Binder1 thursday april 24, 2014

Sanctity of Truth Facebook.com/newtelegraph

Thursday, April 24, 2014 Vol. 1 No. 65

twitter.com/newtelegraph1

www.newtelegraphonline.com

N150

Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper in politics and business

National confab

lCommittee retains 36 states structure lTempers flare over resource control, derivation formula lDefectors must lose seats }5 & 55

NCC vice chair, telecoms chiefs risk jail over contempt charge Foluso Ogunmodede officials of three Topmobile telecommunica-

tion firms and the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Com-

munication Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Ikemefuna Jumah, may be jailed should a contempt

proceeding against them sail through.

The top officials are C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 3

Boko Haram scare in Lagos

lPolice deny sect killing of policemen on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway lSoyinka carpets presidency on insecurity lBuhari a patriot, says Jonathan Tunde Sulaiman, Juliana Francis, Sola Adeyemo and Muritala Ayinla

T

here was panic in Lagos yesterday over a purported Boko Haram attack along the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which reportedly claimed the lives of nine policemen and 11 civilians.

The report, which went viral on the social media, had it that the suspected Boko Haram men numbering 18 were armed with AK 47 rifles.

The social media broadcast said: “If you are on the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway going towards Ibadan, please turn back. Eighteen suspected Boko Haram members are on the highway now displaying their skills. Nine policemen and 11 civilians had been confirmed dead by these gunmen while trying to stop them from shooting.”

As the report went C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 2

Gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway following the Boko Haram false alarm... yesterday

Alleged genocide against North

FG, Marwa to Nyako: You’re irresponsible Anule Emmanuel and Ibrahim Abdul

M

inister of Information, Labaran Maku, and former Military

Governor of Lagos, Brig.

General Buba Marwa (rtd), have described the letter written by the Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako, accusing

NEWS

Rig Osun, Ekiti elections, get roasted, Tinubu tells PDP

the Federal Government of genocide in the northern region as irresponsible.

The information minister who briefed State

POLITICS

}5

Obama recognises importance of Nigeria-US ties –Adefuye }13

House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa said such comments from a state governor were

divisive.

Nyako in the memo to the Northern Governors Forum, among others, accused President Goodluck Jonathan of carrying out

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4

LAGOS

Thunder Storms

32OC |25OC

METRO

Parents, syndicate make money from baby’s cancer

genocide against the North under the pretext of

For subscription, advert and story tips, please call

}12

+234 (1)221 9496, 08033392655, 08023010222

2

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Boko Haram scare in Lagos CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

viral, Lagos, Ogun and Oyo residents got panicky with residents calling their relatives not to embark on any journey on the axis, while those en route were advised to turn back.

It took the intervention of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo state police commands to defuse the tension.

Heightened security at the Berger end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in apparent response to the scare also caused a gridlock on the busy motorway.

The checkpoint, which had a number of police vehicles, including a police armoured personnel carrier (APC) in the vicinity, was manned by regular uniformed policemen, backed by soldiers and plainclothes officers all carrying assault rifles.

The gridlock backed up traffic beyond Arepo making a journey from the area, which normally takes about 20 minutes to last almost two hours.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Umar Manko, however dismissed the claim.

Explaining what happened, Manko said some hoodlums had attempted to highjack trucks loaded

with wheat, leading to a fracas, which necessitated police intervention.

Addressing journalists in his office at the Police Headquarters, Ikeja, Manko said: “There’s nothing true about the story. There’s no Boko Haram in Lagos. What happened today was that trucks loaded with bags of wheat were stopped along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway by hoodlums who wanted to highjack the bags of wheat. The hoodlums had an encounter with the police. That’s what people saw and panicked. Lagosians should go about their lawful activities.”

He added that though the news was not genuine, the command had, however, drafted teams of police to the axis.

Commenting on panic being created by BBM users, Manko said: “We can’t

do anything about social media network users. We can’t police it. What we can do however is to let members of the public know the truth, that such rumours are not true! We however urge people not to create panic. People should learn to provide relevant and accurate information.”

Also reacting to the rumour, Ogun State Police Command, spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said: “The attention of the Ogun State Command has been drawn to a rumour widely broadcast on social media that Boko Haram members are operating along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway and killed some policemen and civilians.

“There is no iota of truth in the statement as nothing of such happened along the express or any part of Ogun State. It’s the

handiwork of mischiefmakers to create fear in the minds of people.

“Probably the rumour mongers took the presence of police and other security agencies at a point where a truck, loaded with wheat, fell across the expressway between Fidiwo and Ogunmakin in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State for Boko Haram attack.

“The police and other security agencies, including FRSC, TRACE, and NA are at the point to clear the obstruction and not a Boko Haram attack.

“The command urges the general public to disregard the rumour and go about their lawful businesses as all hands were on deck to curtail any breakdown of law and order in the state.”

Reacting in Oyo State, the State Police Command said the report was false

FLIGHT SCHEDULE and “a concoction of demented souls.”

According to the command’s spokesperson, Olabisi Okuwobi-Ilobanafor (SP), “It has come to the knowledge of Oyo State Police Command, the vicious rumour making the rounds through social media and text messages that 18 suspected Boko Haram members had laid siege to Lagos-Ibadan Express Road with AK47 rifles where it was claimed they killed nine policemen and 11 civilians. The rumour is not only untrue but it is a concoction of lies that emanated from the minds of demented souls.

“Members of the public are advised to discountenance the web of wicked lies and desist from assisting the rumour mongers to spread falsehood through their phones or social media.

C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4

35o C 25oC Partially Cloudy

PORT HARCOURT

28oC 11oC Storm

KANO

ENUGU

34o C 24oC Thunder Storms

IBADAN

21o C 11oC Partially Cloudy

CALABAR

29oC 23oC Storm

MAIDUGURI

40o C 27oC Partially Cloudy

ONITSHA

L-R: Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide; Minister of State for Agriculture, Hajiya Asma’u Ahmed; Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and Minister of Sports, Dr. Tamuno Danagogo during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held at the State House, Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN.

39oC 24oC Mostly Sunny

34o C 24oC Thunder Storms

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

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST ABUJA

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

Three die as soldiers repel Boko Haram attack in Adamawa

Two attackers killed Ibrahim Abdul Yola

G

unmen yesterday struck at Sabongari Hyambula village bordering Gwoza in Madagali Local Government of Adamawa killing a soldier and other civilians.

Two of the attackers were also killed in the ensuing gun duel with security operatives.

A local resident, James Zamdai, said the gunmen struck at night at the military checkpoint which led

to the death of a soldier.

He said the soldiers repelled the attackers after a prolonged gun duel during which two of the attackers were killed.

“The attackers came in a large convoy and launched attack on the military checkpoint with the intention of routing them before proceeding to the town.

“The valiant soldiers repelled them after a prolonged gun duel which resulted in the death of five persons, including a

soldier, two civilians and two of the attackers,” he said.

Another resident, Mary Dauda, said, “On hearing the extensive gun duel, the people of the area fled to adjoining hills and bushes for the fear of the unknown.”

The council chairman of Madagali Local Government, Mr. Abawu James Watharda, confirmed the incident, saying normalcy had since returned to the area.

Watharda said soldiers were able to repel the attackers and fleeing resi-

dents had started returning.

“Though I cannot confirm the exact casualty but lives were lost and the soldiers have tried. I called on the fleeing residents to come back to their homes as the soldiers are now on top of the situation and they assured us of the safety of residents,” the chairman urges.

In the meantime, efforts to reach the Military spokesman, 23rd Armoured Brigade, Yola, Captain Jafaru Nuhu proved abortive as he did not pick calls.

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

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

3

Troops capture, kill suspected terrorists Emmanuel Onani

T

roops in the North Central states of Benue, Taraba and Plateau have arrested a “group of terrorists” masquerading as herdsmen from a camp in the outskirt of Wukari, in Taraba State.

The disclosure was contained in a statement made available to New Telegraph yesterday, by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade.

The statement added

that some attackers “died after an attack on military check point at Gindin Dorowa, a suburb of Wukari...”

The statement further noted that the fighters engaged troops in a fierce gun battle, after their camp was uncovered through air surveillance.

“The terrorists were clad in the usual pattern of dress of their counterparts operating in Borno and Yobe states.

“One of the apprehended armed men confessed that he had been fighting

for the terrorist group in Borno State and was recently brought to Wukari area in furtherance of their mission. Assorted arms and ammunition were recovered from them,” the statement said.

This is even as the

DHQ has promised to relax the curfew imposed on Wukari, in the wake of the deadly attacks as soon as normalcy was restored.

Meanwhile, troops are said to “have maintained patrol of the area while a house-to-house search for arms is ongoing.”

In a related development, the DHQ said “troops on patrol of the Lake Chad Islands have made some arrests”, among which is the arrest of “a boat operator who ferries terrorists across the Lake Chad while another confessed to being

a supplier of hard drugs to the terrorist groups in the area.”

It assured parents and guardians of abducted students of Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, that efforts were being intensified to rescue the girls.

Soyinka carpets presidency on insecurity Joe Ezuma Port Harcourt

N

obel Laureate, Prof.

Wole Soyinka, yesterday carpeted President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of gallivanting and paying lip service to the issue of insecurity, while the nation is held hostage by the Boko Haram sect.

On his part, former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, called for the fostering of peace to enhance the socioeconomic and political development of the nation.

Soyinka and Abubakar spoke at the opening ceremony of the Port Harcourt/UNESCO Book Capital, held at the Hotel Presidential, Rivers State.

Speaking on the theme: ‘The Republic of the Mind and the Trojan of Fear’, Soyinka faulted the President and the nation’s security operatives for allowing crimes against humanity to be committed right before them, while some of them were busy gallivanting.

Soyinka, who maintained that “those killers and abductors are not Muslims, for the Koran did not preach the killing of innocent children,” said: “We must rise up to condemn the Nyanya bomb blast and abduction of our daughters.

“Does Boko Haram represent the articulation of Muslims? We cannot fold our arms to watch our innocent daughters become sex slaves to hoodlums and terrorists; for that will be a betrayal of our children and consolidation of activities of the abductors. The

battle is very much ours, primarily ours,” he said.

While urging Nigerians to rise up against terrorism, Soyinka noted that members of the sect were residing in the midst of the people.

On his part, Abubakar, who was the chairman of the occasion, maintained that peace was the only panacea to the problem of insecurity and education.

“Without peace, there will be no security to read books, without peace there will be no opportunity for political and economic advancement, therefore it is the collective responsibility of all Nigerians to fight this scourge called terrorism to an end,” the former Head of State said.

In his address, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, criticised the nation’s electoral process, submitting that the system was characterised by fraud, intimidation and rigging, which, according to him, was why the people’s vote no longer count.

“In Nigeria, it does not cost much to be a governor, it is only a matter of being in the right party, and God helping, you become a governorship candidate.

During election, you sit down and someone writes your result for you, and you become a governor,” he affirmed.

Observing that politicians were no longer working hard to get the dividends of democracy to the people, Amaechi urged Nigerians, especially politicians, to emulate people like Soyinka and others, who worked hard to become what they are today.

L-R: Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed; Interim National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande; former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at the Ilorin International Airport...yesterday

NCC vice chair, telecoms chiefs risk jail over contempt charge CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

MTN’s managing director, Mr. Micheal Ikpoki; Airtel Networks Limited’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya and GLOBACOM Limited’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mohammed Jameel.

In a motion initiated by the Registered Trustees of National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), the trio were accused of contempt of court for allegedly complying with NCC’s directive by paying a N647.5million fine imposed on them two months after they were served with originating processes intimating them of the pendency of a suit against them.

Jumah, on his own part, is facing a jail term for imposing fines on the firms while a suit challenging his power was ongoing.

The four are to explain to Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos on May 8, why they should not be sent to prison over the alleged contemptuous acts committed before the court.

Specifically, NATCOMS’ lawyer, Prince Bayo Omotubora, said a fait accompli was imminent on the court unless the quartet were brought

to book otherwise the intent of the motion on notice would be rendered useless since Jumah, Ipoki, Ogunsanya and Jameel had allegedly demonstrated disrespect for the court.

He said: “NCC was served all the originating processes on January 22, 2014 whilst MTN, AIRTEL, ETISALAT and GLOBACOM were served on November 11, 2013 and despite the services of the processes on them, they ignored the court processes by not entering appearances and filing their defences within 30 days as allowed by the rules of court.

“While this suit was pending before the court, NCC in total contempt, with intent to contemptuously defeat or prejudice the applicants’ claims, purportedly on Monday February 24, 2014 imposed a fine of N647.5million on MTN, AIRTEL and GLOBACOM and the details of the fines show that MTN and AIRTEL were to pay a fine of N185 million each while GLOBACOM to pay a fine of N277.5million.

“On March 4, 2014, the applicants by a motion on notice dated March 3, 2014 sought some interlocutory injunctions restraining NCC from collecting the fines and the MTN, AIRTEL and GLOBACOM

from paying the fines and the said motion is now pending before the court.

“NCC under its executive direction of its chief executive officer, Dr. Eugene Ikemefuna Jumah resorted to subterranean intimidation against MTN, AIRTEL and GLOBACOM to pay up the fines and on March 7, 2014, MTN, AIRTEL and GLOBACOM paid up the fines totalling N647.5million and the NCC received same into its custody.

“The contemptuous acts of the NCC, MTN, AIRTEL and GLOBACOM chronicled above are aimed at defeating the applicants’ aforesaid motion on notice dated March 3, 2014 and to undermine the authority and integrity of the court and unless the court exercises its disciplinary jurisdiction against Dr. Eugene Ikemefuna Jumah, Mr. Micheal Ikpoki , Mr. Segun Ogunsanya and Mr. Mohammed Jameel, a state of helplessness and a fait accompli would be foisted on the court and the applicants as the reliefs sought in the main case and the motion dated March 3, 2014 would be rendered nugatory.”

NATCOMS is asking Justice Buba to grant an order to commit to prison

Jumah, Ikpoki, Ogunsanya and Jameel for the alleged contempt.

Also it asked that the quartet be compelled to ‘return forthwith a fine of N185million each to MTN, AIRTEL and N277.5million to GLOBACOM pending the final determination of the suit”.

Meanwhile, Justice Buba will on May 8 determine whether to jail the accused persons pending the final determination of the substantive matter.

NATCOMS had on October 10, 2013 approached the court, asking it to declare that “the unrelenting poor telecommunication services being offered

by MTN, AIRTEL and GLOBACOM to telecommunication subscribers on their networks fall far short of the high quality service” contravene Sections 1,4 and 104 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.

It particularly asked the court to compel the communication firms to pay compensation totalling N1.3 trillion and “credit forthwith the phone accounts of all subscribers on their networks with N10,000 worth of airtime each and such airtime to be eligible for on-net and off-net voice and data calls or uses for year 2013.”

4

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

2015: It’s Jonathan or nothing – Dokubo-Asari Charles Onyekwere Port Harcourt

L

eader of the defunct Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), Alhaji Mujaheed Dokubo-Asari, has restated his stand that it is either a Goodluck Jonathan presidency in 2015 or nothing in the country.

Similarly, human rights activist, Ms. Annkio Briggs has asked Jonathan to immediately declare his second-term bid not minding the distraction of Boko Haram.

Dokubo-Asari issued the threat while addressing participants at the 4th South-South Youth Leaders and Elders Interactive

President to Buhari: You’re a patriot Emmanuel Anule Abuja

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, described former Head of State, MajorGeneral Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), as a patriot.

In his reaction to Buhari’s condemnation of Boko Haram’s killings of Nigerians, Jonathan said such an open attack against the activities of fundamentalists by the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain is an indication that terror will become a thing of the past if all Nigerians can join hands with the Federal Government to fight the evil.

Jonathan, in a statement signed by Presidential Spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, said: “President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan commends General Muhammadu Buhari for his very statesman-like views on terrorism and insecurity in Nigeria as expressed in his article which was published by the media over the past two days.

“President Jonathan believes that the position taken by General Buhari is that of a true patriot, respected former Head of State, revered elder states-

man and nationalist.

“The President welcomes General Buhari’s call on all Nigerians to remain steadfast and work in unity to overcome terrorists and other merchants of death who currently threaten national security.

“President Jonathan fully shares General Buhari’s view that a minority must never be allowed to bring the nation to its knees through terror.

“He has noted General Buhari’s recommendation that the nation’s counter-terrorism strategies be further fine-tuned and welcomes his kind offer of support and cooperate in dealing with the challenge of terrorism.

“The president assures General Buhari of his administration’s sincere commitment and dedication to the successful prosecution of the fight against terrorism and all other threats to national security.

“He further assures the General of his preparedness to work with him and all other patriotic Nigerians, irrespective of their political affiliations, to strengthen national security and end the scourge of terrorism.”

Boko Haram scare in Lagos CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is safe and devoid of any violent attack,” Ilobanafor said.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) also debunked the Boko Haram attack on the LagosIbadan Expressway.

In a text message to New Telegraph, NEMA spokesperson, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said members of the public should disregard such inciting message, saying the security personnel had been deployed on the axis to comb the entire area but

found out that it was a false alarm.

He said: “Mobile policemen, the State Security Service (SSS), members of the JTF already designated to the route.

Other agencies such as FRSC, NSCDC, police from Ogun, Oyo and Lagos with aerial chopper to search for the possible hideouts.

“They all carried out search and surveillance in different ways. Joint Task force (JTF) is presently manning Ogere where it was rumoured that about 20 police men were killed.”

Forum in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, yesterday.

He described the Boko Haram insurgency in the northern part of the country and the attacks by herdsmen in the Middle Belt as a deliberate attempt by the Hausa/ Fulani to drive away the minorities ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Boko Haram insurgency has nothing to do with religion, he said, noting that those saying so only want to drag in religion to cause confusion among different religions.

The former warlord contended that power could not be with the majority forever.

He however expressed happiness that the SouthEast is fully behind the South-South in the fight, warning that nobody should attempt to take the Niger Delta for a ride.

Asari, however, said he regretted that the President was making things difficult for the zone by surrounding himself with “outsiders” instead of his people, adding that despite all odds his 2015 Presidency was sure.

On Rivers State, Asari described as unjust and unacceptable any attempt by any group or individual to enthrone another Ikwerre man after eight years of Governor Rotimi Amaechi as governor.

According to him, for equity and justice, the Ogoni should be allowed to produce the next governor in the state.

The activist charged the South-South people to prepare for the battle ahead, saying the countdown had begun.

In her own speech, the Director of Agape Birth-

rights and environmental/human rights activist, Annkio Briggs, said the Niger Deltans support for Jonathan was irrevocable.

She maintained that since 1960, all political policies in Nigeria have been against the Niger Delta and therefore, the President’s attention for the region should be first and foremost.

She urged the President to immediately declare his intention to run in the next election despite distractions by Boko Haram insurgents.

L-R: Members of the Committee on Political Party and Electoral Matters, National Conference, Chief Segun Osoba; former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani, and the chairman of the committee, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, during the meeting of the committee at Nicon Luxury, Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

Nyako’s statement irresponsible –FG, Marwa CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

fighting the Islamic Boko Haram sect.

Maku said such a statement should not come from an elected leader, not to talk of one who was once a military officer.

“This nation deserves security at this time. Even in the heat of crisis, you hear some irresponsible comments coming from highly placed people, including a governor. Now this nation is in need of unity but the way we are playing to the gallery, we are making irresponsible statements. We are making statements that will divide the country; statements that are setting the citizens against security services and government.

“When those statements come from people we believe should be leading the cause of unity, appreciating the great job the security are doing, it is very unfortunate. If only Nigerians understand that as we sit in this hall,

our security people are out there in the bush sleeping in the bush day and night and getting killed in the cause of maintaining the security of this country.

“But what we see is that people who have little knowledge on how security services are rendered will just open their mouth and make statements that create panic in the country and this is very unfortunate,” Maku declared.

Noting that Nyako is a former Chief of Naval Staff and elderly, Maku added: “He is old enough to appreciate the kind of crisis this country is going through. When people reach a certain age they should watch their utterances and the kind of things they say. Maybe young people like you and me we can say it is lack of experience, but people that have known the difficulty this country is going through and the kind of effort that is being made by the Federal Government

to come out to make those statements that divide the country at a point that we need national unity and national healing is grossly irresponsible.”

Maku noted that government was doing everything possible to rescue the school girls abducted in Chibok.

“The security forces are still on the heels of these kidnappers and every effort is being deployed to ensure that they are safe,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, former Borno and Lagos military governor, Marwa, accused Nyako of trying to incite the people of the North against Jonathan administration.

His words: “The statement of Governor Nyako, coming from a retired military officer, is shocking and worrisome and I hope people like him should not put the nation on fire and should desist from making wild allegation.

“I must first of all state

very clearly that Nyako’s letter does not represent the opinion of Adamawa State. Nyako’s statement apart from its incoherence was to say the least a disgraceful, shameful, embarrassing to the military constituency and most unbecoming of a retired admiral, former service chief and executive governor.

“The current circumstances and security challenges in Nigeria call for a non-partisan approach towards finding a lasting solution. Blame game is not the way forward... We must all lock ourselves together and be united in confronting the challenge in front of us.”

Marwa urged the governor and other North-East governors to channel all grievances over the current insecurity in their domain through the appropriate channels rather than embarking on anything that would worsen the security problem the country is facing today.

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

5

Northern Elders tackle ACF over Jonathan Ibraheem Musa

Kaduna

T

he Northern Elders’ Council (NEC) has condemned the joint statement that was issued

by Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) on the current imbroglio between some northern governors and the presidency.

In a statement issued

by Ambassador Yusuf Mamman, the spokesman of NEC yesterday, the council said that ‘’the integrity and credibility of ACF will surely be tested if politically partisan groups are allowed to leverage on its goodwill and create chaos and promote their hate and selfish agenda.’’

Mamman said that

it was regrettable that a pan northern platform like ACF ‘’will lend itself to the manipulation of NEF, which is an organisation that has consistently, openly and manifestly advocated violence, threat and intimidation.’’

According to him, NEF harbours ‘’intemperate and bellicose disposition, which has largely alienated it from a substantial segment of good and well meaning northerners.’’ Mamman said that for ‘’ACF to issue a joint statement with NEF is unfortunate and absolutely regrettable.’’ ‘’The NEF has consistently sought to arrogate itself the right to speak and act in a very divisive, unpatriotic, unstatesmanly and partisan manner’’, Mamman pointed out.

FEC approves $152.12m loan to boost agriculture Anule Emmanuel

T

he Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved the receipt of the sum $152.12 million as loan from the African Development Bank (ADB) to boost agricultural production in the country.

Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina and Minister of Information, Labaran Maku disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents after the end of the FEC meeting Presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan at the presidential villa, Abuja.

Adesina said that the loan will be used to boost cultivation of rice, sorghum and cassava in 14 staple crop processing zones

across the country.

According to Adesina, with the loan, government will be able to make additional 20 million tons of products to Nigeria’s current food production by 2015.

He said that 120,000 jobs will also be created from the initial staple crop processing zones.

"Council today gave approval of a loan of 152.12 million dollars and a grant of 385,000 USD from the ADB to support the agricultural transformation agenda of Mr President.”

“We are all excited about this because it is another affirmation by global institution of what we are doing and that we are on the right track as regard to agricultural development."

2015: Abia youths root for Mascot Kalu as governor

C

oncerned Abia State youths under the aegis of Abia Youths for Transformation, have commenced mobilisation across the 17 local government areas for Mascot Uzor Kalu to come on board as the governor of the state.

A communiqué made available to journalists, signed by Mazi Chibuike Jonas, the President of AYT, reads: “We, concerned youths of Abia State, today, April 24, 2014 rose from our meeting with a resolve to urge Mr. Mascot U. Kalu to run for Governor of Abia State in 2015.

“It is our firm belief that he has the wherewithal to restore the lost glory of the state.

“We need a reformer to transform God’s own state.

“Mascot Uzor Kalu remains our hope.”

The statement further explained that preparations are in top gear amongst the youth to secure the governorship ticket for Kalu on the platform of the Progressive Peoples Alliance.

The group also urged Abians to support President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term in office.

In a telephone interview, Mascot said: "I feel humbled and honoured on the clarion call to serve our people.

"However, I am still consulting with other stakeholders.

L-R: Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi; former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), and Project Director, Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014, Mrs. Koko Kalango, at the opening of the World Book Capital in Port Harcourt …yesterday

13.1m

The total population of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2010.

Source: Blatantworld.com

0.6

The number of fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) in 2005.

Source: Itu.int

N5.4bn

The internal generated revenue of Kebbi State in 2012.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

Confab: Committee retains 36 states structure

Onwuka Nzeshi ABUJA

I

n a bid to keep Nigeria one, the Committee on political restructuring and forms of government at the ongoing National Conference yesterday resolved to retain the existing 36 states structure as the federating units.

It also resolved that the local councils will be recognised by the constitution but would cease to be a tier of government.

Instead, they would now become the business of the states. In other words any state could create as many local government areas as it desires and can manage as funds would no longer be allocated to councils from the Federation Account.

Co-Chairman of the Committee, Gen Ike Nwachukwu who spoke to

newsmen at the end of the deliberations said that under the new proposal local governments would cease to be a tier of government and the complaints of lopsided number of councils and allocations to certain states would be laid to rest.

Earlier, some delegates from the South East zone had demanded an additional state for their region, arguing that the existing 36-state structure was not only skewed against the South East but has created imbalance between the North and the South.

In the course of proceedings, some delegates from the South West renewed the demand for regional government or the recognition of the zones as federating units.

Although the campaign for zonal or regional system of government

got the support of delegates from South East and South South, it was strongly resisted by delegates from the North.

Senator Ahmed Mohammed Aruwa, a delegate from Kaduna state said regionalism can only work in the South West where there is language and cultural homogenity.

He said that the North cannot accept it because of the multiplicity of minority groups in the region living side by side with the Hausa/Fulani ethnic group.

“You don't expect us to just follow them like animals because the South West wants it. Are you telling me we should go back and tell the states to dissolve and come to the center? Does that make any sense? Can you go and tell Jigawa state to dissolve and go back to region? Tell, Kano, Kogi,

Zamfara that there will be no more states, and come back to Kaduna? Does that make sense?

"So, to us it is not about North opposing regional system, it is about common sense, I can not just follow an idea of someone who conceived it. Just because it work well for him it should be forced on others, even in the South east it is not good for them. The North looks at the reality, what can be done and should not waste our time talking about impossibility," he said.

Aruwa said that the Northern delegates did not come to the conference with any specific agenda like other regions but was using common sense to approach every issue. He chided groups that came with a fixed positions saying they would be disappointed at the end of the day.

Rig Osun, Ekiti elections, get roasted - Tinubu Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

N

ational Leader of the All Progressive Congress and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, yesterday warned the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to contemplate rigging the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states fixed for June and August this year. He said if they do, "it will be rig and roast".

He said this at his in-

vestiture as the fourth Chancellor of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, where he was also awarded an Honourary Doctor of Science in Management Science by the institution headed by Professor Adeniyi Gbadegesin (Vice Chancellor).

Tinubu made the threat as a reaction to an earlier statement credited to the Vice President, Alhaji Namadi Sambo, that the elections of the two states would be a warfare. He

said, "We are prepared not to go to court but to drive you out. We will not take it anymore. If you mess up in Ekiti and Osun states, you will see our reactions.

For every action, there must be a reaction".

The APC chieftain urged the electorate in the affected states and across the country to protect their votes, saying, "No government that wants peoples' votes that will be doing what they are doing.

They are planning to rig the elections but be ready

to protect your votes."

It is going to be rig and roast".

Reacting also to the comments of President Goodluck Jonathan in Kano, where he accused Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State of mismanaging the money meant for his campaign in 2011, Asiwaju Tinubu asked the President where he got the huge amount of money, having claimed during one of his political campaigns that he had no shoes.

6

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

photo news

APC, LP supporters clash in Okemesi

Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

P

L-R: Group General Manager, Future Concerns Safety Center, Mrs. Eunice Ekwenugo; Managing Director, Sub-saharan Africa Region, MSA, Mr. Colin Oliver; Managing Director/CEO, Future Concerns Group, Mr. Tony Oguike and Customer Loyalty and Distribution Director, MSA, Ms. Hayley Arnesen, after a press conference on the activities of the companies held in Lekki, Lagos ...yesterday.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

eace was shattered in Okemesi, Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State yesterday following a clash between supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP).

It was gathered that violence erupted when some supporters of Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, the LP candidate in the June 21 poll, wanted to hoist a big banner of the candidate, close to the entrance of the Owa Ooye of Okemesi and were resisted by APC supporters.

It was learnt that in the altercation that followed, guns, machete and other dangerous weapons were used, leading

to unspecified number of people sustaining varying degrees of injuries.

The free-for-all was put under control by security agents, who mobilised to the town.

By the time Bamidele got to the town to hold his rally, the situation was still tensed, as markets and houses close to the palace were shut.

Bamidele, who is representing Ekiti Central Federal Constituency 1, in the House of Representatives, decried the development.

He said that politicking was not worth shedding blood.

"I appeal to those going about causing violence to desist from their dastardly act. Any politician, who feels he is popular, does not need to go about attacking politi-

cal opponents.

"I am running a campaign devoid of violence and this is because we know what we want to offer the people of the state.

"We are going to take governance to the grassroots and within six months of coming to office, we are going to conduct local government election. Those who say that they are progressives and are finding it difficult to conduct local government poll after almost four years in office have nothing to offer the people of the state," Bamidele said.

The federal lawmaker added that unprecedented development and growth await the state when an LP government comes into office later in the year.

Fayose's deputy: PDP committee shortlists three Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

Opeyemi Bamidele (right), addressing the crowd at Ilupeju-Ijan Ekiti in Gboyin LGA of Ekiti State...yesterday.

L-R: Managing Director of TOTAL Nigeria Plc, Alexis Vovk; one of the beneficiaries of mosquito treated net, Mrs. Promise Nwankwo; and Deputy Managing Director, Total E&P Downstream Deepwater, Mr. Charles Ngoka, during the flag-off of a three-day Anti-Malaria Outreach programme sponsored by TOTAL Group of Companies and Development Africa in commemoration of 2014 World Malaria Day at Ajiran, Eti Osa Local Government Area of Lagos‌.yesterday

T

he committee set up by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to screen those being considered for the position of deputy governorship candidate to former Governor Ayo Fayose in the June 21 election has concluded its assignment.

Findings by our correspondent in Ado-Ekiti yesterday showed that three persons made the final list.

The panel has therefore submitted its report to the State Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe, who is submitting the report to the national leadership of the party in Abuja.

It was gathered that Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

E

L-R: Turkey Ambassador to Nigeria, Mustafa Pulat; Ekiti State Commissioner for Trade, Investment and Innovation, Debo Ajayi; Delta State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Funkekeme Solomon; and Osun State Commissioner for Local Government Services, Dr. Adeleke Ipaye, during official presentation of Turkish Construction Companies to Nigerians by Turkish Ministry of Economy & Turkish Embassy in Nigeria held in Lagos.

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

kiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, yesterday, wooed former Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt Caleb Olubolade (rtd) to support his re-election bid.

Speaking at a rally in Ipoti-Ekiti, the hometown of Olubolade, Fayemi, who is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the June 21 poll, said he knew that Olubolade would support a worthy cause.

He said he wouldn't mind Olubolade supporting his friend, President Goodluck Jonathan, in the presidential election, but that the Ekiti poll would be decided by the people of the state, of which the

the Chief Yinka Akereleled committee recommended three persons from Ekiti South Senatorial District.

They are former Nigeria's High Commissioner to Canada, Ambassador Dare Bejide, from Ilawe-Ekiti in Ekiti South-West Local Government Area; Chief Bisi Aloba from Ikere, Ikere Local Government and former Speaker of the Ekiti House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Femi Bamisile from OmuoEkiti in Ekiti East Local Government Area.

However, going by the need to get as much votes as possible and the steadfastness of the persons involved in the activities of the party, Aloba from Ikere is favoured.

Aloba is a community

leader in Ikere, a town which has the second highest voting strength in the state after AdoEkiti, the state capital.

Other persons screened by the committee included: Dr Kunle Afolayan, Mrs Sade Akinrinmola, former Chairman of Ikere Local Government, Alhaji Tajudeen Adejumo, Mrs Ogundare Olakiitan, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Ayodele and Mr Idowu Richard.

While all the aspirants are from Ekiti South Senatorial District, six of them are from Ikere-Ekiti.

The zone comprises six local governments namely: Gbonyin, Ikere, Ekiti South-West, Ekiti East, Emure and Ise/ Orun.

Fayemi woos Olubolade former minister is one.

He added that who wins the June 21 election would not be decided in Abuja.

Fayemi said he would liaise with Olubolade to complete the Ipoti Civic Centre.

Olubolade is one of the 13 aspirants who lost the primary election in the PDP to former Governor Ayo Fayose.

While campaigning in Ijero-Ekiti, the governor said his administration was religiously implementing its Eight Point Agenda and improving the welfare of the people.

The member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly representing Ijero State Constituency, Mrs Wumi Ogunlola, said the

governor had earned the confidence of the people.

"I have no doubt that the governor will win. He has earned the respect and the confidence of the people of the state.

"The programmes and policies of the governor in areas such as Social Security Scheme for Senior Citizens, renovation of schools and hospitals, construction of roads among others have impacted positively on the lives of the people of the state," she said.

Ogunlola added that the opposition lacked the capacity to march the achievements recorded by the Fayemi administration.

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

EQUITY

Former minister Goddy Ogbaga eyes senatorial position to protest Ebonyi interest Leo Sobechi

B

arely three days after Ebonyi State Governor, Martin Elechi, opened up on the qualities expected of his successor, an argument has broken out in Ebonyi North senatorial district over the existence of a power sharing arrangement regarding the senate seat.

Senator Chris Nwankwo, who was alleged to be nursing an ambition for the governorship seat, is

2015: Crisis brews in Ebonyi North over Senate seat currently representing the district in the senate. There were also concerted efforts by youths in the senatorial district to draft former Commissioner for Rural Development and Chieftaincy Matters, Chief Matthias Adum, into the race.

But, a former Minister of State for Power and Steel, Chief Goddy Ogbaga, yesterday declared interest in the Ebonyi North senatorial seat, contending that when Nwankwo serves out his tenure in 2015, it would be the turn

A’Ibom PDP zones governorship seat to Eket Tony Anichebe Uyo

he People Democratic TIbom Party (PDP) in Akwa State yesterday

formally zoned the governorship position to Eket senatorial district in the state.

This was even as the party in its executive committee meeting held yesterday in Uyo said that other aspirants from other senatorial districts interested in the race were at liberty to contest.

The meeting had the state governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, his deputy, the state party Chairman, Obong Paul Ekpo and state officers of the party in attendance.

Others also at the meeting were members of the state and National

Assembly and all chairmen and vice-chairmen of local government councils.

The party, in a communiqué made available to the media, said ‘pursuit to section 7 (3) of the party’s constitution 2012 (as amended), stipulating adherence to the policy of the rotation and zoning of party and public offices in pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness, the meeting zones the governorship position to Eket senatorial district of the state.

However, the state executive committee added that those from other senatorial districts, who are interested in the race, could still contest the coming primaries without prejudice.

Benue Deputy Majority Leader declares for Reps’ seat Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

eputy Majority Leader DHouse of the Benue State of Assembly, Hon.

Nick Eworo, yesterday declared his intention to contest the 2015 general election into the House Representatives representing Oju/Obi federal constituency.

He said his decision to vie for the position was borne out of his burning desire to liberate his poverty-stricken constituents, whom he said have suffered neglect in the national political scheme of things of the present administration.

Speaking with journalists in Makurdi, where he made the declaration, Eworo reaffirmed his determination to launch Igede nation to occupy a prominent position in

7

the political map of the country, as well as lobby the Presidency for development projects that have direct impact on the people.

He said his constituents have resolved to project him to the next political strata, considering his track record of achievements in the state House of Assembly that have positively transformed the area.

Eworo added that through the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), he facilitated the construction of three classroom blocks in each of the 12 council wards in Igede land, donated five electricity transformers to different communities to boost economic activities and further alleviate poverty among the people.

of his local government council to produce his successor.

Ogbaga, who served as a Minister of State for Power in the administration of late General Sani Abacha, said apart from having also served as a permanent secretary and clerk of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly; he was exceptionally qualified to occupy the seat, assuring that he would make the desired difference.

While noting that Ebonyi North senatorial district is made up

19.6%

of Ohaukwu, Ebonyi, Izzi and Abakaliki Local Government councils, Ogbaga said he was favoured by the rotational arrangement in the district.

He added that the senatorial representation has gone round the other three council areas, adding also that at the moment, Ebonyi Local Government is the only local government in the district that has not produced a senator.

Ogbaga said another aspect of the position that

The percentage of households with a computer in developing countries in 2008.

Source: Itu.int

favoured his aspiration was the fact that none of the senators had occupied the seat for more than one term, recalling for instance that; “In Abakaliki council, late Senators Polycarp Nwite, Christopher Nshii and Sylvester Ngiji Ngele” represented the district.

He spoke further: “In Izzi local council, we have had late Senator Andrew Nwankwo and serving Senator Chris Nwankwo from Ohaukwu, we had Senator Anthony Agbo and former Governor

6,400km

The total length of The Amazon.

Source: Blatantworld.com

Sam Egwu, who of course represented the Ebonyi North slot.

“At the moment, Ebonyi Local Government is one of the local governments in the district that has not held any senatorial position.”

Reiterating his capability to give quality representation to the people, Ogbaga said; “As a matter of fact, delegations have come to me, party faithful, friends and well-wishers in the four local government areas of the district, asking me to contest for the seat.”

22%

The percentage of internally displaced persons to total population of Republic of Cyprus in 2009.

Source: Blatantworld.com

Gridlock caused by security checkpoint at the Nyanya/Karu axis of Keffi-Abuja road, Kugbo…yesterday

Aregbesola/Oyinlola meeting: Osun Central PDP chairman in trouble Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

T

he fate of the Chairman of Osun Central senatorial district of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Reverend Bunmi Jenyo, is now hanging in the balance.

Jenyo was alleged to have been involved in the meeting between the state governor, Rauf Aregbesola and his predecessor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, during the last Easter celebration in the state.

State Chairman of the party, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa, in a statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo yesterday, accused the senatorial leader of engaging himself in anti-party activities

by involving in the parley between the two, warning him to desist from such in the future so as not to face the wrath of the party.

Olaoluwa, who argued that the advice became necessary ‘to guard against members fraternising with suspended members or members of the opposition,” said the party will not treat any member who attends unauthorised meetings with kid gloves.”

He, however, charged party members to seek clearance from the state secretariat of the party before attending or convening meetings as the case of Jenyo was still on and had not been closed.

Olaoluwa attributed the activities of the central

senatorial district chairman to anti-party, threatening not to take that from any party member, as according to him, there are rules and regulations that guide the operations of party members.

But, in a swift reaction yesterday, the Osun Central Senatorial Chairman, Rev. Bunmi Jenyo, denied engaging in any anti-party activities, saying that he was a loyal party member and will continue to be one.

His words: “I, Rev. Bunmi Jenyo, the Central Senatorial Chairman of PDP will never engage in anti-party activities. I am a loyal member of the PDP and I will con tinue to remain one.

“I have never attended

any meeting not sanctioned by our party and all I am after is the unity of my party, for it to have a good outing on August 9.”

However, a separate release made available to newsmen by the PDP Publicity Secretary in the state, Hon. Bola Ajao, said; “From Aregbesola’s meeting with Oyinlola on Monday, it shows that he does not have absolute faith in his APC platform and of course he is a bad influence in principles.”

“As for Aregbesola, it shows clearly that he cannot be trusted. For all the uncharitable things he had said about Oyinlola and PDP, he can still go behind and be hobnobbing with PDP members in ‘his stay put syndrome.’

8

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Anambra

Enugu

Awka

enugu

Conference resolutions can end insurgency –Ezenagu A former Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development in Anambra State, Chief Godson Ezenagu, has expressed confidence that the ongoing national conference could end the insecurity in the country.

Ezenagu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka yesterday that a positive outcome of the exercise would not be a waste of time and resources.

He explained that the conference was a veritable forum for the delegates to discuss and chart a new way forward for the country.

“I am confident that the confab will come out with something good for this country.

“If the delegates discuss and agree on crucial national issues like security, power and devolution of power and eliminate all doubts, it could end the Boko Haram insurgency.

bayelsa yenagoa

Agency, LG chairmen to promote investment Bayelsa State Investment Promotion Agency (BIPA) has said that it plans to chart a new course for investment in the state in collaboration with local government chairmen.

The Director-General of the agency, Ms. Freda Murray-Bruce, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa that the investment drive would involve the leadership of the third tier of government.

According to her, an investment stakeholders’ meeting has been scheduled to hold in the state in the next few weeks.

Murray-Bruce said the agency would continue to collaborate with stakeholders in the advancement of investments in the state.

The director-general said BIPA considered it imperative to relate with the eight local government chairmen in the state as they were directly involved with grassroots’ development.

Parents want FG, ASUP to resolve lingering strike Parents in Nsukka have pleaded with the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) to resolve their misunderstanding and put an end to the lingering strike that has kept the students at home for so long.

The parents in separate interviews with the News

Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday said the protracted strike had left the students idle and was not a good development.

Mr. Paul Ugwuanyi, a secondary school principal, said he was concerned as a parent, saying that the government and the union should consider the interest of the students, whose academic future was hanging in the balance.

Lagos Ikeja

Group disassociates self from Stella Oduah’s award The management of award winning outfit, Ikenga Entertainment and Awards, through its Chief Executive Officer, Chris Nwandu, has disassociated its organisation from the purported Ikenga Award given to the former Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah by an organisation last week.

According to Nwandu, who is also the publisher and editor-in-chief of Nigeria’s online media platform, CKN Nigeria, it has

become necessary for us to issue out this press statement due to the number of text messages, phone calls and e-mails from Nigerians across the globe, who have been making enquiries to know if the award was organised by our organization.

As everyone must have been aware, our organisation has since 2009, being in the forefront of organising the prestigious Ikenga Merit Award and the Miss Ikenga Pageant.

The Ikenga award is registered by the CAC and patent by the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

adamawa yola

Ganye council chairman gets impeachment notice Chairman of Ganye Local Government in Adamawa State, Alhaji Farouk Mohammed, has been served with impeachment notice for alleged embezzlement of public funds.

The impeachment notice signed by 10 of the councillors, a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Yola, gave the chairman one week from the date he was served the notice to answer allegations against him.

“Sequel to the resolution of the legislative council sitting No. 7 of its second session, the House hereby resolved unanimously to serve you with this notice of impeach-

ment.”

Some of the 15 allegations against the chairman included unauthorised collection of bank overdrafts totaling N132 million, unaccounted N10 million excess crude received in December 2013, shortchanging political appointees by paying them half of what they were supposed to collect after posting full on the local government cash book.

“Over inflation of direct labour jobs and short-changing the local government council of its monthly allocation by slashing down the original amount allocated and presenting the distorted figures to the financial and general purpose committee,” the notice said.

Nigeria’s security challenges, a collective task – Jonathan Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

Goodluck JonPthatresident athan said yesterday the lingering securi-

ty challenges in parts of northern Nigeria poses serious threat to Nigeria’s nation hood.

The President, who spoke in Benin, Edo State, at the inauguration ceremony of the Grassroots Youth Initiative (GYI), tasked the citizens to rise to the collective responsibility of dealing with the obvious security problems in the polity.

Represented at the occasion by his Senior Special Assistant on Youth and Student Affairs, Comrade Jude Imagwe, President Jonathan was

optimistic that activities of terrorists would soon abate.

He also expressed confidence that Nigeria as a nation would rise above the seeming challenges to take its rightful place in the comity of nations.

He said the message from Mr. President was that Nigerians must put aside all forms of ethnic, religious and cultural biases in the fight against terrorism in order to rescue the country from the obvious grip of evil elements.

According to Imagwe, “One issue that worries Mr. President is to see how Nigeria will rise again, taking its place among leagues of nation.

2015: No guarantees for my cabinet members – Gov Aliyu Dan Atori MINNA

L-R: Basorun of Iseyin, Chief Oyederinto Aderodun; Seriki Hausawa of Ibadanland, Alhaji Ahmed Zungeru; Serikin Sasa, Alhaji Haruna Mayasin and Oniseyin of Iseyinoile, Oba Lawrence Adeyemi, during a security meeting with Oyo State Police Command in Ibadan …yesterday

Terrorism: Seek help from UNN alumni to build outside, Dabiri-Erewa tells FG modern College of Medicine Temitope Ogunbanke

W

orried by the state of insurgency and Boko Haram menace in Nigeria, Chairman of the House Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has stressed the need for government to seek help of experts from both within and outside Nigeria. She noted that whatever strategy the Federal Government was using to curb the insurgency in Nigeria was not working, it needed to

change it.

Dabri-Erewa, who is representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency of Lagos State in the House of Representatives, also expressed her worry that there was no compassion in governance in Nigeria anymore as portrayed by President Goodluck Jonathan's partying in Kano, a day after the bomb blast that claimed the lives of innocent Nigerians in Nyanya, Abuja.

She was speaking at a"Girls in ICT Day" workshop at the Sheraton Hotels in Lagos.

Leo Sobechi

F

ormer Governor of old Enugu State, Dr. Okwy Nwodo and the alumni association of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka College of Medicine, have unveiled their plan to build and equip an ultra-modern College of Medicine for the premier university.

Nwodo, who is also the National President of alumni association, dropped this hint during an interactive ses-

sion with journalists in Enugu yesterday.

He stated that when completed in the next five years, the new college would be equipped with state of the art facilities.

He disclosed however that the college would commence Kidney transplant before the end of this year, adding that by the time the expected modern facilities are put in place, the college would be able to handle up to 1000 cases of Open Heart Surgery yearly.

iger State Governor, Nyesterday Dr. Babangida Aliyu said there is no

guarantee for automatic ticket for his deputy, Hon Ahmed Ibeto and Commissioner for Works, Alhaji Muazu Bawa who are warming up strongly to succeed him come 2015.

Aliyu made this known when he inaugurated members of the Board of Trustees (BOT) for the religious centres to be built at the Three arms zone of the Minna City centre. He said that it might be sympathetic to appreciate certain things done by some people.

According to him; "I will love to have somebody within the current cabinet of Niger State that will take over from us.

"There is no guarantee but we believe that it might be sympathetic enough to appreciate certain things and part of the wisdom is

that some of us (cabinet members) are also members of the BoT. Even when we are out of government, we should be able to see at least the religious centres that we are able to finish them no matter how long God has designed for it to be finished."

It would be recalled that Governor Aliyu had on Tuesday said he will not endorse any candidate to succeed him as Governor.

While admonishing the two major religions in the country to exhibit positive character that will depict who they truly are, Aliyu said nobody should think his religion is superior to the other.

According to him;"many people often think that the outward which the people see is in the actual religion, no! In my own religion, what is in your heart is the actual religion not all the things that you show outside.

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

9

Bloodbath as communities clash in Cross River

Clement James Calabar

T

wo persons suffered gunshot wounds during clashes between the Ukwortung and Kutia communities in Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State on Tuesday morning.

New Telegraph reliably gathered that one Benja-

min Egbo and Aso Oko, both from Ukwortung are currently being treated of gun wounds during the attack which reportedly occurred at about 7am.

As at the time of filing this report yesterday, the situation was said to have degenerated into what a source described as “a full-blown war.”

Confirming the inci-

dent, the Director General of the State Border Communities Commission, Leo Aggrey, said he received a text message on Tuesday from the Community Relations Officer (CRO) in the area, Chief Mathias Ake. His words; “Yes, the CRO, Chief Mathias Ake sent me a text message that the peace in the area

was being threatened.

I don’t really know the immediate cause of the problem, but you will remember that in December 2011, these two communities fought and many lives were lost, houses burnt and even the Primary School in the area was partly razed down.”

He said his first reaction when he was in-

formed about the situation was to write a security report which he sent to the Deputy Governor who is the Chairman of border Communities. “I am sure the Deputy Governor is on top of the situation.”

PDP will win Yobe in 2015 - youth leader Hassan Jirgi Damaturu

Y

L-R: Barr. Abraham Yisa; Elder Statesman, Shiek Ahmad Lemu and the Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, during the inauguration of the members of Board of Trustees of religious centers held in Minna…yesterday

Northern Govs condole Taraba over Wukari attacks Dan Atori MINNA

T

he Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) has expressed shock at the reported killing of 25 persons in Ndo-Yaku village in Wukari Local Government of Taraba State on Tuesday.

Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, expressed the forum’s deepest condolences

to the government and people of Taraba State as well as the families of the victims.

In a statement signed

by Governor Aliyu’s Chief Press Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, the forum lamented the fact that Tuesday’s attack took place despite increased presence of security personnel called in from neighbouring North Eastern states to help halt the attacks.

The forum repeated its call for vigilance, em-

phasising that the issue of security should not be left to security agents alone.

The statement urged security agencies not to be discouraged by the activities of terrorists, just as it tasked them to do more to build on the successes recorded so far in the war against terror.

The governors prayed God to grant the souls of the deceased eternal rest and members of their families the fortitude to bear the loss.

N458m Scandal: We know you are innocent, Bishop tells Agbaso Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

T

he Bishop of Enugu Anglican Diocese, the Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma has described the impeached former Deputy Governor of Imo State, Sir Jude Agbaso, as a symbol of innocence among the political class in Nigeria.

The cleric made this remark at a funeral service attended by the former Deputy Governor Bishop Chukwuma on noticing Agbaso on the occasion said that the public was aware that the embattled former deputy

governor who was impeached in March 2013 on allegations of bribery and official corruption, was innocent.

“You may think we do not know what happened in Imo State last year. We are aware and the whole world knows.

We followed the whole drama very well. We know you were innocent of the allegations that led to your impeachment. It therefore did not come as a surprise when the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) declared you innocent of all the charges and allegations against

you. We all thank God for vindicating you.”

Agbaso was impeached as the Deputy Governor of Imo State in controversial circumstances. A Lebanese contractor, Joseph Dina, believed to be in league with the state government had accused Agbaso of collecting a bribe of N458 million for the award of road contract in the state. This Agbaso denied and called for proper investigation.

However, the Imo State Government hurriedly went ahead to impeach Agbaso without a thorough probe.

Recently, EFCC issued a report which revealed that Dina told the commission that he never gave Agbaso the alleged sum (N458m) or any bribe as he (Dina) had earlier stated before the Imo State legislature.

The EFCC thus wrote the sacked deputy governor, absolving him of the said bribery allegations.

Meanwhile, the embattled former deputy governor has three pending suits in court challenging his impeachment. Two of the cases are already at the Court of Appeal. One will be heard on April 30 this year.

The cause of the current crisis was not yet known as the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Hogan Bassey said he was still awaiting reports from the Divisional Police Officer in Obudu.

outh leader of the People Democratic Party (PDP) Yobe State Chapter, Ado Adamu, has boasted that 70 percent of the people will vote for the party come 2015.

Adamu spoke while briefing newsmen shortly after the party’s stakeholders meeting in Damaturu, the state capital.

He said with political cross-carpeting, the PDP had power to defeat APC in the 2015 election.

According to him, about 70% of the people of Yobe State are still in the PDP. He added that the defection of some governors and lawmakers to APC would not affect the overall result of PDP in

2015.

Ado declared: " If I say that I see the registration of APC as a threat, it will mean that our party in Nigeria has never had any threat before. In the history of political evolution in Nigeria, there has never been any democracy without opposition.”

He assured the people of Yobe State and Nigerians at large that the PDP would retain its supremacy in Nigeria in 2015.

On intra-party crises, he said, " As big as PDP is, if it is not having one crisis or the other then it is not a working organization or institution. PDP is made up of different people that have different beliefs, political orientations, thus they are bound to have one form of crisis or the other.

10 NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

PDP, Kwara govt fight over ‘quit notice’ Biodun Oyeleye ILORIN

A

purported ‘Quit Notice’ by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has been described as a huge joke by the state government.

State Chairman of the PDP, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, had in an address during the inauguration of the party’s local government executive councils, handed out what he termed a “Quit Notice” to the incumbent administration in the state.

He called on PDP members to begin preparation for another election before the one slated for 2015.

But the state government, in a reaction through the Special Adviser on Information, Prince Deji Oni, expressed concern that the comment of the PDP chairman reflected what

President Goodluck Jonathan also said when he came to the state earlier in the year when he promised to recapture states once under the PDP. Oyedepo had said: “I need to conclude this address by giving a quit notice to the APC government that is running the affairs of Kwara State with a stolen mandate.

The mandate of the PDP that is now illegally in the custody of the APC shall soon be recovered.

“I, therefore, urge our members to get set for new elections as Kwara people may be called for elections earlier than 2015.

“The occupants of our Government House are living on borrowed time with a stolen mandate. We are confronting a government that has no goodwill, money and integrity. We in the PDP hold the umbrella as a refuge for the oppressed, while they hold the broom which will be the tools of their labour after they have been swept out of office.”

Owerri women protest against Okorocha over land TRESPASS Avu may have to look at the crystal ball in the bid to stop Imo governor from using their land Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

W

omen of Avu community in Owerri West Local Government area yesterday protested against the Imo State government, complaining of attempts by agents of the state government to take over their land in the guise of developing

the area.

The women numbering about 500, trooped out as early as 7.30am yesterday, disturbing the free flow of traffic on the Avu Junction area of the Owerri-Port Harcourt Expressway.

Leader of the protesting women, Hon. Mrs. Sabina Anukam, said the community had made several efforts to dissuade Governor Rochas Okorocha and his agents from venturing further into Avu land. She said such efforts had been rebuffed by the government, hence the protest.

“Several hectares of our land have been taken

by government in the name of development, but there has not been development in the area till date.

“In any case, no compensation whatsoever was paid for these parcels of land, yet government is moving to acquire more and to this, we say no.

They have taken enough of our lands and enough is enough,” Anukam said.

Also speaking, one of the women leaders in the community, Mrs. Ngozi Amadi, said; “You need to see how much of our land this government has taken in just three years.

It is even more annoying that not one of these hect-

ares of land has been put to any good use.

“We left our markets, work and businesses today to tell Governor Rochas Okorocha and his agents that we can no longer watch them grab our land for themselves. If this continues, our children would have no place to live in the near future; and may never forgive us if we do nothing about this ugly development now.”

The angry women, all dressed in black, shouted to whoever cared to listen that they freely gave the governor about a hectare of land for his proposed Crystal Hotel, which construction has till date not commenced.

2015: PDP chair sure of change in Yobe Hassan Jirgi DAMATURU

C

hairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Yobe State, Alhaji Lawan Gana Karasuwa, has said that the party would take over governorship position in the state come 2015.

Karasuwa, who disclosed this to newsmen in Karasuwa yesterday, said the recent defection of members of the APC to the PDP was as a result of the reconciliatory strategy adopted recently by the party in the state.

According to the chairman, all those who defected from the party were from some of the local government areas in the state.

“I am happy to inform you that the party had constituted two committees to reconcile with ag-

grieved party members some months back.

“We are happy that soon after the committees commenced work, supporters of other parties are now defecting to the PDP,” he said.

Karasuwa said the claims by Yobe State government of lack of federal presence in the state was a calculated attempt to sabotage the good things the PDP was doing in the state, stressing that a total of 56 federal projects were currently ongoing in the state under the leadership of Dr. Yerima Ngama, the former Minister of state Finance.

He added that the sterling leadership of Ngama in the affairs of the party in the state had greatly increased the people’s support and confidence in the Federal Government.

Some of the protesters ... yesterday

9.2%

The percentage of Antarctica to global landmass.

Source: Blatantworld.com

0.95

The number of fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of Nigeria in 2009.

Source: Itu.int

6,300km

The length of Yangtze (Chang Jiang), China.

Source: Blatantworld.com

EFCC needs forensic accountants, says Wada Clement James CALABAR

T

he failure of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to successfully prosecute fraud cases has been attributed to the absence of forensic accountants in their employment.

This was the submis-

sion of the Director of Studies, Center for Financial and Accounting Research, Dr. Friday Wada, during a three day capacity building workshop for Accountants on Forensic Accounting in Calabar, yesterday.

He said many cases that the two anti-graft commissions ought to have won in court were thrown out because of the inability of the two government agencies to contract the services of forensic accountants,

who he said were in short supply in the country.

“Forensic method of accounting is currently in vogue in most countries of the world but in Nigeria, we are far behind. That is why EFCC and ICPC have failed in the courts, because they lack forensic accountants that can give them detailed analysis of the frauds committed,” Wada said.

He said the accounting profession has moved from merely stating figures to

investigation, which outcome can be used for litigation in court.

He said forensic accounting “is an intelligence gathering technique which comprises litigation support and investigation techniques.”

He charged accountants in the country to update their knowledge by adding forensic accounting to their professional skills, noting that forensic accountants are highly prized.

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

11

2015: NIMC restructures national ID card James Nwabueze Abuja

he National Identity Tmission Management Com(NIMC) may

have restructured the national identity card.

The NIMC yesterday hinted that the identity card it is about to issue to individuals could as well be used as an alternative to voters’ card in the 2015 general elections.

Speaking after the award ceremony of the Information Security Management System (ISO 27001:2005) certificate, NIMC Director General, Chris Onyemenam, said the cards are ready to be issued.

“For the avoidance of doubt, we are making efforts to structure a formal launch of the

card. Once the card is formally launched and we start issuing it, we are ready.

“What I have promised you is a system that would enable you assert your identity. That can be put to any institutional use, aside from the identity affirmation it was meant for.

“But, what we guarantee is a single version of truth concerning the identity of individuals, and we can defend that.

What you have seen today is an attempt to ensure that we are doing the right thing, being the global best practice – that is what the certification is all about,” he said.

Onyemenam threw more light on the confusion associated with the commission and citizenship.

Confab delegate wants Senate, political parties scrapped Wale Elegbede legal practitioner, Oluwole Sholanke, yesterday called on delegates at the ongoing national conference to scrap the upper legislative chamber, the Senate, and political parties in the country.

He urged delegates at the conference to delve into the duplication of legislative duties between the Senate and the House of Representatives, saying that the existence of both chambers at the same time was a colossal waste of public resources.

In a four-page statement addressed to the conference and made available to New Telegraph, Sholanke said the Senate ought to be scrapped while the lower house should be

A

expanded to accommodate more experts in several fields for comprehensive deliberations.

According to him; “The Senate is a superfluous institution, devouring our national resources and like the cabal, creates unnecessary delays in the execution of the peoples’ wish.”

Similarly, Sholanke called on the conference to make moves to expunge the clause of ‘party supremacy’ from the constitution, adding that about 95 per cent of the country’s problems are caused by political parties.

“WeshouldadoptZeroParty System; we can do without political parties, because the unhealthy rivalry among political parties often leads to killings,maiming, looting and other vices.”

Omisore governorship campaign goes international Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

sun State Peoples O Democratic Party (PDP) governorship can-

didate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has launched his Diaspora Support Forum, United Kingdom chapter towards realising his political dream of winning the August 9, 2014 governorship election.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Osogbo by his Director Of Media and Strategy Prince Diran Odeyemi yesterday, Omisore spoke at the Afro Nollywood Hall, Camberwell, South East London at the weekend, explaining that; “His eight-point agenda is geared towards

alleviating the poverty that is starring the masses of Osun State in the face.”

He said: “We are on a rescue mission in Osun State. We want to rescue our people from the throes of poverty inflicted on them by the maladministration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola. I am inviting you to come and support us in this onerous task of taking Osun State to the next level.”

He also quoted the Coordinator of the group, Dr. Johnson Olukotun, to have pledged the support of the Omisore Diaspora Support Forum (ODSF) to the gubernatorial aspiration of the senate and that they were aware of the level of rot in the state.

L-R: Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan; Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Foreign Matters, Mr. Oma Djebah and Ambassador Sola Omoregie, during the preparatory workshop for the United Nations assessment of key sectors of Delta State economy held at the Government House in Asaba…yesterday

9.2%

The percentage of Antarctica to global landmass.

Source: Blatantworld.com

0.95

The number of fixed (wired)-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of Nigeria in 2009.

Source: Itu.int

6,300km The length of Yangtze (Chang Jiang), China.

Source: Blatantworld.com

Boko Haram: Mark implores sect to free abducted schoolgirls SACRILEGE

Senate president descends on insurgents for tormenting families and friends of Chibok schoolgirls Chukwu David and Cephas Iorhemen enate President, David Mark, yesterday described the abduction of the female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State as embarrassingly sacrilegious, calling on their captors to release them.

Senator Mark’s call came as the wife of the governor of Benue State, Yemisi Dooshima Suswam, also appealed

S

…As Gov Suswam’s wife also calls for their release to the sect members to consider the agony of the innocent students and release them unhurt.

The senate President, in a statement released by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Paul Mumeh, on the incident in Abuja, imagined the harrowing experience of the students in the hands of their captors, the mental and psychological torture of their parents and guardians and restated the need for wise counsel to prevail in the circumstance.

He said no rational being could justify the abduction of these school children, ‘whose only offence is that they chose to go to school to better their lots and contribute to the socio-

economic and political development of their fatherland.’

“The situation is fast degrading and devaluing us as against the agelong cherished love for younger persons. It is a sad commentary and a terrible assault on our psyche as a people.

In the good old days of Nigeria, this was a taboo and unarguably unheard of,” Mark lamented.

He canvassed for synergy between and among security agencies to do all that was needed to rescue the girls from their captors, saying that the deteriorating situation was making a mockery of our nation.

Mark reiterated that there still exist various channels including the National Assembly for

addressing grievances, pointing out that ‘this unabating show of rascality and disregard for rule of law by the insurgents was an affront on the Nigerian people.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Suswam asked the captors of the school girls to release them unhurt to their parents while also urging Nigerians to fast and pray for the quick return of the girls.

The governor’s wife, who is the chairperson of the Northern Governors’ Wives Forum (NGWF), expressed worry over conflicting reports about the exact number of students abducted, urging journalists to help keep the public abreast of the right figure.

Stay away from A’Ibom, PDP warns Gulak Ibom State exAthekwa ecutive committee of Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP) rose from its meeting in Uyo yesterday warning the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, to desist from further interfering in the affairs of the state.

The meeting, which had the state governor, Godswill Akpabio, his deputy, party executives and members of the national assembly among

others, in attendance, accused Gulak of inaugurating a sectional and unknown support group in favour of President Jonathan.

According to the meeting; “Ahmed Gulak, who visited the state recently threw all known protocols overboard in purporting to inaugurate a sectional and unknown support group in favour of President Goodluck Jonathan without bothering to pay courtesy to the state lead-

ership of the party.

The meeting advised President Jonathan to caution his aides, who are bent on causing disaffection in various states of the federation, purporting to act on behalf of the Villa.

The meeting further advised Ahmed Gulak to immediately sort out PDP problems in Adamawa State and deliver it to the President before rushing to safe territories like South-South where the

President comes from.

New Telegraph recalls that Gulak visited Uyo recently to commission an office complex for Goodluck Advocacy Group, put together by some politician led former Akwa Ibom SSG, Umana Okon Umana.

Gulak during the visit extolled the virtues of the former SSG, saying that he had the blessings and support of Abuja to contest the position of governor in 2015.

metr Parents, syndicate make NEW TELEGRAPH

Sanctity

Thursday, A

www.newtelegraphonline.com/metro

ABIODUN BELLO

FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

thursday, april 24, 2014

0802 393 8212

money from baby’s cancer lFather builds house, buys motorcycles from proceeds

Recovered money

VICIOUS FRAUDSTERS Members of a syndicate use a two-year-old girl suffering from cancer to make money. They also rape the girl’s mother, impregnate her and procure abortion for her Juliana Francis

P

olice in Lagos have rescued a two-yar-old baby girl from a syndicate making money from the lump on her face.

The baby, Chinasa Ananko, was rescued in conjunction with Mrs Jacinta Nwakaego Nworie of Hands that Care Foundation.

The syndicate, which includes her parents, explored the baby’s health condition to get money from individuals moved by her plight.

Police have also arrested six members of the syndicate using Life Care Foundation as smokescreen to defraud people.

The suspects are identified as Chukwukka Eze (24), Amaka Ani (20), Chinasa Eze (22), Monday Nnoni (27), Vincent Okoro (25) and Tochukwu Obi (24). Also in custody is the baby’s mother, Mrs Victoria Ananko.

But the Managing Director of the fake charity foundation, identified as Mr Samuel Ependu, has fled since the arrest of his workers.

The police also said they would soon go to Anambra State to arrest the baby’s father, Mr Innocent Ananko.

Mrs Ananko disclosed that since they started the business last August, her husband, a former struggling commercial motorcyclist, has started building a house.

According to her, the man has also bought new motorcycles, among other things.

In less than a year, the baby had been dragged through nine states, under scorching sun, as the syndicate used her to beg for alms on the pretence that the money would be spent on her surgery.

In the course of moving from one state to the other, a former member of the

group, identified as Emeka, impregnated Mrs Ananko.

But Ependu forced her to go for abortion, using part of her own share of the money they realised.

The woman claimed that Emeka raped her twice before she became pregnant.

Police also recovered wands of N20 notes and other denominations, tied with a band, totalling N18,585 from Mrs. Ananko.

They also recovered N32,140 from the suspects, being proceeds for the day.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the arrested.

She said: “You usually find them in traffic jams.

They carry enlarge pictures of sick persons, begging for alms. It is now a business.

Owner of such network now recruit people to work for them.

“They go to villages, looking for people with strange sicknesses. They will promise the parents of the sick person that when they get to the cities, they would take care of the child.”

Braide explained that Baby Chinasa was a victim of such a scam and was picked because she had a lump on her face, which she was born with.

The PPRO added that while the baby was taken from one place to the other to beg, her mother was kept in a hotel.

According to her, when the team comes back, Ananko gets her share, while Ependu sends money to the girl’s father, pays his workers for the day and orders that the rest should be kept in his account.

The suspects confessed that in a day, they used to make close to N30,000. The mother is given N500 or N1,000 depending on how much they make per day.

The members are also

Obi (left) and Okoro

paid between N400 and N1,000, while the rest goes to Ependu, who told them that he was deducting N5,000 daily for the girl’s surgery. But the N5,000 also goes into his account.

The members, who used to stay in three rooms in hotels in any state, pay the bills daily from the day’s proceeds.

“About 90 per cent of such people you see begging in traffic are fraudsters.

These kids are victims, but with real problems.

This group was arrested after a Good Samaritan, Jacinta Nwakaego, alerted police. They are enriching themselves. They would be charged for human trafficking and contemporary slavery.”

The fake foundation apparently has different branches and groups in Nigeria. The leader of those arrested in Lagos, Chukwuka, claimed not to know that it was a bogus scheme.

He said he was pushing wheelbarrow before he was enlisted. According to him, he was making N900 daily, but after Ependu invited him to join the fake charity organisation, he was earning between N400 and N1,000 daily.

Chukwuka enjoys the new trade because it is not as stressful as wheelbarrow work.

He said: “Our boss comes every three days to collect the proceeds. The last time she came to collect money from us was Tuesday. The money was just N15,000 because we didn’t work for

Chukwuka (left), Ani and Chinasa

The girl and her mother

three days. Chinasa was sick.

“We did not take her to hospital. But we bought her medicine from a chemist.

Our boss said that after making some money, we would take Chinasa to orthopaedic hospital in Enugu for operation.”

Narrating how Ependu came into their lives, Mrs Ananko, who understands only Igbo Language, said someone who knew them directed the man to them in Anambra State.

She said: “Ependu discussed with my husband.

He promised to assist us with Chinasa. Chinasa was born with that lump on her face. My first child is a boy, Okwudili. I don’t know my age or my son’s age. I followed them from state to state. I told my husband that they were using Chinasa to make money, but he didn’t say anything.

“When Emeka got me pregnant, Ependu told my husband and since then he had not been picking

my calls. Ependu collect me, took me to hospital w the abortion for me. Whe discussing with one of h came over, slapped me, chasing men. He told my “I told my husband th come home, but he said with Ependu and his fo if it is for 20 years. It is ey they give me that I fe Chinasa. There are drug needs. I buy them from t give me.”

But Nwakaego said t arrest of the suspects, the organisation had be threatening her life.

She said: “He called m ing me N200,000 if I wo about the matter. He told branches all over Nigeri been arrested several t walked out of police cu scribed himself as wind, can trap. He asked me if to be carrying guns to rob his way of making a livin risking my life for nothin “I consulted a doctor w Chinasa needs about N5 m eration. The doctor advise India. We don’t have that s Incidentally, the Chair lice Service Commission, is the chairman of Hands dation.

Little Ngozi needs N2.5m for surg

E

leven-month-old Ngozichukwu Ogude, with a hole in the heart, needs about N2.5 million for corrective surgery in India.

The baby girl, diagnosed with the anomaly at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, in February, has a little less than four months to live if the surgery is not conducted soon.

Her parents, Mr and Mrs Ogude, are appeal-

ing to well-meaning individuals, o and groups to help them raise fu baby as they do not have the mean abroad for the surgery.

Her account details are as follows: Account number, 0025340649; A Ngozi Ogude.

Her parents can also be reached on 08 Ihawrenzho@yahoo.com.

I’ve no regrets nominating Tambuwal as Speaker –JIME / PAGE 17 | NANS may pull out of confab –GBADEBO / PAGE 16

POLITICS

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/politics

ayodele Ojo

Deputy Editor, politics

Buhari is APC’s de facto presidential candidate –Okechukwu

ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

ayodeleojo@yahoo.com

THURSday, April 24, 2014

p-15

Obama recognises importance of Nigeria-US ties –Adefuye Could you tell us a bit about your career? How did you become the ambassador in Washington, D.C.?

I started out life as an academic. I was educated at the University of Ibadan and University of London, received my BA and PhD from Ibadan.

I lectured at the University of Lagos in the Department of History, specializing in the history of international relations. I was then appointed as a professor.

Subsequently, after three years serving as a professor, I was appointed as a diplomat because my area of interest is the history of international relations.

I participated actively in debates on issues concerning international relations. I guess this is where the government took notice of me and appointed me as an ambassador.

I received my PhD in 1973, began lecturing that same year, became a professor and the head of the department in 1985, and became the ambassador to Jamaica in 1987. In 1991, I served as a deputy high commissioner in London. In 1993, I joined the Commonwealth Secretariat, first as the deputy director of Strategic Planning and then became the head of the African Section of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London in 2000.

I was there for seven years. In 2008, I joined ECOWAS as an Adviser on Democracy and Good Governance. Finally, in 2010, I became the ambassador to the United States.

Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Prof. Ade Adefuye stresses that the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C. prioritises diversifying U.S. investor interest in Nigeria on the backdrop of a frequently biased international media environment. In this exclusive interview with the Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief of New Telegraph, MARSHALL COMINS, Adefuye speaks on his foray into the diplomatic world, US-Nigerian relationship, corruption and security challenge in Nigeria. Excerpts:

It was a long and impressive journey. How do Nigerian-U.S relations stand today? What targets has the embassy set for the coming year, and how does it work to improve the two countries’ ties?

Well, we have had good relations since 2010. There is a framework in which we work, the U.S.-Nigerian Bi-National Commission, which is the framework for the relations between our two countries.

CROSSFIRE

Adefuye

The Bi-National Commission agreement is the highest level of strategic agreement that can exist between two countries.

Nigeria is the only country in Africa with which the Obama administration has such a commission. The other is South Af-

rica, and the commission was formed before Obama entered office.

So, the Obama regime really recognises the importance of Nigerian-U.S. bilateral relations.

And so, there are four components of the agreement – the

We in Northern Nigeria are now facing organised ethno-religious campaigns of hate fuelled by the federal administration...

Genocide kingpins are now on prowl in Northern Nigeria -Murtala Nyako

first is what we call transparency, Governance, and Integrity (T.G.I), which envision democracy, good governance, rule of law, the fight against corruption and judicial reform. The second is Energy and Investment – oil and gas and general investment

This is a pathetic embarrassement to the Nigeria military from where Nyako derives his career antecedents. It is certainly a reflection of his ignorance and unpatriotic inclinations -Doyin Okupe

in Nigeria. The third is Food Security, and agriculture. Its aim is to mechanise and commercialise our agriculture. The fourth is called the Niger Delta and Security, meaning, trying to implement what we call the amnesty agreement, according to which former militants are retrained to return to their former professions. The regional security agencies protecting West Africa’s gulf region are making sure that things are fine there.

Those are the four major pillars of our relationship with the United States. There have been meetings both in Abuja and here on each of the four components of the agreement. In fact, because of Boko Haram, we had to split the Niger Delta and Regional Security component into standalone components. So, there are now five components.

There have been quite tangible results. In 2014, the total trade volume between Nigeria and the United States was $20 billion. However, now its $45 billion and still counting, and the United States assisted us during the elections in 2011, and now they’re doing the same thing for the 2015 election.

They gave us a ship to police the gulf region, so many U.S. investors are presently in Nigeria.

We are working directly with so many U.S. foreign agencies, such as Exim Bank, OPIC, and Walmart, and numerous others.

This is because the primary mantra that the government gave us when coming to power is that the ambassadors should attract foreign direct investments into the country. This is what we are doing. We do this by holding investment fora where we invite U.S potential investors to meet their Nigerian counterparts, and they meet for a day or two.

After three months, those who have been able to find sound proposals go to Nigeria to conclude an agreement and to do many other things.

We have accomplished this successfully in power, agriculture, infrastructure, and also ICT. So, we have many U.S. investors now going to Nigeria.

This accounts for the total trade CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

14

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Corruption: Nigeria not worse than other African countries –Adefuye CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

volume. We are presently the largest trading partner for the United States in Africa. There is a lot of interaction between us and the United States. There are areas of disagreement, but there is much more binding us than driving us apart.

Interestingly, polls show that the overwhelming majority of Nigerians are positive about the United States. That’s not something you see in every West African country.

What do you attribute this to?

To start with, there are about 4 million Nigerians in the United States. There are also 1 million Nigerian-Americans.

These are Nigerians who have been here long enough to get a green card or U.S. citizenship, or at the same time marry a U.S. citizen. The trend began during the Biafran War. The Red Cross and many other international organisations brought victims to Houston and other locations in 1966-67. They have grown into doctors, lawyers, architects, and engineers, all now holding good jobs and doing well.

With this body of Nigerians who are Americanized, many more have come.

The United States is also the largest economy in the world and we share basic values. We believe in democracy, human rights, and rule of law. There is a convergence of values. We believe in the same things. We believe in a world that features more consultations than confrontations – a world free of nuclear proliferation, in which peace prevails.

We now even practice an Americantype of constitution in Nigeria. There is so much going on between us at the moment. Many Nigerians – when they say that they are going abroad – think first and foremost about the United States.

America has also been at the forefront in terms of helping us to meet our environmental goals. This is why there is a great deal of synergy between us. In the United Nations (UN), we are always supportive of the United States because we do not want nuclear proliferation. We support the U.S. moves in Iran, Libya, Crimea and everywhere.

And many of our people were trained here. In our present cabinet, our Finance Minister was a managing director at the World Bank. She was trained at Harvard, in New York, and at MIT. Our two Energy ministers were professors here.

Our Agriculture minister worked in so many foundations here for a very lengthy period of time. We have so many people going back to Nigeria to work, trying to contribute to our country and raising the bar. There are also numerous exchanges.

The overall number of Nigerians in the United States is far greater than the entire population of some African countries.

What do you see as the major areas of cooperation that need to improve?

There are quite a number of them. We want more U.S. investments in Nigeria.

Adefuye

Yet, interest among U.S. investors primarily targets the oil and gas sector. How do you think that Nigeria and the Nigerian Embassy, specifically, can facilitate foreign interest in the non-oil sector?

This is exactly the point where we are today. This is the primary purpose of what I am trying to do. In my discussion with U.S. business people, I always tell them that there is more to Nigeria than oil. Americans have discovered cheap oil, and consequently there has been a drop in demand on behalf of the United States for Nigerian hydrocarbons. We hope to diversify the base of our economy. We are trying to stress things such as infrastructure and agriculture, and the use of minerals that are in abundance in Nigeria.

When Nigeria’s oil industry boomed, this was seen as an easier way to make money. Hence, people diverted their attention to oil. I am attempting to revive other industries now. This is the chief reason why we have formed sound relations with many U.S. agencies such as USAID, OPIC, and others. We keep telling them that we do not want aid. We want trade. We have the resources necessary to make a great nation. All we want is support from the U.S. public and private sector to help us maximise our potential.

The Nigerian government and businesses stress the need to increase and diversify U.S. investments, but outstanding security issues would seem to complicate the problem, such as Boko Haram. Do you believe that the United States should pay a more attractive role in combating this continuing threat?

The factors that gave rise to Boko Haram took a very many years to get there.

Now, steps are being taken to protect our security and they will take time to materialise. However, we are making

We have many U.S. investors now going to Nigeria. This accounts for the total trade volume.

We are presently the largest trading partner for the United States in Africa. There is a lot of interaction between us and the United States.

There are areas of disagreement, but there is much more binding us than driving us apart progress. Right now, I can tell you that the backbone of Boko Haram has been broken. They are now located away from cities. They operate from outlying areas and only strike occasionally.

A major problem that we have come to realise is that even though Boko Haram is a reflection of what has indeed already been occurring in Nigeria in previous years, many of the organisation’s adherents who come to fight are actually from neighbouring states such as Niger, Cameroon, and other countries.

We are a victim of the porous nature of our borders, and also because of the fact that many people share the same ethnic group. We have Kanuris in Cameroon and Niger. We have Fulanis in Niger, and they are one and the same people. You cannot know who is a Nigerian, and the border is too large to police.

A significant aspect is that we are seeking the support of our neighbours to

limit the effects of Boko Haram. Recently, we signed an agreement with Cameroon to ensure that they police their borders so that the people do not come here to fight and then run back to Cameroon. We are doing the same thing with Niger.

Unfortunately, it is our commitment to the ECOWAS protocol regarding the free movement of citizens that has served as a problem for us. Up till today, we have supported ECOWAS. We have provided nearly 70 per cent of the ECOWAS budget. Before receiving my appointment as the ambassador, I was an Adviser on Good Governance in ECOWAS. I know that we are committed to this issue. As a result, though, many people from other countries come to Nigeria, and this is why we have not effectively secured our borders with Niger, Cameroon, and other states. But we are now taking specific measures to do so.

The United States has been doing well.

Probably what you do not know, though, is that if it were not for the type of support that we receive from our foreign partners, the extent of the damage done

by Boko Haram would be much greater than it is. But right now their backbone has been broken, and they are making desperate moves. I am confident that within a couple of weeks Boko Haram will be history.

You spent time working on good governance in ECOWAS, so I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts regarding another related issue. Corruption has been referred to as a major factor not only preventing foreign investment, but also hindering the government from effectively dealing with Boko Haram. It is also easy to cross the border for this reason, due to the high level of corruption?

Yes, this is true.

Based on your experience, how do you think corruption can be dealt with in Nigeria?

Corruption exists everywhere. There is always a tendency among those who want to criticise Nigeria to overemphasise corruption. The government is doing what it can do best. I am confident that more funding will be provided to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), and others to curb corruption, while further training and logistical support will be offered by the United States to help support the various activities of these much-needed organisations.

When our foreign friends complain that Nigerian businesspeople are corrupt… well, it takes two to tangle. You saw the 419 letters. They say, “Come and take some money!” They send money because they want more money. But I have a feeling that the issue of corruption in Nigeria is deliberately exaggerated. I am not saying that there is no corruption in Nigeria, but the extent is exaggerated by those who want to criticise the country.

We are no more corrupt than any other African country. The problem is that, given the size of Nigeria, it is easier to see instances of corruption. We engage CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW 15

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Mr. Osita Okechukwu was the 2011 governorship candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Enugu State, a member of the merger Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as well as the Publicity Secretary of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP). In this interview with LEO SOBECHI, the APC spokesman in South East explains the challenges and prospects of the party in Enugu and Nigeria in general. Excerpts: The ward congress of the APC drew the flak of Mr. President and he used the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) zonal rally in Enugu to cast aspersions and innuendos on the party; what is the true position of internal democracy within the APC? Actually the APC as you know is an amalgam of various tendencies of political parties, it would be stupid for anybody to think that it would be that seamless. But luckily the APC constitution in Article 20 provides for modalities. It said first, try consensus and if the consensus is agreed, it must be affirmed. If it is not agreed, go for direct primaries involving all the membership. That is why we did membership registration first before we came to the congresses. Another thing is through indirect primaries through delegate election. And in most of the places, majority of the cases was done by consensus. Then in wards that could not agree like in my own ward and some other local councils, elections were conducted. I cannot say that the president was off the mark. It was expected, it is not as if we have to agree like students in a dormitory. There was ACN (Action Congress of Nigeria) tendency, there was the ANPP (All Nigeria People’s Party) tendency, there was the CPC tendency, there is the new PDP and also our big brother, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, came strong. So, you cannot dismiss that; and that is the position of things as regards that.

Can you comment on the position and place of APC in Enugu politics as 2015 approaches?

The APC will surprise a lot of people because we will from all indications benefit from the rift in Enugu PDP. The gully is getting wider; we don’t know the tonnes of concrete that would be used to hem it together. And if that could be done, I don’t know whether time is on their side. And don’t forget that the PDP groups are coming from an orientation that there won’t be free and fair elections and that whoever has the PDP ticket, becomes a senator. That is why some of them have stayed there for 12 years without commensurate performance. One of them even proposed for the legalisation of abortion. Recently he proposed that the president should initiate the bill for a new constitution as if there was no ex-

Buhari is APC’s de facto presidential candidate –Okechukwu

Okechukwu

ecutive bill before, luckily he has withdrawn that. And these are people who are food-is-ready politicians. So, because of the reason that they are aggrieved, we might harvest their grief. At the end of the day, we might not see the division coming to a wrap. If it doesn’t, we are going to inherit one. But within our own position, we have also tried to look into the eyes of the electorate to tell them that there is no local government out of the 17 in Enugu State that receives less than N100 million every month through federal allocation and internally generated revenue. And none of them is embarking on any culvert construction. None of them administers a health centre or recruited sanitary inspectors or road maintenance officers in all the rural villages. It has been communal based village work.

To that extent, we think that the electorate would listen to us; we think that we and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are working for free and fair elections. So far, we can say we have done a bit of homework and we are not sleeping over it either, knowing fully well that this other people monthly, are refuelled, all these councillors, ward executives take about 50 percent from the local government money and they share the rest. So, these are very wealthy people we are fighting.

Part of the issues on the table for 2015 is that of zoning the governorship to Enugu North Senatorial District; how would APC react to this issue of zoning?

The fact is that we mooted it first; the only thing is that because the PDP has the incumbent governor, so when he made the statement it was shouted loudest than ever. We have zoned accordingly the governorship to Enugu North. We

Buhari’s followership is cult-driven; he has cult followership. If the leadership of the APC decides to rig Buhari out, then they should also forget his votes. If you go by consensus, as I said, you cannot tell him to go and sit down have zoned the chairmanship of APC to Enugu East and other offices, treasurer and the rest to the West. We have zoned and already made that promise that governorship will come from Nsukka zone.

That is our position till date!

The governor made a pronouncement that all those that have served or exceeded two terms in the National Assembly should not dare indicate interest for another term.

Would APC open its arms wide to receive these elements to contest on its platform?

We have not discussed anything like that. We take that as an internal affair of the PDP. But we know that going by the pronouncement of the national leadership of our party, we are open to admit more of the PDP people who feel aggrieved. The truth of the matter is that even the five governors we got, most of them were aggrieved over 10 years ago but they had no credible platform: they couldn’t come to us in CPC, they couldn’t go to ANPP, they couldn’t go to ACN. But it is now that they have seen a larger political platform that can actually give vent to victory in the 2015 presidential election that is coming. I normally say

this; that this is the time we have reached the zenith of liberal democracy, because democracy is not a revolution that can achieve one extreme of the distribution curve. It normally looks for the common ground. After the 2015 general elections, none of the parties neither the PDP nor the APC would have absolute majority in the National Assembly or two-thirds of the states. We must come to the common ground. None of us would win the presidential election with more than 52 per cent of the votes cast. Which means, if you are made a president, no matter how dictatorial or despotic you are; you sit back to think about the 47 per cent that are not with you. That would cushion your decision making. That is what kept democracy alive in India, USA, UK and many of the succeeding liberal democracies.

So, we are not going to close our doors on membership, it is a continuous process. Most of them are indicating interest they would come; we are expecting them to come because we take it that if Governor Sullivan Chime’s faction in the PDP does not defeat the Ekweremadu faction, the Ekweremadu faction will defeat it. And we are beginning to see signs because Chime recently succeeded in chasing away Chimaroke Nnamani, who was to be presented to Mr. President as one of the big fishes netted. You should not think that Mr. President came just because of one member of House of Representatives that distanced himself in Imo. So, if it is about honourable members perhaps we should go to the United Nations headquarters in New York to receive the 37 members that defected from PDP to APC as well as the five state governors.

Do you see people like Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso as possible presidential candidate of the APC? It is always said; when we get to the bridge, we learn to cross it. What we are doing today is to build the foundation of a party so that even if you want to be a president you should know who the chairmen in the various states are. You first know that, because the structures are what give the house the weight it carries. I don’t know whether (Governor Rabiu) Kwankwaso wants to be presidential candidate. My own idea is that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is the de facto candidate of the APC. De facto in the sense that I do not think that if the leadership of the APC should assemble in a place they should ask Buhari to step down for Kwankwaso or step down for Atiku or for whomever in the South or North. I don’t think anybody would do that. I say so because the manifesto of the APC is tailored around Buhari.

Our first programme is war against corruption and national orientation.

And you know his track records. And some of us feel that Nigeria is broken CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

16

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW

Thursday, April 24, 2014

NANS may pull out of confab –Gbadebo

make an input in their affairs, so be it. I am of the opinion that subjecting the outcome of the conference to a referendum will make it a people’s document. Nobody should arrogate powers to him or herself because the constitution arrogates power to Nigerians. Members of the National Assembly are there because the people voted for them, so they should not think that Nigeria begins and end with them.

The confab will be a mere jamboree if the outcome of the confab is sent to the National Assembly for ratification.

President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and a delegate to the ongoing National Conference, Yinka Gbadebo, in this interview with FELIX NWANERI speaks on the experience of the younger generation at the discourse, lamenting lack of opportunity for them to contribute meaningful to debates. Excerpts: You are representing the National Association Nigerian Students (NANS) at the ongoing National Conference. But so far, not much has been heard from younger people like you at the confab. What is responsible for that?

First of all, I sincerely commend the wisdom of the President in convoking the national conference, but it is very disappointing that the generation-next have not been given the opportunity to make an input at the confab. I don’t want to pre-empt the outcome of the discourse, but with what I have seen in the last one month that we have been at the confab, it seems that the conference secretariat has a mindset about what it wants to do. As the president of an association that has a population of about 40 million people, I cannot imagine myself sitting down for almost one month. The only time that I have been given to speak was just three minutes and it was not even enough for me to articulate the various points that we wanted to raise. It is very saddening and if this continues, we may be forced to pull out of the conference because I cannot imagine taxpayers’ money being wasted on me. So far, N2.8 million has been paid to me and I have only been able to talk for three minutes. For me, it is a waste of taxpayers’ money. If the conference secretariat is not going to allow us to make meaningful contribution to the development of this country, then there is no essence going there and sitting for hours. My conscience tells me that I am just being paid for doing nothing.

What are those issues that NANS would have loved to raise at the confab?

We have lots of them; the issue of polytechnics and colleges of education students who have been at home for more than eight months now. That was the only thing that I was allowed to raise when I was given the opportunity to talk. We also have issues of proliferation of unions in our campuses; interest free loans for indigent students who cannot afford exorbitant fees being charged by most of our universities and scholarships for deserving students. Unemployment is equally an important issue that we would have loved to discuss. We have a position paper in which we have articulated our position, but if we are not given the opportunity to present these issues and our position; what are we are doing at the conference? That was why I said that if things continue the way they are going,

Gbadebo

NANS may be forced to pull out of the national conference. Although it would be seen in some quarters as a national embarrassment, we want Nigerians to know that it is not a matter of embarrassing anyone but listening to our conscience.

Don’t you envisage that the embarrassment that you talked about could be averted at the committee level, as the various interest groups at the confab are likely to have more time to make their presentations?

We hope that we would be given more time at the committee level, but so far, some persons at the conference have been given the opportunity to talk for more than 20 times. I don’t want to mention names, but I know of one or two persons.

The moment they raise their hands, the confab’s chairman recognises them immediately. So, I want to use this medium to appeal to the conference secretariat to give us a chance because we are discussing the future of Nigeria. And who are that future? It is the youths.

We should be given the opportunity to determine our future. They have determined for us since the 1950s when the first conference was held; there are some people who were at the first constitutional conference who are still part of the ongoing confab and they are the ones the conference secretariat keeps recognising. We hope that our own opportunity will come for us to make contributions and that will ensure that the good intention of the President in convoking the conference is realised. President Jonathan has set up the conference, but he is not the one to moderate proceedings. So, if the confab fails, all of us at the level of the conference have failed. But the failure would not be put at my doorstep as NANS president because I will come out to mention the names of those who made it to fail by not giving the eggheads and youths to contribute meaningfully at the confab.

Some people have faulted the composition of the confab, decrying that more than 80 per cent of the delegates are octogenarians who have little or nothing to offer, while another school of thought is of the view that

I cannot imagine myself sitting down for almost one month... It is very saddening and if this continues, we may be forced to pull out of the conference because I cannot imagine taxpayers’ money being wasted on me experience counts. How do you reconcile these views vis a vis your experience so far?

I want to say categorically without meaning to insult anyone that I will go with the line of argument by those in the first school of thought who believe that there are a lot of us at the confab who have nothing to offer because they are the same old people who are responsible for the mess that we have found ourselves in. They have been part of government and past conferences; whether national, constitutional or sovereign and nothing came out of them. So, I see no reason why they should still be part of the present conference. But if Mr. President in his wisdom felt that they need to be there to use the opportunity to liaise with the younger ones to fashion a way out for the country, I don’t have any problem with that. My position is that while those with experience are being recognised, those of us with fresh ideas should equally be recognised so that together, we will come out with ways that will better our future.

Where do you stand on what happens to the outcome of the conference; subjecting it to the National Assembly for ratification or a referendum?

To me, power belongs to the people and I believe that those at the National Assembly are the representatives of the people who elected them. So, if the people say that whatever comes out of the confab should be subjected to a referendum that will afford Nigerians the opportunity to

But some people have argued that the National Conference has no legal backing.

When you talk about legal backing, it has several interpretations. I am not a lawyer, but I think that the President has exercised his executive powers in convoking the conference. Do we have to continue to talk about legal backing when we have problems on our hands?

If the problems snowball into a major crisis, nobody would be around to talk about legal backing. We are looking at how we can resolve the issues responsible for these problems before the situation gets out of hand, so that Nigeria continues as one nation. So, I will tell whoever that is talking about legal backing that he or she does not wish Nigeria well.

Some of the conference’s delegates are already seeking an extension, saying that three months is not enough to address the numerous issues facing the nation. What is your take on that?

I don’t think that we need an extension. Although we have not done anything serious for one month now, I believe that the remaining two months are more than enough for us to conclude our assignment if we are serious-minded. Everyone knows the problem of Nigeria; they are glaring and we have identified them over time. The only thing that we have to do now is to proffer solutions, harmonise them and come up with a working document. Most of the delegates at the confab know Nigeria’s problems as well as the solutions but they seem not interested in making the country work because they are benefiting from the rot in the system. So, if we are serious and sincere about doing the job that we have at hand, the problems of Nigeria can be discussed, articulated and solutions proffered within the next two months left for the confab.

As the conference enters the committee stage, what do you expect?

I expect that the real job would be done at this stage. I also expect that sincerity of purpose will come to play. Out of the 492 delegates, we only have 18 youths and we have come together to form what we call G18. We meet constantly to articulate our respective positions and we only hope that we would be given the opportunity to present them at the committee stage. The G18 is hoping that we will be able to achieve the goals that what we are the conference for at the committee stage; that is to make a change in this country.

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW 17

Thursday, April 24, 2014

I’ve no regrets nominating Tambuwal as Speaker –Jime

Hon. Emmanuel Jime represents Makurdi/Guma Federal constituency of Benue State and is the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The former Speaker of Benue State House of Assembly speaks on his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), why he nominated Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker of the House and his governorship ambition in this interview with PHILIP NYAM. Excerpts: You nominated Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2011 against the directive of your then party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). What informed that decision and looking back at events, do you regret making that decision?

Before I came to the House, I had some amount of tutelage as a member of the Assembly way back in 1992 when I was elected to represent Makurdi North in the Benue State House of Assembly and I became Speaker. By the time I got to the House of Representatives, I was no longer a novice as far as business of lawmaking was concerned.

By the way, for me, this whole leadership recruitment processes, we need to take account of certain factors. Part of the problem we have in the legislature today is election of people without a clear knowledge of what the duty of a legislator is. When I came in 2011, I had a lot of experience and I understood very clearly that consistent with the doctrine of separation of powers, the legislative arm has sufficient independence to perform its duties without interference from any other arm of government, particularly the executive. Any student of government will tell you that the greatest challenge of the legislature is the overbearing influence of the executive on the political space. It is also clear to me that unless we have a legislature that is independent we may dismiss the entire notion of democracy and what we will have would be dictatorship.

How can you guarantee the independence of the legislature? It is by guiding that process that leads to the emergence of the leadership. Once you do this, whoever becomes the presiding officer knows that his duty is to the people and you are better to guarantee stability. For example, when I first came to the House in 2007, because of executive interference, we elected a speaker, Hon. Patricia Etteh who a few months along the road ran into problems with members leading to an unstable manner that led to her removal from office. But Tambuwal as you know holds the House with dignity in a manner

What we did was consistent with the demands of our office and also in keeping with the true tradition of how the three arms of government are expected to function

that no Speaker has been able to hold.

Do I have regrets nominating him?

No, I think what we did was consistent with the demands of our office and also in keeping with the true tradition of how the three arms of government are expected to function. I dare say that this country has been better for it because the manner the House has charted the pathway. I don’t mean to sing our praise but I believe Nigerians who have followed the activities of this 7th Assembly will agree that we are going forward. And I believe that if the two chambers of the National Assembly can guarantee their independence, this country will be on the way to glory. I am therefore very happy at what I did.

The ruling of an Abuja Federal High Court has barred the defecting members of the House from effecting a change in leadership. The court also said that you lack the moral right to keep your seats.

As one of the defectors, do you think remaining in the House is morally right?

I am a lawyer and my training taught me there is a difference between what is moral and what is legal. I believe the judge is well entitled to making his opinion about morality. In my view, it is not in the authority of the judge to make pronouncements about morality, let’s live that to the bishops and Imams. The duty of the judge is to pronounce the law. But what I understand about this particular action that was brought before Justice Ademola was as to whether defecting members from the PDP could effect a change in the leadership of the House.

Indeed, the prayer was also related to that matter. The order of court from what I have seen clearly is that y o u can-

Jime

not effect change of leadership. As I speak; there is a matter before another judge on the issue of defection. So, we are awaiting another pronouncement from Justice Adamu whether the defection is legal or not. Therefore any orbita, a statement of opinion from a judge that does not constitute order of the court, should be treated for what it is.

My own opinion about defection is this; section 68(1) of the 1999 Constitution speaks clearly about the circumstances under which a lawmaker elected on the platform of a party can defect to another party. Those three conditions are stated to be where there is a division; where there is factionalisation and where there is a merger. So, if your defection is consistent with the provisions of the constitution, bordering on any of these three then the issue of morality should not arise because we are now talking law.

I believe that the presumption that people make that there is no division in the PDP or there is no faction is unfounded. And I hear people make that claim on the basis of a court pronouncement in a matter that Bamanga Tukur filed against Alhaji Kawu Baraje, where he had sought the interpretation of the court to determine between his faction of the PDP and the faction of Baraje which was the legitimate or authentic PDP. The constitution says where there is a faction or where there is division. The constitution did not say where there is a legal or illegal faction; legal or illegal division. When you say that there is a faction, the presumption is that there must be a legal

and illegal faction.

So, this is a matter of fact. The moment Bamanga Tukur, then PDP chairman went to court to challenge Baraje’s faction, already the question of faction in the PDP was determined; what was left for the court to interpret was which was legal and illegal. I think people make the presumption that there should be two legal factions. You can’t have two legal factions. So, clearly, there is evidence that there is a division in PDP and factionalisation. And there are decided actions on this matter of factionalisation of parties and there is precedence that will guide the court. And that matter has not been determined yet. So, those who are saying that there is no division and that those who defected should vacate their seats should wait. This issue will go up to the Supreme Court, so no one should panic.

Why did you quit the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC)?

I pride myself as one individual who is progressively inclined. My progressive instincts tell me that in 2014 I will now have a natural habitat that caters for my progressive inclinations. When I started my career in 1992, I was in the Soocial Democratic Party (SDP), which was peopled by individuals with progressive inclinations. I belong to the school of thought that professes a theory that is left of the centre. Whereas I believe in capitalism; I believe in the capitalism that has a human face. That being the case, APC gives me a reason from its manifesto and the nature and character of the individuals gravitating through the party give me the hope that we can enthrone ultimately a system of government that not only encourage the private sector but at the same time is looking after the welfare of the generality of Nigerians.

I think I want to make clear that when I joined the PDP in 1998, the concern then was to push the military out of power.

Issues of ideology did not prove to be relevant at the time. By 2015, we would have been 16 years in democratic practice. Is it not proper that we start having contestation based on ideology? PDP has chosen to be right of centre and the focus of PDP is capital and private sector driven.

I don’t quite agree with that inclination.

So, we now have a platform and that is the only reason why I left PDP. Any other thing ascribed to me, people are entitled to their opinion.

What informs your decision to aspire to lead Benue State as governor come 2015?

Why the transition from legislature to the executive? Is this ideological too?

Transition from the legislative arm of government to the executive: One, it is gaining currency worldwide. President Barack Obama transited from the legislature to the executive. So, it is not without foundation. There has to be something about the legislature that prepares him for the executive. The legislature makes laws and performs oversight too and then representation. The last is the one that brings you in contact with the needs of the people. Who understands the needs of the people than a legislator? In that capacity therefore, I am better prepared to govern the state.

18

POLITICS | THURSDAY INTERVIEW

CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 5

and needs to be fixed. And we are not saying Buhari is the only one who can fix Nigeria; of course he has always said he is not an engineer but his belief from his past experience as Minister of Petroleum, as a GOC (General Officer Commanding), as Head of State, as Chairman of PTF (Petroleum Special Trust Fund); is that if you don’t compromise yourself with the contractor, you supervise the contractor better. So, he said there must be a clean line that demarcates supervision and the contractor.

Money plays a role in party politics; don’t you think that if by any stroke of chance either Kwankwaso or Atiku picks the presidential ticket, the APC would be back to square one.

Is there any internal mechanism to ensure that stalwarts of the new PDP do not end up flying the flag of APC? These things will be sorted out by the leadership when the time comes by following the constitution, which says first that consensus should be tried.

Because you cannot dismiss a man that from a small CPC had 12 million votes in a rigged election. The man who was not able to pay his agents: most of the agents were volunteer-agents at the polling booths. I don’t think you can dismiss him; I don’t think you can dismiss a man that came to the Supreme Court of the country after the 2003 elections and had a tie. It was three judges apiece. And it took only the Chief Justice of the Federation to cast his vote, which is very rare throughout the whole world and very rare in election petitions, for a

Thursday, April 24, 2014

2015: ‘Buhari has cult followership’

Okechukwu

seven-man panel to run into a tie that now dragged to the Chief Justice who is a member of the panel to cast a vote.

Buhari’s followership is cult-driven; he has cult followership. If the leadership of the APC decides to rig Buhari out, then they should also forget his votes. If you go by consensus, as I said, you cannot tell him to go and sit down.

If you go by direct primaries, let me give you an example; Kano State registered 2.6 million members under the APC, voluntary entry into a party; which is more than what one of the zones in the entire country registered as a whole in membership. So, it is not a matter of

money, we have not come to that. When we come to that, for us we have a de facto presidential candidate.

And the insinuation by a newspaper reporter that a muslim/muslim ticket was afoot was never discussed anywhere.

I am in a position to say that even if I did not attend a meeting; I could have attended a meeting where we were briefed that this should be the position of where we are going. But nothing like that happened. It is just speculation of those that like in 2003 the same newspaper asked a reporter to report that Buhari urged voters not to vote for a non-muslim, when that was not said. Even the Bishop of Sokoto, Reverend Father Matthew Hassan Kukah, defended Buhari. That is why I said if Fani-Kayode had come out from a caucus meeting where the issue was tabled, I could not have blamed him.

It was a speculative agenda. Don’t forget that the CPC alliance with ACN prior to the 2011 elections failed because the same GMB told Asiwaju Tinubu, ‘I have nothing against your ticket but the sectarian fault lines in Nigeria is too deep to contemplate what happened in 1993; for that sake give me somebody. Then Asiwaju promised to bring somebody and before that could be consummated, the INEC deadline elapsed.

So that is the truth of the matter because I am talking of the real thing that happened.

It is not about speculation.

Beyond the muslim/muslim ticket, the new challenge is how do you handle the interest

and schemes of Bola Tinubu in 2015?

I don’t understand what people think about Tinubu. My only happiness is that nobody thinks that he is an idiot. For him, he has been a pillar in the building and construction of the APC. He has been a pillar in rebuffing Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s dictatorship in Nigeria.

It is on record. He has been a senator, a governor. When somebody asks what he wants, I don’t think there is any other thing except a better country. After all, his wife is in the Senate; he has the latitude to ask his wife to vacate the seat and I think Lagos people will vote him to come to the centre. And APC is going to form the majority in the National Assembly; we might not have two-thirds but whichever party that has the simple majority produces the Senate President.

These are options open to Tinubu. It is not only the vice president that is open.

How is the party taking Femi Fani-Kayode’s tweets and posts, especially his recent relationship with the president?

I don’t think anything happened over Fani-Kayode’s outbursts because actually I am not trying to be immodest; he is not an officer of the party. He did not even come with the new PDP, CPC, and ANPP. We don’t know where he goes next, if he leaves I don’t think he has ever produced a councillor or won a delegate election talk less of a local council chairman. I don’t think the party will ever set up a meeting to discuss him.

‘Obama recognises importance of Nigeria-US ties’ CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 4

in more activities, so it is easier for people to see more instances of corruption than in other countries, and they blow this fact up.

There are about four million Nigerians in the United States. A country like Ghana probably has less than 500,000 here. So, if you capture three Nigerians engaged in a crime, and get one Ghanaian, then the proportion dictates the story. Due to the size of Nigeria, we have many more trained and qualified people doing well for the United States than any other African country. But because of our size, you find that you often are the subject of criticism and other people try to negatively impact your reputation.

I appeal to the international community to see these things in terms of relativity. Let’s say Country B has 20 people, and Country A, let’s say, Nigeria, has 80 people. Of those 20 people, you are likely to find 10 good ones and 10 bad ones. Nigeria has 80 – 40 good ones and 40 bad ones. Unfortunately, the media too often focuses on the bad. When you find 40 bad Nigerians, there is a lot of noise.

But it’s important to consider the ratio of the population. For every one Ghanaian, you have about eight Nigerians, so the world has not been fair to us in this regard. People do not recall the fact that the first non-American to be on board of NASA was a Nigerian professor. At a medical school in Dallas

in the obstetrics and gynaecology division, there are eight consultants, six of whom are Nigerians. But nobody pays any attention to this fact.

Meanwhile, when you find one Nigerian who found his way and cheated to get on the train and you don’t find any Ghanaian doing the same thing, that is news. So, the media has not been fair to us. They don’t consider our size in relation to the crime that they say we commit when they say that we commit it. We have many more good people than any other countries in the region. However, unfortunately, the media does not seem to want to take notice of these individuals.

If I tell you that a Nigerian was appointed as a university vice chancellor or president, it will not be as interesting to the media as a Nigerian who shoplifted. This is the nature of the media.

They sensationalise that which is bad in us. We are not worse than any other African country. I do not believe that at all. Nigerians are not more corrupt than any other people. It is just the sheer size of our people that makes some think that these things happen in Nigeria. We are a victim of our size and population in terms of how we are perceived in the United States when it comes to corruption and criminal activities.

On a more political note, what are your thoughts regarding the upcoming presidential elections?

In 2011, we disappointed our enemies

There are about four million Nigerians in the United States. There are also one million NigerianAmericans. These are Nigerians who have been here long enough to get a green card or U.S. citizenship, or at the same time marry a U.S. citizen by conducting one of the best, freest, and fairest elections in Africa. In my days with the Commonwealth, I observed the elections in about 19 African countries in the Commonwealth and in other countries in Southern Africa. The election ranks among the best held, the elections of 2011. We are determined to repeat them in 2015 and make them even more credible.

The president has given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) full powers and a free hand to hold the election. We are now working with the assistance of the U.S. government, which has been providing logistical support to the electoral commission.

We have been working with the British as well.

Adefuye

Just recently, I arrived back from a meeting of the U.S.-Nigerian Binational Commission in Abuja – the Transparency, Governance and Integrity group.

The focus was the 2015 elections and the chairman of INEC, the chairman of EFCC, and everyone linked to the election was there. We reviewed the programmes and the Americans were satisfied that we are on the right track.

Even though the political climate is charged, we are determined to ensure that the elections reflect the will of the people of Nigeria. Our President, Goodluck Jonathan, has said that he does not want anyone to rig the election for him.

He said that he wants the elections to be conducted fairly and for the exact results of the elections to be released.

We are determined to do this and this is what we will do.

Our VISION To build a newspaper organisation anchored on the sanctity of truth.

Our MISSION To publish a newspaper of superior value, upholding the fundamental ethics of journalism: balanced reporting, fairness, accuracy and objectivity.

A

19

EDITORIAL

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Sanctity of Truth w w w.new telegraphonli ne.com

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha

THURSday, APRIL 24, 2014

Reflecting on Nigeria’s rebased GDP

fter waiting for 24 years, Nigeria formally rebased its nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on April 6, 2014, emerging as Africa’s largest economy and the 26th globally. With a GDP that leapt from its 2012 figure of N71.1 trillion ($286 billion) to N80.2 trillion ($510 billion) at the end of 2013, the emerging reality has also left South Africa as the continent’s second largest economy with GDP estimates worth $386 billion. The country’s latest status also positions it above Austria with GDP of $395 billion, Columbia with $370 billion, Denmark with $315 billion, Malaysia with $275 billion, Singapore with $270 billion, and Venezuela with $381 billion.

Surprisingly, the new state of statistical reality has generated much criticism, ridicule, vilification and a handy tool for vitriolic condemnation, especially by politicians, rather than commend the efforts of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for successfully conforming to the universal practice of updating and benchmarking the country’s GDP with more current and reliable statistics.

Conversely, rather than ruminate the gamut of the implications of the new GDP for researchers, planners, students, policy makers and the National Vision 2020, some people are in a frenzy, carried away with the euphoria and sentiment of the country’s economy becoming Africa’s number one.

As a matter of fact, the rebasing has evolved a new structure of the country’s nominal GDP. For instance, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Mr. Yemi Kale says the 2010 rebased nominal GDP represents an increase of 59.9 per cent when the old base year is applied. It also shows a rise of 69.1 per cent in 2011 and 75.58 per cent in 2012, as well as a projected growth of 89.22 per cent in 2013.

Prominent among the revelations of the revised GDP figures is the indication that the services sector of the Nigerian economy comprising financial institutions, information and communications technology (ICT), real estate, professional, scientific and technical services and trade now contribute about 52 per cent of total GDP leaving the industry sector as the second largest contributor at 26 per cent. These are followed by agriculture which contributed 22 per cent, telecommunications at 8.69 per cent, manufacturing at 6.83 per cent and the newest one, entertainment, which had never been captured contributing 1.42 per cent.

Sub-sectors as telecommunications and information services, publishing, motion pictures, sound recording and music production and broadcasting that had been previously excluded have now been accommodated in the latest exercise to ensure a more holistic coverage of the economy. Other sectors which have also been captured in the rebased GDP syndrome are arts, entertainment, recreation, financial

institutions and insurance, real estate, professional, scientific and technical services, administrative and export services, public administration, education, human health and social services, and other services, bringing the number of activities captured to 46. It was previously 33.

While we commend the NBS for the success of the exercise, we question why it took it this long, considering the numerous questions that now agitate the minds of various stakeholders and publics.

Beyond mere political sentiments and gimmicks, the question of how the new statistics translate to critical development indices especially in terms of poverty incidence, inequality, access to water, sanitation and housing will remain central in public debate.

We strongly believe that these, essentially, are governance questions, which should be resolved across the three tiers of government. Some of these far-reaching questions cannot erode the wisdom in rebasing the GDP in line with global best practices. It is our firm belief that improved statistics should ordinarily lead to better economic targeting of policies and institutions and by extension, better outcomes for the citizens.

The new GDP statistics raises a lot of questions about our economic evolution that needs to be addressed through rigorous research, not imaginative, politically tainted statements and diversionary public discourse. This is why we ad-

monish that rather than the frenzy of criticisms and misplaced celebrations so far witnessed in the country since the GDP re-benchmarking was announced, all hands need to be on deck to re-align various development indicators and variables to achieve progress and improve the wellbeing of stakeholders.

Rebasing of national accounts simply means changing the old base year used for compiling the constant price estimates to a new and more current base year. Essentially, a change of base year in the national accounts entails changing the price and quantity base for price and quantity relatives, and updating the weights used in aggregating these quantity relatives into sub-indices expressed in present realities.

The value in this from the standpoint of economics is that it reconciles the various estimates of the GDP and could be a veritable tool for methodological and conceptual reviews and improvements. Rather than dismiss the exercise with a wave of the hand and wasting precious time and resources to question its timing and underpinning political calculations, we believe we should be concerned more about how the new structure of the economy unleashed by the new GDP series is optimally harnessed to ensure that is positively tracked by potential investors and suppliers of consumer goods and services since our economy is grossly importdependent and perceived as a harsh environment for business undertakings.

GABRIEL AKINADEWO Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief IKE ABONYI Deputy Managing Director/DEIC FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU Managing Editor, South SULEIMAN BISALLA Managing Editor, North AYODELE OJO Acting Editor, Daily LAURENCE ANI Editor, Saturday EMEKA MADUNAGU Editor, Sunday LEO CENDROWICZ Bureau Chief, Brussels MARSHALL COMINS Bureau Chief, Washington DC SAM AMSTERDAM Editorial Coordinator, Europe EMMAN SHEHU (PhD) Chairman, Editorial Board GEOFFREY EKENNA News Editor PADE OLAPOJU Production Editor TIMOTHY AKINLEYE Head, Graphics ROBINSON EZEH Head, Admin.

20

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

OPINION Repositioning the media in a changing world (1) Adewale Kupoluyi

F

or any nation to attain development, the media should be made to play its crucial role in the promotion of free flow of information, good governance, defence of human rights and rule of law. The just-concluded World Congress and the 63rd Annual General Assembly of the International Press Institute, held in Cape Town, South Africa offered a wide-range platform for seasoned journalists, researchers, academics and press freedom advocates to brainstorm on how the daunting challenges facing the media could be mitigated and better repositioned for sustainable societal transformation.

The congress with the theme “Celebrating Freedom: Two Decades of Evolving Media”, was unique in a number of ways. Firstly, it marked 20 years since IPI held its memorable gathering on the eve of South Africa’s first, multi-racial and free elections. Secondly, it signaled the 20th commemoration of the ‘end’ of Apartheid. Thirdly, it coincided with the 20th commemoration of the Rwandan genocide. Lastly, it coincided with the Silver Jubilee of the birth of the technological revolution, World Wide Web! The programme formally kicked-off as Tim Du Plessis, the Executive Editor of Media24 Afrikaans News welcomed the nearly 300 participants while the keynote address was delivered by Collins Chabane, Minister, Office of the Presidency, Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, South Africa, who was represented by Obed Bapela, Deputy Minister. The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Awardee, sent in a goodwill message with his clarion call on world leaders to promote press freedom.

IPI’s Alison McKenzie presented the Executive Director’s Report tagged, ‘The State of Press Freedom’. While reeling out disturbing press freedom challenges across several countries and the concerted being made by IPI to curtail the slide, she noted that the South African Parliament, last November approved and sent to President Jacob Zuma, “the Protection of State Information Bill, also known as the ‘secrecy bill’, which in our view, gives too much authority to politicians to determine what is confidential information. It also lacks a public interest defence, which would directly impact whistle-blowers and journalists, who obtain information through their confidential sources.

“We strongly urge the President to veto the ‘secrecy bill’ and send it back to the Parliament for reconsideration - before the election. Doing so would send the message that South Africa is determined to protect freedom of the press and defend the right of the public to access information that affects their lives ... it’s not too late for President Zuma to add his name and personal commitment to abolish these heinous laws”, she stated.

The well-organised congress was structured into 10 rich, deeply-researched and thought-provoking sessions beginning with ‘A Conversation with …’ that featured Dr. Fredrick de Klerk, former President of South Africa; Osy Nwebo, Director of Bureau, Pan African Parliament, South Africa; and Moustafa Soung, Director-General, Al Jazeera Media Network. The session was moderated

by Ferial Haffajee, Editor-in-Chief, City Press of South Africa, IPI Executive Board member and Chair, 2014 World Congress Host Committee. Dr. De Clerk, the last president of apartheid-era South Africa, who freed the late African National Congress leader, Nelson Mandela from prison and supported the transformation of South Africa into a multi-racial democracy, also shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mandela.

In the discourse, he said if given the opportunity again, he would repeat taking the decision that led to the crumbling of apartheid, as he lauded those who fought the struggle with him. He declared that “I am no longer a politician”, while condemning the policies of the current government in South Africa over a number of issues like increasing violent crime, corruption, high unemployment, fallen standard of education, stunted economic growth, among others. He observed that the latest rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria, which placed it as the biggest economy in Africa was good but insisted that South African economy was better structured than Nigeria’s.

While Nwebo called for the decriminalization of defamation, he promised the support of the Pan Africa Parliament to promote press freedom in Africa, as Moustafa Soung called on the Egyptian government to release the detained Al Jazeera journalists, who he said had not violated any law in the discharge of their lawful duties. My interaction with one of the freed Egyptian journalists, who attended the congress, Mohammed Bader alongside Abdelfattah Fayed, Cairo Bureau Chief of Al Jazeera shows that the incarcerated journalists were in bad conditions.

Session II, moderated by Alison Meston of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WANIFRA), France, discussed ‘Criminal Defamation and Insult Laws: Why Leaders Won’t Budge’, making the panelists to call on relevant authorities to abrogate criminal defamation laws that are still being used to deter ‘wayward’ and ‘rogue’ journalists. On this panel were Jenni Campbell, Press Association of Jamaica; Justine Limpitlaw, an electronic communication law consultant; Osy Nwebo and John Yearwood, World Editor, The Miami Herald.

To be continued Kupoluyi (vide, adewalekupoluyi@yahoo.co.uk, Twitter, @AdewaleKupoluyi) writes from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

Amaechi’s legal, political battles and enrichment of judiciary (4) Continued from yesterday

Eze Chukwuemeka Eze

R

eacting to all the brouhaha, a UKbased Social Commentator, Emeka Reuben Okala, stated, and I quote: “I join other Nigerians to congratulate the articulate Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, on the battle well fought and job well done on this issue. In all of these, Amaechi clearly stands on the pedestal of truth and that’s the magic behind his countless victories. Keep the flag flying, Mr. Governor, you are clearly on the right side of history. Kudos! To Justice PNC Agumagu, I say congratulations! Your appointment as the Chief Judge of Rivers State is richly deserved. Knowing you as I do, the Judiciary under your leadership will have a lot to benefit. We look forward to your good services.”

On his part, Nebukadineze Adiele, a well respected online Social Commentator, stated as follows: “The idea that a customary court judge could not be appointed a Chief Judge of a state was thoughtlessness taken too far.

The NJC shamed itself by practically dictating to the governor as to who to appoint CJ. Kudos to Amaechi for standing firm on his belief and for trusting the judiciary into resolving this matter. His tenacity over this

matter is a public service to other governors and future governors. A timid governor would have buckled when pressured from all angles to not appoint Justice Agumagu as Chief Judge of Rivers state. I am both a fan and a critic of Chibuike Amaechi – I support him when he gets things right and I get on his case when he goofs. On the appointment of Justice Agumagu as Rivers state Chief Judge, Governor Chibuike Amaechi showed tremendous courage under fire and his action will remain as revolutionary (over judicial appointments in Nigeria) as the circumstances he overcame in becoming governor. That the most senior judge in the state should have been denied appointment into the Chief Judgeship, simply because he was a customary court judge, would have been blatantly discriminatory, stupid, and legally not justifiable. There are instances when one cannot help but admire Chibuike Amaechi’s confidence and convictions. This is one such instance.”

6. Challenge on the Transfer of Rivers State Oil Wells to Akwa Ibom State As the serving Governor of Rivers State, Amaechi caused his Attorney-General to challenge the transfer of some oil wells from Rivers State to Akwa Ibom State. The Supreme Court eventually ruled in favour of Rivers State in that case.

7. The most celebrated Supreme Court ruling on Governor Amaechi A lot of articles and statements were written following the K-legged episode that was the outright hijack of the 2007 PDP gubernatorial ticket from Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi ahead of the 14th April, 2007 election in Rivers State. This occurred despite his landslide victory at the primaries where he clinched 6,527 of the 6,575 possible votes while seven other aspirants that included political heavyweights like Hon. Chief Austin Okpara, a former Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives; late Senator Martin Yellowe; Pawariso Horsfall; and Mr. Chris Orji shared the remaining 48 votes amongst themselves. Amaechi’s name was subsequently forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission on December 14, 2006 in compliance with Section 32(1) & (2) of the Electoral Act 2006. INEC then duly published Amaechi’s name as the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State.

The story however took a different turn when, speaking at the presentation of the party flag to its gubernatorial candidate at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, former President and then “Emperor” of PDP, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, declared that Amaechi’s candidacy had “k-leg”. Follow-

ing this outright abuse of office, the dreaded bulldog that was the Nuhu Ribadu-led Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was let loose on Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, resulting in his decision to seek legal redress for his travails. Suffice it to say, Amaechi went on self exile to Ghana and the powers that be further showed their contempt for him by selecting his cousin, Sir Celestine Omehia, who neither purchased nor filled a form, as PDP flagbearer in his stead.

Amaechi’s vindication came with the 25th October, 2007 landmark ruling by the Nigerian Supreme Court declaring him as not only the authentic flag-bearer of PDP but also ording that he be sworn-in immediately to replace Omehia, who had previously been sworn-in on May 29, 2007 as the Governor of Rivers State. Thus, Amaechi became the first person to occupy the office of governor in the country without standing for election. In explaining the ruling, the Supreme Court has since stated that it is the party that contests elections and that the PDP won the gubernatorial elections, and that, consequently, Amaechi, being the rightful candidate, should assume power as governor.

Concluded • Eze Chukwuemeka Eze (ezemediaconcept08@rocketmail.com, 08038199163) is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt

LAW THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014

A

NEW TELEGRAPH

www.newtelegraphonline.com/law

FOLUSO OGUNMODEDE JUDICIARY Editor

foluso.ogunmodede@newtelegraphonline.com bunfolchester@yahoo.com

Confab won't achieve anything - Atunwa

21

}p-26

Ahamba, Ozekhome, others appraise confab at Day 39

lthough its take-off raised some dust, lawyers who are delegates to the national conference are optimistic that light would definitely emerge at the end of the tunnel as there are ‘obvious ingredients’ that the gathering THIRTY-NINE days on, lawyers yesterday appraised the ongoing national conference and concluded of the nation’s best would pro- that its outcome would, no doubt, make Nigeria stronger. They spoke with TUNDE OYESINA duce the needed catalyst for the country’s socio-political and economic reform.

“The conference is progressively getting better by the day and delegates now understand themselves better by the day”, one of them said.

President Goodluck Jonathan, had on March 17, inaugurated the national conference with 492 delegates, comprising the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, professional groups, political representatives, and civil society groups amongst others.

Their mandate among others was to deliberate on how to resolve the country’s constitutional challenges, address all matters except issues bother- Ahamba Ologunmorisa Ozekhome ing on the ‘indivisibility’ and ‘indissolubility’ of Nigeria as a nation.

Although Ahamba believed Ahamba was echoed by an- ference. At least the ideas that Its outcome if agreed upon there were still a lot of work to other Senior Advocate,Chief will be generated will lead to a and backed-up with legal ‘teeth’, do, there were positive signs that Awa Kalu, who believed that better Nigeria". would form a consensus and ad- a new Nigeria would emerge at light would appear at the end A delegate and Senior Advise the Federal Government the end of the conference. if only the delegates were will- vocate, Chief Mike Ozekhome He said:"The conference had ing to carry-out the assignment spoke glowingly about the conon the legal framework procedures, options for integrating been able to a certain extent, with all sense of responsibility. ference, saying that it had not the conference’s position into achieve a level of unity, the He said: “What we are see- only found its feet, the conferlevel of friendliness has im- ing now, is just a process of foot ence had been to identify grey the nation’s constitution.

However, lawyers who appar- proved compared to when we findings. At the committee lev- areas which prompted the need el, things will surely improve. ently assessed the conference in first came. for the dialogue.

"Nigeria should not discourthe last 39 days, expressed opti"We are not pessimistic. As Ozekhome said: "We have mism that the conference would age us with negative comments, lawyers, we believe in ultimate progressed from the initial help in advancing the cause of rather they should encourage good. When you assemble 492 grievances, sentiments, hostile Nigeria as a united nation. us with positive words that Nigerians who presumably feelings, nuisance, ethic divi“Nigeria as a nation will be will ginger us to work harder are knowledgeable, you cannot sion, religious intolerance and better for it as delegates are and come out with more posi- dismiss their collective ideas as mental suspiciousness that we already exhibiting candour, ap- tive results that will change this worthless and for that reason, I all came into the conference believe the national conference with. proaching issues with sincerity country for the better. of purpose and an open mind”, "It is unfair to say that we is worthwhile, discussion is bet"Some of have threatened another said. shall fail when we have not con- ter than destruction. our unity, we have seen people Besides, they believe that the cluded. We do same to our foot"So, when they spend three or speaking with conviction for a conference would proffer solu- ballers by negatively criticizing more months as we expect, we better Nigeria, some have spotions to myriad of challenges them even when they have not feel that something reasonable ken as war lords, who do not threatening the nation’s unity gone for a tournament. We say should be achieved. care about Nigerians.

"So, I am optimistic that Ni"Others have shown that Nijust as they reiterated their de- all manners of negative things termination to ensure that the about them and at the end, they geria will be better after the con- geria is their enclave and they are bound to rule forever. Some National Assembly consider always come out impressing us, how the conference’s outcome at least beyond the earlier critihave shown cares about Nigeria would be enshrined into the cism. and its people. constitution.

"Nigeria should give us a "Nigeria is a country with It is clear that the coat of many colours and we For instance, chief Mike chance, they should encourage conference has us and leave us to do the work.

Ahamba, a Senior Advocate of can get it right. It is never too done very well and Nigeria said it was obvious that "In my opinion, the conferlate. it is going to put a new Nigeria would emerge at ence is not doing badly. The "The President speech threw the end of the conference espe- beginning may look rough or up issues such as the voting patNigeria on a high cially as delegates were progres- untidy but there will always be tern, numerical strength of the pedestal sively getting better by the day. light at the end of the tunnel". percentage that will carry a res-

olution. The President speech did a lot. We have discovered the issues before we started.

What we are doing now at the committee level is to streamline the ideas into viable solutions that will bring positive result to the country.

"Conference has broken into committee stages to discuss issues and agree on issues which will later be presented at the plenary.

"I am very convinced that the conference had achieved a lot.

We are beginning to remove primordial suspicion. People are becoming united unlike when we first came. Each geo-political zone needs one thing or the other and they need each other to achieve it.

"It is clear that the conference has done very well and it is going to put Nigeria on a high pedestal".

"This can be done through several stages. The President should initiate an executive bill and pass it to the National Assembly to work on it for the people of Nigeria".

"Section 153 of the Third Schedule provides for the Council of state which comprises of all past heads of states among others is a miniature of Nigeria. The Council can discuss the peace order and good governance of Nigeria. The President can take all the decision of the conference and table it before the council of state.

"And if it is approved, it should be sent to the National Assembly for it to be passed to law to form a new Constitution for Nigeria. For National Assembly, it is a win-win situation; it will help them to widen the new Constitution. Only such a grund norm will enjoy acceptability of Nigerians.

"There are chances of a better Nigeria. In all, the conference is prone to bring out positive results".

In his view, Mr. Sam Tomi Ologunorisa, a Senior Advocate said although there were possibilities ahead of the national conference, it was too early to give a final assessment of it.

He said: "I am an incurable optimist of the Nigerian project, it is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. It is good to dialogue, discuss, it is good to let off the steam, as so many things have been bottled up."

22 LAW | NEWS

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Akanbi, Salami lament rot in judiciary Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

N

igerian judges came under the hammer, literally, on two separate occasions last week at the annual law week of the Ilorin branch of the Nigeria Bar Association(NBA).

The annual event held in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, was attended by major stakeholders in the nation’s administration of justice.

All thronged the Africa Peoples Hall, Mustapha Akanbi Foundation to brainstorm on ‘a centenary of legal practice, 1914 to 2014: Legacies and lessons’.

Besides, the dignitaries took time to appraise the myriad of challenges bedeviling the Nigerian state especially as they affect the practice of law.

At the event include the Kwara State Governor , Abdulfatah Ahmed, Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice Ayinla Olatunji Bamigbola, a former President, Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Yisa Salami , a former Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice Fola Gbadeyan, a former President, Court of Appeal and pioneer chairman ICPC Justice Mustapha Akanbi and the Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association, (NBA),Ilorin branch, Idris Mobolaji Ojibara .

Others are a former Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor AbdulGaniyu Ambali.

Chief Akin Olujimi, a former AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Senior Advocate of Nigeria,chaired the event.

It was Justice Ayo Salami, the former president of the Court of Appeal (PCA), who fought an almost unending battle in the latter part of his days as the PCA, described corruption on the Bench as an unending cankerworm that deserved attention if the judiciary must take its former place.

Salami, told members of the Ilorin branch of the Nigeria Bar Association, (NBA) who marked their annual week in no unmistaken terms on how judicial officers had significantly contributed to the challenge of corruption in the judiciary.

However, he pointedly alluded to the existence of some ‘judiciary consultants’, made up, according to him, of unscrupulous retired judges who go about as intermediary in the game of compromising justice.

His words: “The problem of corruption in the judiciary is real and has eaten deep into the system. It must however be noted that it is not every judicial officer that is corruption and dishonourable. There are some who are clearly identifiable as corrupt but they are protected by the system.

There are those who lack courage and their timidity is exploited to pervert the course of justice.

“We hear constantly that the lack of courage of these ones are exploited by either their colleagues or retired senior judges who practice as consultants in fix-

ing judgements.

“These consultants take money from litigants to give judges or intimidate judges to pervert justice. It is my respectful view that appeal should be made to these retired senior justices to leave the despicable role of bribing or intimidating judges. They should engage themselves in other respectable vocations.

“The judges who lend themselves to this dishonourable practice of receiving money or lending themselves to perverting the course of justice under any guise of not receiving reward, monetary or otherwise, should note that there are other means of checking their excesses”.

Before the ovation over the ex-CPA revelation could die, another jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher lamented what he described as the ‘waning light of the judiciary, aided in part by vaunting ambition from the Bench’.

Musdapher, who was in Ilorin as guest of the Law Students Society expressed concern that ‘all kinds of people’ now find themselves on the Bench as judges and called for retrospection to save the judiciary from corrupt practices.

The focus of the meeting was “An Appraisal of the Role of the Judiciary in the Entrenchment of the Rule of Law in Nigeria.”

Musdapher seized the example of his appointment to the Bench to illustrate how the system perfectly worked in their days compared to the present situation as many prospective judges lobbied for their appointment.

This, he said, had become scandalous, adding that in the contemporary times, things had changed so badly.

His words: “Quite honestly that is very scandalous if it is true. Before, people do not even ask to be made judges. In fact when I was to be made a judge, a letter was written to me because I was not the Chief Judge. The Chief Judge wrote the letter in this line, 'it has been suggested to me that you may not accept to be made a judge of the High Court, but if you want to be made a judge of the High Court, if I have no objection, I want to recommend you to the appointing authorities. That was how the letter from the Chief Judge went.

“In those days people do not even ask to be appointed judges. The mere fact that you asked to be appointed a judge, you have disqualified yourself. Let me tell you, when General Murtala Muhammed was the Head of State, there was the move to appoint a Grand Khadi of Nigeria, I know that as a fact that some senior mallams from the north went to Murtala, their son, and told him that they wanted some of their son to be made the Grand Khadi.

“At that time, as the Attorney-General of Kaduna State, we asked the Supreme Military Council, the establishment of the Court of Appeal and Upper Sharia Court of Appeal for the Federation.

Murtala Mohammed, I was happy I

L-R, Former Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice Fola Gbadeyan Former President, Court of Appeal and Chairman ICPC Justice Mustapha Akanbi, Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association, NBA ,Ilorin Branch, Barrister Idris Mobolaji Ojibara and Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed during the NBA biennial law week in Ilorin.

L-R, Chief Judge of Kwara State, Justice Ayinla Olatunji Bamigbola, Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed and f`ormer President, Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Yisa Salami during Nigeria Bar Association, Ilorin Branch's, 2014 Biennial Law Week in Ilorin...Tuesday.

was in his house ...we were looking at the Quran and being shown a saying where a disciple of the Prophet Muhammad did ask to be made a judge and the prophet said, the mere fact that you asked to be made has disqualified you.

“So, Murtala Muhammed in his own house put the thing down and said even the Sharia Court of Appeal is not going to be done.

“That was the situation, that was what was going on and that was even the military regime at that time. But things have changed so badly. All kinds of people find their ways into becoming judges. Just as I said, the legal practice itself either on the Bench or outside must be done with the sense of decency and sense of justice. That is what is done everywhere.

“It is not every matter that a lawyer must win a case. It is not. You are not there when the methods were taken place. When A or B did this or that. You were not there.

All you have to do is put in the method before the judge and put the judge to do it honestly and properly so that anybody who is sitting in the court will know that justice is being done. But things are different now.

Let us start making progress in this matter. Let us start thinking inward, what is decent and good about us and promote it all the time. Let us not always think of what is obtained in Europe. Let us start thinking inwards.”

In his address, entitled “Great expectations”, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Abdul-Ganiyu Ambali, observed that all vices and evils that were ongoing in the country were traceable to the weakness of the rule of law as without the rule of law, a society would

become lawless, saying, it was the responsibility of the legal experts, the Bench and the Bar to save the society from sinking.

He said: “It is glaring that all the vices and evils that are common in our country can be traced to the weakness of the rule of law. When people are killed with impunity, when armed robbers operate in the day and at night, when innocent people are kidnapped while seeking their daily livelihood or even inside their houses and end up in Soka forest, for example, when people die because they are seeking a job, when prostitution is rife and evil people establish baby factories; our great expectations are justice, order and the rule of law. Our great expectations, like Charles Dickens' own, are that there will be eventual triumph of good over evil, that order will overcome disorder and that the rule of law will replace the rule of impunity and insecurity.”

Also, Olujimi, a former Attorney General of the Federation and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who was chairman at the event had expressed fear that the position of many legal practitioners on the Salami’s case, could have been due to financial inducement.

He said: “When the matter started, a few of our senior colleagues came out to say they were part of the struggle but after some time, they faded out. Money can be a bad thing; it can make you change. We know human rights activists all over the world and how they stand up to uphold what is right but here some of them have abandoned the cause of human rights. I am not saying this because I am his counsel; the truth is that the man did nothing wrong."

LAW | REPORT 23

Thursday, April 24, 2014

'Governors cannot appoint, dismiss judge without recourse to NJC' SC. 281/2010 Hon. Justice Raliat Elelu-Habeeb (Chief Judge Kwara state ,Planitiff).v.

NJC, Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation, Hon. Attorney-General of Kwara state and House of Assembly Kwara state (Defendants). Before their Lordships; Justices Mahmmud Mohammed (JSC), Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen (JSC),Christopher Mit chell Chukwuma-Eneh (JSC),Muhammad Saifullah MuntakaCoomassie(JSC), Olufunlola Oyelola Adekeye(JSC),Mary Ukaego PeterOdili (JSC) and Olukayode Ariwoola (JSC).

CO N T I N U E D F R O M L A S T W E E K

What remains to be determined in line with the decisions in the cases of Akinbiyi v. Adelabu and Mobil Producing (Nig.) Unlimited v. Monokpo, is whether the appellant on the facts of this case has satisfied the requirement of being a person aggrieved, or a person who has suffered a legal grievance, or a person against whom a decision has been pronounced which has wrongfully refused him something or wrongful affected his title to something: Societe Generale Bank (Nig.) Ltd v. Afekoro (1999) 11 NWLR (Pt. 628) 521 at 537 - 538.

Looking at the four grounds of appeal contained in the appellant's notice of appeal and the lone issue identified from the grounds of appeal for determination of the appellant's appeal, the only party of the Judgment of the Court of Appeal being appealed against is that part declaring that the trial Federal High Court adjudicate in the action brought before that court by the cross-respondent. Since Section 153 of the Constitution and paragraphs 20 and 21 of Part 1 of the 3rd Schedule to the same constitution which deal with the composition of the National Judicial Council and its powers and role in the appointment and discipline of judicial officers is the subject of interpretation and application in the case at the trial court and the court of Appeal, it is certain and not correct to say that the appellant is not a person aggrieved in the present case.

The appellant, as a party in the case trial court and the Court of Appeal whose decision is the subject of this appeal, is definite a person who has suffered a legal grievance and a person against whom a decision has pronounced as to the appropriate court that has the jurisdiction to interpret and apply the provisions of the Constitution in relation to its powers and duties under the constitution. This case is not on all fours with the case of Mobil Producing (Nig.) Unlimited v. Monokpo where the judgment of the trial court, affirmed by the court of Appeal, was given against only the second defendant thereby turning the first defendant who sought to appeal to the Supreme Court against the concurrent judgment of the courts below to a person

Justice Aloma Mukhtar, CJN

Adoke, SAN

not aggrieved that can appeal against the judgment of the court.

In the case at hand however, judgment of the Court of Appeal declaring that the trial Federal High Court which heard and determined the case, lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate in the matter, was definitely given, not only against the 1st appellant/ cross respondent who was the plaintiff at the trial court, but also against the 2nd appellant as well. Thus, for the above reasons, I am of the view that the 2nd appellant/ cross-respondent's appeal is quite competent. The preliminary objections of the 2nd respondent/cross-appellant and the 3rd respondent/Cross-appellant having failed are hereby dismissed.

The appeals I shall now proceed to deal with the appeals of the appellants starting with the 1st appellant's appeal. The learned senior counsel for the 1st appellant, Chief Awomolo in his appellant's brief of argument, appellant’s reply brief and oral submission, pointed out that from the judgment of the trial court, it is quite clear that the trial court confined itself to the claims of the plaintiff in determining the jurisdiction of the court under Section 251 (1)(q)of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999. It is for this reason that in the appellant's brief of argument, only one issue was raised for determination. The issue reads: "Whether the Court of Appeal was right when it declared that the Federal High Court has no jurisdiction to interpret the provisions of the Constitution as contained in the originating summons of the appellant when the interpretation affects exercise of constitutional powers of the National Judicial council, a Federal Government agency”.

The learned senior counsel in arguing this issue, asserted that the jurisdiction

of court to exercise judicial powers over any cause or matter is determined by the claims of the plaintiff as stated in the case of Adeyemi v. Opeyori (1976) 9 - 10 SC 31 at 31. With regard to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal High Court under Section 251(1), learned senior counsel called in aid, several cases on the subject, particularly. Ladoja v. I.N.E.C. and Ors (2007) All FWLR (Pt. 377) 934, (2007) 7 SC 99 at 160 and Obi v. I.N.E.C. and Ors. (2007) All FWLR (R. 378) 1116. (2007) 7 SC 268 a; 305, and argued that taking into consideration the parties in the case at the trial court, particularly, the National Judicial Council which is directly connected with the appointment, discipline and removal of judicial officers under Section 153 and paragraphs 20 and 21 of Part 1 of the 3rd Schedule to the Constitution, the Court of Appeal was in error in holding that the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction to determine the claims contained in the originating summons filed before it.

Learned senior counsel explained that the appellant did not go to the trial court to challenge her removal from office as erroneously held by the Court of appeal but merely to complain against the conduct of the 3rd respondent in its letter inviting her to the House of Assembly which falls within the jurisdiction of that court under Section 251 (1 )(q) to adjudicate in all matters connected with the interpretation and operation of the Constitution so far as it affects the Federal Government or any of its agencies. Learned senior counsel concluded by citing the case of N.E.P.A. v.

Edegbero (2003) FWLR (Pt. 139) 1556 to assert that the Federal High Court was right in holding that it has the jurisdiction to hear and determine the appellant's claims and therefore urged this court to allow the appeal, set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal on the issue of jurisdiction and

Although the governor of a state has been vested with the power to appoint the Chief Judge of his own state, the power is not absolute as the governor has to share the power with the National Judicial Council (NJC)

restore and affirm the decision of the trial court.

In the 1st respondent's brief of argument filed on behalf of the Hon. AttorneyGeneral of the Federation by his learned senior counsel, Lawal Rabbana, the lone issue framed for determination of the appeal is: "Whether the lower court was right in holding that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain and determine the appellant's case when there was no claim nor cause of action against any agent of the Federal Government."

Learned senior counsel opened his argument by pointing out that all what is required in resolving the issue for determination is to answer the question of whether the Federal High Court has the jurisdiction to entertain the appellant’s claims, under Section 251 (1)(q) of the Constitution taking into consideration, the definition of the word 'jurisdiction' in the cases of Drexel Energy & Natural Resources Ltd v. T.I.B. Ltd (2008 ) 18 NWLR (Pt. 1119) 388 at 435, (2009) All FWLR (Pt.456) 1823 and Oduko v. Government of Ebony State of Nigeria and 3 Ors.(2009) All FWLR (Pt. 472)1021, (2009) 3 - 4 SC 154 at 169; that from the questions for determination and the reliefs sought by the plaintiff in the originating summons, it is glaring that the subject matter of the dispute in this suit is the removal from office of the plaintiff/appellant as the Chief Judge of Kwara State by the Kwara State House of Assembly and the Governor; that the subject matter of the suit is the office of the Chief Judge of Kwara State created by Section 271 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 which does not make it a Federal Government agency and that since the House of Assembly and the Governor of Kwara State whose actions are being challenged are not agents of the Federal Government within the contemplation of Section 25 i (1) (q) of the Constitution, the Federal High Court lacks jurisdiction over them and the subject matter of the action.

Learned senior counsel, while conceding that the National Judicial Council and the Attorney-General of the Federation are agents of the Federal Government, as no cause of action had been disclosed against them to vest jurisdiction in the Federal High Court, the court below was right in its decision that the court lacked jurisdiction in the matter if decisions of this court in Inakoju v. Adeleke (2007) All FWLR (Pt. 353) 3, (2007) 4 NWLR (Pt. 10251427 at 588 - 589; Omomeji v. Kolawole (2008) 14 NWLR (Pt. 1106) 180 at 206 and Attorney-General, Kano State v. AttorneyGeneral of the Federation (2007) All FWLR (Pt. 364) 238, (2007) 6 NWLR (Pt.1029) 164 at 192, are taken into consideration, particularly as in this case, where the plaintiff/ appellant has no claim whatsoever against the 1st respondent or the 2nd appellant, the National Judicial Council. Learned senior counsel therefore concluded by urging this court to dismiss the appeal.

TO B E CO N T I N U E D

24 JURIST

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Why NBA must reverse discriminatory

T

his is perhaps his fifth year as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the administration of Dr. Olusegun Rahman Mimiko of Ondo State.

He was elevated into the Inner Bar by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC) in 2008 alongside Lagos State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Lawal Mohammed Pedro, a former scribe of the Nigeria Bar Association(NBA), Lawal Rafiu Rabana, Adetokunbo Omorogie Okeaya-Inneh and 19 others.

Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria read law at the prestigious University of Lagos (UNILAG) some three decades ago.

Jegede who did a 12- year stint in the law firm of Murtala Aminu &Co.,Yola, set up his chambers, Tayo Jegede &Co. in 1996. Thirteen years after, he became the Ondo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

Jegede told New Telegraph his foray into the legal profession this way: “My name is Eyitayo Jegede, (SAN) , the Attorney-General of Ondo state. I have been on this seat for five years now. The first four years and now additional one year tenure of the government of Dr. Olusegun Mimiko in Ondo state”.

Choice of career It is a very simple story. I remember when I was in Christ School, AdoEkiti going through the Higher School Certificate(HSC) in preparatory to seeking admission into the university, my friends and I made up our minds to study either Accountancy or Economics as we thought that these two courses or discipline would allow us to work in a bank.

But one day, I drove my dad on a visit to one of his friends and suddenly he asked me what course I wanted to study and I said Accounting. His response was almost instantaneous: why can’t you study law? Such a subtle request coming from my father then to me, was very impactful and very important because it would be the first time the old man was making a request and I thought I should oblige him and since then I have not looked back.

My embarrassing moment Is there any embarrassing moment as a legal practitioner? For me as a counsel, I cannot recall any now. I must be frank with you, there are challenges in the course of duty or in line of duty but personally to suffer embarrassment that appeared so monumental is the one I cannot recall.

It is not as if it has been a smooth sail but I think that once you get prepared for your matters, the possibility of suffering an embarrassment is limited. If also you know the strict rules of professional etiquette and the rules that you do not engage in altercation with judge, conduct oneself decently when one is having matters with colleagues, one will probably eradicate any embarrassing moment. So, when you are dealing with these matters professionally you might not likely have any problems.

First day in court

Eyitayo Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria is the Ondo State Justice Commissioner and Attorney-General. Jegede speaks on his background, why he read Law, experience, practice, national conference, NBA and sundry issues. BABATOPE OKEOWO met him

Jegede, SAN

There is nothing that can be worse than for the NBA to bar members of the official Bar from vying for the association's elective offices My first day in court that I recall was in Yola. I was before a Chief magistrate’s court and I can recall his name, Baba Dada who eventually became the Judge of the Industrial Court. I had the duty to defend a young banker whose name, I think was Ken, who was charged with the offence of kidnap and abduction.

The gentleman was alleged to have kidnapped his girlfriend. The complainant in that case was the father of the girlfriend who was opposed to their relationship. The girl was in love with the young man and he was in love with the girl but the girl’s parents were opposed to the relationship and the complainant who is the father of the girl instigated the police, who arrested the young banker, claimed to have investigated the case and arraigned him before the court for kidnap of the young lady and abduction.

The matter was called and of course, I had the facts at my finger tips and instead of applying for bail for the young man, I applied for discharge and the Magistrate who was amazed, said on what ground was applying for his discharge. I told him that evidently from the fact available to me, the alleged kidnapper in the charge sheet was in court and the proposed wife

of the gentleman standing in the dock was in the court. I said that if the court would allow me so that the person allegedly kidnapped should confirm that the person standing here was the fiancé and they had already slated date for their marriage and that the complaint was brought by the parents who were opposed to the marriage and they should not be allowed to use the court as the venue of passing of vendetta or to settle scores in an ordinary matter which was a family relationship.

The magistrate said he wanted to take me down and he did, he took the note, he asked the police prosecutor where the complainant was, and of course, the father stood up. The magistrate asked whether it was true that he was opposed to the relationship and why he went to court because of that reason. This , he said yes as he had not given his consent even though that the young lady was an adult.

There and then, the magistrate on the Bench wrote immediately and discharged my client as he struck out the matter. Can you believe that I was a ‘Youth Corper’ then. The friends of the young man came out and tried to lift me up, even though they did not, it was such an exciting moment for me. It has been such a memorable experience for me as a legal practitioner.

Abolition of SANship title In any profession at all, you have the opportunity to excel. The legal profession is one of the professions regulated by statute. It is also a profession that affords the opportunity for those who are diligent to excel in the profession. Unlike

in other professions that you can in some ways achieve elevation on authority positively without any standard, legal profession is not like that.

There are requirements for any legal practitioner to strive to attain the status of what we call a SAN. The requirements are guided by statute and other regulations, you cannot in anyway aspire to be a SAN without attaining the minimum of 10 years post call experience at a time people like us went in. You cannot be elevated without passing through the process that the statute prescribes. First, a standard library that you update, you cannot aspire to be SAN without having conducted specific number of cases at the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and such cases you must have been concluded to finality. So, you cannot have a person who is a SAN not having passed through all these categories of court.

Even if he has spent 50 years in the legal profession and has not conducted the required number of cases at the Supreme Court, you can never be a SAN. If you have not conducted a particular number of cases at the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and the High Court, you can never be a SAN. Apart from that, there is also an interview, there is a body known as the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), apart from the fact that they will study your cases, they have to be sure that you must have dealt with some issues of legal importance. Also, you would be interviewed and be asked questions in respect of the conduct of those cases that are listed as your cases, it is a rigorous exercise. You have applications of 150 to 200, at the close of the scrutiny, you have about 15 lawyers qualified, at the maximum you have 21. There are instances before now where only two were appointed in a particular year and because of the number of lawyers from the Law school, the competition becomes stiffer. We have so many applicants and at the end of the day there are quite a number of people that are qualified to be SAN. So, when you look at the processes leading to the elevation, you will see that it is a very serious and rigorous process. Now, for those who have canvassed scrapping of SANship, I think that is their reasons. If you can check those who have raised this issue, they are a group of legal practitioners, who also believe that there is some form of discriminations in court especially in the handling of cases. But of course, these are privileges those who have attained the status enjoy, perhaps calling the cases out of turn and perhaps in some cases there are privileges to charge higher fee and I do not see why anyone should complain because it is open to everybody and it can be very competitive. It is a process that rewards excellence and encourages hard-work and for these reasons, I believe

Thursday, April 24, 2014

policy against AGs-Jegede There is no way I can measure the immense experience that I have gained by this privilege of serving as Attorney-General that it has come to stay.

Experience as AG I must confess to you that it took me some time to decide to take the job and since then I have no regret. Secondly, I was also of the impression although false that I would not have much to do as the Commissioner for Justice and AttorneyGeneral because I would be dealing with files, I have been proved wrong. So, my experience on this job has been such to me a completely fresh experience which otherwise I would not have acquired if not for the opportunity and privilege to serve. Again, it has also afforded me the opportunity to see how the government runs and the challenges that you have within the government both in the bureaucracy and the decision making process. It is one thing to look at the government operation from outside, it is another thing to look at it from inside and I have now come to know the challenges they face by those who work within the system. I also have come to realize that in your dual capacity as the AttorneyGeneral on one hand and Commissioner for Justice on the other hand, you have the opportunity to continue to practice your legal profession the way you want to practice it and at the same time you have the opportunity to be able to serve your people.

There is no way I can measure the immense experience that I have gained by this privilege of serving as AttorneyGeneral of a state for four full years running as it were a new term having been appointed again by the governor of the state to serve in the same capacity as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for justice. So, the challenge has been such that it keeps rewarding in the sense that you have the chance to work and the opportunity to serve and have the opportunity to engage in this profession we really love.

Dichotomy between official and unofficial Bar Interestingly, I have worked on the two sides of the divide. I have worked as a full legal practitioner for well over 24 years before I took this job, so I was by the virtue of that practice in the unofficial Bar. I have now worked with the official Bar, so, I have tasted the two sides of the coin and I have an advantage over those who are complaining because I have seen both. I would tell you that sometimes the same complain you have from the unofficial Bar about marginalisation, discrimination and recognition is the same complaint you have from the official Bar. When there are opportunities to contest for elections as leaders of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), an association that belongs to both the official and the unofficial Bar, you find out that

Jegede, SAN

JEGEDE AT A GLANCE • He is an Alumnus of UNILAG • He did a 12-yr stint in Murtala, Aminu & Co., Yola • He set up Tayo Jegede & Co. in 1996 • He is Ondo State Attorney-General & Commissioner for Justice, 2009 till date • He is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rarely will you find somebody within the official Bar contesting for the position of the President of the NBA either at the National level or Chairman here at the local state level.

Imagine there is nothing that can be worse than that, you have the same training: somebody is serving government, the other is serving himself because Mr A is serving the government you say he cannot aspire to the leadership of the association you contribute to.

Finally, you have those who do not serve government but can now aspire to that position others are being denied and you are the same people who deny others to climb to the higher echelon position of leadership of the profession at the Bar you are the same people that will complain that the official Bar are not treating them well. I think it’s a matter of choice.

I will tell you this, a number of lawyers who are also within the official Bar believes that those who are at the private sector (unofficial bar) are making so much money from cases and because of that they also look at them with some sense of discomfort in terms of commercial interest that we are talking about.

So, you have complaints again from the official Bar. Like I said, it’s a matter of choice, if you want to go and collect

salary and I believe quite a number of those who are in the unofficial Bar have indicated interest to join the official Bar and they have done this because they see in it a steady income in terms of salary as against the unpredictable practice that does not guarantee income at any specified time. At the same time you also have some within the official Bar who look at some within the official Bar as those who have made it with some form of envy. Again, the option is left for those who are in the official Bar to resign and to practice outside. In all cases, the bottom line is that no person has been forced to either go to the official Bar or the unofficial Bar ; the choice is yours.

National conference In the United Kingdom (UK), there is no written constitution; in the United State of America (USA), there is a written constitution which has been in operation for over 100 years. It is a very flat document. In the other democracies of the world, there are cases where you have written constitution. A constitution provides a basic framework of governance and in most cases, also provides for the right of the citizens.

Our country is a peculiar country in that you have a lot of diversified interest group. Unlike in the United Kingdom where in terms of tribes or clans are

I believe that you lose nothing by continuing to engage ourselves in discussions that some of us believe would strengthen our unity

JURIST 25 almost uniform and they have a single language. Unlike America, for instance where you almost have uniformity of faith and languages, it is not like that in Nigeria and do not forget that these other countries that have developed democracy, had their own challenges and they have been able to cope.

Speaking for myself, I believe that you lose nothing by continuing to engage ourselves in discussions that some of us believe would strengthen our unity.

What we have is not a perfect document; you can never have a perfect constitution. Sometimes, there is need to rework these documents, there is need for some form of engineering and there is need to correct the errors that would have manifested themselves in the last few years.

There are complaints and agitations from different sections of the country, are we going to wait till we start shooting guns before attending to these complaints? Or must we shoot gun first before coming for a round table discussion or do we go to roundtable first before shooting the guns? I believe that it is the appropriate thing to do to allow those who have complained to have it come to ventilate their grievances. It is for that reason that I support the national confab.

I foresee that there are legal problems and there are legal issues because at the end of the day the conference must be able, in concrete terms, give effect to whatever decision they make at the confab and that is where the bigger challenge will come because we already have in place a sovereign and structured government; legislative house that can enact laws for us.

So, what we have done here is to bring in a number of interests either by appointment or nomination to look at the complaint and steer up a debate and if possible come with a resolution. So, what do you do with those resolutions at the end of the day? How do you make them useful to our democracy? It appears to me that the only way to get this done is to also find a way in between to amend the constitution and give legal backing to the conference that had already been established and such document would be produced by the confab, must either go to the National Assembly or a referendum.

Again, my problem with referendum is that unless if you want to pick this topic one by one and ask that do you agree that this should form part of our new constitution? If yes vote Yes, if no vote No. It is going to be a very complex thing unless of course you need to work out and prepare a new constitution. If it threatens the position of those in the National Assembly, then it already meets its doomsday. But if it will also add value to our democracy, provides for a system of representation, perhaps, we may have a success story at the end of the day.

I also believe it depends on what resolutions the members of the confab come up with. If they are resolutions that are acceptable by the majority of Nigerians and they are done in the purity of it, I do not think any person will be opposed to it. But whether we like it or not, we already have a structure of government.

We cannot discard that structure whatCONTINUED ON PAGE27

26 LAW | INTERVIEW

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Confab won't achieve anything - Atunwa Razaq Atunwa was elected into the Kwara State House of Assembly to represent Owode/Onire Constituency of Asa Local Government in April 2011 and was unanimously elected as Speaker of the Assembly on June 6, 2011. Atunwa, in this interview with BIODUN OYELEYE speaks on various national issues and advised President Goodluck Jonathan to be more astute in reacting to criticism.

You are one of those high profile Nigerians who spoke against the convocation of the ongoing national conference. But despite such opposition, the Federal Government has gone ahead to inaugurate the conference. What are your projections for the outcome of the conference?

I think the national conference is a complete waste of time at this point in time. The idea as I have said may be good but the timing is completely wrong. I do not see anything meaningful coming out of this conference. It is a terrible waste of scarce resources, a terrible waste of people’s time because a few months before the next general election where parties are already taking dogmatic positions about certain issues people are being asked to sit down and have an objective view about the country but they can’t. They will be skewed in their views; Alegeh, SANthey will adopt their various inclinations towards their party positions.

Therefore, it is not a right time to have a genuine discussion about the country. And I do not think the president is being sincere in setting up this national conference; even the composition of the delegate leaves much to be desired.

What would have been your alternative because there are burning issues to discuss about Nigeria?

The alternative is to get the 2015 elections out of the way; when a new administration comes into being, set up a national conference if that is what you want so that the conference can have a long period to have the discussion about Nigeria. It is not a discussion you have in about two or three months and then head up to the primaries of your parties and then a general election. So , the alternative is to wait, get the elections out of the way and then set up the national conference. Even the modalities of getting the delegates will not be arbitrarily done as it has been now by the president; it will be subject to discussion by a preliminary committee which will then advise how to get the delegates.

The thinking seems to be that

the issues on ground if they are not tackled now could affect the outcome of the 2015 elections?

That is nothing to be farther from the truth. This country has been experiencing a very viable democracy since 1999 and this is now 14 years on, what is the urgency in 2014 to have a conference just ahead of the 2015 election? The country will not disintegrate; nothing will go wrong. The president should be facing the security challenges in the north, he should be facing the economic challenges; the issues of corruption in almost every sector.

Those are the things he should be facing and also ensure that Aderemi INEC does a good job to ensure free and fair election. That is what is needed now, not a hurried discussion in a national conference. Already they are fighting in the conference about modalities and rules and voting patterns. This kind of skirmishes gives us an understanding that nothing will come out of the conference. Even the president doesn’t seem to know what to do with the outcome as he is now saying it may be subject to National Assembly or it may be subject to referendum.

He is being hurried and I wonder if there is no hidden agenda in setting up the conference.

Northern leaders have been meeting over security challenges in the north yet there seems to be no way. In your opinion what is the best way to handle the issue?

The first thing is for the president to be sincere in his aim of tackling the security challenges in the country. And I say that because if you attack this problem from the point of view that it is a northern problem or it is an Islamic problem then there is no sincerity because you have already adopted a position. One should have an open mind. The president should call for an all-party, all-facet roundtable to see how this matter can be addressed. It calls for all hands on deck. You can adopt a carrot and stick approach; you could be tough on the symptom that is the insurgency itself which is appalling and abhorring. You could

also address the root causes.

In doing this you need to know why people are taking up arms and engaging in this terrorist activities. If for example, it is disillusionment about the system then you need to address that cause. If it is because people feel disenfranchised, then you need to address that issue.

If it is the condition of living and the abject poverty then you need to address that. So, it calls for a complete overhaul, a complete overview of the root causes and symptoms. But if you address it on the basis of it that it is a northern problem or a religious problem and I will send soldiers there; they will kill 70 today and 100 another day, then you will never get to the bottom of it. So, my advice is that there should be sincerity in the approach, it should be all encompassing where they should sit down and the root causes and the symptoms are tackled.

But the President’s party, PDP, has accused your party, APC, of being behind the insurgency?

You have put your fingers precisely on why I said there is no sincerity in the method and approach,saying it is somebody else’s problems or that it is somebody else’s cause, without laying the root foundation or the evidence to say that means that you are attacking the problem from the wrong side. Then you cannot address it appropriately because you have already formed a biased opinion that it is coming from a certain quarters. On what basis can anyone in his right mind says APC is causing Boko Haram? Boko Haram predates APC; so anyone that suggests that in my mind, must be speaking tittle-tattle; something that

What is the urgency in 2014 to have a conference just ahead of the 2015 election?

Atunwa

doesn’t make sense.

So, by saying it is APC that is causing it, does it mean the presidency will now bomb APC? Will they send soldiers to APC secretariat and kill all APC members? It doesn’t make sense; so the solution is let’s be honest, let’s be sincere and be serious about tackling this problem. It is problem for the entire Nigeria; it is a problem we are to address the causes because it didn’t just spring up overnight and if people are taking up arms not minding their own lives then it is a serious issue. You need to find out what makes that person to go to that extreme. What is it? As an example , when the Northern Ireland problem was getting out of hand, the British government didn’t say it was a Northern Ireland problem or that it was the Catholics, that were causing it or that it was one party. No. They sat down and addressed the root causes and engaged in talks. And today that problem is largely solved. Even one of the most intractable problems in the world today; the Palestinian problem, is being subjected to a peace process. So, while you should not condone any act of violence or terrorism in any shape or form, and you must deal with perpetrators clearly, but you must also address why is it that they feel the need to take up arms? Why is it that they feel the need to be bombing people or resort to violence?

Appalling as it may be but you should address the mindset of the people. That is where the sincerity comes in.

The President has warned that state governments fond of abus-

ing the presidency will suffer for it and Kwara State happens to be one of the states not favourably disposed to the president for now, are you afraid?

Nobody abuses the president; nobody, certainly not in APC. Nobody has any personal animosity against the president. The president is the president and must be accorded that respect. But the presidency is also an office and therefore it should be subject to public discourse, subject to scrutiny, subject to constructive criticism. Now there is a freedom of speech in this country and if I believe that the president is not handling some issues appropriately, I am entitled to express that as long as it is within the bound of decorum.

And I don’t see anyone from APC crossing the line as to decorum. If the president can’t take the heat, then he should get out of the kitchen. That is a fact. As a Speaker I get criticised and I get praised. If you get to my posting on facebook or twitter, some will agree with me some will disagree and be very rude about it but hey, as long as they are not saying they’re going to kill me, then it is within the bound of freedom of speech. Some even use unprintable words but I don’t do anything about it or say there is lack of respect. It is about my office and not about me at the end of the day. If I wasn’t the Speaker they won’t go on my facebook page and make those comments. So ,Mr. President should also imbibe that degree of tolerance and be tolerant of opposing views and constructive criticism.

JURIST 27

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Jegede canvasses legal backing for Confab CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 5

ever we want to do we have to do within that existing structure of government so that where there is need for restructuring, then we can go ahead and do it and believe that maybe one of the most profound of this resolution of this confab if it works out, is the deliberate weakling of the centre. I believe the centre is too strong , I believe it carries so much load and it does less and for those who are doing the engine room work, there is need to empower them and also give them the resources that they need to allow this country to grow. If that is achieved then I believe the confab would have been a success.

Appointment of Chief Judge There is a need for us to understand the need for checks and balances in the system. There is need for us to also understand that structure of governance is in place. It has the executive, judiciary and the legislature, each of these arms of government, enjoys some level of autonomy but they are all to complement each other. The ultimate beneficiary of this should be the citizen of the country who should not be oppressed by either the executive, judiciary or legislative arm of government. The life of the higher goals of democracy that you have what you call checks and balances, the executives and their actions are checked and controlled by the legislative and the judiciary. The legislature is mostly checked by the judiciary while the judiciary is checked by the executive and the legislative.

That brings us to the appointment of a Judge and the appointment of a Chief Judge of a state and Nigeria. The whole idea is to ensure that the executive should not on its own pick a tool that would be used to create dislocation in the system; to oppress the citizen or to oppress other arm of government.

In other words, in appointing a Chief Judge of a state, all the arms of governments are involved and there is no way an arm of government can do it alone.

That is why in the process leading to the appointment of the Chief Judge, the Judicial Service Committion of the state will meet to recommend names to the National Judicial Council (NJC). The NJC will meet and pick from the list that was sent to it by the JSC and send

Jegede, SAN

a recommendation to the governor of a state who will make the appointment.

But he can only make the appointment based on the recommendation made by the NJC. In other words, there is no complete and unchecked power on the part of the governor in the appointment.

There is no complete or unchecked power on the part of the judiciary and the NJC and the legislature because even the appointment of the Chief Judge, would have to pass through the House of Assembly of a state. If the House does not approve of it he cannot be appointed, if a person is recommended, he may be appointed because ultimately the governor would make the appointment but he can only make the appointment that has emanated from the base, which is the JSC and has gone through the crucible of checks and balances of all these on all as established by the constitution before they can make their appointment.

A governor cannot wake up in a day and appoint his brother or relative ,it would be an abuse of the system. The entire constitutional provision is to ensure that there is no tyranny of power on the part of the governor of the state, JSC, NJC, House of Assembly.

I think, in a system that has no politics, that thoroughly deserves to serve the people, there should be no conflict because it is done with the best interest. Whether we have incidences where there are conflicts, a lot of politics has gone into it and it becomes a problem.

I think that is what we are facing now.

Ondo state alleged injustice against retired judges Let me commend the retired judges as any other retired career public servants because I foresee and I know they had put in their best in the service of their state. The issues that have to do with their post-retirement benefits are also regulated by law and statute. Therefore, anything outside that rights and privileges stipulated by law and statute is discretionary. In other words, a retired judge is expected to earn a particular income under the Act that makes provision for that payment for the benefits of the judges. Again, under the pension there are also benefits accruable to our judges and they are expected to retire and enjoy the rest of their life and that’s what the law expects to do. So, when there are retired judges who are desirous of serving having served and retired, they should also realize that there are also other numerous Nigerians who also have opportunity to serve and I think the less we say about it the better for us.

Nigeria’s Democracy I want to say we have a delicate democracy in place and the success of our democratic institution and our democracy as a whole, depends on the participants. it rests squarely on the shoulders of our politicians and public officers and the earlier they realize they need to place national interest above persons, job the better for us.

Stakeholders appraise Lagos partnership law on pro bono

L-R: Lagos Attorney-General, Mr. Ade Ipaye, Lagos State Deputy Governor, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire and Solicitor-General/Permernent Secretary, Lawal Pedro, SAN.

Prof. Edwin Rekosh

Cross section of lawyers

Mrs Uwais

Mr. Johnson Odionu and Mrs Funmi Falana

Foluso Ogunmodede

Fashola administration to partner private law firms with a view to providing pro bono legal services to indigent citizens.

He said: “About 116 cases are being handled in court by LPILP on behalf of those who are faced with legal problems and who cannot afford to pay an attorney. As part of efforts to provide institutional support for the LPILP, the ‘Building a culture of pro bono in Nigeria’, was conceived by the Justice Research Institute Ltd.Gte(JRI) and PILnet: the Global Network for Public Interest Law, funded by OSIWA”.

At the event were Lagos Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Mr. Lawal Pedro, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Honourable Adejoke OrelopeAdefulire, who stood in for Governor Fashola, Professor Lanre Fagbohun and an Adjunct Professor from

S

IXTEEN months after its inauguration

by Lagos Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigerian, major stakeholders in the nation’s justice administration thronged the Agip Hall, MUSON centre, Onikan, Lagos to celebrate the success recorded by the state Public Interest Law Partnership (PILP)- a culture of Pro bono in Nigeria.

No fewer than 66 firms and four non-governmental Organisations(NGOs) had partnered PILP since its inauguration in November 2012.

In his remark, the Lagos Justice Commissioner and Attorney-General, Mr. Ade Ipaye, while chronicling major breakthroughs of LPILP in the last 16 months, described it as a platform which enables the Babatunde

a Columbia University, New York, Edwin Rekosh.

Others include OSIWA representative, Mr. Peter Ocheikwu, Pro Bono coordinator,Ms Funmi Owuye, Mr Mark Mordi, Mr Kola Oluwadare , an activist lawyer, Mrs Funmi Falana and Mr. Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem.

Also at the Governor’s dinner and commendation night, Governor Fashola applauded some of the firms which had partnered LPIP, describing them as effort as noble, insisting that they had done wonderfully well.

He said: ‘Those who have signed up to be part of the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership, have done a great thing which is indeed very noble especially going by the fact that the programme has recorded participation by 64 law firms with individual law firms in them’.

28 LAW | FILE

Building bridges of opportunity CON T INU ED F R O M LA S T W EEK

T

his would open the door of justice in an unrestricted form and without any inhibition to a Petitioner who for now, has just 180 days within which to present and conclude his petition.

Experience has shown that in most cases, the necessary INEC documents are not made available to a petitioner within 7 days after application or at all, leading to the petitioner filing application before the tribunals to order INEC accordingly.

Experience has also shown that as a result of these human or electoral landmines deliberately planted against prospective Petitioners, the first 50 days or thereabout after the announcement of the election results are not always productive, as they are always devoted to preliminary issues.

Intertwined to identifying technical justice within the context of this discourse, is also the provisions of Sections 221 and 222 of the Constitution which prohibit any Association besides a political party from contesting an election. The sections are inhibitive as well as prohibitive. Without mincing words, they are undemocratic. It is not right in any democracy for the organic law to prohibit or ban the emergence of any independent candidate. The electoral hemisphere has been constitutionally restricted to those who are ready to hob-nob and play with or even do business with the political parties available, even if they do not believe in their manifestoes and goals. By so doing, the Constitution has also undemocratically restricted the choices available to the electorate. This Conference should come out with a recommendation for the obliteration or removal of these undemocratic sections of the Constitution.

The role of INEC within a Federal set up like Nigeria While preparing this paper, I could not resist the temptation of using this medium to call for a restructure of our Federalism.

In both the Constitution and the Electoral Act, INEC has been given so awesome and elaborate powers, which to my mind are antithetical to the very essence and ingredients of Federalism. Apart from the Presidential election, INEC has no business conducting any other elections in Nigeria. It is the business and duty of each State to regulate and conduct elections into the offices of Governor, National and State Assemblies.

The United States of America operates a presidential system of government like ours. It is also a leading example of federalism. The Federal Electoral Commission over there was created by Congress in 1975, serving principally as a regulatory body, especially for the financing of presidential campaigns and election. There is no equivalent of our-all-powerful INEC in the USA, despite her democratic credentials dating back to 1776. The States are responsible for the supervision of their elections. Even in respect of the choice of a President, the

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Why defected PDP lawmakers must vacate their seats l The legal ingredients of Justice Ademola’s verdict Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe

T Olanipekun, SAN

local (State laws) and their Constitutions apply. The beauty of this system was reflected in the Bush and Gore debacle of 2000, where and when the U.S. Constitution and Federal laws had to give way to the Constitution and laws of Florida. I am not unmindful of the Electoral College System that operates in the U.S., but the fact remains that the elections are theoretically and practically the responsibility of the States. Although the United Kingdom does not operate or run a Federal System of Government, her elections are administered locally. The Electoral Commission only sets standards for and issues Guidelines to Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers.

I am not too convinced that INEC is effectively monitoring the near-scandalous cost of campaigns for any elective office in Nigeria, be it House of Assembly of a State, National Assembly, Governorship or Presidential election. The U.S.A. example has been given where the national electoral body not only monitors, but pegs campaign expenses. Anybody who runs foul of the laws over there in relation to campaign expenses is assured that he or she would become a tenant or landlord in prison. Addressing this august assembly of Nigerian women and notwithstanding my words of encouragement to them to aspire like their counterparts worldwide to high elective/ political offices, real life experience and the monetary-induced-electoral culture and landscape in Nigeria might not allow them to have free access to those offices, except this Conference also comes out with a recommendation to drastically reduce those exorbitant expenses. Adjunct to this is the fact that the electorate also believes that ascendancy to any political office in Nigeria is the easiest way to become the next millionaire in the neighborhood. In short, this paper is also emphatically stating that corruption is an impediment to the electoral justice system in Nigeria.

Monetary-induced-electoral culture and landscape in Nigeria might not allow women to have free access to political office

he verdict of the Federal High Court

by Justice Adeniyi Ademola is consistent with Section 68 (1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, and as the supreme document of Law and of the rule of Law in Nigeria, it is the law that, every other law or laws inconsistent with that section of the constitution must necessarily become “null and void” to the extent of its inconsistency.

For legal clarity and to set the records straight, the section requires that an elected member sponsored by a political party “shall” vacate his/her seat upon defection to another political party if defection is made before the expiration of the House tenure, and in the instant case, the House tenure shall expire on May 29, 2015.

The section provides that; a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives “shall vacate his seat in the House” of which he is a member if “being a person whose election to the House was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected”. The second leg of this provision says; “provided that this membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was previously sponsored”. (Emphasis supplied).

The legal purport of the above constitutional provision is to the effect that (1) a House member can only defect if there is a major division in the political party that sponsored him/her for the election for which he/she became a member of the House, or (2) that if there existed two factions within the party as at the time the member was elected and one of the factions sponsored the election of the member for which he/she became a member of the House (if that is possible) or (3) upon the merger of the political party (that sponsored the member for election for which he became a member

Dr. Oghenesivbe

Hon. Osagie of the APC should be prosecuted for casting damaging as passion at Justice Ademola of the House) with another political party when the tenure of the House is yet to expire.

In the instant case, there were no two factions in the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as at the time the defected members were elected to the House of Representatives in 2011, which they can rely upon at the appeal. They have to show that the faction that left the PDP to join the APC was the exact faction that sponsored their election for which they were elected to the House. Secondly, there was no political leadership crisis in the PDP as at the time defection occurred, the party was stable with its executives in place, and the fact that some members of the party made efforts to register another political party with similar nomenclature (The New PDP), does not satisfy the constitutional requirement for party division but merely the ambition of some selected few within and outside the party who wanted to register a new political party. Their request to register the new party was turned down by INEC for the simple fact that the name in question was similar to that of the ruling PDP. Thirdly, the PDP did not at any material time intend or proposed and/or considered a merger with another political party. This partly informed the basis of an earlier court decision by Justice Evoh Chukwu, which rightly declared that there was no division in the ruling PDP. There is no record anywhere that Justice Evoh’s ruling was challenged in a competent superior court of justice by either party to the matter. Those who wanted to register the New PDP later joined the APC as widely reported in the media. The three legs for which defection could take place are obviously absent and therefore the legal intentions of Section 68 (1)(g) of the constitution is clear and cannot be in conflict with the ruling of Justice Ademola.

The words “shall vacate” as stipulated in this provision is to the effect that the affected members must cease to occupy their positions in the House henceforth, Period. The constitution says “shall vacate” and not “may vacate”. It therefore becomes a legal and constitutional truism that no options are available for the affected House members in this matter other than to return to the PDP immediately or vacate their exalted positions at the National Assembly. Good enough, the party national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu has offered all defected members another golden opportunity to return before the party’s next convention.

TO BE CONTINUED

BUSINESS THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014

WHAT'S NEWS After job cuts, Etisalat recruits A few weeks after it dispensed with the services of close to a hundred staff, Etisalat Nigeria has stepped up its staff recruitment exercise but with a focus on customer services and non-engineering positions.

}p-30

Expanding market offers potential for local auto makers Nigeria is currently the investment destination for auto manufacturers encouraged by vehicle sales that have been growing rapidly with automakers seeing double digit growth over the past one year.

}p-33

More African countries record drop in fixed lines Kenya has joined Nigeria and South Africa as African countries recording drop in fixed line telecoms market in recent years.

The situation is worsening the continent’s poor fixed line market.

South Africa and Nigeria’s fixed line market penetration rate currently stands at 7.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively, according to BuddeComm research.

}p-36

ATCON supports masts removal plan The Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has expressed its support for plan by the Lagos State government to pull down substandard telecommunications masts standing over the skyline of the state.

}p-37

BUSINESS CREW AYODELE AMINU, Deputy Editor (Business) SIMEON OGOEGBULEM, Dep. Business Editor BAYO AKOMOLAFE, Asst. Editor (Maritime) SUNDAY OJEME, Asst. Editor (Insurance) SIAKA MOMOH, Asst. Editor (Industry/Agric) JONAH IBOMA, ICT Editor DAYO ADEYEMI, Property Editor ADEOLA YUSUF, Energy Editor

WEAK NAIRA The IMF says the naira should be allowed to respond to forces of demand and supply Ayodele Aminu

T

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) has supported the tight monetary stance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The Fund, which made this known in its concluding statement of the 2013 Articles 1V Consultative Discussion on Nigeria, however, listed the country’s key downside risks to include persistently lower oil revenue from changing global dynamics and lower domestic production, less prudent fiscal policy through the on going political cycle and on going security problems in the North.

Also included are uncertainties about the pace of global recovery and capital flow reversals from the expected unwinding of unconventional monetary policy (UMP) in the advanced economies or increased domestic political risk.

Nigeria’s benchmark interest rate – the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which indirectly influences other interest rates in the country, has been fixed at 12 per cent since over a year ago. This had prompted a five to four vote against hiking the policy rate at the last Monetary

Jonah Iboma

T

elecommunication services subscribers could soon have access to special online video service following on-going discussions between Public Vine, MTN and Vodacom.

PublicVine is a United States-based social video platform founded by a Nigerian, Nam Mokwunye, and designed to rival existing video platforms like Youtube, but of-

WOLE SHADARE, Aviation Editor

ABDULWAHAB ISA, Finance Editor CHUKS ONUANYIN, Energy NNAMDI AMADI, Reporter

www.newtelegraphonline.com/business

}p-31

AYODELE AMINU, DEPUTY EDITOR, BUSINESS

ayodele.aminu@newtelegraphonline.com ayodeleaminu@yahoo.com

IMF backs CBN’s tight monetary stance

Says Naira be allowed to adjust  Lists key downside risks Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Consequently, according to the published statement of the meeting, a strong argument against a hike was that monetary policy should not serve the interests of the offshore portfolio investor at the expense of the domestic economy.

Nigeria is, however, not alone in the high interest rate regime.

Other African countries including Ghana, which recently raised its interest rate to 18 per cent, have also had to raise their

interest rates. This is, however, sharply at variance with other developed economies like the United States of America and Japan that have lower interest rate because they have enough fiscal buffers to run their economy.

Speaking at the just concluded Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC, Acting CBN governor, Mrs Sarah Alade, explained that since Nigeria has not built adequate fiscal buf-

fers, there was the need to raise interest rate to attract portfolio investments.

The Fund yesterday, also supported the CBN’s stance, saying that the monetary policy should remain supportively tight, given the potential for capital flow reversals and fiscal slippages.

“In the event of persistent pressures, the naira should be allowed to adjust and reserve adequacy maintained,”it added.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

Managing Director, Media Stamp Limited, Mr. Feyisola Olukoya (left), receiving the certificate of induction from Chairman, Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), Mr. Tolu Ogunkoya, during the induction of Media Stamp into the association in Lagos.

PublicVine, telecom firms in talks on video distribution fers video content owners and distributors opportunity to be paid by viewers.

Chief Executive Officer, PublicVine, Nam Mokwunye, said in an exclusive chat with New Telegraph that discussions had been held with several telecommunication companies about a marketing

partnership that would make PublicVine available to their (telecom companies’) subscription base within South Africa and into the rest of Africa.

He said that the discussions have been going on in Nigeria and South Africa to ensure that an all-inclusive partnership is formed between his firm and

the continent’s leading telecommunications markets.

“The discussion with the telecommunications companies is to afford subscribers and Africans in general an opportunity to have further access to quality and relevant CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

Rates Dashboard

DELE ALAO, Brands/Marketing Editor CHRIS UGWU, Capital Market Editor

NEW TELEGRAPH

ANOTHER LOOK AT NIGERIA’S PARTICIPATION IN AGOA

INFLATION RATE March 2014...........................7.08% February 2014........................7.70% January 2014 ........................8.00%

LENDING RATE InterBank Rate . . . . . . . . . 10.50% Prime Lending Rate. . . . . 16.93% Maximum Lending Rate..25.83%

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parellel As at April 18)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N170 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N282 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N235

EXCHANGE RATE

(Official As at April 18)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N155.74 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N260.56 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N216.15 Source: CBN

9

30 BUSINESS | NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

After job cuts, Etisalat revs up recruitment exercise EMPLOYMENT Etisalat seeks more workers to focus on sales drive

Jonah Iboma

A

few weeks after it dispensed with services of close to a hundred staff, Etisalat Nigeria has

stepped up its staff recruitment exercise but with a focus on customer services and non-engineering positions.

Etisalat had sacked 74 members of its staff at the end of March, stating that the move was to reinforce its commitment to maintaining a high performance culture through its people.

Research by New Telegraph shows that in the past few days, the firm has advertised

PublicVine, telecom firms in talks on video distribution CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

content through an easy channel and we hope to unveil this soon,” Mokwunye stated.

PublicVine had held its first global video vendor registration programme in Nigeria in February 2014 in partnership with leading Nigerian actors including Joke Silva and Olu Jacobs.

Mokwunye revealed that the firm was currently holding its video vendor registration programme in South Africa with several cities in the country to

be covered by the event.

He said that PublicVine recently closed a series of investment deals worth about $10 million, adding that its platform is now almost ready for launch.

He stated: “Our firm is now fully immersed in fine- tuning and launching “PublicVine”, the social video marketplace that is also its flagship platform.”

Mokwunye said one of the aims of PublicVineis to grow Nigeria’s film industry by reducing piracy through online film video distribution.

for not less than 25 positions across the country for staff that would enhance its sales drive. Telecommunication companies in Nigeria have increasingly been reducing its engineering staff while at the same time developing new value added services to shore up dwindling revenues.

MTN had also dispensed with the services of 252 engineers, transferring the services of majority of them to its new outsourced service partners, Ericsson and Huawei technologies.

According to the mobile phone firm, their expenses are increasing due to the overall high inflationary environment along with their network expansion activities, illegal and

multiple taxation, high cost of providing power and rising inflation, among others.

For instance, MTN said that in 2013, it spent N34 billion on diesel, which amounted to 12 per cent of its total operating expenditure cost. It said that that amount could have been used to construct 5,200 new base stations.

A statement by MTN on its staff reduction read: “Over 200 per cent reduction in headline price points to massive free-fall in tariffs within three years through aggressive price war.

“The aggregate spend per subscriber has reduced in the same proposition with the expected net effect from new additions not being sufficient to drive profitable growth.”

As a consequence, the firms said that it took a decision to focus strictly on areas that would directly impact on its operations, while outsourcing ancillary services to independent service providers.

Matthew Willsher, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, said that the company remains fully committed to executing its business strategies with the help of a high-performing team of dedicated, hardworking employees, adding that the step was a strategic business decision as it continues to match its structure and quality of delivery with customers’ expectations "which is what makes customers happy and our business successful."

IMF backs CBN’s tight monetary stance CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29

The Fund also said that transparency and governance in the nation’s oil sector should be enhanced, “including by strengthening the regulatory framework through the passage of a sound Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) featuring stringent enforcement clauses. A multi-country partner strategy could also improve oil sector oversight. “ Besides, the IMF said that to improve competitiveness and productivity to generate inclusive growth, will require wide-ranging structural reforms. “Three key areas could help promote inclusive growth—increasing the delivery of power, broadening the agricultural production base, and increasing access to finance for SMEs. Support for sectoral growth should be underpinned by improvements in competitiveness rather than by protectionist measures,” it said.

The Fund also noted that ddespite recent strong non-oil growth, poverty and income inequality remain high and social and governance indicators are below averages for sub-Saharan Africa. “Structural reforms under the Transformation Agenda are on going, but significant infrastructure gaps and weak institutional capacity still retard

growth prospects. At the same time, vulnerabilities are rising in the build up to general elections in 2015 and fiscal buffers have been reduced. Meanwhile, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is being rebased and structural shifts may suggest a refocus in some policy areas,” it said.

The IMF however, noted that growth is expected to remain strong, driven by agriculture, trade, and services. “Inflation should continue to decline, in line with a tight monetary policy, and a lowering trend in food prices from higher rice and wheat production,” it added.

Under Article IV of the IMF's Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country's economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country's authorities.

L-R: Public Relations Manager, MultiChoice Nigeria, Caroline Oghuma; winner of 8.1KVA generator, Okanume Anthony and Marketing Manager DStv, Chioma Afe, during the presentation to the winners of MultiChoice March Madness promo held in Lagos.

CORRUPTION Public servants to get special training on fraud prevention in government purchases Bayo Akomolafe

A

team of British accountants is coming to Nigeria to advise government on how to tackle procurement fraud.

It was learnt that the staff from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) will “train several government bodies to stop corruption in government procurement.”

The project is part of an initiative by the United Kingdom government’s Department for International Development (DFID) to improve financial management in developing countries.

Britain wades into Nigeria’s procurement fraud Under DFID’s Investment Facility for Utilising Specialist Expertise (IFUSE) scheme, teams from five chartered accountancy institutes will also be travelling to Zambia and Ethiopia to share international best practice.

DFID’s international development secretary, Justine Greening, said: “The UK’s financial sector is second to none and its skills and experience can boost development across the world.

“By helping developing countries to manage their resources better and attract investment, we can create the jobs and growth needed to lift people out of poverty.”

Also, Alan Edwards, director of strategy and development at CIPFA, said: “Our

work there will equip government officials with the knowledge and skills they need to better protect the public purse from fraud and misappropriation and ensure that valuable government resources are spent well and where they are most needed.”

He added: “If through projects such as IFUSE we can improve the way public money is spent, it will have a profound and lasting impact on the lives of individuals and on the business environment across the world.”

According to Supply Management, DFID has also committed £4.5 million to the International Federation of Accountants to help up to 10 partner countries in Africa and Asia develop their own professional accountancy institutes.

BUSINESS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

31

Fact File

AGOA products

Another look at Nigeria’s participation in AGOA United States is moving towards the diversification of its investments in Nigeria from oil and gas sector to other key non-oil sectors such as power, energy, agriculture, hospitality, housing and health care, among others, SIAKA MOMOH reports.

A

frican Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) launched by the United States in 2000 to facilitate a two-way trade between US and sub-Saharan Africa, and, by extension, allow for economic growth in the continent, is yet to fly in Nigeria, New Telegraph investigation has revealed.

An analysis of the trade data by Product Sector reveals the distribution of exports into the US under AGOA. It shows that there are three sectors, namely ‘energy-related products,’ ‘textiles, apparel’ and ‘transportation equipment,’ that account for the vast bulk (over 90 per cent) of exports currently qualifying

for AGOA benefits. ‘Agricultural products, minerals and metals’ have also been successfully exported by brother African countries to the US under AGOA, while AGOAeligible exports in the remaining product categories are still insignificant.

Nigeria shines only in the energy-related products sector.

Nigeria has failed woefully in the textiles and apparel, agricultural products and mineral and metals sectors where we have potentials to do so.

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council’s (NEPC) review of Nigeria’s participation in AGOA corroborates this scenario. According to NEPC, Nigeria is yet to take full advantage of AGOA since it was enacted on May 18, 2000.

It explained: “The failure to diversify the country’s economy away from its over-dependence on the capital intensive oil sector, which provides 95 per cent of foreign exchange earnings and about 80 per cent of its budgetary revenues, has greatly affected the agricultural sector.”

The NEPC argued that despite this lopsided development, Agricultural exports could still play an important role in Nigeria-US trade if properly harnessed and if efforts are made to diversify

into higher value agricultural products. “The US suppliers on the other hand could increase their scope by providing inputs like fertilizer and light machineries to Nigerian farmers," the agency advised.

At a media lunch with the US Consul-General in Lagos in the past, he said that in 2010 US exports to sub-Saharan Africa exceeded $17 billion while US imports from the region were greater than $65 billion. This looks good on the surface, but when you are confronted with the details, you will find out that export of crude oil and petroleum products accounts largely for the AGOA trade progress in question and Nigeria for over 50 per cent of crude oil and petroleum product export from Africa to the US. Exclusion of SMEs Strong issues in the industry are the inability of SMEs to meet huge contracts individually and poor packaging.

Nigeria has failed woefully in the ‘textiles and apparel’, ‘agricultural products’ and ‘mineral and metals’ sectors

According to our investigation, from 2009 to 2010, US imports from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) increased by 39 per cent to reach $65 billion. This increase was mostly due to a 40 per cent jump in crude oil imports (accounting for 81.4 per cent of total US imports from SSA with both price and quantity increasing. This growth closely parallels the large increase in total crude oil imports from virtually all oil producing trading partners (including non-AGOA eligible countries).

US imports from Nigeria increased by 60 per cent, from Angola by 28 per cent, from the Democratic Republic of Congo by 60 per cent, and from Gabon by 80 per cent. US imports from South Africa also grew by 40 per cent driven mainly by increases in diamonds imports. US imports from Ghana rose by 103 per cent due to an increase in cocoa imports (gained from Ivory Coast’s political instability and negatively affected cocoa industry).

The top five AGOA beneficiary countries included Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, Republic of Congo, and Chad.

Other leading AGOA beneficiaries included Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, LeC O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 3 2

There is renewed interest among policymakers in countries around the world in the role manufacturing plays within national economies, and a consequent focus on the potential of manufacturing strategies to enhance industrial competitiveness in the short, medium and long terms.

There is also growing recognition that “business as usual” is not an option if national manufacturing competitiveness is to be achieved and sustained in the future.

Critical manufacturing challenges and opportunities are driven by the increasingly complex and globalized nature of industrial systems, the dramatic reduction in manufacturing timescales and the acceleration of technological developments and innovation.

Similarly, society’s increasing demands, dwindling natural resources combined with increasing prices, diminishing availability of fresh water as well as adverse effects of climate change underline the necessity to use resources more efficiently in future industrial production.

In the United States, for example, emphasis has been placed on the future role of manufacturing for technology development, creation of new industries and national security. In Europe, particular attention has been paid to the role of manufacturing as a driver of future economic recovery and as capturing economic value in the form of production-related jobs.

In Asia, the focus has been on the challenges of the growing manufacturing base to achieve technological deepening and sustain future economic expansion. In Latin America, the emphasis has traditionally been on building on the abundance of natural resources to promote industrial upgrading and diversification.

The analysis of containerized trade flows provides an indication of the changing landscape in global commerce. Trade increased from 13.5 million TEUs in 1980 to 68.7 million in 2000 and to 138.9 million in 2010. In 1980, the major trade lanes were US-Europe, US-Asia and Europe-Asia. Inter-Asian trade was relatively minor.

In 2010, intra-Asia was the largest trade lane, bigger than the TransPacific trade.

In today’s global economy, firms do not operate in isolation. Rather, competition increasingly occurs between interrelated firms or groups of firms that collaborate with one another, performing complementary activities to produce goods and services.

32

BUSINESS | INDUSTRY

CRISIS Africans are tough characters; they are great crisis managers.

A

fricans are more resilient and better equipped to deal with crisis, Nigerian Breweries Plc’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Michiel Herkemij, has said.

Speaking at its recent Pre AGM meeting which held in Lagos, Herkemij said: "One thing that we think, which we have seen over the years within Africa, is that Africa is more resilient, better and equipped in dealing with crisis. In Nigeria, there are not so many people that are actually living above their standards; because it is a desperate society. When you go to Europe, or to America, everybody has huge loans opportunity and you might borrow three times

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Africa more resilient in dealing with crisis, says NB’s CEO more than your salary. Now imagine, when this drops, you are in big trouble. But in this country, there is nothing like that; people are used to spending only what they have.”

He said that nobody can deny that there is a meltdown globally, stressing that there is a global recession going on.

“Even including us, in Nigerian Breweries, we would not deny that. You can also see that there is an impact of this in Nigeria. The country’s oil revenue from the Federal Government continues to drop. At local and state levels, you see projects suffering. The Naira also has depreciated and these have impacted on a lot of companies, especially those

ones that are fully dependent on imported materials for production, they are suffering big time. You see interest rates going up in the country astronomically about 22 per cent to 23 per cent, which is worrying.”

He said that Nigerian Breweries seems to dominate the brewery market as it accounts for 60 per cent of the brewery market share in Nigeria.

The Nigerian Breweries boss said that the company is trying to build long term capability for its people in order to sustain its market leadership.

“We have come to stay in Nigeria. We are not investing here in vein as we continue to upgrade our breweries.”

Nicholaas Vervelve, MD/CEO Nigerian Breweries Plc

Another look at Nigeria’s participation in AGOA CONTINUED from PAGE 31

sotho, Kenya, Cameroon, and Mauritius.

Our investigation also revealed that US total trade (exports plus imports with SSA) increased by 32 per cent from 2009 to 2010, as both exports and imports increased. The expansion in trade is consistent with the overall growth in US trade with the world (a 22 per cent increase in 2010). US exports to SSA increased by 13 per cent to $17 billion (mostly due to increases of vehicles exports).

Of the top five African destinations for US products, exports to Nigeria rose by 10 per cent, to South Africa by 26 per cent, to Ghana by 37 per cent, and to Gabon by 42 per cent.

Exports to Liberia increased by 101 per cent. Exports to Angola decreased by 9 per cent and to Kenya by 45 per cent.

Exports of electrical machinery (including telecommunications equipment) to SSA con-

Containers at Lagos port, Apapa

tinue to decrease (-8 per cent).

Discussing the achievement of AGOA, the NEPC said minerals fuels and crude oil exports from AGOA beneficiary countries were valued at $53.8 billion in 2011, which represent a 21.5 per cent increase in AGOA exports from 2010 and a more than 500 per cent increase from the initial $8.5 billion in AGOA exports in 2001.

It said over the course of the decade, petroleum products accounted for roughly 85 per cent of AGOA imports, in which Angola and Nigeria have consistently accounted for about 10 per cent of US imports of oil during the last decade.

Job creation not impressive “Although some US energy companies have trained local nationals’ management and technical skills and put in place corporate social responsibility programmes, such incentives have not created large number of new jobs for

The US Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow into Nigeria has increased from $5.2 million in 2000 to $8 billion in 2012 Nigeria. To make a fair assessment of AGOA, therefore, it is necessary to focus on the impact of increased non-energy AGOA imports into US and the role of these imports in poverty alleviation and economic development.”

NEPC explained: “In 2011, 11 years after AGOA was enacted, the number of countries exporting non-petroleum products to US had expanded to 22, more than half of those eligible. South Africa has remained a major exporter. Mauritius, Lesotho, Swaziland and Kenya exported the largest percentage of apparel and textiles to the US. Nigeria, whose main non-oil export products are agricultural, failed to record any significant export to the US. Generally speaking, Agriculture has not played a central role in the accomplishments of AGOA. Agriculture provides 70 per cent of employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and 30 per cent of the regions gross domestic product. Agricultural products on the other hand, are less than 1 per cent of AGOA exports.

“Apart from the fact that, the US is not the most suitable destination for some agricultural goods from Africa (such as cut flowers) especially when compared with the European Union’s closer proximity, most African agricultural products lack sufficient value addition and some of them have been excluded from AGOA. Sanitary and phyto-sanitary standards, though important for maintaining food quality and protecting human, plant and animal health has imposed additional demands for Nigerian exporters as well as their counterparts in Sub Saharan Africa.

This is seen as a major limitation to export of agricultural products to US under AGOA.” The NEPC listed other achievements of AGOA to include job creation, increase in foreign direct investments, and efforts towards regional integration through the creation of regional value chains and corresponding increases have been concentrated in the apparel sector where Nigeria, for now, is not a principal player.

According to NEPC, the bilateral trade profile of Nigeria and US offers immense opportunities for both countries to intensify dialogue towards increasing their trade relations.

The US, it said, has realised that the balance of trade is not in their favour (as a result of high importation of Crude Oil from Nigeria) and is therefore

moving towards jacking up her investment in the Information Communication Technology (ICT), Telecommunications and other economic activities and that Nigeria, on the other hand, is envisaging sharp reduction in US purchase of its oil and is working assiduously to diversify into other areas.

"The US Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow into Nigeria has increased from $5.2 million in 2000 to $8 billion in 2012. US is moving towards the diversification of its investments in Nigeria from oil and gas sector to other key non-oil sectors such as Power, Energy, Agriculture, Hospitality, Housing and Health Care among others.

Way forward This is encapsulated in Hilary Clinton’s review of the implementation of AGOA for decade in 2010. She remarked that “despite the best of intentions, AGOA has achieved only modest results” thus highlighting the limitation of generating growth through market access only in the absence of support to improve on Africa’s infrastructure and other supply-side constraints.

For her, Nigeria will continue to address its infrastructural challenges and supply side constraints to usher in a vibrant manufacturing sector that will increase its market share in the US trade as well as global international trade.

BUSINESS | INDUSTRY

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Enterprise Strokes

33

with

Siaka Momoh

siakamomoh@yahoo.com

Putting ideas behind the cloak!

T

Automobile assembly factory

Expanding market offers potential for local auto makers GROWTH Automobile manufacturers find Nigeria as sweet turf for business.

Siaka Momoh

N

igeria is currently the investment destination for auto manufacturers encouraged by vehicle sales that have been growing rapidly with automakers seeing double digit growth over the past one year.

In other to capture more demands, firms are looking forward to business expansion – local assembly and dealership.

According to Oxford Business Group (OBG) report on Nigeria for 2013, Nigerian imports nearly all the cars on its roads, with 50,000 new and 150,000 used vehicles entering the country every year. “The largest supplier of new cars is Toyota, accounting for 70 per cent of imports, although others are making inroads.”

These, the report says, include Ford Motors, which announced in September 2013 that it would introduce over five new models to the Nigerian market, including the Fusion, Edge Escape, Ranger and Focus.

The company is reported to have seen 33 per cent increase in sales in the first half of 2013, and 44 per cent year-on-year sales growth in July 2013, selling 2,156 units compared to 1,617 in July 2012. “Nigeria is a significant market in Ford’s sub-Saha-

ran Africa region and accounts for a solid percentage of our regional sales. Sales in Nigeria grew more than 40 per cent from 2010 to 2011 and eight per cent from 2011 to 2012, despite overall challenges in the Nigerian auto industry,” Eugene Prinsloo, Ford’s senior manager in subSaharan Africa was quoted to have said.

Nissan is also reported to have identified Nigeria as a key market for the expansion of its small passenger vehicle product lines, saying in July 2013 that it aims to double vehicle sales in sub-Saharan Africa to 220,000 units by 2016. And Honda is said to have announced in September that it would begin to sell passenger cars at its first showroom in the country, having already established a motorcycle production base in Nigeria.

“Other companies, including Mercedes Benz and Skoda, have also recently expanded in the country with Mercedes Benz opening a new showroom in Lagos in August 2013, and Skoda introducing two new models, the Octavia and the Rapid, the following month,” the report says.

Local private firms, including UAC, Leventis and Bewac, established Nigeria’s first autoassembly plants in the 1960s.

Government invested in auto and truck manufacturing in the 1970s, with joint ventures involving Peugeot, Volkswagen, an later General Motors. More recently, local conglomerate, Innoson Group embarked on a plan to manufacture a ‘Nigerian car,’ opening the Innoson

Vehicle Plant in Anambra State in 2010.

The company assembles completely knocked down parts from Chinese, German and Japanese makers to produce around 300 units per month. Innocent Chukwuma, chairman of Innoson, says a key challenge for his firm has traditionally been lack of local demand, particularly from large clients.

Government is currently taking some steps to support domestic production of vehicles.

There is now an Automotive Industry Development Plan in place. This, of course, is the offshoot of Nigeria’s Automotive Policy which recently received harsh criticism from auto dealers who cried foul play.

Government had on October 3, 2013, announced the introduction of the new auto policy to discourage the importation of cars and encourage local manufacturing, which would also gradually phase out used cars, popularly known as ‘tokunbo’.

This however is now history since all parties have now endorsed the policy.

According to Mr. Aminu Jalal, Director-General, Nigeria’s National Automotive Policy, Nigeria and Bangladesh are the only countries in the top 10 by population without a developed automotive industry.

He argued: “With our current population and economy, our potential vehicle market is about a million vehicles a year! This is more than sufficient to support an automotive industry."

he beauty of writing business is that you harvest ideas from your environment -from discussion groups, from chats you are privileged to have with someone or groups, consequential or nonconsequential-big or small.

During the past week, I was part of a small media business chat group in my CEO’s office when my deputy editor, Emeka Obasi, raised the issue of ideas for business coming from anyone no matter the caliber of the source of that idea. Obasi struck a chord in me.

I agreed with him immediately, citing an Italian successful table water case that was the product of an idea, which came from a labour hand of a construction company, years back. That is a story for another day. But one interesting thing is that that discussion opened the gate to this week’s piece – an idea picked from the environment.

The story: The young man thought he had something unique. He thought he had an exclusive business idea and so wouldn’t want anyone have the very important details. He therefore decided to render a superficial brief on it. What was this idea? It is building with treated wood and processed timber instead of concrete. He was part of one of the groups at the Federal Government’s YouWin selection and training session, which held at the Pan Atlantic University, Lekki, Lagos (it was called Pan African University then).

I was part of the group and I took him on and tried to make him see the wisdom in opening up fully. Some other participants in the group did same but he wouldn’t bulge. I then decided to throw it open to the full house at question time. And that did it. His position was torn to shreds by Peter Bamkole, the entrepreneurship training icon and director at EDC (Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan African University).

He made him, and others in the same camp with him, to know the following basic points: A good idea becomes better when you share it with others. Why? Because there may be a flaw in it that somebody will help you spot and correct; No idea is exclusive because for every one idea you have there are 10 other people somewhere who have it also, and there are 10 others who are already running with the idea; Hoarding ideas is primitive. Anyone hoarding ideas is in the mould of our forefathers who hoarded ideas and died with them; if you hoard ideas you will die with them: If the idea is yours, you will fly with it.

Good message, isn’t it? Our young aspiring entrepreneur and many others at the gathering must have been richly enlightened. We are learning - we learn every day; every moment, since learning is cumulative. For the avoidance of doubt, I dug deep and found out the thinking of some other sources on the subject. Techdirt has a lot to offer. It argued that this is a point that we've been making for years (and often highlighting the research that proves this), but innovation and good ideas tend not to come from the proverbial “spark of genius.”

It noted study after study has shown that it is almost never the case. “Almost all good ideas come from people building on the works of others, with a minor tweak here or there, or a random decision based on a suggestion from someone new, after an idea percolates for months or years. The more open systems are to sharing ideas and spreading information and allowing those collisions to happen, the more likely that new good ideas and new innovations occur. That's why it's so harmful that today's intellectual property systems are built on the false assumption that innovation really does happen through that “spark of genius.”

It pointed out that entrepreneur and author Steven Johnson “is about to come out with a new book on this particular topic, Where Good Ideas Come From and has been writing and speaking about some of what's in the book - which highlights these same points.

People have been submitting both his recent TED talk and his recent WSJ piece that makes these points clear.”

What Johnson says: The key thing is to allow those hunches to connect with other people's hunches. That's what often happens. You have half of an idea and someone else has the other half, and if you're in the right environment, they turn into something larger than the sum of their parts (You can see that this aligns with Peter Bamkole’s stand on the subject).

34 BUSINESS | INDUSTRY CHIEFTAIN HIGHFLIER Larry Ettah is a highflier of sort, piloting the UAC conglomerate into greater heights.

Siaka Momoh

B

eing the chieftain of a conglomerate like the United Company of Nigeria Plc (UAC Plc) is no small feat. Larry Ephraim Ettah, current Managing Director/CEO of UAC, like Christopher Abebe, Ernest Shonekan and Ayo Ajayi – all past chieftains of the company - is carrying out an enviable task in the company. Etta, who was appointed on January 1, 2007, has taken this Nigerian frontline conglomerate through a restructuring that saw the operating units of the company being unbundled into limited liability companies. The objective of the unbundling is to empower the units to optimally pursue market opportunities in a timely manner.

The emergence of UAC Property Development Company Plc as a leading real estate development company in Nigeria after the unbundling of UACN’s erstwhile Property Division, validates the appropriateness of this approach.

The strategic relationship with Famous Brands of South Africa, which bought 49 per cent stake in Nigeria’s UAC Restaurants (UACR), which includes Mr Biggs, also does.

Quick service restaurant Larry Ettah described Nigeria as an attractive destination for Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) business. Etta noted that the country has in recent times seen an influx of international brands. The UAC boss said that the firm was delighted to partner with famous brands in this venture, saying that this was a transformative transaction that would ensure that UACR had the necessary strategic partner to unlock the considerable value potential in the QSR industry, which he said Mr Bigg’s defined over 25 years ago and still maintains a leadership position.

“UACR will be availed of Famous Brands’ tested and highly successful brand stewardship to enhance and reinforce the Mr Bigg’s brand market power,” he said. “This deal further reinforces UACN’s commitment to ensure we collaborate and leverage international partnerships to accelerate our strategic growth and progress.”

There is also the emergence of UAC Foods Limited as a business partnership between Tiger Brands of South Africa - holding 49 per cent of the equity and UAC - controlling 51 per cent. Ettah identified the key areas of synergies between UACN and Tiger Brands to include product and brand portfolio enabling capabilities in terms of product innovation, brand building, channel and customer management, operating expertise, technology as well as marketing and distribution competencies. “The collaboration will strengthen the market position of UAC Foods Limited in readiness for the intense and growing local and international competition,” he stated.

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Larry Ephraim Ettah: Positioning a conglomerate Real estate Under him too, the first real estate development firm to be quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, UACN Property Development Company Plc, raised N15bn

Ettah

Remember, we have in Nigeria a housing deficit of about 17 million. With this money available, UPDC will be able to try its best at reducing that deficit as regards estate developments through a bond issue that was said to be oversubscribed by 100 per cent. Half of the proceeds was set aside to fund the development of various residential and commercial properties being executed all over the country whilst the other half of the bond proceeds were used for financing outstanding short-term bank facilities. UPDC has an asset base of over N60billion and is focused on the premium segment of the real estate market and has undertaken several major developments such as the Victoria Mall Plaza residential block on Bishop Abayode Cole Street, Victoria Island; Niger Towers, Abebe Court, Bourdillon Court and Trenchard Place in Ikoyi; Treasure Gardens in Lekki; Hillview Estate in Abuja; as well as several other residential and commercial developments. Larry Etta, as the Chairman UPDC, said that the 10

per cent fixed rate non-convertible bond would be due for repayment in 2015.

Ettah said at the event marking the raising of the bond that the public had a lot to benefit from the bond issue because there would be more housing stock developed for Nigerians. Said he: “Remember, we have in Nigeria a housing deficit of about 17 million. With this money available, UPDC will be able to try its best at reducing that deficit as regards estate developments in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt and other places in the country.

“For us, we will be able to get funding for some of the initiatives we have got. Before now, we had been using short-term instruments for long-term projects. With this bond, we are now in a position to have access to longer term facilities like five years at 10 per cent interest rate. This will reduce the burden created by the cost of borrowing.”

He added: “You know that such instruments are volatile because banks’ interest rates can go up at any point in time. We are in a position, with this bond, to be able to have access to facilities on a long-term basis. We know the cost of our financing and then we will be able to use that money to match the kind of projects we are doing. If we have a five-year facility, we can do a two-year project. It is not good for you to take a 30-day facility to execute projects that will take up to two or three years.”

Credentials Ettah holds a B.Sc degree in Industrial Chemistry and an MBA (Finance/ Marketing) both from University of Benin. He is also a graduate of the renowned Executive Programme of Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and Ann Arbor, United States of America. Before his elevation to the current position, he held several Senior Management positions in the Company including Divisional Managing Director of Mr. Bigg's and UAC Foods Divisions and Head of Human Resources/

Executive Director of the Company.

He is the Non-Executive Chairman of UACN Property Development Company Plc, Chemical & Allied Products Plc, UAC Foods Limited and Warm Spring Waters Nigeria Limited. He is the 1st Vice-President of the Nigeria Employers' Consultative Association (NECA) and Vice-President (Multinationals) of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). He joined the Board in 2004.

For over a century, United Africa Company of Nigeria plc (sometimes referred to as UACN PLC) has distinguished itself as a major contributor to the Nigerian economy. Its areas of operation include manufacturing, services, logistics and warehousing, agricultural and real estate. UAC Nigeria was first incorporated in Nigeria under the name Nigerian Motors Ltd on April 22, 1931 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the United Africa Company Ltd. which later became UAC International (UACI).

UACI, a subsidiary of Unilever, included in its business the activities formerly carried on by a number of other companies including The Niger Company Ltd. and the African and Eastern Trade Corporation Ltd, all of which had longstanding trading links with West Africa.

Company’s profile The company, whose name was changed to United Africa Company Ltd in 1943, remained dormant until 1955 when it became The United Africa Company of Nigeria Ltd and started acquiring, over a period of five years, a large part of the business of UACI. In 1960 C.W.A. Holdings Ltd, England also a subsidiary of Unilever, acquired UACI’s interest in the company. Further reorganisation was concluded in 1973 and resulted in the acquisition of the wholly owned fellow subsidiaries of C.W.A. Following reorganisation, the company conducted the acquired businesses as operating divisions, which are now in voluntary liquidation. The company took the name UAC of Nigeria Ltd in 1973. In compliance with the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Act 1972, 40 percent of the company’s share capital was acquired in 1974 by Nigerian citizens and associations and in accordance with the provisions of the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Act 1977, an additional 20 per cent of the UAC’s share capital was publicly offered in 1977, increasing Nigerian equity participation to 60 per cent. The name UACN Plc was adopted in 1991.

UAC of Nigeria PLC (UAC), a diversified company has for over a century played a prominent role in the development of Nigeria. UAC’s growth strategy has to with building strong partnerships with leading regional and international corporations to drive effective business transformation and deliver sustainable growth. The company operates through the following subsidiaries: Grand Cereals Limited, UAC Foods Limited, UAC Restaurants Limited, MDS Logistics Plc, a joint venture with Imperial Logistics of South Africa, UACN Property Development Company Plc (UPDC), and CAP Plc, the Akzonobel technical licensee of Dulux.

business

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

New technology-based Nigerian and African businesses that use the Internet as their primary business platform are beginning to give the continent a new hope of economic development.

In this report, JONAH IBOMA examines some of these businesses and the economic opportunities they are offering the continent.

E

very era of mankind has always had one major area of economic development of global impact. In recent decades, we have seen agricultural and industrial revolutions, where economic activities have been ruled by the agricultural industrial activities. The latest economic development is, however, technology. This is why companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and a host of others have become global economic leaders. It was once reported that while it took General Motors 100 years as a $100 billion company, Microsoft achieved that same status in just 25 years.

In almost all these global economic revolutions, Africa has always been left behind. However, it appears that things are beginning to change as new businesses owned by Nigerians, are beginning to attract global interests and on the verge of putting the continent on the global picture.

But rather, instead of achieving their successes in the hardware and software sectors, the firms are making waves through the use of the Internet.

Although it has been about 18 years since the world discovered Internet, the continent and at present, about 44 per cent of the global population - that is 2.2 billion people - are online, only 16 per cent of them are connected.

Estimates state that by 2018, almost 100 per cent people of the world will be online, and that means that the 84 per cent of the African population, who are not connected to Internet presently, will move online in the next four years.

However, despite the situation, a lot of economic progress is being made, especially by start-ups on the continent.

According to the McKinsey Global Study on the Lions Go Digital released recently, the iGDP of Africa – iGDP is the measure of Internet’s contribution

TECHTalk

W it h

Internet: Africa’s new promise for economic growth

Jack

to a country’s economic gain – stands at $ 18 billion. This is expected to reach $300 billion by 2025.

Currently, Senegal is the only African country in the top ten list of countries with the highest iGDP (3.3 per cent) in the world, ahead of India (3.2 per cent) and below the US (3.8 per cent). Compared to other BRICS countries, Kenya at 2.9 per cent is higher than China at 2.6 per cent. Morocco is at 2.3 per cent and Mozambique at 1.6 per cent, where as Brazil is at 1.5 per cent.

The report says that the African Internet revolution has become a launching pad for a new generation of digital entrepreneurs and a number of countries on the continent are experiencing this. In Nigeria alone, electronic commerce sites such as Konga and Jumia have become major online retailers.

Similarly, Pagatech is emerging as a key player in mobile payments, and Jobberman has created a digital marketplace for employers and job seekers.

In Mozambique, a startup called moWoza has created a more efficient supply chain by using text messaging and a smartphone application to deploy available taxi drivers to deliver parcels from wholesalers to informal traders.

Elsewhere, Mi-Fone has sold over a million low-cost mobile phones across the continent, and ReKindle Learning, a South African startup, is developing personalised, interactive learning tools that work on simple mobile devices. For

the first time, there could be effective content aggregation in the continent, driven by the likes of iROKOtv, a digital delivery platform for locally produced content. A Nigerian, Nam Mokwunye, is set to launch PublicVine, a social video marketplace that will make it possible for video makers and right owners to sell their video to global audiences anytime, anywhere.

Success stories like these are attracting global investors and spurring the formation of local angel investor and venture capital networks. Incubators are also springing up across the continent, from Kenya’s iHub to South Africa’s JoziHub to Cameroon’s ActivSpaces. Nigeria has produced two notable examples: the Co-Creation Hub (or CcHub) and the Wennovation Hub. In Ethiopian there is iceAddis.

A few local and international investors that have realised the development and now playing the roles of accellerators, by providing funding to drive the new technology-based businesses.

Among the firms, Leadpath Nigeria, a firm that was publicly launched on Friday, March 7, 2014, and its mission, according to the founder, Olumide Soyombo, “is to power legendary companies in Nigeria by bridging the gap between start-up to market dominance.”

Soyombo said that LeadPath, Nigeria’s $1.5 million dollar seed fund, is focused on startups doing business in software applications, mobile applications, electronic payments and big data.

“LeadPath Nigeria is a seed fund investing in early stage tech companies in Nigeria. We will be investing $25,000 to $100,000 in each of these startups from our $1.5m sitting fund. We reckon that we can cover about 15-20 startups over the next 18-24 months with this fund,” he said.

African Internet revolution has become a launching pad for a new generation of digital entrepreneurs

CONTINUED ON PAGE 36

Jonah Iboma 08050498516

Lessons from Kenya's new ICT master plan

L

Johnson

35

ast week, Kenya launched its new national Information, Communication Technology Master Plan 2017 with claims that it is aimed at spurring economic growth.

In the new plan, the east African country identified three key ICT projects that are aimed at improving its economy. They are Citizen Service Portal, Government Shared Services and National Digital Registry Services.

The masterplan, launched at Connected Kenya Summit 2014 details how these projects will be implemented, the timelines required and funding options.

For a country like Nigeria, the move by Kenya is an important lesson that should be copied or studied.

One clear focus of the plan is that it foresees that 50 per cent of Kenyans accessing e-government services by the year 2017.

The lessons that Nigeria must learn from this is that there is the need for measureable goals and timelines needed in every plan. This was one the major complaints against the former ICT plan that has now been dumped by government.

Nigeria has not developed the right manpower yet for ICT growth. This is an area that the new plan that had been at draft stages for years should address. It is clear that there is disconnect between intention and policies of government and actual implementation of such plans. Clearly, many government agencies and ministries do not yet properly understand what ICT can for them, as seen by the recent Nigerian Immigration Service disaster that left many job seekers dead.

There was a report a few days ago that the Federal Government, through NITDA, is targeting $900 billion from ICT4D. This is clearly a false and unreasonable claim

by NITDA because it cannot happen. Such claims should be avoided by those who are in-charge of Nigeria’s ICT development because it can only show that they are deceiving themselves.

For a country that needs to rev up ICT development, Nigeria needs to learn from what the likes of countries such as Kenya and Rwanda are with ICT. Already, local efforts have shown that Nigeria can easily become African hub for ICT development. However, if this is to be achieved, then much intellectual effort and sincerity need to be put in that direction.

That is why Peter Jack, the newly appointed Director General of the national Information Technology Development Agency must ensure that he brings in tested and innovative hands into the agency now that he has taken over.

Rwanda is receiving rave reviews globally due to how ICT has been used to turn the country’s formerly war-thorn economy around. Nigeria has all the potentials to become a true powerhouse in ICT if proper thinking is developed and followed up.

36

business | ICT

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

More African countries record drop in fixed lines TELEPHONY Mobile technology stifles fixed lines growth Jonah Iboma

K

enya has joined Nigeria and South Africa as African countries recording drop in fixed line telecoms market in recent years.The situation is worsening the continent’s poor fixed line market. South Af-

rica and Nigeria’s fixed line market penetration rate currently stands at 7.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively, according to BuddeComm research. While the East African nation’s fixed line market penetration rate is recorded at 0.1 per cent.

According to The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), the total number of fixed lines declined by 1.7 per cent compared to the previous quarter, in its statistics report for the 2013-2014 financial year

for the period October 2013 to December 2013.

The East African country’s telecoms regulator said that the total fixed lines recorded in the period were 205,856 down from 209,339 lines in the previous quarter.

“Fixed terrestrial lines contributed mainly to the decline in fixed lines by dropping 2.9 per cent during the quarter to post 57,033 lines down from 58,749 lines registered during the previous quarter,” the report reads.

“Fixed wireless subscrip-

L-R: Nigerian Idol season 4 judge, Dare Alade; Director, Brands & Communication, Etisalat Nigeria, Enitan Denloye and On Air personalty, Olisa Adibua, at the unveiling of the Etisalat-sponsored Nigerian Idol Season 4 Top 12 contestants, held in Lagos recently

tions declined by 1.2 per cent to stand at 148,823 down from 150,590 recorded in the previous quarter,” said the CCK. The commission said that stiff competition from mobile operators, vandalism of copper networks and high infrastructure costs were among the reasons for Kenya’s fixed line market shrinking.

It stated, based on data provided by service providers, that millions of Kenyans have turned to mobile networks for their telephony needs. The CCK says that from October 2012 to January 2013, the number of mobile subscriptions grew over 2 per cent from 29.7 million to 30.4 million. However, the number of total fixed line subscriptions fell 5.5 per cent during the same period from 262,711 to 248,300.

The reduction of fixed lines in Nigeria has been due primarily to the failure of licenced national operators to develop infrastructure for such services, favouring to focus on mobile services. Aside these, fixed wireless operators have been forced out of the market by their inability to match competition provided by national mobile network operators using the GSM technology and their failure to heed

earlier warnings to merge their services in order to stay in the market.

Since the year 2000, there has been a steady decline in fixedline numbers in South Africa, despite an economic boom from 2003 to 2007, and the launch of ADSL in late 2002. Telkom, the country’s main fixed line operator, has a seen a steady decline in fixed-line due to many factors, including competition from mobile services, copper theft and tough economic conditions.

According to the CCK, “the stiff competition that the fixed line network market has continued to face from the mobile sector has had a negative effect on the growth of this market segment,” says the CCK. “Vandalism of copper cables and high maintenance costs have been cited as the main causes of the decline of fixed network service,” adds the regulator. Although no African figures are widely available regarding the extent of the continent’s copper theft problem, the likes of South Africa, for instance, does track the problem. According to the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) ‘Copper Theft Barometer’, the cost of the crime hit R13.97 million in October last year.

Africa’s new promise Experts urge Windows XP users to upgrade Internet: for economic growth Jonah Iboma

E

xperts in the information technology industry in Nigeria have urged users of Windows XP to upgrade their operating systems to more recent versions in order to avoid the potential dangers that they could face following the decision by Microsoft to stop providing upgrades to the software.

Microsoft, earlier this month, ended support for Windows XP, which was launched in October 2001, and is now three generations behind the latest Windows 8 OS. President, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr. Bayo Banjo, urged consumers to quickly adopt latest version of Windows OS, because systems running Windows XP were, in principle at least, less secured than those with Windows 8 PC. "If consumers continue using XP, their system would be highly susceptible to 'malware' and other online risks, which can permanently destroy your

system and disrupt your operations," he said.

Banjo added that Windows XP is still very popular, adding that when Microsoft released it in 2001, no one could have predicted that it would still be in use in 2013.

According to him, nearly 40 per cent of the world's estimated 1 billion computers still run Windows XP, with a sizeable number of Nigerian businesses still using it.

"In Nigeria, at least 40 to 50 per cent of public and private economy still runs on XP, despite the warning that was communicated by Microsoft over two years ago.

"Despite a number of other operating systems available in today's market, XP is second only to Windows 7 as the most-popular operating system around," he said.

CEO Metrosculpters, Mr. TundeOdutola, however noted that given the penchant of many individual users to acquire unlicenced operating systems, the decision by Microsoft to discontinue the support of Windows

XP will have limited negative impact on them. According to him, most individual users would have already migrated to more recent versions, adding that corporations, especially small and medium enterprises, should learn to make provision for acquisition of new software subsequently.

Product Category Manager, Hewlett Packard Nigeria Limited, IfeyinwaAfe, strongly recommended that consumers still relying on XP should start planning now to move to either Windows 7 or Windows 8.

"Windows 7 is a popular and successful operating system and has been widely adopted in the business world, but it's just a reasonably small leap for most users.

"The Windows 8 interface on the other hand is a complete overhaul and the learning curve is much steeper, but it still merits consideration," she said.

Afe said most diehard XP users were scared of the effect the upgrade might have on their system and business, as well as the cost implications.

CONTINUED from PAGE 35

Soyombo said already, a call for entry has been made for startups who would be needing funding for their ventures, as startups like Bluechip Technologies, Simer, Afriqbuy and Enreach are currently in the Leadpath portfolio.

Microsoft recently announced a partnership with three leading African incubators to support startups. Financial services, education, health, retail, agriculture, and government have been identified as the sectors most likely to benefit from the improvements in Internet infrastructure, the report said.

As more countries go online, efficiency in the delivery of public services and the operations of large and small businesses alike would improve. The benefits of Internet-driven productivity gains are not limited to web-based companies. Among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), 75 percent of the economic impact of the Internet has accrued to companies that

are not pure Internet players. In a global survey of 4,800 SMEs, McKinsey found that across all sectors, companies utilising web technologies grew more than twice as fast as those with a minimal online presence, generating more revenue through exports and creating more jobs.

The Internet also creates tremendous value for consumers.

Online prices are, on average, around 10 percent lower than offline prices as a result of the transparency provided by search tools, generating tens of billions of dollars of consumer surplus in the nations with the widest Internet use. Above all, Internet will enable Africans to keep in touch with friends, relatives, and customers; access public information and services; manage their health; and advance their education. As Africa grows more connected, millions will tap into information and opportunities that were once beyond their reach. They will gain a greater voice in their communities and enrich the world’s flow of commerce and ideas.

business | ICT 37

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Jim O’Neill invests in Pagatech

F

ormer Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Chief Economist, Jim O’Neill has invested in Nigeria’s pioneer mobile payments service company, Pagatech.

According to a statement by Paga, O’ Neill chose to invest in the company because “the team has demonstrated their ability to execute on a bold vision that can have catalytic impact.”

TayoOviosu, Paga’s founder said that O’Neill first showed interest in investing in Paga during an interview he conducted with him as part of a series on BBC radio, discussing the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey) group – a new acronym coined by the economist to represent the crop of growth markets that will shape the world’s economy in the coming decades.

The renowned economist had earlier coined the “BRIC” (Brazil, Russia, India and China) acronym in 2001, to represent the next economic powers from emerging markets in recognition of new advances in economic development by the four countries.

The former Goldman Sachs chief had predicted, at the 20th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, that Nigeria could be the world’s 15th largest economy if its over 170 million population actively participates in economic development.

Indigenous startups, such as Paga, which were focused on a key sector – payments – would be the major drivers of growth, O’Niell opined, adding that “Nigeria possessed the potential for huge economic growth.”

Airtel aims to boost SMEs

I

n demonstration of its commitment to empower entrepreneurs in Nigeria to succeed in their business endeavours, Airtel Nigeria has announced plans to hold a special Business Forum that will offer small and medium business owners a platform to learn and exchange ideas on key business matters affecting SMEs. The forum, titled “Emerging Business Today, Market Leader Tomorrow,” is billed to hold on Thursday in Abuja The business forum, will create networking opportunities for the over 300 participants and will provide robust interactive platforms for business owners to gain valuable business in-

sights in over six SMEs industry categories including Services, Manufacturing, Transportation, Education, M-commerce and Financial services.

Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, said that the telco is committed to providing the required platforms to assist entrepreneurs to succeed and also nurture the business aspirations of players in the Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SME) sub-sector.

“As a truly Nigerian company, we value the entrepreneurial drive of our men and women. This is why we create and offer products and platforms that will help them achieve their dreams."

Calabar team wins NASA contest

I

nfor mation Technology Development Entrepreneurship Accelerator (iDEA) Centre,TinapaCalabar, has emerged winner of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) International Space Apps Challenge in Nigeria.

Team Nixit of Tinapa Knowledge City, beat 200 other contestants in collaborating and engaging with publicly available data to design innovative solutions for global challenges to emerge victorious in a stiff competition held in Lagos recently. With this feat, Team Nixit of Tinapa which also carted away the star prize of $3000 will represent Nigeria at the global challenge finale slated for United States of America this month.

In his congratulatory mes-

sage to the team, Special Adviser to Governor Liyel Imoke on ICT Development, Mr. Odo Effiong, who expressed delight at the early fruit the centre has already yielded by producing professionals in the sector, maintained that it was in line with the vision of the administration to be at the forefront of driving service-oriented economy in Nigeria.

He disclosed that the state government would deploy its available resources in development of innate talents among youths with the view to developing the state economy and positioning them as entrepreneurs to better their lots, while calling on those who are yet to key into the various youth empowerment programmes initiated by the state to do so in their own interest.

ATCON supports masts removal plan Stories by Jonah Iboma

T

he Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has expressed its support for plan by the Lagos State government to pull down substandard telecommunications masts standing over the skyline of the state.

In an exclusive interview with New Telegraph, President, ATCON, Mr. LanreAjayi, said that government was right to take action against any telecom mast that constitute danger to the public. According to him, it would be wrong to fault government's position to seek to minimise risks posed to the public by business activities

that people engage in.

He noted that manytelecom masts currently on Lagos skyline were not in use as cyber cafés and other small telecom operators who no longer need them put many of them up.

He said: “A good number of masts that you see in Lagos are not in use. Some of them were put up by cyber cafés that were using satellite to offer services to customers. Now, this business practice has been overtaken by technology and many of the masts owners did not bother to pull them down because it would cost money to do.

So, if government is saying that it wants to protect the lives of the citizens by pulling down the masts, we cannot fault that.”

It will be recalled that the Lagos State government said that it will start imposing heavy sanctions on owners of masts that were either substandard or not captured in its database.

According to the government, all hollow piped masts that do not match its specification will be removed as from Friday. The state's Urban Furniture Regulatory Unit (UFRU), the agency responsible for the supervision of all installed infrastructure in the state, including telecoms masts, disclosed this.

According to the agency, the idea would help the state monitor and supervise all existing and new masts in the state.

A data centre

Galaxy S5 will enhance quality of life –Samsung

F

ollowing the formal unveiling of its latest smartphone, Galaxy S5, Samsung Electronics has said that the new device will redefine how technology innovation enhances quality of life.

Managing Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Brovo Kim, said that the Galaxy S5 had been designed and equipped with applications that focus on the needs of users.

“With the Galaxy S5, Samsung is going back to basics to focus on delivering capabilities that matter most to our consumers. Consumers today are on the lookout for mobile tools that inspire and support them as they improve their everyday lives. The Galaxy S5 represents an iconic design with essential and useful features that focus on delivering the ultimate

smartphone in the market today through people-inspired innovation,” he said.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is completely dust proof and can be submerged in up to one metre of water for about 30 minutes, a feature that was demonstrated by the company at an elaborate launch in Lagos. The device, which features a screen that is slightly larger than that of the Galaxy S4, has been described as having the “best smartphone display ever tested" by highlyrespected gadget display performance calibrators, DisplayMate.

The Galaxy S5 offers 27 per cent improvement in display power efficiency over its predecessor, the Galaxy S4, while using 18 per cent less display power.

The highlight of the smartphone is a new fingerprint scanner, which is integrated with

the device’s home button and provides consumers with a safe, biometric screen-locking feature.

For fitness enthusiasts, the Galaxy S5 comes with a heart rate sensor that helps monitor heart rate during exercise and fitness routines using the S Health service. The new S health application boasts different fitness management applications that allow users to stay fit the smart way.

Other key features of the Galaxy S5 include an advanced camera system, improved battery capacity including a unique ultra-power saving mode that shuts down all of the device's key functions to allow users make the most of their last bit of battery power. According to Samsung, the Galaxy S5 can run for up to 24 hours on a 10 per cent battery charge when this mode is activated.

38

Thursday, April 24, 2014

FEATURES

NEW TELEGRAPH

39

newtelegraphonline.com/entrepreneur

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES EDITOR

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com

THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014

Africa and the burden of malaria To mark the World Malaria Day tomorrow, APPOLONIA ADEYEMI writes that if the advocacy on appropriate drug use is adopted and adhered to, millions of deaths arising from malaria can be prevented

Anopheles mosquito

T

he last 11 months were traumatic for 14-year-old Tade Malaika (not real name) who had been in and out of hospital admission for three consecutive times.

Two weeks before his death, the once vibrant Junior Secondary School (JSS) 3 student had developed a gaunt frame and sunken eyes. He became a shadow of his former self. Going by his protracted illness, news of his death was not surprising. What was, however, shocking was that he died of malaria.

His body had hardly been deposited at the morgue in the nearest hospital to his home, Akute, Lagos, when the cause of his death spread like bush fire in the harmattan.

“It is a lie! Don’t say it again. Do you mean that ordinary malaria killed Tade?” a close friend of his mother asked.

“That is what the doctors that cared for him told us,” replied the bereaved mother, Mrs. Aina Malaika.

“It is the wonder of the decade, if an illness as common as malaria can kill, de-

spite the care provided to save Tade and the huge money expended in the treatment,” she exclaimed.

“If this is true, it is time one took malaria, its preventive measures and effective treatment seriously. Wonders shall never end,” said another sympathiser, who was in the late Tade’s home to pay condolences to Mr. and Mrs Malaika.

Malaria is a life-threatening blood disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted to humans by the anopheles mosquito.

Although malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, if diagnosed and treated

Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) account for more than 40 per cent of all malaria deaths worldwide

early, the duration of the infection can be considerably reduced which, in turn, lowers the risk of complications and death.

Actually, Tade was diagnosed with malaria, which involved high fever, shaking chills, flu-like symptoms, and anaemia, headache, tiredness (fatigue), nausea, vomiting, dry cough, back pain, among others.

Although he followed up on treatment, further medical investigations revealed that the malaria parasite resisted recommended medications.

Concerns of Tade’s friends and relations prompted more questions: what happened? Why did Tade’s malaria attack recur?

Mrs Malaika later disclosed that Tade did not take his drugs accordingly and that might be a factor.

However, considering the population at risk of malaria, especially in the tropical region, it has become necessary to highlight impact of malaria drug resistance and the roles government agencies, stakeholders and individuals can play to address it with a view to reducing deaths from the

disease.

Approximately 40 per cent of the total global population is at risk of malaria infection.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 660,000 people died from malaria in 2010 globally, most of them were African children.

About 80 per cent of all malaria cases occur in just 17 countries. Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) account for more than 40 per cent of all malaria deaths worldwide.

In Nigeria, data from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) shows that malaria accounts for 60 per cent of outpatient visits and 30 per cent of hospitalisations among children under-five years of age. With a population of 174.5 million people, WHO estimates that one-quarter of all malaria cases in Africa occurs in Nigeria.

Speaking on measures to address drug resistance in malaria attack, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, a public health physician, said resistant malaria was related to resistance to drugs used to treat the disease.

He said: “The resistance has to do with the quality of drug itself. Does the drug contain the right dose?”

Researchers from the Fogarty International Centre at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, the United States of America (USA), reported in The Lancet Infectious Diseases (May 2012 issue) that up to 42 per cent of anti-malarial medications available across sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are either fake or substandard.

Co-author, Dr Joel Breman, Senior Scientist Emeritus said, “Poor quality antimalarial drugs are very likely to jeopardise the unprecedented progress and investments in control and elimination of malaria made in the past decade.”

Scientific evidence shows that fake or substandard anti-malarial mediations do not have active ingredients and can encourage the development of resistant strains of malaria parasite.

Although the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has introduced a text messaging system and other devices that help to determine fake drugs at the point of purchase. The use of such facilities will help consumers and healthcare providers go for genuine drugs.

Highlighting another major cause of drug resistance in malaria, Idris said it was also important for patients to comply with malaria medications as prescribed.

According to the commissioner, in this environment, once a lot of people discover they have fever, they start taking drugs. If the fever relieves them, they stop the drugs.

“These are major causes of drug resisCONTINUED ON PAGE 40

40 40 FEATURES

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Drug resistance: Real challenge to malaria treatment CONTINUED FROM PAGE 39

tance,” he noted, adding that malaria parasite in the blood is also a living organism, reacting, and finding a way, too to counter those drugs.

Idris lamented that many Nigerians contribute to why malaria resists prescribed drugs.

The malaria parasite is capable of becoming resistant to the action of anti-malaria drugs. This is due to small changes in the parasite DNA (point mutations). Over-prescription of antimalarial (confusion with other febrile diseases) and the uncontrolled selling of poor quality drugs contribute to the increase in drug resistant parasites.

The widespread and increasing occurrence of P. falciparum resistant against affordable anti-malarial drugs, such as chloroquine (CQ) and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is more and more hampering the fight against malaria.

CQ and SP are still the most widely used drugs for treatment in most of Africa, because of low cost and availability.

However, when more than 30 per cent of treatments fail, as is the case in many parts of Africa, change to another firstline treatment is recommended.

At present, WHO recommends that all countries experiencing resistance to conventional mono-therapies, such as chloroquine or sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, should use combination therapies, preferably artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) for P. falciparum malaria.

Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) uses a combination of anti-malaria drugs, one of which is an artemisinin derivative (e.g. artesunate, artemether or dihydroartemisinin).

However, Idris said that despite the policy change, “some of our people are still using single dose monotherapies.

All these things contribute to drug resistance”.

He added that individuals should take responsibility for their own health.

Although the artemesinin family of drugs is the world’s front-line defence against the most prevalent and deadly form of malaria, WHO warned in 2006 that there was a possibility the malaria parasite could develop a resistance to artemesinin drugs, and that there was particular concern about a decreased sensitivity to the drug being seen in South-East Asia.

Two teams of scientists, working on separate clinical trials, have reported seeing the disturbing evidence that the drugs are becoming much less effective.

Professor Nick Day, director of the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, which is carrying out the United Kingdom (UK) study, said: “We have had chloroquine and SP (sulfadoxine pyrimethamine) resistance, both of which have caused major loss of lives in Africa.”

Day spoke in reference to earlier generation anti-malarial drugs.

He added: “If the same thing happens

Water-logged area is good breeding ground for anopheles mosquitoes

Idris

again, the spread of a resistant parasite from Asia to Africa; that will have devastating consequences for malaria control.”

Another major problem with resistance, according to the Lagos State commissioner for health is that all who present with fever are treated for malaria.

A new policy change makes the application of malaria RDT (rapid diagnostic test) imperative.

“We want to ensure that the blood of somebody that is tested for malaria actually tests positive to malaria parasite,” said Idris.

The National President of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Olufemi Ismail Adebayo, said “it does not take time to do the RDT”.

Adebayo urged patients to seek care from appropriate healthcare providers and not because they have headache, begin to treat malaria.

He said: “Headache could be a symptom of so many other ailments. People should get drugs dispensed from a pharmacist so as to get appropriate counselling. When seeking treatment, do not go to quarks.

“Also, ensure that you do not default in taking your medication. If you take prescribed drugs half way and do not

Indoor residual spraying is a strategy to control vector-borne diseases including malaria

Drugs are poisons. They should be taken only when they are needed and for the number of days prescribed complete it, it may lead to drug resistance.

“When this happens, when next you take the drug, it will not work. You have to seek a more effective drug.”

Sadly, what is experienced in Nigeria is that many low income and poor people who present with fever and other malaria symptoms resort to self-medication.

Specialised drugs that are not grouped under over-the-counter (OCT) medications are freely prescribed by non-medical professionals who man patent medicine stores/drug stores.

Laymen selling drugs from such stores even go as far as administering injections to patients.

Many drug stores and pharmacies in private health facilities are not manned by pharmacists, giving room to unqualified personnel dispensing drugs without necessary professional counselling that should go with the practice.

Adebayo

It is also known that some healthcare workers like nurses, laboratory scientists, and others not only prescribe but dispense malaria drugs.

Adebayo described these as malpractice which should be stopped to check quackery.

Under home care of malaria treatment, patients can purchase and use anti-malaria drugs at the onset of malaria attack but if the illness persists, patients are advised to seek care from qualified medical professionals.

According to Adebayo, drugs are poisons. They should be taken only when they are needed and for the number of days prescribed.

The ACPN national president has advice for those who shy away from taking drugs as prescribed, especially based on dislike for drugs.

He said: “Whatever condition that makes one to take drug is temporary.”

Besides, patients must give their doctors information on drugs and other things they react to so as to seek alternatives for them.

“To some extent, tolerate taking drugs within specified time. If it is a drug you are to take for a long time, your pharmacist is in the best position to tell you the alternative drugs,” he added.

HEALTH THURSday, April 24 , 2014

coffee cuts cancer risk

NEW TELEGRAPH

}p-43

www.newtelegraphonline.com/health

appolonia adeyemi appolonia.adeyemi@newtelegraphonline. com

Cholera still a big threat in Nigeria Obinna Odoh Abuja

C

holera simply put is an infection of the small intestine that occurs primarily by drinking water or eating food that is contaminated by waste product of one that is infected with cholera. Infected persons suffer from serious vomiting and water-diarrhoea which can lead to rapid dehydration and electrolyle imbalance.

These can lead to instant death if not promptly attended to medically.

A report by World Health Organisation (WHO) traced the history of cholera to India. According to the report, the first instance of cholera was in 1563 in an Indian medical report but in more modern terms, the story of the disease began in 1817 when it spread from its ancient homeland of the Ganges Delta in India to the rest of the world.

A statement by Prof. C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Minister of Health in November 2013, shows that the spread of cholera disease in Nigeria has got to alarming stage. The report puts the casualty rate of cholera victims in some parts of the country at 86 out 1,632 reported cases.

Sadly cholera is not the only disease ravaging Nigeria. Presently Vectorborne diseases including lassa fever, dengue haemorrhagic fever, among others have equally reached epidemic proportion in the country.

According to the minister of health, “Vectors transmit disease-causing organisms which spend parts of their life cycle in the vectors, from one infected person or animal to another or from an animal to a human being.

A disease caused in this way is called a vector-borne disease.” Chukwu identified common vectors in Nigeria to include mosquitoes, bugs, (tse-tse flies, black flies, sand flies), fleas, rats, water snails, dogs, cats and bats.

Some diseases caused by all these vectors are malaria, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, (River Blindness), yellow fever, trachoma, scabies, plagues, encephalitis, hemorrhagic fever (lasa, dengue, etc) and rabies.

The big question is why is Nigeria still a fertile ground where these diseases thrive? Countries like India, England, United States (U.S), etc in the past experienced these diseases but with high level of commitment

Unsafe water causes cholera

and sincerity were able to surmount them. While in this country cases of cholera and vector-borne diseases are

not seen as strange occurrences that require stringent measures, they are perceived as just a normal disaster.

Can we attribute this development to lip service by governments, lack of expertise or push the blame to the citizens?

Dr. Rui Gama Vas WHO Representative in Nigeria identified factors that contribute to these diseases to include environmental problems, poor living condition, and climate changes that are conducive to the breeding of vectors that cause all these diseases.

Details of the breakdown of the plague that occurred in Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Lagos states are: Zamfara State 1,110 cases with record of 51 deaths; Nasarawa State 105 cases with nine deaths; Lagos State 134 cases with four deaths; Plateau State 130 cases with11 deaths;

Oyo State 29 cases with six deaths; and Ogun State 115 cases with five deaths.

Recently another release from the Federal Ministry of Health revealed that death record in Bauchi State resulting from cholera cases from January 2014 till date is more than 50.

Furthermore, in March, this year in Mpape, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) witnessed cholera outbreak that claimed lives.

Consequently, cases highlighted here are just few out of other cases not captured in this report. For instance, cases of vector-borne diseases are not included.

If other nations of the world could as a matter of commitment and sincerity overcome these deadly diseases, Nigeria, too with commitment and political will, can tackle these health challenges.

‘People use mosquito nets for fishing' Appolonia Adeyemi

T

he Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Dr. Jide Idris has cried out over poor utilisation of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) also known as mosquito nets among Nigerians and lamented that the continued rejection of these life-saving tool will reduce the success so far recorded in the fight to contain malaria.

Idris who spoke in Lagos recently during the launch of the Lagos State programme on indoor residual spraying (IRS), said even though, Lagos State has been distributing mosquito bednets free and is still distributing, their utilisation among

The Federal Government said it distributed 57.7 million insecticidetreated bed nets between 2009 and 2013

A child sleeping under a mosquito net

the citizens, is too poor. "We distributed above four million nets in Lagos in 2012, though, we did not cover everybody in the state. Utilisation was about 17 percent then."

The comments of Idris mirror the general attitude of Nigerians towards the use of ITNs. Although, various governments across the federation deliver these mosquito repelling bednets, non usage of the tools by many has continued to hamper the fight against malaria.

As part of the campaign on bednet replacement, distribution and building a net use culture with a view to combat-

State under the replacement campaign.

“The exercise was planned for 16 States of the federation in 2013, but took place in Sokoto between December 17 and December 21, 2013.

“The rest of the 14 states, spread across Nigeria, will follow suit in 2015, he said.

An insecticide-treated net is a mosquito net that repels, disables and/or kills mosquitoes coming into contact with insecticide on the netting material.

ITNs are a form of personal protection that has been shown to reduce malaria illness, severe disease, and death due to malaria in endemic regions.

In community-wide trials in several African settings, ITNs have been shown to reduce the death of children under five years from all causes by about 20 percent.

Sadly, rejecting the use of mosquito bednets is very common in both urban and rural areas of Nigeria.

All mosquito nets act as a physical barrier, preventing access by vector mosquitoes and thus providing personal protec-

ing malaria in the country, the federal government said it distributed 57.7 million insecticide treated bed nets between 2009 and 2013.

The Head, Demand Creation Work-Stream, National Malaria Control Programme, Ene Eyo who disclosed this in Sokoto in December, 2013, said the distribution of the bed nets was part of the broad measures taken by the federal government to mitigate the spread and impact of malaria nationwide.

The official said that additional 2.5 million nets were distributed in the 23 local government areas of Sokoto C O N T I N U E D on PA G E 4 2

42 HEALTH

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Alcoholism: When one bottle is too many DANGER Excessive drinking poses risk to every organ of the body

A

lcoholism often goes unrecognised because drinking is accepted in the Nigerian environment as a component of social activity and it is used in social gathering as a criterion for some form of acceptance. Most social scenes make drinking attractive and fun. While those who don’t drink alcohol are considered ‘boring’, because of the social stigma, most people will not acknowledge when they are beginning to go overboard as a result of alcoholic influence.

Early identification of problems with alcohol is of importance due to the serious health risks they pose to the person, his family and society at large, Alcohol problems affect about 10 percent of the population in a lifetime and the onset of drinking can begin as early as 18 to 20 years of age and in the younger population, most start drinking early as a result of peer pressure, out of curiosity and as a strategy to reduce stress even though, it may result to creating more stress There is a very strong connection between drink-

ing problems and parental heritage. Forty to 46 percent of people with an alcoholic parent is vulnerable to have problems with alcohol and it is believed to be in relation to how our body breaks down alcohol. Those that do not have sufficient quantity of the ingredient that breaks down alcohol seems to hold alcohol longer in their system.

Apart from being a social problem, alcoholism is considered one of the most common causes of psychiatric issues. Although, it is more common in men than in women, in older population than in the younger, the number of young adults having problems with drinking is on the rise.

Alcohol drinking can be categorised into three SAFE DRINKING is recommended to be one standard drink per day for women and standard drinks per day for men. A standard drink being one 12 oz bottle of beer, five oz glass of wine and one and half oz (shot) of distilled spirits.

AT-RISK OR PROBLEM DRINKING is more than seven drinks in a week/ or more than three drinks per occasion for women and more than 14 drinks per week or more than four drinks per occasion in men. Women have a lower ability to break down the components of al-

with Dr. Ihuoma Uko-Ndukwe

ada.ndukwe@yahoo.com

cohol so they are therefore more prone to be affected by the negative consequences of alcohol consumption.

HEAVY DRINKING is more than four drinks per day for women and more than six drinks per day for men.

There is also a subtitle to heavy drinking called BINGE DRINKING, which can be defined as a heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time, at least once every two weeks.

Heavy binge drinking involves three or more of such episodes in two weeks. Binge drinking carries severe and longer lasting risks such as alcohol poisoning, which is the most threatening because it shuts down the reflexes that control breathing and gagging which if not working properly can make one choke to death .

If one answers yes to any of these four questions, it is a close indication of problems with alcohol.

• Have you made attempts to

cut down on drinking?

• Do you get upset when people criticise your drinking?

• Do you feel guilty about drinking?

• Do you use alcohol as an eye opener when you wake up in the morning?

RED FLAGS FOR POSSIBLE DRINKING PROBLEMS include frequent absences from school or work, poor nutrition and personal neglect, frequent falls, trauma or accidental injuries, sexual dysfunction, and sleep problems. Others are mood swings, mild tremor, seizures, imaging seeing and hearing things and black outs.

SOME MAJOR SIGNS OF ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE/ABUSE are recurrent use despite failure to fulfill major life/social obligations, going all out to purchase alcohol, continued use despite persistent interpersonal/ social problems, a need for increased amount of alcohol to achieve intoxication or desired effect.

HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF ALCOHOLISM: SOMETIMES IRREVERSIBLE, heavy alcohol use can affect almost every organ of the body, causing liver problems and worsening the effects of diabetes.

Its major effect on the liver can lead to hepatitis, destruction of liver tissues and possibly liver cancer, complicating high blood pressure, stomach problems and severe vomiting that can rupture your throat. Other impact of heavy alcohol use on the lives are linings, headaches, and nerve damage, depression and low quality of blood vessels and volume. There can be very serious health consequences on the unborn child if drinking while pregnant, with possible mental retardation and an abnormal facial structure of the unborn child.

ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL SIGNS: One of

Binge drinking carries severe and longer lasting risks such as alcohol poisoning which is the most threatening because it shuts down the reflexes that control breathing and gagging which, if not working properly, can make one choke to death

‘Bednets are life-saving tools' C O N T I N U E D f rom PA G E 4 1

tion against malaria to the individual(s) using the nets.

Pyrethroid insecticides, which are used to treat nets, have an excito-repellent effect that adds a chemical barrier to the physical one, further reducing human–vector contact and increasing the protective efficacy of the mosquito nets.

Most commonly, the insecticide kills the malaria vectors that come into contact with the ITN. By reducing the vector population in this way, ITNs, when used by a majority of the target population, provide protection for all people in the community, including those who do not themselves sleep under nets.

Although, Nigerians advance many reasons for not using these bednets. Some say the bednets generate undue high temperature resulting in discomfort for users. For others, they claim it produces itching effects on their skins. Yet, others cannot adopt the behavioural change for the bednet uptake. However, medical professionals and governments continue

the major reasons why most attempts of stopping drinking is the fear of how one will feel if there is no alcohol in their systems for more than 24 hours. It can range from lack of sleep, increased hand shakiness, nausea, vomiting and blood pressure increasing to possible seizures due to the long time effect of alcohol on the brain. (Alcohol suppresses a certain function of the brain, slowing down some activities) When you stop drinking immediately, the brain becomes hyper active, though at times the withdrawal might be delayed for two to three days before showing.

TREATMENT: Non medication treatment that has been effective is gradual reduction in alcohol intake, behavioural adjustment therapy, but pharmacological treatment (medication) has proven to be most effective overtime.

Idris

Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu

to advocate increased use of the tool.

A recent study has shown that relatively modest coverage (around 60 percent) of all adults and children can achieve equitable community-wide benefits if they use the tool.

ITNs thus work in this case as a vector control intervention for reducing malaria transmission. ITNs have been shown to

avert around 50 percent of malaria cases, making protective efficacy significantly higher than that of untreated nets which, under ideal conditions (such as those found in research settings), usually provide about half the protection of nets treated with an effective insecticide For instance, experts noted that individuals and families must demonstrate

commitment in the fight against malaria, a life-threatening blood disease caused by plasmodium parasites.

Malaria is transmitted to humans only by mosquito bites from female Anopheles mosquitoes.

According to medical professionals, if a user of the ITNs follows strict instructions on their usage, the itchy reactions will be eliminated.

On other factors that can help the uptake of ITNs, Idris said "advocacy is very essential. People must understand what we are doing and they must understand why we are telling them to do certain things, including why we say they should use bednets.

“With advocacy, the ITNs utilisation rate is going up, though, it has not reached where we want it to be."

Since 2000, deaths from malaria have dropped by 51 percent for children under five years of age and 45 percent for overall global populations, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The good news is that there is progress in the fight against malaria but to sustain it, individuals, families and communities must join hands with governments and stakeholders to play their role through the use of insecticide bednets.

HEALTH

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

E

xperts have stressed the medical importance of water as the best medicine in the world, capable of preventing and curing many diseases in the human body.

The recommendation on water therapy, coupled with regulated eating habit, were the submissions of academic, nutritional and religious experts, who brainstormed on the secrets behind ageing and longevity, last week, at the Civic Centre, Idi Ape, Ibadan in Oyo State.

The symposium entitled: "Ageing and Longevity", was part of the week-long programmes organised by the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) to mark the 100th birthday celebration of Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade, the Olubadan of Ibadan.

In his submission, a Professor of History and Public Administration, Lekan Oyedeji who is currently working on a research, “Ageing and Longevity”, said that, "Water is the best medicine in the world.

Every 17 kg body weight needs one litre of water. Drinking sufficient water is capable of preventing malaria because it takes seven days for the mosquito bite to give malaria, after which hatching continues.

The water will render the egg useless".

Similarly, Oyedeji, who was a retired dean from the Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, stressed the usefulness of water, saying that "blood is thick and so needs water to dilute it to enable it flow freely. There may not be life in the veins and other parts of the body if the blood is not diluted".

Oyedeji also noted that as the heart pumps blood into the various parts of the body, if the blood is not diluted, it will be difficult for the heart to pump it if it is left thick. If it is diluted, the heart will not have too much work to do.

"It will not allow high blood pressure and diabetes will be far from one's body", the expert said, recalling the case of a medical woman who had 300 per cent sugar level in her blood, but when told to drink sufficient water for six weeks, the diabetes ailment dropped to 120. "Water does not remove good things from the body but flushes out bad things from the body", he stressed.

Speaking against the background of perceived secrets behind the longevity of the Olubadan, whose centenary birthday was being celebrated, the professor suggested the following as ingredients of long life: "Do not attempt to hate people; forgive and forget and never hold back anything which people have done against you. Eat vegetables, fruits and do not eat more than ten morsels of food. Soup, vegetable is the best because carbohydrate is not too good", he said.

Oyedeji also told the audience, which comprised predominantly of old people and pensioners, that over-weight and too much of fat in the body is inimical to health. He therefore counseled that carbohydrate food should be avoided for three months to reduce weight. He also recommended thus: "Do not drink water when eating. Drink water thirty minutes before food so that you would not need water when eating. Enzyme that processes food does not like water to effectively function.

Drink water about two and a half hours after food. Before you brush in the morn-

43

Olubadan's centenary: Role of water in longevity Attaining 100 years of age in Nigeria where life expectancy is 48 years, is not a mean feat. But factors that contribute to getting old abound in sufficient water intake, healthy diet and active lifestyles, reports SOLA ADEYEMO

Drinking safe water is important for healthy living

Oba Odugade

ing, drink water because 75 per cent of human body is water, and so we need to maintain it so that we can fulfill the plan of God for us", Oyedeji stressed.

In his presentation, a dietitian with the

University College Hospital (UCH), Mr. Tunde Ajobo said "ageing is a continuous process from conception to death. It is determined socially, physically and mentally.

Inhaling of smoke can accelerate ageing.

Sensitivity may reduce, and inability to chew food may set in.

Ajobo decried a situation where many people tend towards carbonated food, saying it is dangerous. In the alternative, he suggested walnuts, groundnuts and other nuts which he said are good for the body.

He suggested that government should promote healthy living by investing in food production and other supplements.

Health comes not merely from eating good food. He said that calcium is more plant-based and better than animal-based ones, while urging governments to make such available.

"Exercise is very important for healthy living. Increase your health literacy level, avoid regular intake of alcohol because it is toxic. It destroys liver and kidney.

Poorly-chosen diet can increase stress and anxiety. Avoid all these to elongate your life. Set examples for the younger generation", Ajobo advised.

Cup of coffee a day lowers cancer risk Oluwatosin Omoniyi

I

f you are one of those who does not delight in taking coffee or does not take at all, this may the time to have a re-think because of its health benefits in this cancer ravaging era.

Researchers have just discovered one big reason to love coffee. A new study suggests that people who drink at least a cup a day have a lower risk of liver cancer compared to those who only indulge occasionally.

The study which started in the 1990s, tasked researchers with a test case of using about 180,000 adults of different racial and ethnic backgrounds about their coffee drinking and other lifestyle habits.

Study participants have now been tracked. For 18 years, they have kept track on the participants to see how many have developed hepatocellular carcinoma, a common kind of liver cancer. So far, 498 study participants have been diagnosed. The researchers discovered that people who said they drank one to three cups of coffee a day had a 29 percent reduced risk of liver cancer compared to those who drank six cups or less each week.

“And more was apparently better: People who regularly had

more than four cups of coffee a day had a 42 percent reduced risk,” according to the study.

The American Cancer Society analysed in details that one in 81 men and one in 196 women will get liver cancer over the course of their lives.

It stated that a 29 percent risk reduction lowers the odds of that diagnosis to one in 104 for men and one in 253 for women.

“What's more, those reductions held even after researchers accounted for other things known to increase a person's risk for liver cancer such as age, obesity, smoking, drinking, sex and diabetes. Still, it's not the first study to uncover such a link,” it stated.

A review published last year in the journal “Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology”, which combined the results of 16 different studies involving more than 3,200 patients, concluded that drinking more than three cups of coffee a day might cut the risk of liver cancer by as much as 50 percent.

Beyond liver cancer, studies have suggested that coffee may be tied to reduced risk for head and neck cancers, colorectal cancers, prostate cancer, and bladder, endometrial, esophageal and pancreatic cancers.

A cup of coffee and coffee beans

What researchers don't yet understand is how coffee may ward off cancer.

"That's what everybody wants to know," said study author V. Wendy Setiawan, an assistant professor in the department of preventive medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles. She added that coffee has close to 100 active compounds including antioxidants, polyphenols and caffeine. It's also known to affect liver enzymes.

In a related research recently, coffee or tea has been discovered to be the answer to preserving memory and potentially ward off Alzheimer's disease.

According to new research published online in the journal “Neurobiology of Aging”, a team of French and German researchers found that caffeine in coffee has a positive

effect on particular protein deposits in the brain linked to Alzheimer's, reducing the risk of memory loss and other cognitive impairments.

Kolawole Omoyele, a consultant gynecologist with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) said that although, there are no known risks associated with consumption of coffee, the only exception may be lung cancer. With regards to the lung cancer, he said the study results are conflicting. “Some studies show a decreased risk of lung cancer among heavy coffee drinkers, while other studies show no risk, or a small increased risk with heavy coffee consumption.”Omoyele explained further that caffeine contributes to increased insomnia and sleep latency. It also produces anxiety, headache, fatigue and decreased alertness.

44 HEALTH

HOPE Surgery not needed to correct congenital disability

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Experts seek Ponseti method to tackle clubfoot

Appolonia Adeyemi

M

edical experts have advocated using Ponsenti Method, a simple manipulative technique that corrects congenital clubfoot, to treat children affected by the condition.

The experts from the PONSETI International Association for the Advancement of Clubfoot Treatment, University of Iowa in the United States (U.S), said the simple manipulative technique corrects congenital clubfoot without invasive surgery.

According to a statement from the Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Mr. Tubosun Ogunbanwo, they spoke in Lagos during a five day advanced international Ponseti Clubfoot Workshop organised by the Nigerian Sustainable Clubfoot Childcare Programme (NSCCP). Clubfoot is treatable when the Ponseti method is applied correctly by well-trained health professionals, they posited.

Clubfoot is the most common musculoskeletal birth

defect in the world affecting approximately 200,000 babies born each year.

An estimated one million children are currently living with untreated clubfoot which is a rigid, unsightly, lifelong disability that often results in limited access to education, poverty, abuse and isolation.

Coordinator of Nigerian Sustainable Clubfoot Childcare Programme, Dr. Olayinka Adegbehingbe said ponseti technique in the treatment of clubfoot have proved to be,

inexpensive and appropriate for Nigeria and stressed that the workshop will provide an avenue for orthopaedic surgeons in the country to share experience and ideas with ponseti experts.

According to the Chief Medical Director of Ponseti International Association, Prof. Jose Morcuende, “Ponseti Method has proved to be highly effective in the treatment of clubfoot.

A Clinical Professor at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of British Columbia, Shafique Pirani who is also the Chairman of the Ponseti International Association Medical Advisory Board added that clubfoot affects almost 150,000 children annually and stressed that almost 80 percnt of these children live in developing nations

like Nigeria.

Ponsenti method is a simple, inexpensive, highly effective, lowcost, low-tech and out-patient treatment for clubfoot that has been proven to be over 95 percent effective when properly administered.

“The ligaments, joint capsules, and tendons are stretched under gentle manipulations. A plaster cast is applied after each manipulation to retain the degree of correction and soften the ligaments.

The displaced bones are thus gradually brought into the correct alignment with their joint surfaces progressively remodeled yet maintaining congruency. After two months of manipulation and casting the foot appears slightly over-corrected. After a few weeks in splints however, the foot looks normal,” said Morcuende.

Minister blames poor oral health on cosmetic treatment Lateef Ibrahim Abuja

M R-L: Adegbehingbe, Pirani, Morcuende and Dr. Onyemaechi Ndubuisi of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital assessing a clubfoot patient during the clubfoot workshop in Lagos.

Airtel champions eye-screening exercise in Ogun

I

n line with its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives, Airtel Nigeria, has conducted free eye-screening exercise for 567 pupils and 32 teachers under its Adopt-aSchool initiative in Ogun State.

Coming on the heels of similar exercises carried out recently at its adopted schools in Umumara, Imo State and Ediba in Cross Rivers State, the Airtel goodwill train made its stop at St. John’s Anglican Primary School, Oke-Agbo, Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State from where 25 members of the community that benefited from the programme came from..

Speaking shortly before flagging off the eye-screening exercise, Oba Haruna Abass, Bejeroku of Oke-Agbo stated that, Airtel Nigeria has further contributed to the development of the locality through its social

interventions at the school and the community in which it is situated.

Oba Abass who was represented by Otunba Augustine Olufemi Asegbe, said, “We thank the management and staff of Airtel for their love for children. As we know, children of today are leaders of tomorrow. Airtel acknowledges this fact that is why it has decided to perform this eye screening exercise for the pupils of this school."

On her part, the Education Secretary, Ijebu-North Local Government, Alhaja Mistura Balogun commended Airtel Nigeria for touching the lives of pupils, teachers and pupils in the local government, saying other companies should emulate the the company in touching lives.

She said, “Airtel has been part of the family for improving the lot of teachers and families

in the local government. The truth is that some children come from humble background and so could not afford the regular health check-up. There are some diseases that affect the eyes; if care is not taken it could lead to blindness at a very early stage. And some parents are ignorant of this. Some might even feel it resulted from spiritual attack. So, this initiative is coming at a right time to prevent, cure and rescue the children from eye diseases. I pray that God continues to strengthen Airtel.”

In the same vein, the Vice Chairman of Ijebu-North Local Government, Adenuga Adebayo gave kudos to Airtel Nigeria, saying the commitment of the company to the people shows the value Airtel attaches to the education and health of young children and adults alike.

inister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu has blamed poor oral health in many Nigerians, to their negative attitude in which they view most dental condition as not life threatening and thus accord them cosmetic treatment.

Chukwu who disclosed this, also said the current understanding shows that orah health conditions decimate the potentials of patients suffering from them and pose a negative psychosocial and socioeconomic impact, therefore reducing quality of life.

However, the minister was not happy that despite vast improvement in global oral health, most communities in Nigeria are still facing oral health challenges.

Professor Chukwu stated these during the celebration of the 2014 World Oral Health Day/National Oral Health Conference in Abuja jointly organised by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in conjunction with Oral B. The Minister, who attended the conference with the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Haliru Alhassan and other top government functionaries, said the importance of oral health cannot be overemphasised.

“Through Sharing Smiles Campaign, Oral B has been able to reach thousands of Nigerians

in the rural and urban areas, promoting oral health and hygiene with their mobile dental clinics which have been strategically placed across the country”, he said.

According to Prof. Chukwu, in the spirit of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) plans are on to broaden the scope of dental treatment and interventions covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

Chukwu expressed optimism that this would be achieved by increasing the number of accredited service providers at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of oral healthcare in order to ensure that at least 50 percent of NHIS enrollees have access to primary oral healthcare by 2015 as prescribed by the National Oral Health Policy.

Speaking at the event, the Director, Government Relations, Procter & Gamble (P&G) in Nigeria, Temitope Iluyemi pointed out that Oral B was greatly delighted and honoured to partner with the FMOH as well as serve as an Oral Health Ambassador in support of its bid to create general awareness for dental hygiene across the country.

Oral B has championed the cause of dental hygiene in Nigeria through numerous dental programmes designed to create awareness and promote good oral health habits.

45

of Truth

April 24, 2014

2,592 offenders sweep, wash toilets Muritala Ayinla

lLagos captures 62,789 criminals in data base

L

agos State Government yesterday said that it had sentenced no fewer than 2,592 offenders to compulsory community service such as washing of toilets and sweeping of public places in the last 11 months.

This was as the government also disclosed that it had completed processing of 1,369 criminal case files out of 1,440 sent to it by the police.

The Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ade Ipaye, disclosed this during the 2014 ministerial press briefing at the state Secretari-

at, Alausa, Ikeja.

Ipaye said that the conviction of the offenders to undergo community service was not only to reduce the congestion in the prisons but also to check stigmatisation of the convicted persons over minor offences.

He said: “I am pleased to inform you that the programme has continued to wax stronger.

The criminal justice doesn’t need to incarcerate offenders in order to be effective.

“Between April 2013 and March 2014, a total of 2,595 offenders were sentenced to

The commissioner also promised that there would no longer be any hidden place for criminals in the state, saying the state Crime Data Registration had captured 62,789 data of crimes committed by various criminals.

He said: “Currently, the Crime Data Register is a robust system in terms of information technology infrastructure and functionality.

As at the end of 2014, there are now 62,789 unique records, of which 40,000 have biometric and fingerprints.”

Ipaye

24-year-old man in court Four arraigned for for stealing N418,700 phones beating DISCO staff Camillus Nnaji

A

24-year-old man, Promise Orjiakor, yesterday appeared before Ikeja Magistrates’ Court 17 for allegedly drugging one Mr Charles Obi and stealing his phones valued at N418,700.

According to the charge sheet with reference number MIK/R/94/2014, Orjiakor had on April 17 administered 10 tablets of Super Appetite on one Charles Obi to wit endaned N8,000 from gered his life and committed where they did an offense punishable under en he saw I was Section 237 of Criminal Laws his workers, he , saying I was y husband. hat I wanted to d I should stay undation even from the moneed myself and gs that she also the money they

of Lagos, 2011.

After drugging Obi, Orjiakor stole his load of phones thereby committed an offense punishable under Section 404 of Criminal Laws of Lagos, 2011.

Responding to the charges, counsel to the defendant, C. C. Ezenwa, asked the court to admit Orjiakor to bail on the grounds that the purported crime was a bailable offense.

But the prosecutor, Inspector Romans Inigbe, objected to the application and asked the court to take very stringent measures against the defen-

dant.

According to him, the consequences of administering 10 tablets of Super Appetite on Obi were very overwhelming.

However, Ezenwa said the issue of bail was at the discretion of the court.

Delivering her ruling, the magistrate, Hamsat Sule, granted Orjiakor bail in the sum of N50,000, with two sureties, one of who must be a close relative, with verifiable addresses and evidence of tax payments.

She adjourned the case till May 22.

Help locate my husband, policeman’s wife cries out

that since the the leader of een calling her,

me twice, offerould just forget me that he had ia, that he had times and still ustody. He de, which nobody f I wanted him b, that this was ng. He said I was ng. who told me that million for an op- Mrs. Ogunshakin(left) consoling the policeman’s wife ed we take her to sort of money.” Taiwo Jimoh has called on the River State Police Command to rman of the PoSir Mike Okiro, help locate her “missing” that Care Founseven-month-old pre g- husband. nant mother of three, The woman made the Mrs Mary Emmanuel, appeal during the visit of the wife of the Commissioner of Police, Mrs Chinyere Ogunsakin, to MOPOL 19 barracks yesterday. organisations The MOPOL Commandunds for their er, M. P. Abubakar, prens to take her sented the woman to Ogunsakin, who is the state chairperson of the Police Sterling Bank Officers’ Wives’ Associaccount name, tion (POWA).

Emmanuel gave a tear034274333 or ful account of how her Ngozi

gery

various terms of community service across the 12 magisterial districts of Lagos State in term of criminal justice.

“This number represents those who would have been incarcerated with the consequential disruption to their economic, social and family lives.

This is more so that many of the offenders are between the ages of 20 and 40 and mostly males.

“In effect, we have succeeded in lowering the prison population without compromising the criminal justice administration system.”

A

husband had “disappeared” for over seven months.

She said her husband had gone on special duties to Plateau State, but attempts to reach him had failed.

The woman, who wept profusely in the ar ms of the POWA chair person, also expressed fear that her husband might have been killed.

Ogunsakin, who consoled Emmanuel, donated an undisclosed amount to the family.

She, however, called for contact to be made immediately with the Plateau State commissioner of police to advance the search for the “missing” policeman.

The POWA chairperson also urged all officers to be more responsible and responsive to their families, noting that family is important.

During the visit, Ogunsakin, who took time to interact with children, also visited the Presbyterian, Catholic and Apostolic nursery and primary schools in the barracks.

She, however, charged policemen serving in the state to look after their families wherever they might go.

T

hree men and a woman were arraigned in Lagos yesterday for allegedly attacking staff of an electricity distribution company (DISCO), while performing their official duties.

The accused, Isa Mohammed (42), Gbenga Olumide (33), Adeniyi Adebowale (23) and Christiana Adeniran (45), are all residents of Ishaga Close, Mushin, Lagos.

The accused are facing a four-count charge of conspiracy, assault, stealing and breach of public peace at an Itire Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

The prosecutor, Ezekiel Ayorinde, told the court that the accused committed the offences on April 21 at Ishaga Close, Mushin, Lagos.

Ayorinde, who named the officials as Abiodun Gbangbose, Adekanoye Johnson and Rasaki Ajao, said they were viciously beaten up by the accused.

He submitted that the

complainant, Mr Akinrele Adebayo, got a call on Easter Monday that the company’s workers were being attacked in a close at Mushin, which was immediately reported at the station.

The prosecutor said that the accused stole a gold necklace worth N75,000 and N12,000 when the workers were being attacked.

Ayorinde, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the offences contravened sections 409, 172, 166 and 285 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Magistrate, Abegunde Davis, granted the first, second and third accused bail in the sum of N10,000 each, with one surety each in like sum and the fourth accused, N5,000 with one surety in like sum.

She later adjourned the case till May 19, for continuation of hearing.

EFCC arraigns businessman for N10m dud cheque Juliana Francis

A

n oil marketer, Tajo Sani Yunusu and his company, Sani Brothers Oil and Gas Limited, were arraigned yesterday before Justice Dije Abdu Aboki of Kano State High Court on a two-count charge bordering on issuance of dud cheque.

The accused, being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), allegedly collected 125,000 litres of diesel valued at N20 million from one Amanallahi Ahmad Mohammed, and gave him three Zenith Bank Plc cheques covering the amount.

However two of the cheques were dishonoured on presentation at the bank due to lack of fund standing to the credit of the drawer.

One of the charge reads, “that you Tajo Sani Yunusa and Sani brothers Oil and Gas Limited sometime in February 2013 at Kano within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Kano State did issue a Zenith Bank cheque with serial number 70562337 of Sani Brothers

Yunusu

Oil And Gas Limited dated the 30th day February 2013 for the sum of N9.6 million to Amanallahi Ahmad which was presented and returned unpaid on the grounds that no sufficient funds were standing to the credit of the drawer as at 17th April 2013, the date it was presented and you thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(1)(b) of the Dishonoured Cheques (Offences) Act, Laws of the Federation, 2004”.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail in the sum of N5 million and two sureties in like sum.

46 BUSINESS | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

23-Apr-14

The FMDQ Daily Quotations List (DQL) comprises market and model prices/rates of foreign exchange ($/N) products, fixed income securities and instruments in the OTC market. The use of this report is subject to the FMDQ OTC PLC Terms of Use and Disclaimer Statement.

Bonds

Price

FGN Bonds Issuer

Rating/Agency

NA

NA

Description 9.20 29-JUN-2014 9.25 28-SEP-2014 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

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

29-Jun-07 28-Sep-07 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

9.20 9.25 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

45.00 100.00 535.00 327.47 452.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 50.00 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Rating/Agency

Bid Price

Offer Price

0.18 0.43 1.00 2.32 3.01 3.26 3.36 4.10 5.18 5.50 7.77 9.89 14.60 15.08 15.58 16.25

11.62 12.13 13.34 13.28 13.24 13.13 13.13 13.17 13.29 13.21 13.28 13.40 13.44 13.45 13.46 13.53

10.81 11.76 13.17 13.21 13.12 13.01 13.01 13.07 13.22 13.12 13.23 13.34 13.39 13.40 13.39 13.47

99.50 98.79 91.52 99.50 104.50 91.48 89.96 92.34 109.85 76.24 114.70 104.30 109.86 93.86 68.00 77.00

99.65 98.94 91.67 99.65 104.80 91.78 90.26 92.64 110.15 76.54 115.00 104.60 110.16 94.16 68.30 77.30

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

29-Jun-14 28-Sep-14 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

4,132.04 Issuer

Agency Bonds AMCON FMBN

NA

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

***LCRM

Description

0.00 AMCON 31-OCT-2014 (SR.5 TR.1) 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

#

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Issue Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

28-Dec-11 24-May-10 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

0.00 0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

978.35 24.56 6.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.52 1.08 1.57 2.63 2.99 3.20

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.49 1.00

13.31 15.96 15.55 15.16 14.61 14.13

93.53 84.64 102.36 92.49 89.71 88.24

05-Aug-14 15-Oct-14 31-Aug-15 30-Sep-15 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 19-Apr-17 30-Jun-17 31-Dec-17 30-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 09-Dec-18 12-Dec-18 14-Feb-19 02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19 30-Sep-20 27-Nov-20 31-Dec-20 31-Dec-20 06-Jan-21

0.28 0.48 1.36 0.96 1.26 1.26 2.99 1.82 3.69 2.66 4.45 2.67 2.66 3.24 3.31 5.58 3.28 3.99 6.60 6.69 4.00 4.03

4.88 5.99 4.44 3.23 4.46 3.48 5.59 7.60 1.79 1.80 1.00 1.00 1.21 1.00 2.46 1.94 2.74 2.74 1.00 1.94 1.44 1.95

16.68 18.21 17.75 16.48 17.78 16.80 18.71 20.86 14.94 14.96 14.18 14.16 14.37 14.13 15.59 15.15 15.87 15.90 14.22 15.16 14.60 15.12

99.13 98.13 93.87 97.24 96.01 98.89 80.72 89.74 97.35 98.10 99.39 100.89 110.05 100.97 99.85 97.56 97.33 96.80 96.94 99.27 107.09 106.75

07-Oct-14 18-Dec-14 31-Dec-14 17-Aug-15 09-Dec-15 06-Jan-16 29-Sep-16 25-Oct-16 30-Sep-17 30-Nov-17 09-Apr-18 09-Sep-18 09-Sep-18 22-Sep-18 18-Oct-18 17-Feb-19 14-Nov-20

0.46 0.65 0.69 0.84 0.92 1.00 2.44 2.51 3.44 2.06 2.21 2.38 2.38 4.42 2.49 2.57 6.56

1.00 5.21 8.71 4.88 1.00 2.63 1.00 1.34 4.52 1.88 3.48 5.20 5.06 3.06 2.29 6.11 2.76

13.17 17.80 21.38 17.87 14.16 15.97 14.19 14.52 17.66 15.11 16.69 18.39 18.25 16.24 15.47 19.28 15.98

99.25 97.39 97.23 94.21 98.29 98.58 97.60 99.45 88.34 106.10 98.89 99.54 101.92 93.09 100.57 95.95 97.07

11-Feb-18

3.81

1.00

14.15

88.63

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,304.32

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR† A-/Agusto A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro A/Agusto A-/GCR

KWARA NIGER KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS KOGI *EKITI *NASARAWA

14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 14.75 OSUN II 30-SEP-2020 13.50 LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

05-Aug-09 15-Oct-09 31-Aug-10 30-Sep-10 30-Jun-11 30-Jun-09 19-Apr-10 30-Jun-10 30-Dec-10 30-Sep-11 04-Oct-11 09-Dec-11 12-Dec-13 14-Feb-12 02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12 30-Sep-13 27-Nov-13 31-Dec-13 31-Dec-13 06-Jan-14

14.00 14.00 12.50 13.00 14.00 15.50 10.00 13.75 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.50 14.00 15.50 15.50 14.50 14.75 14.75 13.50 15.00 14.50 15.00

17.00 6.00 8.50 16.50 13.00 18.50 57.00 50.00 25.00 50.00 9.00 20.00 12.00 27.00 20.00 80.00 30.00 11.40 87.00 5.00 5.00 5.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

572.90

Corporate Bonds A+/Agusto; AA/GCR Aa/Agusto Nil Bbb-/Agusto A-/Agusto BB+/GCR A+/Agusto; A-/GCR A-/Agusto A/GCR BBB-/GCR BBB+/DataPro†; BB+/GCR A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR A/Agusto; A/GCR Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

LAFARGE WAPCO GTB µ NGC *UPDC *FLOURMILLS *CHELLARAMS NAHCO FSDH UBA *C & I LEASING *DANA# *TOWER# *TOWER# UBA *LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS# NAHCO

11.50 LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCT 2014 13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018 MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018 15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

07-Oct-11 18-Dec-09 01-Apr-10 17-Aug-10 09-Dec-10 06-Jan-11 29-Sep-11 25-Oct-13 30-Sep-10 30-Nov-12 09-Apr-11 09-Sep-11 09-Sep-11 22-Sep-11 18-Oct-13 17-Feb-12 14-Nov-13

11.50 13.50 17.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 13.00 14.25 13.00 18.00 16.00 18.00 16.00 14.00 15.75 17.00 15.25

11.80 13.17 2.00 15.00 37.50 1.50 15.00 5.53 20.00 0.94 8.01 3.63 1.00 35.00 3.00 0.54 2.05

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

175.67

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

IFC

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Rating/Agency

12.00 Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Issue Value ($'mm)

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

FGN

BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

5.31

5.16

108.02

108.93

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

18-Dec-09

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.49

4.29

102.42

103.19

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

01-Apr-10

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

5.75

5.63

104.38

105.33

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,500.00

Corporate Eurobonds AFREN PLC I

11.50 FEB 01, 2016

01-Feb-11

11.50

450.00

01-Feb-16

3.88

3.43

112.82

113.64

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

5.29

4.45

104.25

105.93

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

6.12

5.85

99.55

100.60

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

6.98

6.47

100.76

102.22

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

8.24

7.71

95.40

97.14

AFREN PLC

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

5.01

4.45

114.25

115.39

ZENITH BANK PLC FIRST BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

6.33

6.18

99.67

100.30

B/S&P; B-/Fitch

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

7.11

6.66

104.14

105.83

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

AFREN PLC

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

6.33

6.10

101.17

102.09

B-/S&P; B/Fitch B+/S&P; B+/Fitch B+/S&P B/S&P; B/Fitch B/Fitch B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC FIDELITY BANK PLC

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

3,460.00

**Treasury Bills DTM 15 22 29 36 43 57

FIXINGS Maturity 8-May-14 15-May-14 22-May-14 29-May-14 5-Jun-14 19-Jun-14

Bid Discount (%) 10.35 10.75 11.00 11.10 11.20 11.35

Offer Discount (%) 10.10 10.50 10.75 10.85 10.95 11.10

Bid Yield (%) 10.39 10.82 11.10 11.22 11.35 11.55

Money Market

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 10.4583 12.8062 13.9066 15.1218

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards)

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

10.25

Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

O/N

10.46

Spot 7D 14D 1M

161.60 162.07 162.33 162.91

161.70 162.35 162.71 163.62

Tenor

REPO

Rate (%)

***LCRM

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

09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

112.22 116.70 66.49

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

2.63 2.99 3.20

2.00 1.49 1.00

15.16 14.61 14.13

92.49 89.71 88.24

1,304.32

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil A+/Agusto April 24, 2014 Thursday, A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR† A-/Agusto A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro A/Agusto A-/GCR Sanctity of Truth

KWARA NIGER KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS KOGI *EKITI *NASARAWA

14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 benchmarks comply with the 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 new governance expectations.

14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 Of the three fixings, NIBOR 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 has been the most criticized 14.75 OSUN II 30-SEP-2020 by13.50 both the buy- and sell-sides LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 depending on the direction of 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 interest rates.

The LIBOR crisis 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 has also set the NIBOR up for 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

05-Aug-09 14.00 15-Oct-09 14.00 31-Aug-10 12.50 30-Sep-10 13.00 30-Jun-11 14.00 30-Jun-09 15.50 19-Apr-10 10.00 30-Jun-10 13.75 30-Dec-10 14.00 30-Sep-11 14.00 04-Oct-11 14.00 09-Dec-11 14.50 12-Dec-13 14.00 14-Feb-12 15.50 has reviewed the NIBOR defi02-Oct-12 nition, underlying15.50philoso22-Nov-12 14.50 phy, calculation methodology , 12-Dec-12 14.75 benchmark tenors and the 30-Sep-13 14.75 selection 27-Nov-13criteria of 13.50the NIBOR31-Dec-13 contributory banks.

Fur15.00 thermore, 31-Dec-13 a Reference 14.50 Bank Code06-Jan-14 of Conduct 15.00 has been

FMDQ is bringing credibility and global competiveness to the Nigerian Financial Market benchmark TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Corporate Bonds

Stories Chris Ugwu A+/Agusto;by AA/GCR LAFARGE WAPCO Aa/Agusto GTB µ Nil NGC Bbb-/Agusto *UPDC MDQ OTC Plc (FMDQ) A-/Agusto *FLOURMILLS has announced*CHELLARAMS the comBB+/GCR mencement of the NigeriA+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO an Inter-bank Offered Rate A-/Agusto FSDH (NIBOR) in compliance with A/GCR UBA BBB-/GCR the Principles for *C Financial & I LEASING # BBB+/DataPro†; BB+/GCR Benchmarks of the*DANA Interna# A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR tional Organisation of Secu*TOWER # AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR *TOWER rities Commissions (IOSCO).

A/Agusto; A/GCR is centered UBA on enThe reform Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR *LA CASERA hancing and formalising the NIBBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR *CHELLARAMS# BOR process towards strengthA+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO

F

ening its credibility as a money TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE market benchmark.

This, according to Jumoke Supranational Bond Olaniyan, Market &IFCBusiness AAA/S&P Development Officer in FMDQ TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE OTC PLC, will ensure NIBOR, in phased approaches, complies Rating/Agency Issuer with the 19 principles of IOSCO, which have been internationalFGN Eurobonds ly adopted as the standards for BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P financial benchmarks.

Having taken over as the BB-/Fitch; administrator of the threeFGN NiBB-/S&P gerian over-the-counter (OTC) BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P financial market fixings: NigeTOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Rate rian Inter-bank Offered (NIBOR), the Nigerian InterCorporate Eurobonds bank Foreign Exchange FixB-/S&P; B/Fitch and the AFREN PLC I ing (NIFEX) Nigerian PLC I Inter-bank TreasuryGTBANK Bills’ True B+/S&P; B+/Fitch Yields (NITTY) fromGTBANK the FinanPLC B+/S&P cial Markets Dealers AssociaACCESS BANK PLC B/S&P;(FMDA) B/Fitch tion in 2013, FMDQ FIDELITY BANK PLC B/Fitch said it is poised to ensure AFREN PLCthe B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

scrutiny.

Consequently, the NIBOR process including the benchmark 11.50 LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCT 2014 definition and design, calcula13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 tion methodology, governance, 17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 supervision, audit, contingency 10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 plans, etc. were9-DEC-2015 all subjected to 12.00 FLOURMILLS a review.

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016 TheNAHCO review revealed that 13.00 29-SEP-2016 while there are no fundamental 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 concerns around the NIBOR 18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 determination process, certain MPR+7.00specifically DANA 9-APR-2018 the benchaspects MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 mark design and governance MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 process could benefit from 14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018 enhancements and formalisa15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018 tion.

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 The reform therefore would 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020 focus on these areas instituting changes that would strengthen the benchmark design and governance of the NIBOR process 10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018 in order to boost its credibility.

In doing so, FMDQ said it Description

T

established. This according 572.90 blue chip companies pushed up to FMDQ, is to guide the per- the equity value of the listed formance of the contributory companies.

07-Oct-11 11.50 07-Oct-14 0.46 banks (Reference Banks) and 11.80At the close of trading, 26 18-Dec-09 13.50 13.17 18-Dec-14 0.65 formalise a proper governance stocks recorded price appre01-Apr-10 17.00 2.00 31-Dec-14 0.69 process. ciation, while 21 constituted 17-Aug-10 10.00 15.00 17-Aug-15 0.84 The reformed NIBOR will the losers table.

09-Dec-10 12.00 37.50 09-Dec-15 0.92 consist of only four tenors The market twin market 06-Jan-11 14.00 1.50 06-Jan-16 1.00 (Overnight, 1, 3 & 13.00 6 months) indicators, the All-Share2.44In29-Sep-11 15.00 29-Sep-16 in compliance with 14.25 the IOSCO dex 25-Oct-13 5.53 and market 25-Oct-16 capitalisa2.51 principle on benchmark qual- tion 177.54 points 30-Sep-10 13.00 20.00 rose by30-Sep-17 3.44or 30-Nov-12 0.94 per cent 30-Nov-17 2.06 ity. This ensures the18.00 rates pub- 0.54 and N59 billion 09-Apr-11 16.00 of the 8.01 close at 09-Apr-18 2.21 lished are representative to 39,194.09 points 09-Sep-11 3.63 N12.88909-Sep-18 economic realities of18.00 the inter- and trillion from2.38 the 09-Sep-11 16.00 seeks 1.00 09-Sep-18 points2.38 est that the benchmark previous 39,016.55 and 22-Sep-11 14.00 35.00 22-Sep-18 4.42 to measure.

N12,830 trillion respectively.

18-Oct-13 15.75 “The NIBOR is a major fi- 3.00Further 18-Oct-18 analysis of 2.49 the 17-Feb-12 17.00 0.54 17-Feb-19 nancial market benchmark day’s trading showed 2.57 that 14-Nov-13 15.25 2.05 14-Nov-20 6.56 for the pricing of floating rate CAP, a paint Company Plc money market instruments, 175.67 topped the day’s gainers tabonds and interest rate deriva- ble with 5 per cent to close tives.11-Feb-13 Its credibility 10.20 is a key fi- at Star Express 12.00N42.00. Red 11-Feb-18 3.81 nancial market infrastructure gained 4.93 per cent to close 12.00 need”, FMDQ said. at N4.,26 per share while

W

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

6.25 APR 22, 2019

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

47

Stock market gains N59b

Wema Bank grows Q1 profit to N591m ema Bank Plc has posted 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 a pre-tax profit of N590.7 million6.38 forJUL the 12, first-quar2023 ter ended March 31, 2014, from loss of N853 million in the comparable period of last year.

In a filing with the Nigeria 11.50 FEB 01, 2016 Stock Exchange (NSE), gross 7.50 MAY 2016 earnings rose to 19, N10.15 bil08, 2018 lion during 6.00 theNOVfirst quarter 7.25 JUL 25, 2017 as against N7.96 billion.

MAY 09, 2018 The bank6.88had announced 10.25 APR 08,in 2019all perimpressive growth

4.88 16.68 99.13 5.99 18.21 98.13 4.44 17.75 93.87 3.23 16.48 97.24 4.46 17.78 96.01 3.48 16.80 98.89 5.59 18.71 80.72 7.60 20.86 89.74 1.79 14.94 97.35 1.80 14.96 98.10 1.00 14.18 99.39 1.00 14.16 100.89 1.21 14.37 110.05 Mansard Insurance followed 1.00 a gain 14.13 100.97 with of 4.74 per cent 15.59 99.85 to 2.46 close at N2.43.

1.94 15.15 97.56 On the other hand, Air 2.74 15.87 97.33 Service Plc led on the price 2.74 15.90 96.80 losers’ table, 1.00 14.22 dropping 96.94 at 4.80 to close at99.27 N2.38 1.94per cent15.16 per1.44share while Vitafoam 14.60 107.09 1.95 15.12a loss 106.75 followed with of 4.76

BUSINESS | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS

FMDQ begins NIBOR reform MODIFICATION

17.00 05-Aug-14 0.28 6.00 15-Oct-14 0.48 8.50 31-Aug-15 1.36 16.50 30-Sep-15 0.96 13.00 30-Jun-16 1.26 18.50 30-Jun-16 1.26 57.00 19-Apr-17 2.99 50.00 30-Jun-17 1.82 25.00 31-Dec-17 3.69 50.00 30-Sep-18 2.66 9.00 04-Oct-18 4.45 20.00 09-Dec-18 2.67 12.00he bulls continued 12-Dec-18 2.66 to domi27.00nate the Nigerian 14-Feb-19 3.24 equities 20.00 3.31 markets 02-Oct-19 as market senti80.00 22-Nov-19 5.58 ments remained positive.

30.00 12-Dec-19 3.28 This stemmed from the trad11.40 30-Sep-20 3.99 ing activities on the floor 87.00 27-Nov-20 6.60of the Stock Exchange 5.00 Nigerian 31-Dec-20 6.69 (NSE), which closed in4.00 the 5.00 31-Dec-20 5.00 06-Jan-21 4.03 green as gains by some major

Issue Value ($'mm)

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

28-Jan-21

5.31

formance indicators during its Operating income rose by 68 18-Dec-09 5.13 12-Jul-18 4.49 financial year ended Decem- 500.00 per cent to N20.9 billion against ber 31, 2013.

N12.5 billion posted in the pre01-Apr-10 6.38 500.00 12-Jul-23 5.75 The audited result of the vious year. bank released by the Exchange 1,500.00 The bank’s total assets stood in Lagos showed that the lend- at N330.9 billion or 26 per cent er’s profit after tax stood at N1.6 growth over the N245.7 billion 01-Feb-11 11.50 N5 bil450.00 01-Feb-16 3.88 billion compared with achieved in 2012.

19-May-11 500.00 19-May-16 5.29 lion loss declared in 7.50 2012.

Customers’ deposits appre08-Nov-13 6.00 before 400.00 6.12 Wema bank’s profit ciated by 25 08-Nov-18 per cent to N217.7 25-Jul-12 7.25 against 350.00 6.98antax stood at N1.9 billion billion from25-Jul-17 N174.3 billion 09-May-13 02-May-18 8.24 the loss before tax of6.88N4.9 bil- 300.00 nounced in 2012.

08-Apr-12 10.25 300.00 08-Apr-19 5.01 lion in 2012.

The bank’s liquidity ratio

per cent to close at N4.00 per share. Niemeth Plc lost 4.39 per cent to close at N1.09 per 1.00 13.17 99.25 share.

5.21 17.80 97.39 Other financial services 8.71 21.38 97.23 sub sector, motivated by the 4.88 17.87 94.21 shares of FBNH Plc led with 1.00 14.16 98.29 a turnover of 2.63 15.97144.7 units 98.58 of shares valued 1.00 14.19at N1.6 billion 97.60 in 1.34 989 transactions.

14.52 99.45 The 4.52 banking 17.66 sub sector 88.34 of the1.88financial15.11 services106.10 sector 3.48 16.69market98.89 followed in the trans5.20 volume 18.39with 143.2 99.54milaction 5.06units valued 18.25 101.92 billion at N2.1 3.06exchanged 16.24 in 1,85393.09 lion deals.

2.29 15.47 100.57 The volume recorded in the 6.11 19.28 95.95 sector was driven by transac2.76 15.98 97.07 tions in the shares of Zenith Bank and GTB. On the whole, investors staked 356.514.15 units of 88.63 shares 1.00 worth N5.3 billion in 6,221 deals.

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

Prices & Yields 5.16

108.02

108.93

also appreciated by 77 per cent 4.29 65 per cent 102.42 in 2012.

103.19 from Commenting on the result, 104.38 5.63 105.33 Mr Segun Oloketuyi, the bank’s Managing Director, attributed the growth to N40 billion Tier one capital raising exercise con3.43 112.82 cluded in third quarter113.64 of 2013.

4.45 104.25the additional 105.93 He said that 5.85 99.55 capital increased the100.60 bank’s 6.47 102.22and capacity to 100.76 do business 7.71 95.40 97.14 ability to withstand economic 4.45 114.25 115.39 shocks.

ZENITH BANK PLC FIRST BANK PLC

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

6.33

6.18

99.67

100.30

B/S&P; B-/Fitch

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

07-Aug-13

8.25

300.00

07-Aug-20

7.11

6.66

104.14

105.83

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

AFREN PLC

6.63 DEC 09, 2020

09-Dec-13

6.63

360.00

09-Dec-20

6.33

6.10

101.17

102.09

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

3,460.00

23-Apr-14

The FMDQ Daily Quotations List (DQL) comprises market and model prices/rates of foreign exchange ($/N) products, fixed income securities and instruments in the OTC market. The use of this report is subject **Treasury Bills FIXINGS Money Market Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) to the FMDQ OTC PLC Terms of Use and Disclaimer Statement.

DTM 15 22 FGN Bonds 29 36 43 Rating/Agency 57 64 71 78 85 92 99 106 113 NA 120 134 169 225 260 274 288 302 316 351 TOTAL OUTSTANDING

VALUE

Maturity 8-May-14 15-May-14 22-May-14 29-May-14 Issuer 5-Jun-14 19-Jun-14 26-Jun-14 3-Jul-14 10-Jul-14 17-Jul-14 24-Jul-14 31-Jul-14 7-Aug-14 14-Aug-14 NA 21-Aug-14 4-Sep-14 9-Oct-14 4-Dec-14 8-Jan-15 22-Jan-15 5-Feb-15 19-Feb-15 5-Mar-15 9-Apr-15

Bid Discount (%) 10.35 10.75 11.00 11.10 Description 11.20 11.35 11.40 9.20 29-JUN-2014 11.40 9.25 28-SEP-2014 11.15 4.00 23-APR-2015 10.95 13.05 16-AUG-2016 11.30 15.10 27-APR-2017 11.30 9.85 27-JUL-2017 11.20 9.35 31-AUG-2017 11.65 10.70 30-MAY-2018 11.50 16.00 29-JUN-2019 11.45 7.00 23-OCT-2019 11.50 16.39 27-JAN-2022 11.45 14.20 14-MAR-2024 12.00 15.00 28-NOV-2028 11.85 12.49 22-MAY-2029 12.00 8.50 20-NOV-2029 12.00 10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.00 12.15

Offer Discount (%) 10.10 10.50 10.75 10.85 10.95 Issue Date 11.10 11.15 29-Jun-07 11.15 28-Sep-07 10.90 23-Apr-10 10.70 16-Aug-13 11.05 27-Apr-12 11.05 27-Jul-07 10.95 31-Aug-07 11.40 30-May-08 11.25 29-Jun-12 11.20 23-Oct-09 11.25 27-Jan-12 11.20 14-Mar-14 11.75 28-Nov-08 11.60 22-May-09 11.75 20-Nov-09 11.75 23-Jul-10 11.75 11.90

*from the Amortising #bonds, the average life is Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiumsDescription

Rating/Agency

**Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

Issuer

Agency Bonds AMCON FMBN

NA

***LCRM

0.00 AMCON 31-OCT-2014 (SR.5 TR.1) 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

Bid Yield (%) NIBOR 10.39 Bonds 10.82 Tenor Rate (%) 11.10 O/N 10.4583 11.22 1M 12.8062 Outstanding Value 11.35(%) 3M 13.9066 Coupon Maturity Date (N'bn) 11.55 6M 15.1218 11.63 9.20 45.00 29-Jun-14 11.66 9.25 100.00 28-Sep-14 11.42 4.00 535.00 NITTY 23-Apr-15 11.24 13.05 327.47 16-Aug-16 11.63 Tenor Rate (%) 15.10 452.80 27-Apr-17 11.66 1M 11.0714 9.85 20.00 27-Jul-17 11.58 2M 11.5956 9.35 100.00 31-Aug-17 12.09 3M 11.6059 10.70 300.00 30-May-18 11.95 6M 12.2649 16.00 351.30 29-Jun-19 11.95 9M 13.0685 7.00 233.90 23-Oct-19 12.15 12M 13.8001 16.39 600.00 27-Jan-22 12.32 14.20 50.00 14-Mar-24 13.12 15.00 75.00 28-Nov-28 13.01 NIFEX 22-May-29 12.49 150.00 13.26 8.50 200.00 20-Nov-29 13.32 Current Price ($/N) 10.00 23-Jul-30 13.39 BID($/N)591.57 161.6500 13.76 OFFER ($/N) 161.7500 4,132.04

Issue Date

28-Dec-11 24-May-10 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

Coupon (%)

0.00 0.00 17.25 0.00/16.00 FMDQ0.00/16.50 FGN BOND 0.00/16.50

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto A-/GCR A+/Agusto A/Agusto Nil A+/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto A/Agusto A+/Agusto; A+/GCR A-/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR† A-/Agusto A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A/Agusto; A-/GCR A/Agusto

Modified Duration Buckets KWARA NIGER <3 KADUNA 3<5 *EBONYI >5 *BENUE Market *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN

Issue Value (N'bn)

978.35 24.56 6.00 112.22 116.70 INDEX 66.49

Tenor

Rate (%)

OBB

10.25

Tenor

Spot O/N 10.46 7D Offer Yield 14D TTM (Yrs)REPO Bid Yield (%) (%) Tenor Rate (%) 1M Call 10.25 2M 0.18 11.62 10.81 1M 11.25 3M 0.43 12.13 11.76 3M 12.00 6M 1.00 13.34 13.17 6M 12.42 1Y 2.32 13.28 13.21 3.01 13.24 13.12 13.13 13.01 NOTE: 3.26 3.36 13.13 13.01 :Benchmarks 4.10 13.17 13.07 * :Amortising 5.18 Bond 13.29 13.22 µ :Convertible Bond 5.50 13.21 13.12 AMCON: Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria 7.77 13.28 13.23 FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria 9.89 13.40 13.34 FMBN: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria 14.60 13.44 13.39 IFC: International Finance Corporation 15.08 Contractors Receivables 13.45 13.40 LCRM: Local Management 13.46 13.39 NAHCO:15.58 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company 16.25 13.53 13.47 O/N: Overnight UPDC: UAC Property Development Company WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement Company #

Bid ($/N)

Price

Offer ($/N)

161.60 161.70 162.07 162.35 Offer Price 162.33 162.71 Bid Price 162.91 163.62 164.07 165.40 99.50 99.65 165.34 167.30 98.79 98.94 168.98 173.18 91.52 91.67 175.97 185.04 99.50 99.65 104.50 104.80 91.48 91.78 89.96 90.26 NA :Not Applicable 92.34 92.64 # :Floating 109.85Rate Bond 110.15 ***: Deferred coupon bonds 76.24 76.54 114.70 115.00 †: Bond rating expired 104.30 104.60 109.86 110.16 93.86 94.16 68.00 68.30 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 77.00 Bank for Africa 77.30 UBA: United

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.52 1.08 1.57 2.63 2.99 3.20

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.49 1.00

13.31 15.96 15.55 15.16 14.61 14.13

93.53 84.64 102.36 92.49 89.71 88.24

1,304.32 Porfolio Market Total Outstanding Value(Bn) Volume(Bn) 14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 799.01 780.27 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 1,074.10 951.30 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 455.51 591.57 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 2,328.62 2,323.14 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 14.75 OSUN II 30-SEP-2020

Weighting by Outstanding Vol 05-Aug-09 15-Oct-09 33.59 31-Aug-10 30-Sep-1040.95 30-Jun-1125.46 30-Jun-09 100.00 19-Apr-10 30-Jun-10 30-Dec-10 30-Sep-11 04-Oct-11 09-Dec-11 12-Dec-13 14-Feb-12 02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12 30-Sep-13

Weighting by Mkt Value 14.00 14.00 34.31 12.50 13.00 46.13 14.00 19.56 15.50100.00 10.00 13.75 14.00 14.00 14.00 14.50 14.00 15.50 15.50 14.50 14.75 14.75

Bucket Weighting

17.00 6.00 8.50 16.50 13.00 18.50 57.00 50.00 25.00 50.00 9.00 20.00 12.00 27.00 20.00 80.00 30.00 11.40

0.34 0.41 0.25 1.00

% Exposure_ Mod_Duration 05-Aug-14 15-Oct-14 17.33 31-Aug-15 40.91 30-Sep-15 41.77 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 100.00 19-Apr-17 30-Jun-17 31-Dec-17 30-Sep-18 04-Oct-18 09-Dec-18 12-Dec-18 14-Feb-19 02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19 30-Sep-20

Implied Yield

0.28 0.48 13.25 1.36 13.29 0.96 13.53 1.26 1.26 13.38 2.99 1.82 3.69 2.66 4.45 2.67 2.66 3.24 3.31 5.58 3.28 3.99

Implied Portfolio Price 4.88 5.99 110.4647 4.44 122.5014 3.23 84.5870 4.46 3.48 108.8041 5.59 7.60 1.79 1.80 1.00 1.00 1.21 1.00 2.46 1.94 2.74 2.74

INDEX

16.68 18.21 1,049.19 17.75 1,037.30 16.48 1,023.99 17.78 16.80 1,032.41 18.71 20.86 14.94 14.96 14.18 14.16 14.37 14.13 15.59 15.15 15.87 15.90

YTD Return (%) 99.13 98.13 4.9189 93.87 3.7295 97.24 2.3994 96.01 98.89 3.2409 80.72 89.74 97.35 98.10 99.39 100.89 110.05 100.97 99.85 97.56 97.33 96.80

48 BUSINESS | MONEY LINE

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

FG rakes in $48bn from Shell operations declared.

The oil giant, which said this in its 2013 Sustainability Report, noted that $44 billion of the money was generated for the Federal Government between 2009 and 2013, while the remaining $4billion was paid into the federal coffers as taxes and royalty in 2013.

Spokesperson for the Shell Petroleum development Company (SPDC), Precious Okolobo confirmed that the report, which is currently on the company’s website.

He told New Telegraph in a telephone chat yesterday, that

REVENUE SPDC says full disclosure is to help entrench transparency on revenue disbursement Adeola Yusuf

T

he federal government collected $48 billion from Shell between 2009 and 2013, the company has

the report was real and all information on the company’s website are credible.

The open disclosure of this payment to government, Shell said, was to help entrench transparency on how revenues are disbursed.

“We work openly with governments on matters of taxes and royalties. We are a founder and board member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

“This initiative requires both governments and companies to disclose revenues received from oil and mineral

Union Bank’s profit rises 217% to N3.8bn

U

nion Bank of Nigeria Plc (UBN) yesterday reported an increase of 217 per cent in profit after tax (PAT) for the year ended December 31, 2013.

UBN recorded gross earnings of N121 billion, up marginally by four per cent from N117 billion in 2012. Profit before tax grew by 31 per cent from N2.9 billion in 2012 to N3.8 billion, while PAT soared by 217 per cent from N1.2 billion to N3.8 billion.

An analysis of the bank’s balance sheet showed that gross loans and advances to customers rose by 30 per cent from N192 billion to N249 billion, while shareholders’ funds grew from N173 billion to N192 billion. Capital adequacy ratio stood at 25 per cent, just as non-performing

loan ratio stood at 5.8 per cent down from 17.3 per cent in 2012. UBN ended the year with a liquidity ratio of 76 per cent, compared with 30 per cent Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statutory minimum requirement). Earnings per share was 32 kobo.

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of Union Bank, Emeka Emuwa said the bank made progress in a number of critical internal and external restructuring initiatives, in respect of which they were charged approximately N11 billion.

“I am pleased to report that, notwithstanding these significant exceptional costs, Union Bank remained profitable. This signals to us that our transformation pro-

gramme put the Bank on the right trajectory,” he said.

"In 2013 we focused on two key priorities - first, immediately improving the Bank’s operations by addressing critical challenges in service delivery to our clients; and second, developing a roadmap to establish Union Bank firmly as a leading player within the Nigerian banking industry. We are pleased to have a clearly defined strategy to guide our growth over the next five years,” the Union Bank boss added.

Also commenting on the results, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Union Bank, Mrs. Oyinkan Adewale said, “In 2013, we focused on improving our efficiency as a bank.

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

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

activities.

“In 2003, Shell was the first company to publish the royalties, taxes and other payments made to the government, with its permission and support.

Shell started to voluntarily publish an annual revenue transparency report in 2012,” the company said.

Between 2009 and 2013, Shell said, its subsidiary in Nigeria, SPDC generated $44 billion in revenue for the Federal Government, adding that together with sister company, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, SNEPCo, it also paid $4 billion to the government in taxes and royalties in 2013.

The company also revealed that, to help improve accountability, Shell supports a global reporting rule for the industry, in line with EITI goals to achieve increased transparency.

Meanwhile, oil held near a six-week high above $110 a barrel yesterday.

The surge in Brent futures came on worries a pact to calm tensions in Ukraine was faltering, although expectations of a gain in US crude stockpiles weighed on prices.

European officials and US say they will hold Russia responsible and impose new economic sanctions if separatists do not leave government buildings they have occupied across swathes of eastern Ukraine. While the region is not key to global oil supplies, investors are worried that tensions between Russia and the west could worsen.

Brent crude fell 12 cents to $109.83 a barrel early on Tuesday, not far from a six-week high of $110.36 touched last week. US slipped 12 cents to $104.25.

“The market is losing momentum a bit, but overall is in a holding pattern,” said Tetsu Emori, a commodity fund manager at Astmax Investment.

Customers laud Sterling Bank for rewarding loyalty

I

mpressed by the ‘One Customer’ experience they had at the exclusive private prerelease screening of the award winning film, ‘Half of a yellow Sun’, customers of Sterling Bank Plc have commended the lender for providing a platform to access the film last Sunday before presenting it to both the local and international community tomorrow.

The film, according to a statement, is an adaptation of Chimamanda Adichie’s novel, which depicts the story of the Nigerian Civil War, its effects on families and the triumph of love over war.

A cross section of the Bank’s customers, who watched the film at the Silverbird Galleria last Sunday in Lagos, noted that with the sponsorship of the exclusive pre-release screening of the film for customers, Sterling Bank had introduced a new dimension to banking in Nigeria. “In this customer-centric path, Sterling Bank has aggressively started rewarding its customers for their loyalty and this has gone far beyond promotions tied to deposits,” the statement said.

The Nigerian-born British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, Hollywood actress Thandie Newton and Onyeka Onwenu, Genevieve Nnaji, John Gboyega and Joseph Mawle all contributed in no small way to the palpable pride and nationalist fervor that buzzed through the cinema as the guests enjoyed seeing Nigerians on a world stage telling the “nations of the earth our own story our own way.” Half Of A Yellow Sun will be screened to the public tomorrow.

This was quite exciting as Sterling Bank provided a platform for this story to be told to Nigerians of various walks of life united by its one cus-

tomer mantra. It was also an opportunity seized to remind the bank’s clients that they are the centre of the brand’s attention.

Mr. Adepegba Ogunlesi, a customer, who banks with the Yaba branch of the Bank said after watching the film with his wife, Bisi who is also a customer: “This is a new experience for me and coming during the festive period, there is no other way to celebrate Easter. This is a new dimension to banking and it’s been a sweet experience for me and my wife. For Sterling Bank, it is a matter of time for the Bank to increase its rising customer profile if this innovation is sustained”.

Similarly, Mrs. Clara Nwosu, a customer with the Igbosere branch of Sterling Bank, noted :“The experience of today (Easter Sunday) has demonstrated that banking is no longer about over the counter transactions but that of building relationships through innovative schemes like this. With the introduction of entertainment to Banking by Sterling Bank, it has shown that the Bank is not only interested in securing our money, but ensuring that customers also enjoy some privileges like this watching a film that has not been released to the market and creating fun and excitement for us, especially at Easter”.

Speaking with journalists after the premiere, the Group Head, Strategy & Communications, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Shina Atilola said that the sponsorship of the private pre-release screening of the film exclusively for the customers of the Bank was meant to reward customers for their loyalty and brand support over the years.

BUSINESS | CAPITAL MARKET 49

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 2014 Daily Summary as of24, 23/04/2014 Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at April 23, 2014 Daily Summary as of 23/04/2014 Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027

Daily Summary (Bonds)

No Debt Trading Activity

Daily Summary (Equities)

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

Symbol OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 56 24 80

Current Price 36.70 42.00

Quantity Traded 493,646 175,820 669,466

Value Traded 18,150,969.20 7,519,674.50 25,670,643.70

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 19 19

Current Price 3.22

Quantity Traded 281,035 281,035

Value Traded 890,651.10 890,651.10

950,501

26,561,294.80

Symbol AGLEVENT SCOA TRANSCORP UACN

No. of Deals 12 2 224 57 295

Current Price 1.56 5.06 3.63 59.01

Quantity Traded 230,278 600 15,212,573 1,360,050 16,803,501

Value Traded 357,736.88 2,886.00 55,438,864.30 80,238,112.95 136,037,600.13

16,803,501

136,037,600.13

AGRICULTURE Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. SC A 23/04/2014 NIG. PLC. Daily Summary asOof TRANSNATIONAL Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027 CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals CONGLOMERATES Totals

99

Daily Summary (Equities)

295

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals

Page

1

HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers Healthcare Providers Totals Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. Daily Summary as of 23/04/2014 MAY 15:12:27.027 & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. Printed 23/04/2014 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC PHARMA-DEKO PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals HEALTHCARE Totals ICT Activity Summary IT Services

of

13

Symbol COSTAIN

No. of Deals 19 19

Current Price 1.20

Quantity Traded 536,059 536,059

Value Traded 630,489.68 630,489.68

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. ROADS NIG PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals

Symbol JBERGER ROADS

No. of Deals 10 1 11

Current Price 69.90 8.46

Quantity Traded 15,806 1,000 16,806

Value Traded 1,088,409.38 8,470.00 1,096,879.38

Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

Symbol UAC-PROP

No. of Deals 30 30

Current Price 25.00

Quantity Traded 95,077 95,077

Value Traded 2,372,748.22 2,372,748.22

647,942

4,100,117.28

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers

Daily Summary as of 23/04/2014 CHAMPION BREW. PLC. Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027 GUINNESS NIG PLC

INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. JOS INT. BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC.

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

60 Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS INTBREW JOSBREW NB

No. of Deals 1 47 34 1 145 228

Current Price 13.79 190.00 26.01 3.59 149.99

Quantity Traded 40,000 198,230 158,289 1,000 3,176,518 3,574,037

Value Traded 524,400.00 37,454,548.61 4,135,633.09 3,420.00 476,326,859.76 518,444,861.46

No. of Deals 13

Current Price 90.00

Quantity Traded 39,060

Value Traded 3,339,630.00

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol 7UP

Page

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

Symbol

No. of Deals 13

Current Price

2

of

Quantity Traded 39,060

Value Traded 3,339,630.00

Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC N NIG. FLOUR MILLS PLC. U T C NIG. PLC. Food Products Totals

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR NASCON NNFM UTC

No. of Deals 45 87 54 48 31 1 3 269

Current Price 8.08 9.55 67.35 4.00 11.50 22.01 0.53

Quantity Traded 172,126 1,850,269 192,958 1,052,227 460,810 8,640 24,500 3,761,530

Value Traded 1,388,680.84 17,725,915.32 12,990,404.84 4,182,919.30 5,310,632.95 180,662.40 13,455.00 41,792,670.65

Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals 33 111 144

Current Price 79.00 1,100.00

Quantity Traded 106,121 163,347 269,468

Value Traded 7,969,065.45 179,420,400.66 187,389,466.11

Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Household Durables Totals

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 26 2 28

Current Price 4.00 1.58

Quantity Traded 615,240 1,500 616,740

Value Traded 2,467,372.40 2,265.00 2,469,637.40

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals 72 55

Current Price 36.00 46.50

Quantity Traded 712,147 442,538

Value Traded 25,783,123.80 20,480,968.65

Daily Summary as of 23/04/2014 Personal/Household Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027 Products

P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC.

Daily Summary (Equities)

Page

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONSUMER GOODS Personal/Household Products Personal/Household Products Totals

Symbol

No. of Deals 127

CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. Daily Summary as of 23/04/2014 SKYE BANK PLC Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027 STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC

Current Price

809 Symbol ACCESS DIAMONDBNK ETI FIDELITYBK GUARANTY SKYEBANK STERLNBANK UBA UBN UNITYBNK

No. of Deals 253 83 70 59 408 86 70 215 73 25

Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 9.00 6.20 13.30 1.95 28.00 3.51 2.31 6.85 10.35 0.50

3

of

Processing Systems CHAMS PLC E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC Processing Systems Totals

Symbol WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

Electronic and Electrical Products Totals Packaging/Containers AVON CROWNCAPS & CONTAINERS BETA GLASS CO PLC. GREIF NIGERIA PLC Packaging/Containers Totals

NATURAL RESOURCES Metals ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. Daily Summary as of 23/04/2014 ALUMINIUM MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027 Metals Totals Mining Services MULTIVERSE PLC Mining Services Totals Paper/Forest Products THOMAS WYATT NIG. PLC.

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Paper/Forest Products Totals

Value Traded 2,770.00

Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH PHARMDEKO

No. of Deals 8 20 17 8 31 1 85

Current Price 2.20 2.90 70.00 1.75 1.09 1.57

Quantity Traded 73,564 944,519 37,929 177,820 509,657 1,000 1,744,489

Value Traded 154,508.76 2,742,345.10 2,648,617.74 312,205.20 559,188.08 1,570.00 6,418,434.88

1,746,989

6,421,204.88

Quantity Traded

Value Traded

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol

13

Value Traded 129,076,371.69 55,355,413.60 222,613,113.36 5,951,351.23 529,907,208.37 7,559,101.06 10,660,570.10 94,884,719.31 5,065,115.33 1,526,251.00

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 1.97

Quantity Traded 500 500

Value Traded 940.00 940.00

Symbol CHAMS ETRANZACT

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 0.50 2.32

Quantity Traded 40,000 500 40,500

Value Traded 20,000.00 1,105.00 21,105.00

41,000

22,045.00

Symbol No. of Deals ASHAKACEM 38 BERGER 29 CAP 32 CCNN 12 DANGCEM 101 DNMEYER 2 FIRSTALUM 4 PAINTCOM 1 PORTPAINT 2 Daily Summary (Equities) WAPCO 69 290

Page

Published

by TheSummary Nigerian Stock Exchange © Activity on Board EQTY

Value Traded 1,058,934.91 2,181,688.00 191,700.00 1,500.00 1,000.00 2,500.00 305,878.58 21,500.00 315,724.00 322,827.95 120,000.00 1,498,713.62 786,944.00 500.00 5,000.00 2,140.00 5,500.00 51,477.50 6,834,440.53 5

of

Symbol

No. of Deals 199

Current Price

Quantity Traded 19,154,259

Value Traded 13,707,969.09

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC INFINITY TRUST MORTGAGE BANK PLC RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC UNION HOMES SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Symbol ABBEYBDS ASOSAVINGS INFINITY RESORTSAL UNHOMES

No. of Deals 1 1 3 2 1 8

Current Price 1.35 0.50 1.61 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded 500 5,000 10,100 9,001,000 1,000 9,017,600

Value Traded 645.00 2,500.00 16,269.00 4,500,500.00 500.00 4,520,414.00

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB STANBIC UBCAP

No. of Deals 51 57 665 75 49 92 989

Current Price 3.08 2.20 12.59 3.50 22.82 2.37

Quantity Traded 891,832 9,441,670 127,179,246 3,525,150 709,770 3,023,470 144,771,138

Value Traded 2,711,367.61 20,771,342.34 1,594,336,686.45 12,423,675.75 16,105,762.88 7,150,298.16 1,653,499,133.19

316,217,141

3,809,664,932.41

Quantity Traded 500 2,000

Value Traded 1,770.00 1,000.00

3,049 No. of Deals 1 2

Current Price 3.72 0.50

Page

6

of

Value Traded 3,231,717.31 2,027,056.56 7,641,444.47 1,135,733.50 195,988,445.22 113,400.00 5,466.50 96.00 231,000.00 62,521,436.57 272,895,796.13

No. of Deals 7 2 9

Current Price 1.90 0.50

Quantity Traded 44,867 Page 4,000 48,867

Symbol AVONCROWN BETAGLAS VANLEER

No. of Deals 2 3 1 6

Current Price 1.47 18.97 12.68

Quantity Traded 4,550 50,645 800 55,995

Value Traded 6,688.50 936,932.50 9,640.00 953,261.00

2,423,196

273,932,266.40

305

Value Traded 81,209.27 of 13 2,000.00 83,209.27

8

Symbol ALEX ALUMACO

No. of Deals 3 1 4

Current Price 10.50 7.75

Quantity Traded 900 500 1,400

Value Traded 8,982.00 3,685.00 12,667.00

Symbol MULTIVERSE

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 1,002,000 1,002,000

Value Traded 501,000.00 501,000.00

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.79

Quantity Traded 4,000 4,000

Value Traded 3,040.00 3,040.00

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol THOMASWY

Page

8

13

1,007,400

9

of

13

516,707.00

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 71,000 71,000

Value Traded 35,500.00 35,500.00

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 183 183

Current Price 15.92

Quantity Traded 2,916,600 2,916,600

Value Traded 46,559,149.83 46,559,149.83

Symbol BECOPETRO CONOIL ETERNA FO MOBIL MRS TOTAL

No. of Deals 2 24 5 37 23 2 19 112

Current Price 0.50 49.20 3.79 148.99 123.00 51.72 167.90

Quantity Traded 1,220 27,479 41,871 188,785 25,939 2,350 53,490 341,134

Value Traded 610.00 1,294,127.33 152,504.31 26,722,516.75 3,175,484.50 115,479.00 8,910,771.45 40,371,493.34

Exploration and Production Symbol No. of Deals SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD SEPLAT 75 Daily Summary (Equities) Exploration and Production Totals 75

Current Price 627.00

Quantity Traded 190,814 190,814

Value Traded 119,133,328.79 119,133,328.79

3,519,548

206,099,471.96

Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

SERVICES Advertising Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © AFROMEDIA PLC Advertising Totals

374 Symbol AFROMEDIA

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Page Quantity Traded 12,000 12,000

Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

Symbol RTBRISCOE

No. of Deals 24 24

Current Price 1.26

Quantity Traded 506,119 506,119

Value Traded 648,415.76 648,415.76

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

Symbol REDSTAREX TRANSEXPR

No. of Deals 11 8 19

Current Price 4.26 2.13

Quantity Traded 842,975 49,442 892,417

Value Traded 3,574,873.50 103,675.48 3,678,548.98

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL TOURIST

No. of Deals 17 1 18

Current Price 0.58 4.08

Quantity Traded 1,104,000 500 1,104,500

Value Traded 630,473.00 1,940.00 632,413.00

Symbol DAARCOMM

No. of Deals 8 8

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 97,000 97,000

Value Traded 48,500.00 48,500.00

Symbol LEARNAFRCA

No. of Deals 7

Current Price 1.65

Quantity Traded 165,491

Value Traded 273,060.15

Symbol UPL

No. of Deals 8 15

Current Price 4.15

Quantity Traded 24,244 Page 189,735

Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 9 9

Current Price 0.90

Quantity Traded 222,574 222,574

Value Traded 200,316.60 200,316.60

Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 10 27 37

Current Price 2.38 4.90

Quantity Traded 173,100 547,045 720,145

Value Traded 422,650.00 2,679,528.95 3,102,178.95

Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC Media/Entertainment Totals Printing/Publishing

Activity Summary onPLC Board EQTY LEARN AFRICA SERVICES Printing/Publishing UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Printing/Publishing Totals

Daily Summary (Equities)

SERVICES Totals

10 of 13 Value Traded 6,000.00 6,000.00

Value Traded 95,763.80 of 13 368,823.95

11

131

3,744,490

8,685,197.24

EQTY Board Totals

5,221

356,517,228

5,271,741,195.17

Equity Activity Totals

5,221

356,517,228

5,271,741,195.17

Daily Summary as of 23/04/2014 Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027

Exchange Traded Fund

Name NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF

Exchange Traded Fund

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Name Exchange Traded Fund Totals

13

Quantity Traded 192,337 227,296 184,420 126,260 860,212 102,000 10,933 60 55,000 559,816 2,318,334

of

No. of Deals 4 4

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Daily Summary as of 23/04/2014 TOURIST COMPANY OF NIGERIA PLC. Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027 Hotels/Lodging Totals

13

Current Price 17.00 8.90 42.00 9.00 230.00 1.11 0.52 1.64 4.20 112.49

7

Symbol CUTIX NIWICABLE

OIL ANDSummary GAS Totals Activity on Board EQTY

Quantity Traded 1,325,815 2,260,200 383,400 3,000 2,000 5,000 536,594 43,000 130,800 412,562 240,000 2,767,800 1,356,800 1,000 10,000 4,280 11,000 102,955 9,558,053

Page

3

Symbol JAPAULOIL

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL PLC. Daily Summary as ofNIGERIA 23/04/2014 Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027 Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

Value Traded 10,788,120.40 1,064,550,080.68 2,137,937,416.13 4 of 13

Current Price

Symbol TRIPPLEG

NATURAL RESOURCES NATURAL RESOURCES Totals

OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Energy Equipment and Services Totals

88

No. of Deals

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Quantity Traded 14,403,823 8,949,445 16,866,405 3,022,193 18,970,756 2,152,407 4,711,548 13,817,395 495,790 3,052,502

Current Price 0.80 0.95 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.57 0.50 2.43 0.79 0.50 0.53 0.58 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.70

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Quantity Traded 2,500

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

Value Traded 46,264,092.45

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol No. of Deals AIICO INSURANCE PLC. AIICO 30 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CONTINSURE 11 CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. CORNERST 5 GREAT NIGERIAN INSURANCE PLC GNI 2 GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. GUINEAINS 2 CONSOLIDATED HALLMARK INSURANCE PLC HMARKINS 1 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTENEGINS 20 LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. LAWUNION 1 MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MANSARD 10 N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NEM 15 NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. NIGERINS 2 OASIS INSURANCE PLC OASISINS 13 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE 6 STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC STACO 1 Daily Summary as of 23/04/2014 STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. STDINSURE 1 Printed 23/04/2014 15:12:27.027 UNIC INSURANCE PLC. UNIC 4 UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC UNITYKAP 2 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC UNIVINSURE 2 WAPIC INSURANCE PLC WAPIC 71 Daily Summary (Equities)

Symbol EKOCORP UNIONDAC

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC.

799,700,358.07

Quantity Traded 10,783,672 46,048,208 143,274,144 Page

HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers EKOCORP PLC. UNION DIAGNOSTIC & CLINICAL SERVICES PLC

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DN as MEYER PLC. Daily Summary of 23/04/2014 Printed 23/04/2014 FIRST15:12:27.027 ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC. Building Materials Totals

Published by The NigerianWIRE StockAND Exchange NIGERIAN CABLE©PLC.

9,415,520

Current Price 1.03 23.20

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

Current Price

ICT Totals

13

Quantity Traded 1,154,685

No. of Deals 95 416 1,853

FINANCIAL SERVICES Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

No. of Deals 3

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking TotalsStock Exchange © Published by The Nigerian

on Board EQTY

ICT IT Services TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. IT Services Totals

Symbol

Daily Summary (ETP) Symbol NEWGOLD

No. of Deals 1 2

Current Price 2,011.00 17.70

Quantity Traded 30 510

Symbol

No. of Deals 3

Current Price

Page Quantity Traded 540

VETGRIF30 Daily Summary (ETP)

Value Traded 60,330.00 9,027.00 12 of 13 Value Traded 69,357.00

ETF Board Totals

3

540

69,357.00

ETP Activity Totals

3

540

69,357.00

50 WORLD | NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

South Korean mourns victims of capsized ferry

T

he altar of the memorial is a wall of white and yellow flowers and greens, surrounding photos of 47 students and teachers whose bodies have been identified after being recovered from the ferry Sewol. The temporary memorial opened yesterday in Ansan, the city

south of Seoul that has taken the brunt of the pain from the ferry sinking last week that left 302 people dead or missing.

At the site, in the auditorium of the Olympic Memorial Museum, visitors walked past a line of wreaths sent from across the country and placed white chry-

santhemums on the altar. A big screen on the left of the altar showed pictures of students, one face after another, all in school uniforms, while another screen on the right showed a stream of text messages from the public expressing condolences. Danwon High School’s junior class was aboard the

A woman pays tribute in Ansan, at a temporary group memorial altar for victims of capsized passenger ship, Sewol, yesterday.

PHOTO: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

Iran replaces prisons chief after Evin incident

I

ran’s judiciary has replaced the country’s prisons chief after reports of violence against political prisoners during a routine inspection in Evin Prison, media reports said yesterday.

But Gholam Hossein Ismaili, who denies any wrongdoing in the events that unfolded on April 17, has been appointed to a senior post as head of the justice department in the capital.

According to opposition websites, several inmates at the notorious Section 350 of Evin, located in northern Tehran, were beaten after scuffles broke out at a cell block, with some of them seriously hurt and taken to hospital.

Iranian officials dismiss the accounts as inaccurate, claiming it was the prisoners who resisted an inspection and started a fight with the guards.

Judiciary spokesman and prosecutor general, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, yesterday said Ismaili’s reassignment “had nothing to with what happened in Section 350”, the ISNA news agency reported. He said the decision was taken “40 to 50 days ago, based on merit”.

Ismaili was replaced by Asghar Jahangir, considered a close figure to judiciary chief

Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani who yesterday defended the actions of the prison authorities.

“The inspections (at Evin)… were routine and part of legal duties. No misdeed was carried out,” Larijani said. The chief judge also warned there would be no tolerance for opposition groups using similar tactics to “disseminate lies and disrupt national security”, the Fars news agency reported.

Ismaili appeared on a state television on Tuesday night, strongly denying misconduct among security personnel and saying the incident at Evin had been blown out of proportion by foreign media for propaganda purposes.

On Tuesday morning, dozens of family members of the prisoners had protested near President Hassan Rouhani’s compound, demanding that he respond to the reports of mistreatment. Rouhani is a self-declared moderate who promised greater accountability from government after taking office in August.

Amnesty International has expressed concern about the Evin incident, reporting that 100 prison guards, dressed in riot gear, entered Section 350.

ferry from Incheon port to the southern tourist island of Jeju.

About 250 of the students are dead or missing. “They are the same age as my grandchildren,” said 73-year-old Bae So-ja as she wiped tears from her eyes with a handkerchief. She was one of the first to pay condolences at the memorial.

Visitors to the memorial received black fabric patches bearing the Chinese character for “condolence” to pin on the left side of their chests. They bowed in silence and a few people bowed down formally, lowering their heads and bodies to the floor. By noon, the line of mourners stretched to the street, many of them in black suits and black dresses.

“This was the only thing I could do for the students,” said Lee Ae-ri, who lives in another city about a half-hour drive away.

“I can’t stay long inside because I feel like tearing up.”

A few blocks from the memorial, the high school was quiet.

Classes normally would have begun by now, but only a few

students were there yesterday. They were invited to visit counselors and psychiatrists there to discuss their grief.

Notes and messages to missing teachers and students are posted on walls, stairs, doors and windows. Some left cookies, soda cans and bread on window panes. Inside a classroom, a few bouquets of white flowers were placed on empty desks. “Our Jung-hoon is a nice kid,” read one message, left on a door. “Please.

Save him. If he won’t come back, please send him to a good place.”

Lee Seung-min, an 18-yearold senior, said students are “constantly watching the news and crying, and going back and forth from the school, placing chrysanthemums and crying, and unable to do anything.”

Seniors’ classes will begin today, and younger grades next week, including the 13 juniors who did not go on the ferry. It’s not clear when the 75 students who survived will return; most remain hospitalized, many for mental stress.

Rwandan President undecided for third term

R

wandan President Paul Kagame said on Tuesday it was too early to say whether he will seek a third term as head of the east African state, adding “whatever will happen, we’ll have an explanation.

“Articles in pro-government newspapers in recent years have raised the prospect of him staying on after his mandate expires in 2017, a move that would anger his critics and require a change to the constitution. “I have been asked when or whether I am going to leave office right from the time when I started. It is as if I am here just to leave. I’m here to do business on behalf of Rwandans,” Kagame told students and faculty after a speech at Tufts University near Boston.

“I don’t know what else I can

give you on that, but let’s wait and see what happens as we go.

Whatever will happen, we’ll have an explanation.” He was responding to a student’s question about how he imagined his political role in Rwanda after his term ends.

Kagame was touring universities around Boston to speak about the country’s recovery from its 1994 genocide, in which some 800,000 people were killed.

Kagame believes European powers played a role in triggering the conflict and that the international community failed to intervene to stop it. “What we learned is that people must be responsible for their own fate. If you wait for outsiders, you will just perish,” Kagame, rail thin and wearing a sharp suit and dark-framed eyeglasses, told

the audience.

He accused the “international community” of destabilizing neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo by allowing people who committed the Rwandan genocide to later escape into Congo’s eastern hills and giving them guns.

Millions have died in eastern Congo, home to myriad rebel groups, since the end of Rwanda’s genocide. Kagame came to power in 2000 after leading the Rwandan Patriotic Front to overthrow the 1994 government. He won democratic elections in 2003 and 2010. The constitution currently limits presidents to two seven-year terms. Kagame has previously brushed off speculation he could seek to stay on for another term.

Obama opens Japan trip

P

resident Barack Obama yesterday, opened a four country Asia tour aimed at reassuring allies in the region that the U.S. remains a committed economic, military and political partner that can serve as a counterweight to China’s growing influence.

The president kicked off his trip on an informal note, joining Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a famous Tokyo sushi restaurant with

hard-to-come-by reservations and a hefty price tag. Obama and Abe greeted each other warmly outside Sukiyabashi Jiro, the underground sushi restaurant run by 88-year-old Jiro Ono. The two leaders will hold more formal talks today, with Obama aiming to promote the U.S. as a committed economic, military and political partner.

But the West’s dispute with Russia over Ukraine threatens to cast a shadow over the presi-

dent’s sales mission.

Relations between neighbors, Russia and Ukraine remain tense nearly a week after both countries, the U.S. and the European Union inked an agreement in Geneva calling on Moscow to use its influence over pro-Russian forces to have them lay down their arms and end their occupation of government buildings in eastern Ukraine. Each side accuses the other of failing to uphold its end of the deal.

SPORT

AUTHORITATIVE VOICE IN GLOBAL SPORT

Did you know?

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/sports

ADEKUNLE SALAMI, DepUTY Editor, SPORTS

kunle.salami@newtelegraphonline.com adekunles@yahoo.com

thursday, aPRIL 24, 2014

That Roberto Baggio scored in the 88th minute against Nigeria in the second round of the World Cup to help Italy stave off elimination and scored the winner in extra time to help the Italians move on to the next round

Champions League

Mikel, Chelsea’s engine room -Kuffour

Mikel

l Mourinho also hails Eagles star Emmanuel Tobi

A

former Ghanaian international, Samuel Osei-Kuffour, has praised the impact of Super Eagles midfielder, Mikel Obi, in their goalless draw against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, stating that the Blues will surely miss him in the return leg.

Chelsea produced a battling defensive display to frustrate Atletico Madrid and CONTINUED ON PAGE 54

Indiscipline can ruin Eagles -Oparaku

Manu unhappy with Flying Eagles’ attack

Moyes’ sack: Man United share price rises

}p.52

}p.53

}p.54

Ujiri warned to steer clear of Brooklyn Ifeanyi Ibeh

T

oronto Raptors General Manager, Masai Ujiri, has been told to stay away from Brooklyn, New York when his side takes on Brooklyn Nets in Game Three of both sides’

best-of-seven playoffs series on Friday night.

Ujiri was recently fined $25,000 (about four million naira) by the National Basketball Association for using obscene language targeted at the Nets while attempting to

pump up Raptors fans prior to the first game of the series, which the Nets won 94-87.

And as the Raptors and Nets get set to take their playoff battle to Brooklyn’s Barclays Centre on Friday with their series tied at one-all,

Nets forward, Kevin Garnett, has sent out a not-so-welcoming message to the Nigerian.

“I don’t know if you can say ‘F Brooklyn’ and then come into Brooklyn,” Garnett said at the end of Game Two, which CONTINUED ON PAGE 54

51

52 SPORT

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Countdown to Fifa World Cup 49

Indiscipline can ruin Eagles -Oparaku

Days

To Go

Mercy Jacob

T

he Super Eagles have been advised to make discipline their watchword at the forthcoming World Cup which starts on June 12 in Brazil.

A former international, Mobi Oparaku, who stated this in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, said it was important to be disciplined at the Mundial.

The defender argued that every team strives to achieve focus at an event of such magnitude but it is difficult to do so when there is no discipline in the team.

Oparaku who was in the Nigerian team to the 1998 World Cup, noted that it was indiscipline that ruined the country’s chances in France.

He urged the players to see themselves as one family and adhere to the instructions of the technical crew, while they also take camp rules seriously.

The retired defender stressed that without distractions relating to indiscipline, the players would be focused on the task ahead of them with a singular mind.

He added, “Nigerians may not know the real reason Super Eagles failed in France ‘98 where we had an array of stars in the team; some of these players may shy away from the truth, but I was part and parcel of that team and I am speaking as an insider. We failed in France 98 as a result of indiscipline,” said Okparaku.

“The players refused to take corrections; everybody felt like superstars and wanted to display their skills to prove they were better than others. Everything just went down from there and we ended up having

Oparaku

a dismal outing, unable to meet the expectations of football-loving Nigerians.

“World Cup in France was a disaster so much so that I still agonise about the blunder we committed till this day. Unfortunately, the same mistake continues to be the bane of the Super Eagles up to this moment.”

Oparaku however, advised the current players not to follow the same path as it could ruin them at the World Cup in Brazil.

His words; “Experience has shown that most talented players are always undisciplined, while the disciplined ones are often not so talented making it difficult for the team to excel, this has been the bane of Nigerian football over the years. It the reason we have not been able to achieve much, but it is even worse in this generation. The problem in the team at the moment has its root in indiscipline.

“Indiscipline destroys a team, it

makes players to play without purpose and it can lead to early ouster from competitions. Unfortunately, we have more undisciplined players than disciplined ones in the Super Eagles team going to Brazil. That is why I want my friend and brother, Daniel Amokachi, the other members of the technical crew and the players themselves to beware of this destroyer called indiscipline before it destroys them in Brazil.”

The former Iwuanyawu Nationale player, who is currently a football manager, also stated that he refused to go into coaching because of the indiscipline in the game and the pressures associated with it.

He said; “It is common to see exinternationals after retiring from active football go into coaching, but I don’t see myself as somebody who can tolerate the indiscipline in football or be able to soak the pressure involved in coaching. There is more indiscipline in football than talent.

“Immediately I quit football, I returned to Nigeria and joined Nasarawa United, that was when the current Super Eagles assistant coach Daniel Amokachi was the coach of Nassarawa United. From there, I moved to Enyimba International of Aba. “But I decided to move into managing at the grassroots; the truth is that I cannot condone indiscipline, it puts me off. I find it difficult to manage it and I hate failure and you know you cannot rule out failure as a coach; football is all about winning and losing. My taking to grassroots

Keshi

football is to give back and also to fight the scourge of indiscipline that has crept into Nigerian football.”

Black Stars provisional squad leaked 50,000 England fans head to Brazil International Football Asso-

G

hana coach, Kwesi Appiah, has named Emmanuel Frimpong and Jeff Schlupp in his provisional squad for the World Cup in Brazil this summer, according to state-owned media, Ghana News Agency.

A trusted source told the GNA that Appiah named Leicester City’s Schlupp among the ten selected defenders of 30 man player list expected to be pruned to 23 for the competition.

Frimpong is among 12 midfielders expected to begin preparations on May 26, ahead of the World Cup; Ghana’s third in succession.

The GNA reports that Aduana Stars goalkeeper, Stephen Adams is the only localbased player in the team that includes four goalkeepers.

Also named in the squad is Italian Serie A side, Sassoulo’s Yussif Raman Chibsah. Making their return after months of absence are Anthony Annan and Isaac Vorsah.

Appiah is said to have presented the list to the Ghana Football Association ahead of the official submission to the global body, Federation of

ciation next month.

However, attempts to get a confirmation of the squad has proved futile as officials of the GFA are tight-lipped about who gets to make the squad.

Coach Kwasi Appiah, according to GFA sources was due to arrive in the country on Wednesday after touring some countries to watch his players play.

Ghana is drawn in Group G alongside, USA, Germany and Portugal.

Appiah

M

ore than 50,000 England football fans will be heading to Brazil for this summer’s World Cup, according to latest figures released by the football governing body FIFA. England fans have bought 53,387 match tickets for the tournament, which will be

held between June 12 and July 13.

Games will be played in 12 host cities, including Rio de Janeiro where two people were killed yesterday as violence spilled out onto the streets in the popular tourist area of Copacabana.

Fans from Brazil and the US have the greatest number of match tickets, while Ger many has been allocated 53,583, slightly more than England. France has received 31,608, Switzerland 17,298, Holland 14,741, Spain 12,985. Italy has the least at 9,539.

Rio slum violence breaks out ahead of World Cup

T

he death of a dancer allegedly killed by police in a Rio de Janeiro slum near Copacabana beach has sparked violent protests in the city, just weeks before it plays host to the opening game of the 2014 World Cup. The trouble began after angry residents demonstrated outside a police station, accusing officers of murdering professional dancer Douglas Rafael da Silva in the mistaken belief that he was a drug trafficker, reports the BBC. The situation soon spiralled out of control, with protesters slashing tyres

and setting cars alight.

Streets in the Pavao-Pavaozinho neighbourhood were blocked with burning barricades, and bystanders had to take cover when a shootout broke out between riot police and a local gang.

The Pavao-Pavaozinho area is one of many deprived neighbourhoods in Rio involved in a police “pacification” initiative to tackle drug traffickers and regain control of the favelas prior to this summer’s World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

“Unfortunately, innocent people are having to pay for this war between the police

and drug traffickers,” Tony Teizera from the Copacabana Residents’ Association told the BBC. Residents say the dancer had been trying to take cover from a shootout when police discovered him and, believing him to be a drug dealer, beat him to death.

Police told the AFP news agency that they believe the dancer may have died as a result of a fall.

As many as 2,000 people are killed by Brazilian police each year, according to Amnesty International. The circumstances surrounding the dancer’s death are still being investigated.

SPORT 53

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Sarcastic Mourinho Manu unhappy with Flying Eagles’ attack charged by FA over ...despite 3-0 win over Abuja College post-game comments Ifeanyi Ibeh

J

ose Mourinho, assistant manager Rui Faria and midfielder Ramires have been pulled-up for various offences as the Blues went down 2-1 to the Black Cats.

The Portuguese boss has been charged with misconduct following his sarcastic postmatch comments.

The FA said : “It is alleged that Mourinho’s comments constitute improper conduct, in that they call into question the integrity of the referee appointed to the above fixture and/or the integrity of Mr. Mike Riley, General Manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, and/ or the comments bring the

game into disrepute.”

Mourinho has until 6pm on Monday 28 April to respond to the charge.

Ramires has been charged with violent conduct following an elbow on Sebastian Larsson.

The incident wasn’t seen by the referee but was picked up by television cameras and the Brazilian has been punished retrospectively.

Ramires has until 6pm on Thursday 24 April to respond to the charge.

Blues assistant manager Faria has been charged with two counts of misconduct following his outrage at the decision to award a penalty against chelsea.

F

lying Eagles coach, Manu Garba, has expressed displeasure with his team’s forward line despite Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over Abuja Football College.

Goals from Alhassan Ibrahim, Ifeanyi Matthew and Wilfred Ndidi gave the Nigerian U-20 side a comfortable win over their Manu opponents in the friendly “I am not happy with match played at the FIFA Goal Project in Abuja, but the attack even though we coach Garba felt his attack- scored three goals. The moers performed below expec- bility upfront fell below extations against the Abuja- pectations, there were not based academy and has enough good runs in the atcalled on them to improve tack and our finishing could have been better,” he said. ahead of future games.

Battle for AFN N2m moves to Ilorin

Award for Tinubu, wife thrills ATSCA Charles Ogundiya

T

he Asiwaju Tinubu Sports Club of Africa has commended the leadership of Nigeria Professional Wrestling Federation for recognising the good work of some notable Nigerians at its gala nite on March 9, held at the New Gymnasium Hall of National Institute of Sports, National Stadium, Lagos.

The former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, received Governor Emeritus/Leadership award while his wife, Senator OluremiTinubu was honoured with the Best Senator/Good Governance award.

In a release signed by the president of the club, Primate Ayoola Omonigbehin, ATSCA described the honour as a deserving one for people that have served the country and are still serving the country.

ATSCA further commended the president of the federation, Prince Hammed Olanrewaju, for his foresight in organising such award to show the whole world that good work pays.

Other awardees on the night, were the Chairman of Lagos APC, Chief Henry Ajomale, who was honoured with Peace Maker award while all the local government chairmen in the state bagged Inter-Continental Good Governance and Peace awards.

“The midfield and defence did well, but there was a momentary loss of concentration in the defence very late in the game, which almost resulted in a goal against us. But overall, it was a good match against a very good team,” stressed Garba.

The Flying Eagles took the lead as early as the third minute through Ibrahim, who fired home from a very tight angle.

Two minutes from half time, Matthew doubled the Flying Eagles advantage when he picked his spot and fired home a low shot from outside the goal area, before Ndidi made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute.

Charles Ogundiya

T A Nigerian boxer (right) in action at the London 2012 Olympics

Adebutu U-20 football competition gets date

T

he final of Ladi Adebutu U-20 football competition has been scheduled to hold on Sunday, April 27, at the former police college ground, Iperu Remo, Ogun State.

The annual competition, tagged Ladi Adebutu Cup, is sponsored by Oladipupo Adebutu as part of his efforts aimed at developing grassroots soccer within the Ogun East

district is in its second edition with teams from Remo and Ijebu divisions featuring in the competition.

According to a statement from the Media Officer of the tournament, Tope Oyekan, Remo Football Academy and Zuma Football Club, both from Iperu Remo will slug it out in the final match, starting from 4:00pm.

op athletes in the country will this weekend inside the University of Ilorin Sports Complex, Kwara State, continue the battle for the N2m price money of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria’s premier event, the Golden League.

AFN Vice President, Tunde Abdulkareem, and other officials are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the second leg of the event is a huge success, following the maiden leg of the competition which was held in Abuja two weeks ago.

According to the Technical Director of the federation, Navy-Commodore-Nesiama, the Abuja edition produced some athletes that have already qualified for the share of the money as the federation looks forward to discovering more qualifiers at the Ilorin event.

Yussuf Alli is expected to function as the technical delegate of the meet, while Prof Olatunde Makanju, Mr. Ado Maude, Mr. Seigha Porbeni and Dr. Ken Anugweje will serve in the same capacity in subsequent editions in Akure, Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Benin respectively.

TURNING ‘A man told me I was too fragile to run’ POINT

Okagbare

Emmanuel Tobi

A

bout 12 years ago when I was training for a competition, I put in my best and made the team for the competition. It was a local school sport competition in Asaba, Delta State where I finished in 3rd position in the 100m race and I was so sure I made the team that time.

There was this particular lady who for some reasons did not like me and she insisted that I should be dropped from the team because she was actually pushing for her girl who was picked to replace me.

I felt so bad about the injustice and wept for many days because I was devastated. After the event, I told my coach that none of those athletes will beat me again, I intensified my training.

There was also this man who told me that I couldn’t run saying I was too fragile but I took up the challenge, and ever since I have been unstoppable.

The next year I made the team for the school sports competition where

I won two gold medals in long jump and triple jump and a silver medal in high jump.

The same year, I went to my first National Sports Festival in Abuja tagged ‘Abuja 2004’ where I competed with the senior national team and I came second in the long jump.

Even when we went for camping, I was very young, so they said I was too young to go for the festival.

The current President of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria, Solomon Ogba, who was then the Delta State Sports Commissioner, instructed the coaches to allow me stay with the team so they could train me for the U-18 junior team.

Chief Ogba’s singular move gave me the inspiration to prove all those who never believed in my ability wrong, because while I was in the team, I was taught the rudiments of competing in triple jump which I later mastered.

I won a bronze medal in triple jump and I broke a national record in triple jump in the 2004 festival.

That was my first turning point because it was there and then that I

believed I could make headway in life with athletics.

When someone says you cannot do something and you are able to prove the person wrong, the confidence and belief will naturally come.

Before that year, I was everywhere, running, jumping and doing all kinds of field events, but after that incident, I took to jump as my specialty.

My turning point in sprint came when my coach in America said I can run. I had a girl in training then who said there was no way I could beat her.

Similarly, my coach also told me that I am not going to jump but run, but I retorted that I don’t even know how to come off the block. He said he would teach me for two days which he did and in my first 100m, I ran 11.2 seconds and ever since I have been sprinting. The message is that if people try to put you down, try and show them that you can do it. Today, glory be to God, I am what I am through the same sport where some people said I couldn’t make it because I was too young or too fragile. I give thanks to God.

54 SPORT | EURO FOOTBALL

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

World Cup chance excites Ameobi Emmanuel Tobi

S

uper Eagles and Newcastle United striker Shola Ameobi has expressed optimism on his chances of playing for Nigeria at the Brazil World Cup while hoping for regular football at his Premier League club.

The 32-year-old scored his first EPL goal of the season in Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Swansea City but believes the goal has inspired him ahead of the World Cup.

“I just want to do everything I can for Newcastle, but from a World Cup point of view, then obviously the more I play, the better my chances,” Ameobi told The Northern Echo.

The striker, who represented England at Under-21 level before switching allegiance to Nigeria in 2009, has expressed his desire to play all of Newcastle’s remaining games in his efforts to reach Brazil.

Ameobi said, “My focus is on playing for Newcastle because if I

Flying Eagles skipper tips Falcons for glory

F

lying Eagles skipper, Musa Mohammed, has tipped the Nigerian senior women team, the Super Falcons, to excel in the African Women Championship billed for Namibia Obviously impressed with intensity of girls training and their commitment to the training drills of their coaches, Mohamed who watched along with his Flying Eagles teammates at the FIFA Goal Project pitch on Wednesday said the girls would overun their Cameroonian counterparts when they meet in a friendly next week.

“I like what I saw this morn-

ing (Wednesday). I am impressed with the way the girls play. I like the high spirits in the team and I believe they would beat Cameroon and Rwanda easily if they keep on working hard.

“I will continue to pray for the Falcons to win in Africa and do well at the world stage. I believe this team will bring glory to Nigeria because they have been working hard and the players are very committed” he stated The Besiktas of Turkey defender also urged the Falcons to also pray for the Flying Eagles.

do that, then hopefully everything else will take care of itself.

“Make no mistake, I want to play games for this football club and help us do well. That is my priority.

“The World Cup is the World Cup and any player worth his salt would want to be there. But if I’m not playing for Newcastle then there’s a very good chance that I won’t be in the Nigeria squad Ameobi either.”

Ujiri warned to steer clear of Brooklyn CONTINUED FROM PAGE 51

Raptors won 100-95 to record their first postseason victory since 2008. “So we’re about to see what it’s like.”

Garnett’s teammate, Paul Pierce, took a subliminal approach in his response as he pretended not to know Ujiri, who was named 2013 NBA Executive of the Year during his time at Denver Nuggets.

“I’m shocked Bryan Colangelo would make such a comment,” quipped Pierce in an interview with the New York Daily News.

When told that Ujiri replaced Col-

angelo, the Raptors’ former GM, last summer, Pierce added; “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Irrespective of the comments from Garnett and Pierce, the Raptors generally stood behind the popular Nigerian.

“We have his back,” said Raptors forward, Amir Johnson, according to the New York Post. “I’m with him 100 per cent so if he said ‘f ‘em,’ I say ‘f ‘em.’”

Raptors coach, Dwane Casey, also said; “That’s Masai. That’s why our team plays like that. He’s a fiery guy.

That should represent how we feel.”

Moyes’ sack: Man United share price rises

Moyes

D

Falcons celebrating after scoring a goal in one of their previous matches

Mikel, Chelsea’s engine room -Kuffour CONTINUED FROM PAGE 51

leave their Champions League semifinal tie open ahead of next week’s return leg at Stamford Bridge with Mikel expected to miss the London match due to yellow card accumulation.

Kuffour who played over 250 official matches for Bayern Munich, winning a total of 17 major titles hailed the versatility of Mikel whom he described was the engine room of Chelsea in the match against Atletico.

“Mikel was my man of the match because he was key in the middle of the pack. His impact was so massive as he combined well with the defenders.

“At a time in the game, he played as the central allowing David Liuz to move forward and I think Chelsea will miss his impact but with Mourinho, anything can happen,” Kuffour said on a live telecast.

Meanwhile, Chelsea coach, Jose Mourinho, has also commended Mikel for playing to instructions during their game against Atletico Madrid.

‘Mikel, Lampard and Torres were immense. Everybody did a great job. A tired David Luiz, after playing in midfield, stepped back and played in central defence for the last 20-25 minutes, which wasn’t easy. For Ashley to play this type of game after so many games not playing was amazing. Every player gave ev-

erything and I’m obviously very pleased.’

Mourinho will also be shorn of the services of Frank Lampard who will miss the game through suspension after picking up a second-half booking.

There was further bad news as both Petr Cech and John Terry were forced out of the game with injuries. Cech was replaced by Mark Schwarzer early on while Terry limped off later after appearing to land awkwardly.

On a more positive note, the Blues were strong defensively, nullifying the threat of an Atletico side that went into the game top of La Liga and as the only side yet to lose a game in this season’s Champions League.

avid Moyes’s sacking by Manchester United has seen their share price soar to its highest level since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.

United’s stock rose by almost six per cent to $18.78 (£11.12) on the New York Stock Exchange, just over three hours after trading opened at 2.30pm BST. Monday’s news that Moyes was set to be dismissed prompted a slump in the value of United’s shares but official confirmation of his departure and Ryan Giggs’s appointment as caretaker manager led to a dramatic surge by more than a dollar.

That placed the overall value of the club at more than $3 billion (£1.78bn), £100m (£59m) more than Moyes’s final day in charge.

The last time United’s share price closed above $18 was on May 10, shortly after Ferguson announced his retirement following more than 26 years at the helm.

RESULTS U-17 WAFU CUP Nigeria

2-0 Mali

NIGERIA PREMIER LEAGUE Dolphins 1-0 Rangers Int’l 2-1 Nembe City 1-1 El-Kanemi 1-0 Kaduna Utd 1-2 Nasarawa Utd 1-0 Giwa FC 1-0 Sunshine Stars 1-0 Enyimba Int’l 3-0

Warri Wolves Abia Warriors Heartland Crown FC Sharks FC Gombe Utd Akwa United FC Taraba Lobi Stars

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Sanctity of Truth

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Louis Achi Abuja

A

significant shift emerged yesterday at the NICON Luxury Hotel venue of National Conference when the Committee on Political Parties and Electoral Matters unanimously adopted the position that all defectors, including the executive must lose their seats when they crosscarpet to other political parties.

The committee also unanimously agreed that the use of consensus arrangement by political parties in choosing candidates for elective posts is inimical to true democratic practice and should be jettisoned.

Before now, defecting elected executives are exempted from this rule by the subsisting Electoral Act 2011as Amended.

Though still at the committee work stage, this position is seen to be a strong signal to intending defectors waiting in the wings.

Meanwhile, co-chairman of the committee, Senator Iyochua Ayu who coordinated the proceedings along with Senator Ken Nnamani held that the lack of a structured method of funding political parties has enabled some governors attempt take-over of the parties.

Switching to reform

NEWS 55

All defectors must lose seats – Political Parties Committee of the electoral system, Ayu stated the committee can only progress genuinely in its assignment if the secretaria provides it with copies of the electoral reform report by the Justice Muhammed Uwais committee.

His words: “We are asking the secretariat to give us the Uwais Electoral Reform report. I do

l No exemption for elected executives l Selection by consensus to be dropped not know why we should be seeking a fundamental document that will help us do the work. We cannot be groping in the dark nor are we expected to reinvent the will. “ All committee mem-

bers who spoke on adoption of consensus candidates by parties condemned the idea. According to them, it has almost ruined party internal democracy in the country.

They agreed that rec-

ommendations should be made to discourage the practices through legal sanctions.

Senator Ken Nnamani described the use of consensus, concessions and caucus as the height of

fraud.

According to him, parties must be made to adhere strictly to the Electoral Act and the constitution which does not recognize consensus.

“Everybody must surrender to use of voting to resolve electoral issues. If we stop these practice we would have restored the internal democracy in our parties, “ he said.

Kalifa Yusuf, a committee member held that consensus was doing a lot of damage to internal democratic practice of parties in Nigeria.

L-R: Members of the Committee on Civil Society of the National Conference, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin; Comrade Isa Aremu, and Mr. Iliya Danga, during the Committee’s meeting at Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO:TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN.

Confab: Tempers flare over resource control, derivation formula Onwuka Nzeshi

ernment as fundamental elements of true federalism.

Adebanjo stated unequivocally that the resources found on any land belonged to the owners of that land as of right.

He took a swipe at those who want the status quo to remain and reminded them that it was the aberration of military rule that transferred the resources to the federal government.

He warned that if the various parts of the country wants to contin-

ue to live together, they must respect the rights of one another.

He canvassed a graduated return of the derivation formulae to its original 50 per cent over a period of five to ten years.

Dr Tunji Brathwaite renewed his call for devolution of powers to the federating states, zones or regions. He said that power devolution and confederacy would lay to rest the issue of resource ownership and control.

Adedeji said the country needed to be

Repeal all laws instituting, funding religious courts - CAN

Lateef Ibrahim

Louis Achi

Vice-ChancelFoformer lor of the University Ilorin and delegate

Why Obasanjo’s 2005 national conference failed, by Oloyede

ABUJA

F

or the second consecutive day, tempers flared again at the sitting of the Committee on Power Devolution as delegates canvassed various positions on the contentious issues of resource control and derivation principle.

It was a discussion that pitched delegates of the Southern region against their counterparts from the Northern region.

It almost degenerated into a shouting match as

Abuja

T

he umbrella body of Christians in the country, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has formulated a strong case for the revocation of all laws establishing and funding religious courts in the country.

In a position paper presented to the Committee on Religion of the National Conference, CAN held that government should make new

both groups took rather extreme positions.

While the South-South delegates spearheaded the agitation for total resource control, the North wanted the status quo maintained, claiming that all the resources found across Nigeria constitutionally belonged to the federal government.

However, there were some delegates from the South West and South East zones who toed the middle course and canvassed for an increase in the derivation formula to compensate the resource

provisions in the constitution to permit each religion that needed religious courts to establish and fund such only for its own members.

According to the Christian body, if the government fails to change it as it was presently in the constitution, it will not hesitate to establish and fund Ecclesiastical Courts for Christians as counterpart to Sharia.

In another move, it urged the ongoing conference to recommend to the government to

rich zone and keep the country together.

The southern position was articulated in separate presentations by elder statesman, Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Second Republic presidential candidate, Dr Tunji Brathwaite, Asiwaju Gbadegesin Adedeji and Chief Asara Asara, a royal father from Bayelsa State.

Adebanjo gave a historical perspective to the issue, recalling how the 50 per cent derivation was instituted in the 1950s along with the regional system of gov-

return to its owners all Christian Mission Schools compulsorily taken over by Government in 1972 with full financial grants for their rehabilitation.

Also calling on the Conference to recommend at the end of the sitting to the government to abolish all separatist educational policies, practices and curriculum, CAN urged the government to ensure that there was equality of treatment for all religions in all matters at all times.

Abuja

to the on-going National Conference in Abuja, Professor Ishaq Oloyede yesterday gave reasons why the 2005 National Political Reforms Conference, organized by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo failed, warning that the present conference should avoid the mistakes of the last one.

Prof. Oloyede, who was a co-Secretary of the 2005 Conference

held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, pointed out that the previous conference failed simply because members of the then National Assembly were not carried along.

He, however, dismissed the claim in some quarters that it was the issue of tenure extension for the then President Obasanjo that made the recommendations of the said conference to be rejected.

restructured and power devolved to the zones, adding that a substantial percentage of proceeds of resources found in any region should be retained in the region for a transitional period of ten years while every region prepared for total resource control.

However, the North argued that the quantum of resources currently going to the South-South was already so much that the people of region ought to be satisfied by now and cease to demand for more.

According to the Oloyede, who is one of the delegates representing Muslim Leaders, “It (the 2005 Conference) failed because the National Assembly was not carried along, pure and simple.

“Because the National Assembly that had the powers was not convinced of what we were doing, therefore when the President (Obasanjo) presented it to them, they just dumped it.

World Record

On Marble But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.

Sanctity of Truth

– Khaled Hosseini

w w w. new tel eg rap ho nl i ne. co m

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha THURSday, APRIL 24, 2014

July 9, 2013, Australia’s Paralympic gold medallist, Michael Milton, completed the 42.9km Gold Coast Marathon on crutches with a time of 5 hours 28 minutes and 59 seconds, to break the previous Guinness world record for a marathon on crutches.

N150

Rebased economy: Perception and reality

S

elf deception is an attitude that starts with an individual or an institution when reality is becoming a mirage, caused by a mindset that takes flight from practicality.

At the initial stage, it is manageable but when it blossoms, it becomes uncontrollable. If it involves an individual, he or she becomes alienated from reality.

If an institution or a country is involved, it is even worse as those in the system may eventually become frustrated and impoverished.

Students of history know the vastness, capacity and military mights of Ottoman and Roman Empires. Their capabilities can be compared with the strength and power of the Biblical King Ahasuerus who ruled over 127 provinces (today’s countries) from India to Ethiopia. The ‘almighty’ Great Britain even ‘conquered’ the United States (U.S.) and many countries in Asia and Africa. Today, the reality is that Ottoman and Roman Empires have become extinct and Great Britain, a shadow of its former self. At least in European economy, Britain cannot withstand Germany’s might.

The story of Nigeria is that of a country that is so blessed by God to the extent that pitiably, it has used this blessing to impoverish its citizens.

A country that cannot manage its God-given human and natural resources, I think the prayer from patriots now should be ‘may Nigeria not end up like Ottoman and Roman Empires’.

Nigeria is yet to become a shadow of itself but it may be, if leaders don’t put on their thinking caps now.

I am not an economist but I am not stupid. I know my right from left and I know that Nigeria should, indeed, be the giant of Africa. In everything.

This country has all the elements of state power that should make it great – size, qualitative and quantitative population, geographical location, mineral resources etc.

From the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) just released, Nigeria’s GDP catapulted from $262 billion to $510 billion. This is an increment of 94.6 per cent, putting Nigeria ahead of South Africa’s GDP ($370.3).

Surprisingly, some are still arguing that Nigeria is trailing South Africa’s $578.6 billion and Egypt’s $537.8 billion.

An important fact I deduced from this rebasing is that it was a practical statistical calculation to put our GDP

TALKING TOUGH GABRIEL AKINADEWO gabyfola@hotmail.com - 08023010222 (sms only)

growth into perspective and shape our economic future.

By presenting the real picture of the size of the country’s economy and including critical sectors such as telecommunications, information technology, movie industries which were not considered when the last rebasing was done in 1990, Nigeria is now world’s 26th largest economy.

This economic ranking has the potential of attracting more investments into the country, which will eventually improve living standards because since the last rebasing was conducted 24 years ago, strides have been made in various sectors of the economy. In essence, we are telling the world that Nigeria is a good investment destination.

Honestly, Nigeria is big in everything and that is why I’m livid anytime some commentators compare our economy to that of Ghana.

I always regard it as an insult because in size, population, economy and other indices, Ghana is not even up to the size of Nigeria’s South-West.

But there is a wide gap between perception and reality because the difference between the size of an economy and the welfare of the citizens can, at times, be too obvious for all to see.

For example, what do we say about the per capita GDP ratio of $12,000 for a South African compared to $3,000 (or less) for a Nigerian? In essence, I still cannot see the connection between this $510 billion GDP and the development of the citizens. All the statistics will only make sense to them if they see bread and butter on their tables.

Is this not a case of building a skyscraper on a sand? Even with the $510 billion GDP, where is the intra-city rail service, potable water, good healthcare system, affordable education, housing, security and infrastructural development?

How does this rebasing translate to real development of individuals making up this country? Will the world not

Finance Minister, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala

laugh that a $510 billion economy cannot guarantee five hours of uninterrupted electricity supply daily?

I won’t just dismiss this rebasing with a wave of the hand. I see it as a wake-up call but lovers of this country should be concerned with how to utilise the statistics unleashed on us by the new GDP. A friend told me last week that the condition of Nigerians in 1990 when the last rebasing was done was even better than what Nigerians are going through today.

What we need to do is to put on our thinking caps and ensure that this economy works.

For any economy to be strong and buoyant, it must be a force in petrochemicals, steel and power. Nigeria is still lagging behind in these three. This import-driven economy that we are operating cannot help the development of this country.

Various sectors of the economy must be revived. An example is how the liberalisation of the telecoms sector has helped in the growth of the economy with over 130 million Nigerians

clutching telephone sets.

What should worry the government is that despite this $510 billion GDP, there are millions of unproductive Nigerians. If all the productive Nigerians are engaged by relevant authorities, are we not going to talk in the range of $600 billion or $700 billion GDP? In agriculture alone, if Israel, whose size is not more than that of Lagos State, can export food, then, Nigeria can feed the world. But what are we doing in this area to galvanise everybody and ensure that Nigeria becomes a huge destination for other countries to get food from?

On paper, Nigeria is the giant of Africa. In reality, is this so?

What is the government doing to revive the manufacturing sector? If power is not stable, is the attempt to revive manufacturing not a wild-goose chase?

The manufacturing industry plays a vital role in the economy of any country, utilising raw materials and human resources in the production of physical or tangible products to satisfy the citizenry.

Obviously, no country will be a force to reckon with in the comity of nations if the manufacturing sector is neglected.

For you to be convinced that we are not there yet, as you are reading this piece, remove the handkerchief in your pocket and look at the label. What do you see? ‘Made in China’.

If we still import handkerchiefs in 2014, when are we going to start manufacturing vehicles?

OmoBaba

GOVT SHOULD EXTEND CONFAB TIME - Delegates

– N4m monthly is no joke!

Printed and Published by Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Ltd: Head Office: No. 1A, Ajumobi Street, Off ACME Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja-Lagos.

Tel: +234 1-2219496, 2219498. Abuja Office: Orji Kalu House, Plot 322, by Banex Junction, Mabushi, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Advert Hotline: 01-8541248, Email: info@newtelegraphonline.com Website: www.newtelegraphonline.com ISSN 2354-4317 Acting Editor: AYODELE OJO.