services, telecommunications, media, technology, transportation, life sciences, consumer, real estate, as well as energy and resources.

Temasek Holdings, in conjunction with International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group and its subsidiary, the IFC's African, Latin American and Caribbean Fund invested US$150 million, US$75 million and US$30 million, respectively in a Nigerian firm, Seven En-

ergy. Temasek Holdings, is the principal investor.

Temasek’s investment in Nigeria is targeted at developing Seven Energy’s growing portfolio of assets, including, exploration and drilling of oil and gas; production and distribution of oil and gas to the Nigerian market; gas infrastructure development, as well as power generation for industrial consumption.

Seven Energy has built a significant capacity for processing and distribution of infrastructure.

This investment will further position the energy company, to provide long-term gas supply for power generation and low-cost fuel to industries in Nigeria.

Also, Temasek increased its stake in OlamInternational Limited in 2013, from 16% to almost 23% through a series of bond market purchases. Olam International Limited is a Singapore company established in Nigeria in 1989. Over the last 20 years, Olam International has established itself as the largest exporter

and importer of a range of agricultural products; including, cashew, cocoa, cotton, sheanuts, sesame, rice and sugar from Nigeria. Olam commands a leadership position in each of the products in its portfolio.

Tolaram Group is another Singapore company which ventured into Nigeria in 1976. In 1988, Tolaram introduced an entirely new product, the instant noodles (Indomie) to Nigeria. Over the years the business has been so successful, three Indomie manufacturing facilities have been built in Nigeria.

Again, I share the success story of yet another Singaporean company Indorama Group, who won the privatization tender for the Eleme Petrochemical Plant in 2006. In one year, Indorama successfully turned around the fortunes of the chemical plant and now operates at full capacity, reducing Nigeria’s import dependency on fertilisers by over US$400 million annually, as well as providing employment for over

800 Nigerians.

I have just named a few, there are over twenty Singaporean companies established and doing business successfully in Nigeria.

There are hundreds of Singaporean companies, who are interested in doing business in Nigeria.

Altogether, Nigeria’s excellent growth potential and high rate of return for investors, growing population, and rising political and macroeconomic stability are all important parameters for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Nigeria has grown rapidly over the past decade – at about 7 percent per annum. Of course we are nowthe largest economy on the continent and the 26th largest in the world. After the GDP rebasing exercise for 2013, Nigeria GDP is now estimated at about 510 billion US Dollars.

Furthermore, Nigeria is the most attractive place for investment in Africa, with 7% rate of return on investment, which is rated 4th highest globally, and annual

consumer spending of US$400 billion and it’s expected to reach US$1.4 trillion by 2020.

Nigeria's credit rating by international ratingorganizations has continued to receive positivereviews; an attestation of improved financial stabilityand optimism over reforms in the banking and energysectors. Moody (a system of rating securities) upgraded Nigeria's rating, assigning local and foreigncurrency issuer ratings of Ba3 to the government. Standard and Poor raised Nigeria’s long-term foreignand local currency sovereign credit rating to BB- with astable outlook.

The presence of a large spectrum of the Nigerian private sectors at this Roadshow has provided an excellent platform to forge strategic partnerships with Singapore companies.

I urge you to seize this opportunity interact for mutually beneficial joint ventures.

I wish you all a fruitful and successful deliberation.

46

News

Babatope Okeowo AKURE

O

ndo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, yesterday described the actions of some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), members who conducted a parallel primaries to produce candidates for next year’s election as rebellious.

Mimiko, who attended the primaries of the party for the Ondo Central Senatorial district where Senator Patrick Ayo

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SOUTH-WEST

Mimiko: We have rebels in Ondo PDP Akinyelure, emerged as the Senatorial candidate for the zone, said the new spirit in the party is encouraging, stating that the PDP would win all elective positions in the state. Dare Aliu, also emerged as the party’s candidate for the Akure North/South Federal Constituency.

The governor appealed to the aggrieved members of the party who lost out in the sharing arrange-

ment between the old and the new PDP members to close their ranks and form a common front against the opposition in the state.

He advised them to await another opportunity for intra-party contest to actualize their aspirations.

Addressing the delegates, Mimiko, who was flanked by members of the National Assembly committee sent from National Secretariat of the

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party and the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said the PDP in the state would deliver at least one million votes to President Goodluck Jonathan.

His words “I can see many faces from old PDP and old Labour, all of us coming together in one accord. When I saw the energy and the enthusiasm that we used to achieve this feat, I do not envy any

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party that wants to contest against PDP in Ondo State because, it will be total phenomenal routing.

“Our target vote for Mr President is one million votes and I know it is achievable with all your enthusiasm and energy and especially that God in His own time has decided to bring us together.

“Yet we have challenges and it is normal, when two big parties want to come

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The crude birth rate of Middle Africa in The number of fixed-telephone subscrip- The total population of Kuwait (rep. 0.044% The number of deaths due to Ebola virus 2010-2015. tions per 100 inhabitants of Aruba in 2009. of the world’s population) in 2010. outbreak that occurred in Uganda in 2007.

Source: Un.org Source: Itu.int Source: Blatantworld.com Source: Who.int

together, there is bounds to be challenges, bounds to be immediate unfulfilled aspirations and people will ordinarily lose positions in terms of pecking order in the new mega party but I want to tell you as the new leader of this party that everything we will do, we will be just and equitable.I want to assure you that this party will continue to move forward,” Mimiko added.

Paseda wins Ogun UPN guber ticket Kunle Olayeni ABEOKUTA

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L-R: Ondo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Clement Faboyede; Governor Olusegun Mimiko; state Electoral Panel Chairman, Hon. Adewale Afolabi and member, Adedapo Adeyemi, at the PDP Ondo Central senatorial district primaries, in Akure…at the weekend.

We’re not serious about impeaching president, says APC Rep Adesina Wahab ADO-EKITI

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ll Progressives Congress (APC) member of the House of Representatives, Oyetunde Ojo, representing (Ekiti Central Constituency Two), has said members of the National Assembly are not serious about the issue of impeachment against President Goodluck Jonathan, saying those who signed impeachment notice against the President only did so as expression of anger.

Speaking in AramokoEkiti yesterday, Ojo said members of the House who endorsed the said notice did so because they were furious that they were shut out of their chambers.

Ojo, said to be an inlaw to the National Lead-

er of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, also said it would take magic for anybody to defeat him at the polls come next year.

He also commended the people of his constituency and APC members for their faith in him expressed through a return ticket of the party given to him.

“To be honest with you, the impeachment notice was signed in anger by us. You remember that we were tear-gassed that day, both members of the two Houses. Though the impeachment notice was signed by members, we will look into it, but to the best of my knowledge, I do not think there is a serious level of impeachment of the president going on now, maybe until we resume and hold next session. Although we

were recalled to the House that day because of the emergency situation in the North-East, we were taken aback by the ugly development and the issue concerns the survival of our democracy,” he said.

He noted that the decision of the people of his constituency to give him another chance was in recognition of his landmark achievements during the first four years.

“I thank my party people, both at the state level and federal constituency. I also thank my people in the consistency who are even not in any political party.

Emerging as an unopposed candidate is a thing of joy and it shows that the people have confidence in me. The mandate belongs to the people and they have unanimously chosen me to represent them again.

he Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in Ogun State has elected a notable businessman, Prince Rotimi Paseda, as its governorship candidate for the 2015 general elections in the state.

Paseda, who emerged the party’s standard bearer at the gubernatorial primaries held on Saturday in Ijebu-Ode, promised to re-invent the values and welfarist programmes of the former Premier of old Western Region, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

He was the sole candidate for the primaries, which was supervised by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) led

by Mrs. Bola Adewon.

Paseda, who polled 438 votes to emerge winner, said he would focus on free education and free health if elected governor.

Yoruba will support Jonathan’s re-election, says Adeyeye Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

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inister of State for Works, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye, has expressed confidence that President Goodluck Jonathan, will secure maximum support through votes from the South-West states in next year’s presidential election.

Adeyeye, expressed the position that the President has done creditably well for the Yoruba people to deserve their support.

In a release issued yesterday, and made available to journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the minister described the reaction to the ‘Yoruba Progress Summit’ held in Ile-Ife by a group claiming to be Afenifere, as a fraud, say-

ing; “any group claiming to speak for the Yoruba apart from the Afenifere, headed by Chief Reuben Fashoranti is a fraud.”

Adeyeye, said the presence of top Yoruba sons and daughters, including traditional rulers at the summit was indicative of the desire of people of the SouthWest to move away from sectional politics.

Yewa youths warn Amosun against imposition of candidate Kunle Olayeni ABEOKUTA

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embers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun West Senatorial District have called on Governor Ibikunle Amosun to allow the conduct of primaries in determining the senatorial candidate of their zone.

The party members, under the aegis of Yewa/

Awori Concerned Youths, staged a protest to the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta on Friday, warning against the imposition of any aspirant in the APC senatorial primaries slated for Monday.

Drawn from the five local government areas in Ogun West, the protesters kicked against the alleged attempt to foist the candidature of Prince Gbolahan Dada on them as the

APC senatorial candidate.

Spokesman of the APC members, Hon. Babatunde Okewole, urged the governor and the party leadership to respect the principle of zoning in picking the choice of senatorial candidate for Ogun West.

Okewole, explained that Ogun West consists of Yewa and Awori divisions which usually rotate the position of senator.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Coalition seeks credible primaries Akeem Nafiu

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s preparations for the 2015 general election gather momentum, the coalition of All Abia interest groups under the aegis of Abia Redemption Group, has called on the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ensure that the Abia State gubernatorial primaries of the party scheduled to hold in Umuahia today is credible and transparent.

In a statement signed by it’s national Co-ordinator and Chairman, Chigozie Agbakwo, the group while demanding that delegates be allowed to carry out their responsibilities faulted the action of the national executives of the party in keeping the delegates list away from everyone including the aspirants.

It noted that by its electoral guideline, the party was supposed to conduct an election on the 1st of November 2014 for the delegates preparatory for the primary elections for the State House of Assembly, Federal House of Representatives, Senate and Governorship.

The group also noted that it is however on record that the delegates election did not take place as party members expected to cast their votes were disappointed that no electoral officers and materials were brought to all the 17 Local Government Areas of Abia State, yet, results were written and handed over to the Committee designated to conduct the election.

News 47

SOUTH-EAST

Abia guber aspirants allege plot to rig Igbeaku Orji UMUAHIA

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overnorship aspirants in the 2015 election in Abia State, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP have said that they have uncovered plans to rig the governorship primary slated for today.

The aspirants, Chief Emeka Wogu, Hon Acho Nwakanma, and Mr. Friday Nwosu, said in a statement made available to New Telegraph that the

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plan has already been perfected.

While urging party leaders, delegates and members to reject any arrangement whereby accreditation of delegates will take place at Ibeku High School, which is one kilometer away from the voting venue, Umuahia Central Stadium as announced by the electoral committee, they noted that such arrangement would only spell doom for the party.

The aspirants insist that both voting and accreditation should be

The crude death rate of Middle Africa in 2010-2015.

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held at one location as stipulated by the Electoral Act and President Goodluck Jonathan’s Electoral Reform.

The statement further alleged a plot to abuse and physically assault governorship aspirants by thugs suspected to be working for the interest of Abia State Government even as they called Dr. Jonathan PDP National Chairman, the NWC and Governor Theodore Orji to intervene and save Abia State from the hands of lawless individuals.

The statement also ap-

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pealed to security agencies to provide adequate security at the venue of the primaries.

It reads in part, “The persons announced on Broadcasting Corporation Of Abia State (BCA) to conduct the accreditations are not members of the Governorship Electoral Panel appointed by the party leadership in Abuja” and therefore illegal body of persons, the tenure of office of members of Abia State Working Committee of PDP, having expired, there is no more State Party Ex-

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ecutive who can assist the PDP Primary Election Panel from Abuja”.

The aspirants, who insisted on free and fair election, also said that they have uncovered plot by some persons, in collaboration with a PDP highranking official from the Southeast to clone the PDP Governorship Primary Election ballot papers” whereby fake delegates will be made to rob the delegates of their INEC Permanent Voters Cards and PDP party cards in transit from Ibeku High School to the stadium”.

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The number of adults and children estimated to be living with HIV in Philippines in 2008.

Source: Blatantworld.com

L-R: Publisher/CEO, EMEA Finance Magazine, Mr. Chris Moore; Senior Vice-President/Group Head, Project & Structured Finance, FCMB Capital Markets Limited, Mr. Robert Grant; Executive Director, FCMB Capital Markets Limited, Mr. Tolu Osinibi and Editor, EMEA Finance Magazine, Mr. Tim Burke, at the 2014 edition of the African Banking Awards organised by Europe, Middle East and Africa EMEA Finance Magazine in London…recently.

Okorocha blames insurgency on greed Groups endorse Imo governor Babatope Okeowo AKURE

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mo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has blamed the inability of the Federal Government to tackle the insurgency ravaging parts of the country on the commercial value attached to it by those benefiting from it.

Okorocha, who was in Akure, the Ondo State capital to meet with national delegates of All Progressives Congress (APC), at the weekend ahead of the party’s presidential primaries, said the Federal Government should decommercialize the value attached to the insurgency if it wants an end to it.

The governor, who said he was the best as-

pirant among the pack of APC Presidential aspirants, said “they should try and decentralize authority in handling Boko Haram and decomercialise it because whatever crime has financial consideration, such crime becomes endless.

“It is not good throwing so much money into it without addressing the main issue. I think they should support the locals and the government there. Information is power and nobody can give information aside the locals rather than voting billion of dollars into the fight against insurgency.”

Okorocha also urged Nigerians to put aside religious or tribal sentiments, for the country to have a better person as the President.

He said it was high time Nigerians thought deeply in choosing whoever is going to be their leader, noting that using tribal or religious sentiment to choose a leader would not take the country to the promised land.

His words: “ There is no longer choosing the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the basis of tribal or religious sentiment. Let the person that has the love of this country, that can unite the country, put food on the table of the common man, be the president irrespective of his religious or ethnic background because for so many years, we have depended on religion and tribe and we have not been able to produce who we have been looking for,”

Camillus Nnaji

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takeholders in the Ndigbo socio-cultural organization under the aegis Ndigbo Unity Forum (NUF), have adopted Chief Rochas Okorocha, the incumbent Governor of Imo State as its sole presidential candidate come 2015 election.

In a press statement, its president Augustine

Chukwudum, said Okorocha, has within the period of his administration as Imo State Governor proved to all Nigerians that he deserves to be elected president, which is why he is being adopted

by Ndigbo.

The statement reads: “We will like to inform the general public that Owelle Rochas Okorocha, the executive gov-

ernor of Imo state has been adopted as our sole candidate for the 2015 presidential election.

Okorocha, has proven through his numerous contributions as a private citizen that he is a detribalized Nigerian.”

Okorocha through his Owelle foundation has shown that he understands the plight of the people of Nigeria.

Egwu wins, Elechi fails Charles Onyekwere ABAKALIKI

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he Peoples Democratic party (PDP), primary election for its Senatorial aspirants conducted yesterday across the three zones of Ebonyi state was described as a peaceful and hitch free exercise.

Results of the primaries revealed that Former governor of the state, Dr. Sam Egwu emerged victorious for Ebonyi North Senatorial zone. Others winner include Chief Obinna Ogba, former State PDP Chairman, who floored the incumbent governor Martin Elechi for Ebonyi Central while Chief Sunny Ogbuoji

won in Ebonyi South.

Speaking with newsmen, the leader of the electoral Committee, Prof.

Sylvanus Oboh, who said they were sent from the National secretariat of the party to conduct the primaries in the state stated that they were not aware of any court injuction stopping the primaries.

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News

marginalisation The Ogoni are not happy they were dribbled out of contention by the APC Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

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he people of Ogoni yesterday described the endorsement of

PDP candidates emerge in Cross River

monday, december 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

south - south

Ogoni: APC’s rejection of Abe, a humiliation Hon. Dakuku Peterside as the Rivers State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the rejection of Senator Magnus Abe, as humiliating.

They also threatened to take their destiny into their hands if they are not given adequate representation.

Ogoni leaders and

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stakeholders, who made this submission at their fourth quarterly congress on recent developments in Ogoniland, said they were committed to the actualisation of the Ogoni Project 2015, which aims at producing an Ogoni governor next year.

The event, which featured a presentation by the President of the

The life expectancy of women of Colombia at age 60 years in 2010-2015.

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Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, attracted over 6, 000 people. In a communiqué at the end of the ceremony, the leaders said: “The fight against Ogoni oppression and marginalisation remains the primary concern in ensuring peace, security, stability and develop-

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ment.”

The leaders also “rejected and condemned the humiliation of the Ogoni people as expressed by the decision of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to abandon sons and daughters of the land for the governorship position in spite of our ongoing campaign for political justice.”

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Clement James Calabar

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t was a mixed grill of fortune at the weekend for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates for the House of Representatives’ primaries as the member representing Yakurr/Abi federal constituency, Hon. Bassey Eko Ewa, emerged the party’s candidate while his counterpart in Calabar Municipality/Odukpani federal constituency, Nkoyo Toyo, lost out.

Ewa beat three other contestants in Ugep, including the immediate past Chief of Staff to Senator Liyel Imoke, to clinch the ticket.

Those who contested against him were Hon. Alex Egbunna, immediate past Chief of Staff; Mr. Francis Etta and Chief Patrick Okomiso.

Ewa polled 88 votes out of a total of 89 votes to beat his rivals, a victory he described as well deserved.

However, Toyo, representing Calabar Municipality/Odukpani federal constituency, lost the ticket to the immediate past Chairman of Calabar Municipal Council, Mr. Etta Mbora, who polled 48 votes against Toyo’s 40.

In Calabar South/Akpabuyo/Bakassi federal constituency, Hon. Essien Ayi, defeated the state Commissioner in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Dominic Akwa Edem and Kate Henshaw.

Ex-militants, Egbema leaders disagree on support for PDP Gabriel Choba Ughelli

L-R . Senator Alloysious Etok; Governor Godswill Akpabio and Senator Emmanuel Ibokessien, at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial primaries in Akwa Ibom North East, Uyo…yesterday.

Crisis rocks Bayelsa’s House of Reps’ primaries Chris Ejim Yenagoa

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poradic gunshots by armed policemen yesterday shattered the peace of the Bayelsa State capital following the invasion of the state secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by suspected thugs struggling to hijack the materials for the conduct of the Federal House of Representatives’ primaries election in the state.

In spite of the intervention of policemen, the thugs held members of the electoral committee of the party deployed to the state for the conduct of the primaries, hostage.

The PDP election committee members led

by General Idi Adamu as chairman, Madam Bola Dare, Zanna Mustapha, Hon. Alaye Don Pedro and John Idoko as secretary, were held hostage at the PDP secretariat for hours.

Lokpobiri, Oguola pick PDP senatorial ticket Chris Ejim

flag bearers of the party in Bayelsa West senatorial district of the state.

A

The election was attended by Governor Seriake Dickson, the former Deputy Governor, Peremobowei Ebebi, and former Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Larry Koinyan.

The election that returned Lokpobiri was held at Sagbama Community Primary School 2 and

Yenagoa

nother drama yesterday played out in Bayelsa State during the senatorial primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with parallel primaries returning the incumbent senator, Heineken Lokpobiri and electing the former Chairman of the state scholarship board, Dr. Foster Oguala, as the

The Ogoni, who also urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to prove that it “believes in justice and fair play by working to ensure the emergence of Ogoni candidates,” commended Ogoni youths, who demonstrated against the rejection of Abe by the APC. It will be recalled that Ogoni youths stormed the River State Government House, Port Harcourt, to protest against the endorsement of Peterside by the APC, forcing riot policemen stationed there to fire tear gas and shot at one of the protesters while trying to disperse them.

They said they were disappointed over “the brutality and highhandedness of the security forces against peaceful protesters on the directive of the Rivers State government reminiscent of the murderous days of General Sani Abacha’s regime.”

was attended by a crowd of PDP faithful, including former commissioners and the incumbent member representing Sagbama Constituency 3 of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Embamoa Empere.

At the College of Education venue of the election, where the governor participated including Dr. Foster Oguola, was elected with 69 votes out of 113 votes cast.

According to eyewitness account, some journalists were also caught in the confusion. A reporter with the regional tabloid, the Weekly Star, Mrs. Joy Bello told New Telegraph that the incident occurred at about 12.00pm.

According to Bello, the suspected armed thugs arrived at the secretariat in a white Siena Space Wagon, armed with dangerous weapons, including guns. “We were all held hostage for

hours. It was fearful. All of us, including the State Working Committee members of the party were trapped inside the secretariat.”

New Telegraph gathered that the armed youths put up a stop and search barricade at the entrance of the secretariat, apparently searching for the voting materials meant for the congress; “they searched the bags of some female journalists that tried to leave the premises.”

Edevbie emerges Urhobo consensus candidate Gabriel Choba Ughelli

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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Delta State, Chief David Edevbie, yesterday emerged consensus candidate of the Urhobo ahead of the party’s primaries holding today.

The umbrella body of

the Urhobo nation, the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) therefore urged all Urhobo sons and daughters pursuing the same ambition to stop forthwith and queue behind Edevbie at today’s governorship primaries without grudges, adding that his endorsement was for the overall interest and development of the state, particularly the Urhobo nation.

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head of the 2015 governorship election in Delta State, ex-militant leaders under the aegis of Concerned ExMilitants for Jonathan/ O’tega 2015 (CEJO), at the weekend, disagreed with Ijaw leaders in their support for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party PDP in the state.

The group said Olorogun O’tega Emerhor is the only candidate who can never deceive Delta people after assuming office.

This was made known by the national spokesman of the ex-militants, Lugad Artigbi, after a crucial meeting held with some top Ijaw leaders in Egbema creek.

The ex-militants said they are not supporting Olorogun O’terga Emerhor, because he is contesting on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), but for his love and concern for Delta. The spokesman said they will fight with the last drop of their blood to ensure that Emerhor emerges the winner of the 2015 governorship election, adding that they are very happy at his victory in the just concluded APC primaries, which according to them, was free and fair.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Dan Atori MINNA

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ess than 24 hours after a jail break on the, about Sixty-four of the 275 inmates that escaped during Saturday attack on Minna Medium Security Prison have been recaptured.

Comptroller General of Prisons, Dr. Peter Ezenwa Ekpendu, disclosed that 211 inmates are still at large, adding that anybody found guilty must face the full wrath of the law.

Ekpendu, who inspection prison in the early

hours of yesterday, said the attack had no link with the Boko Haram sect.

The prison boss ordered the immediate transfer of 55 officers from the state and zonal offices to the Minna Medium Security Prison and Old Minna Prison to beef up the security.

According to him, “211 prisoners are still at large as search parties have been sent out to different parts of the state and around the state to ensure that the escaped prisoners are recaptured.

“The incident is very un-

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Minna jailbreak: 64 inmates recaptured, 211 still at large fortunate, embarrassing and completely unacceptable.

“My administration will not spare any officer found culpable in this particular matter, and anybody found guilty must face the full wrath of the law.

“Preliminary report shows that there is no evidence to link Boko Haram

to the prison break incident of Saturday.”

The Comptroller General then assured the President and Minister of Interior that the security challenges facing the prisons will be tackled head-on.

“I am assuring Mr. President and Minister of

Interior that the security challenges facing us will be tackled head-on.

“Justice must be done and sanity must be restored the security of the prisons and all prisons is paramount,” he said.

Gunmen had on Saturday attacked the prison and 275 inmates escaped

in the process.

The gunmen broke into the armoury and record rooms and carted away weapons and bullet proof vest.

Some of the police special squad who recaptured the escapees said they are in Sarki Powa bush in Munya Local Government Area of Niger state.

Lawmaker to Jonathan: End insurgency now Dahiru Suleiman Dutse

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L-R: Chairman, Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, Kaduna State chapter, Alhaji Sheriff Balogun; Special Adviser to Kaduna State Governor on Trade and Investment, Alhaji Muhammed Lere and Alhaji Abidu Yazid, at the chamber’s annual awards in Kaduna…yesterday

PDP group rejects Kwara National Assembly primaries ANARCHY Implosion looms in Kwara PDP if crisis is not properly managed Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

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group within the Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP) in Kwara State, the Think-Tank, has called for the cancellation of the PDP National Assembly primaries in the state, alleging that it was marred by violence allegedly instigated by an Abuja-based female member of the party.

A statement signed on behalf of the group

by one Comrade Adams Aliyu, said failure to address the alleged observable shortcomings will be an invitation to anarchy and a possible implosion from and revolt against the PDP in Kwara State.

Excerpt from the statement reads: “We are saddened once again to inform you that the reign of

Speaker harps on respect for parliament Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

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peaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon. Razak Atunwa, has said that for Nigeria to have genuine democracy, no institution or arm of government should undermine the supremacy of the parliament.

Atunwa spoke while delivering a keynote address at the first Pan African Students’ Parliamentary Conference in ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

He said the parliament in any political set up is the symbol of democracy, where the diverse views

of the populace are channeled into governance and as such must be given the utmost respect.

He said some Nigerians sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the country from the yoke of imperialism and restore the nation on the path of democracy, calling on other institutions to respect the sanctity of the parliament in order not to derail the nation’s hard won democracy.

The conference, organised in honour of the Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Judiciary, Dr. Ali Ahmed, attracted participants from Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin Re-

public, Kenya and Nigeria.

Atunwa, who traced the origin of the parliament to the Great Britain in the 12th Century, described as barbaric and gross rascality, an attempt by the Inspector-General of Police in Nigeria to denigrate the country’s democracy by invading the National Assembly.

The speaker argued that those lawmakers, who scaled the fence to defend democracy recently, should be seen as the nation’s heroes, while calling for the resignation of the inspector-general of police in view of his discriminatory role in the crisis.

violence, which heralded the PDP House of Assembly primaries penultimate week, continued today with the violent attack on several innocent members of the PDP in Kwara State by thugs suspected to have been sponsored by a woman politician.

“As at the time of writing this statement,

not less than five of the duly elected delegates from Ilorin West Local Government for the PDP National Assembly primaries have been rushed to the hospital after both masked and uniformed security personnel and sponsored thugs were set on them by a chieftain of the party in Kwara State.”

member of the House of Representatives from Jigawa State, Hon. Mustapha Habib, yesterday called on President Goodluck Jonathan, to urgently put an end to the insurgency in the country.

He attributed the long drawn political impasse and the crisis in the North East to the inability of the president to tackle the crisis early enough.

Speaking to New Telegraph in Jahun, Habib said: “We the people’s representatives in the National Assembly approved all submissions of Mr. President’s request on security matters, but he failed to address the matter diligently.”

Habib, who is representing Miga/Jahun in the House of Representatives, lamented the insecurity in the country, saying it is most disheartening.

According to him, “if what we approved for the chief executive was judiciously expended and proper measures were put in place, we could have overcome the situation now.

Adokwe, speaker, clinch PDP tickets in Nasarawa Cheke Emmanuel LAFIA

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he senator representing Nasarawa South senatorial district, Senator Suleiman Asonya Adokwe, has emerged the party’s flag bearer at the just concluded Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries held yesterday in Lafia, the state capital.

Adokwe defeated Bala Zakari with 163 to 46 votes and emerged winner of the primaries against his challenger.

Announcing the results shortly after the voting exercise, Chairman of the electoral committee, Augus-

tine Agube, said: “Having secured the highest number of votes and scored 163 votes, Suleiman Adokwe is hereby declared the winner of the primaries.”

Meanwhile, three serving members of the House of Representatives also clinched the party’s ticket held at headquarters of the three federal constituencies in the state, at the weekend.

In the result announced by the organising secretary, Sabo Bange, who was also the returning officer, said Dr. Joseph Kigbu, defeated the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Elisha Agwadu and Sidi Bako with 48 votes against 22 and 18 votes

respectively to clinch the ticket for Lafia/Obi Federal Constituency, while Obed Joseph, got one vote.

In Akwanga/Wamba/ Nasarawa-Eggon federal constituency, a consensus was reached following the late withdrawal of Hon. Mohammed Envuluanza from the race, leaving the serving member from the constituency, Hon. David Umbugadu, as the sole candidate in the race.

Alhaji Umar Gomna, returning officer for Awe/Doma/Keana federal constituency, declared a serving representative, Hon. Ogoshi Onawo, who polled 60 votes, as the winner of the primaries.

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WORLD | News

Dasuki to replace Tambuwal

Typhoon destroys homes in Philippines

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member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Hon Abdussamad Dasuki, yesterday won the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the Kebbe-Tambuwal Federal Constituency.

If he wins the February 2015 election, he will succeed the Speaker of the House of Represen-

tatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who has been on the seat for the last eight years.

Dasuki, from Dogon Daji in Tambuwal LGA, was affirmed as the candidate of the constituency by 176 delegates from 21 wards in Kebbe and Tambuwal Local Government Areas of Sokoto State.

The election, which

took place at the Tambuwal Stadium, had in attendance political office holders from the constituency serving at both the state and the Federal levels.

Dasuki, a Harvard trained economist, is presently the chairman of Finance and Appropriation Committee of the Sokoto House of Assembly.

2015: Observers express concerns over credible polls Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

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he coalition of Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) accredited observers for the distribution of the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) have expressed doubt over the readiness of the electoral body to conduct free and fair polls in 2015.

According to the coalition’s team leader, Comrade Kalu Victor, the PVC collection in some states were marred by violence and irregularities. Kalu, in a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday cited Rivers State, where he said that the distribution was characterised by ran-

cour and little violence in some places as a result of various party agents insisting and struggling to ensure that only their party supporters collects their PVC. While charging INEC to use the last phase of the distribution of PVC to prove its readiness to Nigerians, the coalition’s team leader said the competence and readiness of the commission to conduct credible polls next year is giving concerned Nigerians worries.

His words: “The competence, readiness and seriousness of INEC in giving Nigerians and Rivers State in particular credible, transparent, free and fair elections come 2015 general elections is

already in doubt following the way and manner the PVC and CVR exercise was handled in many states. “INEC should therefore use this fourth and last phase of the exercise to prove to Nigerians and Rivers people that they are fully and truly ready for elections next year by correcting all the mistakes observed during the first, second and third phase of the exercise.

“We commend the state government, political parties and other stakeholders in the state for collectively and unanimously mobilizing the electorate for the exercise in the states, irrespective of party affiliation or interest.

NCAA warns pilots on hazards of harmattan dust haze Wole Shadare

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ilots and Airline Operators have been advised to adhere strictly to approved weather minima during the current harmarttan dust haze season in the interest of safety.

Similarly, all pilots shall obtain adequate departure, en-route and destination weather information and briefing from NIMET prior to flight operations at all the aerodromes.

The advice was contained in the Advisory Circular issued yes-

terday by the Director General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority {NCAA).

The effect caused by the dust and sand stirred by these winds costs airlines millions in cancelled and diverted flights each year.

The aviation regulatory body in a weather alert issued to airlines alerted the pilots on the hazards associated with Harmattan dust haze in flight operations at this period of the year.

A statement by the spokesman of the NCAA, Fan Ndubuoke, said the

warning was important as Harmattan is known to pose an obvious threat to aircraft, particularly in areas of challenging terrains, due to low visibility.

He noted that the alert was in line with the Seasonal Rainfall Prediction issued by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) on the cessation of rainy season in 2014.

The Harmattan is a dry and dusty wind that blows southwards from the Sahara across the country between the end of November to March, the following year.

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powerful, slowmoving typhoon ripped through the central Philippines yesterday, bringing howling winds that flattened houses and toppled trees and power lines in areas still scarred from a deadly super-storm just over a year ago. In the coastal villages of Dolores, on Samar island, where Typhoon Hagupit first made landfall on Saturday night, Mayor Emiliana Villacarillo said around 80 percent of homes were destroyed.

“Only the big houses were left standing,” said Villacarillo, adding floods also washed away rice crops in what is a key growing region.

Officials confirmed at least three people had died

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

due to the typhoon, including a resident of Dolores town who was killed by a falling coconut tree. “The devastation in homes is huge because of the strong winds,” Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas told local radio DzBB from Samar.

“Many people voluntarily returned to evacuation centers tonight, even more than those who fled to centers last night, because they do not have homes anymore.”

But Hagupit did not appear to have wreaked destruction on the same scale as last year’s super typhoon Haiyan, in part because of a massive operation to evacuate residents from coastal and landslide-prone areas days before the storm hit. More

than 1.2 million people had crowded into over 1,500 schools, civic centers, town halls, gyms and churches used as evacuation centers across the central Philippines, said Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross.

Roxas said rescue teams cleared the highway to Dolores town of about 25 to 30 huge fallen trees. Some residents lined streets asking for food, water and other supplies.

Hagupit, which days earlier had reached category 5 “super typhoon” strength as it churned across the Pacific Ocean, weakened on Sunday to category 2 as it made a second landfall at Cataingan town in the south of Masbate island.

Residents taking shelter at an evacuation centre.

13 killed in failed US bid to rescue hostages in Yemen

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woman, a 10-yearold boy and a local al Qaeda leader were among at least 11 people killed alongside two Western hostages when U.S.-led forces fought Islamist militants in a failed rescue mission in Yemen, residents said yesterday.

U.S. special forces raided the village of Dafaar in Shabwa province, a militant stronghold in southern Yemen, shortly after

midnight on Saturday, killing several members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

American journalist Luke Somers, 33, and South African teacher Pierre Korkie, 56, were shot and killed by their captors during the raid intended to free them, U.S. officials said. AQAP, formed in 2006 by the merger of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of the network,

has for years been seen by Washington as one of the movement’s most dangerous branches.

Western governments fear advances by Shi’ite Muslim Houthi fighters with links to Iran have bolstered support among Yemeni Sunnis for AQAP, which has established itself in parts of south and east Yemen, including Shabwa where the raid took place.

UK closes embassy in Cairo over Broadband: Nigeria seeks more FDIs at ITU World security concerns Kunle Azeez

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he Nigerian government has expressed its resolve to engender increased foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the nation’s Information and Communication Technology sector.

The government yesterday wooed foreign investors with incentives at the ongoing International Telecommunica-

tion Union (ITU) Telecom World 2014, holding in Doha, Qatar.

According to Nigerian government, despite attaining active telephone line connectivity of 134.5 million and a teledensity of over 96 per cent, there was still much to do to achieve an all-inclusive penetration of telecommunications services, especially broadband, to every part of the country.

Addressing a large

gathering of telecoms investors, friends of Nigeria and the global Information and Communication Technology community at event, which started on Sunday, Nigeria’s Minister of Communication Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, said the government was upbeat in deepening investment with appropriate incentives to willing investors.

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he British Embassy in Cairo closed to the public yesterday due to security concerns, an embassy spokesperson said. The embassy declined to give details due to the sensitive nature of the matter but said it was working with Egyptian authorities to reopen as soon as possible. “The decision to suspend public services at the embassy has been taken for security reasons and is in the best interests

of our staff,” the spokesperson said. “The decision is independent of our wider travel advice for Egypt.”

Egypt is battling an Islamist insurgency largely centered around Sinai, a strategic area near the border with Israel, Gaza and the Suez Canal. One security source told Reuters it was not yet clear what threats had prompted the embassy to close its doors.

But another source, who spoke on condition of ano-

nymity, said a suspected militant who was recently detained by Egyptian authorities had confessed to plans to target foreign embassies.

Insurgent attacks have mostly targeted Egyptian police and soldiers, killing hundreds in the past year, but Egypt’s most dangerous militant group said on Monday it was behind the killing of an American oil engineer in the western desert in August.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

International Sport

Sports News

World Cup: Mabo tips Falcons to qualify from group

Real lucky to have Ronaldo – Ancelotti

Musa, Akpala, others hit target

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Sport Adekunle Salami

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ational table tennis player, Funke Oshonaike, has showered praises on her national team colleague, Aruna Quadri, for his consistency and remarkable exploits on the global stage.

Quadri was ranked 237 in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation in February but because of his exploits in various international meets in and out of Africa, he rose to 30th in the rankings in October.

During the period, he also became the African champion after

Quadri

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Sports News

Did you know?

That the ball used in professional football has remained exactly the same size and shape for 120 years.

Oshonaike salutes amazing rise of Quadri

l Says ITTF nomination historic beating all the Egyptian opposition to clinch the number one spot on the continent.

Oshonaike speaking exclusively to New Telegraph on the telephone tagged the exploits as historic and highly commendable.

She said: “Quadri is in fantastic form and we are all proud of him. It feels good to see your colleague rising so fast and getting the recogni-

tion of the international table tennis body.

“In all my years in the game, I cannot recall any other better feat achieved by a Nigerian and so quickly too. I am so happy for him. I have told him to keep it up and get better at the world stage,” On his nomination for the player of the year award, Oshonaike urged followers of the game on the conti-

nent to vote for Quadri.

“He can win the player of the year award and since it is by voting we all have to support him with our votes,” she added.

Oshonaike

Keshi must go now –Temile Ajibade Olusesan

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pinions are still divided over the decision to retain Stephen Keshi as the coach of the Super Eagles as two prominent football personalities, Chief Oyuki Obaseki, and former international, Clement Temile, hold different views on the future of the coach.

The former chairman of Nigeria Premier League, Obaseki, believes rather than throwing the baby away with the birth water by asking the coach to go, Nigerian Football Federation should look for solutions beyond the issue of the coach.

l No, he should stay - Obaseki

He said that some of those who are criticising the coach, although have the right to do so, have not done that with a positive disposition.

“I don’t know why many people who don’t know anything about football or the technicality of the game will quickly criticise the coach.

It is sad that the team could not make it to the Nations

Cup, nobody is happy about it, but I think the problem is beyond the coach. I will not blame the coach for seeking to stay on the job. You know where he picked the team from and turned it into an Africa Nations Cup winning side. I believe if we give him the chance, he may do that again,”Obaseki said.

But ex-inter national,

Temile said it was wrong for the federation to even contemplate retaining the coach.

He said since the coach had failed in his assignment the best thing was to allow him go.

He noted that the NFF would be setting a bad precedent if the body allowed the coach to stay.

“Keshi has done well for this country as a player and coach but this is the time for

him to go. Siasia failed to qualify the team for the Nations Cup and he was sacked and I don’t know why it is difficult to do the same thing this time. I heard it was an order from above but if the federation cannot take a decision as big as hiring a coach, then they don’t have business being there because that means they have failed to deliver on their mandate,” Temile said.

The Sport Team Adekunle Salami

Temile

Deputy Editor, Sports

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Editor, Sports

Ifeanyi Ibeh Sports Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan Sports Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sports Correspondent

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Super Eagles’ Raheem Lawal and Kenneth Omeruo

Obaseki

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MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

W’Cup: Mabo tips Falcons to qualify from group Adekunle Salami

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former coach of the Super Falcons, Ismaila Mabo, has tipped the female national team to qualify from the group stage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup scheduled to hold next year in Canada.

At the draw held late Saturday in Ottawa, Canada, Nigeria was drawn to play in Group D along with the USA, Sweden and Australia.

Mabo said it was not the first time the Falcons would

Nigeria vs Cameroon during the AWC final in Namibia

be facing tough oppositions at the group stage of the global football fiesta.

He noted that the important thing was a good preparation for the team to enable the players to stand firm against any opposition.

“We have good team that can come out of that group.

The gap between Nigeria and the top-rated women football countries in the world has reduced. With good planning, our players will generally do well in the competition,” he said.

Mabo recalled that Nigeria

was in the same group with USA in 1999 and still made it to the knock out stages of the event.

He said: “We were in same group with USA, Korea and Denmark. After we lost 7-1 to the USA in opening group match, we went ahead to beat Korea 2-1 and also defeated Denmark 2-0.

“With what I saw at the African Women Championship, I am very positive that the team will make it out of that group but as I said earlier, there must be adequate preparation for the ladies to make us happy.”

Group of Death: Falcons can overcome USA, others if… - Uche Glo-CAF Awards: Glo offers Benz G-wagon, other incentives to customers IfeanyiIbeh next year’s World Cup. don’t want that.

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ational telecom operator and title sponsor of the annual Glo-CAF Awards, Globacom has concluded arrangement to give a special treat to 250 customers who will be hosted as special guests at the 2014 GloCAF Awards event on January 8, 2015 in Lagos.

The 250 lucky customers will be selected through one of the two promos packaged ahead of the 2014 edition of the award that is designed to celebrate Africa’s most successful football stars.

The event will be held at the Eko Hotel and Suites.

The two promos are the “Reserve your seat at the Awards Event” and “Predict the Winners and Win Big”.

The Reserve your seat at the Awards Event will give Glo subscribers who recharge up to a total of N5, 000 or more in December 2014 an opportunity to secure a seat at the event. Also any customer who buys a smart phone from any Gloworld Shop will stand the chance of enjoying

the same opportunity.

Globacom has also developed another promo on the Glo-CAF Awards to empower Nigerians with mouth-watering prizes.

This is called Predict the Winners and Win Big. It is an SMSbased promotion that will run between now and January 8, 2015.

Nagasai Viswanath, Globacom’s Head of Value Added Service, said customers who wish to participate should correctly predict any of the winners in three Glo-CAF Awards categories: African Footballer of the year, African Female Player of the year and African Coach of the Year. Globacom urged subscribers to send the names of their predicted winners to 55055 via SMS at the cost of N100 per SMS. He listed the prizes to be won to include Mercedes Benz G Wagon, 10 return tickets to Old Trafford, home ground of Manchester United, and over 1,000 prizes of free airtime of N10, 000 each.

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ormer coach of Nigeria’s women’s national team, Eucharia Uche, is confident the Super Falcons can progress to the knockout rounds, and even go all the way, at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada despite finding themselves in the tournament’s proverbial ‘Group of Death’.

The Super Falcons will slug it out in Group D with two-time world champions, the United States of America; Sweden and Australia for a place in the second round at

Nigeria’s very important to CAF, says Hayatou

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resident of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Issa Hayatou, has affirmed that failure to qualify for the 30th Africa Cup of Nations has not diminished the importance of Nigeria to the entire structure of African football.

In a chat with President of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, after the Draw Ceremony for the championship in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday, Hayatou admitted that the entire African football family will miss the Super Eagles at next year’s finals.

“The whole of Africa will miss Nigeria in Equatorial Guinea. But the

absence will not in any way diminish your stature as a very big and influential nation in the African game.

“It would have been good to have the defending champions here. Nigeria brings so much value to the Africa Cup of Nations. However, we know that you will come back much stronger, as you did in winning the Cup in South Africa last year after missing out of the 2012 championship.”

Africa’s football supremo also celebrated the vitality and enterprise that the youthful Amaju Pinnick will bring to Nigeria’s football administration, while formally welcoming him to the African football family.

Pinnick reassures Falcons on preparation

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resident of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick has once again assured the Super Falcons of high-level preparations ahead of the 7th FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in Canada next year summer.

The NFF supremo spoke on Saturday night, hours after the African champions were drawn in the same group with United States of America, Australia and Sweden at the finals taking place from June 6 to July 5, 2015 across six Canadian cities.

“It is a tough group. You can see that even the Americans are calling it the most difficult group in the competition.

“However, our pledge to give the Super Falcons the best high-performance preparation possible is intact. They will go to a very good environment for their final camping programme and be engaged in quality friendly matches before the finals,” Pinnick reassured.

Nigeria’s senior women’s team won a seventh African title in Namibia in October and will be expected to fly Africa’s flag high in North America.

“It is important that we exceed our previous best performance of a quarter-final berth. Having dominated Africa ceaselessly, it is time that we began to dominate the world.

Uche accepts that the reigning African champions will need to be at their best in order to stand a chance of making it out of Group D, but reckons that with the quality of players available to the team’s coaching crew they should be able to pick one of the two automatic tickets to the tournament’s round of 16.

“It is a very tough group. It truly is (the Group of Death) as all the teams are first-class teams,” declared Uche.

“You just have to be at your best in order to stand a chance otherwise you will be on the first flight back home at the end of the first round, and we

Super Falcons celebrating with Oshoala after her goal against Cameroun

“We all want the best for our team but so do the Australians, the Swedes and the Americans. And they will all be doing their best to prepare for the World Cup, so we have to also do the same otherwise we would be in trouble.

“We have a team that has the potential of becoming a force in the world; a team with a good blend of youth and experience. So, with good preparations I believe we can qualify for the next round,” stressed the former Nigeria international.

For that to come to pass though, a whole lot depends on the Nigeria Football Federation. And Uche has called on the NFF to lay greater emphasis on the women’s game.

“I have said it time and again that it will take many years before the Super Eagles can win the World Cup but our women have continuously shown that if given the same encouragement (as the men) that they can dominate the world,” she continued.

“So we need to arrange training camps and send the team out on playing tours against the big teams; teams that are similar in playing style to the teams we are going to be playing against.

Fresh praises attitude of elite referees in London

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hairman of the Referees Committee of Nigeria Football Federation, Yusuf Ahmed Fresh, on Sunday praised the general attitude and commitment of Nigeria’s elite referees who are currently on a two-week capacity enhancing programme in the United Kingdom.

Fresh, also a member of the NFF Executive Committee, is the leader of delegation at the programme.

“I am impressed by the spirit that the referees have brought to this programme. They have shown total dedication and I am very proud to be leading this group of worthy ambassadors,” Fresh said on the telephone from London.

The contingent, also including the President of Nigeria Referees Association, Ahmed Maude, arrived in London last Wednesday after flying from Lagos.

On Thursday, the 11 referees had their first training session at Wembley Stadium, where Ian Blanchard, head of refereeing at The Football Association, lectured them for three hours on structure

of refereeing, laws of the game and players/coaches/referees’ relationship.

On Friday, the referees were at Southampton’s St. Mary’s ground to watch a match between the U-18 teams of Southampton and West Brom, after which they were engaged in a two-hour question-and-answer session with Mr. Albert, head of refereeing at Southampton.

Nigeria’s leading arbiters were at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Saturday to watch the English Premiership match between Manchester City and Everton, which City won 1-0.

They wrote a report of the refereeing aspect immediately after the match.

The referees will this week embark on a tour of Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium, be involved in analysing weekend Premier League matches, visit The FA’s High Performance training facility at St. George’s Park and be at a referees’ training organisation’s ground to give talk on fitness and conditioning.

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NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

Real lucky to have Ronaldo – Ancelotti

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arlo Ancelotti has showered praises on Cristiano Ronaldo after he scored all three goals in Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Celta Vigo.

Ronaldo was on target in the 36th, 65th and 81st minutes as Los Blancos ran riot at the Bernabeu and moved on to 36 points from 14 games in La Liga.

Ancelotti is delighted to be able to call upon Ronaldo, who led what is Real Madrid’s 18th consecutive win in all competitions.

“It is a real advan-

tage to have Cristiano playing for us”, the Italian said via his club’s site. “He is playing really well and he is in peak physical condition, he is extraordinarily motivated at the moment.”

And Ancelotti is hoping that Real Madrid’s remarkable winning run can continue.

“We played well, our good run continues and I hope it lasts for many more matches.”

The Spaniards are next in action against Ludogorets Razgrad in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Chelsea must fight for title,says Courtois

T

hibaut Courtois has urged his Chelsea teammates to put their first defeat of the season behind them to cement their place at the top of the Premier League table.

The Blues ended up on the wrong end of the scoreline for the first time in 22 games in all competitions at Newcastle on Saturday as substitute Papiss Cisse’s second-half double secured a 2-1 victory for the Magpies.

Courtois, 22, insists they must forget the disappointment at St James’ Park as they prepare for Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon before turning their attention to Hull’s visit to Stamford Bridge and the business of winning

Ibra feeling good after brace

Z

latan Ibrahimovic said he was working his way back to full fitness after inspiring Paris SaintGermain to a 2-1 win over Nantes on Saturday.

Ibrahimovic has struggled with a heel injury for the majority of the 201415 Ligue 1 campaign, a problem that is expected to hamper the Swede for the rest of the season according to PSG doctor Eric Rolland.

But the Sweden international came to PSG’s rescue at the Parc de Princes, scoring twice in the space of 14 minutes.

After scoring his third goal in two games, having missed the midweek draw at Lille, Ibrahimovic said

Ronaldo

Federer leads Indian Aces to victory

R

oger Federer enjoyed a dominant IPTL debut, winning three sets to help the Indian Aces to a 26-16 win over Singapore Slammers and add the inaugural Asian tournament to his lengthy list of conquered competitions.

The IPTL’s third leg, which began on Saturday morning in Delhi, was largely centred around Federer making his tournament debut, and he did not disappoint an expectant crowd.

A singles victory over Tomas Berdych was preceded by men’s doubles and mixed

doubles victories, helping the Aces to win four of the five sets.

Another Aces debutant,14time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras, also made his first IPTL appearance but couldn’t make Federer’s impact – the American slipped to a 6-2 defeat to Pat Rafter in a legend’s match to open the day’s play.

But the Slammers would enjoy no further luck once Federer took to the court for three consecutive sets.

The Swiss icon teamed up with Indian players Sania Mirza and then Rohan Bo-

panna, winning 6-0 and 6-1 in the match’s two doubles sets. Federer had won 12 of his first 13 games as the atmosphere bubbled around his majestic strokeplay.

Khan

Premier League West Ham 3 – 1 Swansea Newcastle 2 – 1 Chelsea Hull 0 – 0 West Brom Liverpool 0 – 0 Sunderland QPR 2 – 0 Burnley Stoke 3 – 2 Arsenal Tottenham 0 – 0 C’Palace Man City 1 – 0 Everton

Napoli 2 – 2 Empoli Genoa 1 – 0 AC Milan Federer

Parma 1 – 2 Lazio Ibrahimovic

opponent on Saturday.

“I think this Devon Alexander will be tougher,” he told Sky Sports. “I think in a fight with Kell you’re looking for his shots more, you’re waiting, being more patient. It’s not going to be explosive. A fight that is not going to work you hard.

“The workrate is going to be low but against Devon it is going to be high. I also think Devon has better footwork with his angles. I think his fight will be tougher.”

F

ment with Monaco.

The French outfit had agreed to sign Valdes in the summer when his Barcelona contract expired.

But they backed out of the deal when the 32-year-old suffered his knee injury

RESULTS

Atalanta 3 – 2 Cesena

Valdes ready to join United

ormer Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes is ready to sign for Manchester United, according to reports in Spain.

Valdes left United last month amid reports that he had severed his ties with them after training at Carrington for a few weeks to finish his rehabilitation following a serious knee injury.

But he subsequently returned to United. The latest reports suggest that the short break was to finalise a financial settle-

he would be back to his best soon.

“I felt good out there tonight. Match after match, I’m getting better,” Ibrahimovic is quoted as telling PSG’s official website.

“I’m not yet 100 per cent but if I continue like this I’ll get back to my best.

Serie A

Why I’m fighting Alexander – Khan A mir Khan believes Devon Alexander is going to be a tougher test than British rival Kell Brook.

The welterweight takes on the two-time world champion next weekend at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.

Khan is of course linked with an all-British showdown with Brook but wasted no time telling the IBF champion he is not only behind the top fighters like Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, but is less of a threat than his

the title.

“That’s the most important, that we are still leaders and from the next game on, we will fight to keep that bonus up and make the gap bigger,” he told Chelsea TV. “There are only difficult games in the Premier League and we know that. The next game is in the Champions League at home and then against Hull, we have to win in front of our fans.”

Chelsea, who have now lost on their last three league visits to St James’ Park, left the north east for the second time in a week wondering how they were doing so without three points.

Valdes

in between agreeing to join them and the end of his Barcelona contract.

Monaco had apparently offered a €10m-a-year salary plus a €20m signing-on fee to convince Valdes to join them.

City to face Roma without injured Aguero

Roma 2 – 2 Sassuolo Torino 2 – 2 Palermo Fiorentina 0 – 0 Juventus

La Liga Vallecano 0 – 1 Sevilla Elche 0 – 2 Atl. Madrid Ath. Bilbao 0 – 1 Cordoba Real Madrid 3 – 0 Celta Vigo La Coruna 0 – 1 Malaga Barcelona 5 - 1 Espanyol

Aguero

M

anchester City striker Sergio Aguero has suffered knee ligament damage and will miss Wednesday’s Champion’s League clash against Roma.

The Argentine was substituted just two minutes into the 1-0 Premier League home victory over Everton on Saturday following a collision with Gareth Barry and was immediately taken down the tunnel for treatment.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini confirmed the extent of the injury after the game and admitted there is some concern over the club’s top-scorer this season.

“Sergio has a problem in his knee ligament. We will see how serious it is after he has had a scan,” Pellegrini told Sky Sports. “It is not good news and I don’t think he will be able to play. He will not be with us for Roma – which is an important game.

“He was more calm when I saw him after seeing the doctor but generally we are not sure how he is.”

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Team P GD 1 Chelsea 15 21 2 Man City 15 18 3 West Ham 15 8 4 Southampton 14 14 5 Man United 14 8 6 Arsenal 15 6

Pts 36 33 27 26 25 23

7 Newcastle 8 Swansea City 9 Liverpool 10 Tottenham 11 Aston Villa 12 Everton 13 Stoke City 14 Sunderland 15 C/Palace 16 West Brom 17 QPR 18 Hull City 19 Burnley 20 Leicester

23 22 21 21 19 18 18 15 14 14 14 13 12 10

15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

-1 3 0 -3 -9 1 -3 -10 -5 -6

-11 -6 -14 -11

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SPORT

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 NEW TELEGRAPH

Musa, Akpala, others hit target

NPA Open: Enosoregbe, Agugbom emerge champions

C

lifford Enosoregbe and Christie Agugbom at the weekend emerged champions in the men and women singles of the first Nigeria Ports Authority, (NPA) National Tennis Open held in Abuja Enosoregbe, who is Nigeria’s top-ranked male player defeated hard-hitting player, Emmanuel Idoko, 6-1, 6-4 to further consolidate his grip on the rating in the country.

“I am very happy and excited to have won here.

It leaves me strong going to Kano where I also have a title to defend this week. I have said this before and I must repeat it

lMikel misfires in first start

Ajibade Olusesan

A

hmed Musa has continued his rich vein of form as he scored the only goal in CSKA Moscow’s 1-0 win over Kuban’ Krasnodar on Saturday. Joseph Apala, Anthony Ujah and Theophilus Solomon are the other Nigerian scorers in Europe last weekend.

Musa hit target on the stroke of half time at the Stadion Kuban to increase his season tally to seven, equalling the number of goals he managed throughout last season.

Akpala appears to have rediscovered his form in front of goal as he netted a brace for Karabukspor on Sunday in a 3-0 win over hosts Rizespor in a Turkish league game. The former Werder Bremen striker has now scored three goals within a week. His compatriot, Godfrey Oboabona, was not listed by Rizespor.

Ujah scored in the 13th minute for Cologne but it was not enough as Augsburg defeated them 2-1 on Saturday. The strike was Ujah’s fifth this season. Former U-20 player, Solomon, scored his first league goal for his side NK Zadar in the 5-2 loss to Lokomotiva Zagreb in the Croatia top flight league.

In England, Mikel Obi started

Musa (right)

for Chelsea for the first time this season but he did not cover himself in glory as the Blues lost their 23-match unbeaten run. Mikel’s performance in the game has been criticised.

Sone Aluko started for Hull City in their goalless draw with West Brom at home. Victor Anichebe also started for the visitors but Brown Ideye was introduced in the 80th minute but was unable to score his first league goal.

In France, injured left-back Elderson Echiejille expectedly missed the match day action as AS Monaco beat Toulouse 2-0.

Reuben Gabriel and Michael Uchebo played for the entire duration as Boavista lost 3-1 to Sporting CP.

again, if we can always move around this way (from Governor’s Cup, NPA Open, Dala Hard Court, Tennis Masters), our players will be better for it,” he said after he was rewarded with N300, 000 and a trophy.

Agugbom on her part, survived a scare against Osareimen Airhunwunde, who surprisingly won the opening set 6-2, before the 2014 CBN Open queen rallied to win the match beating her opponent in the second and third sets 6-2, 6-3 to pocket the N300, 000 winner’s prize and also taking home a giant trophy.

Agugbom, commend-

ed her opponent for her display saying she never expected to cause much trouble for her as she did.

Nigeria Tennis Federation President, Engr. Sani Ndanusa, commended the NPA for their sponsorship, describing their partnership with the NTF as crucial in the drive for the development of tennis in Nigeria.

He said: Honestly, we are most grateful to our sponsors for giving us such an entertaining tournament. We believe that the youngsters who have emerged from this championship will maintain the tempo in subsequent events.”

Siasia struggles to secure release of Arsenal’s Ajayi

T

he Nigeria Football Federation is battling to secure the release of Arsenal centre back Semi Ajayi for Nigeria’s Under 23 National Team training camp, according to his agent.

The team’s coach Samson Siasia has always maintained that the 21-year-old is in his plans, and true to his words, he called the ex- Flying Eagles defender along with 46 other players for a screening exercise. But club commitments with the Gunners might prevent Semi Ajayi from embarking on the journey from

London to Abuja this month. ‘’We are aware of his invitation but I don’t think Arsenal will release him. I am not sure

Ajayi

they will, we will have to wait,’’ Ajayi’s agent told SL10.ng.

Only last year, Ajayi was hoping to make the Flying Eagles squad, having trained with the team in Germany, but then coach John Obuh surprisingly declared him surplus to requirements when he named his final roster. Nonetheless, that did not diminish his worth in the eyes of manager Arsene Wenger, with the Frenchman including the youngster in two of his match day squads this season.

NEW TELEGRAPH MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

55

Sanctity of Truth

On Marble

World Record

“Frustration is the result of failed expectations.”

– Stuart Kidder

Leisure & Puzzle

T

Largest ever snake, Medusa, a reticulated python, clocked in at 7.67 meters (25 feet, 2 inches) long in its official world record measurement, on October 12, 2011

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

}44

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014

N150

The Barbarians of our time

hirty-six innocent ‘’non-muslim’’ souls were slaughtered in cold blood in Kenya on December 2 by Al Shabab. Amongst them were defenceless women and children. The same thing happened in Kano, Nigeria four days earlier when over 200 innocent ‘’muslim’’ souls were blown up in a mosque by Boko Haram suicide bombers.

Three days earlier, 70 innocent ‘’muslim’’ and ‘’non-muslim’’ souls were killed

by Boko Haram in the ancient cities of Maiduguri and Potiskum. It just goes on and on: the nightmare never ends and the shower of blood continues.

Every single day, somewhere in the world, the innocent are hacked down and cut to pieces by our modern-day jihadists who thrive on terror and who feed on human flesh, human blood and unmitigated and unrestrained carnage.

Africa and indeed the world is slowly bleeding to death and our sons and daughters are being slaughtered like flies by those that are best described as the lowest form of filth and vermin yet we still shy away from speaking the hard and bitter truth. And what is that hard and bitter truth?

Today, more than ever, the world is suffering from the grave error and manifest unbelief of the biblical Father Abraham who, when promised a son through his aged wife Sarah, refused to trust and believe God and instead entered the bonded woman Hagar, who took seed and brought forth a son for him by the name of Ishmael.

Ishmael was the father of Islam whilst Isaac, the promised child and the son of Sarah who came a few years later, was the father of Judaism and Christianity.

From the advent of time, the seed of Abraham’s two sons, the son of the bonded woman and the promised child, have either been at war or have viewed one another with the greatest suspicion and caution.

A thousand four hundred years, after Islam was established came ISIL, ISIS, Al Shabab, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al Nosra and countless other terror groups that corrupted and perverted the original teachings of that great faith. And since the advent of jihad and Islamist terror, the world has not known peace and the nations of the earth continue to suffer.

Babies have been cut into two, infants have been crucified, children have been butchered and beheaded, little girls have been sodomised and raped to death, women have been stoned and enslaved, men have been castrated, children have been orphaned, wives have been widowed, husbands have witnessed the violation of their wives, nations have been conquered, churches have been burnt to ashes, mosques and ancient sites have been bombed, towns have been ravaged and whole communities have been pillaged and turned into Nazi-like concentration camps where violence, fear, intimidation and pestilence is legal tender. That is the hard and bitter truth.

Permit me to share just one more example of that suffering with you here.

On November 28, the same day that no less than 200 innocent Nigerians were

Crossfire FEMI FANI-KAYODE

ffk2011@aol.com

Shekau

blown up in a Kano mosque by Boko Haram, over 314 innocent Muslim and nonMuslim civilians were skinned alive and crucified in the killing fields and inner cities of Syria and Iraq by the jihadists of ISIL. Such manifest brutality and such a heartless bloodfest has rarely been seen in the annals of world history yet it appears that these terror groups enjoy the covert support of many from all over the world.

The truth is that supporting violent islamist groups like Boko Haram and ISIL, for whatever reason, is the manifestation and expression of cruelty and evil in its purest and most perverse form. It is the glorification of carnage, barbarity and wickedness and it is the celebration of ethnic cleansing and genocide. May God curse those who do so.

So many questions need to be answered. In the Nigerian context some of those questions are the ones that were put by Mr. Egheomhanre Eyieyien, an aspirant for the Nigerian Senate from Edo state, who made the following contribution on his Facebook page on 30 November. He wrote: ‘’Now that Kano has an Emir who is an ....... himself, I find it rather curious that he FINALLY said something which is against Boko Haram and then the Mosque at which he usually preaches every Friday was bombed by suicide-bombers WHEN he was not in attendance. Several questions on my mind: 1. What led Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to tell the worshippers at the Kano Central Mosque about two weeks ago that “Muslims should defend themselves against Boko Haram” when he knows that Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor was severely criticised when he called on Christians to defend themselves against the same

Islamist jihadist terrorists after they bombed St. Theresa’s Catholic Church Suleja in Niger State in 2011?

2. Why did Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi miss the Jumat Service last Friday at the Kano Central Mosque?

3. Did Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi know about the planned suicide-bombing of the Mosque?

4. If Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi had fore-knowledge of the attack, did he warn the security agencies?

5. If Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi somehow knew about an imminent attack on the Kano Central Mosque, what steps did he take to avert the attack or ensure that the Mosque was better secured?

The role that ...... played in instigating the riot which resulted in the beheading of Gideon Akaluka in Kano by a mob of Islamists is still very fresh in our memory.

We will get justice for Gideon Akaluka some day soon by God’s Grace!’’

These are profound and disturbing questions that have been put by a deeply courageous soul who has boldly spoken the minds of many. Kudos to Mr. Eyieyien.

Yet there is one more question that needs to be asked and that question is as follows.

Why did the Sultan of Sokoto, the reverred and respected leader of the Muslim community in northern Nigeria, feel that it was appropriate to tell Boko Haram to ‘’stop killing Muslims?’’ He did not tell them to stop killing ‘’Nigerians’’ but rather to stop killing ‘’muslims’’. What coded message and subterranean signal was he sending?

The logical implication of his directive and the inference that can be drawn from it is that he has no objection to the killing of Christians and other nonmuslims. Are the lives of Christians and other non-Muslims not as important to the Sultan as the lives of Muslims? Again why did he see fit to write to ISIL and urge them to stop their bloody onslaught and war of terror against ALL the people of the Middle East and not see fit to write to Boko Haram to stop doing the same in Nigeria?

Given this, the admonition of the much-loved President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, that the Sultan ought to write a letter to Boko Haram as well was timely and appropriate.

In order to get a better grasp of the problem that we have been confronted with in Nigeria, permit me to end Part 1 of this essay by quoting extensively from an interesting essay titled ‘’The Plot To Islamise Nigeria’’ which was written by Pastor Jonah Isah and which was widely published on the internet on June 22nd 2014. He wrote, ‘’Promotion in the civil service de-

pended on if a candidate had converted to Islam. The late Sardauna promised to “dip the Koran into the sea” meaning he will spread Islam from the far North across the country to the Atlantic Ocean before he was done.

This agenda of “dipping the Koran to the sea” has continued unabated till date by consistent terror attacks and killings in the middle belt followed by mass movement of new communities of Hausa Fulani into the middle belt all the way down to the south states near the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1960, the late Sir Ahmadu Bello said “The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great-grandfather, Uthman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities of the North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us, and never allow them to have control over their future.” (Parrot Newspaper, 12th Oct. 1960; republished on November 13, 2002, by the Tribune Newspaper, Ibadan.); • The Conference of Northern Chiefs, in response to a letter from the UK-based West African Students’ Union (WASU) to the Northern emirs asking them to support the constitutional evolution of Nigeria into an independent nation, had declared “holding this country together is not possible except by means of the religion of the Prophet. If they want political unity let them follow our religion.” (Obafemi Awolowo, Path to Nigerian Freedom, London: Faber and Faber, 1947, p.51.); • During military rule in the 1970s, Christian missionary schools were forcibly taken over by government, and in many instances their names changed to Islamic ones; • As late as 1997 under General Sani Abacha’s rule, all Police Commissioners in Nigeria were Muslims; • In 1990, all members of the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) were Muslims except General Ike Nwachukwu, an Igbo, whose mother was a Fulani Muslim; • During military rule, General Ibrahim Babangida surreptitiously registered Nigeria as a member state of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) without tabling the issue before the AFRC. The then second in command, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe told the world that he heard about Nigeria’s membership of OIC like everybody else in the media. A year later, 1986, was promptly removed and retired from the Navy; • Babangida hosted the first Islam in Africa conference in Abuja and donated Federal Government funds to its operations, including its vision of transforming Nigeria to an Islamic state and enthroning the Sultan of Sokoto as its “supreme ruler”.

• Under the presidency of General Olusegun Obasanjo, 1999-2007, the Sharia code of Islamic law was re-introduced in the North in an expanded format. Islamic Police (Hisbah) was introduced and Christian girls were abducted, forcibly converted and married off to Muslims in Bauchi, Kaduna, Niger and Zamfara states. The Sharia Commissions of the states merely wrote parents informing them that their daughters had converted and had been given out in marriage’’.

To be continued

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