Binder1monday, march 24, 2014

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Monday, March 24, 2014 Vol. 1 No. 34

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Nigeria’s most authoritative newspaper in politics and business

FG to fight oil theft, others with $1bn

ALISON-MADUEKE’S N10BN JET MAINTENANCE Scandal

Reps summon NNPC, FAAN, NAMA, NCAA Philip Nyam Abuja

Page } 8

The House of Representa-

tives will next week commence investigation into allegations of financial recklessness amounting

to N10 billion on the charter of a private jet against the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani

Alison-Madueke.

This is just as the Public Accounts Committee has written invitation let-

ters to the chief executives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

Confab: Resource control divides North, South

lJunaid Muhammed, Yadudu, Clark, Ikedife, Darah, Braimoh in verbal war lYouth Council sues Anyim, Adoke, Kutigi over representations

T

STALEMATE

5 QUESTIONS FOR

he ongoing National Conference is set for stormy sessions as northern delegates have concluded plans to shut down a critical agenda the South will table at the confab.

A cross section of northern delegates, who spoke with New Telegraph yesterday, said they

Even before the commencement of the conference, delegates are fighting over resource control and state creation Ayodele Ojo, Onwuka Nzeshi and Tunde Oyesina

Interior minister, abba moro would 690,000 1. Why applicants be invited for interview to fill 4,556 slots, when shortlisting could have saved the day?

much was made in 2. How this exercise and where

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

did the money go?

Okorocha set to dump APC

it true that you 3. Issidelined the regulatory board in this gory exercise that cost 15 precious lives?

it worry you that 4. Does you sacked former

lConsiders APGA, PPA, PDP Onwuka Nzeshi Abuja

T

he romance between Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and the mainstream opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), appears to have gone sour as indications have emerged

INSIDE

News. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Metro . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Politics . . . . . . . . . . . .

Opinions. . . . . . . . . . .

Investigation . . . . . . .

Business . . . . . . . . . . .

Entrepreneur . . . . . . .

Sport. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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that he may soon dump the party.

New Telegraph authoritatively gathered that Okorocha was contemplating several options, including pitching his tent with the Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) or returning to the All Progressive

Lagos

CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

CGI Rose Uzoma over recruitment allegations, yet you have been involved in a monumental recruitment tragedy?

do you feel after the 5. How gruesome record of filling the 60,000 capacity Abuja Stadium with 68,000 job seekers?

President Goodluck Jonathan (left) in a handshake with Dutch Prime Minister, Mr. Mark Rutte, during his arrival at Cathuis House for a bilaterial meeting at The Hague, Netherlands... yesterday

Storm

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AT A GLANCE

NEWS

METRO

Boko Haram attacks Borno market, kills 17 Page 5

Decomposing bodies litter Ibadan ritual site Page 12 & 45

•Response to these questions

should be sent to: info@newtelegraphonline.com

BUSINESS

SPORT

US, UK wade into Nigeria’s war against oil thieves Page 25

FIFA 2014 World Cup: 10 young players to watch out for in Brazil Page 52

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Monday, March 24, 2014

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NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Conference: Resource control divides North, South delegates CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

will fight with their last blood to ensure that the resource control agenda of the South-South, state creation of the South-East and fiscal federalism of the South-West do not see the light of the day.

But prominent delegates from the SouthSouth have renewed their campaign to restructure Nigeria along the path of fiscal federalism.

The delegates which include former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, erudite scholar, Prof. Gordini Darah and Senator Yisa Braimoh, spoke with New Telegraph in separate interviews.

They said that the South-South would push vehemently for the restoration of true federalism in Nigeria.

The shutting down of resource control and any alteration to the present structure of government, especially state creation, are some of the issues the northern delegates last Thursday at a retreat

organised by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) agreed to kill at the confab.

The Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) is expected to meet tomorrow in Abuja to take a firm position on the matter.

A Northern governor told our correspondent that resource control and creation of another state would not see the light of the day. “The northern governors will meet tomorrow on our position. But I can assure you that resource control will never see the light of the day. Today, we have a situation whereby a state in the South-South receives from the federation account on monthly basis what about 10 states put together get. We are against the present situation, talk less of fully controlling the resources,” the second term governor told New Telegraph.

Convener, Concerned Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Business, Dr. Junaid Muhammed, told New Telegraph that resource

control and state creation will be dead on arrival.

His words: “Absolutely certain, we won’t support resource control. We will fight it with the last drop of blood. We know the history of revenue allocation in this country. That history did not begin in 1958 when oil was discovered in Oloibiri. There was a country before 1958 before the discovery of oil and there would be a country long after the oil has finished. So, the North is not going to support resource control” When asked why the North is rejecting resource control, Muhammed, who is a delegate representing Kano State, said: “What are the reasons why the South-South is in support of resource control? Go and find a lawyer that is conversant with International Law, he will tell you that you can claim as a component part of Nigeria only what is within the 12 nautical miles or 20 kilometres of our territorial waters. Beyond that, no state in Nigeria can claim

any other thing. They are claiming something belongs to them, how did they come by it?

“At a conference, a former minister of oil said wherever you have oil or any hydrocarbon, it is not from that area; it emanates from somewhere, sometimes thousands of kilometres away. The process of movement takes a long years. Were they in the Niger Delta a thousand years ago? There is something called Law of the Sea Convention, go and read it.

Who gave it to them? You can only claim ownership by Law. Go and see the Nigeria Constitution, go and see the Supreme Court judgement, AGF vs Abia and 35 state governments, there is a subsisting judgement on the matter.

Supreme Court decision is not a market place or beer parlour decision.”

Muhammed also stated that the North will vehemently oppose state creation as being canvassed by the South-East.

His words: “Please con-

vey this to every Igbo man on Nigerian soil that there won’t be state creation from this confab. No Igbo state or other state will be created. If the Igbo are claiming parity with the Yoruba, that since Yoruba has six states, they must have six states as well, they are talking nonsense.

“In the former structure of the country, we had the East, North and West.

The West has been spilt into six states, which we called the Yoruba states.

The East has been spilt into five Igbo states and six South South states, the two is 11 now. So, these people are talking about parity, they want to be equal with the Yoruba. There will never be another Igbo state again.”

Former National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and a delegate representing the North, Mr. Anthony Sani, said there is no way resource control can fly.

“If we insist on resource control, it will create wide

disparity in incomes among states and make us live as if we are in different continents. Mind you, narrowing of gaps in incomes is not only good politics but also good economics.”

The former ACF spokesman also justified the North’s opposition to state creation and regional system of government.

He said: “Regions with their states, police, etc, is reminiscent of confederal arrangement with weak centre that can presage split of the country. This should not be allowed. We said though creation of states has been developmental, we have reached a stage where they are not economically viable and have become mere cost centres. That is why any agitation for additional states be kept on hold until when we think they are absolutely necessary.

“The idea that creation of states should be based on equality of geopolitical zones without consideration for population C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 8

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Boko Haram attacks Borno market, kills 17

A

nother Boko Haram attack has again sent at least 17 persons to their early graves.

The casualties resulted from an explosion in a market in Nguro-Soye

village, Borno State late on Thursday. It is not clear yet whether the explosion was caused by rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) or improvised explosive devices (IED).

A police chief, Lawan Tanko, who disclosed this yesterday added that many more victims were wounded in the attack.

It was also learnt that nearby telecom towers

Imo governor set to dump APC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Grand Alliance (APGA) his former party.

He is also said to be considering joining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the event that the first two options fail.

It was learnt that Okorocha became disenchanted with APC following the poor acceptance of the party in Imo State and the South-East region.

The party encountered a major electoral misfortune during the last governorship election in Anambra State.

Okorocha dumped APGA in the wake of the merger of several opposition political parties to form APC last year.

As at the time he dumped APGA, the party on whose platform he was

elected governor in 2011, there were speculations that Okorocha was being groomed to pick the vice presidential ticket of the APC and become its arrow head in the South-East.

Okorocha, it was learnt, became disillusioned when he found out that APC was not also prepared to offer him the platform to actualise his vice presidential ambition.

In shopping for a new platform, it was learnt that Okorocha might find it difficult going back to APGA given the unceremonious

manner he left the party after his failed attempt to drag APGA into the APC merger project.

It is also unlikely that he will secure a place in the PDP because feelers showed that some hawks within the party in Imo State were not favourably disposed to having him in the ruling party.

Okorocha, according to our source, may probably end up with PPA, a party that is so far considered less controversial and neutral in the build up to the 2015 presidential election.

were destroyed by the insurgent thus shutting down communications in the area.

“An explosion in the market in Nguro-Soye killed 17 people,” Tanko told AFP, adding that “as in previous attacks, it is the handiwork of Boko Haram insurgents.”

Residents who fled the village to the state capital, Maiduguri put the death toll at nearly 30.

“They (attackers) fired RPG on the market and opened fire, killing 29 people,” said a trader, Hamisu Ibrahim.

“Many more people were injured in the attack and the stampede that followed,” he added.

Nguro-Soye is close to the town of Bama where 60 people were killed last month in coordinated bomb and gun attacks by Boko Haram that burnt

half the town.

According to Human Rights Watch, about 700 people have been killed in more than 40 incidents this year.

“There is an ongoing military operation in the area (Borno) against the group and the attack was likely in frustration over their losses,” Tanko said.

“It is not established whether the explosion …was as a result of planted IED or RPG,” he added.

A wave of attacks on education targets, including the slaughter of boarding school students asleep in their beds, has attracted international condemnation.

Borno State has shut all public secondary schools indefinitely after 43 students were shot and hacked to death by suspected Boko Haram gunmen last month.

32o 23o Storm

ABUJA

36o 25o Partially cloudy

KANO

ENUGU

Sunny

L-R: Former Minister of Health, Professor ABC Nwosu; Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs, Chief Ben Ndi Obi; former Speaker, Anambra State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Anayo Nnebe; former Minister of Women Affairs, Iyom Josephine Anenih; Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano; former governors of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife; and Dame Virgy Etiaba; former President, Ohaneze Ndi Igbo, Dr, Dozie Ikedife and Chairman, Ohaneze Anambra State, Chief Chris Eluemunoh, during a courtesy visit to the new governor of Anambra State by the state delegates to the National Conference...at the weekend

35o 24o

Reps summon NNPC, FAAN, NAMA, NCAA

39o 21o

Thunder storm

IBADAN

9o 2o Very cloudy

CALABAR

0o -4o Storm

MAIDUGURI

43o 26o Sunny

ONITSHA

36o 24o Storm

FLIGHT SCHEDULE FIRST NATION AIRWAYS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06.50; 09:30; 11:45; 16:00 (SAT) 06:50; 11:45 (SUN) 11:45; 16:00 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 11:30; 13:40;18:30 (SAT) 09:00; 13:40 (SUN) 13:40; 18:30 LAGOS-PORT-HARCOURT (MON-FRI) 14:45 (SAT) 16:15 (SUN) 14:45 PORT-HARCOURT-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:50 (SAT) 18:20 (SUN) 16:50 AEROCONTRACTORS LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 06:50; 13:30; 16:30; 19:45 (SAT/SUN) 12:30; 16:45 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 07:30; 13:00; 19:00 (SAT) 12:30 (SUN) 15:30 MEDVIEW AIRLINES LAGOS-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 07:00; 08:50; 12:00; 15:30 (SAT) 10:00; 15:00 (SUN) 17:30; 18:30 ABUJA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 09:00; 14:00, 15:00; 18:30 OVERLAND AIRWAYS LAGOS-ILORIN (MON-FRI) 07:15 LAGOS-IBADAN (MON-FRI) 7:00 IBADAN-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:00 IBADAN-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 16:30 ILORIN –ABUJA (MON-FRI) 08:30 ILORIN –LAGOS (MON-FRI) 17:00 ABUJA-ASABA (MON-FRI) 10:00 ASABA-ABUJA (MON-FRI) 14:15 ASABA-LAGOS (MON-FRI) 11:30 LAGOS-ASABA (MON-FRI) 13:00 ABUJA-ILORIN 16:00 ABUJA-IBADAN 15:00

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST PORT HARCOURT

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

(NNPC), the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigeria Aviation Management Agency (NAMA) to testify before it.

The chief executives will receive the letters today.

“The committee is likely to have the minister appear before it next week and the other stakeholders too. I am aware that NNPC, FAAN, NAMA, NCAA and

the owners of the jet are due to be invited. I may not give you the exact date but I can confirm to you that the investigation will start next week” The invitation of the three aviation agencies, the source said, was informed by the need to obtain the authentic travel log of the 850 Challenger jet from them while the NNPC is due to explain its alleged involvement in the hiring of the jet.

Attempts to get the Chairman of the Public

Accounts Committee, Hon. Adeola Solomon Olamilekan, to confirm the story were unsuccessful as calls to him were not answered just as text messages sent to him were not replied.

But Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Zakari Mohammed, confirmed that the committee may not be able to sit on the matter this week. Mohammed, who is also a member of the Public Accounts Com-

mittee disclosed that the committee is on oversight this week beginning from Wednesday so it could be true that the N10 billion jet maintenance investigation would start next week.

“Although, I’m a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I can’t tell you categorically when the investigation would start.

But what I know is that we are on oversight from Wednesday to Friday this week, so, your source may be right after all”

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

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NEWS

Monday, March 24, 2014

photo news

Army chief to troops: No breathing space for suspected terrorists Emmanuel Onani

T L-R: First Vice President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Debola Osibogun; Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking and Finance, Senator Isa Galaudu; President, CIBN, Dr. Segun Aina and Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim during the foundation stone laying ceremony of Bankers House in Abuja …at the weekend.

PHOTO:TIMOTHYIKUOMENISAN

he Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah, has enjoined troops prosecuting the war against terrorism in the Northeast, to ensure that the wanton killings and general mayhem perpetrated by suspected terrorists, were halted forthwith.

A statement signed yesterday by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Maj. General Chris Olukolade, said the Army Chief gave the charge at the weekend in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. He

was addressing officers in Giwa Barracks, as part of his operational tour "on the deployment and disposition of troops in the theatre of counterterrorist campaign covering Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States."

The statement added that Gen. Minimah, in the course of the operational tour, warned the troops against indiscipline or mishandling of arms and ammunition in their possession.

The COAS, however, "commended the troops for their resilience in the on-going offensive against

the terrorists, assuring them that all necessary efforts were being made to ensure that troops did not lack any requirement that is considered vital to accelerating the success of the mission."

While charging senior officers on the need to continually provide purposeful leadership to the gallant troops, the COAS said: "All the training and experience already imparted in all military personnel are now necessary and required to ensure that the entire effort at curbing the menace of terrorism succeeds as planned."

Fayemi kicks-off re-election campaign, cautions against violence

E L-R: Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade; former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), and the Chairman, Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Lagos State, Comrade Ayodele Adewale, during the presentation of the award of “Emerging Leader 2013 in Nigeria” to Comrade Ayodele Adewale, at the second Oba Okunade Sijuwade Annual Leadership Lecture & Awards, held in Osun State …at the weekend.

L-R: Chief Executive Officer Fifth Gear Consulting, Niyi Adesanya, Winner Nigeria Idol Season 2, Mercy Chinwo, State Coordinator Nigeria Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Lagos State, Mrs. Adenike Adeyemi and Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards Trailblazer Winner 2014 and Film Producer/Director, Michelle Bello, during the NYSC 2014 Batch A inspiration Day with Niyi Adesanya and Friends held at the Lagos State Orientation Camp, Iyana Ipaja …at the weekend.

kiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi yesterday, kicked off his re-election campaign at his Isan-Ekiti country home in grand style.

The Governor who began the day with a special thanksgiving service at St. Martin's Catholic Church, IsanEkiti, called on all aspirants to brace up for issue-based campaigns and avoid the use of violence in pursuit of their ambition as the state prepares for the June 21 governorship election.

Fayemi who is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said he dedicated the day to offer prayers to God for the peaceful conduct of the June 21

Isan- Ekiti, the commissioning of the Campaign office at Ado –Ekiti and unveiling of the JKF reelection campaign logo.

Emphasizing on the need to give peace a chance at the governorship poll, Fayemi said Ekiti has witnessed peace since he came to office in October 2010 and has since moved on from a state that used to experience "one week one trouble" to a peaceful and prosperous state.

In his remarks at the church service, Fayemi said he chose the day the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifted ban on open campaign to commit his second term ambition to the hands of God in his land of nativity.

Osun earmarks N5bn for five ultra-modern mechanic villages

I

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (right) addressing pregnant women during the Eko Free Health Mission at the Ojodu Local Council Development Area, Ojodu in Lagos

governorship election.

The service was attended by members of his family, members of the state executive councils, members states house of Assemblies, federal law makers representing the state and party faithful.

Fayemi pleaded that he does not want the blood of any person in Ekiti to be shed on the altar of politics, urging all aspirants and their supporters to go to the election which he described as a "marketplace of ideas" to sell their programmes and allow the electorate choose the best person to lead them.

The four-in-one event also featured an open field campaign rally at

n furtherance of the industrialization of Osun State by the current administration, Governor Rauf Aregbesola has said arrangements had been concluded to build five ultra-modern mechanic villages worth N5billion in the state.

He stated that the mechanic villages which would be built in collaboration with a company from the Netherlands and

the National Automobile Council had five out of the eleven which had been approved for the entire country.

The governor made this disclosure in Osogbo, while speaking at a programme put together by the National Automobile and Technician Association of Nigeria, Osogbo and Olorunda chapters to declare their support for the governor’s second

term bid in office.

This was just as the governor was also adopted for a second term by the members of the Boards of Local Government Education Authorities of all the councils in the state, saying the achievements of the governor in education, infrastructure, youth employment, health, security, environment were unprecedented in the annals of Osun history.

NEWS

Monday, March 24, 2014

Stop politicising insecurity, group warns politicians

P

olitical parties in the country have been warned to desist from playing politics with the current state of insecurity in the country.

The parties were accused of doing this through the celebration in the media of unsubstantiated allegations of linkages of political parties other than theirs in the sponsorship of violent insurgencies in parts of the country.

The Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria (HURIWA), a democracy inclined nongovernmental organisation in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, specifically called on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to put an end to this trend.

The body said the ongoing media war and the counter accusations of

speculated connection of the political parties to the ongoing violent insurgencies in northern Nigeria is unhelpful to the growth and development of the country.

It said rather than play up sentiments about the insurgencies that have resulted in the massacre of several thousands of innocent Nigerians, the parties should be responsible enough as to commission independent experts and scholars with considerable amount of expertise on security matters to proffer practicable and effective panacea to the needless killings.

“Political parties ought to assist the Federal Government to resolve the ongoing security challenges and not aggravate the situation through careless allegations that are not backed up with any empirical data and evidence that can stand the test of scientific and investigative scrutiny.”

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Osun accuses FG of causing delay in workers’ salaries ACCUSATION

Drop in Federal allocation to Osun caused delay of workers' salaries, says commissioner Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

T

he Osun State government has accused the Federal Government of causing a delay in the payment of its workers’

13

salaries.

The government explained that the delay was caused by the drop in its monthly federal allocation from an average of N4.6billion to N2.7 billion since July 2013. It said this has caused a slight delay in the payment of salaries and wages of workers in the state.

State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Sunday Akere, made this known in a statement in Osogbo at the weekend.

The number of countries widely considered to be Trans-continental.

Source: Blatantworld.com

He, however, commended civil servants and pensioners in the state for their support and understanding in the face of the financial hiccups created by the Federal Government’s reduction of funds accruals to states from the federation account based on the spurious allegation of drop in sales of crude oil.

Akere, who reminded civil servants of the pledge and commitment of the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administra-

200,000

The number of workers that die yearly due to exposure to smoke at work.

Source: Globalissues.org

tion towards the payment of their salaries by the 25th of every month; said the commitment was religiously honoured until the downturn in the revenue allocation to the state since July 2013.

“The average allocation from the federation account, which hovers around N4.6 billion monthly dropped to about 2.7 billion per month since July 2013, leading to a slight delay in the payment of salaries and wages.”

10%

The percentage of all fire deaths caused by tobacco smoking.

Source: Globalissues.org

Edo investor to employ 15, 000 through farming

A

private investor in Edo State, Festrut conglomerate, is set to establish a farm covering 100 hectares of land in Uzebba area of the state that will provide about 15, 000 jobs for the citizens of the state.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the company, Dr. Festus Asikhia, disclosed this when he led a delegation of the firm on a courtesy visit to Governor Adams Oshiomhole at the Government House, Benin City, on Friday.

Asikhia said; “I have to go to my community where I can easily have access to land and I have acquired about 100 hectares of land for the takeoff of the farm.

He continued; “Apart from the farm land, we have come to discuss with the governor to build a new Edo City, a city with all the infrastructures, with recre-

ational centres, a city where people can come and rest.”

The chief executive officer added that when completed, the new city will attract investors to come and invest thereby increasing the state government’s revenue through taxes.

He further used the occasion to implore the state government to collaborate with the organisation to ensure the success of the project, stressing that similar ventures in the past have been established in Lagos and Abuja.

Responding, Governor Oshiomhole welcomed Dr. Festus Asikhia and his delegation to Edo State, promising that the state government will be providing a conducive environment for the project even while also partnering with other serious investors to come to the state.

Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi (second left) and the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Ndabawa (right), decorating the governor's Aide-de-Camp (ADC), Mr. Olu Akinmoladun, who has just been promoted to the rank of Superintendent of Police, at the Governor's Office in Ibadan… at the weekend. With them is the ADC's wife, Adekemi.

PHOTO: OYO GOVERNMENT HOUSE.

UNITY

Bayelsa governor reconnects with his maternal root in Yorubaland Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

B

ayela State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has stressed the importance of unity and peaceful co-existence among Nigerians as the panacea to move the country forward.

He spoke during his visit to the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, at his palace in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun

Dickson canvasses unity among Nigerians, traces root to Ijebu-Ode State on Saturday.

The governor, who said his grandmother hailed from the Fidipote Ruling House in Ijebu-Ode, said his visit was to reconnect with his maternal root.

A former Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Chief Timi Alaibe, a House of Representatives member, Hon. Stella Dorgu, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) President, Comrade Udengs Eradiri, Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Fred Agbedi, Chief Joshua Fumudoh

and King Amalate Turner accompanied the governor on the visit.

Dickson used the occasion to appeal to Nigerians to work for the nation's unity irrespective of their political, tribal or religious affiliations.

According to him, Nigeria's unity was sacrosanct and more important than any individual's interest.

While describing his visit as historic, the governor said; “I'm coming from the creeks of the Niger Delta to the heartland of Yorubaland, it is to

demonstrate the fact that Nigerians share historical values that can't be wished away.

“We are here to reconnect with our root. We have returned home and we have retraced our lineage to the Fidipote Ruling House in Ijebu-Ode. I am highly delighted to be here and henceforth, I promise to contribute my quota to the development of Ijebuland as well as to work and partner with the Awujale to make our country a place where people live in peace and harmony.”

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NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

FG to fight oil theft, others with $1bn T

he federal government is to spend $1billion on a comprehensive pro-

gramme to check crude oil theft, the vandalism of oil and gas infrastructure,

and the apprehension and prosecution of crude oil thieves.

According to a statement yesterday by Dr. Reuben Abati, Special Adviser

L-R: Acting Director, Abuja Environmental and Protection Board, Mrs. Aishat Adebayo; Minister of FCT, Senator Bala Muhammed; and Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, Reuben Okoye, during the commissioning of new waste management equipment for Abuja Environmental Protection Board in Abuja...at the weekend

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

100m

The number of deaths caused by smoking in the 20th century.

Source: Globalissues.org

314m

The number of active-broadband subscriptions in Europe in 2012.

Source: Itu.int

N11.1bn

The total internally generated revenue of Benue State in 2011.

Source: National bureau of statistics

to the President (Media & Publicity), President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan made this disclosure yesterday at The Hague.

Speaking at separate meetings with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Mark Rutte and the Chief Executive Officer of Shell International, Mr. Ben van Beurden, President Jonathan said that a technical committee has already been set up to look into all aspects of the implementation of the programme.

This, the President said, will include further action to enhance the security of pipelines and other oil industry infrastructure, resolve community-related issues, boost youth empowerment in oil-producing areas and enhance the commitment of oil companies to the discharge of their corporate

social responsibilities.

President Jonathan said that the fresh onslaught will require the maximum co-operation of the international community, especially countries like the Netherlands which are major stakeholders in the global oil industry.

“Oil theft is an aspect of global terrorism, which has become a big industry on its own. It has become a major threat to the Nigerian economy and we need to work with all stakeholders to curb it. The thieves must be traced, apprehended and prosecuted,” the president who is in the Netherlands for the 2014 global Nuclear Security Summit, said.

Rutte assured the president of the commitment of the Netherlands to concerted action against crude oil theft and global terrorism.

Clark: We want a United States of Nigeria based on true federalism CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

and landmass ignores the concept of justice, since injustice is not only when equals are treated unequally but also when unequals are treated equally.”

Former Presidential Adviser on Legal matters, Prof. Auwalu Yadudu, also rules out any consensus on resource control for SouthSouth or state creation for South-East at the confab.

He said: “Our position on that is very clear, I don’t think we will support any more increase, and we’re going to bring back the issue of onshore/offshore dichotomy. It should be reversed.

“For resource control, again the constitution is very clear. It says not less than 13 per cent. It could be 100 per cent, if they can go to the National Assembly to have the law changed to raise it to more than 13 per cent, good. I don’t support it though.”

The Professor of Law also rules out the creation of state for the SouthEast. “There is nowhere in the country, where you can support the creation of only one state in only one part of the country.

The constitution is very clear on this. If you want to create states, follow the constitutional provision. I can assure you, no one will support that.

There were indications that the oil rich zone had started mobilising its delegates as well as their allies from the Middle Belt and other regions to support the restoration of fiscal federalism and resource control at the national conference.

Clark argued that the over concentration of powers and resources at the centre has been responsible for the under development of Nigeria.

He said that the push for fiscal federalism was the right thing to do for Nigeria to regain its lost glory in the comity of nations.

“We want a United States of Nigeria based on true federalism. A unitary form of government is not good for us and other forms of government outside true federalism will not help us. We want a country where the regions are the federating units.

“Let us have six or eight federating units. If you like, go and create 20 local government coun-

cils for yourselves; if you like, go and create 20 states for yourselves but you must be prepared to bear the cost. Let the current states become like provinces within the regions because it will be difficult to scrap them. The only thing is that their powers would be reduced and they would have nothing to discuss with the Federal Government.

Darah explained that the South-South delegation would be pushing for the restoration of the federal system as it was at independence in 1960.

By implication, he said, the states would be the federating units and would have 100 per cent ownership of their resources whether natural or human.

“They will exploit these resources, develop and manage them and pay a tax to the Federal Government to run essential services like the Armed Forces, Immigration, Foreign and Diplomatic Services.

The luggage of administrative work on the Federal Government would be vastly reduced and the development of Nigeria would be at the state and

local government levels.

Sometimes, it is called resource control but the scientific word is fiscal federalism. We want Nigeria restructured along that line,” he said.

Senator Yisa Braimoh, who is a delegate representing South-South, told New Telegraph that the oilrich Niger Delta will insist on genuine federalism.

He said: “As a delegate to the confab from the South-South zone, I am of the strong belief that delegates from Southern Nigeria will insist on a return to true and genuine federalism that would make the centre very less attractive but with strong federating regions which must be in total control of the exploitation and management of all natural resources in their regions.”

Braimoh, who was Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, said true federalism will be beneficial to all the regions.

President-General of Ohanaeze and a delegate representing ethnic nationality group, Chief Garry Enwo-Igariwey, said the Igbo will take a definite

stand when the matter is tabled at the conference.

According to Enwo-Igariwey, “We have not started talking, when we start talking, we know what people want. The matter has not been opened.

There isn’t a permanent position, that is why we are going there to go and talk. The cases have not been presented, when they are presented then we will decide.”

Dr. Dozie Ikedife, former President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, an ethnic nationality delegate from the South-East, said creation of states depends on other things that happen at the conference.

“Suppose we say the federating states will be the geo-political zones and not the states, then any geo-politico zones can have any number of states they want, just like we feel that local governments should not and ought not to be federating units,” he noted.

Speaking on the opposition of the North to the recognition of regions as federating units and creation of addition state for the South-East, Ikedife said: “They are not seri-

ous. You can’t say states should be federating units when there is inequality in states. If the North refuses to accept regions as a federating unit and creation of states, then they are not serious. If they come with negatives, then it becomes a lock-jam.”

Meanwhile, the Incorporated Trustees of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has dragged the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Chairman of the National Conference, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi (rtd) and nine others before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja challenging the nomination of the Council’s representatives to the on-going National Conference.

Also joined in the suit are Mrs. Valerie Azinge, Henry Nwabueze, Ajani Olawole James, Abdulmajeed Abdullahi, Ben Duntoye, Charles Livinus Ibiang, Hamman Birkindo, Jude Imagwe and the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN) as third to eleventh defendants respectively.

NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

ILLEGALITY

Anglican Church restates its contempt against homosexuality Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

T

he Church of Nigeria, (Anglican Communion) said yesterday that there was no going back on its 1998 stand against promoters of homosexuality and bi-sexual tendencies.

Leadership of the communion lauded the Federal Government for the decisive step it took banning the ugly practices.

Bishop of Kaduna Diocese of the Anglican Communion, Most

No going back on stand against gay marriage – Anglican Communion Rev (Dr) Josiah IdowuFearon, who spoke at the induction/investiture of knights and dames, held in Benin, Edo State capital, stated that legalising gay marriage or such acts amounted to making God’s good creatures and standards to look imperfect.

Rev. Idowu-Fearon said, “Our battle today is not against homosexuals, our battle today is against those who say God’s standards are not good enough for us. The government has criminalised homosexuality which is good, our

battle is not against human beings, it is against the devil. ”He urged all thse already initiated to reestablish the family system that is Anglicanoriented.

“You knights should go back and re-establish the family system and that is the Anglican position. Our resolution of 1998 on homosexuality has not changed and will not change by the grace of God. God’s standard remains, it does not condemn the sinner but condemns sin. Parents must ensure that children are made to grow and live to-

gether,” the cleric stated.

He urged parents to bring up their children and make them know that God created man and woman to procreate after. “These people involved in all of these were given birth to parents.

The church appealed to political leaders to shun character assassination as campaign ahead of 2015 general elections hots up.

Bishop Idowu-Fearon asked leaders to demonstrate sincere relationship with God. According to the cler-

Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson (left); South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Amassador Kingsley Mamabolo and Chief Executive Officer, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Mr. Ladi Balogun, during the 2014 AMAA Fund Raising Dinner in Lagos

1,940.5

The number of journalists per 1m population in Norway in 2004.

Source: Blatantworld.com

11%

The percentage total of Africa to the world’s population.

Source: Who.int

40%

The percentage of all children regularly exposed to second-hand smoke at home.

Source: Globalissues.org

Ekiti 2014: Fayemi, Bamidele preach peace Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

A

s political campaign officially began yesterday for the June 21 Ekiti State governorship election, the incumbent, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has sued for peace in the buildup to the much-expected poll.

In the same vein, an aspirant on the banner of the Labour Party (LP)

9

in the state, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, urged all those concerned to play the game according to the rule.

Fayemi, in a state-wide broadcast, said though the state was on threshold of a significant place in history, peace was needed to achieve that.

"According to the calendar guiding the 2014 gubernatorial elections in our dear state as announced by the In-

dependent National Electoral Commission, today, Sunday, March 23, 2014 marks the official commencement of campaigns and allied activities by contestants and political parties participating in the Saturday, June 21, 2014 elections.

"All campaign-related activities are meant to cease

by Thursday, June 19, 2014.

As the barriers are removed to enable political parties, aspirants and candidates cam-

paign openly in line with the Electoral Act, I admonish all the players to embrace new rules of engagement grounded in conversations.

"I charge all actors in the political space to exhibit the highest degree of nobility in word and conduct. My plea to all our political parties, aspirants, candidates and indeed all supporters is, let the conversations begin.

ic, “We are approaching 2015 general elections, people are already preparing for elections, some in power are stealing, some are involved in character assassination to get positions, we must be part of that.”

In his administration of oath to the induct-

ees into the Knight of St Christopher (KSC) and Knight of St Mary (KSM), Bishop of Benin Diocese, Rt Rev Peter Imasuen challenged them to be ambassadors of Christ and models for the society in their character, thoughts and actions.

Group challenges Jonathan over Fulani, Tiv crisis in Benue Anule Emmanuel

T

he Benue Liberation Alliance, a civil society organisation devoted to the provision of critical voice for positive change, has challenged the Federal Government to move swiftly and end the lingering war between Fulani herdsmen and the Tiv people of Benue State.

Professor Tor Iorapuu, coordinator of the group in an interaction with journalists in Abuja, said it was surprising that with all the firsthand information before government, very little action had been taken in terms of providing adequate security and protection of lives and property for people in the State.

According to the group, in the last decade, perceived Fulani invaders and mercenaries had attacked and

killed over 7,000 Benue people, many of whom are women, children and young people.

Professor Tor explained that "over one million internally displaced people are without food, water and medical supplies. Hundreds and thousands sleep in open places; relations and well-meaning Benue people shelter some and others find themselves in primary schools. Several of the women and children beg on Makurdi streets."

"Clearly, we are witnessing similar security challenges that Plateau State experienced in recent past. The manner of brutal attacks and massacre of unarmed women, children and men in Benue State is similar to the clinical cleansing of communities in Plateau State".

Stakeholders converge on Abuja to fashion roadmap on mortgage financing Abdulwahab Isa

S

takeholders in mortgage sector are converging in Abuja today to fashion out a roadmap for mass affordable shelters for Nigerians.

The summit on housing finance is being organized by the Ministry of Finance , and coming months after the historic launch of the Nigerian Mortgage Finance and Mass Housing plan

by President Goodluck Jonathan. It will afford key stakeholders in the Nigerian housing finance

sector, the opportunity to brainstorm on the best ways to meet the targets.

A statement issued by ministry said stakeholders’ implementation summit on enabling broader access to housing finance for all Nigerians will bring together important players in the housing and housing finance delivery market-the federal and state governments, relevant ministries, the Central Bank of Nigeria, mortgage and commercial banks, construction companies, architects, artisans, real estate developers and others.

10 NEWS

Monday, March 24, 2014

Ijaw umbrella group laments exclusion from confab delegates Charles Onyekwere Port Harcourt

T

he Ijaw National Congress (INC) has expressed displeasure over its omission from the list of delegates to the national conference.

A statement issued in Port Harcourt, signed by the group’s foundation secretary, Pastor Power Aginighan and made available to New Telegraph said it would have been desirable to give it the opportunity to state its case as a group.

According to the statement, the Ijaw in the three states of Ondo, Edo and Akwa-Ibom have peculiar challenges arising from their minority status.

The statement urged

$1.7bn

The amount spent on military operations annually.

Source: Globalissues.org

the selected representatives of the Ijaw ethnic nationalty comprising, Arogbo and Apoi clans in Ondo State, Egbema, Olodiama, Inikorogha, Okomu and Furupagha clans in Edo, the Ijaw in Delta, the Ijaw in Bayelsa, the Ijaw in Rivers and Eastern Obolo and Ibeno clans of Akwa-Ibom State to see themselves as one platform.

The group challenged the delegates namely, Chief Dr. Edwin Clarke, Prof Kimse Okoko, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, Ambassador Lawrence Ekpebu, Mr. Atedo Peterside and other delegates to deliver on their mandate by working in synergy with the Ijaw National Congress, the Ijaw Nation’s umbrella body.

80.9%

The male percentage of internet users in Switzerland in 2012.

Source: Itu.int

Partisanship: NBC to sanction erring broadcast stations

T

he National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) yesterday threatened to sanction radio stations that deny opposition parties fair media coverage.

The Director-General of the commission, Mr Emeka Mba, spoke in Abuja when he featured on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum. ``It is a problem that has become a very serious issue and we are committed to making an example out of one or two radio stations. ``If you deny a group, especially during this election period, we will also deny you being on air. This is something that we’ve communicated very strongly to all the radio stations, especially in the

change of name

dominic

Formerly Miss Chinyere Francisca Okocha, now wish to be known and addressed as Chinyere Francisca Dominic, all former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

states. ``I was telling someone this afternoon that I have seen a former state governor who came to the commission to complain that the current state executive was not allowing him access to radio and I showed him a report that when he was governor, he also did not allow the other people. ``In the practice of democracy, we need to learn; we need to adhere to civilised way of doing business. ``But to be honest, we are working towards making example out of one or two radio stations.

He said that the broadcast industry had been democratised with the injection of modern technology which created better content management opportunities.

According to Mba, there is the need for the industry to brace up to the challenges of the times by creating relevant programmes that could appeal to children.

Supervising Minister for National Planning, Alhaji Bashir Yuguda (right), presenting the Personality of the Year Award plaque to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State and his wife, Deaconess Roli Uduaghan, during the Vanguard Personality Award 2013 held in Lagos… at the weekend.

2015: Kashamu carpets Dimeji Bankole UNQUALIFIED

Party chief blocks exspeaker over gubernatorial ambition

Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

F

ormer Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, came under fire at the weekend as a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, accused him of trying to cause confusion in the party.

OVERRATED Forum blames Defence Minister for demystification of the North

Philip Nyam Abuja

T

he Nigeria Security Watch Forum (NSWF) has faulted the call by Second Republic Minister of Steel Development, Chief Paul Unongo for a probe into alleged insubordination of the Chief

by Defence Staff and the Service Chiefs.

A statement signed by its national president, Malam Abubakar Danbaki, said rather than

Kashamu, who is the Chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation Committee of South West PDP, declared that Bankole was scheming for the dissolution of the "authentic" PDP structure in the state in order to realise his governorship ambition in 2015.

Bankole, who lost his bid to return to the House of Representatives in 2011, had lately engaged in deft consultations and strategic meetings ahead 2015.

In the emerging political realignment in the

state, the former Speaker seems to have succeeded in wooing PDP factions belonging to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-governor Gbenga Daniel, and two-time minister, Senator Jubril MartinsKuye.

But speaking with reporters in Sagamu shortly after receiving some defectors into the PDP on Saturday, Kashamu berated Bankole for allegedly going about his ambition without following the right channel.

The PDP chieftain, who

had been a major financier of the party, contended that the former Speaker failed to contribute to the development and sustenance of the party since losing re-election in 2011.

According to him, Bankole is a joker and not qualified to stand as the standard bearer of the state PDP. He said, "Like most people, I also heard of Dimeji Bankole's ambition through the media.

Every true member of the party who has an ambition is free to declare it.

Group opposes probe of security chiefs, asks Gusau to resign call for a probe, Unongo should have asked the Minister of Defence, General Aliyu Gusau to resign since he ought not have accepted the appointment in the first place.

The forum described such a call at this time when the nation is making progress in the war against insurgency as absurd and clear evidence of lack of knowledge of the constitutional provisions and the National Defence Policy.

Danbaki said: “The North today has been demystified because of the

actions of the likes of Gusau. We have read the 1999 Constitution and the National Defence Policy and the provisions of the law are clear on who runs the Army, Navy, and the Air Force on a day-to-day basis. General Gusau, as Minister of Defence should uphold the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“So much noise has been made of General Gusau’s competence in the words of Chief Paul Unongo as “Spy Chief of the Nigerian Federation.”

If General Gusau in his more than 40 years in the

various security agencies didn’t lay the foundation for a security system that will stand the test of time, we leave Nigerians to be the judge.

“Till date, in spite of the 40 years presence of General Gusau in sensitive security positions, Nigeria has no national ID system, thus the intelligence gathering capacity of the Police, SSS, etc is near zero. So, what has he achieved? The North today is facing serious security crisis, yet the likes of Unongo are of the view that we have produced a spy chief ?”

metr

NEW TELEGRAPH

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ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

MONday,March 24, 2014

0802 393 8212

Muritala Ayinla

C

omputer Village in Ikeja, Lagos is unarguably the biggest computer and allied products market in the West African sub-region.

At the market, transactions between sellers and buyers of phones, laptop computers, accessories and other allied products generate millions of naira on a daily basis.

Although the market has been in existence before the introduction the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) services in 2003, the community, which hitherto was like other residential areas in Lagos, suddenly became the biggest Information Communication Technology (ICT) cluster when the telecommunication industry was privatised.

Today, the Computer Village has become a household name among telecommunication users, small business enterprises and end users.

The market is also known to be one of the biggest employers of labour in Lagos State as thousands of youths struggle to eke out a living by repairing phones, computers, etc. It is a place that has not only played host to the traders of ICT gadgets but also touts, pickpockets and all manners of criminals.

However, like most markets in Lagos, the Computer Village is always overcrowded and this has been a source of worry for the stakeholders in the market particularly some landlords who could no longer access their homes easily.

So crowded is the market that every available space in it has been converted to shop or outlet for rent at exorbitant charges.

This, among other reasons, necessitated the plan by the Lagos State Government to relocate the market to Katangowa Internet City in Agbado Oke-Odo, another suburb in the metropolis, before the end of the first quarter of this year.

According to the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Adebiyi Mabadeje, government has earmarked N500 million to kick start the relocation exercise.

He added that the money had been included in the 2014 budget.

Mabadeje said that apart from those companies whose businesses were located in the market, all other major players in the Information Technology (IT) industry would soon be moved to the 15-hectare Katangowa Internet City.

The idea, according to him, is to have a befitting ICT village of global standard in the state.

He said: “I can’t categorically say when we are moving them to the city, but we are working towards the first quarter of this year.

“We are discussing with all stakehold-

Concerns over Computer Village’s planned relocation ers in the market to ensure the success of the project. All the traders at the market now will be fully carried along in the project.

“The new market will be a modern standard market that will serve as one stop shop for IT industry. This will further enhance business in a friendly and enabling environment that will add value

and ensure accessibility.”

Although the plan to relocate the market has been on for almost three years now, fresh reactions are beginning to trail the relocation of the market expected to take place before the end of this month.

While some of the traders argued that the planned relocation would wors-

en the challenges confronting them, others accused the government of being insincere with the relocation, saying it would cost them more relocate to the new place.

Speaking with NT Metro, Anthony Friday, a trader, said the relocation would be to the detriment of the petty traders in the market.

FRSC mobile court convicts 50 traffic offenders Camillus Nnaji

T

he Mowe Unit of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), RS2.23 Lagos/Ogun Zonal Command, has arrested and prosecuted 51 traffic offenders.

The Assistant Corps Commander of the unit, Oludare Ogunjobi, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent at the weekend.

Ogunjobi said the 51 motorists were apprehended and prosecuted at the FRSC

mobile court on Friday for violating various traffic rules.

The assistant commander said 50 of those arraigned were sentenced to various jail terms with options of fine, while one of them was discharged and acquitted.

According to him, the motorists were convicted of violating offences ranging from over-loading, over-speed, dangerous driving, wrongful overtaking, driving against traffic and non-possession of

Some of the traffic offenders at the mobile court in Mowe

driving licences.

Ogunjobi said the commission would leave no stone unturned in its efforts to reduce Road Transport Crashes (RTC).

One of the ways of achieving this, according to him, is by charging offenders of different traffic rules to court and insisting they are punished.

Other measures, according to him, include pre-trip vehicle inspections, catch them young safety programme for school pupils and passengers as well as ‘beyond the road exercise’ where the health condition of drivers is checked before they are allowed to move their vehicles.

These measures, he said, usually take place randomly at any motor park within the zonal command.

Ogunjobi said the measures had drastically reduced road accidents in the zone.

He said: “We have won awards of excellence as the most efficient FRSC unit in the zone. The public, particularly the motorists, keep sending us messages of appreciation for saving them from unforeseen tragedy.”

12

METRO

Monday, Mar

Decomposing bodies litter Ibadan ritual s • Police arrest five, rescue five MYSTERY Police are yet to provide answer to the mystery behind bodies discovered in Ibadan Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

D

ecomposed bodies yesterday littered the site of mystery killings in Soka area of Ibdan, Oyo State.

This is as police are still battling to unravel the mystery behind the death of some people found in a jungle in Soka area.

Yesterday, police rescued five unkempt persons found in an abandoned warehouse in the area.

While many of the residents of the area alleged that ritual killings must have been going on at the scene where construction equipment were abandoned, the police said some the destitute were kept there by someone identified as Gbadamosi, now at large.

The forest had become a Mecca of sort since Saturday evening when the discovery was made, just as security operatives were controlling traffic and warding off some hoodlums who were allegedly looting property in and around the area.

When our correspondent visited the area yesterday, decomposed bodies and carcasses of human beings littered the bush around the main warehouse.

Some security men seen at the scene said that journalists blew the situation out of proportion, and that the case was not that of ritual killing.

They said it was the scene of a native doctor who was treating ‘mad’ people there. But, many of the residents said the bodies found in the warehouse and inside the bush, with assorted dresses, footwear for old and young, in iron containers, suggested that many people might have been lured there for ritual purpose.

The incident report of the police reads: “Murder/ unlawful possession of firearms about 1730 hrs (5.30 p.m). Police yesterday (Saturday) received information at Toll Gate Division that behind state urban mass transport yard, Soka area, Ibadan, some area boys, about 100, invaded the area searching for two missing cyclists. They discovered an uncompleted compound where two women and five men were found chained and looking unkempt.

“Some decayed corpses and skel-

etons were also found in a nearby bush. The scene was visited and one Abideen Akanmu was arrested. He said he was employed by one Gbadamosi, now at large, to take care of the destitute found there.

Victims evacuated to the hospital (Adeoyo State Hospital), while a corpse was deposited at the same hospital mortuary for autopsy.

“Five security men in a nearby company (Macmillan Plc) were also arrested following items recovered from them.

“Three dane guns and three single barrel, one bow and 16 arrows, 22 cutlasses and 40 live cartridges, seven table knives, one axe, two iron files and one phone were recovered.

“Angry mob set the security post ablaze. Fire was put out later.

State Criminal Investigating Department (SCID), Iyaganku, investigating the matter.”

Aside the damage done by the irate mob at the scene, it was discovered that a Hyundai Elantra car, marked LAGOS MK 126 AAA belonging to a broadcaster, Adebayo Faleke of Splash FM was damaged and vandalised.

The broadcaster, who had reportedly gone to the scene for investigation yesterday morning, was attacked by the mob and his car damaged.

The mob, who believed some Fulani herdsmen within the premises of the crime must be accomplices in the alleged ritual killing, attacked the cows and killed 10 of

The warehouse. Inset: Some of the wears

them.

Some youths also butchered two cows and dismembered them, while they went away with the pieces.

The residents of the area called on the government to demolish the warehouse where bags of dried white cement were kept, alleging that there was an underground pit in it where some human beings were still being kept.

Some people even said that a missing relative, Dare, was calling his people saying that he was hearing the foot-steps and discussions of people in the building but he could not find a way out of the underground pit he was kept.

“If the government could allow fire fighters to come and dig up this place and demolish the building, we are sure more discoveries would be made,” a sympathiser

said.

When Director of the Oyo State Fire Service, Mr Oyekunle Kareem, was contacted on phone, he said he had not heard anything about the incident.

Meanwhile, at the Soka junction on the Lagos - Ibadan Expressway a body was set on fire yesterday afternoon. Investigation revealed that he was a go-between for the ritual killers, but was always pre-

tend A to h Stat hind den radi his Ogu last be a they

We only watched over stolen car CONTROVERSY Two suspects, who police claim are notorious robbers, say they are victims of circumstance

suspect, escaped from the policemen who had earlier arrested him.”

But, the police arrested them as accomplices, while the hunt for Mustafa continues.

According to a police source, on February 24,

while acting on a tip-off provided by a good Nigerian, detectives from FSARS went for an investigation and later engaged a gang of notorious armed robbers in a gun duel in Ibadan.

In the ensuing melee, Adeniji and Adelakin

Juliana Francis

T

he Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), Adeniji Adele, Lagos State, has arrested two men, described as notorious armed robbers.

The two men, Mukaila Adeniji and Musa Adelakin, were picked up on the outskirts of Ibadan, Oyo State.

However, the suspects have denied being robbers. They claimed a prime suspect, identified simply as Mustafa, kept a car, later discovered to be stolen, in their care.

The car, according to them, was parked at a filling station both men used to work.

“We were arrested because Mustafa, the main Adelakin

Adeniji

Muslims won’t get fair deal at confab –JNI / PAGE 18 | Ndigbo: Echoes of new political agenda / PAGE 17

POLITICS

NEW TELEGRAPH

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Darah: States must have 100 per cent ownership of their resources

p-14, 15

Monday, March 24, 2014

After five months of nurturing, President Goodluck Jonathan has finally set the ball rolling for a national conversation that is presumably geared towards evolving a new Nigeria. In this report, ONWUKA NZESHI examines the conference as constituted, its prospects as well as the uncertainties hovering around it

Confab: A journey to uncertain destination

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan first conceived the idea of National Conference in his address to the nation on the occasion of Nigeria’s 53rd Independence Anniversary on October 1, 2013. Jonathan said the conference would be “a national project, a sincere and fundamental undertaking aimed at realistically examining and genuinely resolving long standing impediments to our cohesion and harmonious development as a truly united nation.”

But this proposal was greeted with mixed feelings across Nigeria. People from different parts of the country had different views not just about dialogue but a conversation some claimed was coming so late.

Some feared the conversation could degenerate to a quarrel, and the worst could happen to a union everyone knows is fragile.

The dream was handed over to the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue led

by Senator Femi Okurounmu. It

A physically-challenged delegate at the National Conference in Abuja.

was this team of statesmen that nurtured the idea, took it to the people, obtained public input and formulated a template for the conversation.

Last week, President Jonathan inaugurated the National Conference five months after the idea was mooted. It is an assemblage of 492 people saddled with the responsibility of building on Jonathan’s dream. A former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Legbo Kutigi is the pilot and he has two co-pilots namely his deputy, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi and Dr Valerie Azinge as secretary.

They also have on board three crew men and together they are expected to go on a journey

CROSSFIRE

The applicants lost their lives due to impatience...

Many of them jumped through the fences of affected centres and did not conduct themslves in an orderly manner to make the exercise a smooth one. This caused stampede and made the enviroment unsecured -Abba Moro

Esther Andu {right}, a visually-impaired delegate at the National Conference in Abuja.

billed to last 90 days.

In his inaugural speech, President Jonathan declared that he had no personal agenda for convening the conference.

He said that contrary to the speculations in some circles that he had a hidden agenda, the desire to give Nigerians the opportunity to discuss the numerous challenges facing the nation and proffer solutions was the sole reason behind the conference. According to him, the report of the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) on the National Conference which was submitted last December established that there was indeed, a national consensus for

The explanation by the Minister of Interior, Abba Morro, that 520,000 applicants were invited for screening for 4,556 spaces and that the applicants died in a stampede due to impatience and nonadherence to laid down orderly procedure, is rather weak and untenable -Abdulwaheed Omar

the conference to be convened to give the people the opportunity to discuss their common problems. The National Conference, he said, was being convened to engage Nigerians in intense introspection about political and socio-economic challenges confronting the country and to chart the most acceptable way for the resolution of such challenges in the collective interest of all the constituent parts of the federation. Jonathan urged all delegates to avoid suspicion and antagonism and put national interest above personal, ethnic or political interests in the course of their deliberations.

The agenda Jonathan listed a number of issues which the delegates are expected to discuss over the next three months. It turned out that the agenda is not significantly different from the agenda of previous conferences.

“This conference is open for us to table our thoughts and positions on issues and make recommendations that will adCONTINUED ON PAGE 16

POLITICAL NOTES High flying minister

A

member of the House of Representatives, Samuel Adejare (APC, Lagos) has accused the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Allison-Madueke of spending a whooping N3.12billion on charter flights within two years. The lawmaker also alleged that the minister spent another N10 billion for the maintenance of an aircraft in the last two years.

It is not enough for the House member to make accusations, or for the House Committee on Public Accounts to grill her when she appears before them, but Nigerians have to be saved the upsetting, and continuous bombardment of their sensibilities with such news of colossal wastage of public funds, which should have been used to better their lives.

Whether or not madam minister is able to prove her innocence or otherwise in this matter, is really not relevant right now. The system has to be restructured to ensure that those who have access to the public till do not misuse it, or convert it to their personal property.

For too long, stories of how public office holders have been misapplying the taxpayers’ money for their individual pleasure, while the masses suffer, have always been the lot of the polity. Institutions saddled with the responsibility of supervising and restraining such officers have gone to sleep for too long.

The legislative arm of government has also failed in its duties of checking the excesses of the executive branch, where such stories emanate from. Could it be because they are also guilty of the same sin?

Civil Society Organisations, anti-corruption bodies, and indeed every Nigerian needs to know that the monies being frittered away by a few individuals, in the guise of occupying public office, belongs to every Nigerian, and the country will be the worse for it.

14 POLITICS | MONDAY DIALOGUE

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Darah: States must have 100 per cent Prof. Godwin Gordini Darah teaches Oral Literature and Folklore at the Delta State University, Abraka. He is a delegate to the National Conference and an unrepentant apostle of fiscal federalism. Darah was part of the Delta State delegation to the 2005 National Political Reforms Conference where the agitation for resource control took centre stage and almost shut down the national dialogue at that time. In this interview with ONWUKA NZESHI, he insists that resource control remains the key to unlocking Nigeria’s greatness, economic well-being and political stability. Excerpts: In what capacity are you attending this conference?

I am here as one of the delegates of Delta State.

In what way is this conference different from the 2005 Conference organised during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration?

President Obasanjo called his own National Political Reform Conference. But when the delegates came, they expanded it to include all that is wrong with Nigeria and you will notice that the prime issue of federalism (fiscal and political) dominated the discourse.

We have political federalism in terms of the federal, state and local governments but you also have a more fundamental dimension which is economic federalism. Who is creating the wealth of Nigeria? Where are the resources located? How much of the wealth should be owned and managed by the endowed state? These were the issues and it was the Delta State delegation that articulated it most vehemently. We even published our own memorandum under the title: “Federalism and Resource Control” and it dominated the conference.

There was violent reaction from the delegates of the 19 Northern States. They obstructed it, they filibustered and insisted that the 13 per cent that was given to us was too much and that our governors were wasting the money. It was very provocative and the South-South delegation of six states staged a walk out and the conference collapsed in July 2005.

There is a difference because this conference is called National Conference.

The scope and ambition of this conference is wider. The second difference is that President Goodluck Jonathan who is organising this one, is more open-minded and he has not exhibited the tendency of what Nigerians call hidden agenda.

His opening speech on Monday was a landmark in terms of the issues that he touched, the candour with which he expressed them, the optimism that he displayed and the challenges he placed before the delegates, to create a new country not for himself, but the people of Nigeria.

The philosophy, ideology and governmental attitude are vastly different from the Obasanjo conference.

What specific agenda are you bringing to the

table at this conference?

It is obvious. I have been consistent, incorrigible and indefatigably committed to the restructuring of Nigeria. This is because my generation (those of us in our 60s) grew up in a country that was regionalised at independence in 1960.

There were four regions namely Northern, Eastern, Western and Mid-Western.

I was born and raised in the Mid-Western Region under Chief Dennis Osadebe as Premier and his deputy, Jereton Mariere.

In the two years the regime lasted, the benefits that I got from the autonomy given to the regions were enormous.

Mid Western Region established major industries because of resource control.

Fifty per cent of the resources of the region was available to them – from rubber, palm oil, crude oil and gas. They were able to do marvellous things. I got a scholarship in secondary school for five years from the Mid West government. No state can do such things now. But as you can see, something has gone wrong; the structure of Nigeria has been distorted; the country has become over centralised and too much money and power loaded on the shoulders of the Federal Government which has become so omnipotent.

The struggle to become the President of Nigeria has become a civil war.

So, what Delta State is bringing to the conference is consistent – we want the Federation restored as it was at independence in 1960. By implication, we want the states to be the federating units and by extension the states should have 100 per cent ownership of their resources whether natural or human. They will exploit these resources, develop and manage them and pay taxes to the Federal Government to run essential services like the Armed Forces, Immigration, Foreign and Diplomatic Services. The luggage of administrative work on the Federal Government would be vastly reduced and the development of Nigeria would be at the state and local government levels. This is our main theme. Sometimes it is called resource control but the scientific word is fiscal federalism. We want Nigeria restructured along that line. We have allies among the mineral producing areas. We want the Constitution to be altered in Section 44(3) which says that all mineral resources, oil and natural gas in the country belongs to the Federal Government.

That law is what has made us economic

Darah

colonies of the Federal Government and we want it abolished.

What should it be?

We want it to read that the states or federating units should have and exercise a 100 per cent ownership and control over their resources. They altered it and gave

it to the Federal Government and now we want it shifted from the centre back to the federating units. It would require the amendment of section 162(2) which talks about derivation. The section says that not less than 13 per cent of resources will go to the states from which minerals are derived but that would now be revised

N12m allowance for Dr. Abiola Akiyode Afolabi, human rights attorney and Executive Director of Women Advocates’ Research and Documentation (WARDC) is a delegate representing the civil society organisation at the National Conference. In this interview with TEMITOPE OGUNBANKE, she says allocating N4 million per month for each delegate would be too much for the conference. Excerpts:

What has been your experience at the ongoing national conference?

There are a lot of elderly people at the conference and one of the things that bothered me particularly is that if you are not careful because there are some big names among us, there is a possibility that some of the not well known people might be excluded from contributing on the floor.

What we saw on the first day of the conference was more of conference officials calling people by name; calling senator this, governor that, excellency this or

that. Then you begin to ask yourself for those without such titles, would this not amount to exclusion from the conference.

That is the first thing. The second thing is that there seem to be a lot of old people who dominated and are in the majority at the conference. So, there is also the fear of gerontocracy, a situation whereby they give the elders the opportunity to talk without allowing the younger people to make any substantial contribution. Third, the other thing that I also noticed is that the capacity of the secretariat to organise the confer-

POLITICS POLITICS | MONDAY DIALOGUE

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

15

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

ownership of their resources We want the states to be the federating units and by extension the states should have 100 per cent ownership of their resources whether natural or human ports, seaports, immigration etc. All the things that bring revenue are cornered by the Federal Government, to the extent that Lagos State which has the largest consumer tax or Value Added Tax (VAT) carries the money to Abuja and Lagos will have to go and queue up with other states for a share of its money. The real tragedy is that Lagos will have to queue up at the Federal Allocation Accounts meeting with 20 local government councils but Kano that doesn’t contribute at all will go there with 44 local governments. So, these distortions are so obvious.

as there would be no need for that percentage if we already have 100 per cent.

But it would also involve a radical review of what you call the Exclusive Legislative List in Schedule Two of the Constitution. There are 68 items on that list and only the Federal Government can handle each of these items. They include air-

How do you hope to achieve this?

We are going to canvass an alliance and support from other groups. But it does not mean that states which are not presently hosting oil minerals will suffer if we achieve resource control. We have done our home work on this fear. The Delta State delegation during the 2005 conference did a research and found out that the largest number of minerals are in the North. We found out that there are 25 minerals in Plateau State; 21 in Nasarawa State and there are 19 in Kaduna State. These minerals are all underdeveloped because every month they all go to Abuja to pick money derived from

oil. But once you say that the states have 100 per cent control of their resources, these states are going to invite companies from South Africa to come and mine diamond; they will go to Australia to bring people to mine the uranium, there will be competition among the states and the economy will be vibrating.

The people of Anambra State who have the power of commerce can export commerce to the rest of the country.

The people of Delta State with its rich human resources can also put everyone on PhD level and export to other parts of the country. If every state takes charge of its own resources and develops them, the country’s economy would accelerate in five years.

We would all witness an economic boom that can really tally with our Vision 20:2020 - to be among the 20 most advanced economies in the world in six year’s time. This conference has a responsibility to put Nigeria on that acceleration point.

You told the story of 2005 and how the Northern delegates resisted this proposal. What would you do if they kick against it again?

It is obvious that we would be resisted because there is a proverb which says that a person who enjoys the pleasure of eating free eggs, never bothers about what the chicken goes through in laying the eggs. Some of the states that are benefiting from the present arrangement have undermined themselves and neglected the development of their own resources.

For example, those North Eastern states where you have Boko Haram now are rich agrarian states, which are supposed to be growing rice, wheat, barley and feeding all of Africa. But presently, the

fact that every month they go to Abuja to collect money has made them abandon these rich agricultural resources. We can all see the result in what is happening there now.

So, we are going to use the power of persuasion. We, resource control advocates, are not trying to deny them the opportunity to grow, but we are helping them discover what they have neglected.

Naturally, there would be resistance.

How do you allay the fears of those who see resource control as an attempt to starve them to death, while the Niger Delta swims in opulence?

The first responsibility that we face is to sell our own ideas. Look for people who share the same views with us, especially people who are going to benefit in the new arrangement. But there would also be a transitional arrangement to this change.

It is not as if the switch would take effect as soon as the conference ends. It is not as if the Federal Allocation Accounts meeting would stop immediately. No. We can say that the next five years derivation would be raised to 50 per cent; the next two years it would grow to 75per cent and so on. It would be a graduated change so that other sections of the country would have time to recover and develop their own resources. Within that transitional period, the Federal Government would still be responsible for the entire country.

So, we will form alliances, get more people involved and believing in what we are doing and I think that with foresight, the future will be brighter than it is now. If they are really nation builders and not just for their personal growth they will see that their children will have a better future when every state in Nigeria becomes autonomous and can initiate development plans without relying on this spoon-fed or feeding bottle federal system.

delegate too much, says Akiyode-Afolabi ence seem not to be encouraging. They seem not to have the adequate capacity to organise the conference because they keep having lapses. When we started they said the programme will start by 10a.m., they called us again that they have to stop because of some logistic issue. It looks to me that they are not well prepared.

Maybe that is also one of the reasons why they have to ask for one week break to be able to get themselves together. But by and large we do hope that by the time we resume on Monday (today) they would be much more prepared for the conference because it is a serious business.

What is your take on the N4 million per month as allowance for conference delegates?

What I think is that anywhere in the world when you are serving the government in such manner, you are being paid

for your accommodation. I would have expected that in the country like Nigeria, we have a general accommodation that is reserved for this kind of thing; probably that would have reduced the discussion around the allowance to a large extent and not to rubbish the credibility of the conference itself because a lot of people talk more about the money than about what we intend to do at the conference.

People are paid but I think that whatever is being paid should not be something that is ridiculous. It should be something that is moderate because majority of Nigerians are suffering from poverty and we consider the economy situation of Nigeria.

I think first and foremost the conference is a call to service than the call to make money. Sincerely, there are some of us who cannot afford to live in Abuja

and that cannot pay for accommodation in Abuja; that cannot afford hotel in Abuja. So, we would not mind if the government is ready to provide accommodation for us rather than monetising it but unfortunately we don’t have that now. For example, where I am staying now, I am paying N15,000 per day and unfortunately I don’t have any other means that I could use to resolve that. So, there are some other people who have money.

I know that somebody like Pastor Tunde Bakare have said that he would not collect the money. If you have a house in Abuja, it is a decision you can take.

So you believe that N4 million per month for delegate is too much?

I believe N4 million per month for each delegate would be too much for the conference.

Akiyode-Afolabi

16 POLITICS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Confab: A journey to uncertain destination CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 3

vance our togetherness. The issues range from form of government, structure of government, devolution of powers, revenue sharing, resource control, state creation, state police and fiscal federalism to indigeneship, gender equality and children’s rights amongst others.

“We must not approach issues with suspicion and antagonism. Rather we should be open minded and work to achieve what is best for Nigeria. Even though you come to the Conference as nominees and representatives of different interest groups, I urge you all to make a more united, stronger, indivisible and prosperous Nigeria your preoccupation and reference point at this national gathering. Whatever the pressures on you may be, I call upon you to put the best interest of Nigeria before all other sectoral or group interests,” he said.

Above all, Jonathan gave an indication that the outcome of the conference would be subjected to a referendum. He then tasked the National Assembly to expedite action on the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution, particularly the clauses that have to do with the making of a new constitution and the subjection of such a constitution to a referendum.

The suspicion Since the journey began last year, Jonathan had displayed some level of indecision on what should happen to the outcome of this conference. At first, he left it open-ended and when some Nigerians shouted that it was illegal and going to be a wasteful jamboree as long as there exists a National Assembly, he switched gears and said the outcome would be submitted to the National Assembly. Perhaps at that time, Jonathan was trying to assuage the anger of the members of the National Assembly many of whom regard the conference as an unnecessary duplication of the parliament and a vote of no confidence on them.

This sudden embrace of the referendum option is curiously tied to what the National Assembly would do or not do to the constitution amendment process. For a gathering that was heralded by suspicion, protests, revolts, these twists can only create more suspicion and uncertainties.

The making of a new constitution If Jonathan’s latest proposal is to be granted, the National Assembly would amend Section 9 of the 1999 Constitution to provide for a laid down procedure in which a new constitution can be made. The existing constitution which was promulgated into law by the military in 1999 makes provision for alterations and amendments to be made on it.

In its wisdom, the 7th Senate proposed an additional provision to its amendments of the Constitution called the Procedure for Drafting and Enacting a New Constitution. The Senate Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review felt that there was need to make an elaborate provision in Section 9 of the Constitution for a procedure to bring into being an entirely new constitution. This is predicated on the belief that the piecemeal approach adopted in the amendment of the 1999 Constitution may not be sustainable in the long run. It is this proposed amendment which is yet to sail through the legislative mill in the two chambers of the National Assembly that the current National Conference is now going to rely on.

Dissenting voices Already, the Jama’ tu Nasril Islam (JNI), the umbrella body for all Islamic organisations in Nigeria has accused Jonathan of having a hidden agenda. The group last week criticised the composition of the conference and claimed that it was deliberately skewed against Mos-

creation of more states. The South-East is known for its agitation for regional autonomy or the creation of more states in the zone if the current structure is to remain.

The South-South region is strongly against the current structure of the federation and wants it altered along the lines of fiscal federalism, devolution of powers to the states and resource control. On the other hand, the South-West wants a return to the regional arrangement where the regions were the federating units and had control of their resources.

Jonathan

The North is against any restructuring of the federation.

They are against fiscal federalism, resource control and creation of more states lems.

According to JNI, there were more Christians than Moslems among the delegates even in critical segments like the retired military and paramilitary institutions invited to the conference.

The main opposition political party, All Progressives Congress (APC) which opposed the conference right from the onset has refused to send its own delegates to the conference. However, the party would be attending by proxy as states controlled by the APC have sent delegates to the same conference.

In the case of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), it has refused to take its single slot at the conference.

National President of the NBA, Mr. Okey Wali said the NBA would not attend because it finds it unacceptable that a conference that will deal with a lot of legal and constitutional matters would reserve only one seat for lawyers in the country.

Contending forces Beyond the voices of dissent and boycotts, the conference is going to contend with a lot of centrifugal and centripetal forces that have been assembled under one roof. Although Jonathan in his inaugural address had counselled delegates against being ethnic champions, that piece of advice would certainly not hold water going by the early warning signals. Everyone is coming from a village, a local government and a state. Each state is coming from a region or geo-political zone and each zone has always had issues bothering it. The states of the defunct Northern Region have always worked as people with a common destiny. They are already doing so in preparation for the conference. Last Friday, the Arewa Consulative Forum (ACF), an umbrella union of the 19 states in the North-East, North-West and North Central zones, held a retreat for all their delegates to articulate a common agenda they will bring to the table. As usual, the North is against any restructuring of the federation.

They are against fiscal federalism, resource control and

Early warning The proceedings on the first day of sitting serves as a warning to what we are to expect at the conference.

Issues such as religion and ethnicity came up strongly as each group braced up for the war that is to come.

In order to ensure orderliness, a Draft Rules of Proceedings for the National Conference has been released to the 492 delegates.

The document and a copy of the 1999 Constitution was made available on Thursday to enable delegates study the documents ahead of the resumption of plenary. The draft documents would be debated on Monday and delegates would be expected to vote on the various provisions in order to adopt it as a working document.

The Secretariat of the Conference had earlier distributed bags containing several documents to the delegates.

Among the documents contained in the bags were the Report of the 1987 Political Bureau Conference, Report of the 1995 Constitutional Conference, Report of the 2005 National Political Reform Conference and the Report of the Presidential Committee on the Review of Outstanding Issues from the Constitutional Conference, July 2012.

Part of the proposed rules bars delegates from using offensive and insulting languages during sittings at the plenary or in committees. It also barred the delegates from assaulting or obstructing one another within the Conference Room or precincts of the Conference.

The delegates are also not allowed to assault or obstruct any officer of the Conference while in the execution of his duty. The rules said any delegate found wanting risks suspension for a maximum of 14 days.

Other aspects of the rules include: *A delegate may only read short extracts from books or papers in support of his argument and may refresh his memory by reference to notes. *A delegate must confine his contributions to the subject under discussion and may not introduce matters irrelevant thereto *It shall be out of order to attempt to reconsider any specific question upon which the Conference has come to a conclusion. *No delegate shall impute improper motives to any other delegate.

The rules also prohibits delegates from smoking or drinking on the floor of the Conference. *The use of mobile phones shall not be allowed during sittings and any delegate desiring to speak shall submit his name to the Secretary on a paper to be provided and if called upon shall stand and address his observations to the Chairman or the Chairman of Committee. *All committees shall forward their report to the Secretary at the conclusion of its sitting. The secretary shall at her discretion determine when such reports of Committee shall be brought up at Plenary for deliberation.

The document states among other things that: “No portion of these rules shall be suspended except by a vote of two-thirds majority of the delegates sitting and voting at the particular time.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 18

POLITICS 17

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

NATIONAL CONFERENCE The people of the South-East, in an unprecedented manner, have closed ranks to pursue a common goal at the ongoing National Conference, as they have set up a platform for Ndigbo to discuss and agree on political strategies and speak with one voice, reports FELIX NWANERI

Ndigbo: Echoes of new political agenda

D

esirous of the Igbo renaissance in a Nigerian nation where the various ethnic nationalities have busied themselves of late with strategies to harness their respective potential, stakeholders in the South-East geo-political zone are poised to use the ongoing National Conference to chart a new political agenda for Ndigbo.

The National Conference, which has 492 delegates representing the country’s various sections and interest groups, is expected to deliberate on all contentious issues affecting Nigeria and chart a new course for the nation.

And like other zones, the South-East is making sure that its interest and that of her people are well protected at the conference. Prior to the commencement of the conference, leaders of the zone had met under the auspices of the apex Igbo organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and harmonised issues they would canvass.

At the meeting were the governors of the five states that make up the zone, representatives of major Igbo organisations such as the Concerned Igbo Leaders of Thought; South-East Peoples Assembly; South-East Peoples Development Association; Ndigbo Lagos; Elders of Ndigbo and Aka Ikenga, among others.

On the zone’s agenda include the demand for an additional state, a new constitution, restructuring of government, fiscal federalism, devolution of power, resource control, citizenship right, security of lives and property and reparation over the continuous killing of Ndigbo and destruction of their property in other parts of the country, especially the North.

President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Gary Igariwey, who spoke on the Igbo agenda, said the position was not different from that presented by the zone at the 1994 and 2005 conferences, and which is yet to be addressed.

While some analysts blamed the “uncoordinated approach” by Ndigbo for their failure at the previous conferences, the lessons of the past may have been responsible for the unison that Ndigbo want to pursue their demands at the ongoing conference.

The resolve has already resulted to the setting up of a South-East Conference Secretariat to be funded by the governors of the five states that make up the zone – Theodore Orji (Abia), Willie Obiano (Anambra), Martin Elechi (Ebonyi), Sullivan Chime (Enugu) and Rochas Okorocha (Imo).

Headed by two eminent Igbo sons; for-

Ike Nwachukwu,

Igariwey

mer Nigerian Ambassador to the United States, Prof. George Obiozor (coordinator) and Dr. Okey Anueyiagu (lead consultant), the secretariat will serve as a platform for the South-East delegates to discuss and agree on political strategies.

Chairman of the South East delegates at the conference, Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (retd), who revealed the action plan at a meeting shortly after the confab’s inauguration by President Goodluck Jonathan, said Ndigbo have suffered immeasurable pain in the hands of their compatriots, and therefore will seize the opportunity of the National Conference to present the throng of hardships they have endured, since after the civil war and tactfully present solutions that will not only benefit the country, but ensure that they take their rightful position in Nigeria.

“Over the years, there have been calls for the reform of the political and fiscal system of our country in ways that will provide for, and guarantee to all its citizens; fair, just and equitable democratic process of governance and livelihood. At this point, it is imperative that our country has no choice, but to boldly embrace our irrepressible diversities and pluralism. And the attendant need for positive and mutually rewarding integration that recognises the benefits of true and practical federalism.

“Our collective desire is for a system, that will, in the true sense of the word, present a decentralisation and devolution of power, guaranteeing that the constant chronic social and political instability that threaten our continuing

existence as a nation, thus fanning the embers of disintegration, become a thing of the past.

“This journey to the National Conference which is anchored overwhelmingly on the preservation of Nigeria as a sovereign united entity, where peaceful and equitable society thrive, is providing us, as delegates from the South-East, a strong platform to present the throng of hardships, we as a people have endured over a period of 40 years, and tactfully present solutions that not only will benefit our country, but will ensure that Igbo people take our rightful position in our country.

“The lgbo have suffered immeasurable pain, repression, despair and indignity in the hands of our fellow Nigerians.

There is pain that is perceived, and pain that is endured, and both have been our portion. We are aware that some other ethnic nationalities share similar experiences. I am as a result, prompted by these monstrous and very annoying memories, with the ultimate motive and profundity of a passion, to be part of a group, as gathered here today that will bring about lasting change and solution to the plight of our people.”

He reminded the delegates that the expectations from them are high, as Ndigbo believe that they will collectively present their case and negotiate for them, a country that guarantees their growth, general well-being and peaceful existence.

He, however, cautioned that the journey to a new era must be embarked in a subtle manner and facilitated by a healthy co-operation; partnership and interaction between the South-East and other zones of the federation, in order to promote peaceful co-existence, sustainable development, good governance and sustenance of democracy in one united Nigeria.

He added that because the SouthEast’s negotiating skills and ability at building consensus will be put to test at its most crucial level at the confab, there is the need for the zone’s delegates to dis-

The lgbo have suffered immeasurable pain, repression, despair and indignity in the hands of our fellow Nigerians

card individualistic and selfish approach to politics, which have been the bane of Ndigbo, and embrace the concept of collective struggle and bargaining as a winning strategy in political contests in a plural and complex society like Nigeria.

He said: “This secretariat provides a forum for Ndigbo to discuss and agree on our political strategies, and speak with one indivisible voice, with robust and proper articulation, management and implementation of a political agenda for Ndigbo.”

Nwachukwu, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and senator who represented Abia North in the National Assembly between 1999 and 2003, did not end his speech without intimating the South-East confab delegates with information and data that underscore the enormity of the weight of responsibility they are to shoulder at the National Conference.

He said: “The Igbos are obviously the most populous ethnic group in Nigeria, with significant presence in all the states of the federation. The Igbos, if left to form their own nation, will be about the 6th largest country in Africa, population wise, (greater in population than South Africa, Ghana, Sudan, Tanzania, Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, Libya and others).

“The Igbos are greater in population than the Jews. The Igbos are greater than the entire population of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia put together. This notwithstanding, we as Ndigbo are resolved to remain in our country Nigeria and to dissuade any group, from any thought, towards the balkanisation of Nigeria.”

He also left a poser, saying: “If at the end of the Civil War in 1970, we had a maximum of 20 Pounds each (for those who had money in the banks) and now we count in billions of Pounds Sterling, Dollars, Euro and Naira, respectively, what will stop us from engaging, with the fullest thrust at our command, this assignment aimed at emancipating our people for good in a united Nigeria?”

An Imo State delegate at the conference, Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, who commended the initiative, told New Telegraph that he is optimistic that “this conference brings an end to blood spilling of the innocent, and offer our people a better country which our children and generations to come deserve.”

He added: “May our country have a soul and a spirit, and more than a mere geographical expression lacking higher ideals and bereft of any binding philosophy beyond the daily grabbing of money.”

While Ndigbo are known for their republican nature which precludes concentration of leadership in the hands of an individual, the days ahead, when debate at the conference commences will determine the success or otherwise of the unanimity of the South-East delegates.

18 POLITICS

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Monday, March 24, 2014

NATIONAL CONFERENCE There are reports suggesting that the number of Muslim delegates at the ongoing National Conference is not commensurate to its overall strength in the country. What is the truth of the matter?

Well, I think even the blind man can attest to this intended or deliberate lopsidedness in the number of Muslim/Christian delegates at the confab. You are talking of 492 delegates and out of that number, you are only giving Muslims 157. Christians were given 62 per cent of the delegates while Muslims constitute only 38 per cent.

This is a deliberate lopsidedness created to downplay the numerical strength of Muslims in the country. And this underscores the hidden agenda of the whole conference. The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Fact book and the World Bank have said that Muslims are 50 per cent while Christians are 40 per cent and others 10 per cent. Even if we go by this, which was not manufactured by Muslims or any Islamic organisation, the population of Muslims in the country is glaring. These publications were made by the highest level in the human society.

This misrepresentation also shows you a serious digression from the so-called democracy that we are talking about, which is a game of numbers. The propaganda angle of it doesn’t matter but the number of Muslims is higher than Christians.

How can the leadership of this country inaugurate such a confab with this obvious flaw, which was wittingly created in a democracy?

One other surprising thing is that of all the professionals that were chosen as delegates, none is a Muslim. So, they mean that Muslims are so daft that they are not deserving to be nominated in any of the professions? I think there should be a level of decorum, moderation in what we do. Even in the so-called Middle Belt, are there no Muslims there? Even in the South-West where Muslims are in the majority, I don’t think there is any Muslim, if I can remember. You mean there is no single Muslim in the South-South and South East? There are Christians in the North and you don’t have any Muslim in those areas? What is the confab trying to achieve? That is why from the beginning, most Nigerians don’t even trust this conference for so many reasons. One, for the ill timing. Second, it may be a diversion for the serious scams of corruption which the government has failed to look at.

Has JNI raised this issue of lopsidedness with the government?

Well, I think the public court or public opinion has said it all. Throughout the country, there are people who are even questioning the legality of this. So, a listening leadership would have acted. Our position from the beginning was not even to really attend because we are in a country where there are laid down rules and procedures and they are flouted. These are the issues; we will still continue to talk and we will make our opinions known and continue to ask that the country do the right thing.

Muslims won’t get fair deal at confab –JNI Secretary General of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Dr. Aliyu Khalid, in this interview with MUHAMMAD ALI, speaks on the reservations of the Islamic body about the National Conference. Excerpts:

Khalid

Has JNI met and articulated an agenda for Muslim delegates at the confab?

Well, we articulated justice. Our problem in this country is bad governance, injustice and incompetence. So, if we have these on ground, I think they will check everything. Once there is good governance and justice, you don’t have to even do anything; these are enough. Let everybody get what he deserves, whether you like his face or not, whether you like his religion or not. But as far as someone is a citizen of Nigeria, he has a bonafide constitutional right and his honour should be respected. Food security must be ensured, these are the issues we want implemented. The justice of Islam is to give justice to those who deserve them.

But the ordinary Muslim wants sharia to be fully codified in our country’s laws. Will JNI canvass for that at the conference?

Well, sharia has come to stay; so many

It doesn’t matter but the number of Muslims... How can the leadership of this country inaugurate such a confab with this obvious flaw, which was wittingly created in a democracy? states in the North are applying it. But the point is to improve on it. And since the constitution has given that leverage and that is why it is done, ours is to try to perfect it. I don’t think that we need the confab to even give us the authority to do so. By the way, when the confab finally winds up, what will be the outcome of the resolutions?

They will be passed on to the National As-

sembly.

Then it is a waste of time. Even the resolutions of the National Assembly, their oversight functions, the committee reports, the money and all the work that they have been putting in, what have been the outcome? There must be a wilful leadership and this can only be done by example. And this example simply means that when you govern, you should govern well. I think we should not be putting the cart before the horse. We should do things right. It is surprising that members of the National Assembly who were elected to do what the confab is supposed to do, should keep quiet when their functions are being hijacked.

Some people are of the opinion that Muslims should stage a walk out when they see that the debate at the conference is taking an antiIslamic or anti-Nigerian bent. Do you think that is a good strategy, seeing that Muslims constitute just 38 per cent of the confab?

I have not heard of that suggestion but we should understand that this is a democracy. There is no coercion; you can’t compel people to do your bidding. There will be different people or groups that will be coming with different agenda at the confab. Some will canvass for resource control but this matter has long been settled in the constitution.

Do you think Muslims will get a fair deal at the confab, given the lopsidedness of the delegates?

It is obvious, how can Muslims get a fair deal? Nomination to the confab was done along religious and ethnic lines. If just 38 per cent says no, how can they go against the dominant 62 per cent? The confab has already shown you where it is going.

But Muslim elites may be accused of not agitating for greater nomination, in the event that this happens.

We have done so through several complaints and write ups but when it is sent to deaf ears, nothing happens.

Confab: A journey to uncertain destination CO N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 6

The uncertainties Although, the rules have been made, it is envisaged that every group would go back to the trench to dig up their old entrenched positions. The conference is expected to sit for a period of three months and to reach consensus when an issue is supported by 75 per cent majority of the delegates. This is an uphill task for the pilots of this conference because of the tendency of every group to stick to their guns.

If the conference is able to reach the desired consensus on a good number of the issues that would be brought before it, then it would have made a success of the exercise. If it does not, then a whooping N7 billion would have gone down the drain.

What if the conference ends with far-reaching recommendations including the subjection of the reports to a referendum but the National Assembly fails to pass the constitutional amendment before the conference winds down? Even if they pass it later would it be legally correct for the referendum clause to take retroactive effect?

There are fears that some delegates and groups are at the conference for ulterior motives especially where they had earlier expressed opposition to the dialogue before they changed their minds to participate. The worst case scenario would be if the conference witnesses any major upheaval that could result in a deadlock and abrupt termination of its proceedings.

19

EDITORIAL

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

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MONday, MARCH 24, 2014

Diversifying the national economy pragmatically

T

he objectives of the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) were recently outlined by Mr. Utsu Linus Adie, in his capacity as the chairman. Basically, it is for generation of geo-sciences information, facilitating policies that will fast-track development of the sector, to assist the operators, artisanal and small scale miners through the creation of extension services. This is really a good step in the right direction, as it would assist immensely to diversify the national economy of the country away from the present mono-cultural status of petroleum dependency.

The fact is that oil is fast becoming a vanishing source of easy revenue. Nigeria once had the pride of being one of the largest producers of petroleum on the continent, but not anymore. Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Cameroun, Chad and some others have also found oil. Then even more contentious is the fact that America, Nigeria’s largest customer has discovered shale oil and so may not need to patronise Nigeria as much as it used to do.

Without mincing words, economic diversification is exactly what Nigeria needs to compete effectively in an increasingly globalised world. Due to overdependence on crude oil sales which fetch about 92 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, the Nigerian economy has become so fragile and predictable that any volatility in the global oil market impacts on the economy. Before the advent of oil, Nigeria was self-sufficient in food

Currently, mining accounts for only one per cent of the GDP, due to the influence of the country’s vast oil resources. The domestic mining industry is underdeveloped, leading to Nigeria having to import minerals that it could produce domestically, such as salt or iron ore production and also boasted a thriving export sector anchored on agro-based products. Manufacturing, which once contributed about 12 per cent to the GDP and, next to agriculture, provided most jobs, now contributes about five per cent to the GDP. A few years ago, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) lamented that over 800 companies had either folded up or relocated to other countries. Regrettably, Ghana has become the main destination for companies that are moving out of Nigeria.

To this end, the SMDF is a commendable development as it would help to open up many investment opportunities and economic development. However, it must be put to the purpose for which it is meant. The development of the mineral sector will help to create employment, generate wealth, reduce poverty, grow the GDP and foreign reserves. Also, the growth and develop-

ment of mining will have corresponding positive impact on other non- oil sectors that will overall improve the economic indicators and ratings of the Nigerian economy. It is very important to point out that oil and gas do not contribute to GDP and employment as much as agriculture and telecommunication, yet agriculture has been largely neglected.

Hence, Nigeria must look inwards and at areas where she has comparative advantage, and policies that would effectively drive investment must be in place. Fortunately, all parts of the country have untapped mineral resources.

But it is no secret that most mining activities in the country are not properly regulated and are largely illegal. There are over 40 different types of minerals spread across the country, including gold, barite, bentonite, limestone, coal, bitumen, iron ore, tantalite / columbite, lead/zinc, barites, gemstones, granite, marble, gypsum, talc, iron ore, lead, lithium, silver, etc. However, not all the minerals are available in commercial quantity.

Currently, mining accounts for only one per cent of the GDP, due to the influence of the country’s vast oil resources.

The domestic mining industry is underdeveloped, leading to Nigeria having to import minerals that it could produce domestically, such as salt or iron ore.

Rights to ownership of mineral resources is held by the Nigerian government, which grants titles to organizations to explore, mine, and sell mineral resources. Nigeria has significant coal and iron ore reserves as well as several gold, uranium, tantalum and REE show-

ings throughout the country. Uranium is found in 6 of the 36 states in Nigeria.

But, the Nigerian government will have to provide the necessary infrastructure such as reliable power supply and the enabling environment to make investment worthwhile.

The point must be made that, lack of information is by far the single largest factor why investment in the solid mineral sector in Nigeria is low.

The industry was controlled by stateowned corporation and as such not much information had been let out to investors. Interested investors did not have enough geological data confirming the availability and distribution of minerals up until the enactment of the Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act of 2007 which created the mining cadastre system in mineral title administration. Similarly, illiteracy on the part of local miners has cost the industry a lot has the miners do not appreciate the benefits of conducting survey on the mining site in order to determine the deposit of the ore before investing, hence when it turns out the ore cannot be extracted at an economic sense, the miners are already far deep into mining thereby leading to lots of loss.

No doubt, the mining sector in Nigeria is one big growth area that has not been properly and effective tapped. It is envisaged that the mining fund will provide the require impetus and catalyst in this regard and help diversify the Nigerian economy as well as propel it to greater heights within the shortest time possible.

BOLAJI TUNJI Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief IKE ABONYI Deputy Managing Director/DEIC FELIX OGUEJIOFOR ABUGU Managing Editor, South SULEIMAN BISALA Managing Editor, North GABRIEL AKINADEWO 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 BIODUN DUROJAIYE News Editor PADE OLAPOJU Production Editor TIMOTHY AKINLEYE Head, Graphics ROBINSON EZEH Head, Admin.

20

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

OPINION

Historic port of Gwato and the Edo development plans

Onaivi Mayaki

I

t was Dr. Benson Osadolor, department of History and International Studies, University of Benin who wouldn’t stop talking about the ancient Benin Kingdom without the mention of the ``port of Gwato’’.

Ugbiyiokho is the link road to port Gwato, the popular Gelegele port and 65 other communities in Benin city.

The port of Gwato, which is today known as ``Ughoton near Ekenwan village, was the port Captain Phillips and his crew, berth their ship, and invaded Benin kingdom in the battle historians now refer to as the ``Benin massacre of 1897.

The Ughoton port and Oduna, the village captain Phillips and his men were ambushed killed and buried by the Benin warriors, have since become tourists centres.

More importantly, is the government plan to dredge the Gelegele seaport to international standard, which in itself has put communities in the oil producing areas of Ovia North-East local government area, in lime light.

And one of such communities that has gained recognition and experienced exponential growth is Ugbiyokho, meaning the community that grows ``cocoyam’’ crop in commercial quantity.

The Ugbiyokho community is the link road to the famous Ekenwan barracks including the Gelegele seasport, Oduna and Ughoton among other several communities.

In the last ten years, Ugbiyokho can be said to be one of the highflier communities and that has favourably competed with other fast developing communities like Ugbor, Iyekoba, Umagba and Isiohor communities fast becoming metropolitan towns.

Unfortunately, however, residents, developers and visitors to Ugbiyokho since the middle of last year, have experienced hardship because of the failed portion of the road.

The people have these past few months daily experienced physical, mental and psychological torture, with

most of them having been forced to move houses as they could not cope with constant hike of transport fares, especially each time it rained.

The failed portion of Ugbioyokho became a nightmare to so many business owners, landlords and landladies, developers and even tourists.

Although Governor Adams Oshiomhole, after each media telecast of the peoples’ plight, severally urged the people of the community to exercise restrain that government will immediate address the issue as soon as dry season sets in this year.

Frustrated of their several waits, the people of the Ugbiyokho, early this year, staged a peaceful protest, to draw government urgent attention to the failed portion.

Expectedly, Governor Oshiomhole, after an unscheduled visit to the site, assured the people that the failed portion will be rehabilitated within three months to give a breather to the people.

After less than four weeks, Riucon construction mobilized to site, both social and economic activities seem to have returned to the community with the residents commending the Governor for living up to his promise.

Miss Ero Uwaila is a teacher at the Redeemed Christian School located at Ugbiyoko along Upper Ekenwan road. Last year, the school where Uwaila worked recorded very low intake of pupils. Parents withdrew their kids from the school in droves. Uwaila and other teachers were already preparing to say good bye to their jobs when the rain started. Reason? The school is located at the heart of one of the many failed portions of the Upper Ekenwan road.

As the failed portion widens, flood water extended to the school and parents fearing for the safety of their kids and wards looked for alternative schools. Besides the school, the failed road measuring became a nightmare to residents of Ugbiyoko and 65 other communities which the road linked. Economic activities along the road and environs were paralysed. It was only landlords

at Ugbiyoko that could not abandoned their buildings that stayed back as ‘Rooms/flat to rent’ were inscriped on many houses.

Transportation fares from the Kings Square to Ugbiyoko skyrocketed from N50 to N200 and above. The alternative routes taken by motorists were worse. Any time it rains, the fare is increased to N500 which made many to trek home. The flood gathered on the failed portions did not dry up during the harmattan and dry season.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole, at a visit to the failed portion after several protest by communities linked by the road, apologised to the people for the long suffering they have endured due to the bad state of the road. He said the state government planned to expand the road to a four-lane road and promised to mobilise a construction firm to fix the failed portions pending the commencement of full construction work on the road.

The rehabilitation work has since commenced and economic activities are gradually returning to the community and environs. This has made Uwaila and other teachers to hope that they may not after all loose their jobs.

Miss Joy Ebuka, a teacher in one of the private schools in Ugbiyokho, said ``we will remain internally grateful to our governor to keeping fait with us with the rehabilitation of this bad spots. ``We lost a lot of pupils last year because their parents could not cope with the situation of the increased transport fares and the stress of the long walk from their homes to schools. ``More painful was the fact some of our colleagues lost their jobs due to the reduced percentage of pupils’ enrolment. ``But we are beginning to see a brighter hope again with the on-going rehabilitation of the Ugbiyokho road,’’ Ebuka said.

•Onaivi Mayaiki writes from Akoko Edo.

Lessons from insurgent parties (1) Rev. Chris Okotie

I

nsurgent parties as used in this context are no reference to communist guerilla armies, islamists or rebel armed groups, which topple governments by violent means. Rather, it pertains to small nationalist parties, mostly found in European democracies, some of which are even represented in the European Parliament without a single seat in their home legislatures.

London-based The Economist did an interesting report on these parties and their growing influence on ruling parties, and coalition governments across continental Europe. Most of the 24 EUmember countries have at least, one of these fringe parties like Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front, NF in France, which has actually grown in stature to the extent that it chalked up enough votes in the last Presidential elections to trouble victorious President Francoise Hollande.

There are at least 28 of these populist/Eurosceptic parties in Europe, with The United Kingdom’s Independent Party, UKIP, FNF, Greece’s Golden Dawn, Finns of Finland, being the most popu-

lar. Some of these parties are blighted by extremist ideologies, xenophobia about Islamisation, their racist past and resentment of immigrants.

Of course, many of them have moderated their ideological positions, nevertheless, they remain populist, fiercely nationalistic and focused. For most Nigerians, launching political parties has become a means to ride to power without any strong ideological bent or conviction, apart from the underlying motive of gaining access to the control of our oil wealth.

Many prominent politicians decamp back and forth between the PDP and the APC, to seek the best vantage point to win elections, not because they are frustrated with the failure of either party to provide good governance or deliver on election promises. What makes the APC suddenly attractive to an aggrieved PDP Governor or party chieftain, who just three years ago, contested and won an election against the same opposition party? If both parties have distinct ideological differences, why should the PDP become the most viable alternative for an APC member who decides to decamp?

Why do decampees from the APC and PDP go to the two other partiesin-power: Labour and APGA, not the array of lesser known, smaller parties with people-friendly manifestoes? It is because the smaller parties are deemed to be weak; unelectable, and condemned to minority and permanent opposition status, due to lack of capacity to win major elections like the Presidency or Governorship, where executive power decides everything.

It would be interesting to see patriotic, but disillusioned PDP or APC stalwarts decamp to the radical parties like NCP, PRP or FRESH which aim to upstage the ruling cabal with their uncompromising, populist, pro-people programmes.

It is disappointing that our famous civil rights campaigners and human rights activists have since compromised and have become the apologists of people in power.

A people deserve the kind of leaders they get. Nigerian voters have been brainwashed into believing that it is better to join the “invincible” major parties than attempt to beat them. This warped logic is not only idiotic, illogical and wrong; it smacks of timidity and an

unwillingness to confront the challenges of change.

If you look at the history of all revolutions, it usually begins with minority views; often championed by one person.

At no time in history did the majority launch a revolution. Radical changes, often derided at the initial stage by the masses, become game changers when one bold, adventurous man stakes his reputation, resources or life to achieve what seems to be impossible.

The Nigerian voter must understand that big parties or powerful politicians are as big and powerful as the masses allow. They must learn from Arab youths who chased out their traditional oppressors from power to end decades of dictatorship by ruling oligarchies and corrupt sheiks. Learning from the Arab spring is not a clarion call to arms against the Nigerian ruling cabal. Violence is not a viable option. Even the Arab elites have mismanaged the revolutions in places like Libya; Egypt and Syria are still torn apart by armed rebellion.

• Chris Okotie, a Presidential aspirant wrote from Lagos (Okotie@revchrisokotie.com, follow on Twitter @ Revchrisokotie, 08078421451 (sms only)

INVESTIGATION

21 NEW TELEGRAPH

www.newtelegraphonline.com/investigation

GEOFFREY EKENNA Editor, INVESTIGATION

geoffrey.ekenna@newtelegraphonline.com

Monday, MARCH 24, 2014

Headquarters of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non Metallic Product Employees (NUCFRLANMPE) in Sango Ota, Ogun State.

NUCFRLANMPE: A tug of war over sack, entitlements What started as an employment romance between Agatha Ikhiede and the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non Metallic Product Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), in 1984 is today, a source of sorrow for both sides.

GEOFFREY EKENNA reports

W

hen Mrs. Agatha Ikhiede resumed work as a cashier at the headquarters of the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non Metallic Product Employees (NUCFRLANMPE) in 1984, she had high hopes. After 26 years on the job, rising to the level of Head of Department, Accounts, she only hoped she was coasting home towards a happy retirement. Not even her redeployment to the Cooperative Department of the union in 2008 “for no reason” could dampen her morale and hope for a happy ending. But all her hopes

for a happy ending ended on that afternoon of November 25, 2010, when she was handed a letter of termination of appointment by a dispatch rider and allegedly marched out of the Rainbow Maritime Crescent headquarters of the union in Sango Ota, Ogun State by two security guards. Since then, life has become a battle for the 50- something-year-old.

She is bitter; she is enraged, not only at her disgraceful sack, but by the refusal of the union to pay her severance and terminal benefits, which she puts at about N2.5m. Nearly four years after her termination by the union, Ikhiede is

still battling to retrieve her entitlements.

One issue that stands between her and her entitlements, according to the President of the Union, Mr. Boniface Isok, is her refusal to hand over the ‘property’ of the union in her custody. When New Telegraph visited the union’s headquarters at Sango Ota, Ogun State two Mondays ago, Isok was clear, “let her come and hand over and we will pay her immediately. Her money is in the bank and her cheque is ready. In the first place, we are governed by the rules covering the terms of employment. The term is that either party can stop the work either by notice or by termination. When you are leaving the service, there’s something you need to do for the organisation- handover. It is what is binding you with the organisation.”

But that is not a line of story Ikhiede is prepared to hear. She alleged that she was marched out of the premises immediately her letter was handed to her by security men and told not to take a pin out of the office. She wonders, “How can you walk me out of the office without a pin with security men and still expect me to come and hand over? Didn’t they know I needed to hand over before they walked

me out? I can’t go back there to say I am handing over. It is just not right.”

But Isok denied she was marched out of the premises. He said, “We were having CWC meeting here. I am the president of this union but I don’t know where our accounts are. We were having a meeting and somebody sent texts to the CWC members and said they should ask the president where those accounts are? The CWC members asked me and I said I did not know. The CWC then told all the senior officers to leave the office, so that we can investigate. She was not marched out.”

Well, whether Ikhiede is right or her former employers are now a matter of academics. But the argument has taken her and the union to the Zone 2 Police Command in Lagos and the Ministry of Labour with no results in sight. Still, the battle rages.

Ikhiede and her husband, Chris are threatening not just court action against the Union, but also to open a can of worms on the underbellies of the union under Isok. Her termination letter only said her services were no longer reCONTINUED ON PAGE 22

22 INVESTIGATION

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Romance gone sour at NUCFRLANMPE

Ikhiede

Isok

CONTINUEDFR O M PAGE 21

over properly upon her sack.

“After writing my statements, I was granted bail on the intervention of my lawyer. I told them that I don’t have anything to hand over to them. It was a Friday and the Police told us to come back on a Monday. On that day, I came with my lawyer and we waited until 2pm without any of the union officials appearing.

The signatories to the petition refused to come. Only two people from the headquarters came but when the police asked them if they signed the petition and they said no; the Police insisted on talking to the signatories.

“It was the same thing the following day when two members of the co-operative came and Police refused to speak with them. That was the day, the Secretary of the Union, Mr. Douglas Adiele, came with a lawyer and the Police asked him about the N2m I was accused of embezzling. He told the police it was a bythe-way.” The case died a natural death at the police with none of the allegations proven.”

The Brickbats Few days after the police episode ended without any result, Ikhiede’s lawyer from the Apeiye Beacon Chambers, Ojota, fired a letter of petition to the Inspector General of Police and the AIG, Zone 2 alleging that Isok sacked Ikhiede over questions raised by the latter on the falsification of accounts by the former.

“It is on record that due to disagreement of our client with the National President of the Union, Mr. Boniface Isok, as regarding falsification of account as well as our client’s unavoidable question as regards the whereabouts of her deducted pension fund, prompted the action of executing a civilian coup against her, which they tagged termination of her employment.

“In buttressing the above fact, on November 25, 2010, our client was held hostage in her office and this was immediately followed by a letter terminating her employment without notice. As if that was not enough, she was marched out of her office, outside the gate with

quired by the union. But, according to the Conditions of Service of the Union, which New Telegraph sighted, there was none of the reasons stated in the Article 12 (Termination) that was highlighted in the letter.

According to the conditions of service in Article 12, the reasons for termination could include any of the following: pilfering, consumption of alcohol on duty, dishonesty, insubordination, inefficiency, dereliction of duty, causing loss or damage to the organisation’s property through negligence, immoral or indecent conduct, gambling and sales of goods/items in place of work, taking away organisation’s property without permission and absence from duty three consecutive days without permission.

In the same Article, under the subhead, ‘Summary Dismissal’, the items listed included, stealing, embezzlement or misappropriation of organisation’s fund and fighting on duty. Her letter of termination, titled “Service no longer required” and signed by Douglas Adiele, the then acting National Secretary, read: “We write to inform you that due to the ongoing re-organisation in the union, your services with the organisation are no longer required with effect from November 25, 2010.

“By copy of this letter, the accounts department is hereby advised to compute and pay you your entitlements. You should, however, submit to the Administrative Department, all union property in your possession in order to facilitate the payment of your severance benefits.”

Since no reason beyond ‘services no longer required’ was stated in her letter, Ikhiede is at a loss why she has not been paid since her sack. But the official reasons are not farfetched. She has not handed over the affairs of the Co-operative to the next official.

Two months after her sack, on December 10, 2010, the Union’s staff co-operative and multipurpose society had written her a letter through one Tunde Olagoke,

How can you walk me out of the office without a pin with security men and still expect me to come and hand over? Didn’t they know I needed to hand over before they walked me out? the secretary, asking her to come and hand over materials in her possession.

The letter read: “We wish to inform you that as a result of your disengagement from NUCFRANMPE, the executives of co-operative are greatly concerned with you and other co-operators.

“In the light of the above, an executive meeting of the scheme has been fixed to hold on Friday, December 10, 2010 by 10am at Obasa Hall, National secretariat to among other things facilitate the process of handing-over. Therefore, you are expected to come along with all documents of the scheme in your custody.”

Ikhiede did not honour the invitation.

According to her, she could not “come and hand over in such a manner when I was marched out of the gate by security agents. They wrote me three months after to come and hand over.”

On January 7, 2011, she received another copy of the letter, which she also ignored. She also received a call from the secretary of the co-operative, Andrew Achoya, to come and hand over, which she equally ignored.

Matters, however, escalated on January 21 of the same year, when she was invited to the Zone 2 Police Command in Lagos and was detained. There, a copy of the petition written against her by the union was handed over to her. She was accused of embezzling N2m of the Union as the HOD Accounts and singlehandedly sold lands belonging to the union’s co-operative, in addition to not handing

security after collecting her office key on the ground that her services were no longer required.

“It is equally a fact on record that due to the fact that this man and his cohorts felt that their atrocities could be exposed by our client, now chose the way of using the Police to trace her residence on Friday January 21, on an unfounded allegation. In buttressing the above fact, on that fateful day, our client, who was in church for a programme was traced to the church after locating her house and was arrested by Policemen from D5 Zone 2 Command Headquarters, Lagos.”

The lawyer said that the policemen had taken a position with the union against Ikhiede. He wondered why the union was raising allegations against Ikhiede when there is a matter under investigation under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He urged the police to investigate the matter. But that is where the case died.

But that was not before the lawyer of the Union, Godwin Ezimoha, had replied the letter written by Beacon describing it reliant on a dubious client. Ezimoha, who described the request for payment of entitlements and pension funds as phantom, rather told the lawyer to advise Ikhiede to go to court to seek redress. He said, “It is sad that you readily believed an emergency client, who claimed to have rejected an offer to falsify accounts but remained taciturn until her lawful interdiction over the improprieties connected with her superintendence of our client’s co-operative society where huge sums of money were fraudulently converted under the auspices of your client “That your employment of subtle blackmail and unsubstantiated vitriolic to ventilate an unholy demand for unmerited entitlement in the face of a criminal indictment against your client clearly betrays the image of a counterfeit apostle of defender of human right.

After all, we are informed that your client upon being served with her terminaCO NTINUED O N PAGE 24

INVESTIGATION

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

23

SL Akintola: Did he see the future?

Forty eight years after his death, the dream of the late Premier of the Western Region, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola appears to have come through in form of the All Progressives Congress, APC. SOLA ADEYEMO reports from Ibadan

H

e is not a man many are willing to talk about. But 48 years after his death, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, the last Premier of the Western Region, remains a man who saw the future. In his life time, in the bitter battle for the control of the politics of the then Western Region, his traducers accused him of trying to sell the region to the North. He had actually advocated an alliance between the then Action Group and the Northern Peoples Congress, NPC led by Sir Ahmadu Bello, the then Sardauna of Sokoto. But his colleagues in the region then preferred the AG, headed by the Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

But nearly 50 years after his death and more than that when he espoused the idea, that is exactly what the Action Congress of Nigeria, which hold the five South Western States of Ogun, Lagos, Oyo, Ekiti and Osun states have done.

They have joined the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and All Peoples Party, APP, mainly of the North and a section of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA to form the All Progressives Congress, APC. Many elders in Ogbomoso, who experienced Akintola directly, might not be willing to talk about him. That cannot be detached from the controversies surrounding his political life.

One of them, who preferred anonymity said, “there is no way anybody will talk about him that political meanings will not be read into one’s statements.

There is no way one will talk that one will not touch on issues of politics and no one will want to be quoted in view of the political situation in the country now.”

However, a 75-year-old close ally of SLA, Chief James Adebayo Oyewusi, who was former Chairman, Ogbomoso North Local Government Council and former Chairman, Health Management Board, told New Telegraph that the principle and policy which SLA stood for in the 60s are now what has been demonstrated in the coming together of some parties to form APC, comprising the Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa politicians. To him, controlling the centre alone by a section of the country like Awolowo advocated, was not easy or rather is impossible.

That was the reason Akintola wanted the Yoruba to join hands with the Hausa in the North to rule the country.

Oyewusi disclosed that he, the late

Akintola

Akintola’s grave

Pa Sunday Popoola (a.k.a. SOP); Dr. Saka Balogun (former Chief of Staff to former Oyo State Governor), Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala and the Chief Akinbowale Adigun Akintola, were the closest lieutenants of the then Premier.

He said, “when Akintola was the leader of opposition up to 1959, his intention

was to do away with politics of bitterness and that the Yoruba could not do the government at the centre alone without the North because in terms of population, they were more than us.

“As educationally advanced as we were in the West, and backward as many Northerners were, they would vote

against us and win. Akintola wanted to deal with the North, but because of our intransigence the North worked with the East. People like J.S. Tarka and Awolowo in the 1960 election believed that Akintola was selling Yoruba to the Hausa, but he asked them for what price? They said that he understood the Hausa Language very well such that he was romancing with the Sardauna of Sokoto, who was the then Northern Peoples’ Congress, NPC leader.

“What he was preaching in early 60s till he died is what the APC now discovered lately. Those who tagged themselves as progressives were the ones who said Akintola wanted to sell the Yoruba. This was what caused the downfall of the 1st Republic.

“He said there should be unity. This led to the East aligning with the North, which did not augur well for us. If we had agreed to work with the North, Yoruba would not have been this marginalised and backward politically”, the septuagenarian said.

Pa Omiyaa, as he is popularly called, said that the legacy of Akintola was being raised aloft, reason the Ogbomoso Solidarity Front was celebrating his remembrance on yearly basis, the last one being of January 15 at the late premier’s residence at Oke Ado, Ogbomoso.

He recalled that his contemporary, Dr Saka Balogun, recently stressed that Ogbomoso people had not forgotten SLA or his ideals, contrary to some people’s belief, stressing that Akintola was still alive in the minds of many.

Another septuagenarian and Secretary of the Akintola Estate and also Secretary of the Akintola group of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Pa George Okunola Olayinka, said the SLA was a detribalised politician, whose love for oneness of the country had not been surpassed by anybody.

Comparing the type of politics played

by SLA to the type being played nowadays, he said, “Politics has changed from the past. There is no longer love; there is no longer truth and there is no longer mutual understanding among politicians as opposed to the culture of the old. Everyone is going on his way to make sure he gets benefits for himself or herself and not for the common interest of the masses. There is no more respect for the party and the elders.”

At the 2014 memorial event where a lecture entitled: “A Retrospective View of Akintola’s Role In Nigerian Politics” was delivered by Emeritus Professor of History, Akinjide Osuntokun, who appealed to all Nigerians to “embrace the principle of one Nigeria as it was canvassed by Akintola until he was killed in the military coup of 1966.”

He stated that if Nigeria would progress as a nation, “there is the need for all and sundry to shun tribalism and eschew the spirit of oneness”.

According to Osuntokun of the Redeemer’s University, Mowe, Ogun State, CO NTINUED O N PAGE 24

24 INVESTIGATION

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Remembering Akintola, last Premier of Western region CONTINUEDFR OM PAGE 23

“Akintola in a brutally frank way made it quite clear that Nigeria belongs to all of us and that a policy of exclusiveness and nepotism manifested by one group will not help the country”.

He pointed out that the constitution of the Second Republic, which came into force on October 1, 1979, “has further confirmed Akintola’s belief of team work”, adding that the constitution makes it obligatory for the President to see that cabinet members represent all the states and reflect the federal, albeit ethnic structure of Nigeria”.

To the don, “the kind of blind alley into which the holier-than-thou policies of the Action Group led the people of Western Nigeria between 1959 and 1964 is not likely to happen again because it is constitutionally impossible. Nigerian leaders have learned from the lessons of the Action Group crises and the civil war.”

Osuntokun asserted that no single party can dominate Nigeria, stressing that “Akintola touched on sensitive issues but his lasting contribution was to make Nigerians aware that the problem of the inequitable distribution of national resources did exist and that something must be done about it, if the political entity and pluralist state of Nigeria was to survive. Each ethnic group must have control of its God-given land, and the question of a common citizenship must not override the rights of indigenes in their own land.”

Vice President, Namadi Sambo, who

was represented on the occasion by AlaoAkala lamented that: “After 50 years that Akintola had canvassed for the unity of the country, Nigeria is yet to achieve oneness. This portrays a great danger for the future of the country.

“The Yoruba are being sidelined because we are not close to the government of the day. We need to embrace the unity of this country irrespective of where we come from if we want to progress as a nation,” Alao-Akala said.

Akintola was prominent in the agitation for Nigeria’s independence in 1960.

He fought alongside such leaders as Awolowo, the Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, among others.

Born on July 10, 1910, the politician, lawyer, and an orator was the last Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land before the late business mogul, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO) also enjoyed the title.

Adewuyi Adegbite, an Ogbomoso-born historian and a graduate of the University

What he was preaching in early 60s till he died is what the APC now discovered lately. Those who tagged themselves as progressives were the ones who said Akintola wanted to sell the Yoruba

of Ilorin, told New Telegraph that, “Akintola descended from the lineage of warriors in Yoruba land. He was a scion of Olugbon of Igbon royal family of Igbon in Surulere Local Government area of Oyo State. His great grandfather, Adeyeri, was a warrior Prince of Igbon.

SLA secured a British Council Scholarship in 1946 to study in England and between1945 and 1950, studied Administration, Journalism and Law. He was called to the Bar in 1950. He was in the mainstream of the crisis among the nationalists and he came to play foundational roles in both – Egbe Omo Oduduwa and the Action Group, the latter being a largely Yoruba political party.

Akintola had, before proceeding to London, graduated from the Baptist College and Seminary as a trained teacher in 1930 and was posted to teach at Baptist Academy Lagos, where he taught for a full decade. He joined the service of the Nigerian Railways in 1941 from where he was appointed Assistant Editor, a year later; Editor of the Daily Service.

Speaking with New Telegraph, Akintola’s eldest son, Yomi, a former senatorial aspirant, described his late father as a unique person, who made his mark in the history of Nigeria.

“We must thank God for my father’s life. It is now 48 years ago that he was killed. Unfortunately, I was there with him on that particular day. My father’s life was challenging; he has been an inspiration to the people of Ogbomoso because every time you move round Ogbomoso, you see clearly a lot of his achievements.

A tug of war over entitlements CONTINUEDFR OM PAGE 22

tion letter openly boasted that the said letter was coming rather too late, having at least acquired a jeep in the course of her employment with our client.”

Several efforts made by Ikhiede to retrieve her entitlements have failed. That also included a trip to the Ministry of Labour in Lagos, where efforts to reach an amicable settlement hit the bricks.

What went wrong?

By the account of Isok, Ikhiede’s problem started in 2008 when the Union went for a congress at the Hamdala Hotel in Kaduna. There, Ikhiede was detailed to register participants, while another lady was collecting money from delegates. He alleged that when the lady went out for a break, the money she collected was ‘stolen’ by Ikhiede (N1.5m) and hidden in a box in her room.

Isok said, “Something prompted us to remove her from the first office (Accounts) to the second office (Co-operative).

It is because of the interest I have in her that I did not sack her when I was told to do so. We went to a seminar in Kaduna, then they were collecting money from those who wanted to pay. When her colleague went to ease herself, Ikhiede took the money and went to hide in her room.

The other lady came back and was crying. There was nothing we did not do, and Ikhiede denied knowing about the money until a staff (Yatai) called me and said it was Agatha (Ikhiede) that took the money.

He said if she denied it, we should let him confront her. After much pressure, that was at Hamdala Hotel, she admitted that she hid the money in her room. When we

Adiele

came back, the CWC members told me to sack her but I refused and posted her to Co-operative department on my own.

“At the co-operative, we have a large parcel of Land, which we bought for our people here. This woman went and connived with some people and sold the land away. The land is near Bells University.

She was in charge of the Co-operative. As at now, nobody knows how much each person contributed. We told her to come and hand over, she refused.”

But asked if only one person is capable of selling the land of the co-operative, Adiele demurred, “She may not have sold directly. The Baale of the community came back for the land. He may have been helped by somebody.”

He said the relationship between the Union and Ikhiede is a master-servant relationship and as such, it is the union that dictates the terms of the deal. “It is a master-servant relationship. Agatha has been told severally to come and hand over.

The key is with her. She refused to hand over.”

When confronted with the allegations of stealing, Agatha insisted that she did not steal the money but said the other lady (Esther Omoloye) forgot the money with a new bag she bought under the table. “The Seminar had closed. I saw the bag and the

Olayinka

It has also been a good thing for Ogbomoso because Ogbomoso is now a city in which you can see a lot of improvements in the lives of the people.

“Akintola was a unique being. He made his mark. Even the country recognised his contributions, and that was why I was invited to Abuja on October 31, 2010 in which we were given a medal to commemorate his achievements and contributions towards the progress of Nigeria.

He was involved in moving the motion for the independence of this country as well as other things in which he made a lot of inputs.

new notes of N1m under the table. It was on a second thought that I came back to check under the table when I saw it. I took it to my room and waited for the girl to come.”

She said when Omoloye came back and asked for the money, she initially denied having it but later gave her the money after cautioning her over her carelessness. She also said that she was the one that reported the matter to Isok but was shocked when news started spreading that she stole N1m. Rather than the issue of the money, Ikhiede said her problem is tied with her refusal to allow the president run the affairs the way he wanted. She said she had stood against the doctoring of the union’s account and inflation by the president and the secretary.

As the argument goes back and forth in the union, one thing is clear-Ikhiede’s employment with the Union is gone. But her hope of getting the money is hanging on the balance. When New Telegraph visited the union’s headquarters, Isok showed the reporter two rooms, (Rooms 23 and 44), which he claimed were locked by Ikhiede since her sack. But that did not tally with the facts on ground. Could Ikhiede have locked the Account office (23) since she was redeployed in 2008? She worked in the second office (44) for two years. Did she take the key while being marched out?

BUSINESS Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014

WHAT'S NEWS China, US exports to Nigeria, others hit $285bn China and United States exports to Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and other African countries in 2013 have been put at $285billion.

}p-26

Experts caution banks on N16tr private sector loans Experts have called on banks to apply moderation in growing their loan books in 2014, following the rise to N16.7trillion in banks’ net loans to the private sector in February.

}p-27

MPC to focus on reserves, offshore investors' exit The task before the Monetary Policy Committee as it meets today and tommorrow is how to address the issue of depleting foreign reserves, take decisions that will counter both the speculative demand at the foreign exchange auctions and the exit of some offshore portfolio investors.

}p-30

Concern mounts over insurers' N30bn mgt expenses The flamboyant lifestyle reflected in sleek automobiles, expensive wardbrobe, ornate residential and office accommodation relished by insurance operators is beginning to pitch them against policyholders.

}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) JONAH IBOMA, ICT Editor DAYO ADEYEMI, Property Editor ADEOLA YUSUF, Energy Editor

CHUKS ONUANYIN, Energy NNAMDI AMADI, Reporter

www.newtelegraphonline.com/business

–SEC DG }p-28-29

AYODELE AMINU, DEPUTY EDITOR, BUSINESS

ayodele.aminu@newtelegraphonline.com ayodeleaminu@yahoo.com

LEAKAGES The Federal Government has earmarked N15 billion to fight oil theft Adeola Yusuf

T

wo world super powers, the United States and the United Kingdom, have waded into the Federal Government's war on crude oil theft.

The London-based Chatham House had earlier declared that stolen crude oil from Nigeria, which loses about $9 million every month to crude oil theft, are shipped to refineries in the US and UK and other major oil consuming nations.

Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Andrew Yakubu, told New Telegraph on the sideline of the Oil and Gas Conference (NOG) in Abuja, that government had secured the supports of the foreign nations in the fight against theft.

The need to tackle crude oil theft, according to the NNPC boss, became imperative considering the level of economic sabotage and threat, which the menace posed to the economy.

Already, Nigeria, Yakubu said, has budgeted N15 billion to purchase equipment to fight oil thieves.

“The initiatives include the setting aside of N15 billion for the purchase of security equipment to checkmate the scourge of oil theft in the Niger Delta approved by the National Economic Council (NEC)," Yakubu said.

Despite this, Nigeria has faced unprecedented chal-

L-R: Managing Director, Brian Munro Limited, Mr. Paul Wilson; Marketing Manager, Mr. Abayomi Ajao; Winner, overall national distributor of Munro Campari, Mr. Onyenanu O. during the distributors award night held in Lagos.

lenges with regards to losses in production occasioned by incessant vandalism of crude oil pipelines, both export and domestic.

In 2013, Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, suffered severe attacks on its critical export pipeline system leading to the loss and deferment.

In the same vein, the Managing Director, Pipeline and Products Marketing Company CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Broadband: FG targets 80% 3G coverage by 2018 Jonah Iboma

M

inister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, has said that Nigeria intends to achieve as much as 80 per cent third generation (3G) mobile network coverage by 2018 under the national broadband plan recently approved by the Federal Government.

Speaking at the 10th anni-

versary of the Telecom Consumer Parliament in Lagos, Mrs. Johnson said that government understood the importance of broadband connectivity to national social and economic development hence the high importance attached to it.

“It is in this regard that government has given high priority to the development of broadband infrastructure to

ensure that there is a great and high level penetration to both unserved and underserved areas within the country for the benefits of all Nigerians,” Mrs. Johnson said.

She explained that government was quite aware of the fact that high level broadband penetration would result in affordable and greater acCONTINUED ON PAGE 26

Rates Dashboard

DELE ALAO, Brands/Marketing Editor ABDULWAHAB ISA, Finance Editor

NEW TELEGRAPH

US, UK wade into Nigeria's war against oil thieves

WOLE SHADARE, Aviation Editor CHRIS UGWU, Capital Market Editor

ERRANT PEOPLE WILL25 BE BUSINESS | BRANDS & ADVERTISING BROUGHT TO BOOK

INFLATION RATE February 2014......................7.70% January 2014 .......................8.00% December 2013....................8.00%

LENDING RATE InterBank Rate . . . . . . . . . 10.75% Prime Lending Rate. . . . . . 17.01% Maximum Lending Rate..24.90%

EXCHANGE RATE

(Parellel As at Mar. 14)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N171 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N284 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N239

EXCHANGE RATE

(Official As at Mar. 14)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N157.74 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N260.47 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N244.47

26 BUSINESS | NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

China, US exports to Nigeria, others hit $285bn IMPORT DRIVEN Africa offers markets for Chinese manfactured consumables.

Bayo Akomolafe

C

hina and United States exports to Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and other African countries in 2013 have been put at $285billion.

It was learnt that direct imports by China to these countries soared to $200 billion while United States recorded $85billion.

US trade in goods with Africa during the period totaled $85 billion. Also, services amounted to about another $11 billion. European trade with Africa reached $137 billion in 2013.

The US exports to Nigeria include footwear, headgear, machinery and mechanical appliances, electrical equipment, parts, sound recorders and reproducers. Others are television image, sound recorders, reproducers, parts and accessories of such articles thereof.

However, Nigeria exports raw hides and skins, leather, furskins and articles thereof, sad-

dlery and harness, travel goods, handbags and similar containers, articles of animal gut.

According to TradeSTAT study, China’s trade with Africa is largely import driven, with China taking petroleum mostly from Nigeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Uganda, South Sudan, and the Sudan.

This month, it was revealed that China shipped patrol vessels to Nigeria capable of carrying helicopters and defending the Nigerian offshore oil fields against pirates.

China’s exports are a smaller

proportion of this $200 billion trade than its imports.

The study noted that, Africa offers markets for Chinesemanufactured consumables: textiles, clothing, blankets, inexpensive footwear, headgear, toys, telecoms equipment and affordable cell telephones, furniture, caskets, computers and televisions.

It added that China also, sells jet fighters, military equipment and ammunition, military uniforms, heavy communications technology, agricultural implements, road machinery, and turbines and generators.

Also, it purchases copper, cobalt, cadmium, ferrochrome, platinum, coltan, diamonds, and gold largely for industrial purposes from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

China takes hides and skins from Ethiopia and sometimes turn them locally into shoes.

It fishes off Senegal and other African coastal countries. Besides, It grows cassava, maize, and sorghum in such place as Zimbabwe and Madagascar and ships the produce home to hungry animals in China.

Broadband: FG targets 80% 3G coverage by 2018 C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 5

cess to telecoms facilities and services, adding that this informed the decision to approve a broadband council among other things.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), also said that in a deliberate intention to drive broadband penetration, it decided to adopt an Open Access model for Nigeria where both physical and software infrastructure could both work freely among all operators.

The commission added that based on this, broadband access would grow faster and Nigerians will soon begin to enjoy its benefits.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, who stated this, acknowledged the role of broadband to national development, stating that the Federal Government had taken several steps, including the articulation of a national broadband plan, as well as providing an enabling environment for the development of infrastructure that will support the growth and access to broadband services at affordable cost to consumers.

Juwah, who used the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Telecoms Consumer Parliament to preach the importance and benefits of broadband to Nigerians, explained that having excelled in voice telephony connection in the last 13 years, resulting in taking connected lines from 400,000 in 2001 to a phenomenal 127 million at the end of January 2014, that the revolution that is now being championed by NCC is the broadband revolution.

In technical parlance, broadband service involves data transmission at very fast rates making internet access faster and also delivering many other services such as faster speed of downloads.

According to Juwah, the essence of the anniversary was to celebrate telecoms consumers that have been with NCC all through the 13 years it started the Telecoms Consumer Parliament.

The parliament is a platform that brings all telecoms operators together for a faceto-face discussion with telecoms subscribers. It started as a monthly event in Lagos and later became an event rotated among the six geopolitical zones. At each event, subscribers raise questions on telecoms issues bothering them, especially in the areas of poor service quality.

The 10th anniversary of the parliament had a large turn out of subscribers, many of whom commended NCC for its regulatory roles that have shaped the Nigerian telecoms market for the better. Subscribers also expressed happiness, as virtually everyone went home with various gift items from the operators. NCC, on its part, gave out 100 mobile phones to the first 100 subscribers that attended and registered.

One of the major highlights of the 10th anniversary celebration, was the panel session where major operators presented panelists who explained their various contributions to broadband penetration and development, which is the next thing that will drive data revolution in Nigeria.

L-R: Judges, Dare Art Alade; NNEKA EGBUNA; Manager, Events and Sponsorship, Etisalat Nigeria, Ufuoma Dogun and Judge, DEDE MABIAKU, during the Etisalat Nigerian Idol Season 4 Top 30 live recording in Lagos.

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 5

(PPMC) disclosed that Nigeria may totally hand over the security of the pipeline to the foreigners.

He explained that the challenges of security in Nigeria is well known to everybody, wondering if at the end of the day, the government would not bring the Japanese Red Army to help police these pipelines.

"Oil theft remains a major headache to government and companies," Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke told delegates at an industry event in Abuja last week.

Besides robbing the country of an estimated $6 billion a year in revenue, it causes pipeline shutdowns since thieves often sabotage the lines before tapping the crude.

"The Trans-Forcados, Nembe Creek, Bonny and Escravos pipelines have consistently come under vandalisation, which creates significant losses.

We experienced 300,000 b/d in

US, UK wade into Nigeria's war against oil thieves deferred production in 2013," the minister said.

Besides, officials of NNPC said theft in the Niger Delta may prevent Nigeria from meeting its ambitious goal of boosting oil output by 30 per cent by 2020.

An official from the Corporation said that theft and sabotage cost Nigeria an estimated 300,000 barrels of oil per day in lost production in 2013. If it were to meet its goal by the end of the decade, Nigeria would need to boost its oil output from 2.3 million bpd to 3 million bpd.

Royal Dutch Shell was forced to shut down a major pipeline last month due to leakage and theft. Having long operated in the country, Shell has been the target of oil bandits and armed militias, which fund their operations by stealing oil

from pipelines. The troubles in Nigeria were a major factor in profit declines for the oil giant, prompting the company to seek suitors to which it could sell the embattled pipeline.

For Nigeria, rich in oil and gas reserves, the challenge is how to ensure that oil development brings actual prosperity to average Nigerians. For a country with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about $424 billion, nearly two-thirds of its people live on less than a dollar per day. Millions of people are unemployed or underemployed.

Corruption and unequal distribution of oil wealth has thus far meant that the majority of people are not benefiting from Nigeria's oil boom. This has fueled instability and anger toward oil operators.

BUSINESS | NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

27

Nigeria to lose N60bn on ponmo ban Siaka Momoh

N

igeria will lose N60 billion if it opts for full blast leather production from hides and stop the production of ponmo, according to a report on Growth and Employment in States (GEMS).

According to the report, while global hide prices have been improving over recent months, light hides (as produced in Nigeria) fetch in the region of N6,500 ($US40) per hide. It states that the value range for a hide destined for ponmo production is in the range of N10,000 to N20,000 ($US60-120) per hide.

The report therefore argues that “to ban ponmo in order to produce more leather is estimated to cause an economic loss to the livestock sector in the order of N8,000 ($US50)/ hide; with a national economic loss in the range of N60 billion (US$375 million) assuming 7.5 million cattle are slaughtered.”

Nigeria is, globally, perhaps the most important exporter of light leather. The leather tanning sector has made remarkable progress in recent years as it has progressed from export of raw and wet blue leather to finished leather. The GEMS report says “the rest of the planet does not know any of this and the Nigerian leather sector is silent on the world market.”

GEMS does not, however, believe that Nigeria should keep channeling its hides to ponmo production, a delicacy which nutrition experts believes its protein value is suspect.

J.K. Joseph of the Department of Animal Production, University of Ilorin says: “The biological value of protein obtained from ponmo is suspect because leather is almost pure collagen.”

It states that the formal leather goods industry has declined almost to extinction and must be revived through the setting of sound, supportive and transparent business policies.

It argues: “Nigerian leather goods businesses must develop procedures to ensure developed markets that products made are compliant with environmental and social responsibility requirements; the informal leather goods sector must be reinvigorated particularly to supply the domestic and regional markets; considerable

hardwork and endeavour will be required by both the public and private sectors in coordination for the sector to make considerable further progress; the economic growth and employment benefits are potentially considerable.”

Meanwhile, an industry report has confirmed that Nigeria’s neglect of the leather products industry in favour of oil production has left the country behind the pack of those competing for $72 billion global leather industry. This fact is contained in a subsector assessment of the Nigerian leather industry by Chemonics International Inc.

Mr. Imo Essiet, Legal Department, Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Shobowale Lateef, Representative, LAWMA, Mr. Adeyemi Adelekan, Special Marshal and staff of Sterling Bank Plc and Mr. Soki Lawson, Oshodi Business Manager, Sterling Bank Plc at the quarterly national cleaning exercise organized by the Bank held at Oshodi Motor Park, Lagos.

Experts caution banks on N16tr private sector loans LOAN GROWTH Banks need to have a rethink on their credit expansion to the private sector.

E

xperts have called on banks to apply moderation in growing their loan books in 2014, following the rise to N16.7trillion in banks’ net loans to the private sector in February.

This represented 35 per cent of estimated 2013 Gross Do-

COLLABORATION Experts want Lagos to explore international funding to boost infrastructure.

Dayo Ayeyemi

I

n order to act as a full participant in emerging international climate financing arrangements, Lagos State Government has been advised to partner African Development Bank (AfDB) so as to improve its climate finance readiness and build up its internal financial infrastructure.

This advice was one of the recommendations made by international experts after the three days brainstorming session they had during the sixth

mestic Product (GDP) of the country.

Analysts at FBN Capital in an emailed research note to New Telegraph, believe that, though when compared with South Africa's 76 per cent loan to GDP ratio in December 2013, the banking sector's loan to the domestic economy is not too high at 35 per cent but; " more rapid growth could in our view create an asset bubble reminiscent of 2007 and 2008."

FBN Capital relied on data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to observe that net loans from the banking system

(including the CBN) to the private sector increased by 1.8 per cent month on month (m/m) in February, and by 10.5 per cent year on year (y/y).

The private sector is defined as the domestic economy other than the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN).It includes the state governments, whose borrowings amounted to N731billion at end-November 2013.

"If we strip out the CBN from the figure for the banking system, we have data three months older and a story of comparable credit growth.

Experts to Lagos: Partner AfDB for climate finance Climate Change Summit rounded up in Lagos at the weekend.

The summit was themed: “Business opportunities in climate change mitigation and adaptation: Lagos State in focus.”

Partnering the private sector such as AfDB and other financial intermediaries, experts said, would allow the state authority to tap into the Green Climate Fund and Clim-Dev Africa Special Fund in its drive to seek financing for business opportunities in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

These organisations, according to them, would help Lagos to amplify implementation capacity and bring in additional resources, pointing out

that climate entrepreneurship remains a way of creating employment for the youth in a clean environment.

They noted that appropriate financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation measures and initiatives remained a major challenge at all levels, adding that the newly established Green Climate Fund would provide a good opportunity that could be tapped into.

They said: “AfDB is committed to supporting Africa’s move towards climate-smart development, and it is helping to expand access to international climate change financing (e.g. Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) portfolio).

Banks’ credit to the private sector rose in November by 1.6 per cent m/m and 9.6 per cent y/y," FBN Capital's analysts stated.

According to the experts, the banks in the present reporting season (for Q4) are guiding to loan book expansion of up to 20 per cent for 2013 and are expected maintain same level for this year.

"Any remaining commentators who argue for monetary easing to stimulate lending should recall that credit expansion is constrained by banks’ skill sets and risk appetite, as well as the attractive yields on government paper," the FBN Capital's analysts stated.

Meanwhile, Renaissance Capital (RenCap), an international private equity company supports rapid credit expansion. It noted that when credit is growing faster than GDP is expanding, there is a greater opportunity for equity (and other assets) to perform well.

RenCap believes that excess growth of credit tends to spill over into asset prices, including property and equity (and can eventually feed through into inflation).

However, it observed that some markets show the above trend better than others. "For the US, we have the best (and longest) data. We note that going back to 1945; the S&P 500 has performed well during periods of credit expansion (over 1948-1966 and 1982-2000).

28 MONDAY| INTERVIEW

Sanctity

Monday, Ma

Errant people will be brought to book –SEC DG Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma Oteh, in this interview, speaks on the new capital for stockbrokers; the demutualisation of the Exchange and efforts to stabilise the market among others. CHRIS UGWU had a chance interview with her at the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) forum held recently in Lagos.

Oteh

What informed your decision to raise the capital base for brokers?

The SEC is very comprehensive when it does anything.

Many of you may know that in 2007, I had not joined SEC, but I read some of what journalists wrote. The SEC had asked for capital requirement to be raised and that was foiled. When I took over the affairs of SEC in 2010 as a fallout of the global financial crisis, SEC staff felt that we need to raise the capital requirement primarily because there were accusations of people selling customer’ shares without authorisation, people holding on to the proceeds of sale and all kinds of accusations. But because I was new, I wanted to study the issues; I also wanted the circumstance to be much easier for all of the market participants, whether brokers, fund managers or in whatever sector.

So, I took some time to study the issue. After doing that, I set up a committee that was chaired by our then Commissioner for Operations and had representations from the Chartered Institute of Stock Brokers, the Association of Stock broking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and others. And they came up with a proposal.

They completed their work at the end of 2012, we studied it and we also had an international expert who was Deputy CEO of the Toronto Stock Exchange comment on that work.

We reviewed it internally and then made proposals on the basis of that work.

Essentially, the issues are: first, we want our institutions in Nigeria to be as strong as institutions everywhere. As the market is evolving and we are building a world class, you are not going to be world class if you do not build institutions.

We do not want people to come from outside Nigeria and take the benefits of what is happening in Nigeria because our own firms are not prepared. But our primary mandate is to protect the investor, we do not want the kind of circumstances that happened in the past where people

were taking proceeds of customer shares and using them to fund themselves. Our approach has been inclusive; our approach has been to make sure that we think about what would be appropriate. My understanding was that in 2007, the request was actually to raise brokers’ capital to N1 billion, the maximum is N300 million. So, as a result of those consultations and the work that we did, the level is actually lower than what was proposed in 2007. What is important to us is that we have fit and proper market participants, brokers, fund managers, registrars and trustees, because this market can do better and become a place everyone would want to come. But we are not going to do it if we are not ready to do the right thing; that is our perspective.

The board has made this decision, the Minister of Finance, by virtue of the law, when the board makes a decision, it is submitted to the Minister of Finance and if there is no feedback from the minister of Finance, it is considered done. This is where we stand today on the issue.

But I think most importantly is making sure that we are truly building a world class market, that we have firms that understand the risks that they face, they can manage those risks and then ultimately will protect the investor. And we don’t want what happened in 2007/2008-2009 to ever happen again in Nigeria.

NSE is getting advisers for demutualisation. What role is SEC playing on this development?

On demutualisation, we understand the importance to Nigeria and that is why we started very early. If you remember, in 2011, we set up an industry committee on demutualization, chaired by Mr. Asue Ighodalo, a well-known corporate lawyer; they did an excellent work and made a submission to us. They presented to the board and we hired a consultant who was a deputy CEO and was involved in reviewing our recapitalisation guidelines, the Deputy CEO of the Toronto Stock Exchange who had advised countries around the world on demutualisation. What did we do? We

invited him to work with us in developing guidelines. So, we took the work of the industry wide committee, got this man to work with us and we developed guidelines.

Our board considered those guidelines and we submitted it to the Ministry of Finance for review and guidance.

At the same time, the Stock Exchange, because they are really the only operational exchange that this would affect, is also doing their work to prepare themselves.

I’m very proud and happy with them to hear that they have brought in financial advisers to advise them, both the CEO of the Stock Exchange and the Chairman of the board of demutualisation Committee of the Stock Exchange. We put them on that committee that we set up in 2011, so I think it is a good thing that they are also preparing themselves so that when these guidelines are finally out, they too will be ready.

I believe also that the Ministry of Finance is reviewing it to make sure that public interest is not affected by this issue and that is why they are being diligent and taking their time to make sure that they consider all options, after all, it was government that set up the Stock Exchange in Nigeria. Both the Ministry of Finance and the CBN helped at the time. So, I believe that government is aware of the importance of public interest. It is a guideline for anywhere that there is any demutualisation exercise and not just focused on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Another thing that was important for me in 2010 when we started was that if ever there was a demutualisation exercise; let it be that the owners get more value and the Exchange that we inherited in 2010 is not what it is today.

If going forward, we sell the Exchange; it will bring more value to the owners than it would have brought in 2010.

How have you been able to stabilise the market following losses incurred by investors a few years ago?

More importantly is that as the apex regulator, we will not permit wrongdoing in our markets; we will take the necessary steps to ensure that people who do the wrong

MONDAY| INTERVIEW 29

of Truth

arch 24, 2014

into CIS funds to save and invest. There is clearly room for more to be done; we have about $1billion of funds under management that is very small for a country of 167 million people. So, the potential is enormous. One of the things we are looking at doing, hopefully we will be able to achieve this year, is to make sure that we have a common standard for reporting on performance so that the investors can compare one from another. So, we are looking at what CFA does. We are very pleased that there is already a body of people who are trained in the CFA qualification because it is a very comprehensive qualification for anybody in investment management.

We are also working through the Nigerian Capital Market Institute with the Financial Planning Association to try and ensure that we can train young people to become financial planners, so maybe those who graduate from law school, in economics, among others, we can put them through a booth camp programme that then prepare them to be able to affiliate with some of these fund managers and be able to sell their products to investors. That is something that we are very keen to do because we think it will also help the job situation in Nigeria. It is something that will take us time to be able to do because it is not just within our own hands in that respect.

BIODATA Previous Jobs: Group Vice President, Corporate Services at African Development Bank Research Associate at Harvard Institute for International Development Consultant at Irving Skinner Corporate Finance Officer and Acting Head, Management Information Systems Unit at Centre Point Investments Schools: Harvard Business School and

University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) Degrees: Masters in Business Administration (MBA)

First Class honors, Computer Science Experience: Over 25 years

things are brought to book. There were a lot of things that were done wrong in the past and we all knew the implication. Going back to the financial literacy agenda is to really make sure that people understand that investing particularly in the stock market is not something you do with money that you need to feed tomorrow. It is what you do with savings that you are going to use in the future and therefore there will always be volatility in the markets, you will not feel as hurt as if you understood that this money is not money that we need immediately.

The other thing is just to make sure that the market is deeper, that there are many more companies listed, that there are other instruments other than equity, so the bond market is one of the things that we have supported.

Also, there is the need to make it easy for you to come in and exit the market by enhancing liquidity issues and infrastructure. We have taken a holistic reform agenda in that respect and I hope that what we are seeing today is sustained. At the beginning of 2010, stock market recapitalisation was at N4.99 trillion, today, it is, give or take, about N12.5 trillion and still rising.

In fact, it hit a peak of N13 trillion. What our pre-occupation going forward is really to focus on listing agenda because we believe more companies need to be listed on the NSE so that they reflect the economy. We would like to see the telecom companies list, we would like to see the companies that would be transferred to the private sector list, we would like to see large companies come to the market so that Nigerians can participate in the success that they are enjoying because of the growth in Nigeria, because of rising middle class, because of rising incomes for Nigerians.

That is an agenda we want to focus on going forward.

Oteh

Before we did that, we decided to enhance the regulations of fund managers because we do not want a situation where we are encouraging people to go to mutual funds and it turns out that the fund managers will now steal their money.

We also have tried to improve the capacity of fund management firms; we also

Are you thinking of regulations and incentives that would encourage people to invest in CIS? I think in 2010 we first drew attention to the fact that as a retail investor, you may consider as an alternative, instead of investing directly yourself while you are not so familiar with the company, that you may seek the services of a financial expert and go through collective investment schemes.

There were a lot of things that were done wrong in the past and we all knew the implication Oteh

asked that they come together as a trade group so that we can interact with them much more efficiently. We are very proud with what they have done; they have put together a strategy document which basically shows what the potentials are for Collective Investment Schemes. And today, we have less than 200,000 who are leveraging

What advice do you have for Nigerians on the importance of investment?

First and foremost, what I tell everyone is that investing is very critical. If you are going to invest, you must have some level of familiarity on what you are going to invest in, even if you have an expert that is helping you, you must be able to ask the right questions to that advice. So first and foremost, my advice to people is to focus on building their knowledge because it is a skill that you will need through your life. This is because saving and investing helps you to raise your standard of living, to save for your retirement, to save for any health challenge you may face or to save for the education of your children. So it is a skill that people should learn about. In fact, at the SEC, we have broadened our financial education to include all kinds of tools, so we are working with Nollywood, we have the movie Breeze, and we have short documentaries like Easy Money, Mutual Benefits that was recently released in that respect.

But we at SEC are saying that you don’t expect to understand the market the way that financial experts understand it. Look at how to intelligently leverage the financial market.

We are recommending mutual funds. Mutual funds allow you to invest a small amount, but to have the opportunity of investing that amount in several companies or several types of products. If for example you bought mutual funds from a company, bank, a fast moving consumer good, in a construction company, in an oil and gas company, when there is a problem in one sector, the problem from that sector is balanced by the benefit that you are getting from another sector. That is what a mutual fund does for you; it allows you to reduce your risk by spreading it over several companies. It allows you to use a small amount and tap benefits in several areas. So, my advice is that if you use mutual funds, you also take the benefit of financial experts. We have many such funds, about 44 of them and there is still opportunity for many more to come to be.

30 BUSINESS | MONEYLINE

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

MPC to focus on reserves, offshore investors' exit jectives of price and exchangerate stability since the suspension of Lamido Sanusi yet the depletion has continued.

FBN capital's analysts believe the MPC now has to act if reserves (of $38.3billion) are not to fall to a critical level.

"The task for the MPC becomes to counter both speculative demand at the forex auctions and the exit of some offshore portfolio investors.

"We view an increase in the cash reserve requirement (CRR) for banks’ public-sector deposits from 75 per cent to 100 per cent as a given.

“We do not expect a rise in the CRR for private-sector deposits, and note that just three members (including Sanusi) voted for such a step in January," the analysts concluded in its Good morning Nigeria research note.

Emerging Market economist at Standard Bank London, Semir Gadio observed that this MPC meeting is likely to be even more closely monitored by onshore and foreign investors than usual for a number of reasons.

One of such reasons he said, is that the CBN’s decision(s) will come amid a period of upward pressure on naira to dol-

SPECULATIVE DEMAND People are taking position against the local currency, the Naira Ayodele Aminu

A

s the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) meets today and tomorrow, a growing number of analysts are unanimous that the task before the committee is to address the issue of depleting foreign reserves, take decisions that will counter both speculative demand at the foreign exchange auctions and the exit of some offshore portfolio investors.

The MPC, according to a statement from the apex bank, will deliberate on developments pertinent to the outlook for price stability in Nigeria and determine the most appropriate monetary stance going forward.

Analysts at FBN Capital noted that the depletion of reserves has gathered pace, and has already reached US$1.8billion this month (to 18 March).

The CBN has restated its ob-

lar ($/N), which has produced a sustained erosion of foreign exchange reserves, capital outflows and weak domestic confidence. " Clearly some drastic measures are urgently required to ease the pressure, and as such this challenging environment will test the MPC’s resolve to ensure macroeconomic stability, “he stated.

According to Gadio, the MPC decision will provide a clearer idea of the CBN without Sanusi at the helm.

He said that another reason is that the acting Governor Sarah

A

ccess Bank Plc is working with local independent and small (marginal) producers in the Nigeria oil sector to improve their governance structure, develop them and fund their operations.

Managing Director, Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, said this at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference in Abuja.

As at 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)

by the President (and cleared by the Senate)," Gadio stated.

According to him, the naira has remained under pressure in recent weeks amid capital outflows and a persistent domestic positioning against the local currency.

Gadio noted that the CBN has continued to provide dollar liquidity directly to the banks, pursued regular Retail Dutch Auction Sytem (RDAS) forex sales - and even resumed forex forward sales -, and as a result managed to cap the interbank exchange rate in the N164N165 area.

Access Bank reiterates commitment to oil and Gas devt

Economic Indicators M2* CPS* INF IBR MPR 91-day NTB DPR PLR Bonny Light Ext Res**

Alade and the CBN have continued to support the naira via active foreign exchange interventions, while emphasising the continuity of price stability policies.

Also "the market is still seeking more clarity on the foreign exchange and interest rate stance of CBN Governor designate Godwin Emefiele. His Senate screening, should provide more colour on his views.

"And perhaps most concerning, is a plan for the Senate to amend the CBN Act, which will see the CBN Governor answerable to the CBN Board Chairman appointed

Bid 163.4000

Offer 163.5000 Source: FMDQ

He explained that despite the problems and challenges on the part of the oil companies, Nigerian banks have built capacity over the last 15 years, and are working together with international institutions to support the sector.

Wigwe said local banks working together with international institutions have been able to support much larger projects, so the capacity is building. However, he said, "There are several problems that has to do with the companies themselves. “ “The first and most important one is governance.

Most of them lack the corporate governance structure to support that kind of debt and even when they do have the structure, there are issues

around capacity and how much equity they have built in and there are also issues of those that are growing a bit too rapidly and the capacity to manage their growth.

"The issue about governance is about the appropriate systems, processes, procedures, controls to ensure that the business remain sustainably and can benefit or optimise value to all its stakeholders.

"If a company is growing very fast and does not have the appropriate framework; it does not have the right Board structure, it does not have people with the right skills on the Board, you will find out that over time, it will either not be competitive, diminish and die over time,” he said.

FCMB (UK) begins operations

F

irst City Monument Bank Limited has commenced commercial banking operations at its London subsidiary, FCMB (UK) Limited.

This, according to a statement follows approval by the regulatory authorities in late 2013 to begin wholesale deposit taking for businesses and corporate organisations. These activities represent an expansion of its existing stock broking and corporate finance activities, which commenced in2009.

According to the statement, FCMB (UK) Limited has received approval from the Prudential Regulation Authority, the UK financial services regulator, to carry out deposit taking and

commercial banking operations. This represents the next step in FCMB’s plans to further internationalise its activities in the area of commercial banking.

Mr. Ladi Balogun, the Chief Executive Officer of the UK banking subsidiary’s parent company, First City Monument Bank, said: "We are pleased to be commencing banking operations in our UK subsidiary. This will enable us to offer a more complete service to our Nigerian customers engaged in international trade and corporate client’s resident in the United Kingdom.

“We look forward to offering the high service standards that our customers have come to expect from us."

BUSINESS | CAPITAL MARKET REPORT

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

DOWNTURN Stock market closes southwards as investors take profit.

Chris Ugwu

T

he bearish trend that characterised the equities market the previous week continued last week as the market sentiment remained low.

Poor sales continued to weigh the equities market down following profit taking until last Thursday when the bulls staged a comeback.

However, gains recorded on the last two trading days were not enough to surmount the bear run from maintaining dominance though impactful as it gave respite to investors.

Cumulatively, the NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation depreciated by 1.00 per cent to close last Friday at 37,790.12 and N12.139 trillion respectively.

All the NSE indices depreciated during the week with the exception of the NSE Banking Index, while the NSE ASeM closed flat.

Investors’ Clinc In line with its commitment to improving financial literacy and enhancing retail investors' participation in the Nigerian capital market, the Exchange organised a Retail Investors' Clinic targeted at Registered Shareholders Association in Nigeria last Wednesday.

The clinic themed "Protecting the Nigerian Capital Market Investor: Shareholders' Engagement", had experienced facilitators from The NSE and other reputable institutions, who addressed key areas such as Investor Protection Efforts

by The NSE, Basic Investment Principles, Understanding the Capital Market Cycles and the Roles of Shareholders' Association in the Capital Market.

Investors' Clinic Series is one of the NSE investor education initiatives designed to address low investor confidence and create better informed investors.

Trading activities on the floor of the Exchange opened the week on the downward trends as the bears strengthened their stronghold, following price losses suffered by major blue chip companies.

Transactions Specifically, at the close of transactions, the banking subsector remained the most active stock in volume terms with 110.4 million shares valued

Trading floor of the NSE

Market closes in the red

at N1.09 billion in 1,517 deals followed by other financial services sub-sector with 41.6 million units valued at N430.7 million in 714 deals.

Precisely, transactions in the shares of Diamond Bank and Zenith Bank enhanced activities in the banking subsector.

On the whole, investors exchanged a total of 219.7 million shares valued at N2.4 billion in 4,091 transactions.

Further analysis showed that at the close of trading session, the NSE All-Share Index was down by 282.85 basis points or 0.75 per cent to close at 37,888.47 as against 38,171.32 recorded the previous day while the market capitalisation depreciated by N91 billion or 0.75 per cent to close at N12.170 trillion.

When the closing bell rang, the stock market recorded seven gainers as against 37 others that depleted in price.

On Tuesday, the Nigerian bourse continued to record losses as sell pressure remained the primary price determinant in the equities market.

The bears maintained their stronghold on the market as major blue-chip companies join the league of losers, causing the market capitalisation and the All-Share Index to remain on the red zone.

Market watchers have attributed the resurgence of bears to profit takings by market speculators whose consequential effect was a loss

Five most capitalised stocks as March 21, 2014 Dangote Cement Plc

N3.88 tn

Nigeria Brewery Plc

N1.15 tn

Nestle Nig Plc N771.2bn

GTB Plc

N754.9bn

Zenith Bank Plc

N690.7bn

of N289 billion or 2.4 per cent within the two days of trading in the value of equities.

The key benchmark indices maintained downtrend, taking hits majorly from high net worth and medium stocks led

by African Prudential and UBA Capital while continuous bargain activities witnessed in Conglomerates, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrial Goods and Services sectors also contributed to the gloom outlook recorded last Friday.

At the close of business Friday the NSE All-Share Index depreciated by 614.43 points or 1.65 per cent to close at 37,274.04 from 37,888.47 recorded last Monday, while the market capitalisation of equities declined to N11.972 trillion from 12.170 trillion, representing

a drop of N198 billion or 1.65 per cent as market sentiments remained negative.

At the end of transactions, the stock market had only 10 gainers as against 41 that depreciated in value.

On the whole, investors staked a total of 286.7 million shares valued at N4.5 billion in 4,798 deals.

On Wednesday the equity market continued to tumble as the bears dominated transactions, leading to a decline in major blue chips.

Following low sentiments in the market, trading activities closed in the red, following price losses suffered by major blue chip companies, as market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N44 billion.

At the close of trading session, the NSE All-Share Index moved down by 137.44 basis points or 0.37 per cent to close at 37,136.60 index points as against the opening index of 37,274.04.

In the same vein, market capitalisation depreciated by N44 billion or 0.37 per cent to close at N11.928 trillion as against N11.972 trillion recorded on Tuesday.

Investors however, got respite last Friday after days of downward trend that held sway in the nation's capital market as the market sentiments became positive.

The bears had maintained

31

their stronghold on the stock market as major blue-chip companies joined the league of losers, causing the market capitalisation and the AllShare Index to remain on the red zone for the past days.

The equities market closed on a positive note making the NSE ASI to appreciate by 0.46 per cent to close at 37,136.60 basis points, compared with the depreciation of 1.62 per cent recorded previously.

Its Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands at 9.73 per cent. GTB led 24 gainers against 26 losers, topped by Cadbury at the end of yesterday's session- an improved performance when compared with previous outlook.

Market turnover closed positive as volume traded appreciated by 26.04 per cent against 11.38 per cent decline recorded in previous session.

Access Bank, Zenith Bank, and UBA were the most active as they boosted market turnover.

Zenith bank and GTB top market value list. NSE Banking recorded 3.41 per cent to emerge the most active sectoral performance among others, while NSE LII was the least hit with 1.00 per cent loss recorded last Friday.

Corporate earnings WAPCO, in its Q4 '13 earnings report, recorded positive growth of 12.3 per cent in its revenue with positive growth of 92.1 per cent in its bottom-line.

Conoil led the list of active stocks that recorded impressive volume spike at the end of last Friday's session.

The bulls sustained recovery efforts in a strong terms last Friday as both market indices inched up to 1.27 per cent, making investors to gain N155 billion.

At the close of trading session, the NSE All-Share Index moved up to 481.52 basis points or 1.27 per cent to close at 37,790.12 index points as against the opening index of 37,308.60.

In the same vein, market capitalisation appreciated by N155 billion or 1.27 per cent to close at N12.138 trillion as against N11.983 trillion recorded last Thursday.

Market pundits believe that what is playing up in the market is the basic business cycle, which encompasses an economic downturn and upturn.

A market cycle shows price movements over time from a period of rising prices and brilliant performance to a period of declining prices and poor performances and back again to rising prices.

32

BUSINESS | STOCK WATCH

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

GTBank: Still investors' delight N783.91 billion in 2012 to N1.01 trillion in 2013 while customer’s deposits grew by 24.3 per cent from N1.15 trillion in 2012 to N1.43 trillion in 2013.

Consequently, the group closed the 2013 financial year with a balance sheet size in excess of N2 trillion while shareholders’ equity increased by 17.9 per cent from N281.83 billion in 2012 to N332.35 billion in the period under review.

Risk management framework in the bank remains significant as Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio decreased to 3.58 per cent in 2013 from 3.75 per cent in the comparative period of 2012.

PROSPECT Investors take position on outlook of the bank

Chris Ugwu

M

arket sentiments for the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, one of the leading commercial banks in the country, have maintained stability as bargain hunters jostle to gain from the proposed dividend pay-out on the back of the lender's 2013 results.

The bank has continued to retain the top spot in the banking sector in terms of share price and market capitalisation. Financial analysts believe these will be sustained in the next few years.

The bank, they stated, has recorded an average return on average equity (ROAE) of 29.0 per cent over the past three years, stressing that no other bank has come close to that figure.

The analysts added that although some banks have begun to close the gap in the past two years, GTBank is expected to remain ahead for the next few years.

Stockbrokers attributed investors’ sustained confidence in the stock despite recent lull in the market following massive profit taking that saw the market lose about N333 billion in three days not only to the recent announcement of its full year results, which showed a proposed dividend of N1.70 per share, but also to the prospects of the bank.

The share price, which closed at N24.60 per share on January 2, 2013, when the stock market opened business for the year, remained tops in both share price and market capitalisation among the industry competitors.

When the closing bell rang last Friday, the bank’s share price closed at N25.65, a modest increase of N1.05 or 4.09 per cent year to date.

2013 results The bank recently released full year 2013 results, reporting nine per cent gross earnings and four per cent EPS growth. The board of directors proposed a N1.45 final dividend per share (cumulative, N1.70 for the full year),

Agbaje

10 per cent growth over N1.50 paid on 2012 earnings.

A review of the results show a strong and considerable performance across all financial indices and also affirms the bank’s position as one of the most profitable financial services provider in Nigeria.

In terms of value creation, GTBank maintained its top position in the industry with pretax Return of Equity (ROE) of 34.9 per cent and pre-tax Return on Asset (ROA) of 5.6 per cent.

It’s earnings grew moderately amidst regulatory challenges that defined 2013 for Nigerian banks; EPS rose four per cent for the period to N3.06. Gross Earnings grew nine per cent YoY to N243 billion, a three per cent positive surprise to analysts at Vetiva Capital estimate of N236 billion. This was driven by a seven per cent QoQ growth in Q4’13 following successive declines in Gross Earnings in the previous quarters. Q4’13 Gross

Earnings (at N61 billion), outperformed Q2’13 and Q3’13 numbers albeit lower than Q1’13. Whilst Interest Income grew nine per cent YoY, Interest Expense ticked up by 22 per cent with deposit growth (amidst tighter monetary environment), leading to a five per cent rise in Net Interest Income to N137 billion for FY’13.

Further look through the numbers showed a 28.6 per cent growth in loan book from

The bank has continued to retain the top spot in the banking sector in terms of share price and market capitalisation.

Financial analysts believe these will be sustained in the next few years

CEO's perspective Commenting on the results, Mr. Segun Agbaje, Managing Director and CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc stated that “as a growing franchise and in spite of the regulatory headwinds, our bank has posted respectable results that reaffirm our reputation as a market leader and a highly ethical financial institution. We have maintained our cost-leadership position as typified by the cost-to-income ratio (2013: 43.5 per cent; 2012:43.1 per cent) among peers year-on-year.”

He further stated that “with this performance, we will maintain our commitment to maximising shareholder value with a proposed dividend payout of N1.70 per share, an increase of 10 per cent over the N1.55 paid in 2012 and a share price appreciation of 17 per cent in 2013.

“Our acquisition of Fina Bank Limited, a Kenyan bank with significant business footprint in Rwanda and Uganda, gives us the opportunity to commence business in three East African countries via the acquisition of one bank.

“This will give us great mileage and an opportunity to leverage our brand equity.

We hope to further tap into the growth potentials of emerging African economies thus bringing us closer to our philosophy of being ‘A proudly African and truly international’ financial brand.”

Analyst's view Analysts at FBN Capital have predicted that GT Bank Plc will retain the top spot in the banking sector in terms of profitability in the next few years.

The analysts noted that the

Share price movement of GTB Bank 2013 April 30

N25.80

May 31

N28.50

June 30

N24.30

July 31

N25.30

Aug 31

N24.53

Sept. 30

N125.10

Oct 31

N25.20

Nov 30

N27.30

Dec 31

N27.79 2014

Jan 31

N27.02

Feb 28

N25.40

Mar 21

N25.65

bank has started 2014 off with guidance, which is reminiscent of what they saw at the same time last year: 15-20 per cent “quality” loan growth ultimately supporting ROE “north of 25 per cent.

“Upside risk to earnings may come from higher-thanexpected net interest margins given the ongoing tightening cycle, fuelled by the central bank’s steps to defend the naira. However, we feel this is balanced by downside risk to non-interest income (COT, FX) and our view that replicating the remarkable job the bank has done in keeping a lid on opex has its limits.

"We forecast 7.1 per cent EPS growth in 2014, the same as what we saw in 2013.

With Q4 2013 loan growth being back-end loaded, GTB should start the year healthily (Q1 2014 PBT being flattish to slightly up y/y)."

The analysts explained that the reason why they have made modest changes to their EPS forecasts and price target is because 2014 guidance was largely as they had expected, retained their neutral rating.

However, market pundits saw the current market weakness as an opportunity to build positions in the bank which has maintained stability despite tough regulations.

BUSINESS | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS 33

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

21-Mar-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

FGN Bonds Issuer

Rating/Agency

NA

NA

Description

Price

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

31-Mar-07 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

10.75 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

35.00 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

31-Mar-14 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

0.03 0.27 0.52 1.09 2.41 3.10 3.35 3.45 4.19 5.27 5.59 7.86 9.98 14.69 15.17 15.67 16.34

12.92 13.23 14.24 14.32 14.55 14.49 14.35 14.34 14.27 14.24 14.16 14.11 13.91 13.61 13.58 13.55 13.56

7.70 12.67 13.93 14.15 14.48 14.36 14.22 14.21 14.16 14.16 14.06 14.05 13.86 13.56 13.53 13.48 13.50

99.92 98.86 97.58 89.90 97.00 101.45 88.32 86.79 88.98 106.30 72.95 110.55 101.51 108.68 93.03 67.50 76.80

100.07 99.01 97.73 90.05 97.15 101.75 88.62 87.09 89.28 106.60 73.25 110.85 101.81 108.98 93.33 67.80 77.10

10.75 31-MAR-2014 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

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,167.04

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Agency Bonds AMCON FMBN

NA

***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

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

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

0.61 1.18 1.54 2.72 3.08 3.29

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.49 1.00

15.33 17.28 16.80 16.38 15.86 15.35

91.37 82.28 100.66 88.73 85.67 84.14

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 06-Jan-21

0.38 0.57 1.45 0.82 1.35 1.35 3.08 1.91 3.78 2.55 4.54 2.76 2.75 3.34 3.22 5.67 3.37 4.08 6.69 4.09 4.12

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 1.44 1.95

18.72 20.28 19.00 17.77 19.06 18.07 19.96 22.01 16.10 16.18 15.23 15.38 15.59 15.35 16.82 16.10 17.09 17.02 15.11 15.72 16.22

98.22 96.74 92.08 95.85 94.43 97.35 77.84 87.96 94.17 95.55 96.04 98.29 104.56 97.94 96.89 94.14 94.41 93.72 93.33 101.72 101.39

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 A-/GCR

KWARA NIGER KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS *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 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 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 14.50 15.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

567.90

Corporate Bonds A+/Agusto; AA/GCR

LAFARGE WAPCO

11.50 LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCT 2014

Aa/Agusto

GTB µ NGC

17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014

Nil Bbb-/Agusto A-/Agusto

*UPDC

BB+/GCR A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

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

*FLOURMILLS NAHCO

11.50

11.80

07-Oct-14

0.55

1.00

15.27

98.07

13.50

13.17

18-Dec-14

0.75

5.21

19.67

95.83

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

01-Apr-10

17.00

2.00

31-Dec-14

0.78

8.71

23.21

95.68

17-Aug-10

10.00

15.00

17-Aug-15

0.93

4.88

19.52

92.40

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

09-Dec-10

12.00

37.50

09-Dec-15

1.01

1.00

15.71

96.80

06-Jan-11 29-Sep-11

14.00 13.00

1.50 15.00

06-Jan-16 29-Sep-16

1.09 2.53

2.63 1.00

17.31 15.38

97.15 95.17 96.92

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

UBA *C & I LEASING # *DANA *TOWER

07-Oct-11 18-Dec-09

13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

FSDH

*TOWER

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

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

UBA

14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018

*LA CASERA # *CHELLARAMS

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

2.60

1.34

15.72

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

3.53

4.52

18.85

85.39

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.94

30-Nov-17

2.15

1.88

16.26

104.16 96.92

09-Apr-11

16.00

8.01

09-Apr-18

2.05

3.48

17.86

09-Sep-11

18.00

3.63

09-Sep-18

2.47

5.20

19.58

97.24

09-Sep-11

16.00

1.00

09-Sep-18

2.47

5.06

19.44

101.80

22-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

22-Sep-18

4.51

3.06

17.30

89.97

18-Oct-13

15.75

3.00

18-Oct-18

2.33

2.29

16.67

98.40

17-Feb-12

17.00

0.54

17-Feb-19

2.66

6.11

20.49

93.59

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

6.65

2.76

16.87

93.61

11-Feb-18

3.90

1.00

15.30

85.42

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

175.67

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

11-Feb-13

10.20

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Rating/Agency

12.00

12.00 Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Issue Value ($'mm)

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

FGN

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

5.70

5.56

105.86

106.71

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

18-Dec-09

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.84

4.63

101.08

101.89

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

01-Apr-10

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

6.09

5.96

101.98

102.90

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

3.85

3.25

113.51

114.67

GTBank PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

5.41

4.85

104.18

105.34

GTBank PLC II

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

6.41

6.12

98.37

99.52

B+/S&P

Access Bank PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

7.29

6.83

99.86

101.23

B/S&P; B/Fitch

Fidelity Bank PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

8.41

8.07

94.75

95.88

10.25 APR 08, 2019

08-Apr-12

10.25

300.00

08-Apr-19

B-/S&P; B/Fitch B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

NA

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

NA

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

9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 16.39 14.20 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

34

BUSINESS | FINANCIAL MARKET NEWS

Rating/Agency

Description

Issuer

Issue Date

20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 600.00 50.00 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57

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

3.35 3.45 4.19 5.27 5.59 7.86 9.98 14.69 15.17 15.67 16.34

14.35 14.34 14.27 14.24 14.16 14.11 13.91 13.61 13.58 13.55 13.56

14.22 14.21 14.16 14.16 14.06 14.05 13.86 13.56 13.53 13.48 13.50

88.32 86.79 88.98 106.30 72.95 110.55 101.51 108.68 93.03 67.50 76.80

88.62 87.09 89.28 106.60 73.25 110.85 101.81 108.98 93.33 67.80 77.10

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

0.61 1.18 1.54 2.72 3.08 3.29

1.00 2.63 2.27 2.00 1.49 1.00

15.33 17.28 16.80 16.38 15.86 15.35

91.37 82.28 100.66 88.73 85.67 84.14

1.00

15.27

98.07

5.21

19.67

95.83

8.71 4.88

23.21 19.52

95.68 92.40

1.00 2.63 1.00

15.71 17.31 15.38

96.80 97.15 95.17

4,167.04 Sanctity of Truth

Coupon (%)

Issue Value (N'bn)

#

Monday, March 24, 2014 Valuation Indicative Yield (%) Price

We’ll maintain zero tolerance Lafarge raises dividend by 175% on non-compliance –NSE L 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

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

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

05-Aug-09

14.00

978.35 24.56 6.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

afarge Wapco Nigeria Plc (WAPCO), one of the ce1,304.32 ment manufacturing companies quoted on the 0.38 floor 17.00 05-Aug-14 of Nigerian Stock Exchange 6.00 15-Oct-14 0.57 8.50 31-Aug-15 (NSE) has proposed a 1751.45 per 16.50 30-Sep-15 0.82 13.00 30-Jun-16 cent increase in dividend1.35 pay18.50 30-Jun-16 1.35 out to its shareholders for the 57.00 19-Apr-17 3.08 50.00 30-Jun-17 1.91 financial year ended Decem25.00 31-Dec-17 3.78 ber 31, 2013.30-Sep-18 50.00 2.55 9.00 04-Oct-18 4.54 The increase in the payout 20.00 09-Dec-18 2.76 amounted to N3.30 per share 12.00 12-Dec-18 2.75 27.00 14-Feb-19 3.34 as against N1.20 kobo paid to 20.00 02-Oct-19 3.22 80.00 22-Nov-19 5.67 shareholders in its 2012 audit30.00 12-Dec-19 3.37 ed year end, representing an 11.40 30-Sep-20 4.08 87.00 increase of 27-Nov-20 175 per cent. 6.69 5.00 31-Dec-20 4.09 of the 2013 audited 5.00 A review 06-Jan-21 4.12 567.90 accounts of the cement producer shows that profit after tax

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 A-/GCR

TALL ORDER

KWARA NIGER KADUNA *EBONYI *BENUE *IMO LAGOS *BAYELSA EDO *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS *EKITI *NASARAWA

14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014

The NSE intends to develop a larger footprint on the African continent and ultimately, target emerging market status.

Chris Ugwu

T

he Nigerian Stock Ex-

TOTAL OUTSTANDING change (NSE)VALUE is commit-

ted to maintaining zero Corporate Bonds A+/Agusto; AA/GCR WAPCO tolerance postureLAFARGE on dealing Aa/Agusto GTB member firms and quoted comNGC Nil Bbb-/Agusto *UPDC panies, who violate rules and A-/Agusto *FLOURMILLS BB+/GCR regulations of the *CHELLARAMS Exchange.

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO The Chief Executive Officer A-/Agusto FSDH A/GCR of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, UBA BBB-/GCR *C & I LEASING reiterated this while speaking BBB+/DataPro†; BB+/GCR *DANA A-/DataPro†; BB-/GCR forum *TOWER at an investors' in Lagos.

AAA/DataPro†; A+/GCR *TOWER He noted that the Exchange A/Agusto; A/GCR UBA Bbb+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR *LA CASERA proposed several rules to codify BBB-/DataPro†; BB+/GCR *CHELLARAMS the accepted mode of engageA+/Agusto; A-/GCR NAHCO TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE adding ment in the market, that of a particular interest Supranational Bond AAA/S&P IFC was its proposed Related ParTOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE ties Transaction rule and rules around the conduct of Annual Rating/Agency Issuer General Meetings (AGMs).

FGN Eurobonds He noted that the NSE's focus BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P from 2011 to 2013 has been on µ

#

# #

#

BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

revamping corporate gover14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 nance, improving human ca13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 pacity , cleansing 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 and restruc15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 turing the market, improving 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 technology , product develop14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 ment, and advocacy for changes 14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 NIGER. II 4-OCT-2018 to14.00 policy 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 From he said the Nige14.00 NIGER2014, III 12-DEC-2018 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 rian bourse, will shift gears to 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 drive innovations centred on 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 increasing global visibility for 14.75 OSUN II 30-SEP-2020 13.50Nigerian LAGOS IV 27-NOV-2020 the capital market.

14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 Onyema the Exchange 15.00 NASARAWAsaid 06-JAN-2021 intend to develop a larger footprint on the African con11.50 LAFARGE WAPCO 7-OCT 2014 tinent and ultimately, target 13.50 GUARANTY TRUST 18-DEC-2014 17.00 NGC 31-DEC-2014 emerging market status, add10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015 ing that it was the reason why 12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015 06-JAN-2016 it14.00 is CHELLARAMS very much in support of 13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016 the WACMI efforts and similar 14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016 13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017 programmes.

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017 He noted that the improved MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018 MPR+7.00 TOWERenvironment 9-SEP-2018 regulatory and MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 performance of quoted com14.00 UBA II 22-SEP-2018 15.75 LA CASERA panies from18-OCT-2018 2012 till date, has MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 positively impacted on stock 15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020 market prices and overall market indices.

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018 "All vital performance metrics in the Nigerian Capital Market haveDescription bounced back from the critical low to which they backslid in 2008 and have 6.75 JAN 28, 2021 generally remained upbeat

FGN

with15-Oct-09 the market capitalisation 14.00 31-Aug-10 12.50 of listed equities on the Nige30-Sep-10 13.00 14.00 rian 30-Jun-11 Stock Exchange (NSE) in30-Jun-09 15.50 creasing by over 47.33 19-Apr-10 10.00per cent 30-Jun-10 13.75 in the past year alone.

30-Dec-10 14.00 “Also, the average daily val30-Sep-11 14.00 ue of04-Oct-11 shares traded 14.00 went up by 09-Dec-11 14.50 57.3612-Dec-13 per cent from 14.00 the N2.65b 14-Feb-12 15.50 recorded in 2012 to N4.17b EOY 02-Oct-12 15.50 22-Nov-12 2013," Onyema said.14.50 12-Dec-12 14.75 The NSE boss said that year 30-Sep-13 14.75 27-Nov-13 13.50 to date 2014, local investors’ par31-Dec-13 14.50 ticipation in the market stood 06-Jan-14 15.00 at over 50 per cent (50.72 per cent) compared with the 49.28 07-Oct-11 11.50 11.80 07-Oct-14 0.55 per cent foreign participation.

18-Dec-09 13.50 13.17 18-Dec-14 0.75 He01-Apr-10 added: ‘At end of first 17.00 2.00 31-Dec-14 0.78 17-Aug-10 17-Aug-15 0.93 quarter 2013, local10.00 investors 15.00 09-Dec-10 12.00 37.50 09-Dec-15 1.01 06-Jan-11 for close 14.00 06-Jan-16 1.09 accounted to 60 per 1.50 13.00 15.00 29-Sep-16 2.53 cent29-Sep-11 of transaction value in aint manufacturers, Berg25-Oct-13 14.25 5.53 25-Oct-16 2.60 30-Sep-10 13.00market, 20.00 er Paints 30-Sep-17 3.53 at the Nigerian capital Nigeria Plc 30-Nov-12 18.00 0.94 30-Nov-17 2.15 while foreign investors were rethe weekend proposed a 70 09-Apr-11 16.00 8.01 09-Apr-18 2.05 09-Sep-11for about 40 18.00 09-Sep-18 2.47its sponsible per cent; 3.63 kobo per share dividend to 09-Sep-11 16.00 1.00 09-Sep-18 2.47 this 22-Sep-11 turn of events 14.00 contrasted 35.00 shareholders for the financial 22-Sep-18 4.51 18-Oct-13 15.75 3.00 2.33 sharply with the circumstances year ended 18-Oct-18 2013, 17-Feb-12 17.00 0.54 17-Feb-19 2.66 between 2009 and the first half This was contained in a 14-Nov-13 15.25 2.05 14-Nov-20 6.65 of 2012, when local investors es- 175.67 notification by the board of chewed the market on account directors of the company to 11-Feb-13 10.20 11-Feb-18 3.90 of losses they sustained in the 12.00 the Nigerian stock exchange aftermath of the near meltdown 12.00 (NSE). of 2008 Part of the Issuewith Date transaction Coupon (%)values Issue Value ($'mm) Maturity Date decisions Bid Yield (%) being controlled by foreign in- reached at the meeting was vestors to the tune of 80 per cent that a dividend of 70 kobo per 07-Oct-11 6.75 500.00 28-Jan-21 5.70 in certain instances," he said. share would be recommended

(PAT) increased significantly from N14.712 billion in 2012 end to N28.267 billion in the review period of 2013 4.88 18.72 98.22 end; indicating an increase 5.99 20.28 96.74 4.44 19.00 in3.23 PAT of 92.2 per cent. 92.08 17.77 95.85 4.46 94.43 tax Similarly,19.06 profit before 3.48 18.07 97.35 (PBT) grew from N21.264 5.59 19.96 77.84 bil7.60 in the audited 22.01 87.96 lion period of 1.79 16.10 94.17 2012 to N27.714 billion in the 1.80 16.18 95.55 1.00 15.23 96.04 corresponding period of 2013; 1.00 15.38 98.29 showing a growth of 30.3 1.21 15.59 104.56 per 1.00 15.35 97.94 cent in the period under review.

2.46 16.82 96.89 1.94 16.10 Revenue appreciated by94.14 12.3 per 2.74 17.09 94.41 cent as the company declared 2.74 17.02 93.72 1.00 15.11 in 2013 93.33 end N98.798 billion 1.44 15.72 101.72 compared with N87.965 billion 1.95 16.22 101.39 reported in the same period of 2012.

Berger Paints retains 70k dividend

P

for1.34 approval15.72 at the company's 96.92 4.52 18.85 85.39 forthcoming annual general 1.88 16.26 104.16 meeting (AGM).

3.48 17.86 96.92 5.20 With the 19.58 corporate 97.24 action, 5.06 19.44 101.80 the company has retained 3.06 17.30 89.97 its 2.29 16.67 dividend payment at 7098.40 kobo – 6.11 20.49 93.59 the same amount it paid in the 2.76 16.87 93.61 previous year.

The company had at the its 1.00 behind 15.30 85.42 disfacts the figure closed that its turnover is expected with Offer Yield (%)to hit Bid N1.5 Price billion Offer Price Profit After tax of N80 million Prices & Yields for the second quarter ending 5.56 105.86 106.71 June 30, 2014.

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

18-Dec-09

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.84

4.63

101.08

101.89

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

01-Apr-10

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

6.09

5.96

101.98

102.90

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

31-Oct-14 24-May-15 03-Apr-17 09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

1,500.00

21-Mar-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.

11.50 FEB 01, 2016 01-Feb-11 11.50 450.00 01-Feb-16 B-/S&P; B/Fitch Afren PLC I 3.85 3.25 113.51 114.67 Corporate Eurobonds

GTBank PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

GTBank PLC II

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

B+/S&P

Access Bank PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

B/S&P; B/Fitch

Fidelity Bank PLC

B/Fitch

Afren PLC II

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

FGN Bonds

Rating/Agency

Issuer

B/S&P; B-/Fitch

First Bank PLC

B+/S&P; B+/Fitch

Afren PLC III

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE **Treasury Bills DTM 13 20 27 NA 34 48 55 62 69 76 90 97 104 111 118 139 TOTAL OUTSTANDING 167 258 293 307 Rating/Agency 321 335 349 Agency Bonds

Maturity 3-Apr-14 10-Apr-14 17-Apr-14 NA 24-Apr-14 8-May-14 15-May-14 22-May-14 29-May-14 5-Jun-14 19-Jun-14 26-Jun-14 3-Jul-14 10-Jul-14 17-Jul-14 VALUE7-Aug-14 4-Sep-14 4-Dec-14 8-Jan-15 22-Jan-15 Issuer 5-Feb-15 19-Feb-15 5-Mar-15

Description

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

Issue 10.25 APR 08, 2019

Date

8.25 AUG 07, 2020

10.75 31-MAR-2014 31-Mar-07 6.63 DEC 09, 2020 9.20 29-JUN-2014 29-Jun-07 9.25 28-SEP-2014 28-Sep-07 4.00 23-APR-2015 23-Apr-10 13.05 16-AUG-2016 16-Aug-13 Bid Discount (%) Offer Discount (%) 15.10 27-APR-2017 27-Apr-12 11.90 11.65 9.85 27-JUL-2017 27-Jul-07 11.90 11.65 9.35 31-AUG-2017 31-Aug-07 12.50 12.25 10.70 30-MAY-2018 30-May-08 12.70 12.45 12.45 12.20 16.00 29-JUN-2019 29-Jun-12 12.35 12.10 7.00 23-OCT-2019 23-Oct-09 12.60 12.35 16.39 27-JAN-2022 27-Jan-12 12.50 12.25 14.20 14-MAR-2024 14-Mar-14 12.70 12.45 12.50 12.25 15.00 28-NOV-2028 28-Nov-08 12.80 12.55 12.49 22-MAY-2029 22-May-09 13.00 12.75 8.50 20-NOV-2029 20-Nov-09 13.10 12.85 10.00 23-JUL-2030 23-Jul-10 13.20 12.95 13.00 13.25 13.00 13.30 13.25 13.20 13.20 13.50

Description

12.75 13.00 12.75 13.05 13.00 12.95 12.95 13.25

0.00 AMCON 31-OCT-2014 (SR.5 TR.1) 0.00 FMB 24-MAY-2015 FMBN 17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 NA 0.00/16.00 LCRM 09-DEC-2016 *from the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated and not the duration ***LCRM 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 20-APR-2017 # Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017 **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills AMCON

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 Aa-/Agusto; AA-/GCR A/Agusto

KWARA NIGER KADUNA Modified Duration *EBONYI Buckets *BENUE *IMO <3 LAGOS 3<5 *BAYELSA>5 EDO Market *DELTA NIGER *EKITI *NIGER *ONDO *GOMBE LAGOS *OSUN *OSUN LAGOS *EKITI

14.00 KWARA 5-AUG-2014 14.00 NIGER 15-OCT-2014 12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015 Total Outstanding Porfolio Market 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 Value(Bn) Volume(Bn) 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 1,257.98 1,315.27 10.00 LAGOS 1,036.73 19-APR-2017 951.30 13.75 BAYELSA454.32 30-JUN-2017 591.57 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 2,749.04 2,858.14 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 14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020

09-May-13

Coupon (%) 08-Apr-12 07-Aug-13

10.75 9.20 9.25 4.00 13.05 Bid Yield 15.10(%) 11.95 9.85 11.98 9.35 12.62 10.70 12.85 12.66 16.00 12.58 7.00 12.88 16.39 12.80 14.20 13.04 12.90 15.00 13.25 12.49 13.50 8.50 13.64 10.00 13.79 09-Dec-13

13.68 14.11 14.32 14.89 14.91 Issue Date 14.93 15.02 15.50

28-Dec-11 24-May-10 03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

Bonds

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

5.41

4.85

104.18

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

6.41

6.12

98.37

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

7.29

6.83

99.86

300.00

02-May-18

6.88 Value Outstanding 10.25 (N'bn)

Maturity Date 300.00

8.25

300.00

35.00 31-Mar-14 360.00 45.00 29-Jun-14 2,960.00 100.00 28-Sep-14 535.00 23-Apr-15 FIXINGS 327.47 16-Aug-16 NIBOR 452.80 27-Apr-17 Tenor Rate (%) 20.00 27-Jul-17 CALL 10.7500 31-Aug-17 7 100.00 DAYS 11.0000 30-May-18 30300.00 DAYS 11.3750 60351.30 DAYS 11.7083 29-Jun-19 90233.90 DAYS 11.9583 23-Oct-19 180 DAYS 12.2083 27-Jan-22 365600.00 DAYS 12.5417 50.00 14-Mar-24 75.00 28-Nov-28 NITTY 150.00 22-May-29 Tenor Rate (%) 200.00 20-Nov-29 1M 12.3204 591.57 23-Jul-30 2M 12.6953 6.63

3M 4,167.04 6M 9M 12M

Coupon (%)

12.7734 14.0623 14.4801 15.9371

Issue Value (N'bn) NIFEX

Current Price ($/N) 978.35 164.7800 24.56 164.8800

0.00 BID($/N) 0.00 OFFER ($/N) 17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

6.00 112.22 116.70 66.49

TTM (Yrs) 08-Apr-19

07-Aug-20

8.41

Bid 5.25 Yield (%) 7.30

0.03 12.92 6.49 0.27 13.23 0.52 14.24 1.09 14.32 Money Market 2.41 14.55 Tenor Rate (%) 3.10 14.49 OBB 10.25 3.35 14.35 3.45 14.34 O/N 10.46 4.19 14.27 REPO 5.27 14.24 Tenor Rate (%) 5.59 14.16 Call 10.33 7.86 14.11 1M 11.25 9.98 13.91 3M 11.92 6M 12.17 14.69 13.61 15.17 13.58 NOTE: 15.67 13.55 16.34 13.56 :Benchmarks 09-Dec-20

8.07 Offer Yield 4.57 (%) 6.86

2.72 3.08 3.29

99.52

94.75

Bid Price 114.15

101.23 95.88

Offer Price 115.59

103.49

105.17

7.70 99.92 100.07 100.52 101.53 12.67 98.86 99.01 13.93 97.58 97.73 14.15 89.90 90.05 Foreign (Spot & Forwards) 14.48 Exchange 97.00 97.15 14.36 101.45 101.75 Tenor Bid ($/N) Offer ($/N) 14.22 88.32 88.62 14.21 86.79 87.09 Spot 164.89 164.99 14.16 88.98 89.28 7D 165.15 165.43 14D 165.41 165.80 14.16 106.30 106.60 1M 166.02 166.76 14.06 72.95 73.25 2M 166.84 168.54 14.05 110.55 110.85 3M 168.22 171.47 13.86 101.51 101.81 6M 171.90 176.54 1Y 178.94 188.63 13.56 108.68 108.98 13.53 93.03 93.33 13.48 67.50 67.80 13.50 76.80 77.10 NA :Not Applicable 6.24

* :Amortising Bond µ :Convertible Bond AMCON: Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria # FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria Risk Avg. Life/TTM FMBN: FederalDate Mortgage Bank of Nigeria Premium Maturity (Yrs) IFC: International Finance Corporation (%) LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables Management NAHCO: Nigerian Aviation Handling Company NGC: Nigeria-German Company 31-Oct-14 0.61 1.00 UBA: United Bank for Africa 1.18 Company 2.63 UPDC:24-May-15 UAC Property Development 03-Apr-17 2.27 WAPCO:West Africa Portland 1.54 Cement Company

09-Dec-16 20-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

105.34

Price

2.00 1.49 1.00

# :Floating Rate Bond ***: Deferred coupon bonds †: Bond rating expired

Valuation Yield (%)

Indicative Price

15.33 17.28 16.80 16.38 15.86 15.35

91.37 82.28 100.66 88.73 85.67 84.14

1,304.32 05-Aug-09 FMDQ FGN 14.00 BOND INDEX 17.00 15-Oct-09 14.00 6.00 31-Aug-10 12.50 8.50 Weighting by Weighting by Mkt Bucket 16.50 Weighting 30-Sep-10 13.00 Outstanding Vol Value 30-Jun-11 14.00 13.00 30-Jun-09 15.50 18.50 46.02 45.76 0.46 19-Apr-10 10.00 57.00 33.28 37.71 0.33 30-Jun-10 13.75 50.00 20.70 16.53 0.21 30-Dec-10 14.00 25.00 100.00 100.00 1.00 30-Sep-11 14.00 50.00 04-Oct-11 14.00 9.00 09-Dec-11 14.50 20.00 12-Dec-13 14.00 12.00 14-Feb-12 15.50 27.00 02-Oct-12 15.50 20.00 22-Nov-12 14.50 80.00 12-Dec-12 14.75 30.00 30-Sep-13 14.75 11.40 27-Nov-13 13.50 87.00 31-Dec-13 14.50 5.00 06-Jan-14 15.00 5.00

05-Aug-14 15-Oct-14 31-Aug-15 % Exposure_ 30-Sep-15 Mod_Duration 30-Jun-16 30-Jun-16 22.30 19-Apr-17 38.33 30-Jun-17 39.37 31-Dec-17 100.00 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 06-Jan-21

0.38 0.57 1.45 Implied Yield 0.82 1.35 1.35 13.91 3.08 14.15 1.91 13.56 3.78 13.86 2.55 4.54 2.76 2.75 3.34 3.22 5.67 3.37 4.08 6.69 4.09 4.12

4.88 5.99 4.44 Implied 3.23Price Portfolio 4.46 3.48 100.3156 5.59 117.0621 7.60 83.4436 1.79 102.3973 1.80 1.00 1.00 1.21 1.00 2.46 1.94 2.74 2.74 1.00 1.44 1.95

18.72 20.28 19.00 INDEX 17.77 19.06 18.07 1,014.74 19.96 991.24 22.01 1,010.15 16.10 996.47 16.18 15.23 15.38 15.59 15.35 16.82 16.10 17.09 17.02 15.11 15.72 16.22

98.22 96.74 92.08 YTD Return 95.85 (%) 94.43 97.35 1.4740 77.84 0.8763 87.96 1.0151 94.17 0.3532 95.55 96.04 98.29 104.56 97.94 96.89 94.14 94.41 93.72 93.33 101.72 101.39

Daily Summary (Equities) Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Micro-Finance Banks Micro-Finance Banks Totals

Symbol

No. of Deals 1

Current Price

Quantity Traded 443,942

Value Traded 328,517.08

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals

Symbol ASOSAVINGS

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 2,177,655 2,177,655

Value Traded 1,088,827.50 1,088,827.50

Other Financial Institutions AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC FBN HOLDINGS PLC FCMB GROUP PLC. ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC UBA CAPITAL PLC Other Financial Institutions Totals

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

No. of Deals 70 21 471 64 1 23 61 711

Current Price 2.78 2.01 12.45 3.41 0.61 21.00 2.28

BUSINESS | CAPITAL MARKET

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

35

Quantity Traded 4,535,971 1,083,033 23,083,714 2,509,163 30,000 958,048 3,032,802 35,232,731

Value Traded 12,512,170.06 2,154,291.00 278,484,726.11 8,332,818.45 17,700.00 20,057,373.84 6,903,888.56 328,462,968.02

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at March 21, 2014

Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014

Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042

Daily Summary (Bonds)

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

Activity Summary on Board DEBT Federal

Bond Name 15.10% FGN APR 2017 16.00% FGN JUN 2019 Federal Totals

Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 HEALTHCARE Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042 Symbol FG9B2017S2 FG9B2019S3

DEBT Board Totals

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 106.50 111.50

2

Bond Activity Totals

2

Quantity Traded 300 1,700 2000

Healthcare Providers EKOCORP PLC. Healthcare Providers Totals

Value Traded 338,043.43 1,959,762.04 2,297,805.47

2,000

2,297,805.47

2000

2,297,805.47

Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC.

HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals

Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 Fishing/Hunting/Trapping Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042

ELLAH LAKES PLC. Fishing/Hunting/Trapping Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC.

Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Livestock/Animal Specialties Published Livestock/Animal

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Specialties Totals

Symbol ELLAHLAKES

No. of Deals 1 2 7 10 No. of Deals 1 1

Daily Summary (Equities)

Symbol LIVESTOCK

Symbol

No. of Deals 73

No. of Deals 73

AGRICULTURE Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. JOHN HOLT PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

Symbol AGLEVENT JOHNHOLT TRANSCORP UACN

No. of Deals 5 6 178 44 233

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED

Value Traded 101.25 101.25

Current Price 3.23

Quantity Traded 1,965,834

Value Traded 6,387,300.68

Current Price

Current Price 1.34 1.21 3.98 59.99

233

Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042 FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC UNION DICON SALT PLC. U T C NIG. PLC. Food Products Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

CONSUMER GOODS Published by The Products--Diversified Nigerian Stock Exchange © Food CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

Quantity Traded Page 1,965,834

8,200,256.13

Quantity Traded 55,350 1,796 11,635,850 518,704 12,211,700

Value Traded 77,026.08 2,065.40 44,810,384.08 31,093,686.54 75,983,162.10

12,211,700

75,983,162.10

Current Price 1.27 14.46

Quantity Traded 384,466 20 384,486

Value Traded 491,871.82 274.80 492,146.62

Symbol JBERGER

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 75.00

Quantity Traded 9,133 9,133

Value Traded 650,726.25 650,726.25

Current Price 19.25

Quantity Traded 20,750

Value Traded 393,947.50

UAC-PROP

3

Page

Symbol

No. of Deals 3

Current Price

17 Symbol GUINNESS INTBREW NB

No. of Deals 51 29 117 197

Current Price 163.85 23.14 152.89

No. of Deals 11 11

Symbol No. of Deals DANGFLOUR 29 DANGSUGAR 217 FLOURMILL 50 HONYFLOUR 26 NASCON 18 UNIONDICON 1 Daily Summary (Equities) UTC 6 347

Symbol 7UP

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

2

of

Quantity Traded 20,750

Value Traded 393,947.50

414,369

1,536,820.37

Quantity Traded 213,915 6,020,789 885,698 470,952 239,392 20 137,422 7,968,188

Value Traded 1,992,708.18 53,570,449.40 59,583,478.55 1,728,014.95 2,810,681.10 268.80 76,885.94 119,762,486.92

No. of Deals 69 103 172

Current Price 78.00 973.00

Page Quantity Traded 291,344 216,547 507,891

3 of 13 Value Traded 22,598,195.57 211,657,198.98 234,255,394.55

Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Personal/Household Products Totals

Symbol PZ UNILEVER

No. of Deals 73 46 119

Current Price 30.69 45.10

Quantity Traded 1,482,271 756,618 2,238,889

Value Traded 45,507,593.16 34,020,767.80 79,528,360.96

14,811,258

1,004,071,369.89

Current Price 7.61 6.48 13.38 2.15 25.65 3.57 2.22

Quantity Traded 23,856,692 16,600,948 1,667,183 2,643,320 57,919,849 3,992,600 4,575,912

Value Traded 181,369,328.87 107,899,318.70 22,321,131.50 5,634,083.64 1,486,110,348.42 14,191,561.00 10,172,210.98

Current Price 7.10 10.00 0.50

Page Quantity Traded 40,619,528 568,435 46,285

CONSUMER GOODS Totals

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals

859 Symbol No. of Deals ACCESS 164 DIAMONDBNK 57 ETI 76 FIDELITYBK 78 Daily Summary (Equities) GUARANTY 418 SKYEBANK 78 STERLNBANK 34 Symbol UBA

No. of Deals 248 69 2

Daily UBNSummary (Equities) UNITYBNK

Symbol WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

No. of Deals 30 470 1,724

Current Price 1.02 22.00

Quantity Traded 3,154,339 56,415,431 212,060,522

Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol No. of Deals AIICO INSURANCE PLC. AIICO 32 CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CONTINSURE 4 CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. CORNERST 5 EQUITY ASSURANCE PLC. EQUITYASUR 1 GUINEA INSURANCE PLC. GUINEAINS 1 Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY INSURANCE COMPANY PLC INTENEGINS 16 Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042 LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC LINKASSURE 1 MANSARD INSURANCE PLC MANSARD 11 MUTUAL BENEFITS ASSURANCE PLC. MBENEFIT 2 N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NEM 27 Daily Summary (Equities) OASIS INSURANCE PLC OASISINS 6 PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE 5 Activity Summary onASSURANCE Board EQTYPLC UNITY KAPITAL UNITYKAP 1 UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC UNIVINSURE 1 Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © FINANCIAL WAPICSERVICES INSURANCE PLC WAPIC 56 Micro-Finance Banks Symbol No. of Deals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals 169 Micro-Finance Banks Totals 1 Micro-Finance Banks Symbol No. of Deals Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Symbol No. of Deals NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC NPFMCRFBK 1 ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC ASOSAVINGS 2 Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals 2 Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Other Financial Institutions Symbol No. of Deals AFRICA PRUDENTIAL REGISTRARS PLC AFRIPRUD 70 CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED PLC CUSTODYINS 21 FBN HOLDINGS PLC FBNH 471 FCMB GROUP PLC. FCMB 64 ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. ROYALEX 1 STANBIC IBTC HOLDINGS PLC STANBIC 23 UBA CAPITAL PLC UBCAP 61 Other Financial Institutions Totals 711

Current Price 0.84 0.96 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.56 0.50 2.10 0.50 0.74 0.58 0.56 0.50 0.50 0.71 Current Price

Quantity Traded 1,755,953 904,691 3,278,858 32,000 2,000 1,681,525 10,000 2,781,400 40,000 1,179,900 1,500,693 102,444 2,000 21,600 Page 6,460,781 Quantity Traded 19,753,845 443,942 Quantity Traded Quantity443,942 Traded 2,177,655 2,177,655 Page Quantity Traded 4,535,971 1,083,033 23,083,714 2,509,163 30,000 958,048 3,032,802 35,232,731

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals

Current Price 2.78 2.01 12.45 3.41 0.61 21.00 2.28

2,607

HEALTHCARE Healthcare Providers EKOCORP PLC. Healthcare Providers Totals

Symbol EKOCORP

No. of Deals 1 1

Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC.

Symbol EVANSMED

No. of Deals 7

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Current Price Current Price 0.74 0.50

Quantity Traded 30 30

Value Traded 106.20 106.20

Current Price 2.22

Quantity Traded 49,814

Value Traded 106,792.04

Page

7

of

No. of Deals Current Price 21 2.81 15 70.00 16 1.94 4 1.60 1 7.36 64

Quantity Traded 1,084,416 23,641 278,777 34,200 2,000 1,472,848

Value Traded 3,092,587.93 1,654,882.20 538,656.31 54,821.36 14,000.00 5,461,739.84

1,472,878

5,461,846.04

Quantity Traded 511,000 511,000

Value Traded 255,500.00 255,500.00

511,000

255,500.00

Quantity Traded 1,042,447 183,627 6,466 119,870 777,318 7,016

Value Traded 14,613,871.46 1,573,450.36 276,421.50 1,074,985.00 177,578,628.73 8,965.18

Page

Symbol FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH NIG-GERMAN

65 Symbol CHAMS

No. of Deals Current Price 3 0.50 3 3

Symbol No. of Deals Current Price ASHAKACEM 72 14.00 BERGER 12 8.56 CAP 7 45.00 CCNN 18 9.15 Daily Summary (Equities) DANGCEM 26 228.00 DNMEYER 3 1.28

7

of

Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. NIGERIAN WIRE AND CABLE PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

Symbol CUTIX NIWICABLE

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Current Price 1.82 0.50

Quantity Traded 50,000 200 50,200

Value Traded 91,000.00 100.00 91,100.00

Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals

Symbol BETAGLAS

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 18.25

Quantity Traded 10,600 10,600

Value Traded 190,800.00 190,800.00

2,910,903

208,821,641.44

Quantity Traded 20 20 40

Value Traded 199.60 147.40 347.00

40

347.00

201 Symbol ALEX ALUMACO

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Daily Summary (Equities)

Current Price 10.50 7.75

2

13

8Value Traded of 13

5,800.00 1,160.00 2,499,640.63 10,906,818.58 208,539,741.44

Activity Summary on Board EQTY OIL GAS Published

by AND The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC

Page Quantity Traded 571,500 571,500

9 of 13 Value Traded 285,750.00

Current Price 16.04

Quantity Traded 2,132,125 2,132,125

Value Traded 33,914,810.52 33,914,810.52

Current Price 51.90 3.83 93.86 124.86 153.00

Quantity Traded 16,356 705,158 111,325 47,385 94,935 975,159

Value Traded 806,514.36 2,500,867.18 9,926,850.25 5,639,385.01 14,166,803.30 33,040,420.10

3,678,784

67,240,980.62

Symbol JAPAULOIL

No. of Deals 6 6

Current Price 0.50

Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals

Symbol OANDO

No. of Deals 100 100

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

Symbol CONOIL ETERNA FO MOBIL TOTAL

No. of Deals 5 35 25 25 37 127

Energy Equipment and Services Totals

OIL AND GAS Totals SERVICES Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 R T BRISCOE PLC. Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042 Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

233 No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 1.35

Quantity Traded 2,000 2,000

Value Traded 2,580.00 2,580.00

Symbol REDSTAREX TRANSEXPR

No. of Deals 6 7

Current Price 4.47 2.49

Quantity Traded 45,000 393,194

Value Traded 191,250.00 979,053.06

Symbol

No. of Deals 13

Current Price

Quantity Traded 438,194

Value Traded 1,170,303.06

Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. Employment Solutions Totals

Symbol CILEASING

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 182,250 182,250

Value Traded 91,125.00 91,125.00

Hospitality TANTALIZERS PLC Hospitality Totals

Symbol TANTALIZER

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 5,000 5,000

Value Traded 2,500.00 2,500.00

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.63

Quantity Traded 24,500 24,500

Value Traded 15,495.00 15,495.00

Media/Entertainment DAAR COMMUNICATIONS PLC Media/Entertainment Totals

Symbol DAARCOMM

No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 2,200 2,200

Value Traded 1,100.00 1,100.00

Symbol LEARNAFRCA

No. of Deals 6 6

Current Price 1.56

Quantity Traded 602,671 602,671

Value Traded 940,166.76 940,166.76

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.93

Quantity Traded 8,000 8,000

Value Traded 7,120.00 7,120.00

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Page

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © SERVICES Courier/Freight/Delivery Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

Printing/Publishing Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 LEARN AFRICA PLC Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042 Printing/Publishing Totals Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals

13

285,750.00

Symbol RTBRISCOE

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC.

Value Traded 1,452,317.62 868,764.40 1,639,429.00 16,000.00 1,000.00 970,381.10 5,000.00 5,842,940.00 20,000.00 855,899.00 869,272.04 57,950.88 1,000.00 10,800.00 5 of 13 4,545,357.87 Value Traded 17,156,111.91 328,517.08 Value Traded Value Traded 328,517.08 1,088,827.50 1,088,827.50 6 of 13 Value Traded 12,512,170.06 2,154,291.00 278,484,726.11 8,332,818.45 17,700.00 20,057,373.84 6,903,888.56 328,462,968.02

Current Price 3.72

Value Traded 106,792.04

Page Quantity Traded 11,600 2,000 595,377 104,382 2,850,103

NATURAL RESOURCES Totals

Value Traded 3,153,304.17 1,211,861,552.40 3,335,537,263.60

3,682,573,688.11

Quantity Traded 49,814

7

Current Price 0.50 0.61 4.19 109.10

ALUMINIUM EXTRUSION IND. PLC. ALUMINIUM MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC Metals Totals

4 of 13 Value Traded 287,080,059.28 5,721,222.14 23,142.50

269,668,695

Current Price 2.22

EVANSMED

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

Current Price 8.99 8.81 67.25 3.70 12.00 14.14 0.56

Value Traded 149,065.50 3,160.00 152,225.50

Symbol No. of Deals Daily Summary (Equities)

No. of Deals 4 1 18 36 197

Daily Summary asRESOURCES of 21/03/2014 NATURAL Printed 21/03/2014 Metals 14:37:42.042

Value Traded 16,777,245.52 16,777,245.52

Quantity Traded 37,450 2,000 39,450

DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 Activity Summary on Board STERLING BANK PLC. EQTY Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042 FINANCIAL SERVICES Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Banking UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC

13

Quantity Traded 184,638 184,638

Current Price 4.11 1.66

Value Traded 106.20 106.20

Symbol FIRSTALUM IPWA PORTPAINT WAPCO

FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC IPWA PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE WAPCO PLC. Building Materials Totals

Current Price 91.00

No. of Deals 12 1 13

FINANCIAL SERVICES Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 Banking Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042 ACCESS BANK PLC.

INDUSTRIAL GOODS

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Building Materials

Value Traded 152,006,053.42 7,121,151.50 394,468,451.52 553,595,656.44

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 ASHAKA CEM PLC Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042 BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC DANGOTE CEMENT PLC DN MEYER PLC. Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Quantity Traded 921,518 300,787 2,649,897 3,872,202

Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. VONO PRODUCTS PLC. Household Durables Totals

Quantity Traded 30 30

ICT Totals

Value Traded of 13 6,387,300.68

No. of Deals 11 1 12

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol No. of Deals

ICT Processing Systems CHAMS PLC Processing Systems Totals

3,682,573,688.11

Current Price 3.72

HEALTHCARE Totals

1

2,013,415

Symbol COSTAIN GCAPPA

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals

Value Traded 176.50 27,251.70 1,785,426.00 1,812,854.20

Quantity Traded 25 25

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Real Estate Development Real Estate Development Totals

Quantity Traded 353 683 46,520 47,556

Current Price 4.26

84

CONGLOMERATES Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Daily Summary as of 21/03/2014 G CAPPA PLC Printed 21/03/2014 Building14:37:42.042 Structure/Completion/Other Totals

Current Price 0.50 42.00 38.80

269,668,695

No. of Deals 1 1

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Symbol FTNCOCOA OKOMUOIL PRESCO

Symbol EKOCORP

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Daily Summary (Equities)

AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals

2,607

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Page

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

SERVICES Specialty SECURE ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY PLC Specialty Totals Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals

10

11

of

of

Symbol NSLTECH

No. of Deals 2 2

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 3,500 3,500

Value Traded 1,750.00 1,750.00

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 3 23 26

Current Price 2.93 4.96

Quantity Traded 15,785 735,889 751,674

Value Traded 44,040.15 3,594,550.32 3,638,590.47

SERVICES Totals

13

59

2,019,989

5,870,730.29

EQTY Board Totals

4,363

309,713,031

5,060,016,341.99

Equity Activity Totals

4,363

309,713,031

5,060,016,341.99

13

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund

Name VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals

Symbol VETGRIF30

No. of Deals 2 2

Board Daily ETF Summary asTotals of 21/03/2014 Printed 21/03/2014 14:37:42.042

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © ETP Activity Totals

2

Current Price 17.02

Quantity Traded 10,000 10,000

Value Traded 170,200.00 170,200.00

10,000

170,200.00

Page

Daily Summary (ETP) 2

10,000

12

of

13

170,200.00

36 BUSINESS | INSURANCE

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan (middle) duing the inauguration of the National Conference in Abuja

Underwriters flay exclusion from national confab ABANDONED Risk bearers not considered fit to be at National Conference.

A

s Nigerians representing different ethnic groups and various bodies gather at the Federal Capital Territory to discuss the future of the country, a keen observer and a stakeholder in the insurance sector has described the exclusion of underwriters at the conference as a 'grand error.'

The National Conference, which has generated series of controversies since it was conceived by President Goodluck Jonathan, finally kicked off two weeks ago amidst brewing suspense bordering on ethnoreligious conflicts.

A statement issued by the

Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Mr. Tope Adaramola, said it was regrettable that the Federal Government could exclude representations from the insurance industry without considering the pivotal role it plays in economic development.

He said with the list cutting across different political, social and economic strata, giving an indication that government is poised to make the confab as representative as possible, some operators held the views that the omission of the risk bearers was another demonstration of the lax hands with which the Federal Government holds the risk bearers and by extension, risk management.

He said, “Remarkably, the list also consisted of names of professional bodies represent-

No insurance cover for e-rickshaw ride

A

ll those taking a ride on erickshaws run the risk of getting no insurance claim in case of an accident. That's because the eco-friendly vehicles are illegal and are not insured, said a senior road transport ministry official.

According to The Economic Times, around a lakh e-rickshaws that ply on Delhi roads are not "vehicles" as per the provisions of Central Motor Vehicles Act. "If an accident is attributed to e-rickshaws, then the occupants will not get any claims from insurance companies.

This is a dangerous situation. We are allowing an unsafe vehicle to ply on roads, risking the life of the common man,"

said the official.

Sources said iCAT, a government run testing agency, had told the road transport ministry that they are ready to carry out tests on these battery driven rickshaws, but the city government needed to pick up random samples and provide them to the test agencies. So far the city government has not done so.

Officials are quite sure that the tests would substantiate that these are motor vehicles and hence these have to be registered as per rules. "Once this is established, the manufacturers will have to take type approval from the government approved testing agencies after the prototype meets all the required standards.

ing accountants, advertisers, public relations professionals, surveyors, among others.

“Whether wittingly or unwittingly, suffice it to say that there is no nation that could have a vibrant economy without giving insurance a pride of place. In advanced economy, insurance is regarded as the last hope of the common man and a device where citizen's misery is reduced in times of disasters

or risk, which is usually a fait accompli.”

He pointed out that the omission became even more unpardonable when one considered the fact that insurance constituent bodies, namely the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers and the Nigerian Insurers Association, constituted the earliest trade and profes-

sional bodies in Nigeria.

He added that the Federal Government by itself established the National Insurance Commission to regulate and grow the industry, a duty the body has been performing creditably to date.

“The thinking is that it is not too late for this error to be corrected, as it is believed that the list of representatives is not cast in stone," he added.

Insurers want full cover for youth corps members SERVICE Federal Government should provide insurance cover for members of the National Youth Service Corps.

W

ith the deployment of over 1,000 graduates to the North East under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme still generating worries among parents and other Nigerians, some insurance practitioners have called on the Federal Government to give the young men who accepted to serve in the volatile region proper insurance cover.

The underwriters said the advice had become necessary considering the attacks visited on youth corpers in 2011 leading to the murder of at least 10 of them in Bauchi State.

About two weeks ago, the NYSC management deployed 1,910 corps members to Gombe and Borno States for the 2014 batch ‘A’ Orientation Course to

be hosted in Gombe state.

In a chat with New Telegraph, the Managing Director of Goldlink Insurance Plc, Mr. Gbolahan Olutayo, said it was the duty of the Federal Government to provid insurance cover for the youth corpers whether they are in the North East or in any other part of Nigeria.

He said, “We have been making efforts in that regard to make the government provide insurance cover for the corpers.

It does not even matter where they are posted to but the most important thing is for them to be insured.

“However, the case of those in the North East is a bit peculiar because of what happened in the past and the volatile nature of the region at present.

Even before the past incident we had made efforts to get the government to insure them.

Underwriters are always proactive in matters like this but it depends on those in charge to respond.”

Speaking in the same vein, the Managing Director/Chief

Executive Officer, Riskguard Africa Nigeria Limited, Chief Yemi Soladoye, said there was nothing practically wrong with the Federal Government deploying the youth corpers to the region provided they ensured adequate security for them this time around.

According to him, “It is the duty of the government to deploy corpers to wherever they like. The deployment is compulsory for anybody who has graduated and is eligible to serve. After the deployment it is now left for the person to ask for redeployment if he feels the place is not safe for him.

“As for giving them insurance cover, those being moved to such places are supposed to enjoy higher premium. That is the way it should be in insurance generally. Even in property insurance, you don’t expect a property owner in Ikoyi to pay the same premium with somebody whose property is in a place like Oshodi where if there is fire outbreak it would spread quickly to other property."

BUSINESS | INSURANCE 37

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Concern mounts over insurers' N30bn mgt expenses AUSTERE Policy holders want underwriters to scale down their personal appetites and demands.

Sunday Ojeme

T

he flamboyant lifestyle reflected in sleek automobiles, expensive wardbrobe, ornate residential and office accommodation relished by insurance operators is beginning to pitch them against policyholders.

Although the trend has been there for long, the insured are beginning to see reasons why underwriters should not just make claims payments easier, but, where possible, also tinker with policy documents so as to make payments bigger with an extra sense of satisfaction on the part of the insured.

In the face of a dwindling economy where most policyholders rely on hard earned ‘disposable funds’ to meet their insurance needs, it is disheartening to see underwriters live in dripping opulence with the premiums in their custodies especially when the insured is pushed through so many debilitating experience before getting his claims in the event of any loss.

Comparing the annual claims paid by insurers to the management expenses approved for themselves, one is tempted to believe that such managements are all out to better their lots at the expence of the policyholders without recourse to equally backing up claims payments with some mouthwatering incentives.

Giving a clue to the trend recently, a new pressure group, created to ensure policyholders are no longer ‘cheated’ by the underwriters, demanded that insurance companies stopped repudiating and delaying payment of good claims presented to them by the insured as a way of maximising customer satisfaction.

The group, Insurance Consumers Association of Nigeria (INSCAN), while making its demands, lamented the gap between the claims paid out to policyholders who suffer losses and the amount spent on management expenses.

The Technical Adviser, INSCAN, Chief Yemi Soladoye, revealed that statistics from the industry indicated that general insurance claims paid by all the non-life insurers in the country in the previous year was about N4 billion, while about N30 billion was spent by the industry operators as management expenses out of a general insurance premium totaling about N165 billion.

These figures translated to a claims ratio of 2.42 while the ratio of manage-

Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association, Mr. Remi Olowude

Managing Direcor/CEO, LASACO, Mr. Olusola Ladipo Ajayi

Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Fola Daniel

Soladoye

ment expenses to total premiums rose to 18.18.

He therefore advised insurers in the country to design ways of giving financial compensations to those insurance buyers who did not suffer any insured losses within the period of contract.

He stressed that with such an arrangement the ratio of insurance claims to premiums paid would rise reasonably and encourage repeat purchases by their customers.

He said, “Your business is in a way unique, funny and somehow awkward in the sense that it is the careless and unfortunate people who get rewarded by you from the money of the careful and fortunate people. In some other countries, the insurance industries provide entry gift items, mortgage loans, free biannual comprehensive medical test and a host of other benefits to ensure that even those who do not make claims also get something back for their patronage. We demand that you start

this in 2014.”

Soladoye also expressed discomfort with the fact that almost all insurance companies in the country used premiums paid into the pool by insurance consumers to service their board and

In some other countries, the insurance industries provide entry gift items, mortgage loans, free biannual comprehensive medical test and a host of other benefits to ensure that even those who do not make claims also get something back for their patronage

Managing Director, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Mr. Wale Onaolopo

management, resulting to very high management expenses.

In his comparison between developed and developing economies, he observed that the ratio of insurance claims to premium hovered between 30 and 40 per cent, indicating that the premiums paid by the insured were actually used to service the customers by the insurers in those climes.

He said management expenses in those economies were minimal while insurance claims gulped a sizeable proportion of the insurance premiums paid by their customers.

The risk expert also cautioned against using words that are not clear to the insured thereby committing them unconsciously into a contract that would bind and exploit them.

According to him, “Your policy documents, being the evidence of the contact with us is full of discouraging and frustrating technical jargons that hardly would anybody read more than one page of the “hand out” which at times goes up to 30 pages before dropping same.

“Why do you bombard us with words like – whereas, where in, where of, now therefore, knowingly, wilfully, recklessly, negligently, directly and indirectly, proximately and remotely -all making the contract look mysterious and scary to our members.

“We therefore make it categorically clear that we are tired of these intimidating words and expect all insurance companies in Nigeria to adapt their policy documents to the modern trends where the policy document starts with “meaning of words”, followed by “what is covered,” what is not covered and then the conditions guiding the contract with a claim form tucked into the folder at the back of the policy jacket.

We expected this from you like yesterday.”

38

BUSINESS | FOR THE RECORDS

CONTINUES FROM FRIDAY vii. Consistent with our policy of development, upon the instruction of His Excellency, the President, the CBN intervened by paying N19.7 Billion to the Ministry of Police Affairs for the purchase of armoured helicopters and other security equipment. viii. Also, upon the application of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the CBN paid N2.1 Billion for the automation and renovation of the Federal Executive Council Chamber. See Annexure CC. ix. The CBN also initiated, with His Excellency, the President’s approval, the construction of the International Conference Centre for Nigeria. See Annexure DD. x. His Excellency, the President, also requested that the CBN pay N3.2 Billion for the construction of a new counter terrorism centre for the office of the National Security Adviser. See Annexure EE. xi. The FRCN itself is a beneficiary of the CBN’s intervention policy as the CBN paid the sum of N220 Million to the FRCN and also organised the banking sector, through the Banker’s Committee, to pay N280 Million, totalling a sum of N500 Million, for the construction of the IFRS Academy.

See Annexure FF. xii. All of these requests were duly submitted to the CBN Board of Directors and were duly approved. xiii. It is also important to emphasise that the grants under the Intervention Program were duly budgeted for, and made on a limited and selected basis. xiv. Intervention in National Security: At the height of security uncertainties in Nigeria, the Ministry of Police Affairs petitioned His Excellency, the President, for access to the CBN Intervention Fund. His Excellency approved that this be done in his letter of 6 October 2010 referenced MPA/ PSD/S/0243. See Annexure GG. The CBN Board of Directors then reviewed and approved this request.

See Annexure HH for the issuance of a grant by the CBN from the Intervention Fund to the Nigerian Police Force, for the procurement of: • Armoured Helicopters, • Armoured Patrol Vans, • Anti-Riot Equipment; • Hand held Communication Equipment.

35. AKINGBOLA PETITION & THE N40 BILLION LOAN WAIVER Allegation 35: attached to the my letter of suspension was a petition written by the former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc (ICB now Access Bank Plc)- Erastus Akingbola (Mr Akingbola), on an alleged waiver of a N40 Billion loan to a Nigerian bank.

Response: Before responding to the allegation, it should be stated that the said Mr Akingbola is a man found by a final judgment of the Courts in England to have been liable for financial improprieties in the management of the affairs of ICB. i. In his self-serving petition, Mr Ak-

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi's response to allegations in relation to suspension

Sanusi

ingbola alleged that the CBN, on my watch, wrote-off a loan in favour of Dr. Bukola Saraki. This is untrue. ii. The CBN was at no time involved in the decision of ICB (or any other bank for that matter) to write-off its loans.

The CBN never gave prior approval to the Management and Board of ICB to write-off any particular loan. It is important to state up-front that all the non executive directors on the Board of ICB were appointed by its shareholders while Akingbola was CEO and they were the majority on the Board that approved the write-offs. iii. From the submissions of ICB to the CBN, the said loan write-off, involved over 1000 customers accounts, totalling N49.07 billion – including accounts held by companies related to Dr. Bukola Saraki. iv. It is well known that decisions on loan write-offs in the process of recovering non-performing loans are taken by the management and board of banks in line with their internal credit policies. The outstanding amounts are then written off the books of banks after receiving approval of the CBN. ICB therefore only approached the CBN, after it has completed all its negotiations and agreements with its customers, to seek CBN ‘ No Objection’ approval to write-off the loans.

Indeed, after a careful review of the submission by ICB, the CBN initially raised objections to the justifications provided for the write-off of the debts on the accounts related to Dr. Bukola Saraki. See Annexure II. v. In response to these objections, the Management of ICB wrote explaining the rationale for the Board decision. (This is also contained in Annexure II). It is important to note that decisions on loan write-offs involve

significant exercise of judgement by those involved. Usually a number of factors come into play including whether or not the loan is secured, the value of collateral and if the bank is in a legal position to realise same, the general liquidity in the secondary market and the liquidity position of the bank itself which determines if it is negotiating from a position of strength or weakness. Ultimately, while we may debate these issues, the judgement has to be exercised by those actually managing the bank in the best interest of shareholders and the responsibility lies with them. vi. In the case of ICB it is well known that the bank was in a grave situation as a result of years of mismanagement by Akingbola. The loans in question were largely loans secured by shares in the capital market and therefore were vulnerable to what is called Market risk.

The collapse of the Nigerian capital market following the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 meant that the collateral for these loans had been totally wiped out. The losses suffered by the bank were therefore a result of very bad credit decisions taken by Mr. Akingbola himself which led to the bank taking on huge amounts of risk that crystallised. In this situation all that was left for Management was to minimise its losses and recover as much as it could before the situation got worse. vii. With specific reference to the ICB loans to companies related to Dr Saraki, the bank’s Management explained that there were four loans totalling N9.489 billion, of which three were margin loans secured by shares and the fourth was secured by real estate.

The value of the collateral underlying the Margin loans had been eroded and the bank was compelled to give waivers to make some recovery while still retaining the shares for sale at a future date. It should also be added that the real estate used to secure the nonmargin loan were not perfected by the management under Mr. Akingbola – which is another indication of bad credit policies under Mr. Akingbola. viii. There was no waiver granted to Dr Saraki on the fourth loan as it was paid in full (plus accumulated interest). Of the N9.4 billion, a total of N4.04 billion was repaid, representing a waiver of 57.42 %. Losses on Margin loans were common at this time in the entire industry. To illustrate this, when AMCON purchased margin loans from Intervened banks on December 30, 2010 it offered a premium of 60% above the average price of the shares in the preceding 60 days.

In spite of these generous terms AMCON paid an average of only 24.27% of the value of margin loans purchased.

Without the premium AMCON would have purchased the loans at 15.17% of their book value. This actually would suggest that the Management

of ICB did get a reasonably fair deal for the bank in these circumstances.

The best construction we can place on Mr Akingbola’s petition is that he is complaining that the Management that succeeded him could have done a better job of cleaning up the mess he created and left behind. ix. As for Akingbola’s allegation of fraud, conspiracy, forgery and stealing against Dr. Saraki in connection with Joy Petroleum Ltd, the Central Bank was in the process of collaborating with law enforcement agents involved in the investigations when we received a copy of a letter written by the Honourable Attorney-General and Minister of Justice declaring that these allegations were unfounded and there was no basis in law for any criminal investigation in respect thereof.

See Annexure HH. The Central Bank therefore cannot be held in any manner responsible for this decision as this was a position taken by the nation’s chief law officer.

36. CONCLUSION i. It is now clear that each of the allegations made by the FRCN in the Briefing Note could easily have been resolved upon a simple request to the CBN for clarification or a little more careful review. There is no doubt that if the CBN had received the Briefing Note, which was prepared in June 2013, all the misconceptions, misrepresentations and erroneous inferences contained therein would have been cleared, and the misleading of His Excellency would have been avoided. ii. It is now my sincere hope that, having painstakingly provided detailed explanations, backed by verifiable documents, His Excellency, Mr President will find the response satisfactory, and in line with his adherence to fairness and justice, revisit and redress the issue of my suspension. iii. Furthermore, it is my wish that His Excellency, Mr President, will apply the same rationale and rigour to other agencies of the Federal Government that have had serious allegations and queries levied against them, and presume upon them to provide responses and explanations with the same level of clarity and transparency. iv. In closing, I would like to place on record the dogged professionalism and patriotism of the staff of the CBN. They have, over the years, served this country creditably, loyally and diligently.

I hereby restate my enduring passion for, and commitment to, our great country Nigeria.

Signed: SANUSI LAMIDO SANUSI, CON GOVERNOR, CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA

BUSINESS | GLOBAL NEWS 39

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Banks’ stress test may affect payouts

G

oldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. staked out sharply divergent views from the Federal Reserve on how they’d fare in a market shock, clouding prospects for higher payouts to shareholders.

The split came as lenders and regulators each released their versions of stress-test results last Thursday, with Goldman Sachs predicting that its Tier 1 common ratio would be 3.9 percentage points stronger than Fed estimated in a worst-

case scenario. New York-based Citigroup calculated a ratio 3 percentage points better than the central bank. The disputed figure, according to Bloomberg, measures a firm’s ability to absorb losses, and discrepancies can lead the Fed to reject plans for higher dividends and stock buybacks.

“If one of those companies had a fairly wide disparity between its own model and the Fed’s model, that’s going to raise red flags,” Todd Hagerman, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. in New York, said

in a phone interview. A big gap could spur regulators to question the quality of the bank’s capital planning, Hagerman said.

While the central bank’s figures showed that 29 of the 30 largest US lenders could withstand a deep recession, Fed officials have said the decision will include subjective judgments about management, processes and boards of directors. That announcement is set for March 26.

“Qualitative relates to quality - if the Fed sees anything funky in the capital plans, they

reserve the right to send them back to the drawing board,” Nancy Bush, a bank analyst who founded NAB Research LLC in New Jersey, said in a phone interview. “That’s healthy.”

Last year, banks whose figures differed most from the Fed’s -- Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) -- were forced to submit new capital plans to address weaknesses in their processes. The New York-based firms were allowed to continue payouts in the meantime. Fed officials said this week their expectations of lenders will rise each year.

This year, JPMorgan virtually matched the Fed’s projection for its Tier 1 common ratio, differing by only 0.2 percentage

point. Bank of America’s figure was more optimistic than the Fed’s by 2.6 percentage points.

Morgan Stanley (MS)’s gap was 2 percentage points and Wells Fargo & Co.’s was 1.5 percentage points.

“There is some possibility that BAC may have to resubmit its capital-return request,” Moshe Orenbuch, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG, wrote in a research note, referring to Bank of America’s stock symbol.

Spokesmen for all six lenders declined to comment. While the regulator posted results for every bank in this year’s first round, not all of them released their own calculations yesterday for comparison.

BlackBerry selling most Canadian real estate

B Boeing 787 jets sitting on the floor nearing completion at the company's production plant in Everett, Washington.

‘US housing bill would cut mortgage access for minorities'

A

Senate proposal to overhaul the US housing finance system would make mortgages more expensive and less available, especially in minority communities, a coalition of consumer advocates and civil rights groups warned last Friday.

A draft bill to wind down government-run mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, released earlier this month by the leaders of Senate Banking Committee, according to Reuters, would replace the companies with a new industry-financed agency. The agency would provide a government backstop for mortgages, but only after private creditors shouldered 10 per cent of any losses.

The main concern expressed by the coalition was that the bill would fail to provide adequate access to credit and make housing affordable for all creditworthy borrowers, including nonwhites and families with modest

incomes and lower wealth.

"The legislation would widen the existing wealth gap and lock out the very borrowers the market needs to operate in a healthy manner," the groups said in a joint statement.

Seven groups signed on to the statement: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Council of La Raza, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Urban League, Center for Responsible Lending, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, and the NAACP. "The bill lacks provisions to ensure that the housing finance system is fair and non-discriminatory," the groups said.

Some leaders of the coalition joined top White House officials on Wednesday to discuss the draft legislation put together by the committee's Democratic chairman, Tim Johnson, and its top Republican, Michael Crapo.

The Obama administration

worked heavily over the last couple of months with both Johnson and Crapo on their bill.

G

erman luxury carmaker, BMW, is looking at raising production capacity at its plant in the United States and releasing 12 new models as it chases record sales and a rise in pretax profit of up to 10 percent this year.

BMW's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is being readied to reach an annual production capacity of around 350,000 vehicles, up from 300,000 at the end of 2013.

It makes sport utility vehicles including the X3, X4, X5 and X6 models.

"The US will stay a market with great potential for us.

This is why we are evaluating the possibility of increasing capacity in the U.S.", Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer said at the company's annual

lackBerry is selling most of its real estate holdings in Canada as the struggling smartphone BlackBerry Ltd. did not disclose the buyer or purchase price, but said last Friday that it will sell more than 3 million square feet of space and vacant lands. It will also lease back part of the space.

"The successful sale of property in Canada will help us move toward our goal of continued operational efficiency," CEO and Executive Chair John Chen said in a statement.

The company, according to Reuters, had announced in January that it planned to sell the majority of its Canadian real estate holdings.

BlackBerry pioneered the smartphone in 1999 and dominated for years, but since the late 2000s the company has been hammered by competition from the iPhone as well as Androidbased rivals.

Under Chen - who took on the CEO post permanently late last year - BlackBerry has been working to turn around its business.

Chen said that BlackBerry is still committed to having a strong presence in Canada. It is keeping its headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario.

The company said that more terms of the transaction will be announced once principal conditions are satisfied or waived by the parties.

BMW eyes US production hike in push for sales record results press conference on Wednesday.

Analysts welcomed the outlook from the Munich-based owner of the Mini, Rolls-Royce and BMW brands.

"We see BMW's confidence as a major positive trigger for the stock," analysts at ISI Global said in a note to clients.

"The company has long been known for its conservative guidance and after a period of rather flat profit development, it's interesting that it has chosen to be so confident," analysts at Bernstein Research said.

BMW shares surged on the

news, closing 7.3 percent higher, at 86.60 euros, making it the second-biggest gainer on the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index.

Reithofer declined to give a figure about future production levels at Spartanburg, or comment on whether BMW is thinking about producing a new model, the X7. The carmaker said it will make a further announcement about its U.S. plans on March 28.

Investments made at plants in China will allow BMW to raise production capacity there to 400,000 cars, from 300,000 in 2013.

40 BUSINESS | GLOBAL NEWS

A

merican automobile company, General Motors, has stated that the rewards of a successful automobile manufacturing cannot be reaped except certain crucial measures are taken by the country’s government concerning the policy.

The American automobile manufacturer’s African Managing Director, Mr. Mario Spangenberg, made the statement at the announcement of Kencept Autocentre Limited as the distributor of its Isuzu brand in Nigeria.

According to Spangenberg, GM is interested in investing

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

General Motors raises eyebrow on Nigeria’s automotive policy in the assemblage of vehicles, but it would be impossible to make business decisions except certain measures were put in place.

Nigeria’s automotive policy, which is aimed at discouraging imports of fully assembled automobiles and encourages local manufacturing, has fueled criticism from local dealers who specialise in import-

ing used cars, as a 70 per cent increase in duty tariff would be imposed on such.

Spangenburg expressed scepticism about the consistency and sustainability of the policy since it is reminiscent of a similar one back in the 70’s that failed.

“We want to take our time to study the policy and get a better insight into if there is po-

litical will to support it. How are we sure that the policy is sustainable? We were here before but we had to leave the market,” he said.

According to him, importation of both used and new cars should be banned to allow for a thriving local industry. However, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, refuted such as-

sertion, noting rather that a ban cannot be enforced until an alternative is put in place.

“We must work towards providing alternative cars before we even consider placing a ban on tokunbo cars. So, in Nigeria, we have not banned the importation of fairly used vehicles yet. If we slow down the demand, it will slow down the pace of growth.”

Canada pension board buys firm for $1.8bn

T

he Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has agreed to buy US life insurance and reinsurance provider, Wilton Re Holdings Limited for $1.8 billion from a group of private equity firms, the first foray by the global dealmaker into the U.S. insurance business.

CPPIB said last Friday it would acquire Wilton Re, a leading purchaser of closed blocks of life insurance policies, from a group of private equity firms led by Stone Point Capital, Kelso & Co, Vestar Capital Partners and FFL. Closed blocks insurance policies are still in force but no longer being sold.

According to Reuters, the deal, which is the largest direct private equity deal that CPPIB has led, highlights a big push

by Canadian pension funds and other major private equity investors to invest in companies directly and run them to cut out buyout funds as middlemen and save money on fees.

CPPIB plans to use the asset as a platform for further U.S. expansion into closed-block life insurance, which is attractive for its predictable returns, CPPIB Senior Vice President of Private Investments, André Bourbonnais, said in an interview.

“It generates high cash yield. It also is not correlated to the capital markets, which is important in terms of diversification for the fund. And it has relatively low volatility compared to the market. So we like it as an asset class,” he said.

“We intend to provide more capital to the platform.”

Tesco signs $500bn deal to enter Indian supermarket sector

Nigeria to raise gas prices to improve power plants

T

he world’s fourth-biggest liquefied natural gas exporter, Nigeria, has resolved to increase domestic gas prices to boost supply to power plants hit by shortages.

The country exported about 27 billion cubic meters of LNG in 2012, making it the world’s

biggest supplier after Qatar, Malaysia and Australia, according to BP Plc’s Statistical Review. Supply from Nigeria fell more than 3 million metric tons last year, equivalent to almost 4 billion cubic meters of gas, BG Group Plc said on March 18.

It was learnt that the country will apply “export-parity pricing” in 2016, Timothy Okon, group coordinator of strategy and planning at Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said in an interview at the Power Investors Summit in Abuja. That means

Bank expects considerable rise in profit

C

ommerzbank confirmed its turnaround plan was on track with profit expected to rise considerably this year and said it was wellprepared for a health check by the European Central Bank.

Commerzbank’s non-core assets stood at 116 billion euros at the end of 2013, compared with 289 billion in 2008 during the crisis. The bank aims to reduce that sum to 75 billion euros by 2016.

Germany’s second-biggest lender said on Friday it would rely on a combination of growth and cost-cutting to improve results, and that it expected costs for bad loans to fall slightly this year compared with 2013.

“Commerzbank’s consolidated profit, both pre-tax and after tax, should be considerably higher in 2014 even in a challenging economic and capital market environment,”

the bank said in its annual report. Commerzbank earned 78 million euros net profit in 2013.

Its shares gained almost 3 per cent, outperforming the Dow Jones STOXX index of European banks, which was near flat at 1223 GMT. Commerzbank shares have risen almost 50 per cent in the past year compared with a 17 per cent rise for rivals in the index.

producers will get the same price locally as they would for export projects such as LNG contracts, he said.

According to Bloomberg, Nigeria needs gas to supply power companies as it seeks to build an electricity market after finalising the sale of 60 per cent stakes in 15 power distribution and generation companies spun out of the former stateowned monopoly, Power Holding Company, in September.

Current output is about 2,000 megawatts or half total capacity, due to gas shortages caused by sabotage on pipelines, Sam Amadi, chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, which oversees the power industry, said yesterday. One megawatt is enough to supply about 2,000 average European homes.

“There’s no use being an exporter of gas, but then be using candles at home,” Okon said. Nigeria’s gas supply needs to triple to satisfy current demand, driven by the power sector, he said.

ENTREPRENEUR STO R I ES O F BU S I N ES S S U CC ES S ES

NEW TELEGRAPH

41

newtelegraphonline.com/entrepreneur

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2014

You and your business - Two separate entities Gbonjubola Sanni is an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

She worked in the Audit Practice of KPMG Professional Services, Lagos (Nigeria) and as Financial Planning and Analysis Manager in Cadbury Nigeria Plc. Email: gbonjute@yahoo.co.uk Phone: 08028268924, 08072692134 Blog address: www.gbonjubolasanni.wordpress.com

Gbonjubola Sanni

F

inancial education and the knowledge to form good money habits remain very important for every entrepreneur because we always need money to do a lot of things we love. Of course, learning about finance can get a little tedious at times especially with respect to keeping track of personal finances and launching a business.

One mistake small and medium enterprises make with their money is mixing business and personal finances. After all, you are your business, but muddling up the two will mean a mess when the chips are down for tax or other financial reporting purposes. Even if you’re just starting out, it’s

30 SECONDS LECTURE

“I have worked hard most of my life and I believe I have been very fortunate; although I must say I am a great believer in the man who said.

The harder you work,the luckier you get” – Dr. Mike Adenuga, Chairman, Mike Adenuga Group

very important that you differentiate these two parts of your money life. Treat your business, big or small, like a viable entity even if it only started out like a hobby. This starts with keeping a track of all your business expenses separately from your personal expenses, even though it may feel like they are one and the same especially when you are running a one-man business.

How to separate your business from your personal finances: Maintain separate bank accounts Start with your bank accounts. As soon as you start a business, open a company bank account. Not only is having separate bank accounts tax-smart, it will also improve your organization and help grant you access to a bank facility, if the need arises.

At the end of every accounting year, all your income and expenses will be in one place, making record keeping, tax filing and financial statement preparation easier. If you try to separate all your records in the

POWER POINT

Grow with your business.

Don’t just hire people. Anticipate the work to be done and find out what may have to change when the new hire shows up for work.

middle of the year, it becomes a bit difficult to get this done because you won’t be able to accurately remember all the money moves. Keeping good records throughout the year will also give you proof of your business expenses if you do get audited.

Make your business official Consider establishing a private limited liability company (LTD) or a public limited liability company (PLC) for your business. Just like the name depicts, the private limited liability company is a private business with restricted ownership, which means you cannot freely join the company.

The other is a public company and thus its shares are openly traded (there are requirements for attaining that status). However, what is of the most interest here is that both forms of

business enjoy ‘limited liability’. That means that when you are an owner in a business under any of the two categories, you personally enjoy limited liability (a unique company form that separates the person of the business from that of the owners). This is a very important legal concept in business ownership that will give your personal finances a new level of liability protection, which could come in very handy if things ever go soar with your business.

Your team of advisors – lawyers, financial planners and accountants and insurance agents can help determine what entity makes the most sense, the guidelines to follow to get it executed, how this business will impact your taxes and financial plan and what insurance coverage you will need to

consider.

Ensure you pay yourself Another thing business owners do is that they tend to live low, especially when they are just starting out and plow all of their resources into their business without removing a dime. While this can help keep cash flowing into a business (a very necessary ingredient for expansion), it gets tricky when the business is paying your rent, buying you meals and taking care of all your personal needs. What’s the way out?

Pay yourself at least a modest salary to keep your personal finances straight and separate from the business. Also don’t go overboard by giving yourself a six-figure salary right away. You need to leave enough money in the business, so it can operate when things don’t look so bright.

Hiring your first employee?

Expand cautiously.

Why rush to hire because you just hit a big contract?

Take your time.

A new employee will usually cost you more than just “his salary”. Get someone than can add commensurate value.

Hire attitude, not skills.

Plan for fairmarket pay.

This idea cannot be overemphasized.

Nothing hurts more than a skilled employee with a bad attitude.

Training will help build needed skills.

Someone once said “Unless you are careful, a good hire will cost much more than you expect and produce much less.

Test the waters.

Nothing is wrong with starting the employee out on a “volunteer’s salary”.

When you are convinced of his or her value to your business, you can increase the pay.

42 BUSINESS | ENTREPRENEUR

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Winning with People

I D E A PRENEURSHIP Folu is a Creative Strategist at Headstart Consulting Limited. He writes about businesses, brands, innovation, and design. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria. foluadeyeye@gmail.com @foluadeyeye www.about.me/foluadeyeye www.madeinheadstart.net Folu Adeyeye

Y

our organisation is only as good as its people. No matter how cliché this proposition has become, it still holds immense truth especially for businesses in the 21st century that are serious about catalysing business growth based on consistent brand delivery. Just as your organisation is only as good as its people, this group of people are also only as impactful as the creed that binds and guides them. This notion, perhaps, best underscores the importance of “branded behaviour” in creating the right corporate culture that will guarantee effective delivery of your brand’s promise.

Internal brand alignment is an important element of your organisation’s competitive strategy. It is important that every element of your organisation is aligned with your corporate aspirations, values, objectives and strategy, and that these are based on a clear definition of the brand you want your organisation to project. A vital element of this internal alignment objective is your people and the corporate culture that they foster- because your people deliver your brand. More often than not, business owners go about setting up their businesses without giving consideration to the kind of environment the business will sport. Ultimately, the employees of such businesses get the front row seat in defining what culture will pervade the business – more often than not, this culture is not very enabling.

Your people continue to be a major pillar in your busi-

ness strategy, but now more than ever before, these people must become the key drivers and builders of your brand.

While marketing communications play a vital role in the brand building process, it is people who deliver the vital brand experiences and encounters that reinforce your values and fulfil your promise.

A classic example of this would be most Nigerian banks. Very often does a bank communicate to the public their utmost commitment to service, creating some anticipation of almost celestial encounters when you do business with them. However, one cannot help but notice the sharp contrast during actual physical transaction with staff of that bank. The existing culture focuses on merely getting people to do their work rather than creating a self sustaining cultural ecosystem where the people thrived and achieved both personal and collective goals.

The sad result is that the millions on Naira spent on marketing communications have gone to waste because disappointed customers will not only withdraw patronage, they will also become negative advocates for your brand.

The global business landscape, over the last decade has witnessed immense changes; so much more than the preceding century. The most obvious consequence of these changes is the transfer of power to the customer within transactional relationships. After years of empty talk, the customer is now truly king. They have devel-

oped an ever evolving taste; they have access to lots more information and now seek to be more included within the realities of business owners.

They want more.

These customers, however, are people; people who still need other people to interact with in the course of their lives. The implication for your business within this new paradigm is that you have to “humanize” your brand and distil all that you stand for into personal interactions. This is where your people come in. Customers do not interact with your brand in a vacuum. They interact with you through your people and if these people do not effectively portray what your business stands for, then that sharp contrast which I referred to earlier will mark off a dangerous slide for your business.

So how do you ensure that your people effectively deliver your brand? It’s simple really. Over the last few years of working at Headstart Consulting, a strategy and innovation firm, we have developed comprehensive brand acculturation programme which we call “Living the Brand*”.

This programme employs a comprehensive and systematic way of entrenching an organisation’s values, ideals and aspirations and creating a pervasive a corporate culture that is aligned with corporate objectives. The format for the programme shows clearly the steps for taking your staff through that transformational process: from employees to brand champions. Here are four steps to

achieve this: 01 Understanding the Brand The first thing to do is create a pervasive understanding of the key elements of your organisation’s brand.

Thisincludes a clear definition of why you exist as a business, the value proposition on offer to your customers, specific character traits of your brand and a sturdy position you intend to occupy in the mind of your customers. These elements make up your brand platform and when effectively applied, can be a viable springboard for effective brand delivery.

02 Living the Brand This stage is called the “Baptismal Stage”. After ensuring a clear understanding of your brand across your business, the next step will be to cascade this knowledge into your corporate culture.

This means that in re-writing your culture book or HR manual, you must take account of the kinds of behavioural characteristics and personality attributes that your people need to foster in order to fully take on your brand image.

03 Delivering the Brand At this phase, your people are ready to begin the process of delivering your brand.

However, you need to ensure that their knowledge of your brand is matched by a comprehensive consideration and understanding of the peculiar need, expectations and aspirations of your public (internal and external).This way they can be sure to create consistently delightful brand experiences.

04 Championing the Brand Finally, you need to ensure that you entrench a deep sense of pride, ownership and responsibility amongst your employees as they take on the role of brand ambassadors. You can achieve this by not only identifying but by also rewarding brand-centric behaviours and actions.

It is important to note that to realise your true potentials as a business, you need to effectively and efficiently tackle cultural misalignments and deficiencies by entrenching a culture that reinforces corporate aspirations and a workforce who’s collective and individual behaviours support corporate values and ideals.

Internal brand alignment is an important element of your organisation’s competitive strategy. It is important that every element of your organisation is aligned with your corporate aspirations, values, objectives and strategy, and that these are based on a clear definition of the brand you want your organisation to project

BUSINESS | ENTREPRENEUR

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE WEEK

Itoro Effiong-Bright, Kitchen Instructor: My love for cooking inspired me to resign FASTFORWARD

Truth is that many fast foods are already closing shop due to the economic reality we are currently faced with in the country.

I however believe these fast food joints or chains will bounce back on realizing a renewable business strategy.

Tell us about yourself?

My name is Itoro EffiongBright, I am a Kitchen Instructor, Family Life Advocate and Culture Ambassador. I am the “Chef ” Executive Officer of IbomSoups, a niche catering brand headquartered in Lagos.

I also run a soup school where we teach couples and singles how to cook healthy appetizing meals. I am a Banking and Fi-

nance graduate of University of Uyo and have been opportune to attend some business institutions among them, Fate Foundation – Nigeria’s foremost Entrepreneurship School.

As a culture advocate, our business platform offers vast opportunity for me to help promote the beauty of the diversity of cultures within and outside Nigeria.

What informed your need to go into your line of business?

Primarily, I would say its passion. My love for cooking and eating good food inspired me to try out my line of business.

Also, while selling with my mum in the market many years ago, I saw a gap - professionals and entrepreneurs struggling to meet up with work as well as home demands. After office hours, it was not uncommon to see men and women, young and old stop by the market in their hundreds to pick up food

items for themselves and their families. The challenge for many of them still remains till date - time constraint. So we figured out we should carve a niche for our business not only in READY-TO-EAT pot-sized meals but also in READY-TOCOOK ingredients, mostly of Nigerian origin. We also saw a gap in the diet category. I have come across a lot of aged Nigerians who have one ailment or the other largely caused by past poor eating habits. This inspired me to research on what food ingredients we have available in Nigerian and how we can best combine them for healthy meals. Curatively, we have a special meal package for people that are diabetic or are for one reason or the other placed on some special diet by the doctor.

Tell us more about you business IbomSoups Ventures is a food service company that spe-

cializes in doorstep delivery of hygienically processed READYTO-EAT pot-sized meals and READY-TO-COOK ingredients mostly of Nigerian origin. Our clients are professionals and ambitious entrepreneurs who are necessarily busy but do not see their busy schedule as an excuse to eat poorly prepared, unhealthy meals. Our vision is to be the number one food brand when it comes to READYTO-EAT pot-sized meals and READY-TO-COOK ingredients.

To help us achieve this vision is a mission to become the most preferred service-driven, costeffective, time and energy-saving food service brand respected for its high hygiene and drive to build strong, hale and hearty clientele. We cook and deliver over forty (40) varieties of Nigerian meals. Our meals are not just tasty, if the endorsements of our clients are anything to go by, then our high sense of hygiene is definitely our big plus.

For private orders, we would be at your doorstep with your choice of meal and for public orders, you can be sure with us, your parties will never be the same particularly when we are involved in cooking and serving your guests.

How does your job serve other industries and the economy in general?

If you take Lagos State for instance, a reasonable percentage of the over 17 million residents need to earn a living so they work. These people need to wear clothes and they also need accommodation. One thing is however certain, if these people don’t eat, they would not have the strength to embark on the other aspects of their lives. So you could say in a lot of ways that we power the economy.

Many people attribute many ailments to different reasons other than a poor diet. We know better.

A good meal is as effective, if not more effective than recommended drugs. Today we talk about agricultural revolution in Nigeria. The farmers can only survive and grow more food crops when people like us keep buying from them. That’s how they stay in business. Like we love to say it in our organisation: we take care of your stomach so you can take care of business! We assist you take care of your kitchen obligations thereby giving you time to grow other aspects of your life especially your family and work.

Did you always know you’ll be an entrepreneur from the onset?

Well, I would say no. As a child, I wanted to be a banker so I could get to wear lovely suits. My first degree is actually in Banking and Finance. As

43

I grew up, however, I discovered a word that has helped shape my thinking and pursuit. The word is PASSION. I had to ask myself what I love doing, how I love doing it, etc. That’s how I found myself here. Interestingly even as a chef and culinary coach, I still get to wear my suits when occasion demands.

What would you say are the benefits of entrepreneurship and what benefit do you enjoy best?

Another word for entrepreneurship would be freedom.

This freedom includes but is not limited to, the opportunity to explore, take risk, try out new things and above all, an opportunity to be non-restrictively innovative. Beyond making money, this, I think, is the biggest benefit of entrepreneurship.

What is your turning point in business?

I have had several turning points but I would say my biggest turning point was when I resigned my employment with the biggest telecoms operator in Nigeria to concentrate on running my own business. The trade off was an expensive one but I knew I needed to work hard enough to move my business forward. I have indeed had to work pretty hard, putting more man hours that I previously did with my employers. I love what I do. I feel a certain joy knowing all my hard work and sleepless nights is for the growth of my business.

Where do you see the industry in the next 5, 10 years?

For as long as people must stay alive, food business will continue to thrive. Whether it’s the woman selling from a buka, a fast food joint or a food delivery service company, people can never stop eating. I see great opportunities in the industry, I see great opportunities ahead. Already many are reaping the full benefits along the value chain. I see a situation where an average Nigerian dials a number or goes online to book for all he/she needs to prepare a mouth-watering meal and it is delivered at his/her doorstep within 30 minutes of placing the order. I see more people buying into the idea of allowing “professionals” prepare all their meals while C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 4 4

The difference between you and a successful business man or woman is the fact that the successful person kept on trying until he succeeded.

44 BUSINESS | ENTREPRENEUR

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

B USSC HI N E S S OOL

Why are you in business?

George Essien is designated Peak Performance Consultant(PPC) and Chief Inspirational Officer Of Powerminds Community Contact: powermindscommunity@yahoo.com, essien_success@yahoo. com, drgeorgeessien@ gmail.com.. Twitter: @ GeorgeEssienPPC. Facebook@George Essien Tel: 08187133153 George Essien

W

hy are you in business?

Have you ever thought about this? There are actually three reasons people go into business. We will look at these reasons shortly.

You see, doing a business motive check will help truly evaluate how much progress your business is making. It would also help you understand what you SHOULD do to transition from small scale to medium scale and

then large scale business.

The questions (WHY AM IN BUSINESS? Or WHY AM I IN THIS BUSINESS?) are good questions for start-ups.

Knowing why you want to venture into business is far more important than venturing at all. These questions will help people already in business to reevaluate, take stock, re-strategise and re-launch. People get into business for the following

reasons: SURVIVAL: That is obvious, isn’t it? Just visit one of the markets in your area and you would understand what I mean.

There are many so-called businesspeople in those crowded market places who are doing everything to make ends meet.

They have no brand consciousness. They have no market strategy. They wait for customers rather than think of going to

the customers. Their business scope is limited to their geographical area. They have no business plan and have done no demographic studies. They are literally satisfied with their small corner business place or shop. Some might say that they make money but if you really do evaluation on the business you would realise that they can earn far more than they are earning if they put into consid-

Entrepreneur of the week they have enough time to take care of other obligations. I see the regular fast food business innovating to meet the realities of the times we live in. Truth is that many fast foods are already closing shop due to the economic reality we are currently faced with in the country. I however

believe these fast food joints or chains will bounce back on realizing a renewable business strategy.

What is your advice to an aspiring entrepreneur planning to come into your line of business?

First, be sure you love cooking, get trained on how to run

a proper business and do not limit yourself to where you are or what you have at the moment. Money or the lack of it is not the real reason businesses fail. As a matter of fact, money is ranked as the number four reason businesses fail. The number one reason is lack of

eration all the principles and factors that makes for business success. So here are questions you should ask yourself: Am I in business to survive? Do I want to be a global player in this business? How can I develop a local business with a global approach? What are the standard practices that can increase my competitive advantage in my business niche? These are questions you must ask.

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 4 3

business know-how. You have to do all in your power to acquire business knowledge. Don’t restrict your mind, THINK BIG! Then write out your step by step approach to accomplish your dreams. I will like to end with a statement made by Ms. Arunma Oteh at the 2014 WIM-

BIZ Annual Lecture, “never forget that successful people had many failures.” I will add that the difference between you and a successful business man or woman is the fact that the successful person kept on trying until he succeeded. You will succeed!

B ULSI BIRNA REY S S What are you reading this week?

Entrepreneurs who lead, read. Here is one book you should read this week.

The Art and science of entrepreneurship

By Inderjit Singh

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he book is essentially split into three sections. The first section looks into the minds of entrepreneurs – the ‘art’ part of entrepreneurship – and discusses the traits he believes makes a good entrepreneur. Here Singh delves into issues like passion, as well as describing the realities that an entrepreneur is likely to encounter during the entrepreneurship journey.

You’ll read, for example, about ‘The Three Mantras’ in the mindset of an entrepreneur – “Have A Winning Spirit”, “Aim High, But Be Prepared For The Worst”, “There Is No Shortcut To Success”. It’s not stuff you’ve not heard before in other entrepreneurship books, but a new or aspiring entrepreneur may need some reminder.

For feedback and Information Please contact the Project Coordinator: ENTREPRENEUR Phone: +234 803 721 9064 | +234 809 551 0411 | Email: mailyourthoughts@gmail.com | www.book-brands.com

METRO

rch 24, 2014

site

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Why we abducted two-year-old girl –Pastor SACRILEGE A supposed man of God abandons his mandate to feed the flock and engages in abduction for money Babatope Okeowo Akure

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nding to be a lunatic.

At the scene, a man, who claimed have come from Gbongan in Osun te, who identified himself as Kende Oguntade, told our corresponnt that upon hearing the news on dio, he decided to come and see if 95-year-old father, Isaac Adeoye untade (a retired teacher), who was t seen on December 31, 2013 could among the five that the police said ey rescued from the scene.

pastor, identified as Okpara Emmanuel, has explained why he was involved in the abduction of a two-year-old girl.

Emmanuel, who superintends over the Believers Prayer Ministry, was among suspects paraded at the weekend by the police in Ondo State.

The cleric claimed he was contacted to mediate between the girl’s mother and a friend.

Also paraded were a 28-year-old student of Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State, Gasiakpo Niapko, and eight other suspects for another case of kidnapping.

The new Commissioner of Police, Mr Isaac Eke, who paraded the suspects at the state Command Headquarters, Igbatoro Road, Akure, the state capital, said the two-year-old was seized on her way to school by the abductors.

According to him, the girl is a grandchild of a popular businesswoman and socialite in Akure, the state capital.

Eke said the pastor’s church is located at No 36, Umdagu Road, Verona Hardel Junction, Orji, Owerri, Imo State.

He said: “A case of kidnapping of a two-yearold was reported at Okuta Elerinla Division and detectives from the state swung into action and one Chinonye Anufor led detectives to Owerri, Imo State where one Okpara Emmanuel, a pastor, was arrested in his apartment.

“Confessing to the crime, Emmanuel… said he was contacted by some of his friends who are now at large to mediate between the girl’s mother and his friend.

“He said things changed when they got to Akure where the little girl was kidnapped from her moth-

Some of the suspects

er and was taken to Yenegoa in Bayelsa State but when they got back to Yenogoa, the lady they gave the baby to, eluded with the little girl.”

The commissioner, however, said the detectives were on the trail of three other suspects, now at large, for demanding a ransom of N50 million for the release of the girl.

Eke said on entering the apartment of the supposed man of God, the socks of the victim, her pairs of canvas and eight assorted types of phones were recovered from the apartment.

On the case of the university student, the commissioner said Niakpo and his gang who abducted a student of Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, one Olanrewaju Adekunle on teaching practice at Methodist High School, Lagos - Ibadan Expressway, Ibadan, were apprehended on Ajagba - Agbagada Road in Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State.

He said the suspects had confessed to the crime.

Eke, however, explained that two of the suspects escaped arrest, as they ran into the bush.

The commissioner disclosed that some items, including Toyota Solar car with registration number AKD731AR, were recovered from the suspects, adding that their case file would soon be transferred to Oyo State Command since the crime was committed within the jurisdiction of the Oyo State

r – Suspects were arrested while a black Toyota Matrix Wagon, without registration number but with engine number 2311, was recovered from them.

The source added that both suspects had confessed that they robbed and snatched the vehicle at gunpoint from the owner at Lokoja in Kogi State.

The source said the police were trailing other members of the gang. But the two suspects, Adeniji and Adelakin, have denied being robbers, insisting that they were victims of circumstance.

Narrating how he came to be in police custody, Adelakin said: “Mustafa came and parked a car in our area. He said he would be coming back two days later to pick the car. He later came with some people to pick the car.

“I don’t really know the guy, but his name is Mustafa. He is not my friend. We don’t have anything in common. He told us that the car was faulty and that he needed to park it there for a while. The next thing we knew was that police came to arrest us.”

Adelakin added that it was when they reached

the police station that they were told they were robbers, who had been snatching cars in the Ibadan axis.

He said: “The police said that we were the people that allowed him to park there. I don’t know whether it was a set up or not, but may God save me from this sort of problem, which I knew nothing about.” On the other hand, Adeniji said that he used to carry out vehicle alignment at the filling station in question.

According to him, he was there on the fateful day that Mustafa came to park the car, claiming that the car was faulty.

He said: “We didn’t know that the guy was a robber. He parked the car at the filling station, where I used to do alignment. He parked the car on Sunday and on Monday, he came to remove it. He came to remove it with two other people. What I understand was that Mustafa escaped from police custody. They now came back to where he parked the car and arrested us.”

Emmanuel

command.

On the activities of his command in the recent time, Eke said his men arrested about 31 criminals such as armed robbers, kidnappers, cult members.

He said they would be charged to court soon.

The commissioner, who resumed duty last week, said there would be no room for crime and criminalities in the state.

He then appealed to the people to cooperate with the police by giving them useful information that could lead to the arrest of criminals.

Fake bureau de change agents appear in court Camillus Nnaji

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hree fake bureau de change agents have been arraigned before a chief magistrates’ court in Ikeja, Lagos.

The accused, Taiwo Shobowale (38), Adebayo Adelaja (48) and Animashaun Anibaba (43), were arraigned on Friday before Mrs E. A. Fabanwo.

The police prosecutor, Benson Omuerhi, told the court that the accused committed the offence sometime in November 2013 at No. 21, Adegbenro Street, Alapere, Lagos.

According to the charge sheet No MIK/A/35/2014, the accused obtained money under false pretence, thereby

committed an offence punishable under Section 409 of Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria 2011.

Shobowale, Adelaja and Anibaba were said to have defrauded one Rasaq Hassan of N18 million with the pretence of assisting him to change the money into United States dollars.

The offence contravenes section 312 (1) (a) (3) of the same criminal law of Lagos.

Omuerhi said the accused threatened the life of Hassan, which, according to him, is punishable under Section 56 of the Criminal Law of Lagos.

Fabanwo granted the accused bail in the sum of payment of N500,000 each and adjourned the case to May 2.

46 NEWS

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Don’t be afraid to visit Yobe, APC tells Jonathan Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

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he All Progressives Congress (APC) has advised President Goodluck Jonathan not to be afraid of visiting any part of the country irrespective of the security situation in parts of the country.

The advice came even as the party observed that one month after the attack by the Boko Haram on the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State,

in which over 40 students were killed, the President was yet to visit the area.

The APC, in a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohanmed, noted that President Jonathan as the father of the nation and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces should not to be afraid to visit any part of the country for whatever reasons.

The party said the first month after the killings

provides another opportunity for the President to visit the state even as it stressed that since the President's planned return from his latest trip abroad on Tuesday, coincides with the first month of the killings, he should fly straight to Yobe.

“As we said in our earlier statement on this issue on March 10, far from being a mere formality, such a visit will provide great succour to the families of the victims, reassure them and

other residents of the state that their government has not abandoned them to their fate.

“It will also serve as a morale booster for our gallant troops who are battling the terrorists, against all odds,” it said.

APC reminded the President that since the killings, he has hosted the centennial celebration, travelled across Nigeria to illegally kick-start his campaign for the 2015 elections and journeyed to Namibia, Italy

and The Netherlands, in a needless junketing that belies the massive security problems facing the country.

“Mr. President, charity begins at home. You cannot be engaging in photo-ops abroad when your country is burning,” the party said.

It said President Jonathan's insensitive junketing and law-breaking campaign rallies across the country, best illustrate the old saying; “'Nero fiddling while Rome burns.”

APC advised President Jonathan, as the father of the nation and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian armed forces, not to be afraid to visit any part of the country for whatever reason. ''In this case, President Jonathan's pointed avoidance of Yobe, where the death of innocent school children highlights the senseless nature of the Boko Haram insurgency, is a morale booster of sorts to the cowards who murdered those children,” it concluded.

Ekiti congress in order, says former zonal chair CONGRESS Former PDP zonal chairman defends Ekiti guber primary

Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

F

ormer Acting National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the SouthWest, Chief Ishola Filani, has said that the party’s governorship primary held on Saturday in Ekiti State, was not done in contravention of any court order.

Speaking in an interview in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday, Filani said though some aggrieved aspirants went to court on the eligibility or otherwise of former Governor Ayodele Fayose, the leadership of the PDP did not receive any court order stopping the congress.

“We are a law abiding party and very disciplined.

The congress was conducted in accordance with the regulations of our party and we did not get any order stopping us from conducting the congress,” he said.

The former acting national vice-chairman added that the boycott of the exercise by some aspirants did not in any way invalidate it, saying it was a matter of choice for the aspirants to decide to participate or

not.

He expressed confidence that whatever grievances arose from the exercise would be amicably resolved at the end of the day.

“We have a way of resolving our differences amicably. In this regard, we that are elders and leaders in the PDP have a great role to play.

“As elders, we are going to start the reconciliation process and we are sure that the process will bring positive results,” he added.

Filani was reacting to the emergence of Fayose as the PDP candidate for the June 21 governorship poll and the attendant boycott of the exercise by 13 other aspirants in the party.

On the chance of his party in the election, Filani described it at bright.

“We are the party to beat in the election. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed woefully to meet the aspirations of the people of the state,” he said.

On his ambition to become the elected National Vice-Chairman, South-West of the PDP, Filani said he was still on course, putting the delay in conducting the election on some developments within the party.

He denied insinuations that the zonal congress had been stalled due to a court ruling.

Imo State Governor, Rochas Okoroch (left), addressing pupils of Owerri City Primary School during the launch of the Parents, Teachers and Pupils' assessment and monitoring programme and the distribution of school materials in Owerri…at the weekend

61.6%

The female percentage of internet users of Poland in 2012.

Source: Itu.int

600,000

The number of premature deaths yearly as a result of second-hand smoke.

Source: Globalissues.org

2015: Youth group seeks second term for Jonathan Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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head of the 2015 elections and determined to ensure that President Goodluck Jonathan secures a second term ticket, youths under the umbrella of “Jonathan Shall Lead Again” (JOSLA), have converged on Benin, the Edo State capital, with a call on Nigerians to allow the President complete a second term in office.

The youth group, led

by Barrister Fidelis Ulinfun and Comrade Curtis Eghosa Ugbo (Secretary), respectively, said the Pres-

ident’s administration has recorded ‘unprecedented achievements’ in the last three years.

South-South Coordinator of JOSLA, Marvin Omo Osagie, said at the official inauguration of a 14-man Edo State executive of the group, that the platform is made up of youths with similar vision and aspiration that are out to ensure the return of President Jonathan in the 2015 general elections and are not necessarily working on party basis.

But, Osagie agreed that the challenge of ensuring the return of Jonathan for a second term would be a daunting one.

20

The more years someone who has never smoked is expected to live than a smoker.

Source: Globalissues.org

Plateau to spend N2bn to restock Jos Wild Life Park

T

he Plateau State government said it will spend N2billion to restock the 30-year-old Jos Wild Life Park.

State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Mr. Abraham Yiljap, made this disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos, on Sunday.

Yiljap said the step would address the park’s declining fortunes and patronage, following years of neglect of one of the largest manmade zoo in the country.

“We want to upgrade the facility to realise its full potentials.

“The multiplier effects

are massive, but we specifically target a situation where every family will seek to visit the Jos Wild Life Park and have a good time,” the commissioner said.

He described the facility as very rich with very rare animals like elephants, lions, hyenas and various species of birds, chimpanzees, baboons and monkeys in their natural habitat.

Yiljap said the state’s Tourism Development Corporation insists on keeping the hunting instincts in the wild animals, especially the lions, by feeding them with life animals.

NEWS 47

Monday, March 24, 2014

PILL makes U-turn on Emefiele's nomination ECONOMY

Due deligent shows CBN governor nominee as an excellent manager of people and Tunde Oyesina Abuja

P

ublic Interest Lawyers League (PILL), yesterday, recanted on its earlier position challenging the

nomination of Mr. Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on ground that he is not fit and proper.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, the President of the league, Abdul Mahmud said, the league changed its position after conducting due diligent checks on Emefiele in some quarters.

According to him, "mercifully, as our checks reveal, and judging by a

groundswell of opinion of insiders of the banking sector and the financial market, Mr. Emefiele is an expert in forecasting and bench-marking and he is known to be deft at taking informed decisions, while leveraging on his sometimes calculated-risk-taking skills to crystallize benefits from existing and future opportunities.

The league had last week written an open letter to President Good-

luck Jonathan stating that, the fact that Emefiele was coming from Zenith Bank, which was allegedly fingered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2008 for criminal diversion of N3.6 billion from the coffers of Rivers State Government was enough to stop his nomination as the governor of the apex bank.

"But contrary to wrong perceptions in some quarters, we are made to un-

derstand that Emefiele is a very unassuming personality who has never been associated with unethical practice in his over 27 years of professional career. Verifiable evidences show that during his stint as MD, Zenith Bank became the first bank to achieve N 100 billion after tax profit in a financial year.

"Evidently,” Mahmud continued, “Mr. Emefiele is a resourceful manager of people and resources

and with his roots in the academia, in University of Nigeria, Nsukka and the University of Port Harcourt, we are confident he will put his knowledge and experience to excellent use, make significant contributions to our country's micro and macroeconomic growth.

As he appears for screening before distinguished senate committee, we throw our weight behind him and give a positive nod of approval," he said.

Delta’s N50bn bond was well spent - Commissioner Dominic Adewole Asaba

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Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (left), and the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, when the Speaker paid the Oba a courtesy visit in Lagos…yesterday.

FRAUD Project abandoned after N1 billion was paid to the contractors Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

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he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may storm Imo State again if it heeds the call made by a group under the aegis of Concerned Imo Citizens (CIC) to probe the alleged abandoned 18-storey hotel complex in Owerri estimated at N8 billion.

Chairman of the group, Chief Henry Ezebuiro who made the call in Owerri, the Imo state capital, stated that there was something ‘untidy’ about the contract, as there were hints of deliberate deceit intended to hoodwink the public. He revealed that

Group urges EFCC to probe N8billion scam in Imo

the Bill of Quantity for the contract was written in Korean language which made it impossible for the engineers in the State Ministry of Works to decipher.

He stated that in the same pattern with several other abandoned projects in the state, the contract worth $52million had been abandoned after N1billion was allegedly paid to the contracting firm, Hanjin Nig. Limited.

Ezebuiro is concerned that the Korean partners and staff members who allegedly entered Nigeria with a visiting visa as against a work permit, “which is indicative of a premeditated scheme with their Nigerian shareholder, have since been deported.”

He disclosed that a soil

test revealed that the land where the hotel was to be built could only support a 5-storey building as against the proposed 18-storey. Ezebuiro urged the anti-graft agency to quiz the Nigerian shareholder of the firm, Chief Anyim Nyerere, who is the All Progressive Congress (APC) National Vice Chairman, Southeast allegedly known to supervise most of Governor Rochas Okorocha’s businesses and interests.

Ezebuiro pointed out that Nyerere was the key to unraveling the mystery surrounding the abandonment of the contract. “If Chief Macdonald Akano was quizzed in connection with the controversial Sam Mbakwe Avenue contract, is Chief Anyim

Nyerere untouchable because he openly fronts for Governor Okorocha?”, he queried.

The CIC boss also wants the EFCC to unravel why a sole proprietorship, Optimum General Services is being used to either execute or sublet contracts running into billions of Naira in the state against acceptable standard practice.

He insisted that a sole proprietorship, by the Act establishing it, cannot execute a contract worth more than N10million.He then requested the antigraft agency to unravel how Chief Anyim Nyerere is the signatory to the account of Optimum General Services whose proprietor is Anyim Chinenye Robinson.

elta state Commissioner for Finance, Chief Kenneth Okpara has justified the state expenditure of the N50 billion the government of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan secured from the stock market in 2011.

The Commissioner said this while he was trying to lay to rest the floodgate accusation from members of the Association of Registered Political Parties (ARPP) that wondered why an oil rich state like Delta still went borrowing despite the billions of naira allocations accruing to it from the Federation account.

Speaking in Asaba when confronted with the whereabouts of the money, the Commissioner

said, that besides the N5.0 billion spent on the dualization of Effurun-Eku road, the dualization of Ugbenu-Koko road and the four newly approved state polytechnics took N2.0 billion and N4.0 billion respectively.

Okpara who admitted that the ministry in 2011 secured a N50 billion Infrastructural Development Bond to develop the Warri Industrial Park and fasttrack other projects across the state, condemned the attacks on his boss, maintaining that “what the state did is an acceptable practice around the world.”

According to him, from the total sum, the Warri Industrial Park took N3.0 billion even as the dualization of Ughelli-Asaba expressway gulped N5.0 billion.

Northern Govs want AIG Oduoye immortalized Dan Atori MINNA

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he Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu has called on the Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to immortalize the former Military Administrator of Niger and Ebonyi States, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Simeon Oduoye (rtd), who died at the weekend.

In a condolence message signed by his spokes-

man, Danladi Ndayebo, the forum said Oduoye’s passage constitutes a great loss to the people of Nigeria whose lives he touched in his life that was devoted to public service and the worship of God Almighty.

Governor Aliyu said that the Northern Governor’s Forum was pained by the demise of AIG Oduoye, but took solace in the fact that he lived an exemplary and purposeful life with remarkable achievements as a Police officer, a politician, a community leader and a dedicated family man.

48 NEWS

QUERY

Coalition of civil group tackle federal govt over electricity tariffs

T

he United Nations has published the Joint Letter of Concern sent to the government of President Goodluck Jonathan in which it expressed concerns that “access to electricity (and regularity of supply) is a significant problem in Nigeria,” and raised eight questions for the government to answer within 60 days.

The letter, with reference No NGA 5/2013, dated 26 November 2013 and signed by two special rapporteurs expressed concerns that “at the end of 2012, Nigeria with a population of about 160

Monday, March 24, 2014

Eight questions FG must answer over increased electricity tariff - UN million people only generated about 4,000 megawatts of electricity, which is ten times less than some other countries in the region with less population.”

“To date, the government has not responded to the eight crucial questions raised by the UN on the unfair and discriminatory electricity tariff,” said Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director, SocioEconomic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).

The UN special rapporteurs argued that,“all beneficiaries of the right to adequate housing should have sustainable access to energy for cooking,

heating and lighting. The failure of the states to provide basic services such as electricity is a violation of the right to health.”

The rapporteurs Ms. Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and Ms. Raquel Rolnik ,Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing sent the letter, following a petition filed last year by a coalition of human rights activists, labour, journalists and lawyers led by SERAP. The petition alleged that the implementation of the Multi-Year Tariff Order II (MYTO II) by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory

Commission (NERC) is “having detrimental impact on the human rights of those living in poverty in the country.”

Consequently, the special rapporteurs wanted answers to the following questions: *Are the facts alleged

by SERAP and others accurate? *What kind of impact assessments were conducted to gauge the potential impact of the electricity tariff increases on the human rights of people living in extreme poverty in Nigeria? If so, provide details *Did public consultations take place, including

with potentially affected persons and especially people living in extreme poverty, prior to the adoption of the new Multi-Year Tariff Order II? If yes, please give details of the dates, participants and outcomes of the consultations. *Was accessible and culturally adequate information about the measure actively disseminated through all available channels prior to consultation?

Mobile policeman commits suicide in Minna Dan Atori MINNA

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mobile policeman, Corporal Tanko Usman, has allegedly committed suicide along Eastern Bye-pass by shooting himself with his service rifle in Minna.

The New Telegraph gathered that Corporal Tanko shot himself with his official rifle (AK 47) while returning from his duty post at one of the second generation banks within the state capital.

New Telegraph gathered that the corporal,

L – R: Representative, Orlu/Orsu/Orue Federal constituency of Imo State, Jerry Alagbaso; Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha and former Minister of Information, Dr. Walter Ofonagoro during the burial ceremony of the late John Richard Anyaechie held at Nkwere, Imo State ….at the weekend

Defeat

Nasarawa state governor loses to deputy in council polls

Muhammad Ahmad Lafia

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esults of Saturday’s local government elections in Nasarawa State announced so far have given victory to candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), backed by the deputy Gover nor Comrade Damishi Luka Barau, against those of the All Progressives Congress

Nasarawa LG polls: APC, Gov Al-Makura’s candidates lose (APC), backed by Governor Tanko Al-Makura.

In results announced so far, the Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission (NASIEC) returned Emmanuel Bakyu (PDP), the candidate of the deputy governor as the chairmanelect of Akwanga Local Government Area. He got 12,207 votes to defeat Amed Kwato of the APC who got 11,071.

In Keffi Local Government Area, the base of an APC Senator, Abdullahi

Adamu, the PDP candidate, Alhaji Mohammed was returned winner of the election with 9,739 votes to defeat Dikko Mohammed of the APC who got 9,366. The result was declared by the returning officer of the local government, Dr.Ozegya Abu Egwa.

Mohammed Yusuf, the Akwanga Local Government returning officer announced the result at the College of Education, Akwanga, the collation centre of

the LGA. The returning officer of Keana Local Government, Professor Mu,azu Tukur returned Haruna Shegba of PDP who polled 5,014 as winner, while the candidate of APC, Mustapha Eladoga got 2,998 votes.

Also in Nasarawa Eggon, the PDP candidate, Akolo Ahmed was returned chairman-elect after polling 41,620 votes as against that of APC candidate, Adamu Danladi who got 27,676.

*What measures have been put in place to ensure that the human rights of people living in extreme poverty in Nigeria will not be undermined by the increase in electricity tariffs? In particular, what measures are in place to ensure that they can enjoy their right to adequate housing, including sustainable access to energy for cooking, heating and lighting, which is a component of this right?

who was attached to squadron 12 Police Mobile Force Minna, shot himself in the early hours of Saturday after parking his motorcycle by the road and entering an uncompleted building.

An eye-witness who craved anonymity said that the Police Corporal who was in his 30s was seen entering the uncompleted building by people living around the area.

But about five minutes later the sound of a gunshot five was heard which attracted the attention of the people.

Ondo bye-Election: Seven political parties to participate Babatope Okeowo Akure

S

even political parties have signified their intention to participate in the April 5 bye- election in Ilaje/Eseodo Federal Constituency Area of Ondo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr Akin Orebiyi, who disclosed this at the weekend during an interactive session with leaders of political parties at the headquarters of the commission in Alagbaka, Akure, said the political parties are; the Advance Congress of Democrats (ACD); All Progressive

Congress (APC); Democratic People’s Party (DPP); Labour Party (LP) People for Democratic Change (PDC); Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Progressive People's Alliance (PPA).

Orebiyi said leaders of the parties have been briefed about the timetable for the election as all effort are being made by the commission to ensure fairness to all participating political parties.

He said the forum was an opportunity for the electoral body to intimate party leaders with what is expected of them during and after the election, adding that the gathering was also an opportunity for them to bare their minds on issues bothering them.

AFRICA 49

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Murder case: Pistorius takes stand this week TRIAL Pistorius says he will take a stand on his trial this week SYLVA OKEREKE with Agency Report

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rosecution of Oscar Pistorius is expected to conclude, shortly after court resumes today, clearing way for the star wit-

ness, Pistorius to take his stand.

Pistorius' lawyer, Barry Roux has made it clear that the legless paralympian would testify and has indicated that Pistorius would be his lead-off witness, saying his testimony would form basis of defense's approach.

The trial has been in recess since Wednesday, when prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the judge he

wanted time to prepare the end of his case.

"We have reached a junction in the trial, where the state is wrapping up its evidence. We must look at what the defense version force us to reexamine our case and our witnesses," Nel told the court.

Pistorius, 27, is charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, 29, on Valentine's Day 2013 by

shooting her through his locked bathroom door. The Blade Runner has said he mistook her during the night for an intruder. If convicted he could face at least 25 years in prison.

Nel is trying to prove that Pistorius knew who was behind the locked door and that he fired four shots during a rage fueled argument with Steenkamp.

Roux's cross exami-

nation of prosecution witnesses gives some indication of how the defense will attack the evidence presented over the last three weeks.

One potential weakness in the state's case is the doubt Roux has tried to cast on the evidence heard so far about the alleged argument between Pistorius and Steenkamp.

Three neighbors have testified to hearing a

Deadly fever outbreak kills 60 in Guinea

D

eadly Ebola virus has been identified as the main cause of an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever, believed to have killed nearly 60 people in southern Guinea, government officials have revealed.

Several cases of the virus have been recorded since its outbreak last month. There is no known cure or vaccine for the highly contagious Ebola virus.

It is spread by close personal contact with people, who are infected and kills between 25 and 90 percent of the victims. The symptoms include, internal and external bleeding, diarrhoea and vomiting.

Outbreaks of Ebola occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests, the World Heath Organisation has said.

Analysts suggest, it has never been recorded in Guinea before. Recent years have seen outbreaks in Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

"We got the first results from Lyon yesterday, which informed us of the presence of the Ebola virus as the cause of this outbreak," Guinean health ministry official, Sakoba Keita told the AFP while adding that the more quickly we can contain these fewer cases we have, the smaller the scale of the epidemic.

That's the idea of going in as strong as we canâ&#x20AC;?

According to Dr Armand Sprecher of MSF in Guinea, the fever epidemic raging in southern Guinea since February this year has left at least 59 dead out of 80 cases, identified by our services on ground."

South African Killing: UK to extradit culprit

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outh African authorities say a British man, accused of arranging the murder of his bride on their honeymoon trip to South Africa in 2010 will arrive in Cape Town on April 8, following his extradition from Britain.

Eyewitness News, a South African media outlet, reported yesterady that Shrien Dewani is likely to appear in court on the same day of his arrival in South

Africa.

Eyewitness News quoted spokesman, Mthunzi Mhaga of the South African justice ministry as saying, the government and British authorities had been finalizing preparations for Dewani's transfer.

Dewani is accused of hiring a hitman to kill his 28-year-old wife, Anni. She was found shot dead in an abandoned taxi in Cape Town's Gugulethu township in November 2010.

Blood stains are seen on the floor as Kenyans inspect the site of a deadly attack at a church in the coastal city of Mombasa yesterday Attackers shot dead four worshippers when they burst into a church service near Mombasa, spraying the congregation with bullets, police said. The attack, which also left about 17 people wounded, came amid heightened warnings of a threat of Islamist violence in Kenya

AFP PHOTO/STRINGER

woman screaming in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14, 2013, while a fourth neighbor said she heard a woman arguing.

Roux told the court he will call several experts to prove that these witnesses could not have heard Steenkamp scream much less hear an argument. The lawyer has also said he will present decibel level tests to prove that Pistorius screams in a high pitched voice when he is extremely anxious.

In addition, Roux suggested during his cross examinations t h at fo u r s o u n d s, which the neighbors all thought were gunshots, were actually thuds from a cricket bat as Pistorius tried to break through the locked door after realizing he had shot Steenkamp.

Nel may also try to try to minimize testimony that alle ged the police bungled the investigation by improperly handling e v i d e n c e, moving evidence around the crime scene, even allegedly stealing one and possibly two of Pistorius' expensive watches while in his house immediately after the shooting.

Once Nel has called his last witness, the defense could bring an application to have all the charges against Pistorius dismissed, arguing that the state had failed to prove the charges and that Pistorius has no case to answer.

Burundi court jails 21 opposition supporters

A

court in Burundi has sentenced 21 opposition supporters to life imprisonment for participating in an illegal demonstration that turned violent.

Another 26 Movement for Solidarity and Democracy (MSD) supporters were given shorter jail terms.

The supporters denied participating in the

march, saying they were out-jogging when a police crackdown began.

Meanwhile, a government attempt to change the constitution has failed to gain enough parliamentary support.

Opposition parties boycotted the session as they felt the amendments would have undermined reconciliation agreements that ended the country's long

ethnic-based civil war in which some 300,000 people died.

The government wanted to create a post of prime minister and reduce the role of the senate in overseeing the ethnic balance in state institutions, but it fell one voteshortof therequired80% majority.

TheBBC'sPrimeNdikumagengesaidthegovernment's proposals have been partly to

blame for the recent rise in political tensions in the small East African nation.

In Burundi, permission must be sought from the authorities to hold a political march or public gathering.

Police said, they got intelligent report that sporting activities would be used as a front to organise illegal demonstrations. Officers were deployed in the city to prevent this happening.

50 foreign ABDUCTION Militia loyal to Russia beats up journalists, captures Ukrainian Air Force Chief

SYLVA OKEREKE with Agency Report

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krainian air force commander has been “abducted” after his base in Crimea was stormed by pro-Russian forces, Ukraine’s interim president said yesterday.

Col. Yuliy Mamchur is the commander of the Belbek Air Force base near Sevastopol, which

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Pro-Russian forces abduct Ukrainian military commander was taken over by forces, who sent armored personnel carriers, smashing through the base's walls and fired shots and stun grenades.

Two officers were injured by gunshot wounds in the assault, a Ukraine Defence ministry official has confirmed.

Several journalists, including foreign press, were beaten by Russian forces, officials told Fox

Turkey shoots down Syrian warplane - Syria

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eople walk around the Crac des Chevaliers as Syrian troops take reporters on a tour a day, after they ousted rebels from the castle located near the village of Hosn, Syria.

The Syrian army ousted rebels from the massive Crusader fortress, after several hours of fierce fighting, killing at least 93 of them as they fled to neighboring Lebanon, an army commander told reporters on a government-led tour of the area Friday.

A Syrian military spokesman has said, Turkey's armed forces have shot down a Syrian warplane, near the countries' border and called the act a "blatant aggression."

The unnamed spokesman was quoted by Syrian state television as saying the plane was downed Sunday in Syrian airspace as it was attacking rebels who have been on the offensive in the coastal province of Latakia. The spokesman said the pilot ejected from the aircraft.

Turkey is among the main backers of Syrian opposition fighters trying to remove President Bashar Assad from power. The downing of the plane came as Syrian government troops were trying try regain a border crossing point with Turkey near the town of Kassab that rebels captured Friday.

Hamas supporters remember assassinated leader

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en of thousands of Hamas supporters have taken to the streets of Gaza city to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the assassination of the group's spiritual leader in an Israeli airstrike.

The Islamic militant group's top leadership was on hand for yesterady’s rally and thousands of people holding Hamas flags and wearing Hamas bandanas have turned downtown Gaza

City into a sea of green.

The rally was to commemorate the death of Sheik Ahmed Yassin in an Israeli airstrike a decade ago as well as the assassinations of other top Hamas figures.

Mushir al-Masri, a top Hamas leader, told the crowd yesterady that the group opposes peace talks with Israel and is always prepared for battle.

He said: "Our fingers are on the trigger to defend our people."

News. It was unclear, if the forces, who didn't bear insignia, were Russian military or local proRussia militia.

President Oleksandr Turchynov, in a statement yesterday, said Mamchur was "abducted" by the forces. He didn't specify where Mamchur is believed to be held.

However, prominent politician, Vitali Klitschko said yesterady that Mamchur is being held by the Russian military in a jail in Sevastopol, the Crimean city that is

the base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

With Crimea now effectively under the control of Russian forces, which ring Ukrainian military bases on the strategic Black Sea peninsula, concern is rising that Ukraine's eastern regions will agitate for a similar move.

Klitschko was one of the leaders of the three months of protests in Ukraine that culminated with President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and interim au-

thorities taking power before a May 25 presidential election.

The protests were triggered by Yanukovych's decision to reject a deal for closer ties with the European Union and turn to Moscow instead.

Yanukovych's ouster was denounced by Russia and much of Ukraine's ethnic Russian population as a coup. Soon thereafter, Russian forces took control of Crimea and the region held a referendum to break off from Ukraine and join Russia.

Russia formally annexed Crimea last week, a move that Western countries say is illegitimate. The U.S. and the EU have imposed sanctions on Russia in the dispute, but Moscow appears unmoved.

Russian Defense Ministry said yestewrdat that Russian flag was now flying over 189 military facilities in Crimea.

It didn't specify whether any Ukrainian military operations there remained under Ukrainian control.

Fenerbahce Turkish football club chairman Aziz Yildirim (R) takes part in a march to the mausoleum of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk flanked by thousands of Fenerbahce's supporters in Ankara yesterday to protest against Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan

AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN

Hunt for missing plane focuses on debris

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lanes and a ship scrambled yesterady to find a pallet and other debris in a remote patch of the southern Indian Ocean to determine whether the objects were from the Malaysia Airlines jet that has been missing for more than two weeks.

The pallet was spotted by a search plane over the wekend, but has not been closely examined.

Wooden pallets are commonly used in shipping, but can also be used in cargo containers carried on planes.

It was the latest in a series of clues experts and searchers are try-

ing to run down to solve the mystery of what happened to Flight 370 when it disappeared over the Gulf of Thailand on March 8 with 239 people on board en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.

Mike Barton, Chief of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's rescue coordination center told reporters in Canberra, Australia, that the wooden pallet was spotted by a search aircraft on Saturday, and that it was surrounded by several other objects, including what appeared to be strapping belts of different colors.

A New Zealand P3 Orion military plane was then sent to find it but failed, he said.

"So, we've gone back to that area again today to try and re-find it," Barton said. An Australian navy ship was also involved in the search.

AMSA said the aircraft that spotted the pallet was unable to take photos of it.

"We went to some of the expert airlines and the use of wooden pallets is quite common in the industry," Barton said. "They're usually packed into another container, which is loaded in the belly of the aircraft.

... It's a possible lead, but we will need to be very certain that this is a pallet because pallets are used in the shipping industry as well."

Sam Cardwell, a spokesman for AMSA, said the maritime agency had requested a cargo manifest from Malaysia Airlines, but he was unsure whether it had been received as of Sunday night.

Malaysia Airlines asked The Associated Press to submit questions via email for comment on whether Flight 370 had wooden pallets aboard when it disappeared. There was no immediate response.

Okagbare relishes Jamaica Meet challenge Emmanuel Tobi

“T

o be the best, you must compete with the best.”

That was the expression of Nigeria queen of the tracks,

Blessing Okagbare, as she prepares to compete in Kingston on May 3, at the Jamaica Invitational, an IAAF World Challenge meet.

The competition in Jamaica is among the several others lined up

SPORT

AUTHORITATIVE VOICE IN GLOBAL SPORT

for Okagabre, to help her adequately prepare for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland later in the year.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with New Telegraph in Lagos,

the Sapele-born Nigeria’s 100m champion expressed confidence in posting a great performance while maintaining that she cannot be intimidated competing in the lands of CONTINUED ON PAGE 55

Did you know?

NEW TELEGRAPH

newtelegraphonline.com/sports

ADEKUNLE SALAMI, DepUTY Editor, SPORTS kunle.salami@newtelegraphonline.com adekunles@yahoo.com

51

That German international player, Oliver Kahn, became the first goalkeeper to win the Most Valuable Player at the World Cup in 2002

Monday, march 24, 2014

No World Cup pressure for Enyeama Ifeanyi Ibeh

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uper Eagles number one goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, believes the current crop of players have what it takes to make it to the knockout stage of the forthcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Following a back-to-back round of 16 appearances at the 1994 World Cup in the United States and 1998 edition in France, the Super Eagles have failed to make it CONTINUED ON PAGE 55

Govt, private sector neglect swimming -Williams

Wenger: Arsenal will bounce back against Swansea

Osaze, Ogude on target again

}p-53

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52 SPORT

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Countdown to Fifa World Cup Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea and Belgium) Thibaut Courtois is just 21 years of age, but is already amongst the very best goalkeepers in world football.

Given the longevity of a career between the sticks compared to an outfield player, in theory Courtois could have fifteen years of football ahead of him for his country.

Courtois has made 41 appearances for Atletico Madrid this season, keeping 20 clean sheets.

His command of his area and lightning reflexes could be vital for Belgium this summer.

10 young players to shine in Brazil

ably signed Marouane Fellaini to fill this role last summer, his predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson failed to see he already had a player capable of that role on his books in Paul Pogba.

The 6’1”

Serge Aurier (Toulouse and Cote d’Ivoire) Serge Aurier is a hugely promising young right back who has regularly been linked to Arsenal over the last year or so thanks to fine performances for Toulouse.

The 21 year-old has scored five goals and provided six assists in Ligue 1 this season, illustrating his enormous threat from the full back position.

The likes of Didier Drogba and Gervinho could thrive on Aurier’s powerful forward runs and crossing.

R a p h a e l Varane is just 19 years of age, but only injury troubles have prevente d him from adding to his five caps.

The imperious centre half has already made 60 appearPogba ances for Real Madrid, claiming La Liga title in 2011-12m and having helped his team win two and draw one of the last four El Clasico matches against FC Barcelona.

When fit, there is probably no better young defender in the game.

William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon and Portugal) William Carvalho’s stock has risen exponentially in the last few months, thanks to great spells for both Sporting Lisbon and Portugal.

While not blessed with explosive pace, Carvalho excels in his holding role thanks to positioning, great timing of tackles and both keeps possession and dictates play with his fine passing.

Paul Pogba (Juventus and France) Manchester United have needed to sign a dynamic central midfielder capable of playing between both penalty boxes, and while David Moyes presum-

player in Europe, and he looks set for great success with both Juve and France in future.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal and England) Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered a blow to his development when he lost five months of the season to a cruciate knee ligament injury.

The Gunners midfielder returned in January to brilliant effect though, and his three goals and five assists in 14 Arsenal matches this term are illustrative of his clear quality.

Against Bayern Munich in Februa r y, he put in a

Chamberlain

Lukaku

Aurier

midfielder left O l d Trafford for Juventus in summer 2012, and immediately made an impact in the first team, earning his first S c u detto title after a fine debut season in Serie A. In December 2013 Pogba won the Golden Boy award for the best young

superb performance, dribbling past ten players – as much as the entire team of the Gunners’ Bundesliga opposition – and he could prove a thrilling player for England in both central midfield and on the wing.

Mario Goetze (Bayern Munich and Germany) Mario Goetze seems to have been

around forever, and at the age of 21 already has 27 caps and a €37 million transfer to Bayern Munich under his belt.

The diminutive playmaker is capable of playing both across the attacking midfield and even as a false nine, and is an increasing threat as a goalscorer.

With 10 strikes already in his 30 matches for the Bavarian giants, and having scored four times in his last seven international games for Germany, Goetze looks set to make a real impact on the summer’s World Cup. Raheem Sterling (Liverpool and England) Raheem Sterling has re-emerged in quite some fashion after being removed from the firing line by Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers for much of a tricky 2013.

Upon receiving his first Premier League start of the season in December though, the 19 year-old Sterling has not looked back, and started England’s last international fixture against Denmark.

With six goals and three assists already this season, Sterling has swiftly developed into one of the most exciting young players in the Premier League – and a man who could prove quite the wildcard for Roy Hodgson’s England.

Joel Campbell (Arsenal – on loan at Olympiakos and Costa Rica) Joel Campbell signed for Arsenal in 2011, but after failing to win a UK work permit to play for the Gunners immediately, he went out on loan to FC Lorient in France, Spanish side Real Betis and finally to Olympiakos.

Campbell has scored 10 goals and provided 12 assists in his 36 matches for the Greek side this season, with his most famous strike coming against Manchester United in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

The 21 year-old is now eligible to play for Arsenal, and his experience abroad and for his country at this summer’s World Cup should serve him well.

Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea – on loan at Everton and Belgium) In the last two seasons, Romelu Lukaku has shown he will be a fine Premier League striker.

In spells on loan at West Bromwich Albion last season and Everton in the current campaign, Lukaku has scored 28 goals in his total 61 matches.

With just five goals for his country in 27 caps, Lukaku has taken time to adapt to the rigours of international football, but if he can step up in the World Cup, Belgium could be dark horses for the trophy.

Culled from: caughtoffside.com

SPORT 53

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Government, private sector neglect swimming -Williams Ajibade Olusesan

Swimming action

Zenith b’ball: Sunshine in good start Jude Opara Abuja

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unshine Queens of Akure began their quest for glory on this year’s Zenith Basketball Female League on a bright note with the defeat of Delta Force by 51 to 45 points.

The encounter was watched by a capacity crowd including the Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Dr. Tamuno Danagogo, who also declared the championship open.

Speaking at the event, the minister thanked Zenith Bank for the desire to assist government in the development of sports and called

on other well-meaning individuals and corporate organisations to emulate the gesture.

According to him, any investment in the youths of the country is a wise one because as the leaders of tomorrow, the young ones deserve any investment in their life to have hope of a better tomorrow.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, Tijjani Umar, said the NBBF had a deliberate plan to achieve success.

Meanwhile, reigning champions, First Deepwater of Lagos, have vowed to again emerge champions at the end of this year’s championship.

Serena,Sharapova progress at Maimi Open …As Murray, Nadal, Wawrinka cruise on

W

orld number one Serena Williams overcame stubborn resistance from France’s Caroline Garcia to reach the fourth round of the Sony Open in Miami on Sunday.

Six-time champion Williams took two hours and 32 minutes, along with a rain interruption in the final set, to beat the world number 74, 6-4 4-6 6-4.

“I really gave myself a tremendous amount of trouble out there,” she said.

World number seven Maria Sharapova needed nine match points to beat Czech 26th seed Lucie Safarova 6-4 6-7 6-2.

“She was just hitting unbelievable shots on the match points,” said Sharapova after a match that

I’ll soon roll out my agenda —Danagogo Serena

lasted nearly three hours.

“I kept asking myself how many more chances I had. I’m just so happy to go through.”

In the men’s event, world number one Rafael Nadal defeated 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt 6-1 6-3, while Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka beat Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 6-0 3-6 6-3.

Defending champion Andy Murray came from a set down to beat Australian Matthew Ebden and earn a place in round three of the Sony Open in Miami.

Rivers golf estate will be ready soon –Amaechi

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he dream of completing a golf estate in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for lovers of golf would soon be realised, Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has said.

He spoke in Lagos at the weekend at the Ikeja Golf Club during the club’s Captain Day celebrations.

Governor Amaechi said he would be pleased to invite Lagosians to Port Harcourt to play golf.

He said the golf estate would have an 18-hole

P

resident of the Nigeria Aquatic Federation, Fatai Williams, has said neglect from government and private sector has inhibited the growth of the sport in the country.

When probed on why nothing is yet to happen in swimming as the first quarter of the year draws to a close, the administrator told New Telegraph that the NAF did not get support from both government and private sector, hence, things have been difficult for them to executive some of their programmes.

“I won’t agree with anyone that we are not doing anything in swimming. We are not getting enough from government because the focus is on football. The private sector is even worse because all of them also rush after football.

“Though we don’t have much to do at the national level, the states are the ones to

discover and train swimmers but you will find out that some sports councils don’t even have functional swimming association. State governments are not helping us and development starts from that level,” he said.

Williams however said that the federations’ first major programme of the year will come up in May which is the Chief of Naval Staff swimming Championship.

He said, “We are going to have Chief of Naval Staff competition, that happens every year and this year’s edition will come up in May. “We are still going to have some other tournaments in the course of the year but some of them have not been confirmed.

We want to concentrate more on junior championship this time, so that we can discover more talents and also give some of those that have been discovered in our previous programmes opportunity to compete.”

golf course with a nine-hole practicing area for new entrants.

“I must say that I am extremely delighted to be in your presence and to share with you some of my immediate thoughts.

“We are building an 18-hole golf estate in Port Harcourt and I am told by the investor that it would be ready very soon.”

Earlier, the outgoing captain of Ikeja Golf Club, Mr Wole Sowole, said he was impressed by the accomplishments of the club during his tenure.

Jude Opara Abuja

M

inister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Dr. Tamuno Danagogo, says in a very short time he will be rolling out his agenda for the development of sports in the country.

He however stated that the NSC for now would see how to encourage all the sporting activities especially the high performance ideology aimed at developing and enhancing the output of the athletes in such areas like; taekwondo, wrestling, athletics, weightlifting and boxing.

“Very soon, I will be rolling out a holistic and robust plan for sports development in Nigeria but in the interim, we will continue to encourage the high performance team to develop some key sports,” he said.

Danagogo further revealed that the Federal Government was sol-

idly behind the National U-17 girls, the Flamingos who are currently in Costa Rica for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, adding that as the team progresses; government officials will be on hand to give them the necessary support.

“The President of the NFF is with the girls and very soon the DG will travel and if they continue to progress, I will join them and if that is sustained and we need to have other top government officials join them to cheer them to victory,’ he added.

Danagogo

54 SPORT | EURO FOOTBALL

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

Wenger: Arsenal will bounce back against Swansea

A

rsenal manager Arsene Wenger maintains the best way his side can respond from their 6-0 thrashing at Chelsea is to beat Swansea on Tuesday night.

The Gunners boss endured a 1,000th match in charge to forget as the rampant Blues effectively ended the encounter as a contest with three goals inside the first 17 minutes,

Cavani

Cavani’s agent rules out Pogba swap

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dinson Cavani’s agent has completely written off talk of his client joining Juventus, claiming there is “no way on heaven or earth” that he will be leaving Paris-Saint Germain this year.

The Italian giants are reported to have a keen interest in the Uruguay international, and are believed to even be willing to offer midfield maestro Paul Pogba as part of a cash-plus-player exchange.

However, Cavani’s representative, Claudio Anellucci, has been quick

to rule out the possibility of such a deal coming to fruition.

“It’s absolutely not the moment to talk about transfers,” he told Radio Mana Sport.

“We are in the decisive part of the season, the big clubs are fighting for the big trophies at domestic and European levels.

“PSG and Cavani are part of this footballing elite.

“An offer of 30million euros and Cavani for Pogba? There is no way on heaven or earth that will happen.

after which the visitors played with 10 men following the sending-off of defender Kieran Gibbs in a case of mistaken identity.

Wenger described the manner of Arsenal’s capitulation as a “nightmare”, but believes the ideal way to exorcise those demons is with a strong response in their rearranged Barclays Premier League match against the

out-of-form Swans at the Emirates Stadium.

“What is important is to give a response on Tuesday night and that is it. I don’t believe it is the time to talk too much about (what went wrong),” Wenger said.

“The players are deeply disappointed as we all are, but now I think let us prepare for the next game.

“We can win the next

Barcelona to replace Puyol with Luiz

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arcelona has identified David Luiz as a defensive midfielder role against Arsenal replacement for veteran Carles Puyol in their 6-0 win on Saturday.

Mourinho may be ready to listen to big according to Football Direct News.

The Nou Camp side will see Puyol money offers for Luiz, who has started just leave the club this summer with Ger14 of Chelsea’s 31 Premier League fixman international Mats Humtures so could be seen as expendable. mels and FC Porto youngster The Chelsea boss has shown Eliaqium his willingness to cash-in on star Mangala performers who he feels are not also on crucial to his long term plans, as evidenced by Juan Mata’s the La Liga s i d e ’s wish-list. sale to Man United, and if Barcelona offer £25m+ 26 year old Brazilian Luiz has then the West London struggled to retain a foothold in Jose s i d e could well Mourinho’s starting eleven with take the the Blues boss opting to use John money Terry and Gary Cahill as his first a n d choice central defensive pairing though the run.

Portuguese manager did use the former Benfica man in a Luiz (left) battling with Man City’s Aguero

Man Utd to swap Nani with Ezequiel Bayern boss quashes Draxler links

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an United are ready to offer winger Nani in an exchange deal as David Moyes pursues Benfica defender Ezequiel Garay according to Football Direct News.

Garay’s efforts this term have led his Lisbon based side to the top of the Primeira Liga table, having conceded just 15 goals in 23 fixtures, and into the last eight of the Europa League.

Garay has done well to re-ignite his career following a stuttering spell at Real Madrid and may feel that his career progression would be better served by a move to the Premier League side though Man

B Garay

United’s efforts will be significantly helped if they can secure a Champions League berth for next term.

My tactics confused Arsenal – Mourinho

J

ose Mourinho delighted in exposing Arsenal’s flaws after his biggest victory as Chelsea manager.

A 6-0 win took Premier League leaders Chelsea seven points clear of fourthplaced Arsenal, while Liverpool, who have one game in-hand, are four points adrift in second.

“We spoke about Arsenal being the kind of team that when they have pos-

session of the ball and when they start building from the back they are very comfortable,” Mourinho told Chelsea TV. “They have a big culture of ball possession and we were trying to press them there, to recover the ball and to attack spaces.

“We know also that the full-backs, normally they are wide and up, leaving the two central defenders isolated.

ayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has stated the club will not look to sign Schalke’s Julian Draxler at the end of the season.

The European champions have been linked in recent months with the 20-year-old Germany international, who is regarded as one of the hottest prospects in the Bundesliga.

However, Rummenigge, who could see Bayern clinch the German title in midweek, has denied reports that talks have taken place with the forward and insists his club will not make a move for Draxler during the close season.

“I can assure that we will not buy Julian Draxler this summer,” he told Welt am Sonntag.

“I do not know (if he wants to join Bayern). We never talked to his agents.

In my opinion the public do not understand our transfer policy yet.”

Rummenigge also dismissed suggestions that Bayern will look to harm rivals such as Schalke and Borussia Dortmund by signing more of their players.

Wenger

game, so that is what we have to focus on now and give a strong response.

“We are in a situation now where after such a disappointment that the next game becomes vital.”

PREMIER LEAGUE SN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

TEAM Chelsea Liverpool Man City Arsenal Tottenham Everton Man United Newcastle Southampton Aston Villa Stoke City Hull City Norwich West Ham Swansea West Brom Crystal Palace Sunderland Cardiff City Fulham

P

PTS

31 30 28

69 65 63

30 31

62 56

29 30

54 51

30 31 29 30 30 31 30 30 30 30 28 31

46 45 34 34 33 32 31 29 28 28 25 25

31

24

RESULTS

EPL Chelsea Cardiff Everton Hull City Man City Newcastle Norwich West Ham Tottenham

6-0 3-6 3-2 2-0 5-0 1-0 2-0 0-2 3-2

Torino Chievo Parma Bologna Inter Sampdoria Udinese

3-1 0-2 1-1 0-0 1-1 5-0 1-0

Arsenal Liverpool Swansea City West Brom Fulham Crystal Palace Sunderland Man United Southampton

Serie A Livorno Roma Genoa Cagliari Atalanta Hellas Verona Sassuolo

Bundesliga Freiburg Hannover Mainz 05 Schalke 04 Stuttgart Wolfsburg M’gladbach

3-1 0-3 0-2 3-1 1-0 1-1 3-0

Bremen Dortmund Bayern B’schweig Hamburger Augsburg Hertha Berlin

Ligue 1

Draxler

Lorient Marseille Bastia

0 - 1 PSG 0 - 1 Rennes 2 - 0 Reims

SPORT 55

Sanctity of Truth

Monday, March 24, 2014

No World Cup pressure for Enyeama C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 5 1

beyond the group phase at their last two appearances.

In fact, the Super Eagles have not won a game at the World Cup since their 1-0 victory over Bulgaria at the Parc des Princes, in Paris, at the 1998 tournament but Enyeama is confident Nigeria’s winless run at the World Cup, which currently stands at eight games, will hopefully against Iran on June 16 in Curitiba.

“I can’t believe it has been that long we won a game at the World Cup,” said Enyeama, in an interview with New Telegraph. “But we will correct all that by the grace of God in Brazil.

“I believe so much in this team. I believe we have what it takes to win all our (Group F) matches (against Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina).

But we will face each game as it comes, one at a time, beginning with our first match.

“They (Iran) must be good to have qualified for the World Cup and we have to accord them the respect they deserve, but I know what we are capable of,” stressed the Lille goalkeeper.

Although the World Cup is still over three months away, it is likely that Nigeria will be going to Brazil with a relatively inexperienced side as only a handful of players currently in the plans of Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, have World Cup experience.

But Enyeama, who will be appearing at his third tournament, doesn’t see that as an obstacle to the team’s progress in Brazil.

“If we are saying that, then what should the Bosnians say? This will be their first World Cup but I don’t think they will be coming to Brazil to admire the beaches, after all, in our first World Cup we made it to the second round,” continued Enyeama.

“Some of our players may be young but they have determination and they are hungry for results. They play in some of the toughest leagues in Europe and, don’t forget, we were in Brazil last year,” added Enyeama.

Okagbare relishes Jamaica Meet challenge C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 5 1

the champions.

“Jamaica is a land of champions but I am a champion too. Jamaica has great athletes like Fraser-Pryce and others top athletes but Nigeria has Blessing Okagbare and others too.

“Jamaica is a place I’ve been hoping to visit someday and I’m really happy I will be going there to compete,” she said.

Okagbare, who had an intense 2013 season - breaking the medal jinx plaguing Nigeria at the World Championships in Russia - was conspicuously missing in action for the country at the recently held IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland.

A

kwa United maintained their unbeaten record in the four-week-old Nigeria Premier League season with a 2-0 victory over Kaduna United to replace newly promoted FC Taraba at the top of the table.

FC Taraba had earlier on Saturday moved to the top with a 1-0 victory over El-Kanemi Warriors, leaving their opponent rooted to the bottom of the table with no point.

Sport Trending

TWITTER |@NTelegraphSport

Muhammad Ali 47 years ago today I stopped Folley in 7. Then they took my belt for standing up for my beliefs. No regrets. lBoxing legend, Muhammad Ali, takes to Twitter on the anniversary of his 1967 victory over Zora Folley. @MuhammadAli Aminu Maigari Congratulations Nigeria as the first group of the Supporter’s club has arrived in Brazil as they will be visiting the proposed Stadium of the super Eagles Camping, there is still room for the registrations as it closes next week. We will excel with Allah helping us. Amen.

Facebook wall Brown Ideye Just received a new Ukraine working permit today. @OfficialIdeye Javi Martínez We play against Manchester United, great memories in that stadium! lBayern Munich midfielder, Javi Martinez, recalling his Athletic Bilbao days when the Spanish side came up against Manchester United. @Javi8martinez Aaron Ramsey Congratulations to the boss on his 1,000th game in charge.

Let’s do the business for him and get three points.

Arsenal midfielder, Aaron Ramsey, a few hours before Arsenal got pummelled by Chelsea. @aaronramsey André Schürrle What a beautiful day!!!! @Andre_Schuerrle Roger Federer Very cool to sit court side during a Miami Heat game, great athletes, great sport, thanks for the entertainment! @rogerfederer Ashley Young Great win and performance... @WayneRooney goal Unbelievable. @youngy18 David Luiz Great victory today lads! I’m so happy for this guy @mosalah22 ,u deserve everything bro! Enjoy the life geezers. @DavidLuiz

Glo NPFL RESULTS Rangers 2 Heartland 0 FC Taraba 1 Lobi Stars 2 18th minute to cancel out Christian 2 Benteke’s goal for Villa. The goal was Crown FC his third in the last two matches for the Akwa Utd 2

Osaze Odemwingie scoring Stoke’s equalising goal against Aston Villa, yesterday

Osaze, Ogude on target again Ajibade Olusesan

N

igerian internationals, Osaze Odemwigie and Fegor Ogude, extended their rich veins of form for their clubs in Europe as they both hit targets at the weekend.

Osaze brightens up what would have been a quiet weekend for Nigerian players abroad when he scored in his club’s Premier League match against Aston Villa on Sunday.

Odemwingie, who scored a brace penultimate weekend, hits the target in the

Akwa United top Glo Premier League Charles Ogundiya

“I was not planning to attend the World Indoor Championship in Poland because of my schedules even though I thought of giving it a shot earlier but I had to change my mind,” she revealed.

Others in line to rub shoulders with Okagbare and Fraser-Pryce are the likes of Allyson Felix, Olympic 400m champion Sanya Richards-Ross, world 100m hurdles champion Briana Rollins and world indoor 400m champion FrancenaMcCorory.

Fraser-Pryce’s training partners, Kaliese Spencer and Stephenie McPherson – who both took silver as part of the Jamaican 4x400m team at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot recently – are also set to compete.

On Friday in Owerri, Sharks added to Heartland’s woes, recording a hardfought goalless draw to leave the former Federation Cup champions with two points from three matches.

On Saturday, league defending champions, Kano Pillars, lost 2-1 to Enugu Rangers. Pillars are yet to record a victory this season after recording a 2-2 draw in their last match at home against Sunshine Stars of Akure.

Meanwhile, Crown FC came from a goal down to defeat Dolphins 2-1 in Ibadan.

Potters. He has now taken his tally to four in eight games.

Ogude scored in the 28th minute to take his tally to three in as many games for his Russian side, Amker Perm’s 3-3 draw at Rostov. Sunday Mba got a red card in CA Bastia’s 1-0 win at Tours in the French second division on Friday.

Middleborough defender, Kenneth Omeruo gave a timid back pass to his goalkeeper which QPR’s striker, Bobby Zamora, pounced on to score the visitors’ second goal in their 3-1 win.

In England, John Mikel Obi came on in the 75th minute as Chelsea demolished Arsenal 6-0 at the Stamford Bridge. That was Mikel’s second appearance for the Blues this month.

Expectedly, Victor Moses was an unused substitute for Liverpool in their 6-3 win at Cardiff on Saturday as Joseph Yobo was on for the entire duration as Norwich City beat Sunderland 2-0 with Sone Aluko coming in as a 61st minute substitute for Hull City in a 2-0 win over West Brom.

Kano Pillars Sharks El-Kanemi Gombe Utd Dolphins Kaduna Utd

1 0 0 0 1 0

NNL WEEK 7 RESULTS DIVISION A Prisons FC 2 Kogi Utd 1 Jigawa 0 Kwara Utd 0 Tornadoes 2 Ranchers 0 Wikki 4 TEAP FC 0 Adamawa 2 Spotlight FC 1 Plateau 2 Supreme Court 0 DIVISION B COD Utd 1 Akwa Starlets Go-Round 3 Gabros FC Insurance 2 Ekiti Utd Prime FC 2 MFM FC Abia Comet 2 3SC Gateway 2 First Bank Stores 0 ABS

1 0 1 2 0 2 1

World Record

On Marble A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a

Sanctity of Truth

life spent doing nothing

w w w. new tel eg rap ho nl i ne. co m

– George Bernard Shaw

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth – Buddha MONday, MARCH 24, 2014

N150

Riding a 2009 Suzuki RMZ450F, Chris Ridgway (USA) won gold in the X Games adaptive Moto X class at X Games 15 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

For a new era of Africa’s partnerships with the south

T

he economic weight of Southern actors at the global level over the last two decades has been unprecedented in speed and scale. Whilst growth levels of western economies plummeted following the 2008-2009 financial crisis, developing economies continued to grow at high rates, largely driven by a variety of factors, including sound industrial policies and investments in human, physical and technological capacities. Countries of the South have been transforming their economic bases slowly but surely from large agrarian sectors to more diversified economies with large manufacturing and modern service sectors.

For the first time in 150 years, the combined output of the developing world’s three leading economies—Brazil, China and India—is about equal to the combined GDP of the longstanding industrial powers of the North—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and the United States (HDR 2013). This represents a dramatic rebalancing of global economic power: In 1950, Brazil, China and India together represented only 10% of the world economy, but it is estimated that by 2050, they will together account for 40% of global output.

The impact of this shift is also evident in demography and social development. The absolute number of people in the South means that the middle class will continue to grow in size, income and expectations.

Rapid economic growth and poverty reduction, especially in China, have led to a decline in the number of poor by 158 million between 2000 and 2011. Investments in technology and innovation have led to Southern economies sometimes outpacing Northern counterparts in technological entrepreneurialism and manufacturing capabilities, producing complex products for developing markets. As part of the rising South-South trade, the share of developing countries’ capital goods imports from other developing countries has increased steadily, from 35% in 1995 to 54% in 2010, rendering developing countries as the major source of capital goods for other developing countries.

Challenges and opportunities for Africa in the new global economic context Africa economic fortunes seem to be no different. Since 2000, Africa’s growth has been robust, with the continent showing resilience and recovering very quickly from the global financial crisis. With an impressive growth rate of 5% in 2012, the continent is projected to be the fastest growing by 2014 and 11 out of the 20 fastest growing economies globally will come from Africa.

These changes are not only limited to the economic arena. With labour force set to reach 1.1 billion by 2040 and adult and

Guest Columnist Carlos Lopes

youth literacy rates set to approach 100% by 2063, the continent’s human resource endowment will play a major role in realizing its economic potential, provided it can properly address the needs for a demographic dividend.

In spite of these achievements, challenges continue to persist on the continentextreme hunger, youth unemployment, and underlying structural causes of poverty - detract Africa from making the most of its current growth. The continent seems, nevertheless, to be attracting increasing levels of foreign direct investment from southern partners such as Korea or Turkey. Indeed the highest investor stock in Africa is from Malaysia with US $19 billion followed closely by South Africa with US $18 billion. In 2011, the rate of return on inward FDI in Africa (9.3 per cent) was the highest compared to other regions of the world. The world average was 7.2 per cent, with 8.8 per cent in Asia, 7.1 percent in Latin America and Caribbean or 4.8 per cent in developed economies. Africa is, therefore, slowly but surely shedding its image as the poster child of poverty and destitution to being the new place for investors to be.

Partnerships with other southern countries are increasingly important.

Africa can learn from the successes and failures of these countries and use them as building blocks to craft its own development. For example, the Brazilian Bolsa Familia Programme, which was implemented under President Lula da Silva, used cash transfers to alleviate poverty linking social development, economic improvement and education in a wide reaching process that eventually took 50 million people out of poverty. While land productivity in China, Brazil and India has grown respectively from 1.21, 1.35 and 0.95 tons per hectare to 5.52, 4 and 2.53 respectively over the past fifty years, Africa’s land productivity is stuck at 1.5. Africa’s increasing ties with the South are particularly important also in view of the debt crises in Europe, the slow recovery of the world economy and the increasing signals for investors to reduce their exposure to hedging markets in light of reduced quantitative easing.

Although creating partnerships with other developing countries starting as far back as the 1955 Bandung Conference is not new, these relationships were more politi-

cal. At the end of the cold war Africa started new partnerships arrangements with the South, driven primarily by economic rather than political considerations. The fact that Africa’s total merchandise trade with the South (excluding intra-African trade) increased from US$34 billion in 1995 to US$283 billion in 2008, representing a third of all of Africa’s total trade, is an attestation to this.

Africa must however be aware of the challenges and disadvantages that may accrue as a result of opening its borders to its partners. Many studies have shown the negative impact of cheap goods flooding African markets and killing African fragile industries. A recent study done by the African Economic Research Consortium on China’s trade relations with Mauritius for instance found that cheap imports have benefited consumers but that more significantly, Chinese import competition has caused heavy losses to local industry in Mauritius, with small firms and those in sectors such as garments, footwear and furniture experiencing a loss of market share.

Similar findings came to light in a study of China-Nigeria investment relations.

Policies guiding trade must address the intrusion of cheap manufactured goods from emerging economies flooding African markets and out-competing domestic firms. However, cheaper imported goods from emerging markets can benefit Africa’s own industrialization if they are primarily industrial inputs.

A comprehensive cooperation strategyTo ensure a win-win situation, Africa needs to carefully devise new partnership arrangements with developing countries. Whether on a country by country basis, through the Regional Economic Commissions or at a continental level, it is imperative to design a workable plan for engagement with partners. The world is not waiting for Africa to put its house in order. In 2006, China released an official China-Africa policy white paper, which covered a broad range of topics on which China will engage with Africa from aid, debt relief, the promotion of Chinese culture and language, tourism and alliance building. It was the first of its kind in China’s diplomatic history with Africa, and it embodied Chinese long-term plan of enhancing all-rounds cooperation with Africa. Through it, Beijing presented

the world that the objective of China’s African policy is to ‘establish and develop a new type of strategic partnership with Africa’ on the basis of advancing the fundamental interests of both sides. Following up on this, on the 50th anniversary of the start of diplomatic relations between China and Africa, in 2012, another policy paper was issued that strengthened and tightened the role of partnership between these two developing nations.

Africa must also do same. African countries need to ensure that partnership with developing countries work for Africa’s transformation agenda. This has to be within and complementary to existing national and regional policies that promote integration. Regional bodies such as the African Union must work as forums to reach binding agreements amongst member states for a standard set of requirements for foreign involvement on the continent, whether with new or traditional partners. This collective action can also be leveraged, for example, to open up greater policy space for industrial investments that were utilized by the Asian newly industrialized countries during their economic transformation.

In this regard, Africa’s engagements must be articulated and managed in the context of a comprehensive development strategy for economic transformation. A clear transformation agenda that enables Africa to shift from a largely agrarian society with acute dependence on primary resources towards an economic model based on industry and modern services, with significant employment generation and a more equitable distribution of income is imperative.

OmoBaba

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