Tuesday, june 30, 2015 binder1

Sanctity Of Truth

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

Vol. 2 No. 496

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

N150

Jega returns to Bayero varsity next month }5 Customers rush to beat BVN registration deadline e d u cat i o n

lCBN rules out extension after today Tony Chukwunyem, Abdulwahab Isa and Sola Adeyemo

C

ustomers yesterday besieged banks nationwide

in a bid to beat today's deadline for the completion of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) which will enable them to have unfettered access to their accounts They, They, however,

complained of shortage of forms, failure of banks to alert customers that have completed the process and other general hitches characterised the BVN registration process.

Some bank customers who are yet to enroll on the BVN platform called for an extension; while others attempted to close their accounts for fear that CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

I want to be Nobel Prize winner

—Convenant varsity's 2015 best graduate }23

Buhari to govs: Pay workers }2

lNational Economic Council probes oil funds' remittance, disbursement QuickRead

Suspects: Herbalist told us to kill ex-FUTA's }10 VC Apapa-Oshodi Expressway: LASTMA impounds 50 tankers }10 Bauchi recovers 64 vehicles from Yuguda's aides }6 Boko Haram:

Anambra markets shut down again }47

A crowd of customers at a branch of Guaranty Trust Bank, waiting to register for the Bank Verification Number (BVN), in Abuja...yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN.

No oil baron sponsored us, Saraki, Dogara fire back at Akande }2

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News

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Buhari to governors: Pay workers Anule Emmanuel Abuja

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari yesterday pleaded with governors to clear workers' backlog of salary arrears.

The president, at the inauguration of the National Economic Council (NEC) told them to evolve alternative revenue sources for payment of workers' salaries.

His intervention came amidst pressure from the states for help from the president to help them out in paying workers in view of dwindling revenue from the Federation Account.

The governors had, last week, met Buhari with a plea to reimburse them for funds spent on federal projects in their states as a

palliative to cushion their hardship.

Besides, they had also mulled seeking a bailout from the Federal Government, but suspended the idea until the nation's finances are in better shape.

According to data compiled by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), at least 23 out of the 36 states of the federation owe workers' salaries.

Among the debtor states are Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Cross River, Ekiti, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers and Zamfara.

However, Buhari yesterday urged the governors to seek alternative sources of revenue, such as increasing Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to pay all outstanding salaries of

workers.

He said: "I therefore urge council members to consider, as a matter of urgency, exploring efficient means of gradually liquidating all unpaid salaries of staff, which have brought untold hardship to thousands of families."

The NEC, chaired by the vice-president, has as members, the governors of the 36 states, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other co-opted members.

NEC, as one of the federal executive bodies, has the mandate to advise the president on the economic affairs of the federation, and in particular on measures necessary for the co-ordination of the economic planning and programmes of the various governments of the federation.

Buhari also charged all revenue generating agencies such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria Customs Services (NCS), Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), CBN, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to comply with stipulated financial regulations and administrative instructions in their remittances into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

According to the president, considering the enormous economic challenges facing the country, members of the council need to support policies, which his government will soon unveil to grow the economy.

"This process must be geared up substantially,

especially in the difficult times that we have now found ourselves," he stated.

The president also expressed the commitment of the Federal Government in embarking on sustainable visionary initiatives and programmes to restructure and transform all sectors of the economy.

In achieving this target, he directed the National Planning Commission to work towards arriving at workable consensus on government policies among the various tiers of government in a bid to ensure sustained growth and development.

He urged the governors to kick-start this process of development through cultivating a culture of prudent management of resources.

He said: "This will entail looking inwards to

gest that Senator Saraki's emergence as Senate President was facilitated by oil barons. "This is a case of calling the dog a bad name so as to hang it. In any case, Saraki was elected unopposed as the Senate President, therefore the lies that he was sponsored by the oil barons cannot hold.

"We also wish to state unequivocally that it was wrong and mischievous for the statement by Chief Akande to link what happened on the floor of both chambers to some unnamed oil barons.

secure sustainable ways of increasing Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); and harnessing growth potentials of each state to supplement the Federation Account allocation to states".

President Buhari reiterated his earlier promise during his inauguration on May 29, 2015 that the primary objective of government would be to tackle insecurity; youth unemployment by reviving agriculture and solid minerals mining.

He said the present administration would also focus on promoting small and medium size businesses while tackling pervasive corruption; fuel and power shortages; public service reforms and allowing every tier of government to exercise its constitutional responsibilities.

Buhari added that government's commitment is also to ensure collaboration and facilitation of the international efforts to combat threats of crossborder terrorism, sea piracy, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), financial crimes, cyber crimes, climate change, as well as the spread of communicable diseases.

At the end of the NEC meeting, the council raised a four-man panel to probe the remittance and disbursement of oil revenue from 2012 to May 2015.

It directed the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) to present detail report on the revenue that accrued to the country from the sale of crude oil within the period.

Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, who is also a member of the probe committee, told State House correspondents that a report, presented to the council, indicated that a total of N8.1 trillion was generated by the NNPC during the period under review.

The committee, which also has Governors Ibrahim Dankwmbo (Gombe), Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) and Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) as members, is expected to consider details of the account as submitted in the report by the NNPC and thre Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.

Oshimhole said out of the N8.1 trillion generated by the NNPC, only N4.3trillion was remitted into the Federation Account.

He said: "This is the first time we had a National Economic Council meet-

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L-R: Governors Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Akinwumi Ambode (Lagos), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Idris Wada (Kogi), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Aminu Masari (Katsina), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano) and Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), during the inauguration of the National Economic Council by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN

No oil baron sponsored us, Saraki, Dogara fire back at Akande Philip Nyam and Chukwu David Abuja

S

enate President Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, yesterday dismissed claims by former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, that oil barons and some vested interests bankrolled their emergence as presiding officers of the National Assembly.

They described the allegations as false, baseless and uncharitable.

The duo, in separate statements, also stated that they had no intention of frustrating the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Akande had, in a statement on Sunday, said oil barons who never liked Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign sponsored the elections of Saraki and Dogara. “…Before the party knew it, the process (National Assembly leadership) had been hijacked by

polluted interests who saw the inordinate contests as a loophole for stifling APC government's efforts in its desire to fight corruption.

Most Northern elite, the Nigerian oil subsidy barons and other business cartels who never liked Buhari's anti-corruption political stance are quickly backing-up the rebellion against APC with strong support,” he said.

But Saraki and Dogara stated that there was no truth in the allegations.

Saraki, in the statement by his Special Assistant on Print Media, Mr.

Chuks Okocha, described Akande’s allegation as unfortunate.

Saraki stated that the Senate under his leadership would give all necessary legislative support to the administration to fight and reduce corruption.

He added that his previous actions and bold step taken against the so-called oil barons indicated Saraki's commitment to the anti-corruption war.

"For avoidance of doubt, we want to make it abundantly clear that it is totally false, untrue and calculated mischief to sug-

News

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

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APC recommends scrapping of PIB T he All Progressives Congress (APC) has recommended the scrapping of the long-delayed oil-industry bill, review fuel subsidies and sell off some units of the state petroleum company.

A report obtained by Bloomberg yesterday said the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) should be scrapped and replaced by a new reform bill that’s based on discussions with international oil companies to “ensure all perspectives are adequately considered” Kayode Fayemi, the APC’s policy director, confirmed the authenticity of the document.

The bill has been delayed in the National Assembly for six years due to political wrangling and opposition by international energy companies against proposed tax and royalty terms, deterring investment into Africa’s top oil producer.

The APC handed the report, which was based on closed-door meetings on

May 20 and 21 in Abuja, to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The report “is not the final position of government,” Fayemi said by email to Bloomberg.

The report recommends a review of audits and corruption allegations against the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the government’s first 100 days in office.

After 18 months, the government should seek to commercialise the NNPC, possibly partially listing the entity and selling off its fuel-retailing and refining business, the APC said.

Buhari disbanded the NNPC’s board last week in an attempt to fight graft in the industry. Two calls to the mobile phone of Ohi Alegbe, an NNPC spokesman, didn’t connect yesterday and he didn’t immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment.

The APC report recommends that all top oil executives, senior NNPC staff and government officials must declare their assets.

It also calls for the state oil company’s board to meet more regularly and legislation governing the NNPC to be amended to ensure that the petroleum minister is no longer chairman of the company.

The government should review fuel subsidies to reduce costs of about N600 billion ($3 billion) spent annually on the payments, according to the report.

Buhari said last week his government is facing severe financial strain from a treasury that’s “virtually empty” and billions of dollars in debt.

A lack of oil refining capacity means Africa’s largest economy subsidises gasoline imports and suffers frequent fuel shortages even though it produces about 1.9 million barrels a day.

Nigeria’s crude production is hindered by the NNPC’s inability to pay its share in joint ventures with companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA, according to the report.

The NNPC’s debts to its eight joint ventures, in which it owns majority stakes, have “ballooned over the years,” the APC said. In 2012, the state company paid $6.9 billion out of the $10.4 billion it owed.

The difference of $3.5 billion was covered by loans from international oil companies, according to the report.

“These debts are costly and opaque, and they erode the NNPC’s bargaining power with” the oil companies, the APC said in the report. “Nigeria’s inability to fund its joint-venture budgets is delaying projects, reducing production, and lowering revenue collection for the nation.”

The NNPC had the worst disclosure record of 44 international and national energy companies analysed in a 2011 report

by Transparency International and the Revenue Watch Institute.

The APC’s report also advised the government to cancel in its first 100 days in office “two ill-suited and

L-R: Former President, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN); Mr. Ebun Sofunde (SAN) and former Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), during the Lagos NBA Branch 2015 Law Week dinner in Lagos...recently.

Suicide bombing kills 11 in Chad, 60 suspects arrested

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olice raid on suspected members of the Boko Haram yesterday sparked a suicide bombing in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital, that killed six suspects and five police officers.

Public Security Minister, Abderahim Hamid, stated that three other police officers were injured in the bombing in N'Djamena.

He also said police on Sunday arrested a suspected regional leader for Boko Haram in a N'Djamena suburb.

Information given by one of his companions, he said, led to a raid on another house where the suicide bombing occurred.

It was not clear how many terrorists blew themselves up.

A police source had initially said a suicide bomber had targeted a police patrol on the street.

The police operation followed triple suicide bombings on June 15 that killed 38 people in N'Djamena.

Chad, which attributed the attack to Boko Haram, has announced the arrest

of about 60 people in connection with it.

Boko Haram is believed to be targeting Chad over its participation in military operations against its insurgency.

Blasts in two police offices in N’Djamena that appeared to have been coordinated killed 34 people including four suspected Boko Haram militants and injured dozens.

It was the largest attack of its kind in Chad.

“An active cell of a terrorist network has been identified and disman-

tled,” said prosecutor Alghassim Khamis, adding that those arrested came from Chad, Cameroon, Mali and Nigeria.

According to Reuters, Khamis identified one attacker as Issa Oumar, alias Issa Tchoulou, but did not give his nationality.

Bomb fragments collected at the sites had been turned over for analysis to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), he said.

The Chadian capital is a command centre for a regional force in the fight.

costly offshore processing agreements” that were signed in the fourth quarter with Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. Ltd. and Sahara Group of 90,000 barrels per day each.

The government should sign simpler swap agreements with “highly competent” trading companies through a tender process, according to the report.

Sahara said it wasn’t aware of the APC’s recommendation, and Aiteo didn’t immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

“The parties involved remain committed to the terms of the contract, which is being carried out in line with best practice and good governance,” Sahara said in a statement.

National Economic Council probes oil funds' remittance, disbursement CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

ing in which under the instruction of the president that the NNPC and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation were compelled to provide information in black and white on issues as they relate to the total sale of Nigeria's crude from 2012 to May 2015. This has never happened before and for us this is profound.

"We are talking about transparency, we are talking about change. And what we saw from those numbers, I believe that Nigerians are entitled to know, is that whereas the NNPC claimed to have earned N8.1 trillion, what NNPC paid into the Federation Account from 2012 to May 2015 was N4.3 trillion. What it means is that NNPC withheld and spent N3.8 trillion."

He said it was unbelievable that the NNPC withheld and spent a total of N3.8trillion, which is 47 per cent of the gross earnings from crude oil sale within the period.

He added that such unauthorised spending by the NNPC breached the constitution, which stipulates that all revenue accruing to the country should be remitted to the Federation Account.

"The major revelation here is that the entire federation that is the Federal Government, the states and all the 774 local governments, the amount the NNPC paid into the Federation Account for distribution to these three tiers of government came to N4.3 trillion and NNPC alone took and spent N3.8 trillion. Which means the cost of running NNPC is much more than the cost of running the Federal Government. That tells you how much is missing, what is mismanaged, what is stolen, there are huge figures," the governor said.

Oshiomhole said the last time NEC met in November 2014, a total of $4.1billion dollars was left in the Excess Crude Account but it had been

drawn down to about $2 billion.

"We looked at the numbers for the Excess Crude Account, the last time the (former) Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance reported to the Council, we had $4.1 billion but today the Accountant General Office reported we have $2.0 billion.

"Which means the Honourable Minister spent $2.1billion without authority of the NEC. And that money was not distributed to states, it was not paid to the three tiers of government," he added.

El-Rufai also deplored the unilateral operation of the Excess Crude Account, started by former President Olusegun Obasanjo around 2005, by the Federal Government.

"What we have seen, in the last few months or years, is that the Excess Crude Account was operated unilaterally by the Federal Government; drawings were made unilaterally without consulting those that actually own the money because the Excess Crude Account is 52 per cent owned by the Federal Government and 48 per cent by the states and local government areas," he said.

The probe panel is expected to complete its work and report back to the NEC by its next meeting on July 23.

Meanwhile, the president has directed Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states to articulate realistic assessments, costs and locations of facilities affected

by Boko Haram insurgency for submission to the G7.

In addition, he said the requirements of the military had been prepared by the service chiefs for the consideration of the G7 nations.

The decision to submit such requirement followed the president's trip to Germany where he attended an outreach programme of the Group of Seven Nations.

News

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TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

APC cancels caucus meeting, holds NEC Friday ... as party scribe faults letter to National Assembly Johnchuks Onuanyim Abuja

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oday's caucus meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been cancelled.

A source at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja told New Telegraph that the meeting was cancelled because of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the party scheduled for Friday.

The APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, confirmed the cancellation of the party's Caucus meeting.

Mohammed, in a telephone interview, stated that he got a message that the meeting had been cancelled.

He, however, could not adduce reasons why the meeting was cancelled.

Another source at the party’s headquarters stated that the caucus was cancelled because of the NEC meeting scheduled for Friday.

The members of the APC Caucus are also members of NEC. Also of importance,

TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST LAGOS

28oC 24oC Storms

he said, was the fact that most of the Caucus members would not be around as they have gone for the lesser Hajj.

Members of the APC Caucus include: National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun; President Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; former Lagos Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu; Senate President Bukola Saraki;

PORT HARCOURT

KANO

ENUGU

IBADAN

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36oC 24oC Mostly Sunny

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35oC 18oC Sunny

and Dogara by the APC National Working Committee (NWC) on the selection of principal officers of the National Assembly.

Also, he stated that for the so-called party supremacy being canvassed to stand, the party should decide the ministerial and commissioners’ lists for the states.

Frank said: "Agreed that the party should ex-

ercise supremacy, but the party should not impose that only on the National Assembly; it should as well give directives on nominees for ministers and their portfolios and give to the president.

"For the states too, the state party chairmen should compile the list of commissioners and aides and give to the governors since we have agreed now that party supremacy

comes first. If they cannot do so, then there is no justification for the party to dictate to the National Assembly on appointments of principal officers."

He urged APC to tread carefully so that there should not be another Goodluck Jonathan and Rotimi Amaechi saga.

“The time used to fight Saraki should be channelled to reconciliation and peace,” he said.

L-R: Executive Director, Blazing Trails International Centre, Dr. Anna Lamikanra; Senior Manager, Communications and External Affairs, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc., Mrs. Oyinade Adegite and Dr. Marcus Tillery of the School of Divinity, Princeton University USA, during a press conference in Lagos…yesterday.

Customers rush to beat BVN registration deadline CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

ABUJA

House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara; Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, all members of the National Working Committee (NWC), former and present governors on the platform of the party and zonal leaders, among others.

Meanwhile, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Comrade Timi Frank, has faulted the letter sent to Saraki

they could be denied access to their money at the expiration of the deadline.

But the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ruled out extending the BVN registration deadline.

Out of about 40 million bank customers, available data indicated that less than 20 million had been registered as at yesterday.

Checks by New Telegraph at bank branches in Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and other major cities in the country showed that customers were at the banks even before the offices were opened for business to complete their BVN registration.

At Access Bank branch located within the premises of the FMBN Corporate headquarters at Central Business District Abuja, our correspondent witnessed a large crowd of customers struggling to fill the BVN forms in order to complete the process.

The same trend was observed at Unity Bank Plc, Ecobank Nigeria Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc - all within the premises and vicinity of FMBN

premises.

Banks located on the outskirts of the Abuja metropolis experienced a similar development.

The huge crowd slowed down normal banking transactions of deposit and withdrawals as banks’ staff had a hectic time coping with the crowd.

At the Central Business District centre of Access Bank branch, New Telegraph overheard a customer complaining to a bank official that though he completed the BVN registration two weeks ago, he was yet to get his BVN number through a Short Messaging System (SMS).

Another customer said the registration forms were insufficient to go round the crowd.

A bank official who declined to be named told our correspondent that she and her colleagues had been under pressure since last Thursday attending to a large number of customers she described as “late BVN process starters.”

She blamed the customers for waiting until the last minute to come for the registration, pointing out that the process had been

on for the last six months.

Similarly, in Lagos, customers complained that banks did not assign adequate personnel to handle the exercise even when it became obvious that many people would wait until the last minute to register.

A bank customer at First Bank branch at Agidingbi, Bose Oguntoyinbo, said: “I arrived at the bank by 8. am and I did not register until 2 pm. The crowd was just so much.”

She urged the CBN to extend the deadline so that more bank customers would be enrolled on the BVN platform.

Also, in Oyo State, customers besieged commercial banks to register for the BVN. Some of the banks had to create a special arrangement where the customers were kept outside the banking hall before they could be attended to.

At the First Bank branch, Mokola, Ibadan, the management avoided a situation where the banking hall would be jam-packed by mounting a canopy within the premises of the bank where they directed anyone for

the BVN registration to wait until he could be attended to.

A customer who identified herself as Tolu, said: "In fact, the situation is chaotic today. I don't know when I am going to leave here with this huge number of customers. It is a mistake that I did not register until now. Many like me who believe that there was still time waited till today to face this rigour."

Asked whether the exercise was worth the trouble, Tolu said: "I believe so. The aim, I was told, is to plug the series of holes through which fraud was being perpetrated through banks. I think it will have positive effect on all of us.

A situation where strange money would be deposited in innocent people's bank accounts and later withdrawn without the account owner knowing or having access to it will be prevented."

Bank customers in Pankshin, Plateau State, also for called for the extension of the BVN registration.

The only two operating banks in Pankshin, UBA and Unity Bank Plc, were

crowded with customers jostling to beat the deadline.

Some of the customers, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), appealed to CBN to extend the deadline.

Hajiya Hadiza Yusuf, a housewife, said she was not aware of the ongoing verification till last weekend. ``My friend and I left our children at home in Dengi, Kanam Local Government Area, to Pankshin for the exercise but we are afraid if we can register,`` she said.

Mr. Litpan Ezra, a student of the Federal College of Education, Pankshin, appealed to CBN to consider those yet to register.

Ezra said many would not be able to register, adding, ``The authorities should extend the deadline and equally go on massive enlightenment campaign to enable those in the remote places register," he said.

But the CBN has rejected appeal to extend the registration deadline.

Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

News

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

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Jega retires from INEC, resumes at Bayero University Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

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rofessor Attahiru Jega will formally leave office as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today.

He was sworn in on June 30, 2010 by former President Goodluck Jonathan for a five-year period after his clearance by the Senate.

His Chief Press Secre-

tary, Kayode Idowu, told New Telegraph in a telephone interview that Jega will be going back to the Bayero University, Kano after today.

The outgoing INEC Chairman, who is an alumnus of the university, also served as its vice chancellor between 2005 until his appointment in 2010.

Jega retires with six National Commissioners who were sworn into office the same day with him.

Even though Jega has been praised for organis-

Constituency projects most controversial, says deputy speaker Philip Nyam Abuja

D

eputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yusuf Lasun, yesterday disclosed that the constituency projects fund allocated to lawmakers in the National and State Assemblies has been the most controversial project undertaken by the legislative arm of government.

Lasun made this known when he received a delegation of Omo Oodua – a Yoruba socio-cultural group in Abuja and Northern States chapter, in his office.

He said the issue of constituency projects has generated so much controversy due to the lack of understanding, explaining that the fund is domiciled in government ministries,

departments and agencies (MDAs).

According to him, on yearly basis, lawmakers are allocated funds for the provision of certain essential services.

Lasun said he has been able to implement his project to the satisfaction of his constituents.

He said that in 2013 and 2014 he had been able to build 12 schools and renovated 12 others in his constituency among other numerous projects, assuring the delegation that he would do more in his new position as deputy speaker.

Earlier in his remarks, President-General of the group, Chief Taye Ogunsuyi, charged the deputy speaker to be committed in his duties as a legislator and true son of the Yoruba race.

CBN rules out extension after today CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

Mr. Ibrahim Mu’azu, said the deadline for registration remained today.

He added that bank customers were given adequate time and CBN expected they should have taken advantage of the period scheduled for the exercise to register.

Contrary to the speculation that customers who do not have BVN will be prevented from making transactions such as payments and withdrawals, Mu’azu said only customers using remote access services: Internet banking, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and other online services would not be able to transact.

Meanwhile, the CBN has concluded arrangements to enroll Nigerians living abroad that have bank accounts in Nigeria on the BVN platform.

New Telegraph had reported that the exercise, which is expected to com-

mence today, would begin with those living in the United Kingdom.

The registration, according to CBN sources, would be executed through the outlets of Outsourcing Services International (OSI) and extended to the United States as well as China.

New Telegraph learnt that the technical partner to the BVN project, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) and the CBN have sealed an agreement to this effect with the OSI. Hitherto, Nigerians in Diaspora had been worried about how to enroll for the BVN – with most of them lamenting that it makes no economic sense for them to travel down to Nigeria for the exercise.

There are millions of Nigerians residing overseas executing banking services in Nigeria through various electronic platforms.

ing credible elections in the country, he may have paid little attention to the welfare of the staff.

A staff of the commission, who craved anonymity, said the staff welfare package under Prof. Maurice Iwu was better than that of Jega.

The outgoing chairman was accused of using quota system to stagnate many staff in one grade level for years for what he called "lack of vacancies in the affected employees’ states."

Jega admitted this much at a retreat for INEC Administrative Secretar-

ies and Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State two weeks ago when he promised to clear backlog of promotions before he leaves office, though he ruled out "automatic promotion."

He also regretted that he was unable to obtain special salary scale for INEC staff before he leaves office.

It was also alleged that some of his personal aides have taken over the work of the commission's staff, thereby rendering them redundant.

The source pointed at the situation in INEC's publicity unit where Jega's Chief Press Secretary has taken over the job of the commission's Director of Public Affairs.

"You hardly know that INEC has a Director of Public Affairs. He (Idowu) is always the one who speaks for INEC," the source stated.

He added that Idowu should have limited his role only as spokesman of the INEC Chairman, and allow Olawole Osaze-Uzzi who is INEC Director of Publicity and Voter Educa-

tion to speak for the commission.

The source also alleged that Jega's Chief of Staff has taken over the job of INEC Secretary as Chief Accounting Officer.

"I am just one out of many INEC staff, just come to the office and listen to what people will say.

You are a journalist, you know how to get your information," he said.

It was gathered that Jega met with INEC staff from GL12 and above at Merit House, Abuja last week where he appealed for their understanding.

L-R: Managing Director, CGGC Global Projects Limited, Mr. Heng Zhang; President Muhammadu Buhari; Mr. Wang Yu and Head of Administration, Mr. Gao Lijun, during a visit to the president in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN.

No oil baron sponsored us, Saraki, Dogara fire back CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

"We dare say that the entire story was the figment of the imagination of the author.

"We make bold to state that in the Seventh Assembly, Senator Bukola Saraki was Chairman of the Senate Ad hoc Committee which exposed the fraud and mismanagement in the oil sector. Until Saraki's motion on the floor of the Senate, no one was in the picture of the rot in the sector or took any action.

"No doubt, we make bold to state that Saraki is the last person to be so sponsored by the oil barons or cabals.

"In that position, Saraki did not only lead his colleagues in exposing the rot in the scheme but made very strong recommendations on how the system could be reformed and made corrupt-free.

"It is on records that through his motion on the floor of the Senate, the House of Representatives followed in what is to be known as oil subsidy probe and to which Ministers of Finance and Petroleum

were summoned and at last, over N500 billion was saved. Certainly, Senator Saraki is the last person to be so sponsored by the oil barons or cabals.

"Let it be known therefore that the Senate presidency of Dr. Bukola Saraki would not in any way be a stumbling block against President Buhari’s posture against corruption,” the statement said.

On his part, Dogara, in the statement by his media aide, Mr. Turaki Hassan, denied being sponsored by anyone, saying the "allegation is both unfortunate and uncharitable."

The speaker stated that "his antecedent, capacity, experience, being a team player, incorruptibility and his progressive mind and activities are the qualities that endeared him to his colleagues.

"These were the selling points among memberselect that made him to be elected speaker."

The statement described Akande's allegations as "unbecoming of a well-respected elder statesman and a former Interim

National Chairman of the APC." He said: "It is baseless and lacking in substance and merit. It can best be described as a figment of Akande`s imagination.

"We challenge Akande to name the so-called oil barons whom he alleged sponsored the election of the Hon. Speaker.

"In case Akande does not know, the first investigative motion adopted by the 8th House of Representatives under the leadership of the speaker was to investigate the allegation of fraud in the oil-swap contract awarded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

"A resolution instituting investigation into the allegation was passed with a resolve to constitute an ad hoc committee to investigate the NNPC as well as its subsidiary, the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) over the swap contracts.

"How then can the House under the leadership of Mr. Speaker ordered investigation into activities of those who

allegedly sponsored his election?"

According to Dogara, what was expected of Akande is to play the role of an elder statesman and help to bring warring party members to the table and not ignite the crisis.

Dogara also restated his commitment to fighting corruption.

"Since assuming duty as speaker, Dogara has not left anyone in doubt as to his stance on corruption which is the bane of Nigeria`s development.

"Thus, he presented the draft legislative agenda of the Eighth Assembly to the House last week which among other things proposed legislations that will help fight corruption.

"Mr. Speaker has on different occasions reiterated his resolve to compliment President Buhari’s anti-corruption stance and insists that the present crop of leaders don’t have any excuse to give to Nigerians on the change promised them before and during the elections that brought APC into power,” the speaker said.

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FG appoints Ladan to oversee DPR

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he Federal Government has appointed Mr Mordecai Danteni Ladan, to oversee the activities of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). That is according to a statement posted on the website of the DPR yesterday.

According to the statement, Ladan is to take over from the former DPR Director, Mr George Osahon, whose tenure elapsed on June 19.

The statement stated that the appointment was with immediate effect.

Ladan, according to the statement, is a Petrochemist by profession, who joined DPR in Nov. 23, 1987 as a Senior Analytical Chemist.

The statement said that Ladan was deployed to the Safety and Environment Branch under the then Technical Services Division.

It said that Ladan rose through the ranks to occupy various key positions within the organisation, including Zonal Operations Controller, DPR Kaduna.

According to the statement, Ladan, having attained the rank of Deputy Director, was appointed Head, Downstream Monitoring and Regulation Division in Oct. 2005 to June 2013.

He was appointed Head, Gas Monitoring and Regulation Division in June 2013 to May 2014.

national

Buhari promises speedy completion of HPPs Anule Emmanuel Abuja

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resident Muhammadu Buhari has expressed the readiness of the administration to complete Hydro power projects in the country to

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he committee set up by the administration of Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State to recover property illegally allocated to individuals by the administration of his predecessor, former Governor Isa Yuguda has revealed that it has recovered 64 vehicles out of over 100 listed for recovery.

The Chairman of the committee, Air Commodore Ahmed TijjaniBaba,(rtd) revealed this yesterday to the News Agency of Nigeria, saying they were recovered from highly placed individuals, politicians, former commissioners, special advis-

boost power generation and supply.

The President stated this when he granted audience to officials of CGGC, the Chinese Construction Company working on the Mambilla Power Project.

Buhari said that it

Abuja

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he Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the dissolution of the

the country are completed expeditiously to boost power supply in the country.

"I am very much interested in Mambilla and other hydro-power projects, not only for the improvement of power but also for irrigation

Akeem Nafiu

J L-R: General Manager, Mouka Lifestyle Store, Garki, Abuja, Mrs. Amaka Okafor; Acting Managing Director, Mouka Limited, Mr. Femi Fapohunda; Chief Financial Officer, Dr. Mrs. Azuka Onya and Marketing Manager, Mr. Olusegun Ajala, at the inauguration of the new Lifestyle Store and Depot in Abuja.

ers and top civil servants.

According to TijjaniBaba, the vehicles were allocated to the beneficiaries by the last administration on May 28, 2015, a day to the swearing-in of Abubakar.

He said the committee discovered that the vehicles were purchased by the last administration between January and May 2015 and were auctioned to the beneficiaries without following due process.

Tijjani-Baba quoted a regulation, which states that: “Any vehicle that is not used for over three years has to be reverted to the service pool when the officer is leaving office.”

He said the regulation was illegally amended by

the last administration in 2010, granting the state governor waiver powers to auction vehicles used below three years.

He said: “The clue gives him right to auction the vehicles upon an application by an allottee, but it has to be referred to the board of survey that will determine the price to be paid.

“A highly placed government official wrote on behalf of 10 other beneficiaries on May 28, 2015, without referring it to the board of survey, the body vested with the responsibility of auctioning such vehicles that were bought five months ago.”

He added that some of the beneficiaries, who discovered the auction was faulty, voluntarily returned the vehicles to the committee.

CISLAC commends Buhari on NNPC Board Yekeen Nurudeen

was quite regrettable that power generation in Nigeria had failed to keep pace with national needs over the years.

He noted that his administration will ensure that the Mambilla project and other unfinished hydro-power projects in

as both power and irrigation projects will help to improve the lives of Nigerians.

"I am going to ask for details of the Mambilla Hydro-Power Project and others. Very soon, we will get together and redefine the project agreements for faster results,’’ he said.

The Managing Director of CGGC, Mr. Zhang Heng, who led his company's delegation, told the President that work on the Mambilla project was being delayed by the failure of previous administrations to provide the counterpart funding specified in the agreement with the Chinese government.

The CGGC delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Villa by Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State.

Judge hands off Babalakin's suit against EFCC, others

64 vehicles recovered from Yuguda’s aides, says Committee Mojeed Alabi

tuesday, june 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Board of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), describing it as an action in the right direction.

In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), CISLAC said

it was convinced that the dissolution of the Board was long overdue and as it said it was timely.

It stressed that no meaningful reforms of the oil and gas sector can take place with the same board under which most of the breaches occurred.

You are being diversionary — PDP tells Buhari Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

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he Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as lame and diversionary, the claim by the presidency that the lethargy in President Muhammadu Buhari administration was the cleaning of the Augean Stable of the past regime.

The party, in a statement yesterday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, also stated that no amount of intimidation, blackmail and propaganda would stop it from joining Nigerians in demanding that President Buhari commences the implementation of his campaign promises for which he was voted into office.

PDP described the analogy of the Augean stable as baffling, adding that it goes to question the capacity and the sincerity of those around the president.

“In Greek mythology,

Hercules in his ingenuity took the task and efficiently cleared the Augean’ stable in a day for which he demanded a reward of a tenth of fine cattle belonging to the king.

“Nigerians would not want to believe that in the so-called clearing of the Augean stable, although not delivering in one day, President Buhari wants to play Hercules in his demand, this time, by wanting to run the government alone without the statutory components of the executive as enshrined in the constitution," the party noted.

It wondered whether the so-called clearing of mess responsible for the president's inability to make up his mind on rudimentary appointments such as Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief of Staff and his demand for 15 Special Advisers as approved by the Seventh Assembly since June 5, 2015.

ustice James Tsoho of a Federal High Court in Lagos has disqualified himself from a suit filed by the Chairman of BiCourtney Ltd, Dr. Wale Babalakin(SAN) against the Attorney General of the Federation(AGF) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC).

It would be recalled that following reports that the EFCC was planning to file the same charges against him on the same subject matter and on the same provisions of the law upon which he had earlier been discharged

by Justice Lateef LawalAkapo of an Ikeja High Court, Babalakin promptly approached the Federal High Court seeking protection and a judicial review of the actions.

Babalakin, in the suit, had accused both the AGF and the EFCC of making desperate efforts to prosecute him maliciously.

Justice Tsoho, had also on April 29, 2015, granted a restraining order against EFCC, prohibiting the agency from proceeding with the action pending the determination of the suit.

The order was however vacated by the judge on June 15, 2015.

Justice Tsoho, while vacating the order directed the EFCC to stay all actions with regards to Babalakin's arrest pending the final determination of the suit and adjourned till yesterday for the hearing of the main motion.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

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Temitope Ogunbanke

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he National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie and his Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) counterpart, Dr. Fredericks Fasehun, have advised President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a non partisan and unbiased person as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof.

Attahiru Jega’s successor.

Speaking to New Telegraph in separate interviews yesterday, Okorie and Fasehun also stressed the need for Jega’s succes-

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tuesday, june 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Jega’s successor must be unbiased, say Okorie, Fasehun sor to be a credible personality.

Okorie said Jega succeeded because of his pedigree and credibility and therefore advised that the new INEC boss must also be credible like Jega.

His words: “The choice of Prof. Attahiru Jega as INEC chairman in 2015 was a good appointment looking into his pedigree and background as a political scientist and cred-

ible labour leader, who once led the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU). I think those are some of the attributes that made him to be successful. So, somebody in that category would not be a bad idea as Jega’s successor.

“President Buhari has also hinted that we should go technological in electoral reform, seeing that his victory was

more guaranteed by card reader than any other thing. And so anything that would make election in Nigeria more technologically inclined would be started by him.

“It is also important that they are not card carrying member of any political party; not at anytime in their life. Because that was the problem of the most of the Resident Electoral Commissioners

(RECs); they were simply the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members and that created credibility problem.”

Fasehun said President Buhari, the National Assembly and security agents must be actively involved in the appointment of the new INEC chairman.

“The nation must look for somebody with no religion or ethnic bias to suc-

ceed Prof. Attahiru Jega.

There are individuals in this country who can march the recommendations just prescribed. The security operatives must also be involved in the exercise of appointing a new INEC chairman to make sure that whoever is coming to head the electoral body is manifestly clean and unbiased.

“There are 170 million Nigerians and at least one per cent of the population are credible for the position of the INEC chairman. Let the security operatives do their work and give their recommendations to the National Assembly and the President.

He who wants to come to equity must come with clean hand. So, the next INEC chairman must be non partisan,” he said.

NASS urged to pass transport commission bill Philip Nyam Abuja

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L-R: Deputy President, Association of Omo Odua Community, Abuja chapter, Mr. Adewale Adelabu; Deputy President, Kano chapter, Mr. Adesokan Suara; Deputy Speaker, House Representatives, Mr. Yusuf Lasun and President, Association of Omo Odua Community, Abuja chapter, Mr. Toye Ogunshuyi, during a visit by the members of the association to Lasun in Abuja…yesterday. PHOTO: ELIJAH OLALUYI

Church decries U.S. Supreme Court's endorsement of same-sex marriage

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ast Friday's ruling of the United States (U.S.) Supreme Court, legalising same-sex marriage has been described as “an attack on the church, Christianity and traditional values”.

A statement from the leadership of Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide, signed

by His Eminence, Senior Superintendent Gabriel F. Akinadewo (Omo Jesu II) and Senior Apostle Godfrey Dottie, described the action as unfortunate,

“coming from a country which adopts 'In God we Trust' as its creed.

“If individuals are involved in homosexuality, we didn't expect the highest level of judiciary, the Supreme Court, to officially and legally okay such a satanic belief. It was even a surprise to us, as a church, that the highest level of executive, President Barack Obama, has also endorsed this Luciferic belief that a man can marry a man and a woman can marry a woman.

PDP, Nsukka Assembly drum support for Ugwuanyi

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he administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State at the weekend received considerable boost in solidarity visits to him by three different notable groups whose leaders have pledged to stand by his government to provide needed guidance and advice that would enhance the delivery of good governance to the people of the state.

The groups, Nsukka

General Assembly led by notable Nigerians, among them the emeritus professor, Lawrence Ocho and two-time minister, Chief Nnia Nwodo; the Enugu State Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and a delegation of the Enugu North Zonal leaders of the party, called at the Banquet Hall of the Governor's Lodge in Enugu at different times.

Buhari returns expelled reporter to Aso Rock Anule Emmanuel Abuja

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resident Muhammadu Buhari has approved the return of the Villa Press Pass of the Radio/TV Deutsche Welle State House Correspondent, Mr. Ubale Musa.

Ubale was withdrawn from the villa in last days of former President Goodluck Jonathan for asking a question that was perceived as embarrassing to the administration.

According to Special Adviser to the President

on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the decision followed the directive of Buhari.

Presenting the reissued Press Pass to the correspondent at the Presidential Villa, Adesina said that Musa's re-accreditation as a State House correspondent was in keeping with President Buhari's commitment to correcting the wrongs of the past.

"Part of the change promised by President Buhari is correcting things that were wrongly done before. Mr. Ubale Musa's accreditation was wrongly withdrawn. To

redress the wrong done to him by the withdrawal, we have returned his Villa Press Pass to him so that he can continue his work without hindrance," Mr. Adesina said.

In his brief remarks after receiving his Villa Press Pass, Musa thanked President Buhari and his media team for restoring his accreditation.

He promised that he will continue to do his work as a State House Correspondent objectively, professionally and with due regard for the ethics of journalism.

32 years after, lecturer receives ‘missing’ NYSC certificate Mojeed Alabi

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hirty two years after she observed her mandatory National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, programme and struggled in vain to collect her discharge certificate, Ms. Stephania Ategbe Abibatu Alofuokhai- Ghogomu, was yesterday awarded the certificate by the Corps following a comprehensive report by New Telegraph Newspapers.

Ms. Alofuokhai-Ghogomu, whose job as a lecturer with the Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, had been threatened due to her inability to produce the certificate, was full of praise for the newspaper for what she described as a comprehensive and balanced report of her case.

It would be recalled that New Telegraph had on June 9 published a story entitled; “Row over ‘missing’ NYSC discharge

certificate,” detailing the lecturer’s plight and the difficulties experienced towards accessing her certificate.

Alofuokhai-Ghogomu, who served at the University of Benin, UNIBEN, in the old Bendel State between 1982 and 1983, and was thereafter retained by the institution’s Department of Foreign Languages, and later sponsored abroad for further training.

maritime lawyer, Barr. Chima Nwana, yesterday urged the National Assembly to pass the Bill seeking the establishment of a national transport commission.

The bill, which was introduced in the 7th House and read through first reading is expected to be re-introduced when the 8th Assembly settles down to business.

Nwana made the call at a training workshop organised for stakeholders in the maritime sector on economic regulation in the sector.

It is titled " a bill for an act to establish a National Transport Commission as an Independent Multimodal Economic Regulator for the Transport Industry and for Other Related Matters" The maritime lawyer said the passage of the Bill will increase privatesector participation in the Maritime Sector as he stressed that there was a need to allow stakeholder collaboration with government to improve regulation.

Also a former director at the Ministry of Transport and a member of the Nigerian Shippers' Council, Mr. Collins Okoroafor, in a paper at the Workshop, said Maritime trade alone accounted for 85 per cent of the country's trade and therefore a properly regulated Maritime Sector, would yield a whopping average of N7 trillion on a yearly basis for the government of Nigeria.

"Nigerian Ports is over 35 million tonnes and Nigeria is very active in international Trade."

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

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NATIONAL

Customs target N10bn revenue Abdulwahab Isa ABUJA

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he Nigeria Customs Service could rake in over N10 billion in revenue from the seized textiles materials currently in several warehouses in Kano state.

Already, the Service has commenced assessment of Customs duty and other charges on seized textile materials. The exercise is being coordinated by a Special Task Force comprising operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, a statement issued yesterday in Abuja by customs spokesperson, Wale Adeniyi said.

Adeniyi attributed the directive on collect duty on the textile products to the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dikko Inde Abdullahi, following consultations with the Federal Government and importers of the items.

The imported items are currently discharged in warehouses sealed by the Nigeria Customs Service in various areas of Kano metropolis.

In the first warehouse opened for the exercise, Adeniyi said that 14 importers turned up for assessment and duty payment for their textile

items valued at about N1.5billion in the first week .The importers were expected to pay a combined import duty of N373, 307, 242.16.

The assessment also showed that the goods are liable to the following additional charges: N26,569,253.73 for 7% surcharge, N14,243,212.64 for 1% CISS levy, N6,767,022.49 for 0.5% ETLS levy, N59,154,231.65 for Textile levy, andN95,527,905.15 for Value Added Tax (VAT).

According to the state-

ment, the total revenue payable on the first set of assessment stands at N576,161,369.17. Another set of assessment worth over N600million is pending on the outstanding textiles in the same warehouse.

The assessed items include 20,878 bales of printed African fabrics, 21,980 bales of high grade brocade materials, 6,127 bales of lace materials, 554 bales of polyester materials and 30 rolls of curtail materials.

The Comptroller-Gen-

eral of Customs’ decision to allow the importers of the seized goods pay duty is based on recent fiscal policy review removing textile fabrics from import prohibition list. The move is also expected to shore up Government revenue, which has witnessed a downturn in recent times.

Last month, 75 warehouses of assorted textile materials were sealed up in Kano by Customs antismuggling operatives, following months of undercover operations and

L-R: General Manger, Sales, BMW, Coscharis Motors, Mr. Sola Adigun; Deputy Group Managing Director, Coscharis Group, Mr. Okey Nwuke; Executive Director, Commercial and Government Client, Wapic, Mr. Olufemi Obaleke and General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Services, Coscharis Group, Mr. Abiona Babarinde, at the official launch of the new BMW X6 in Lagos…at the weekend.

PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

APC working against national interest –Senator Adesina Wahab

ADO-EKITI

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he senator representing Ekiti North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Duro Faseyi, has said the All Progressives Congress (APC) has a sinister agenda against the Nigerian masses by the insistence of its leadership on imposing its candidates as the leaders of the National Assembly.

He has therefore cautioned Nigerians to be watchful of the plot being hatched by the APC in that respect.

In a statement in AdoEkiti yesterday, Faseyi, who was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), wondered why the leadership of the APC was unrepentant in its opposition to the clear and unambiguous manner the leaders of the National Assembly were elected into office by their colleagues.

He said that it was against democratic norms for a few APC chieftains to want to control both the lower and upper chambers of the National Assembly at all costs.

He described such moves as very suspicious

and a danger to democracy in the country.

“The latest development in our country is a matter of grave concern because during the 16 years of the PDP leadership of this country, we did not witness this kind of scenario.

“What we have in Nigeria today is dictatorship, but the PDP members in the National Assembly will not fold their arms and watch, but rather continue to fight to promote the right of every Nigerian.

“With our good numbers in both chambers, we will continue to uphold the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and

also prevent any form of imposition as a result of selfish interest of few individuals at the detriment of the electorate,” he said.

Senator Faseyi regretted that the electorate fell victims of the propaganda and deceit of the APC that catapulted the party into power ahead of the PDP. “In the 16 years of PDP in power in Nigeria, there was no time we witness this kind of political turbulence and uproar at both chambers except when the APC wanted to seize power at the House of Representatives through the former Speaker, Aminu Tambuwwal.

Nigerians in Diaspora to protest N’Assembly crisis, jumbo pay Mojeed Alabi

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igerians in Diaspora under the umbrella of the Buhari/Osinbajo Diaspora Organisation (BODO) have threatened to stage mass protest against members of the National Assembly over what they described as overblown salaries and allowances budgeted for its members, insisting that the cost of

activation of local and international intelligence networks.

The warehouses were operated by foreign nationals using a handful of Nigerians as their guarantors.

In view of the organised nature of the smuggling syndicate, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Dikko Inde Abdullahi has called for closer inter Agency collaboration to curb the excesses of foreign economic saboteurs who break our laws with impunity.

governance in the country does not reflect the reality of the economic problems facing the country.

At a media briefing in Lagos by representatives of the coalition of the various independent socio-political organisations, calls were made to President Muhammadu Buhari to take charge of his administration by sending strong signal to

other arms of government of his readiness to cut cost of governance and instill discipline.

Speaking on behalf of the groups, the Convener of the press conference and Coordinator of UK chapter of BODO, Mr. Olu Alakija, said Nigeria no longer has the financial capacity to run a full-time bicameral legislature, while urging the

new administration to also consider the review of the constitution to repeal some of the clauses that places financial burden on the government.

According to Alakija, there is no basis for the appointment of ministers from all the 36 states of the federation while few persons can successfully run the country with the President.

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Chibok girls converted to Boko Haram, say witnesses Mojeed Alabi

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n d i c at i o n s h ave emerged that the 219 abducted Chibok girls may have been forced to join their captors, Boko Haram insurgents, to unleash terror on the people.

This revelation followed an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation by some of the witnesses who claimed to have escaped from captivity after being held for more than six months.

Seventeen-year-old Miriam (not her real name), who claimed she was forced to marry a militant, and now pregnant with his child, had told BBC’s Panorama programme that some of the schoolgirls have been brainwashed and are now carrying out punishments on behalf of the militants.

The testimony, according to the BBC was corroborated by Amnesty Inter national, which it claimed said other girls kidnapped

by Boko Haram have been forced to fight.

Recounting her first days in the camp, Miriam said: “They told to us get ready, that they were going to marry us off.”

CBN decries banks’ attitudes toward customers Dominic Adewole ASABA

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he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday decried the ungainly attitudes of some new generation banks to the plights of their customers whenever they lodge complaints.

The apex bank therefore urged customers with genuine complaints not to hesitate to register such at the Customer Protection Department (CPD) of the CBN, if their banks refused them answers after two weeks, for appropriate sanctioning.

Speaking at the apex bank’s stakeholders’ engagement sensitisation programme, tagged, Promoting Financial Stability and Economic Development, held in Asaba yesterday, the Director (Corporate Communications), Ibrahim Mu’azu said such complaints would be treated as sacrosanct if properly channeled.

He revealed eight basic security features of genuine banknotes, espe-

cially those of the commemorative centenary N100 note to include, the see through coconut feature located on the front of the note’s left corner.

The Director, supported by the Branch Controller (Asaba), Dame Elizabeth Oyibo Agu, who was represented by the Acting Branch Controller, Ikeghagu Hyncinth Chukwudi, said cluster meetings and sensitisation fairs, would be organised from time to time to educate customers on their rights and privileges.

In their separate remarks, the three Directors, Sola Agboola, Osita Nwadisuli and Vincent Uranti, who lectured hundreds of participants on Payments Systems and Consumer Protection, Access to Finance, Financial Inclusion and Clean Notes and Mobile Money Demo, respectively, urged participants to avail themselves of the indigenous technology designed by CBN to solve their everyday financial needs.

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

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Metro

Suspects: Herbalist asked us to kill ex-FUTA’s VC

Babatope Okeowo Akure

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ne of the suspected killers of Prof Albert Ilemobade, former vice-chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Olayemi Bamitale, said they acted on the instruction of a herbalist.

Bamitale and his accomplice, Daniel Ita, were paraded yesterday by the Ondo State Police Commissioner, Mr Isaac Eke, for the alleged killing of the professor of Veterinary Medicine.

The suspect said Ita informed him that the herbalist he consulted earlier said Ilemobade must be murdered for the robbery to be successful.

Bamitale, however, said he was prepared to die for his crime.

He said he knew that “the wages of sin is death”.

The suspect added that since he was guilty of the murder of the 79-year-old professor, he was ready to face the consequence which, according to him, is death.

The 36-year-old man admitted that he was the one who strangled Ilemobade on the night of Sunday last week.

He, however, blamed it on the security man, Ita, who mooted the idea that they could make money if they could steal the late professor’s car.

Bamitale, who spoke in Yoruba, said he was at home in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State when Ita called him that they could make money by stealing the late Ile-

The suspected killers

mobade’s car.

He said: “When he called me, I said I had no money but he said I should come, adding that he would pay for my transport when I got to Akure. He came to meet me at Obanla Junction and gave me N1,000 to pay for my transport. He said I should meet him at Papa’s house at Ijapo by 9pm because I had worked there before as a driver.

“When I got there, he told me that he had gone to his herbalist that said if he wanted to steal

the car, he should kill the man.

He told me that the herbalist said he should bring the sand of the house so that there would not be any problem after that.

“I asked him that the man had slept, how would he come out? He said he would say there is electric spark in the house and once he comes out, we will strangle him. True to his word, he went to the window of the man and told him that there was electric spark in the security post. The man came out

through the kitchen door and we killed him.

“He now suggested that we should take him to the car park.

We now dragged him there so that we could enter the house.

“We went inside his room and saw the key to the car; we took it with two bags, N7,000, two handsets, one laptop computer and one I-pad. We left the house and Ita locked the gate from outside. When we wanted to leave the estate, we saw the security and when they saw

LASTMA clears Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, impounds 50 tankers Muritala Ayinla

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he Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has impounded about 50 tankers on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

This came barely a week after Governor Akinwunmi Ambode inaugurated an enforcement task force to check indiscriminate parking by tanker drivers on Lagos roads, especially in Apapa.

The General Manager, LASTMA, Babatunde Edu (an engineer), who made disclosure, described the action of the agency as part of the moves to ensure the safety of Lagos residents and free flow of traffic in the metropolis.

Edu, who led the rescue team of the agency in conjunction with the Nigerian Navy and the police, said LASTMA had cleared the tankers which were illegally parked and abandoned on Apapa-

File picture of tankers on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway

Oshodi Expressway to keep traffic moving and make the axis accessible to other road users.

According to him, in the

exercise, over 50 trailers were removed from the area in accordance with the administration’s zero tolerance for gridlock and in-

him, they asked us to go.”

Bamitale said thereafter they resolved to take the car to Lagos where they could easily find buyer. He said it was in the process of looking for buyer that they were caught by the policemen.

However, Ita said it was Bamitale who came up with the idea that they should steal the car because he had stolen the car before.

The suspect said if they could steal the car successfully, they would be able to raise enough me to start business of their own.

He said: “Bamitale said this one will succeed and the best way to make it succeed is to kill my boss. I refused. I said he can steal money; he can tie him down but not to kill him. I told him that since I was born, I have never killed anybody. He insisted that if we did not kill the man, he would trace us. I now agreed with him.

“But he said he had no money for transport. I promised to give him money for transport.

It was after 9pm that he called me and I came out to meet him.

He insisted that we must kill the man for us to succeed.

“He told me to call the man out, I stood at his window and I told him about the electric spark. When he came out and I was showing him the place, Bamitale came out and strangled him until he died. He said we should put his body in the store beside the car park and that they would not see him there.”

The police commissioner said the command received information from Ogun State Police Command that the late Ilemobade’s night guard, one Daniel Ita and his former driver, Olayemi Bamitale, had been arrested with the professor’s vehicle, a red Toyota RAV4 with registration number GGE 589 CF in an operation led by the Area Commander of Ijebu-Ode, ACP Mudasiru Abdullah. discipline and also to checkmate the excesses of tanker drivers and restore sanity to the axis.

He said the government would ensure that every citizen had a right to the axis and not only the tankers or trucks carrying containers.

Edu recalled that several efforts had been made in the past to restore sanity and bring back the old glory of Apapa but which had always been truncated by recalcitrant drivers.

He promised that this time around, the enlightenment and enforcement exercise would be a continuous one as the agency would not relent until tanker drivers complied with the government directive.

METRO 11

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

Accident: OOU students go on the rampage Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

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ggrieved students of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, yesterday protested the death of 12 of their colleagues in an auto crash.

They vandalised 11 trucks and goods worth millions of naira at a private manufacturing company, Selplase Limited located on SagamuBenin Expressway.

The students, in their hundreds, also barricaded the highway for about three hours, leading to serious traffic snarl on both lanes of the expressway, thereby forcing many motorists to seek alternative routes.

The action was in protest against the killing of 12 persons on Friday by a truck laden with container, which crushed a Mazda commercial bus conveying some students of the university on the highway.

Dressed in black attire and armed with placards bearing various inscriptions, the protesting students claimed that the DAF truck which killed their colleagues and others belonged to the company.

It was learnt that the students, accompanied by some members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in OOU, had gathered

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The vandalised firm. Inset: Protesting OOU students.

at the accident scene at Ilishan to pray for the victims before the prayer session snowballed into violent attack.

Some of their placards read: “We demand justice for the lost souls,” “OOU mourns, OOU weeps, OOU cries,” “A future lawyer is gone,” “Fresh graduate gone,” “We lost our scientists,” “OOUITES are not chickens. Stop giving us phobia,” and “Police, FRSC, TRACE must be probed.”

In the ensuing pandemonium, the protesting students attacked drivers of two container-bearing trailers and another one laden with cement.

While the two containerbearing trailers escaped amid

the missiles being thrown by the students, the one carrying cement was not lucky as the students vandalised it.

Sensing danger, the driver and his “motor boy” took to their heels.

But tempers rose when the students sighted a nearby manufacturing company and suspected that its plastic chemical drums were similar to those found in the fallen container which caused last Friday’s accident. They headed straight to its premises.

Pleas by policemen and other law enforcement agents to persuade the students not to storm the company fell on deaf ears.

The students broke into the company premises, van-

dalised some of its offices and buildings, smashed window glasses and panes and destroyed 10 trucks already loaded with products and awaiting transportation.

Many workers of the company had to scamper to safety to escape the wrath of the students.

The students hauled abuses and curses at the manufacturing company as well as the truck driver, who reportedly fled upon crushing their colleagues to death.

Earlier at the crash scene, the students observed a minute silence for the repose of the souls of the victims.

They also conducted prayer sessions in Christian and Islamic modes of worship.

Police squad gets machine guns to check robberies Juliana Francis

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etermined to check robbery attacks on banks, the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, have handed over four machine guns to operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Ikeja.

This was as the officer in charge of Marine Police, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), had been arrested and detained on the orders of Arase. It was gathered that the CSP was nowhere to be found when robbers unleashed terror on Ogolonto and escaped through the waterways.

Ironically, the machine guns released to SARS are not from the stables of the police or supplied by the Federal Government.

Rather, the machine guns are from the cache of sophisticated guns recovered from robbery suspects in the past.

A senior police officer said it would be first time that SARS detectives were given machines guns in the history of the force.

Arase and Aderanti arrived at this drastic decision

City Briefs Waiter consumes N442,000 drinks

IG, Arase

Lagos CP, Aderanti

after last Wednesday’s robbery attacks on four banks at Ogolonto area of Ikorodu, Lagos.

Before the incident, the same gang had robbed banks at Lekki and Ijede area of Ikorodu. In the Lekki robbery, the robbers mowed down three policemen and a girl hawking fish.

Arase and Aderanti’s decision was hinged on the fact that most of SARS operatives sent to confront robbers, were being sent on a suicide mission.

The anti-robbery detectives are armed with AK47 rifles, while the robbers are

usually armed with hand grenades, explosives and machine guns.

A police source said: “SARS had never used machine guns before. Usually, it is Marine Police that are given machine guns. They mount such guns on their boats. But on the day the bank robbers struck at Ogolonto, the Marine Police were called repeatedly by the Lagos State Police Commissioner, Aderanti, but he got no response.

“The OC Marine was nowhere to be found. The CP wanted them to use their boats to block waterways and possibly chase the

bandits. On the fateful day of the robbery, policemen attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) raced to the scene in their Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), but many of them ran away when they saw the superior firearms of the robbers.”

It was gathered that two of the machine guns had already been deployed to Ikorodu and mounted at strategic points.

Over 15 plainclothes policemen led by an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) are always patrolling the waterways.

The ASP and his men had been ordered to be there for a month and after that, another batch would relieve them, thus the circle would continue. Aderanti has taken it upon himself to provide feeding for the policemen drafted to the area.

The two remaining machines are kept handy in case of any emergency.

This was even as dozens of policemen had been deployed to follow the trail of the robbers before it goes cold.

A source said that the trail has so far taken the policemen to some states in the South-West.

he police yesterday arraigned a 29-year-old waiter, Daniel Itoro, at a Wuse Zone 2 Senior Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, for allegedly consuming drinks worth N442,000.

Itoro of Mararaba, Abuja, was arraigned on a two-count charge of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation.

The prosecutor, Corporal Monday Akor, told the court that one Mr Onuh Solomon of City Park Garden, Wuse 2, Abuja, reported the case at the Maitama Police Station, on June 17.

Akor said that the complainant entrusted the central bar of the garden to the accused, where he dishonestly “converted drinks worth N442,000 to his personal consumption”.

According to the prosecutor, the offences contravened the provisions of sections 312 and 308 of Penal Code.

The accused, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied the allegations.

The Magistrate, Mr Chukwuemaka Ubani, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with a surety in like sum.

Ubani ordered that the surety must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court and have a means of identification.

He adjourned the case till August 24, for hearing.

God asked me to die, says 70-year-old woman Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

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70-year-old woman, Saratu Rahman, who committed suicide last Wednesday at Offa in Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State, claimed she took the step because God asked her to do so.

“God asked me to commit suicide,” the woman, popularly called Iya Ogbomoso, said before she gave up the ghost.

Rahman made the confession while undergoing treatment which was recorded by some people at the hospital.

The mother of four was said to have used a razor blade to slash her throat and had bled profusely before help could come her way. She spent two days at a private hospital in the community before she eventually died.

Until her death, the deceased had a provisions store in front of her two-bedroom flat near a popular hotel in Offa. In the audio recording, she also said she needed to see one of her sons before she died.

She said: “I am the only one at home nobody came in to kill me. I used a razor blade to commit suicide. Please allow me to die; I do not want to live in this world again. I am tired of this place. My mother please receive me, I am in pains; please let me die. I am not fighting anybody. I am not hungry. I have a shop which I am running and I make money from the shop. God said I should kill myself.”

One of those, who rushed the deceased to the hospital, said it was her scream which attracted neighbours and passersby.

He said: “When we heard her screaming, we got into the room and we saw Mama in her own pool of blood, gasping.

Immediately the police were called. Iya Ogbomoso was rushed to the hospital because she was unconscious.”

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News

SOUTH WEST

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Banire to Buhari: Appoint only people with integrity as ministers Muritala Ayinla

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ational Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Muiz Banire has advised President Muhammadu Buhari, to appoint only Nigerians of impeccable character to work with him to enable the party deliver on its promises.

Banire, who also expressed optimism that the current crisis rocking the party leadership, especially in the National Assembly, would soon be over, said that the party has learnt its lessons from the unfolding developments.

Speaking at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos , Banire urged President Buhari, to shop for the people of impeccable character to work with him, saying that only people who have lawful means of survival would bring about the desired change that Nigerians are yearning for.

He said:”For me, President Muhammadu Buhari must look for the people of impeccable character, people with lawful alternative contact addresses, who have the job that they are doing legally and that people

can prove it that that this is the way this man has been surviving and has been succeful in that regard. Such must be clean people.”

Banire, who described the National Assembly crisis as unfortunate and regrettable, said the party would soon emerge stronger after the crisis.

“I believe we are still

a single family and such challenges do often come but I believe that we can overcome it. There is always a way out of every lock jam. May be we never had enough preparation because if we have we have had enough preparation, such possibly would not have happened. So, next time we will start early.What happened is

unfortunate and regrettable but I am sure we have learnt our lesson. I do not foresee such happening again for the rest of the tenure.”

He said the APC cannot afford to fail Nigerians, saying the messages on the social media showed that Nigerians are watchful and ready to put the government on

its toes.

Banire, however, described as irresponsible, the statement accredited to the Peoples Democratic Party’s Publicity Secretary, Olisah Metuh that the APC is inexperience to govern Nigeria, saying” APC has quality of the people who are tested and experienced in all ramifications.”

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, cuddling a baby boy as he visited a market in Ikere Ekiti…yesterday.

PDP, APC bicker over Osun judge’s petition Adeolu Adeyemo Osogbo

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sun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday lampooned the state All Progressives Congress (APC) over its accusation that the (PDP) was the mastermind of the State High Court, Justice Folahanmi Oloyede’s call for the impeachment of governor Rauf Aregbesola, over unpaid salaries of the state workers.

The state party Chairman, Alhaji Ganiyu Olaoluwa, who described the accusation as baseless, blamed the position of the APC as trying to shift its blame to the PDP. Noting in a statement in Osogbo, he advised Aregbesola to do what was right and stop apportioning blames to innocent people.

Olaoluwa told the APC and Aregbesola to bury their heads in shame and find solutions to the multi-facetted problems confronting his administration as a result of greed, selfaggradizement and misappropriation of funds.

He remarked: “The APC should look for other means of covering its track after Nigerians have seen through their lies.”

FG probes Ado Poly crisis Lagos Assembly to probe six missing LASWA gunboats Adesina Wahab Ado-Ekiti

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n a bid to find a lasting solution to the protracted industrial crisis rocking the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, the Federal Government has set-up an investigative panel to probe the matter.

The panel, led by Mr. Olu Nipede, arrived AdoEkiti yesterday and visited the palace of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe.

This development happened as the leaders of the three industrial unions in the institution are calling on the panel to be fair and allow justice to prevail.

The unions are the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics and NonAcademic Staff Union.

Members of the team, accompanied by the embattled Rector, Dr. Theresa Akande, also visited the office of the Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, Mr Etop John James.

Nipede, while speak-

ing at the palace of Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, said the primary objective of the committee, as set up by the immediate past Minister of Education, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, was to resolve the crisis between the rector and the unions and rescue the polytechnic from destruction.

But the SAANIP and ASUP Chairmen, Dr. OluwoleAyeni and Tunji Owoeye, respectively, who later briefed newsmen, urged the panel to maintain neutrality and ensure that the outcome of its recommendations must go a long way at finding solutions to the crisis.

They said that they had presented an eight-page memorandum attached with 60 documents to the panel to substantiate their allegations of financial recklessness levelled against the rector.

Ayeni, who said the unions had no ill-feelings over the constitution of the investigative panel, described the members as men of impeccable character, who they hoped would not write biased reports.

Wale Elegbede

F

ollowing the recent bank robbery in some parts of the state, the Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday demanded explanation on the whereabouts of the six gunboats purchased by the state government for the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) for patrol of waterways to guarantee security in the state.

Speaking during ple-

nary, the Speaker, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, made this call during the debate on motion regarding the recent bank robbery that took place in Ikorodu, where armed robbers attacked a police station, burnt six vehicles and later escaped through the waterways.

According to Obasa, who was responding to a motion by Hon. Adebayo Osinowo, that the House should set up a committee to probe the whereabouts of the said

gunboats, handed over to LASWA in May 2014, the Speaker noted that it was better to seek for clarification on the issue of gunboats instead of setting up of a committee to probe the matter.

He said he was not sure if the multi- billion naira boats were eventually purchased.

Meanwhile, the Assembly has deferred debate on final approval of the 2015 appropriation for the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Coun-

cil Development Authorities (LCDAs) in the state.

The House took the decision, following the presentation of the chairman of the 6- man Adhoc Committee, Hon. Rotimi Abiru, and dissolution into Committee of Supply, where Abiru read out the report.

On reverting to the plenary, the House consequently adjourned till July 15, 2015, following a motion moved by the Majority Leader, Hon. Sanai Oyeniyi Agunbiade.

Protesters storm Lagos Assembly over land seizure Wale Elegbede

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cores of residents from Labora Owode in Ibeju-Lekki area yesterday stormed the premises of the Lagos State House of Assembly, calling on the House to rescue them from hoodlums who had taken over their land by force, despite court injunction and several complaints and petitions to the police high command.

The residents, who

were led by Mr. Babatunde Olumegbon, Moshood Lanrewaju Rasaq, Chief Najeem Fatai, Ismaila Asimu Fatai, Molikiu Ganiyu, Ademola Samuel, among others, displayed various placards, denouncing the attitude of the hoodlums.

According to them, the hoodlums, who they could not identify or whose sponsors they don’t know, stormed the community accommodat-

ing with well over 10,000 residents in January, wielding various dangerous weapons, including guns and cutlass and attacked people.

Addressing newsmen, Mr. Rasaq, who is their lawyer and also a member of Agbon Busari Royal Family in the area, stated that the hoodlums stormed the community in January, scaring the people with guns and cutlasses, while they carried

out attacks on many residents.

“We reported the matter to the police at Elemoro Police Station, we have written petitions to IGP and others.”

CHANGE OF NAME

YUSUF

I formerly known as AYANNIYI OLUWAFUNMILAYO FLORENCE now wish to be known as YUSUF OLUWAFUNMILAYO FLORENCE. All former documents remain valid.

General public take note.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

Appointment

Umpire

Interview

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15

16, 17

In search of Jega’s successor

Electoral chiefs through the years

Jega brought integrity to INEC, says Okoye

Politics ONYEKACHI EZE takes a look at Prof. Attahiru Jega’s years as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as he bows out today

Jega’s INEC years

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he odds may not have favoured Prof. Mohammad Attahiru Jega as successor to Prof. Maurice Iwu as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when the office became vacant in 2010. It was not because he was not qualified for the position but because of where he comes from.

Though, there is no constitutional provision to that effect, the position of chief electoral officer of the federation, until Jega’s emergence, appeared to have been reserved for southerners.

For instance, since the country’s return to civil rule in 1999, three of Jega’s predecessors – Justice Ephriam Akpata, Dr. Abel Guobdia and Iwu – were from South-South and South-East respectively. Also, the ones who presided over previous elections in the country were from these two geo-political zones.

Among those speculated as possible successor to Iwu were late Prof. Dora Akunyili and Chief Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). Both are from the South-East.

Akunyili’s sterling performance at the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) where she took the war to her own people even at the risk of her life, stood her out as a candidate for INEC chair. Despite serving in the federal cabinet, many Nigerians believed then that Akunyili would rise to the occasion as non-partisan umpire if offered the job.

Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association

AYODELE OJO

DEPUTY Editor, POLITICS ayodele.ojo@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Jega

(NBA) and human rights activist, is known as a man of high integrity, honest, transparent and uncompromising to injustice and wrong.

Jega’s first tenure has since expired. He is expected to leave office today. Though, he had reportedly told British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa service shortly after the March 28 presidential election that he was not interested in re-appointment, the outgoing INEC Chairman might have eaten his words thereafter. Information available revealed that he will be interested if fresh offer is made to him.

But, as no new offer has been made by President Muhammadu Buhari, and there is no indication that such will be offered to him before the end of this month, as the president is just settling down for governance after moving to the Aso Rock on Sunday, June 21, the INEC chair will be vacant today.

This notwithstanding, Jega’s first tenure in office was both eventful and challenging. It was eventful because he has made history as the only chairman of the nation’s electoral umpire since independence who had conducted two general elections in succession. Also, it was during his tenure that technology was used for the first time in the nation’s electoral process. He equally conducted an election where a sitting president was defeated by an opposition can-

As Jega leaves office as chief electoral officer of the federation, his achievements will form a benchmark for his successor to build on

13

didate, and the change of baton was rancour-free.

On the downside of it, it was during Jega’s tenure that election was postponed after electoral materials had already been deployed to the field.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State Chapter, in a statement recently expressed the belief that Jega “should be satisfied with the modest achievements the INEC has made under his watch,” but at the same time warned him not to “try to forcefully lay claim to having performed extremely well.”

One could understand where the Rivers APC chapter was coming from. Having lost the governorship to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), members of the party in the state believe Jega’s counterclaim that elections were held in Rivers State was an “unguarded statement.”

In all fairness, Jega did not claim that the elections INEC conducted when he was in charge were perfect; in fact, he has always said there was still room for improvement.

Two weeks ago, he told electoral officers (EOs) at a retreat in Abuja that there is a lot of room for improvement, adding “and as we move towards the future with all the accolades that we have got for the 2015 general elections, it is time to begin to reflect on what ar-

eas of further reforms we should focus attention on.”

If there is any area Jega’s INEC was exceptional, it was in the reduction in the number of electoral petitions filed before elections petitions tribunals.

According to report, while the 2003 and 2007 general elections recorded 560 and 1, 250 petitions respectively, the 2011 general elections, which Jega presided had only 400 petitions. The number will be far much lesser in the 2015 general elections.

For instance, while two petitions were filed in 2011 against the election of former President Goodluck Jonathan compared to the six filed after the 2007 elections against late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s election, the 2015 Presidential Election Tribunal, if constituted, will have no work to do because no petition was filed before it. In fact, the 2015 general elections were the first in the country where losers (including the president) quickly congratulated the winners. This, according to analysts, was because the people believed the elections were free and fair.

Nonetheless, INEC said most of the court cases arising from 2015 general elections were because of lack of internal democracy in the political parties and last-minute substitution of candidates.

Jega at a stakeholders’ conference in Abuja said the commission is worried about the development, adding that “we have seen cases of substitution of candidates after the primaries. It is a serious problem for INEC. We had several cases in 2011 and the same thing happened in 2015.”

The reduction in the number of election petitions can be attributed to a number of factors.

The first was the introduction of permanent voter’s register. Jega when he assumed office in 2010 said he inherited a voter register which “was bedevilled with many inadequacies such as missing names, missing photographs, multiple registrants, under-age registrants, fictitious names and photographs grafted from almanacs and portraits, among others.”

The voters’ registration he later embarked on was different from the previous ones. It involved the use of laptop-based Direct Data Capture Machines (DDCMs) to capture the biometric data of the voter. This, in the opinion of the INEC Chairman, was that “a credible voters’ register was sine qua non for credible elections.”

In preparation for 2015 general elections, instead of embarking on fresh voters’ registration exercise, which was usually the case, INEC CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

14

Politics

As the search for successor to Prof.

Attahiru Jega as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) begins, ONYEKACHI EZE looks at some qualities the nation’s next electoral umpire must possess

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

In search of Jega’s successor

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he search for successor to Prof. Attahiru Jega as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun.

The seat will become vacant today when Jega’s five-year tenure expired.

Though, there is yet any known lobby for the position, the person that will be chosen as INEC chairman knows that it will not be an easy task.

There is no doubt that Jega has raised the bar on transparent and credible elections in the country.

The two general elections, which he conducted were adjudged as credible, free and fair despite some hitches. Therefore, whoever that will succeed him is expected, not only to maintain the standard, but to surpass it.

What are the qualities expected of the person who will succeed Jega as chairman of INEC? Integrity, honesty, incorruptiblity, exposure, national interest and somebody whose past has not been tainted. Jega is not the only Nigerian who has all these qualities.

Past INEC chairmen also had all these qualities.

What may have separated Jega from his predecessors is the willpower and his independent mindedness.

The outgoing INEC chairman also had the advantage over his predecessors because he worked under a president who did not want to reign his authority over him.

The question against this backdrop is: Will his successor be that lucky?

Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), the coordinating body of all Nigerian political parties, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, said the responsibility of choosing Jega’s successor should not be left to President Muhammadu Buhari alone.

According to him, the position should be advertised so that the Nigerian public will be involved in choosing the suitable candidate, and “where nobody will ‘own’ the person.

“That is why we are advocating for the repeal of the Electoral Act so that the selection can be an open thing,” he said.

Though he said it may be difficult to find somebody who will be like Jega, the IPAC chairman noted that whoever would be chosen should be somebody who is dispassionate and who has the interest to serve the nation. This may be one way of ensuring the independence of INEC. INEC under Jega had such independence, with minimal interference from the government in

Buhari

power. But will the commission continue to enjoy such rare privilege?

Supporting Tanko’s position, Shehu Wahab, INEC Deputy Director who represented Jega at a stakeholders’ meeting immediately after the 2015 general elections, said Nigerians should be concerned and involved in who becomes INEC chairman so as to consolidate on the gains recorded in the last general elections.

According to him, “the composition of the membership of INEC is very critical to the success of elections conducted in the country.”

Wahab charged civil society organisations (CSOs) to beam their searchlight on those to be nominated and ensure that only credible persons get appointed.

Apart from Jega, 10 National Commissioners and 16 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) will retire between June and Au-

Whoever would be chosen should be somebody who is dispassionate and who has the interest to serve the nation

gust this year. This means that, except some of them who are eligible for reappointment are reappointed, almost more than half of INEC management team will be new people.

Since its establishment, no insider has been appointed as chairman. Also, no National Commissioner or REC has been elevated to the position.

There has been calls from some quarters that the next INEC helmsman should come from within the commission so as to ensure that the gains achieved in the past five years were not frittered away.

There is, however, the fear that some of those who served with Jega may be easily compromised and therefore, made to abdicate their responsibilities when put under pressure.

Among the 12 National Commissioners and 37 RECs who served in the outgoing management, only Mike Igini, REC in charge of Edo State, is adjudged to possess the qualities Nigerians are looking for in an INEC chairman.

Igini is regarded as independent minded; he has also shown unparalleled commitment to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections. Unfortunately, he is one of the 16 RECs whose tenure has expired.

At the heat of the last general elections when there was rumoured plan to remove Jega as INEC chairman, because he was allegedly not doing the bidding of the government in power, four National Commissioners were listed as possible acting chairman to supervise the general elections. They were, Dr. Mohammed Wali from Sokoto State, Mrs. Amina Zakari from Jigawa, Colonel Mohammed Hammanga from Adamawa and Dr. Ishmael Igbani from Rivers State. But unlike Igini, no special quality was attached to any of them order than that they worked with Jega.

At the moment, President Buhari appears not to be bothered by who to appoint as Jega’s predecessor. The president is yet to even constitute his cabinet; he has not even laid the foundation for his government.

Though the next general elections is in 2019, some four years away, but the president needs to be reminded that election is a process and not an event. Besides, the Kogi governorship election is towards the end of this year while that of

Bayelsa is early next year.

INEC, after June 30 is not legally constituted to conduct any of these elections. By August, the commission will be reduced to only two National Commissioners and possibly less than 11 RECs, without a chairman.

Section 8(3) of the Decree No 17 of 1998 that established the commission provides for a replacement of INEC chairman in acting capacity for a given period.

The provision states that “during the chairman’s absence on leave or if the Chairman is otherwise not available or is unable to perform his functions, the Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forced may appoint any member of the commission to act as chairman for any specified period.”

It will be recalled that when former President Goodluck Jonathan sacked Iwu as INEC chair in 2010, Prince Solomon Soyebi, a National Commissioner, was appointed as acting chairman before the appointment of Jega.

INEC has 12 national commissioners from which an acting chairman could be picked. But the tenure of six of the 12 national commissioners expires today.

They are Col. M.K. Hammanga (Adamawa State, North-East); Dr. Ishmael Igbani (Rivers State, South-South); Prof. Lai Olurode (Osun State, South-West); Dame Gladys Nwafor (Abia State, SouthEast); Mrs Thelma Amata Iremiren (Delta State, South-South); and Engr. Dr. Nuru A. Yakubu (Yobe State, North-East).

The tenure of four other national commissioners will expire in July and August this year. Dr. Abdulkadir Oniyangi (Kwara State, North-Central) and Mrs Amina Bala Zakari (Jigawa State, NorthWest) will leave office on July 21 while Dr. Chris Iyimoga (Nasarawa State, North-Central) and Ambassador Mohammed Wali (Sokoto State, North-West) will bow out of service on August 11.

Only two national commissioners have longer time to stay in INEC. Ambassador Lawrence Nwuruku has about three years more while Prof. Akinola Salau has about four years to spend in the commission.

The President may pick from the two national commissioners.

But, with the non-composition of the cabinet, naming Jega’s successor may still be on hold.

The man Jega P

rof. Attahiru Jega was born on January 11, 1957 in Jega town, Kebbi State.

He began his early education at Sabon Gari Town Primary School in Jega between 1963 and 1969 before proceeding to Government Secondary School, Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, for his secondary education.

Between 1974 and 1979, Jega attended the Bayero University College, Kano, a campus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria where he graduated with a Second Class Upper Division in Political Science.

He worked as a teaching assistant at the same university before moving to Northwest University, Evanston, Illinois in the United States of America in 1981, on a fel-

lowship and earned a doctorate degree, also in Political Science in 1984. He returned to the Political Science Department in Bayero University in 1984 as a lecturer.

Jega was visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos for one year (March 1992 - March 1993); visiting Research Fellow, Department of Political Science, University of Stockholm, Sweden (1994); Deputy Vice-chancellor (Academic), Bayero University (1995–1996) and director, Centre for Democratic Research and Training, Bayero University (2000–2004).

He was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the university in 2005.

The former INEC chairman came to na-

tional limelight in 1992 when he became President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). He led the union to fight against many anti-labour policies of the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.

Jega was a member of the Justice Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Committee set up by former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

He was nominated on June 8, 2010 by former President Goodluck Jonathan as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following the sack of Prof. Maurice Iwu. He was sworn in along six National Commissioners on June 30 that same year.

Politics 15

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

The expiration of Prof. Attahiru Jega’s term as the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), today, brings to 11 the number of electoral chiefs that have presided over electoral bodies in the country. WALE ELEGBEDE reports Eyo Ita Esua (1960-1966) Esua from Cross River State is the first indigenous chairman of electoral body in the country. He was a teacher and trade unionist. As the chairman of the Federal Electoral Commission (FEC), he superintended over the first post-independence elections of 1964 and 1965 federal and regional elections respectively.

Coming into the electoral body with a high pedigree, so much was expected from Esua by Nigerians but the way the 1964 December elections went left much to desire. Aside internal wrangling that made two members of the electoral commission resigned after serious altercations with Esua, controversies and confusion trailed the parliamentary elections. There was a boycott in some constituencies in Eastern Region, Lagos and Mid-Western Region. When the results were released, Nigerians cried foul, alleging manipulations. There was widespread violence across the nation.

With the parliamentary election already in tatters, by the time the commission conducted the 1965 Western Region elections, all hell was let loose and the centre could not hold again. In fact, few days to the election, a beleaguered Esua admitted the body would never be able to hold free and fair polls. Clearly, the electoral logjam in the country was one of the major reasons for the first military coup spearheaded by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu in which the Sarduana of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello; the Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa and others were killed.

The failed electoral process eventually led to the collapse of the First Republic and the commission was dissolved thereafter. Esua died in 1973.

Michael Ani (1976-1979) By the time the military was ready to conduct elections and hand over power to civilians after 10 years in the saddle, General Olusegun Obasanjo appointed a retired civil servant, Micahel Ani, to pilot the affairs of the newly established Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO).

Ani’s commission conducted the election which ushered in the Second Republic government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari on October 1, 1979. However, the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, rejected the outcome of the election and challenged Shagari’s election in court but lost to Ani’s interpretation of declaration of winner.

The judicial tantrum at the time gave birth to the two-third majority debacle.

Shagari was declared the winner but the popularity and credibility of the electoral umpire before many Nigerians became dented.

Victor Ovie-Whisky (1980-1983) At the time of his appointment by President Shagari, Ovie-Whisky was the Chief Judge of the old Bendel State and he took over from Ani an already smeared FEDECO. Though he claimed to be prepared for the job, he could not

Electoral chiefs through the years

Iwu

Guobadia

Nwosu

Akpata

conduct free and fair polls as the 1983 general elections were marred by irregularities and complaints. Electoral officials were accused of rigging in favour of the then ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN).

Interestingly, the FEDECO chief gave himself and the commission a pass mark in the highly flawed polls, stating that “we did not expect to be perfect.”

Ovie-Whisky repeatedly denied collecting bribe or of any wrongdoing, and when questioned by reporters on whether “water passed under the bridge” in the elections, he said that he would faint if he saw N1 million cash.

With the crisis in the country, the Second Republic was terminated by another military coup that brought General Muhammadu Buhari into power and FEDECO went into extinction.

Humphrey Nwosu (1989-1993) Prof. Nwosu succeeded his teacher, Awa, at the electoral commission. He conducted the June 12, 1993 presidential election, seen as the freest and fairest election and presumed to have been won by the late Moshood Abiola.

Nwosu’s era at the commission heralded the much-applauded voting system of Option A4 and Open Ballot System.

The major black spot on the skin of Nwosu was the failure to announce the result of the election due to a clampdown by the military junta of General Babangida. He was dismissed by the Babangida regime.

Thereafter, Nwosu went into oblivion only to reappear in 2008 with a book where he tried to exonerate Babangida from the cancellation of the 1993 polls.

His attempt was however widely criticized as being too late for the country.

Eme Awa (1987-1989) Prof. Awa from Abia State was appointed chairman of the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON)

by General Ibrahim Babangida. He was a professor of Political Science at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

In his brief stint, Awa’s commission conducted the 1987 local government election, which was poorly managed, with irregularities that included a confused voters’ register and overcrowded polling stations. He, however, resigned from the job in 1989 following disagreements with Babangida.

Okon Edet Eya (June 1993 – November 19, 1993) For many reasons beyond him, his name and tenure may not ring bell to many Nigerians. The renowned Professor of History at the University of Calabar stint was the shortest in the annals of electoral umpire. He spent five months in office.

He was appointed by Babangida to replace the sacked Nwosu after the June 12 crisis. The defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) were asked to present new candidates for the new presidential poll.

But the crisis that greeted the annulment

did not allow Uya room to conduct the election.

The former Ambassador to Argentina, Peru, Paraguay and Chile could not conduct any election before he was sacked by General Sani Abacha on assumption of office.

Sumner Dagogo-Jack (1994-1998) The late General Abacha appointed Sumner Dagogo-Jack from Rivers State as the chairman of NECON. Between 1994 and 1998, he conducted elections for the local government councils and the National Assembly.

Under Dagogo-Jack, NECON registered five political parties which were clearly working towards the answer for Abacha to become the sole presidential candidate of all parties. However, the intended transmutation of Abacha from military to civilian president didn’t see the light of the day following his death on June 8, 1993. Expectedly, the NECON boss disappeared into thin air with the demise of Abacha.

Ephraim Akpata (1998-January 2000) Upon the demise of Abacha, General Abdusalami Abubakar took over the leadership of the country in 1998. He continued with the transition process but with a new electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He subsequently appointed Justice Ephraim Akpata, a retired justice of the Supreme Court as the umpire’s chairman.

In his era, Akpata ensured the registration of the legacy parties that gave rise to the parties of today and his firm insistence that parties must have national spread to contest presidential election engendered the electoral process in the Fourth Republic up until now.

Akpata presided over the election that led to the emergence of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as president in 1999. He was the first electoral umpire to die in office.

Abel Guobadia (2000-2005) After Akpata died in January 2000, President Obasanjo appointed Sir Abel Guobadia from Edo State to complete Akpata’s tenure. As the chairman of the commission, he conducted the election in which Obasanjo secured a second term in office in 2003. The election was marred by low turnout and massive manipulations, especially in the South-West where the PDP swept into power in all six states, except Lagos. He was roundly bashed for conducting one of the worst elections in Nigeria.

Guobadia retired from this position in May 2005 becoming the first Chairman of the electoral commission since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, to complete his tenure.

Maurice Iwu (June 2005 – 28 April 2010) The Professor of Pharmacognosy has an appellation of being the most controversial of the entire nation’s umpire.

Even the late President Umaru Yar’Adua admitted that the election that made him president in 2007 was flawed.

Prior to the election, Iwu declared that only foreign observers will be allowed to monitor the proceedings of the 2007 elections. This stance set him against domestic observers and politicians who defined the decision as a ploy to engage in irregularities and manipulations.

Interestingly, out of 36 gubernatorial elections conducted by Iwu, the judiciary decided the victories of 32 states’ governors. Also, an avalanche of National and State Assembly officials had their elections upturned by the judiciary. The Iwu era was trailed by many allegations and this led to calls for his sack.

On April 28, 2010, the then acting President Goodluck Jonathan removed Iwu as INEC chief.

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Politics

Festus Okoye, the Executive Director of Human Rights Monitor, is an activist lawyer who has been monitoring elections within and outside Nigeria in the last 16 years. In this interview with IBRAHEEM MUSA, the former member of the Justice Muhammed Uwais Electoral Reform Committee did a post mortem on the tenure of Prof. Attahiru Jega, who will bow out as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today The 2015 general elections have been generally adjudged free, fair and credible. Having been monitoring elections in the last 16 years, what do you think was responsible for this measure of success?

In my humble opinion, the 2015 elections were elections of the people. Nigerians people insisted that the elections must be free, fair and transparent. The Election Management Body (EMB) only served as a vehicle for the transmission of the resolve of the people.

There are factors that accounted for the success of the 2015 elections. The first as I have pointed out, is the resolve of Nigerians to have an election that is free and transparent. The second is the personal integrity of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof.

Attahiru Jega. People believed in him, the international community believed in him and Nigerians felt that if an election, under his watch runs into challenges, it is not on the basis of him being compromised. But they may just be on the basis of some issues that are outside his control. So, to that particular extent, Jega brought his personal integrity to bear on the electoral process.

Secondly, there were also some creative innovations which INEC introduced in the electoral system. The commission used the Automatic Finger Print Identification System to clean up, to a large extent, the voters’ register which most Nigerians said was opaque and which contained some fraudulent names.

Thirdly, INEC also introduced, for the first time, the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and insisted that people should surrender the Temporary Voters’ Cards (TVCs) in exchange of PVCs. And the PVC contains some biometric information that domiciles a particular card to the individual that owns the card. The other innovation which also assisted in the success of the last elections was the use of Smart Card Readers (SCRs) for the purposes of verification.

Although it was introduced at a time when the presiding officers and other users have not mas-

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Jega brought integrity tered it, but it went a long way in keeping political elites and some other professional election riggers in check. They didn’t know how to handle the issue of Card Readers. I also think that the use of university lecturers and other professionals in the institutions of higher learning as Collation and Returning Officers added some level of integrity to the process. A university professor possess some level of integrity and competence that is required for our electoral process. So, I think that a combination of all these contributed in no small measure in the success of the 2015 elections.

Let us also not forget the role played by civil society groups and organisations as well as professional organisations in the success of the last elections. I know and I’m aware that civil society groups insisted from the beginning that the media must be allowed to do their work, they also monitored the activities of the political parties and put them in check. Also, on election day, key civil society organisations deployed election observers to almost all the states of the federation. They also used modern technology for purposes of tracking what was going on in the field. I know some organisations that did what we call ‘Parallel Votes Tabulation’; as votes were being tabulated, they were also being recorded in the control room of the civil society groups and organisations. So, to that particular extent, it was very clear that a combination of all these groups and all these measures contributed to the 2015 elections.

To what extent did the civil society groups help in making Prof. Attahiru Jega the INEC Chairman? It was alleged that they insisted on Jega and the government had no option than to appoint him to head the commission.

Two things are very clear; one, Jega was not a novice in terms of governance issues. Jega was President of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) and Nigerians saw how he led that organisation ethically and with a high level of integrity. Secondly, after the 2007 elections, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua went on national television and told the people that although he is the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but he was not proud of the processes and procedures that brought him to power.

He promised Nigerians that he was going to set up a panel or a committee to look into the entire gamut of the electoral process and proffer solutions as to how to restore integrity to our electoral process and to make it conform to international standards. I was a member of the Electoral Reform Committee that was appointed

by Yar’Adua. Jega was a member, Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development was a member. Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Dioceses was a member, so was Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs. General Popoola, former ECOMOG

Okoye

The personal integrity of the Chairman...

Jega brought his personal integrity to bear on the electoral process

Commander, was on that Committee, as well as Prof. Grace AleleWilliams, ex-Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin. And the Committee was headed by Justice Muhammed Uwais, former Chief Justice of Nigeria. We met for one year and three months.

We toured almost every state of the federation and came out with very solid recommendations on how to improve the regime of the electoral process and how to alter some provisions of the constitution that have a bearing on our electoral process.

So, Jega was a product of this particular process. And civil society groups also played a fundamental role in the work of the Electoral Reform Committee. So for me, it was more or less natural, given the push of civil society organisations for a good electoral process and the resolve of Nigerians to move away from stolen elections, it would have been incongruous to have appointed somebody Nigerians did not have faith in. So, the appointment of Jega, to a certain extent, calmed down the civil society groups and organisations as well as the international community that was very angry with the type of elections

that we have been conducting. Jega’s appointment was the logical outcome of the opaque nature of our electoral process. It was also the logical outcome of the push of civil society groups that one of its own and somebody who has some level of integrity, some level of experience, should be appointed to manage the Election Management Body. And the international community also played a key role in that particular regard. Yes, the Electoral Reform Committee recommended a different method of appointing the chairman of INEC, of which Jega subscribed to. But the truth of the matter is that, at the end of the day, the President (Goodluck Jonathan) made a very good choice and that is why we are where we are today. That is why we have a situation where Jega has tried his best.

What will you say will be the biggest challenge of post-Jega INEC? One of the biggest challenges that we have with our institutions, is that we assume that the individual makes the institution.

We wrap the ethical nature of institutions around an individual rather than around the system.

So, the moment the individual

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NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

to INEC, says Okoye was also key to the success of the election?

I agree that credit should also go to the government that appointed Jega as chairman of INEC. But the point that I’m making is that Jega’s appointment and his emergence was because the subjective and objective conditions at that particular time, required that only somebody with his colorations should emerge. But I agree that government deserves some credits in terms of appointing Jega.

On the issue of blank cheque, because of Jega’s closeness to civil society groups, we knew what the challenges within the commission were. I agree, the government was receptive in making him succeed but at the same time, civil society groups and organisations also pushed to make sure that issues of funding and logistics did not hamper the operations of INEC. I think that the government contributed and the international community as well as multilateral institutions and agencies also contributed in making sure that Jega got what he wanted. So, anytime that there are very serious challenges, Jega, INEC National Commissioners and even Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) used their leverage within civil society organisations, to place some of these issues on the agenda. So much noise was not made in relation to some of these issues but there was a push to make sure that financial issues didn’t cripple the operations of INEC.

goes, all the things that have been put in place will just evaporate.

What Jega has done and what he has tried to do, is to break down the Election Management Body in such a way that it can run on its own, whether or not he is the chairman. He tried to a certain extent to build an institution. But building an institution is not a one-day affair, neither is it a fouryear affair. It is really a continuous thing. So, one of the challenges that we will have is one; how to sustain the fundamental reforms that are already in place, that are somehow inchoate, that have not been completed within the EMB. And how do we still retain the confidence of Nigerians within the institutional framework of INEC. These are the challenges that the new administration and the new president has going forward.

Most Nigerians don’t seem to give the Jonathan administration credit for the 2015 elections. While enumerating the factors that led to the success of the last election earlier, you also did not mention that the last administration gave Jega a blank cheque to operate. The government promptly acceded to all his funding demands. Don’t you think that

Do you agree when people point out that Jega had the advantage of being the longest serving INEC chairman, that was why he succeeded? They argued that he had the benefit of learning from his mistakes because the 2011 elections were not as credible as that of 2015.

For me, the success of Jega was a collective one. I know as a fact, that some of the National Commissioners supported him in everything he did. At critical times, they rallied round him and supported Jega. Of course, there is a possibility that one or two of them did not share his vision but majority of them did. Some RECs did not share his vision and acted outside the electoral system because the constitution gave them a level of lee-way to act independently.

The National Commissioners and RECs are appointed the same way. So, the Chairman of INEC or the National Commissioners can’t remove a REC; they can only exercise cosmetic disciplinary control and actions by removing him from one state or the other or by not giving him sensitive responsibilities. So, I feel that the issue of RECs and their role within the Electoral Management Body must be reviewed going forward.

The Anambra election is one of the few blots in Jega’s record because there was confusion during the exercise. You monitored the election, can you give Nigerians a first-hand account of what happened?

There was problem in only one local government. The biggest is-

sue in the Anambra election was that the EMB did not communicate well. Because the impression was given as if the challenge was a state-wide challenge but the challenge was only in Idemili North Local Government. Secondly, INEC did not communicate to Nigerians what a supplementary election was all about. They assumed that the people understood what they meant. They allowed politicians with grudges and people who had not read the law, to go on air to say that supplementary election was a fraud and that there was no provision for it in any of our processes. But the truth of the matter is that in the senatorial election that brought Chris Ngige to power, there was a supplementary election. Before the 2015 elections, the election that brought Rochas Okorocha to power was a supplementary election; the first election was inconclusive and there was a supplementary election.

The new chairman should be an institution builder... He must also be a risk taker; taking risk on behalf of Nigerians

Another criticism against INEC was test-running a new device like the Card Reader in a major election like the last one. In fact, former President Jonathan had to wait for about 30 minutes in order to be verified.

Do you think it was wise for INEC to have sprung such a device on the electorate?

Prof. Jega was a member of the Electoral Reform Committee. And one of the things that we insisted on, was that the time has come for the use of technology in our electoral process. We recommended that the use of technology should be introduced gradually. And in doing so, we should do two things.

One, canvass for the deletion of 52(2) which prohibits the use of electronic voting machine in our election. Two, that we should use smaller elections like local government elections and by-elections in order to introduce new technologies into the electoral system. We didn’t and never recommended that technology should be introduced from top to bottom. But I think that, given the exigencies of the period and INEC really wanted to weed out ghost voters and also domicile each voter to a particular voting unit, they found it expedient to introduce the use of Card Readers in the elections.

The logic of introducing the Card Reader at the base level before introducing it at the national level, played out during the presidential election. Basic issues that ought to have been detected, if it was started at the base level manifested during the big elections, like the removing of the foil cover of the Card Reader and proper application of the Card Reader, the issue of proper training of the electoral officers on the Card Reader and so on. So, I think that it was not good enough that the Card Reader was introduced for the first time in a national election. But I think that it is a learning process and whatever lessons there are to be learnt in relation to the Card Reader has been learnt.

As Jega bows out today, what manner of person do you want to succeed him as INEC Chairman?

There are things that need to be done in the Election Management Body. Jega tried to create additional polling units too close to an election and political jobbers distorted it. So, this is the time to conclude this process. Constituency delimitation needs to be done. There have been various movements within our constituencies and states, so we need to readjust our constituencies so that they will be in the manner and fashion recommended by the Constitution. This has to be sorted out. The third issue is that we need to give effect to what the law says about continuous voters’ registration, where the local government office of INEC will be empowered so that whenever a person attains the age of 18, he can just walk into the office and register as a voter. We should desist from this ad hoc thing that we do after a period and we shut everywhere down. There is also the issue of party agents. The law says that no person should go near the polling unit as a polling agent if he has not been accredited by INEC. In fact, Section 45 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, insists that each political party may, by notice in writing addressed to the electoral officer of the local government, appoint a polling agent for each polling unit and collation centre in the local government for which he has a candidate, and a notice shall be sent out and the name and address of the polling agent given to the electoral officer at least seven days before an election. We do not want the situation where anybody will just go to any polling unit and pretend to be a party agent. And when the person engages in electoral fraud or irregularity, there is no way of knowing him.

The new chairman must also lead the process of constitutional alteration and amendment. One of the big issues is in relation to the amendment of section 132 of the Constitution. The section makes it clear that for a candidate to be returned as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he must score majority of lawful votes cast in the election and also one quarter of the votes cast in two-thirds of all the states of the federation. It says that in default of the candidates meeting these two conditions, there will be a second election which will take place within seven days from the date of the declaration of the results. The Election Management Body has made it very clear that they don’t have the personnel to re-mobilise within a period of seven days. And that their processes cannot accommodate that and they have suggested that the Constitution should be amended to make it 21 days. It’s a national imperative, so we need a chairman that will lead the drive towards this constitutional alteration and to complete the amendments made to the electoral act.

So, what I’m saying is that the new chairman should be an institution-builder. Somebody who is ready to consolidate on the achievements that have been made. He must also be a risk taker; taking risk on behalf of Nigerians in terms of improving the regime of electoral process. He must also possess a level of personal integrity and not pander to any of the interests. If we can get somebody who has some of these qualities, the electoral process will continue to grow.

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TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion Oko Poly: Matters arising John Obodoeze

N

ow that the ministerial panel set up by the former Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shakarau to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the protracted crisis rocking the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State is writing the report of its findings, the staff and students of the school as well as the host community are happy that the panel was made up of people of high integrity from various ministries and organizations. One of the issues that initially agitated the minds of the public was the venue of the panel’s sitting. The people had expected the panel to sit at a neutral venue, because a situation whereby the management which was being investigated provided tea, logistics and perhaps lunch for members of the panel leaves much to be desired.

However, one believes that the members of the panel would be guided by current mood of the country as well as the royal advice given to them by the traditional ruler of the town, HRH Prof. Laz Ekwueme when they visited him in his palace. The monarch advised the panel members not to be influenced or swayed by anybody instead they should work according to their conscience based on the facts before the panel.

People are again happy that at least the problems which pit the management of the school against the staff of the school on the one hand and the management of the school against the host community would be made known to the government and the world for the first time since the

“Mighty Igor” (apologies to former Governor Martin Elechi) in the presidency who was shielding the impunity perpetrated by the rector during the last administration is no longer there. As both the government and the public await the report of the panel, the members should not lose sight of the fact that time is of the essence in submitting their report because it beats one’s imagination as to why a panel that was first announced in February with two weeks deadline to submit its report is still writing the report in June. Nevertheless, the panel can still justify the good intention of the then Honourable Minister of Education, in finding a lasting solution to the problems besieging the institution by addressing the following key issues: Why is the rector having a list of endless enemies both real and perceived? First of all, it is evidently clear that there is no love lost between the rector and the founder of the institution, His Excellency Dr. Alex Ekwueme, whose portrait was suddenly removed from the polytechnic auditorium where it was hung. Why was the annual lecture which was instituted in his honour, without his asking for it in the first instance, suddenly stopped? One is completely at a loss as to why the management should mete out such shabby treatment to such a highly respected elder statesman and former Vice President of the Federal republic of Nigeria. Is it because the last administration from which the rector got his absolute power had no respect for elder statesmen, some of whom the administration officials referred to as either “brain dead” or “motor park tout”.

Why is the management having issues

with the traditional ruler of the host community, His Royal Highness Igwe Professor Laz Ekwueme who was prevented by the police on the orders of the polytechnic management from having a town hall meeting with his subjects? Why was he later chased out of his palace with his property completely vandalized? Why is the management of the school having issues with the town union led by Mr. Cyprian Nwamuo whose employment with the school was terminated because he granted an interview to a magazine where he asked the rector to emulate heads of other institutions of higher learning instead of romanticizing with PDP stalwarts across the Southeast and South-south. Why is the school having issue with the women wing (Umuada Oko) of the town union, who last year danced naked in front of the school calling for the rector’s removal? Why is management having issue with the former Chairman of the Governing Council who violated the polytechnic Act to employ the rector despite his not being qualified going by the template which stated that anybody who wants to be a rector MUST specialize in a discipline that is taught in the polytechnic system? Why is the rector having issue with the director of medical services, Dr. Linus Nwankwo, who mobilized the people of Old Aguata Union (OAU) to see to it that the rector got his present appointment? Why did he pay him back with removal from his position? Why is the rector forcing the registrar to proceed on terminal leave whereas he did not proceed on such leave when his first term ended instead he went ahead to obtain his so-called second term through surreptitious means?

Why did the rector remove the director of

works and the deparment, which is a creation of an Act disbanded? Why is the rector having issue with his initial supporters who have since distanced themselves from him? Why did the management compile a list of 56 lecturers whom the rector accused of belonging to the then opposition All Progressives Congress, APC and send to Abuja for possible termination of their employment had the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP won the presidential election?

Why is the management having issue with the various staff unions on campus? Why did the management annul the election of the student union president which was won by a student the management did not sponsor? Why did the rector employ the husband of one of the Governing Council members and even made him one of his personal assistants? Does the wife have the moral right to continue to sit at the Council chambers? Why should the management dictate to the unions on campus who should contest for the leadership of staff and student unions?

The ability of the members of the panel to provide answers to these posers will, no doubt, go a long way in allaying the fears of members of both the polytechnic and host communities who were recently fed with the ugly rumour that the panel members had been compromised. Their fear was even heightened by the announcement made by the priest in-charge of a Catholic church in the school on Sunday June 6, 2015. The priest had told the bewildered congregation that nothing meaningful would come out of the panel’s visit.

• Obodoeze wrote in from Abuja.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Kingibe @ 70 FOR some inexplicable reasons I am more fascinated by the baritone voice of Ambassador Baba GanaKingibe than his personality, he seems to have a voice more reassuring than really making things happen. The very first time he spoke to me, his eloquence and oratory left me more reassuredbefore finally meeting him.A very colourful politician and diplomat, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe turned 70 recently. The story of Kingibe is one of resilience, commitment, doggedness and of course, grass to grace. For a man orphaned quite early in life (his mother died when he was four and father died when he was 15) to have attained the pinnacle of his career as a permanent secretaryand most importantly lived a privileged life speaks volume of God’s favour in a life, otherwise common. Born on June 25, 1945 in Maiduguri, Borno State. He was named after his father’s best friend, Abubakar, a bricklayer who had a great influence on his life. He acquired the name Baba Gana (literally means little father in Kanuri) because those who respected his name sake, could not call him Abubakar. His father, a one time cobbler, later became anative authority pay clerk during the colonial era.

He has continued to offer himself for national service, as he served on the Justice Belgore Committee on the review of the Constitution and more recently asa member of the inauguration committee that midwifed the recent handover of government from former President Goodluck Jonathan to President Muhammadu Buhari. I must confess his is a service dedicated to fatherland and promotion of humanity. In almost all his forty years of public service, Kingibe has never been linked to any allegations of corruption or self-enrichment. He is one of the most decent and incorruptible Nigerians in public life.

His humility is endearing even in spite of his attainment in life.

Fatherly, humane, accessible and generous to a fault. Kingibe is a study in silence and a very detailed personality. He has been a lecturer, broadcaster, an ambassador, permanent secretary, minister and secretary to the government of the federation, in all, his contribution to national development is commendable and will continue to be in our history. He is a friend and friend indeed and a friend in need to all, including many that he never knew. Happy birthday Baba!

•Badejo Nurudeen, Lagos.

The dangerous divide THE 2015 general elections have come and gone leaving prints on the sands of Nigeria’s history. A large number of Nigerians actively got involved just to ensure their candidates emerged victorious. Many were desirous to see the country led by the best hands irrespective of religion and ethnicity; some others were motivated by monetary gains and gifts they received from the contestants with little interest in the quality of leaders that emerged winners.

The latter group could only wish that elections were conducted more regularly so they could amass wealth even at the detriment of the country.

One fact that stands out is that the political consciousness has risen among Nigerians and more prominently among the youths.

The divide is no longer restricted to one’s ethnicity or religion but consciously or sub-consciously, Nigerians are torn apart politically. The youths have not helped matters with the

constant vitriolic exchange of comments on social media with each trying to shove his opinion down the throat of others. In today’s Nigeria you are either agitating for your ethnic group to be adequately represented; lobbying hard to have someone of the same religious faith at the helm of affairs or pushing beyond boundaries that your party takes it all and painfully this is the legacy our leaders are bequeathing to the youths.

This has led to increased tension among youths creating unnecessary enmity and exhibiting a high level of intolerance leading to friends blocking themselves on social media and deleting accounts of others who do not share their political ideology. Another aspect of the social media drama is the verbal attack and direct insults youths pour on opposition leaders who are old enough to father them but in the words of an angry friend, “What respect do you show an elder who has stolen from

you?’’ One can only admit that the leaders have failed the youths and present happenings are the realities of a failed state.

For some of us, this burning anger expressed by the youths would only be justified if they have sincere motives but unfortunately the politicians understand the game and know the carrots to dangle to make the youths their stooge.

Unfortunately some of us have refused to put the events of the last election behind us instead we prayerfully anticipate failure from those with good intentions because we do not share any affiliation. Nigerians must look past the results of the election and in the Jonathanian spirit; support the men with good intentions irrespective of their divide. If we must achieve the Nigeria of our dreams, we must accept the fact that we are first Nigerians and as a Nigerian, I belong to any state under the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

• Buwa Memeh, Lagos.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

19

EDITORIAL

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Protecting President Buhari

here is just something between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Secret Service,whether as the Nigeria Security Organisation (NSO) or the Department of State Security[DSS], originally known as State Security Services[SSS]. Barely one month into his presidency, there is unhealthy security rivalry in Aso Villa.

Last week, President Buhari’s Aide de Camp[ADC], Lt.Col Muhammed Lawal Abubakar, issued an order distancing the DSS from the inner parts of the Presidential Villa. The operatives have also by that directive, ceased to offer personal protection to the President and his family.

Instead, military body guards will now form a new network around the country’s leader.

While it is safe to assume that under the new dispensation, change is no more a slogan but the way to go, it is also dangerous to allow change to be turned upside down. The personal security of President Buhari no doubt should bother his ADC. It becomes worrisome when the officer undermines protocol in the discharge of his duty.

SSS operatives, by the nature of their engagement are better trained in handling personal security than soldiers. Beyond defending our ter ritorial interg rity and going to war if need be, soldiers are more useful in conventional combat methods.

There is the Military Intelligence, no doubt. However, that branch of the Army does

not do exactly the job of the Secret Service.

There are many ways to defend the president. It is not only about carrying machine guns and service pistols.

“The SSS is also charged with the protection of the President, the Vice President, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, state governors, their immediate families, other high ranking government officials, past presidents and their spouses, certain candidates for the offices of the President and Vice President, and visiting foreign Heads of state and government.”

Since we are copying the Americans, we also to look at their system. It took the death of 25th President,William Mckinley, to give the Secret Service the huge role they play in that country till date.

The President was shot by Leon Czolgos on September 6, 1901 in Buffalo, New York.

He died from gangrene eight days later, as a result of injury from the .32 calibre revolver.

Vice President Theodore Roosevelt assumed office and in 1902, the Secret Service, following request by Cong ress, assumed responsibility of offering protection to the President of the United States. The secret Service which emerged in 1865, waited for 36 years, to work with the Commander- in- Chief of the armed forces.

The SSS was also commissioned in Nigeria, following the assassination of Gen. Murtala Mohammed, in 1976. It

was created courtesy of Decree 27 and known as the Nigeria Security Organisation[NSO].

That name remained until the 1985 coup that ousted Maj. General Buhari. His successor, Ibrahim Babangida disbanded the NSO and promulgated decree 19 of 1986 which decentralized the body. Three agencies were set up. The SSS, National Intelligence Agency[NIA] and the Defence Intelligence Agency[DIA]. The SSS was given the responsibility of overseeing domestic Intelligence.

Babangida was not at home with the NSO under Buhari, especially the Director General of the Agency, Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi who like the deposed Head-of- State, hailed from Katsina state. NSO cells were flung open and all manner of detainees set free. Rafindadi was whisked away and spent the next three and half years in detention.

History has a way of repeating itself. The Secret Service Chief under Gen. Buhari was Mohammed Lawal Rafindadi.

Today, President Buhari’s ADC is Muhammed Lawal Abubakar. It could be mere coincidence, or more of an irony. One defending the Secret Service against top military officers, the other demeaning the secret service before the military.

While we agree that the personal security of Mr. President must take precedence over other considerations, it is our strong belief that there is no need to create disaffection among the different services.

There is a reason for the armoured limousines and SUVs

operated by the SSS. They are for the safety of the President, Vice President and visiting dignitaries.

President Buhari is a democratically elected president, he is not a military dictator and this country must not be reminded of the days of jackboot impunity. The SSS have their role spelt out, the army should also respect protocol. There are so many duties beyond our borders and within, calling for attention. We should give unto Caesar what is Caesars.

There are rules of engagement and functions are clearly spelt out. The SSS does not have the capacity to defend Nigeria’s territorial integrity. In the same vein, the army under the present internet dispensation, does not have what it takes to play the dual role of defending the country from external aggression and offering high-tech protection to the Commanderin-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic.

It would be a great risk to send the police air wing to Bama or Monguno, to engage Boko Haram fighters simply because they have pilots. In the air, we know the Air Force will never be at sea. The Navy have warships but no strategist will move them to Lake Chad simply to create a sea battle.

In this era of change, we demand that things be done properly. Less politics should go into governance. All the services complement each other. President Buhari needs to fasttrack some key appointments to run his administration before personal dictates override his positive Action Plan.

DAILY TELEGRAPH PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief

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20

Politics

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Dissecting Jega’s INEC years CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

simply relied on its 2010 register. The commission also opted for Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) exercise to capture those who have attained the age of 18 years and above between 2010 and 2015 as well as others who missed the previous exercise. This was to underscore the success of the 2010 registration exercise.

Other features were also introduced in attempt to ensure the credibility of the voters’ reg-

ister. These include the issuance of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) to registered voters; the use of Advanced Fingerprint Identification Software (AFIS) to detect and eliminate multiple registrations and the introduction of card reader machines.

But it was in the security features INEC introduced in the production of ballot papers and ballot boxes that helped greatly to reduce election malpractices. The serial numbering and colour-coding of the ballot papers on

constituency basis as well as unique serial numbering and identification for ballot boxes makes ballot box snatching unattractive.

In the 2015 general elections, INEC introduced other innovations to discourage rigging and other electoral offences. The card readers were used to read the electronic chips in the PVC to help identify the person whose biometrics appeared on the card.

And to further enhance the integrity of the electoral process, profes-

sors and university vice chancellors were used as returning officers while audio-visual recording and live media coverage were adopted during the collation and the announcement of election results.

Though, the chief returning officer is still vested with the power to announce the final result of the election and declare a winner, INEC directed that results at polling units should be announced immediately after collation. In this way,

it becomes difficult for the figure to be falsified at the next stage of collation.

The acceptance of the outcome of the presidential poll by President Jonathan few hours while collation was still underway was attestation to the credibility of the election.

Some governorship candidates who lost to the opponent also took a queue from the president. The 2015 general elections may turn out to be the less disputed poll in Nigeria.

As a human being, Jega had his own weak-

ness. This may not be of his own making but this was misinterpreted as partisanship.

The initial hiccup regarding the use of DDCMs during the 2010 voters’ registration is one of them. There was also the delay in the distribution and collection of PVCs during the 2015 general elections. Jega equally came under attack when the commission decided to create additional 30,000 polling units in the country. And then, the decision of INEC to deploy card readers for the last general elections.

All these were misinterpreted and given political meanings.

On April 2, 2011, Jega announced the postponement of the first set of the general elections, the National Assembly due to what he blamed on “serious logistics problems” in several states. This was after some states had already received all the materials.

The most notable of the problems was the late arrival and unavailability of result sheets.

INEC and the nation were saved similar embarrassment during the conduct of the 2015 general elections following the problem encountered in the distribution and collection of PVCs. The military had to come to the commission’s rescue, forcing it to postpone the conduct of the elections by six weeks because of its planned military campaign against Boko Haram insurgents in the North East.

Director, Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said over 23 million eligible voters who had not collected their PVCs would have been disenfranchised if the general elections were not postponed. He challenged Jega to be honourable and transparent enough to publish accurate information on the state of PVCs distribution across the country.

He accused Jega of trying to rig the presidential election for the APC, alleging that the INEC Chairman held meetings with APC stalwarts in Dubai and other cities in the world to perfect how to rig the election for the party.

As Jega leaves office as chief electoral officer of the federation, his achievements will form a benchmark for his successor to build on. No doubt, Nigeria has not had such transparent and credible electoral process as witnessed in the last two elections. There may be some flaws here and there but generally there was great improvement from the past.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY JUNE 30, 2015

Arts

E

dwards recalls with nostalgia how her early exposure to cultural programmes on NTA and watching good films influenced her passion for drama and theatre.

“I enjoyed watching the NTA Network cultural program that came on air every Saturday morning,” she says.

“In addition I have always had a natural flair for the Arts.

My dad had a collection of turn table records and we watched good films together as a family occasionally,” she added.

So how did her parents take her decision to study drama instead of Law and Medicine?

Although my mum would always use stylish ways to suggest law or medicine to me and sometimes when she thought I wasn’t getting the message clear enough she’d go very direct, things played out differently and so I had to go for diploma in Theatre Arts at the University of Benin. Initially, she took it quite well because of the plan to switch to another course later on at direct entry admission stage into the university but when the time came to do so, I changed my mind because I had fallen in love with Theatre Arts. My dad is quite a liberal sort of person and usually would encourage us in whatever good decisions we made. My Mum later realised that Theatre Arts entails a lot more hard work than she had initially thought and today, she is one of my biggest fans.

If you weren’t an actor, what would you have been?

I definitely would have been a female soldier. I love military discipline. Probably because I watched too many Police Academy series.

How has it been, acting, writing and coaching children?

It has been so much fun for me. The work is huge but it has been so much fun all at the same time. I get a lot of ideas just by listening to them speak or watching them. They are a huge blessing. My children work with me and do a lot of voice acting and voice over

TONY OKUYEME Arts Editor tony.okuyeme@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

21

CULTURE

There is huge need for children’s theatre – Edwards Bola Edwards is an actor, writer, dancer, voice talent, entrepreneur, and creative designer. The CEO of Proud African Roots Limited, a content providing company for children and teenagers, Bola’s love for children and for the propagation of African culture led to her establishment of Grandma Wura Playhouse Academy. She told EBERE AMEH how it all started and the huge need for Children’s Theatre, after one of her recent school outreaches as Grandma Wura. Excerpts scripts as well.

Why did you go into Children Theatre and where do you hope to take it?

I went into Children’s Theatre and content making because there is such a huge need for it in Nigeria. Content making for children has taken the back seat for far too long and that in itself is disastrous to a nation. Children are seeds and the future of a nation. Whatever we invest in them today is what we will get tomorrow; good or bad. This is why as parents we must take time out to ensure that our children and teenagers are watching and listening to the right things and the right people. Today, our children behave more western and have no clue of our positive cultural values which even foreigners admire about us and our languages are gradually going extinct. Through drama children can be educated about positive values and their cultural heritage; and no matter how far they go from home they never forget who they are. Drama helps to develop their cognitive skills because it is hard to forget what they’ve learnt when they take part in creative learning activities.

Can you say you are fulfilled?

I have never felt more fulfilled. I initially worked in the corporate world; first, with a Marine Company and then, an Airline Company. Although I learnt a lot during those years which I now apply to my business, I remember feeling so unhappy going to my job every morning and would always pray that one day I would resign.

Sometimes I am up working late and happy to do what I do.

Tell us about Hear Word. How does it feel working with Fafunwa and all those great actors?

Working with Mrs Fafunwa has been such a huge privi-

Edwards as Grandma Wura in preformance for students

Through drama children can be educated about positive values and their cultural heritage

lege and such a blessing. She pushes you out of your comfort zone and pulls out inner qualities you never imagined you possessed. Coaching sessions with her entails a lot of hard work but it is so worth it.

Working with actresses like Aunty Joke Silva, has been such a dream come true and that has exposed me to working with other wonderful veterans which in itself has been such a delightful privilege too.

The Hear Word experience gave me a whole new mind set about monologues and the power they actually possess and as an actress I have been taking advantage of that.

Watching you act in Hear Word, one could see that you have passion for what you do. What really drives you?

The need to heal the world CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

22

Arts

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Crown Troupe rounds off anniversary, explores Kongi’s Harvest Tony Okuyeme

O

ne of the leading Lagos-based theatre companies in Nigeria, the Crown Troupe rounds off its 19th anniversary celebration with stage presentation of Wole Soyinka’s Kongi’s Harvest, on Sunday, July 5th and 6th, 2015, at Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Written in 1965 written by Wole Soyinka, the play premiered in Dakar, Senegal, at the first Negro Arts Festival in April 1966, and it was later adapted as a film of the same name, directed by the American Ossie Davis.

The is about President Kongi, the dictator of an African developing nation, who is trying to modernize after deposing King Oba Danlola, who is being held in detention. Kongi demands that Danlola present him with a ceremonial yam at a state dinner to indicate his abdication. Daodu, Danlola’s nephew and heir, grows prized yams on his farm.

Daodu’s lover Segi owns a bar where Daodu spends most of his time. She is revealed to have been Kongi’s former lover.

As the different tribes are re-

sisting unification, Kongi tries to reach his goal by any means necessary, including forcing government officials to wear traditional African outfits and seeking advice from the man he deposed.

In a climactic scene at the state dinner, Segi presents Kongi with the head of her father.

Founded June 1996, the Crown Troupe of Africa, led by Segun Adefila, is a dance-theatre company comprising artistes whose forte is the creation of new but socially relevant works, and who share a common belief in the viability of the arts as a tool for social re-engineering, a major motive of our dedication to creating works that are socially relevant, thought provoking and empowering.

The Troupe is famous for their ground breaking, unique and innovative rendition of works which are flexible enough to be performed in conventional and unconventional performance spaces.

Crown Troupe of Africa began its 19th anniversary celebration with stage presentation of ORISIRISI- Skits: Play Your Part and Our Area, on Sunday, June 7th at Lekki Waterside Theatre, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

Post-Negritude: Conference on Osofisan calls for papers Tony Okuyeme

A

s part of activities to mark the career of distinguished African dramatist, theatre practitioner and cultural scholar, Prof. Babafemi Adeyemi Osofisan, who will turn 70 on June 16, 2016, an international conference is being planned to honour and celebrate his achievements and contributions to world theatre and scholarship.

To reflect the interdisciplinary contributions of Osofisan to the academy, and his use of African performance culture to expose societal ills through drama, the conference which would hold at the Conference Centre, University of Ibadan from June 13 to 17, 2016, is inviting papers by scholars exploring the work of Osofisan and drama, music, dance, gender issues, poetry and literature from a range of perspectives.

According to the organisers, themes include, but not limited to, The Drama and Theatre of Femi Osofisan; Femi Osofisan and Performance of Poetry in Nigeria; The Culture of Adaptations and Re-readings in Nigerian Drama; African Diasporan Cultural Encounters: the nature of classics; The Classical Tradition and Influence on Nigerian Literature; Dance and Music in the Drama of Femi Osofisan; Fiction and Popular Journalism in Nigeria; Film and Television: The Visitors Series of Detective Drama; Film and Television: Nollywood; Arts Management and Cultural Administration.

Osofisan’s plays have been performed in many countries, where he has also held teaching or research fellowships, including Japan, Sri Lanka,

Ghana, Lesotho, China, U.S., Canada, U.K., France, South Africa. His plays are also the most produced in Nigeria.

Osofisan is a founding member and Literary Editor of the first Editorial Board of The Guardian, Lagos (1983-84).

Deadline for Abstract is December 16, 2015. All abstracts to be sent to femiosofisan2016@gmail.com.

Conveners of the conference include Dr. Tunde Awosanmi, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan; Dr. Olakunbi Olasope, Department of Classics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan; Mr Jahman Anikulapo, Artiste and Culture Advocate, Nigeria; Dr. Sola Adeyemi, University of Greenwich, London, UK.

Prof. Osofisan

‘There is huge need for children’s theatre’ CO N TI N U E D FROM PAGE 21

through storytelling actually drives me. I know it sounds crazy to so many but the truth is, stories are gifts to us. Man is naturally wired for stories.

Whenever you need to communicate or teach something that would not be forgotten all you need do is put it in a story and that is it. Our fathers tried it and it worked; it still works. I encourage parents to try it.

You have featured in a good number of productions, which can you say is the most challenging and why?

That was when I travelled with Aunty Joke Silva, Uncle Olu Jacobs, Late justice Esiri and so many other veterans for the play The King Must Dance Naked by Fred Agbeyegbe and directed by Professor Bayo Oduneye during the 2012 London Olympics. I had gone as a cast member playing a minor role and as a dancer but plans changed when we got to London.

Aunty Joke Silva needed to leave for Nigeria earlier than scheduled and so she had asked me to take on her major role as Queen Odosun, within a short period of time. She had only just begun to know me at the time and so the faith she had in me to deliver especially in her absence was a very humbling process for me. I prepared and worked relentlessly at it and to God be the glory, it was a tremendous success.

Proud African roots, what do you plan to achieve with it?

Proud African roots is a content creating company which uses African indigenous ideas in creating and developing contents for children and their families.

My husband and I are founders of Proud African Roots and as social entrepreneurs we are presently working on a project called “Back to My Roots” which is geared towards raising a new generation of leaders that are equipped with the right values for leadership. Basically, we are bringing back lost values to society; back to schools and back to homes. There is need to go back to the drawing board as a nation and begin correcting things right from the root and majorly it begins with the family unit.

The “Back to My Roots” project initiative uses storytelling and proverbs as an educational tool in inculcating leadership values in children and promoting cultural confidence in them while preserving our African heritage. We have already begun the movement by touring schools with “Assembly Time With Grandma Wura” a riveting grandmother character who tells the story of a little girl who wished she was ant; a story that motivates children towards their dreams and responsibilities as future leaders. We have a vision to tour 100 schools.

The Back to my roots project initiative is creatively driven through audio and visual contents as well as stage. The plan is for the initiative to birth various contents which are of international standard and which are here to stay for a long long time as Walt Disney has done.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, june 30, 2015

23

Labour 400 Niger volunteer teachers groan over unpaid salary

25

Education EXCELLENCE

With a CGPA 4.96, Emmanuel Oti led the pack as the overall best graduate at the 10th convocation ceremony of the Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State.

Mojeed Alabi

“N

ever bend your end, always hold it high and look at the world right

in the eye.”

With these words of Helen Adams Keller, an American author and political activist who was said to be the first deaf-blind person to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree, Emmanuel Oti, the overall best graduate at the Covenant University (CU), Ota, Ogun State, has advised his colleagues and other Nigerian students.

Oti, 22 and a graduate of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, led the pack with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.96 points, as the graduate with the highest CGPA in the history of the department.

Oti, who held the guests spellbound with his incisive and motivational speech, received his scroll along with his other colleagues at the 10th graduation ceremony of the faith-based university, owned by the Living Faith Church Worldwide (aka Winners Chapel).

The University Chapel, venue of the ceremony, was filled to capacity with dignitaries from all walks of life including top government functionaries, members of the academia, captains of industry and religious leaders and traditional rulers, as well as principal officers of the institution.

Oti, who in his valedictory speech on behalf of other graduating students, exhumed huge sense of confidence and pride as he spoke glowingly of his set’s determination to impact the country and the world positively.

My dream is to be a Nobel Prize winner — CU’s best grad While expressing gratitude to God Almighty, the parents, founder and the management of the university, he, on behalf his colleagues noted that the country, Africa and the world should be prepared for the arrival of solution providers and healers of the myriad of challenges confronting the people.

He said: “In a nation bruised by corruption, insecurity, illiteracy and unemployment, we are released today as a healing balm - eagles with healing in our wings. It is my pleasure to say that we have started healing the nation already.”

His speech was greeted with loud and thunderous ovation from the audience and his colleagues, who were consistently shouting and praising him, even as the bevy of camera men were struggling to take his photographs.

Tracing his road to stardom, Oti, an indigene of Arochukwu, in Arochukwu Local Government Area of Abia State, gave glory to God for His mercies in his life, and thanked his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Oti, for what he described as their ability to recognise and develop his innate academic skills right from childhood.

Oti, whose father is an engineer, told New Telegraph that he has had opportunity to grow up in various cities and com-

kayode olanrewaju Editor, education

kayode olanrewaju@ newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Oti

munities including Port Harcourt, Rivers State; Warri, Delta State; Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory; Lagos and Ogun State. He said all this might have added to his brilliance in one way or the other.

“I was born in Port Harcour t and at the age of four my par-

ents relocated to Warri, where I attended Edjeba Estate School for my nursery school and International Unity School for my primary education. At age 11, we returned to Port Harcourt, where I attended Jephthah Comprehensive Secondary School,” he explained.

Oti, who recalled that he began to excel towards the end of his primary education, added: “But throughout my secondary school, I was on top of my class and in my West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), I obtained eight As and B3 in English Language.”

On why he did not opt to study Medicine despite his excellent results, Oti, the first child in the family of five, hinted that such thought never crossed his mind as he had always wanted to study Electrical and Electronics Engineering right from childhood.

He explained: “When I was young, I was quite fascinated by toy cars and robots. I used to dismantle and recouple my toys in order to study them. I remember con-

structing a traffic light while in primary school and I was also a profound fan of ‘Robot Wars’ on BBC.” The graduating student, who said his father is very good at career management, noted that he encouraged him to pursue a career in Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

Expressing joy over her son’s brilliant performance, his mother, Mrs. Suoyo, a pharmacist, said she had always known that Oti would strike the world with invention, having always been grossly absorbed by electronic gadgets.

“Since his childhood, he has become very precocious and always too curious particularly with toys. He would dismantle them and try to identify every part of them and he has remained focused on such things since then,” she stressed.

According to Oti, who said he was really favoured by God, recalled that he put a lot of energies and sacrifices into his studies for him to have come this far.

Speaking on his social life on campus and particularly coming to a university where mobile phone is not allowed for students, Oti, however, noted that he easily adjusted to the life at the university, even as he said that he never had a girlfriend on campus.

His words: “I tried to balance my academic life with my social life. I am a lover of sport. I play basketball in school for the fun of it. I like chatting with people a lot, whether on social media or any other means. I like to make people happy by cracking jokes a lot.”

He lauded the Proprietor of the university, Dr. David Oyedepo, saying with the establishment of the institution he has rewritten the history of education in the country in gold.

“Covenant University is like a furnace whose flames refine humility, patience, wisdom, character and hope. Its core values were set in us to make us stable,” he noted.

However, on his future plans, Oti said he would like to pursue career in academics as he planned to enroll for his CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

24 Education Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

A

coalition of 13 civil society organisations have indicated interest and readiness to collaborate with the management of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) on strategies to improve the disbursement of funds to higher institutions of learning in the country.

This was as the organisations commended the Executive Secretary of the agency, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro for not relenting on achievements and impact of the fund on the institutions under his leadership.

The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET), one of the coalitions, which disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja, explained that quality of facilities in the nation’s tertiary institutions

TUESDAY, june 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Civil societies to partner TETfund on funds disbursement has improved tremendously since Bogoro assumed office as the helmsman of the agency last year.

The Executive Coordinator of CESJET, Comrade Ikpa Isaac, while addressing journalists on behalf of the coalition, said the group was set to offer valuable suggestions to TETFund on how the fund can further impact positively on tertiary education in the country.

Specifically, he said such collaboration has become imperative at this period when the general consensus was to discourage cash flight that is associated with Nigerian youths who in their influx are pursu-

ing education abroad.

He said: “As youths, we are direct beneficiaries of the improvements on infrastructure in the nation’s tertiary institutions and we can confidently assert that TETFund intervention in manpower development and capacity building are yielding results.

“Members of this coalition undertook fact finding missions to universities, polytechnics and specialized colleges in the various geo-political zones of the federation and we are proud of what we saw on ground in terms of infrastructural development facilitated

by TETFund. Our interactions

with students and members of staff of the various institutions further confirmed that the upgraded infrastructure is being matched with manpower whose capacities have already been enhanced.

“We are articulating our findings so that we can offer practical suggestions based on our observations in Nigerian campuses. We believe that such informal input will go a long way in providing further impetus for development since we were able to independently get information from students who identified with us as fellow youths. ” Isaac explained that the

group was calling on Professor Bogoro to sustain the present tempo of activities at TETFund, expressing strong belief that the institutions will soon be repositioned to the level where parents would no longer have to send their children to abroad for higher education, thereby stopping the billions of naira in capital flight being lost yearly to foreign institution.

The coalition further urged Bogoro to further align his management style with the change agenda of the present administration in view of his demonstrated uncommon capacity for midwifing change at the fund.

UNIJOS elevates 17 readers to professors Musa Pam Jos

A

s part of efforts to enhance academic excellence through quality tuition, the Governing Council of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) has approved the promotion of no fewer than17 Readers to full professors.

In a statement by the Principal Assistant Registrar, Information and Publications for the institution, Abdullahi Abdullahi and which was made available to New Telegraph, the list of those promoted comprises Prof. Ahmedu Ibrahim Musa, from the Department of Religion and Philosophy; Prof.

Gideon Umezurike Egezie (Human Physiology Department), Prof. Grace Mebi Ayanbimpe (Medical Microbiology), Prof.

Noel Nenman Wanang (Pharmacology), Prof. Nyager Elizabeth (Theatre and Film Arts), Prof. Agaku Jacob (Theatre and Film Arts), who died in 2014 was promoted post-humously.

Their promotions, which are in retrospective, have since taken effect from October 1, 2013.

The Council also approved the promotion of Prof. Ikonji Ogaji from Pharmaceutical Technology; Prof. David Pam Yakubu (Zoology), Prof. Bakwa Dirting Dakup (Physics), Prof.

Barnabas John Kwaha (Physics), Prof. Mary Plangnan Haggai (Educational Foundations), Prof. Agbo Felicia Onyemowo (Science and Technology Education).

Mojeed Alabi

E

nugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has pledged the state’s support for the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), describing education as one of the cardinal objectives of his administration and a key focus of his electioneering campaign.

Ugwuanyi, who made the promise during a courtesy visit by a delegation from the university to his office, said the state would leverage on the uniqueness

L-R: Aina receiving the keys to the lecture theatre from Ayeni. With them during the handing over ceremony is the Secretary Board of Trustees of the alumni association, Dr. Oludotun Adetuberu.

Alumni donates lecture theatre to Ekiti varsity

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he management of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti has taken delivery of a 500-capacity lecture theatre built and donated to the institution by the Alumni Association of the university.

The keys to the newly constructed lecture theatre named Dr. Goodluck Jonathan Lecture Theatre, after the former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was handed over to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof.

Patrick Oladipo Aina during the handing over ceremony.

Handing over the building to the

vice-chancellor, the President of the association, Dr. Matthew Ayeni said the association was proud of the positive development going on at the university, adding that the construction of the lecture theatre was part of the association’s contributions to support Professor Aina’s administration.

The vice-chancellor, while receiving the keys to the building, however, commended the President and the National Secretary, Dr. Oludotun Adetuberu, as well as the entire members of the association for the gesture.

Enugu pledges support for Open varsity and mandate of the university for the benefit of the people.

To this end, he expressed determination of his administration to consolidate on the legacies of his predecessor especially in the area of bringing education to the doorsteps of the people of the state, adding that the visit by NOUN delegation was timely, as it would go a long way in providing the opportunity to fulfill one of his numerous

promises to the people of Enugu.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university and leader of the delegation, Prof. Vincent Ado Tenebe, thanked the governor for believing in the mandate of the university.

He said NOUN has come to make education easy for all and sundry through its unfettered access and simple learning techniques, even as he added that its

He noted that the association under Ayeni has been reformed by contributing significantly to the development of the university.

Meanwhile, the 42nd inaugural lecture of the university, entitled: “Origin and Existence: The Inconsequential Conclusion,” will be delivered on Tuesday July 7.

The lecture is expected to be delivered by Professor Zachaeus Ogundare, a Professor of Philosophy, while it will be chaired by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof.

Aina. flexibility and affordability have made it the university of first choice for those hitherto denied admission into the conventional universities.

Tenebe said the university has a large clientele in the military, para-military, the National Assembly as well as prisons where it has produced quality graduates.

He said the school has also produced graduates in other areas of human endeavour who can compete favourably with their colleagues in other conventional universities.

Education 25

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, june 30, 2015

FOUL

Some 400 volunteer teachers in Niger State, recruited under the Youth Empowerment Education Initiative Scheme (YEEI), are crying foul for non-payment of their eight months salary.

400 Niger volunteer teachers groan over unpaid salary

Dan Atori MINNA

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hese are hard times for some 400 volunteer teachers in Niger State following the nonpayment of their eight-month

salary.

The teachers were recruited by the state government under the Youth Empowerment Education Initiative Scheme (YEEI), instituted by the administration of Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, in September last year.

The teachers are at loggerheads with the state government over the refusal of the out-gone administration to pay them the meager allowances the government agreed to pay them on recruitment.

Now, the aggrieved volunteer teachers, under the auspices of the Concerned Teachers Network, are calling on the state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello to intervene in the matter and ensure the payment of their salaries.

Lamenting their plight, the teachers in a Save Our Soul (SOS) message, entitled: “Breach of Trust and NonPayment of Eight Months Teachers Salaries in Niger State,” sent to the new government recalled that they were enrolled and inaugurated in September 2014 by Babangida Aliyu under the YEEI programme, headed by its Executive Director, Mr. Edewor Christopher, and deployed to public secondary schools in the state.

“Out of the 700 of us that registered for the programme, 400 of us were engaged and posted to state-owned secondary schools across the state,” they said.

While accusing the officials of the Ministry of Education and other government agencies involved in the supervision of the programme of complicity to defraud them, the teachers urged the governor to investigate the matter with a view to bringing them to book.

Narrating their ordeal, the leader of the group, Anusa Tajudeen Lasisi, said part of their conditions of service as internalized by the YEEI, was

Babangida Aliyu

Sani Bello

that the teachers would be entitled to a monthly salary and allowance of N20,000 as they would not be deployed to rural areas since the stipend is not to cater for their living or logistic cost in such areas.

But, to their dismay, the officials of the ministry and those of YEEI contravened the agreement by deploying them to rural areas when their letters of posting were distributed to them on October 14.

Lasisi, who recalled that all efforts to protest this development failed to yield any fruitful result as the ministry and YEEI were adamant in redressing the situation, however said: “The response we got was that nothing could and would be done, as they were compelled to report at their place of primary assignments and postings.”

His words: “Our worry now is that since resumption of duty from October 14, 2014 to date, our salaries and allowances are yet to be paid. We have written to the office of the Chairman of the state’s wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), but has yielded no result.

“Rather, the union threatened us,

that “any teacher corps who takes order to go on vocation from some group of individuals stands the chances of being disqualified from the scheme, and that you can be assured that YEEI is working to ensure that your allowances are paid as soon as possible.”

To this end, he argued that the management by implication was threatening to disqualify any volunteer teacher that disengages from service despite non-payment of salaries and allowances as earlier assured during the recruitment.

In a letter, the Executive Director said that only teachers found in their duty posts and schools during unscheduled inspection will be entitled to N10,000 monthly stipend, which would be paid from January, 2015 as against October, 2014 and the N20,000 earlier agreed to pay the affected teachers.

Meanwhile, one of the affected teachers, who pleaded anonymity described their plight as “a height of insensitivity and breach of trust”, saying how could the executive director (Edewor) say the initiative was only owing us five months salaries from January, this year to date, when it was actually

eight months beginning from October last year” But, Edewor has however denied entering into an agreement with the Niger State Government in respect of the scheme and on behalf of the unpaid teachers.

Meanwhile, investigations by the New Telegraph have revealed that the volunteer teachers who are over 400 during their registration for the scheme were said to have allegedly paid about N12,000 and another N15,000 as mobilization and processing fees to the management of the scheme.

The money was said to have been paid in batches at the Minna office of YEEI at the Abdulsalam Abubakar Youth Centre, and to a designated bank in various charges of N2,500; N4,500; N2,500; N1,000; N500 and N1,000.

The SOS read in part: “The initiative embarked on a fraudulent inspection and monitoring of the unpaid teachers and whoever was discovered to be absent from their schools and duty posts were regarded to have erred professionally and hence were automatically disqualified from the scheme without any prior warning, query or caution; all in desperate bid not to pay the teachers their eight-month salary.

While insisting that the management of the scheme should be investigated and brought to book, Lasisi, however, lamented that no fewer than two members of volunteer teachers had died.

Worried by what he described “as unfortunate situation,” the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Ibraheem Dooma has advised the affected volunteer teachers to present their case to the EFCC. But, the Chairman of the state wing of the NUT, Comrade Ibrahim Umar, who regretted that it was true that the volunteer teachers are truly being owed eight months salary, said they were recruited as volunteers by YEEI to boost teachings and empower the youth in the state.

Umar, who pledged that the union will help the teachers to fight their cause, recalled the YEEI Executive Director has assured him that the scheme would soon commence payment of the teachers’ salary.

Only quality education’ll solve our problems, says Oyedepo

L-R: VC, Prof. Charles Ayo; Oyedepo; his wife, Mrs. Faith and the Guest Lecturer, Prof. Adebayo Olukoshi C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 2 3

postgraduate programme in either the United Kingdom or the United States of America.

He said: “I will do that after the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, but I re-

ally do not know where my research work will focus. I hope to do something that will catch the global attention in the area of Power Electronics or Robotics. I want to become an inventor and win the Nobel Prize.”

Towards this end, Oti point-

ed out that his project focused on electronic podium which is built with the feature to broadcast lecture notes to audience with readily available wireless networks around it.

“The podium, which cost us about N400,000, is a single unit

transmission machine that has a projector fixed to it, with a computer, mini CPU and an amplifier with its own power supply,” he explained.

His father, a First Class graduate of Chemical Engineering from the University of Benin, promised to assist his son to achieve his dream without any impediment.

Oyedepo, in his remarks said there is no amount of prayer or political will that could be substituted for quality education in solving the problems of Nigeria, as he urged Nigerians the leaders to invest heavily in qualitative education as the only panacea to solving the problems confronting the nation.

Meanwhile, the National Uni-

versities Commission (NUC), in its goodwill message to the congregation commended the founder and the management of the university for what it described as its “giant strides in the nation’s education sector.”

Its Executive Secretary, Prof.

Julius Okojie, who was represented at the ceremony by Prof.

Peter Onwualu, said the Ivory Tower has raised the bar of university education both in the country and on African continent beyond the set minimum standard.

He advised other institutions to emulate the university, while also pledging the commitment of the regulatory body to ensure unfettered access to quality education in the country.

26 Education

LASPOTECH names 10th rector

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new substantive Rector has been named for the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH).

He is Mr. Samuel Oluyinka Sogunro.

The appointment of Sogunro, who took over as the 10th Rector of the state polytechnic from Dr. Abdulazeez Abioye Lawal, was ratified by the Moderator to the polytechnic and Governor of the state, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode.

The new rector, whose appointment took effect from June 1, is the immediate past Deputy Rector (Administration) of the institution.

The polytechnic Deputy Registrar, Information and Public Relations, Mr. Olanrewaju Kuye, in a statement said Sogunro began his career as an academic staff of the polytechnic in January 1990 as Lecturer III in the Department of Mathematics.

He was promoted Lecturer II on October 1, 1993; Lecturer I on October 1, 1996; Senior Lecturer in August 2004 and Principal Lecturer on October 1, 2005.

He rose to the rank of Chief Lecturer in the Mathematics Department with effect from August 11, 2010 and was named the Director of Academic Planning between December 1, 2010 and April 25, 2013.

Born 54 years ago, Sogunro attended the University of Lagos, where he obtained his Bachelor of Science (Education) degree in Mathematics in 1987, and a Master of Science (M.Sc) in Statistics in 1996.

The statement reads in part: “The new rector was appointed a deputy rector in charge of administration on 26th April, 2013. Before then, he had also held several managerial and administrative positions in the polytechnic including the Chairman, Central Examination Administration Committee, School of Part-Time Studies, Isolo (2001 – 2004).

Until his new appointment, Sogunro, who was appointed the deputy rector in charge of Administration on April 26, 2013, has held several managerial and administrative positions in the polytechnic.

These, according to Kuye, include Coordinator of Mathematics, School of PartTime Studies, Isolo (2000 – 2002); Acting Director, School of Part-Time Studies, Isolo (2001); Chairman, Central Examination Administration Committee, School of Part-Time Studies, Isolo (2001 – 2004); Assistant Director, School of Part-Time Studies, Isolo (2004 – 2007); Assistant Director, School of Part-Time Studies (Day), Surulere (2007 – 2010) and Director, Academic Planning (2010 – 2013).

As an academic, Oluyinka Sogunro has several publications including textbooks, journal articles, seminars and conference papers to his credit.

He is a member of the several learned and professional bodies, which are the Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), Mathematical Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Mathematical Society (NMS), Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA), as well as fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, United Kingdom (FRSS) and the Institute of Classic Entrepreneurship, Nigeria (FICENT).

Sogunro

TUESDAY, june 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Okowa warns corps members against detrimental tendencies Dominic Adewole ASABA

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orps members undertaking their one-year compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Delta State have been urged to be more discreet and objective in analysis o n n at i o n a l issues i n their host

Okowa

communities and places of primary assignments.

According to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who charged the corps members, they should play mediating and stabilizing roles of bringing about positive change in the country, rather than constituting nuisance in their communities.

Speaking while declaring the 2015, Batch ‘A’ Stream II Orientation Camp Course closed in Issele-Uku in Aniocha North Local Government Area of the state, Okowa, however, cautioned the corps members against nepotism and detrimental adventures.

“I want to also advise you to shun discrimination against the people, but rather you should live amicably with those from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds during the one-year compulsory assignment,” he said.

The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, tasked the corps member to always show understanding and capability for the national service as a way of justifying the era of change being canvassed by the present administration of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the country.

He said: “As leaders of tomorrow, you are expected to be discreet and objective in your analysis of na-

tional issues and events to enable you play your mediating and stabilizing role as agents of change in bringing about peace and development in the country.

“This could be tempting period for most of you to pursue some adventures most of which could either be detrimental to your future or pose serious dangers to your lives and the peaceful co-existence of the people. I urged you to moderate the ecstasy of youthful exuberance in your undertakings during the service year.”

The governor assured them that his administration has mapped out strategies that would foster and bring about beneficial projects aimed at creating wealth and employment opportunities for all and sundry in the state.

Meanwhile, the state NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Olive Essien Etukudo, challenged the corps members to leave lasting footprints on the sands of history in their places of assignment.

She described the NYSC scheme as “the preparatory ground for future leaders of the country and a rallying point for mobilizing the youths towards a nationalistic enterprise.

Other top government officials at the event include the Chairman of the state NYSC Governing Board, who is currently the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Festus Ovie Agas.

Skyflyers School makes case for Chibok girls’ release

The pupils with their placards

Racheal Aiyeyemi

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iqued by the continued hostage of morethan 200 schoolgirls of the Government Secondary School, GSS, Chibok, Borno State by the Boko Haram insurgents for more than one year, the management, staff and pupils of Skyflyers’ International School, Ibafo, Ogun State, have called on the Federal Government to ensure their release without further delay.

They appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to strive hard and ensure the kidnapped pupils are freed from captivity and return to their parents safely.

The pupils, who were carrying placards with inscriptions “Release Our Chibok Girls,” made the plea penultimate week during the school’s celebration of African Child’s Day, where they also appealed to the members and leadership of the National

Assembly to pass the long awaited ‘Child Right Acts,’ saying its passage will help in no small measure in addressing some of the challenges facing African children.

Other inscriptions on the placards the pupils carried include “African Children Feel for Chibok Girls;” and “National Assembly should Pass the Child Right Acts,” among others.

In his speech, the founder of the school and who chaired the event, Mr. Chijoke Asuoha, said as trainers and educators of African children, the school takes it as a responsibility to join the rest of the world to observe the date.

He said as a result, the management has decided to set aside the day to also celebrate African cultural practices and traditions, adding that series of activities such as display of African foods, drama presentations, among others, have been organised to teach and expose the pupils to their

culture, norms, value and tradition.

The proprietor said: “We use these other activities to make our children realise that in spite of the myriads of problems and disadvantages facing them, African children deserve to be celebrated.

“The theme of this year’s celebration is: “Right to Participation: Let Children be Seen and Heard,” and this is why we are teaching the children on how to be actively involved in decision making at homes because they deserve the right to participation like their counterparts from other continents so that they can attain their full potentials and be fulfilled in life.”

Also speaking, the school’s Administrator, Mrs. Rejoice Asuoha, said the message to the kids was that despite modernization and globalisation, they must still be able to recognise their roots.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, june 30, 2015

Campus

Scholarship

27

Auto crash

FUTA student shines in Microsoft contest

NANS mourns OOU colleagues killed in auto crash

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28

Students tasked on good character, conduct Shadrack Yusuf RUN

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The vice-chancellor laying the foundation for the science laboratory technology laboratory.

VC lays foundation for lecture theatre, classrooms Eddy Uwoghiren and Ezekiel Efeobhokhan UNIBEN

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he stress and difficulty facing the students of the Faculty of Life Sciences, Education and Physical Science, University of Benin (UNIBEN), Benin City due to inadequate classroom facilities would soon be a thing of the past.

Thanks to the turning of sod of the Faculty complex by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Faraday Orumwense, to flag off the construction work on the lecture theatre complex, laboratory and seminar halls for the faculty.

Stressing the need for the projects, the Public Relations Officer for the university, Mr. Michael Osasuyi, recalled the uneasiness and difficulties the students and faculty members experience during lectures, as their lectures usually clash as a result of shortage of lecture theatres and classrooms.

Other principal officers of the university, who supported the vicechancellor at the foundation laying ceremony, which took place at the permanent site of the faculty, included the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Academics, Prof. Abiodun Falodun; Director, Physical Planning Unit, Ehis Emojie and the university Librarian, amongst others.

The vice-chancellor, in his remarks, stated that there was the urgent need to embark on the project to enhance the students’ learning and provide a congenial environment for effective teaching, learning and research

to take place, even as he pointed out that his administration was committed to position the institution among the best universities in the world in terms of adequate facilities and quality tuition.

Orumwense, who hinted that the project was being funded through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) grants, said: “I thank God that this bold initiative is coming at a time that the university is rated as number one in the country. Indeed, we must continue to demonstrate to other institutions that we are really number one.”

While commending the vice-chancellor and his management team, a student at the Department of Mathematics, Victor Okoroafor, expressed delight over the project, even as he added that the move is another way forward in the development of the university as being witnessed in recent times.

According to the vice-chancellor, the duration of the construction on the laboratory and seminar halls would take about 30 weeks, while that of lecture theatre and halls for the Faculty of Education would last for 18 weeks.

orried about the increasing rate at which graduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions become job seekers, and the need to stem the tide of the rising unemployment trend in the country, a non-governmental organisation, Fola Ogunsola Foundation, has spoken of the need for students to imbibe good character and the right attitude to life.

The founder of the foundation and Managing Consultant of Finesse Group, Mrs. Fola Ogunsola, gave the advice while addressing the final year students of the Redeemer’s University (RUN), Ede, Osun State.

It was at a seminar tagged: “Life After Campus Seminar,” with the theme: “Path to Becoming an Employable Graduate,” held at the university main auditorium, where she urged them to check their character and attitude towards life if the students are to make any meaningful head way in the employment market.

While stressing the need for students to imbibe good character and attitude, Mrs. Ogunsola, in her presentation, “The Current Challenges of Graduates’ Unemployment,” stressed the need for self-development of individual skills in order to fit into the already saturated job market.

She said: “You are all going to face the same labour market.

There is a serious disconnect between what you can offer and what the market expects from you. It is a wide gap. Many of our graduates have become unemployable. If you possess 50 per cent of what job seekers require, you will be employed without applying. Employers are expectant.

“Your attitude constitutes 32 per cent of employment possibilities. And indeed, this determines your altitude.”

Redeemer’s Varsity wins Roger Hatchuel Academy award Shadrack Yusuf RUN

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Yewande

t was a dream come true for Yewande Salisu, a 400-Level undergraduate in the Department of Mass Communication at the Redeemer’s University (RUN), Ede in Osun State, as she is still savouring her excellent performance at this year’s edition of Roger Hatchuel Academy award.

The student, who did the university proud, emerged the first runner up at the keenly contested 2015 Roger Hatchuel Academy (Nigeria Selection) Award, which took place in Lagos.

With her performance, Salisu is to represent Nigeria at the next Dubai Lynx International Advertising Festival.

The 2015 Roger Hatchuel Academy Nigeria competition was organised by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) in conjunction with Chini Productions.

The Nigeria version of the competition is being organised yearly

by APCON to select the best two students to represent Nigeria at both the Roger Hatchuel International Academy in France and the Lynx International Advertising

Festival in Dubai.

The overall winner of the competition will participate in the Roger Hatchuel International Academy in France, while the first runner up will represent the country at the Dubai Lynx Festival.

The Roger Hatchuel Academy is a high profile one-week course held during the Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity in France and it is attended by international students who intend to work in the communication industry.

To select the best representatives for Nigeria this year, APCON had flagged off the competition targeted at students in Mass Communication and other related programmes in all Nigerian universities, polytechnics and monotechnics some few months ago.

28 Education | Campus

TUESDAY, june 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Don on why Nigerians should live a healthy life

FUTA student shines in Microsoft contest A

100-Level undergraduate of the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Saviour Okusenogu, has emerged one of the 10 finalists in the Microsoft Youthspark Challenge for Change Contest.

Okusenogu, who is the only African among the 10 finalists, has been awarded a cash prize of $2,500 (about N560,000); a Surface Pro 3 Computing System; a window phone; return ticket to represent Africa in Nicaragua, the venue of the finals, and while he has been designated as Microsoft Youthspark Advocate.

For shone brightest in the competition, he is to participate at the grand finale of the contest instituted and organised by Microsoft Incorporation.

According to the university, the competition is an innovative ideas contest that challenges youths across the world to bring about ideas on how to make a change in their communities and the world, using technology.

Basking in the euphoria of the student’s performance, the university further noted that he is expected to participate at the finals billed for Nicaragua between August 3 and 16.

Okusenogu’s project idea, which is entitled: “Become Inspired in Science and Engineering Technology (BISET),” was a product of his discovery that many young people have a wrong perception about science and technology, and are either not involved in it or are not utilizing it in a productive manner.

According to him, he decided to change this perception by starting with pupils in secondary schools with a view to inspiring them to develop interest in science and technology for them to become creative, productive and innovative.

Okusenogu, a former President of Junior Engineering Technicians and Scientists (JETS) while in secondary school, said FUTA is one of the best in the country and expressed delight to be one of its students.

He said: “I also look forward to emerge the global winner and make my university, Nigeria and the entire continent of Africa proud.”

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, who expressed delight over the student’s feat, however congratulated him, saying the feat has further confirmed that FUTA is not just a leading university in the country, but also reputed internationally.

Prof Unuigbe

Eddy Uwoghiren UNIBEN

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Professor of Medicine and Consultant Nephrologists at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Evelyn Irobere Unuigbe, has challenged Nigerians on how to maintain good and healthy body to live a long life.

For people to live long, she listed some of the basic health conditions they should meet, which she said include watching of what one eats, exercising regularly, reducing salt intake in food, and avoid buying drugs without doctor’s prescription over the counter.

Besides, the don spoke of the need to avoid using herbal drugs, but to watch our obesity level, desist from smoking and use of bleaching creams, as well as carrying out urinalysis to determine

one’s kidney condition.

“When next you visit your doctor, do not leave his office until he conducts a Urinalysis test for you to ascertain if you are having challenges with your kidneys,” she added.

This was part of the thrust of the 158th inaugural lecture of the University of Benin, she delivered last week at the Akin Deko Auditorium of the institution.

In her lecture entitled: “He gave them for your Purification and Good Health: Protect those Amazing Kidneys of Yours,” Unuigbe explained that Acute Kidney Disease (AKD) and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) were major causes of death worldwide.

The inaugural lecturer, who noted that while AKD was treatable, CKD was untreatable and manifests late, even as she stressed that inadequate equipment, little funding for research, lack of public awareness and poverty were among factors militating against management of CKD in the country.

The don, therefore, called on the government to rise up to the challenges of addressing the problems, saying: “It is always a pathetic situation when we see patients die of CKD at the hospital.”

Her words: “Many of them come late because the symptoms manifest late. Renal transplant happens to be very expensive and dialysis is beyond the funding ability of an average Nigerian. On the average, dialysis and the immunosuppressive drugs, which the patient have to take for lifetime can be put at N2.6 million annually.

“As it is required, a CKD patient needs

dialysis three times a week, but many of such patients do it twice a week, some once and others only when they have the money. There was the case of two 400-Level medical students of this university who died of CKD. They died one year after the kidney transplant here at UBTH not because the surgery was faulty, but they could not continue with the dialysis.

Their dreams of becoming doctors were truncated. I felt sad the day they died because their death could have been avoided if the money was there. Ordinarily, we do not need to lose people to kidney disease.”

According to the Professor of Medicine, in the United States of America, United Kingdom and the Wales, kidney transplants were free.

Besides, she also pointed out that South African and Sudanese governments have made dialysis for people with kidney disease free, this was as the don wondered why Nigerian government was yet to toe such path.

Unuigbe, who held the audience comprising the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Faraday Orumwense, who chaired the lecture, spell bound for almost two hours, in her recommendations, sought proper community awareness, lifestyle modification for Nigerians, regular medical consultation, as well as legislation of laws that will make dialysis and kidney transplant either free or highly subsidized.

The Dean of the School of Medicine, Prof. Moses Momoh, however, lauded Unuigbe for the stimulating lecture, saying: “The inaugural lecturer had not only done well, but that the Faculty of Medicine is proud of her.”

L-R: Prof Adebiyi Daramola, FUTA VC; Prof Igbekele Amos Ajibefun, VC AAUA and his wife, Bosede during Futa’s 69th inaugural lecture delivered by Ajibefun.

NANS mourns OOU students killed in auto crash Afeez Odewale lasu

I Okusenogu

t was a moment of grief for higher school students in the country, under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), SouthWest chapter, as they have continued to mourn their dead colleagues at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, who were killed in auto crash along Sagamu/Ijebu-Ode – Ore/Benin Road at the weekend.

The association, which has now relocated its secretariat to the university, has commiserated with the universities, families and friends over the

death of the 12 students in a ghastly motor accident.

The chapter, which is otherwise known as NANS Zone D, in a statement by its Coordinator, Sunday Asefon, blamed the development on what it described as the recklessness of truck drivers on our roads, saying it was ready to mobilise Nigerians against the killings of innocent people by trailer drivers.

According to Asefon, the secretariat of the union has since been moved to the Ago-Iwoye main campus of the state university; even as he pointed out that the leadership of NANS would be involved in giving their late colleagues a befitting burial as well as deliberate on ways to protest their killing.

He said: “This latest development, no doubt was orchestrated by the continuous reckless driving of trailer drivers on our roads. We have watched this madness enough and it is time to draw some lessons so as to put an end to the madness.

“In view of this, the NANS Zone D Secretariat has been relocated with immediate effect and alacrity to Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye in solidarity and respect for the lives of our 12 colleagues that were lost to the massacre. We, therefore, call on all ideological comrades across the zone to join the leadership of NANS at the institution to determine the way forward and the next line of action.”

Education | Campus 29

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, june 30, 2015

Provost scores Ajasin varsity, graduates high

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he Provost of Alhikma College of Education, Ankpa, Kogi State, Dr. Sani Haroon, has rated the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State and its graduates high,

Agbonlahor

Students’ union honours ex-AAU VC Eddy Uwoghiren UNIBEN

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he former ViceChancellor of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Edo state, Prof. Dennis Agbonlahor, has been honoured by the Students’ Union for his contribution towards students’ activities.

The award, which was in recognition of his outstanding contribution to development of the union and its activities, was bestowed on him along five others, on behalf of the union by the immediate past president of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) chapter of the union, Ifidon Ikhide.

While presenting the award to Agbonlahor last week at his office, Lahor Medical Laboratories, Benin City, Ifidon extolled the leadership qualities of the former vice-chancellor and his outstanding research on Lassa fever.

He lauded him for supporting the outgoing students’ union, saying the don has set a legacy for students to emulate in the area of research and contribution to the advancement of the society.

Meanwhile, Ifidon urged the former vicechancellor not to relent in his effort towards contributing to students activities, he stressed that the award was the union’s little way through which to recognize him for supporting the union.

especially in academic excellence and delivery of qualitative university education.

According to Haroon, the university is not only the best in the country, but that its graduates are also doing well in their various fields of endeavour, and particularly those that are members of academic staff of the college.

The provost disclosed this when he led the management of the college on a visit to the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof.

Igbekele Ajibefun, where he recalled how the college

in 2008, sought a credible university to affiliate with and from investigations found out that Adekunle Ajasin University was one of the best universities in the country to fit into such affiliation.

He added: “In view of this we affiliated with your university because of the credibility of the institution. We are happy to let you know that your graduates who are member of our academic staff are performing very well.”

Haroon, who restated that the purpose of the visit was to felicitate with

Ajibefun on his appointment as the vice-chancellor of the university, said the team was also at the institution to discuss the existing relationship between the university and the college, which affiliated with the institution since 2010.

While responding, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Prof. Oluyemisi Adebowale, who received the Alhikma College of Education team on behalf of the vice-chancellor, lauded the college for the visit and for showing interest in the university.

She assured the team that the university would consider the college’s request for further affiliation, which had since lapsed last years, and communicate its decision to the college as soon as possible.

Adebowale, who reiterated the need for the college to key into the university’s drive for excellence and improve its facilities as requirement for further affiliation, said: “On behalf of the vice-chancellor, we want to you for your visit and we also appreciate the fact

that your college enjoyed and benefitted from the affiliation.”

She added: “Your request for further affiliation with the university is noted and I promise that the university will consider this and feed you back in due course.

But, let me also re-emphasise the need for the college to adhere strictly to the university’s rules and regulations guiding such affiliation, with a view to operating within the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) benchmarks.”

30 Education

TUESDAY, june 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Proprietress seeks talent development in schools Kayode Olanrewaju

T

he Executive Director of Cayley College, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, Dr. Mary Iyayi has called on education institutions to focus on talent development, saying it is key to developing the students’ innate potentials and talents.

This was even as she said that the students’ energy should be focused and channeled on activities that would enable them improve their creativity and showcase their potentials towards positive development.

According to her, the need to improve the students’ mind has become imperative as it would go a long way in helping them to engage in self-expression, creativity and confidence which aid learning capabilities.

Dr. Iyayi, who spoke during this year’s edition of the college’s Literary/Press Day celebration, stated that there should be priority attention towards preparing students to develop the platforms for self-expression in order to distinguish themselves among their peers.

She noted that the literary day provides ample opportunity for students from other schools to interact and exchange ideas, so as to improve their minds and create fertile ground that would promote learning.

With its mission statement, “Building a Total Child for a Challenging Future,” Dr. Iyayi said the Literary and Press Day was instituted in line with the college’s

mission to develop children with sound minds, who will be change agents and resourceful adults.

Her words: It is a day set aside for the pupils to be able to interact with one another and challenge their creative minds towards intellectual development. The literary day is a forum designed for the pupils of the college and their peers from other schools to express, compete and showcase their literary ingenuity, as well as foster friendship among the children.”

While noting that the competition, which entered its second edition this year, has positively impacted on learning of the pupils, Dr. Iyayi said that though the college has a vibrant press club, the school were not allowed to take part in the debate in order to remove any form of bias in the competition.

“Since, our college is participating in similar competitions organize by other school in which our pupils have won various laurels, we also want to give other school a level playing ground to compete here without our school,” she added.

The Executive Director pledged the readiness of the management to sustain the intellectual exercise, which she explained was initiated by the school two years ago, to promote academic excellence among the pupils and those from other schools.

Although, this year’s edition of the literary day has come and gone, the management and teachers are still savouring the improved performance of the pupils in the yearly event.

Cross-section of some of the pupils at the event

Ondo monarchs named UNIJOS, education varsity chancellors Babatope Okeowo Akure

S

everal years after he left the University of Jos, (UNIJOS) as a lecturer in the Faculty of Law, the Olowo of Owo, in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba David Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi, is to return to the university as the ceremonial head.

The monarch was named by the Federal Government, last week as the Chancellor of the university for a period of five years.

The Pro-Chancellor and

Chairman of the university Governing Council, Chief Dan Etiebet, presented the instrument of appointment and status of the university to the first class monarch in his palace in Owo last week.

Etiebet, who led the management team of UNIJOS to Owo for the formal presentation of the letter of appointment to Oba OlateruOlagbegi as the Chancellor of the university, however commended the monarch for his contributions to education development in the country.

Etiebet noted that the appointment of Oba Olate-

ru-Olagbegi was sequel to his wealth of experience as demonstrated in the administration of the ancient town of Owo, adding that the monarch’s role when he was in the university was also commendable.

He said: “We are happy because we are fortunate to have you as our Chancellor because you have the capacity to turn around things within a short period. You have been a lecturer in the institution at a time when the university needed you most and you made sacrifice when the department of law was faced with shortage of lecturers and despite the faculty was positioned as one of the best in the university, even till date.”

EDUPEACE

with Mahfouz A. Adedimeji (08066372516, sms only)  Dr Adedimeji is a Senior Lecturer and Director, Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, Unilorin

Universities or glorified secondary schools?

I

n a sense, the root of the word “university” can be traced to the word “universe”. The universe is that vast repository of billions of galaxies in which our world, technically the earth, is not more than a very tiny dot.

The university, on the other hand, is a vast repository of knowledge and enlightenment, where the knowledge of (virtually) all fields is domiciled. At least, there must be someone who knows some things about something in a University as a “universal city”.

What the foregoing naturally implies is that a university is expected to be universal in outlook and global in orientation. Just as we know more of the universe from the knowledge provided by the university, the university itself is expected to reflect some universality, some global standard. This is certainly why many universities strive to be, or claim to be, “world class”, not “country class” or “state class”.

Questions have often been raised about the standard of the Nigerian universities. There is no doubt that Nigeria, given our population, needs more universities, even the current 147 are not enough. However, the crux of the matter is the type of universities we want. Do we want glorified secondary schools camouflaged as “universities” or we want actual “world class” citadels of higher learning that we can be proud of ?

I was at the Auditorium of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja on September 27, 2010 when Dr Jalal Salmi of the World Bank delivered a thought-provoking lecture on “The Challenge of Establishing World Class Universities” as a keynote address to the International Conference on 50 Years of University Education in Nigeria that the University of Ilorin coorganised. He identified three critical factors that underpin the making of world class universities, namely: concentration of talents, abundant resources and favourable governance.

Those who express worry about the proliferation of universities in Nigeria express such concerns on account of these factors, more or less. Do all our universities really have a concentration of academic talents when primordial sentiments are used to recruit staff, including academics? Don’t we now have professors who profess nothing but arrogance?

There is a difference between certificates and certitude. The reality of the day is that talents that are meant for other areas of national development (maybe business, construction, entertainment, etc.) are now getting concentrated in universities lead-

Some private universities are drowning under the overbearing influence or weight of their proprietors ing to low quality.

On abundant resources, the major challenge that many scholars have been complaining about is poor funding of universities.

Interestingly, the Government that complains of limited resources lately began to establish additional universities. Between 2010 and 2013, the Federal Government established 13 universities, apart from two universities established by states and eight established by private bodies or individuals, making a total of 23 in less than three years!

When the late former Minister of Education and education expert, Prof. Babs Fafunfa, lamented in a 2010 paper, “The Beginnings and Evolution of University Education in Nigeria”, that “Nigeria now has 104 universities; that is 73 universities established in 11 years at an average of 6 universities per year”, he did not imagine that barely five years later, additional 43 universities would have been added, which is an average of at least eight universities per year.

This can make an entry in the Guinness Book of Records!

That there are no sufficient resources to manage these universities, be they Federal, State or Private, based on global best practice, is incontrovertible.

Besides, outside this figure is a number of “degree mills”, as the NUC brands them, or fake universities established by charlatans and unscrupulous businessmen operating illegally to swindle unsuspecting admission seekers of their hard-earned money.

The issue of favourable governance is also a sore point in many of our universities. Recently, a vicious fight with the management of a state university by a Governing Council that should have supported the same university led to the mass sack of the principal officers of that university. How can a university attain its full potential in that kind of situation?

Some private universities are drowning under the overbearing influence or weight of their proprietors. Though they may not be academics, the principle of “who pays the piper dictates the tune” is used and abused to stultify innovation and stifle academic development.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

Energy

31

Oil rot: Assessing Buhari’s first salvo

Property

Aviation

Apathy towards local building materials grows

Low airfares: Reality or facade?

33

35

37

Business What's news

Why we’ve been underperforming, by FHA Challenges bordering on policy inconsistencies, workforce disputes, corruption and insider dealings and dearth of fund have been identified as major factors inhibiting the performance of Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in the last 10 years.

p.32

Spate of stowaway, security breaches worry experts Experts have expressed concern over the spate of cases of stowaway, airport perimeter and airside security breaches, stressing that the discovery of over 70 illegal airports/heliports in Nigeria further jeopardises safety procedures.

p.32

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

Deputy Editor (Business)

Bayo Akomolafe

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Vision and Talent, Paul Uduk; Training Executive, Olubukola Amoo; Customer Service Officer, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Tosin Benson; Executive Director, ISN Medicals, Felix Ofungwu and Legal Officer, Vibrant Ventures Limited, Chinasa Oriaku, during a seminar on the activities of Vision and Talents in Lagos.

Chevron targets N3trn from Nigeria assets’ sale, others DIVESTMENT

The oil firm’s divestments will continue through 2017

Asst. Editor (Maritime)

Sunday Ojeme

Asst. Editor (Insurance)

Tony Chukwunyem

Asst. Editor (Money Market)

Dele Alao

Industry & Agric Editor

Dayo Ayeyemi Property Editor

Adeola Yusuf Energy Editor

Wole Shadare Aviation Editor

Chris Ugwu

Capital Market Editor

Abdulwahab Isa

Adeola Yusuf

C

hevron Corporation has curtailed new investments in Nigeria and it would continue its assets’ sale spree until its N3 trillion ($15 billion) revenue target is met, New Telegraph has learnt.

A document of the secondbiggest US energy company by market value, which revealed

Finance Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Cuts new investments this, added that the $35 billion company’s capital spending budget for this year has already been streamlined and could be supported by the revenue from assets’ sale in Nigeria and other countries.

The $35 billion budget this year is 13 per cent less than that of 2014.

Chevron, which just completed the sale of its 40 per cent stakes in two Nigerian shallow water offshore oil blocks, OML 83 and 85, to First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company Limited (First E&P), an indigenous oil firm, is fast-

tracking assets sale of two new blocks - Oil Mining Lease (OML) 86 and 88.

The sale will continue until the $15 billion revenue target is met, according to the document obtained by this newspaper.

“Chevron Corporation will increase asset sales by 50 per

$35bn The company’s capital spending budget for this year, which has already been streamlined

cent to $15 billion and curtail new investment for the next two years after plunging oil prices squeezed cash flow for the second-biggest US energy producer,” the document stated, quoting Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, John Watson.

“Chevron’s divestment of oil and natural gas fields and other exploration and production assets will continue through 2017,” Watson said during a presentation to analysts in New York.

He said: “Capital spending will decline through the period as construction of mega-projects such as the $54 billion GorCONTINUED ON PAGE 32

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE May 2015.................................9% April 2015................................8.7% March 2015.............................8.5%

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

EXCHANGE RATE (BDC as at Jun 26)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N226 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N350 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N247

l Foreign Reserves – $29.029bn as at 25/06/2015

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Interbank as at Jun 26)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N200 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N307.65 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N223.50

32

Business | News

CLEANSING

New administration is out to rid the agency of corrupt practices Dayo Ayeyemi

C

hallenges bordering on policy inconsistencies, workforce disputes, corruption and insider dealings and dearth of fund have been identified as major factors inhibiting the performance of Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in the last 10 years.

A document from the FHA listed other obstacles to include eroded confidence of staff and members of the public, financial mismanagement, failure in service delivery, insurmountable debt profile and many other issues.

The housing agency, according to the report, has been grappling with these challenges over the years, adding that its underperformance had resulted in the nation’s huge accommodation deficit.

The report titled: “Resisting corruption in the FHA and the battle ahead,” pointed out that several policy inconsistencies have inundated the FHA in the last 10 years. It noted that there had been operational stagnation and poor service delivery by the agency.

“In the last ten years alone,

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Why we’ve been underperforming, by FHA the FHA was run by six management teams and without any government subvention. In the whole of 2013 and 2014, the FHA was run without even budgetary document to guide expenditure, the report said.

To salvage the situation, the study said that the current management under the leadership of Professor Mohammed AlAmin, as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer,

was inaugurated six months ago.

“Obvious collapse of operations was visible all over FHA at the time the current management was inaugurated,” the report noted.

It said that Al-Amin had since set up committee to unravel the problems limiting the performance of the agency, alleging that some individuals were bent on frustrating the

efforts.

To resist the corruption endemic in the operational activities of FHA, it said that the new managing director has created a central land and property registry for the agency and also moved to check land and property speculation, among others.

The new egghead of FHA called on Nigerians to support him in the “war to cleanse the FHA of corruption, malprac-

tices, indolence and misappropriation.”

FHA was established in 1973 with the aim of serving as Federal Government’s intervention agency for providing housing to its workforce. The mandate was later expanded to include all Nigerians. In 2012, the National Housing Policy further expanded the scope of FHA to focus on both social and commercial housing in the country.

Chevron targets N3trn from Nigeria assets’ sale CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32

gon gas-export development in Australia winds down.”

California-based Chevron reduced its spending plan for 2015 by 13 per cent to $35 billion in January. Even with the cut, Watson reaffirmed plans to raise production by 20 per cent to the equivalent of 3.1 million barrels of crude a day by the end of 2017.

The adjustments are necessary to address “near-term market conditions,” Watson said during his presentation.

The company had, last February, completed the sale of its 40 per cent stake in two Nigerian shallow water offshore oil blocks, OML 83 and 85, to First E&P, an indigenous oil firm.

Meanwhile, two oil blocks, which Chevron wanted to sell to Seplat are still ravaged with controversy.

The legal battle between Chevron and Britania-U over oil mining assets OML52, OML 53 and OML 55 got to a peak as the Supreme Court asked the two companies to maintain the status quo, thus putting Seplat Petroleum Development Company, to which Chevron wants to sell the disputed assets, in limbo.

The Supreme Court, in the unanimous decision and, perhaps, out of abundant caution, ordered parties to maintain status quo pending the outcome of the appeal, which it adjourned to October 6.

L-R: Head, Business Development, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited (SIPML), Mrs. Nike Bajomo; Executive Director, Mr. Steve Elusope; Zonal Head, SouthSouth, National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Mr. Kehinde Awotunde and Head, Compliance, SIPML, Mrs. Idu Okwuosa, at an employers’ forum organised by Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited in Port Harcourt.

DANGER

Illegal airstrips have been operating unhindered for 11 years Wole Shadare

E

xperts have expressed concern over the spate of cases of stowaway, airport perimeter and airside security breaches, stressing that the discovery of over 70 illegal airports/heliports in Nigeria further jeopardises safety procedures.

The illicit airports were discovered some 11 years ago by the Federal Government.

Then Aviation Minister, Isa Yuguda, had in 2004, set up a ministerial committee to look into the activities of these illegal airstrip. The committee identified multinational oil companies as the owners and operators of the facilities that were allegedly being used for smuggling, gun-running and other nefarious activities bordering on economic sabotage.

To arrest the situation, he said that government had

Spate of stowaway, security breaches worry experts come up with a policy on how to monitor the illegal airstrip, and also ensure that they do not serve as a platform for security breaches.

The committee’s disclosure was not entirely surprising to many Nigerians, what is surprising is that not many of these illegal helipads/heliports have been shut to guarantee security in the face of Boko Haram insurgency.

To them, it is just a sad reminder of a country that had long been vulnerable to impervious insecurity.

President, Nigerian Aviation Safety Initiative (NASI), Capt Dung Pam, while lamenting the porosity of these heliport/helipads, equally took a swipe at government.

He said not a single airport in Nigeria has met all the safety and operational requirements to be fully certified.

According to the aircraft pilot, the sore point in the discovery of over 70 airfields, which included aerodromes,

helipads and airstrips, is that they have been operating unhindered for so long without being licensed by the Federal Government or monitored by the various aviation and security agencies.

Airstrips, helipads and aerodromes are known to be essential infrastructure in oil production activities in many countries of the world, including Nigeria.

Multinational oil companies as well as private charter air services operators are usually granted special concessions and official approval to build and maintain airstrips or helipads to help in their operations.

What is not clear, however, is whether it is the existence of the airstrips that is illegal or the operational activities and general use to which the facilities are being put.

Pam noted that if such a large number of airstrips exist illegally and have remained undetected until

now, it is a sad commentary on the potency and effectiveness of the nation’s security machinery.

His words: “If, on the other hand, their operational activities have impudently infringed on national security and conventional civil aviation regulations for this long and without check, then the Ministry of Aviation cannot escape indictment for failing to effectively monitor and enforce compliance.”

An airline operator, who spoke to New Telegraph on condition of anonymity, said either way, the country has been made more vulnerable to internal insecurity and external aggression through the operations of illegal airstrips.

The source noted that this explains the proliferation of illegal arms and ammunitions, which has, in the last five years, assumed increasing and alarming proportions.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

33

Afam VI: National grid suffers 5m MWh power shortage p.34

Energy

Oil rot: Assessing Buhari’s first salvo The dissolution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) board was the first major step taken by President Muhammadu Buhari to curb the rot in the oil industry. Adeola Yusuf examines the implication of this action on the muchtaunted probe of the nation’s cash cow

F

ive days after he promised to recover the billions of dollars stolen oil funds under the previous administration, President Muhammadu Buhari struck, last Friday, by announcing the dissolution of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) board.

The president won election on a promise to tackle corruption, seen as one of the major problems in Africa’s biggest oil producer where much of the revenue are believed to have been stolen. By this singular act, last Friday, Buhari has shown that he his walking the talk.

Are days of impunity over?

The president vowed after his first official meeting with governors and special advisers that he would recover billions of dollars “stolen” under previous administrations.

“The days of impunity and lack of accountability are over,” he told a meeting of state governors last Tuesday.

He said that Nigeria would get the “facts and the figures to help us recover our stolen funds in foreign countries,’’ over the next three months.

The president, however, did not specify which other countries had agreed to help recover the money and how he would get them to do this. $20bn missing NNPC fund The president was, however, clearer on his promise to revisit the $20 billion missing NNPC oil money.

While addressing a delegation of Adamawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who paid him a congratulatory visit at his campaign headquarters in Abuja, last month, he regretted that the immediate past government hurriedly sacked the former CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, instead of investigating the missing fund.

He said in Hausa dialect: “I heard that some people have started returning money; I will not believe it until I see for myself.

“Imagine a situation where

Oil rig. Inset: Buhari

the former CBN governor who, by God’s grace, would later become the Emir of Kano, raised an issue of missing billions of money, not in Naira, Dollars, $20 billion.

“What happened? Instead of investigating to know whether it was true that the money was missing or not, they simply found a reason to remove him. So, these are the issues we are talking about.

Setting the stage But after waiting for about three weeks, President Buhari, last Friday, set the stage for the much-anticipated probe of the Nigerian oil industry by dissolving the board of the NNPC with immediate effect.

The president’s directive for the dissolution of the board, which was headed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources as Chairperson, was conveyed in a letter signed on June 26, 2015, by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Danladi Kifasi.

The casualties are Dr. Joseph T. Dawha, Group Managing Director; Mr. Bernard O.N. Otti, Group Executive Director, Finance & Accounts of the NNPC and Dr. Dan Efebo, Group Executive Director, Corporate Services.

Others who will seize to be members of the board are Alhaji Abdullahi Bukar, Mr. Danladi Wadzani, Prof. Olusegun Okunnu, Mr. Danladi Kifasi, Mr. Steven Oronsaye and Ikechukwu Oguine, who is the coordinator, Legal Services and Secretary to the corporation.

Incapacitating the cabals In a bid to show his preparedness to probe the cartels responsible for the stolen oil money and prevent unwanted visitors from having unfettered access to Buhari, his Special Adviser on Media

Another cesspool of corruption, which the president’s tentacles of probe is expected to cover is the oil swap deals

and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said that a reorganisation of security at the Presidential Villa, which involves the realignment of personnel from various services, was underway.

Dispelling what he called a rumour that Buhari had given an order for the expulsion of DSS officials from the Presidential Villa, Adesina said in a statement: “Rumours that personnel of the Department of State Services have been expelled from the Presidential Villa are unfounded.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has given no such order.

While it is true that a reorganisation of security at the Presidential Villa, which involves the realignment of personnel from various services, is underway, the exercise does not translate to the expulsion of DSS personnel from the premises in any way.

“The changes being made are routine adjustments, which are not unexpected in any dynamic environment from time to time.”

Stating that the US and other countries have agreed to help Nigeria recover money stolen from the past government, President Buhari said, last Tuesday, that the country’s treasury was “virtually empty.”

Meanwhile, the dissolution of the board, which is a key step towards the oil industry probe, has created an uneasy calm at the NNPC. A source at the corporation’s headquarters in Abuja told New Telegraph that staff of the corporation who got the information during the closing hour last Friday immediately formed different clusters to discuss the news.

Oil swap Another cesspool of corruption, which the president’s tenta-

cles of probe is expected to cover is the oil swap deals and the contracts, known as offshore processing agreements (OPAs), which are between Pipelines and Product Marketing Corporation (PPMC), a subsidiary of state-run NNPC, and three oil trading companies Sahara Group, Aiteo and Duke Oil - the trading subsidiary of NNPC. Although many revelations have been unraveled, leading to the return of funds through importation of refined products, the president is expected to focus on the probe.

An investigation had already been launched to determine whether government had been short-changed by a state oil company’s scheme to swap crude for refined products.

The Federal Government may be losing money through opaque contracts in which crude oil worth billions of dollars is given to traders in exchange for refined imports, mainly gasoline, international and domestic watchdogs have said.

Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and domestic intelligence service, Department of State Security (DSS) began the investigation in May. “The crude was more than the value of the refined product imported,” a security source said.

Expired contracts with Swiss trader, Trafigura, Taleveras, Ontario Oil and Gas are also being examined, sources said.

“It started about two weeks ago... he was called to the DSS everyday since Thursday and before that by the EFCC,” one senior official at the company said.

A statement from the NNPC said that some of the oil firm’s ofCONTINUED ON PAGE 34

34

Business | Energy

CULPRIT Shell blames generation shortfall on pipeline vandals and gas supply sabotage Stories by Adeola Yusuf

T

he national grid has suffered five million Mega Watt hour (MWh) of power supply shortage from Afam VI Power Plant in Rivers State in the last seven years, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has said.

The oil firm, which built the plant on behalf of its Joint Venture (JV) partners, attributed the 25 per cent fall in the total power generation from the plant to gas supply disruptions occassioned by crude theft and pipeline vandalism.

The operations at Afam VI plant have, however, according to a statement by Shell’s spokesperson, Bamidele Odugbesan, delivered 75 per cent, being over 20 million Megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity supplied to the Nigerian grid between its inauguration in 2008 and June 2015.

The power plant achieved first power in August 2008 about three years after the contract was awarded.

“The plant could not, however, deliver nearly five million MWh due to gas supply disruptions from crude theft and pipeline vandalism,” the statement read.

Noting that the plant has consolidated its position as a leading contributor to the country’s grid generation, SPDC said that it had also led to sub-contract opportunities and employment for over 150 Nigerians from the 16 host communities.

“The milestone 20 million MWh of electricity is equivalent to 24hour power supply to over one million residential consumers or nearly 180,000 medium-sized commercial enterprises for six years,” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33

ficials were invited by the agencies “to shed light” on the contracts and that none had been detained or arrested as part of this investigation.

The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NETTI) had also said that there was a revenue loss of at least $600 million due to a discrepancy between the value of the crude and the products delivered.

The figure was taken from its 2009-2011 and 2012 audits of the oil and gas industry, the latest was released this year.

Defence Some contract-holders have said that the discrepancies in value were reconciled.

Sahara, which receives 90,000 barrels per day for processing through an agreement with the Societe Ivorienne de Raffinage (SIR), said it was invited to the EFCC and submitted information to show that its contract was justified.

Duke Oil, an NNPC subsidiary, which has a 30,000 bpd contract, could, however, not be reached for comment. The listed phone number connected the NNPC, which also did not respond.

A spokesman for Taleveras, that held a crude swaps contract

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Afam VI: National grid suffers 5m MWh power shortage the statement said, adding that it “is also worth six years of 24-hour power supply to Port Harcourt city alone!”.

He said: “The SPDC JV is pleased to be a reliable partner in the quest for stable power supply in Nigeria,” quoting SPDC Managing Director and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor.

“What is most exciting is that the plant has achieved this milestone while also touching the lives of community people and helping youths to acquire key engineering skills,” Okunbor was quoted to have said.

Located at Okoloma village in Oyigbo Local Government Area, the plant has an installed capacity of 650MW, consisting of three gas turbines, each

rated at 150MW, and one steam turbine rated at 200MW. The gas turbines were inaugurated in July 2009, while the steam turbine came on stream in December 2010. The plant receives gas from SPDC’s gas plant, also at Okoloma.

Built on the best technology in the industry and utilising waste heat energy in the gas turbine exhaust gas, the addi-

tional 200MW from the steam turbine considerably reduces the plant’s carbon footprint.

“As a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project under the United Nations Executive Board for Climate Change, the Afam VI Power Plant eliminated over 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year, while also maintaining excellent safety standards,” SPDC claimed.

Power sub-station

Assessing Buhari’s first salvo between 2011 and December 2014 via Duke Oil, said that the company did not owe any money and it would deliver gasoline until June this year to balance out what it received in crude.

The spokesperson for Trafigura said that the EFCC had requested information about their swap contract and it was provided in the past month.

Trafigura held a Refined Products Exchange Agreement, or swap contract, between October 2010 and December 2014.

“Despite Trafigura facing extensive logistical challenges in delivering refined product to Nigeria, delivery would typically precede the corresponding swap of crude oil by an order of weeks - sometimes months,” the spokesman said.

The corruption debate The former governor of the CBN had told a Senate committee in 2014 that the NNPC had received $67 billion and handed over only $47 billion.

After the allegations, Jonathan publicly dismissed the claim and replaced Sanusi, saying that the banker had mismanaged the CBN’s budget. Sanusi has since become the Emir of Kano, the country’s secondhighest Islamic authority.

A forensic audit of Nigeria’s state oil firm by PriceWaterhouseCooper (PwC) released last February recommended an overhaul of how NNPC is run.

The probe of the Corporation’s books was instituted last year after Sanusi said that the firm had withheld $20 billion in oil revenue from government coffers, jeopardising the country’s finances.

The PwC audit, however, said that NNPC and its upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, should hand over $1.48 billion arising from unsubstantiated costs, duplicated subsidy claims and computation errors.

“The NNPC’s model of operation must be urgently reviewed and restructured, as the current model, which has been in operation since the creation of the corporation, cannot be sustained,” the 200-page document noted.

Meanwhile, an earlier onepage version of the report, which had been due out in September, was released last February.

The development had caused consternation in a nation long accustomed to reports of grand graft in Africa’s largest oil producer.

Analysts say Buhari, 72, managed to oust Jonathan in an elections last month because voters believed that he would tackle graft in Africa’s largest economy.

Similarly, the report added that the company, accused of corruption, actually overpaid the state by almost $750 million, but should still pay it an additional $1.5 billion.

Details in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers audit said that NNPC actually overpaid by $0.74 billion in the period between January 2012 to July 2013, after remitting $50.81 billion to federation accounts of the $69.34 billion it had received.

The balance of $18.53 billion was accounted for through various operational costs, unremitted revenue by a subsidiary and gasoline and kerosene subsidies, it said.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan released the audit days after his replacement was elected, while Muhammadu Buhari, pledged to issue the report and crack down on corruption in the energy company once in office.

Lack of budget Senate President, Bukola Saraki, however, attributed the alleged corruption at the

NNPC, to “lack of operational budget.”

He added that the era of nonprovision of budget for agencies of government to function was over, adding that such situation leads to “serious leakages,” especially in income generating agencies.

Receiving some civil society groups under the aegis of Civil Society Situation Room, led by Sir Clement Nwankwo, on a courtesy visit in Abuja, Saraki disclosed that the days are gone when agencies such as the NNPC would be able to function without operational budget.

He said: “The budget process, which you talked about, I want to tell you that some of us have strong views that issues of budget must be transparent, particularly. Days are gone when agencies like the NNPC would be able to function without operational budget. We must move away from that because one of the key issues that we have now is the issue of revenue leakages because of lack of transparency. I think we must move away from that, especially agencies that have revenue coming in.”

Conclusion All stakeholders should support moves by the president to get to the root of the on-going probe. Hence, all hands must be on deck.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

Expert to N’Assembly: Fasttrack Facilities Mgt Bill p.36

35

Property&Environment

Apathy towards local building materials grows Attempts to exploit the full potentials of the local building materials as a major contributor to the Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have not yielded the desired result due to the growing apathy towards their use.

DAYO AYEYEMI writes

D

espite the growing housing construction activities in Nigeria, especially on the Lekki-Epe road in Lagos State and Airport road in Abuja, the use of local building materials are on the decline,New Telegraph has learnt.

In most of these construction sites, the use of modern roofing sheets, imported tiles, aluminium windows and synthetic paints, among others, are common, leaving little space for the use of locally made building materials.

While some experts have raised concern about the implications, others pointed out that low patronage of local building materials in the country was largely due to customers’ bias regarding conventional building materials and a general feeling that the local building products are of low quality.

Stakeholders in the industry have been expressing worry that the country would continue to witness capital flight if nothing is done to exploit the local building materials for economic development of the country.

They described the local building materials’ sector as a facilitator of economic recovery and development, saying that if the industry is well developed, it would promote job creation, income generation, human development and environmental sustainability Nigeria is blessed with natural resources such as granite, limestone, marble, clay, laterite and bamboo, among others.

Experts’ views President of Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Kunle Awobodu, stated that low apathy towards local building materials was due to low level of development in the industry.

He pointed out that the inability to process these materials to acceptable modern standard was a contributing factor.

He noted that Nigeria was blessed with a lot of forest, but that no technology has been deployed toward popularising timber houses as it was done in the developed countries. He also pointed out that the use of laterite for building purposes was not cheap at the end of the day when one considers the environmental implications.

Immediate Past President,

One of the housing estates built with clay bricks in Abeokuta, Ogun State

1

Description of material Granite

2

Limestone

3

Marble

4

Laterite

5

Clay

6

Bamboo

7

Timber

S/N

Application

Distribution

Good flooring material

Plateau, Ondo, Ado Ekiti, Bauchi, Abia, Ebonyi Essential ingredient in the production Anambra, Cross River, Benue, of Ordinary Portland Cement, addi- Imo, Edo, delta tive in paints, aggregates in concrete and as foundation stones Good flooring material Kwara, Edo, Delta, Plateau, Kaduna Foundations, floors, production of All the states of the country walling blocks Pottery, ceramics, brick making, Cross River, Ondo, Oyo, roofing tiles Sokoto, Gombe, Kano, Niger, Imo, Anambra Furniture making, floors, laminated Eastern Nigeria panels, frames, scaffolds etc Roofing members, floors, frames, Eastern and Western Nigeria formwork etc

Table: Geographical distribution of some raw materials in Nigeria by NBRRI.

Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mr. Chucks Omeife, described the issue of local building materials’ usage for housing ‘a challenging one.’

He pointed out that most of the materials were at a very raw and unprocessed stage without any effort being made to refine them in a way they could be used for mass housing construction.

NBRRI’s view Also, Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, (NBRRI), Professor Danladi Slim Matawal, said that local building materials have always been and are still widely used in Nigeria.

According to him, its application is still ravelled with challenges that impede them from absolute consumer acceptability and realisation of their full potentials in the construction of buildings in Nigeria.

A notable instance was the drop in annual production capacity of clay bricks by about 85-75 per cent

In his paper on: “The roles of local building materials as agent of economic recovery and development,” Matawal noted that non-existence of quality standards backed by law, low patronage and inappropriate application were some of the challenges confronting the acceptance of the use of local building materials for construction.

He explained that there has been no specific standard backed by law available for local building materials in Nigeria.

According to him, “this implies that the output of the production process of these materials will not have a firm basis for standardisation and wide acceptance. This also makes competition among conventional building materials a challenge.

“Generally, standards are identified to be the basic framework for promoting quality production and there is hardly any standard

for local building materials.”

The perception among homebuilders that local building materials are of low standards, he said, has hindered the viability of the products in the market.

“A notable instance was the drop in annual production capacity of clay bricks by about 85-75 per cent between 1976 and 2002 due to low patronage at the seven clay bricks factories established by the Federal government of Nigeria in 1976,” he said.

Matawal blamed inappropriate application of local building materials for low patronage. In some cases, he stated that building materials would be abandoned because there was a lack of skilled workmanship.

According to him, developed countries have flourished remarkably through strategic infrastructural development via construction, adding that studies have shown that the building materials sector is pivotal to the success of the industry.

To optimise the advantages of local building materials as drivers of economic recovery and development, Matawal canvassed for the establishment of standards and specifications for them to engender customers’ confidence.

He enjoined stakeholders to encourage and promote the use of local building materials to enhance funding of their manufacturers.

He said: “Sixty per cent of the cost of a construction project is attributed to building materials alone, hence any strategic attempt to reduce the cost of construction of a building should have focus on building materials.

“If government develop and support intervention policies that would bring about significant reCONTINUED ON PAGE 36

36

Business | Property & Environment

SURVEY 60% of people favoured outsourcing of facilities management Stories by Dayo Ayeyemi

T

he National Assembly has been urged to expedite action on the passage of the bill for the creation of the Nigerian Institute of Facilities Management.

The plea, according to the Managing Director of Global Property and Facility International Limited (GLOBAL PFI), Dr. MKO Balogun, has become imperative going by the growing concern towards facilities management in the country.

He, however, expressed concern over lack of regulation

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Expert to N’Assembly: Fast-track Facilities Mgt Bill and structure in the sector, saying that the passage of the bill would help to shape the industry.

Balogun stated that his company was currently supporting the creation and registration of the Nigerian Institute of Facilities Management.

As a result of the nation’s dwindling revenue, he implored government to focus more on facilities management rather than embarking on new development.

He also implored both the federal and state governments to create an agency or department of facilities management

that will help them to focus on resources to operate and manage infrastructures.

This, he said, would help them to cut huge annual budgetary allocations to building new infrastructures instead of maintaining the current ones.

Speaking during the 15th year anniversary of GLOBAL PFI, Balogun noted that the facilities management industry was developing and “it is becoming a major contributor to the economy.”

He noted that lack of recognition in the economic framework has been a drawback to

facilities management.

He said: “Real estate is valued at about N1.5 trillion, with projected growth rates of over five per cent. One of the growth sectors of the economy, facilities management, is a major component that is yet to be classified and valued as a contributor to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP).”

On the theme of 2015 World FM day: “Building resilience for the future,” he enjoined government and corporate organisations to employ, engage

Abuja World Trade Centre: Developers woo investors

I

Eko Court, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Apathy towards local building materials CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35

duction in the cost of producing construction products, then the economy would in-turn experience more recovery and/ or development as government would invest more on infrastructural development, hence bolstering the sector towards the set targets.”

Adoption of dry construction Omeife said: “Giving the shortfall in the national housing stock, it is impossible to bridge this gap using unrefined, unmodernised and not pliable to machine usage or any machine designed for their mass usage.”

He said that the shift towards dry construction or the industrialised and manufacturing form of housing was basically because most of the materials used had been made into machine compliance in a way that a lot of these semifinished products can be massively produced.

Omeife explained that most of the building components used in dry construction or industrialised form of construction were mass produced, adding that these materials are

always coupled on site.

“This makes for faster housing delivery and cheaper on the long run. And based on the economy of scale, the more the units produced, the lower the unit cost of production,” he said.

Omeife insisted that as long as the local building materials are not further developed into semi-finished building components and mass produced, the farther the dream of using them for mass housing.

He said: “Individuals can deploy these materials for personal use, which may be cheaper, but not achievable for a mass housing.”

Task for researchers Omeife advised various research institutions such as NBRRI and others to embark and work on these local building materials alongside producing machineries for their conversion to semi-finished components.

He said that most of the current forms of mass housing delivery models had taken years of hard work, innovation and research to come into existence, adding that the general apathy towards local building materials was not much about

the materials, but the limitations in their application and the technology to make them worker-friendly.

“The available knowledge in their application has become obsolete and no new method has been devised.

The employment and deployment of industrialised form of housing delivery models is the only way we can attempt to bridge the shortfall in the national housing stock,” he said.

Conclusion The NBRRI boss recommended that the patronage of local building materials in majority of the national housing programmes and infrastructural development schemes should be encouraged. Besides, he suggests that grassroots sensitisation on the economic potentials of local building materials should be encouraged in locations with high deposit of natural resources to enhance optimisation.

He harped on the need to incorporate pricing and subsidy structures to encourage the production of indigenous materials. Besides, he canvassed for improved technical education among artisans.

and empower professional facilities managers for their businesses and the nation.

The company later gave recognition awards to outstanding staff, customers and stakeholders of the firm.

Guest speaker, Mr. Femi Adejumo, stated that in the latest facilities management’s studies conducted in the United Kingdom, 60 per cent of the people favoured outsourcing of facilities management, while 78 per cent were satisfied with the current FM supply.

ndividuals looking for super-luxury living and investors across the real estate sector, have been urged to key into the World Trade Centre (WTC) Abuja project, which the developer, the Churchgate Group, has described as the flagship project in terms of both functionality and design in the emerging business hub.

Speaking at a private viewing session with prominent buyers at the WTC project site in Abuja, the Group Managing Director, Churchgate Group, Mr. Vinay Mahtani, enjoined stakeholders to tap into the opportunities offered by the edifice.

He said that the AAA offices and apartments at the WTC Abuja are luxurious, innovative, and well-equipped with amenities to provide businesses with a working environment necessary to achieve optimal performance.

SMahtani stressed that the potential of the World Trade

Centre Abuja was second to none as “it is a masterplanned, 7-tower complex of international business, luxury living and five-star hospitality and upscale shopping that offers a lifestyle above the rest.”

Phase 1 of the WTC Abuja commenced in 2011 and is now at the completion stage.

The edifice consists of both commercial and residential towers.

Assistant General Manager, Corporate Communications, Media and Public Relations, Churchgate Group, Mr. Femi Awopetu, stated that the new structures would guarantee a complete lifestyle experience that would reflect the demand for perfection.

He said: “The residential tower features elegant one to six bedroom floor plans, with spacious balconies, concierge services, security, underground parking, tennis and squash courts, swimming pools and a fitness centre, among others.”

Dangote Cement gives back to block makers

A

s part of efforts aimed at further empowering block makers across the country to become more productive, Dangote Cement said it has endowed block makers in Ogun and Lagos states with work tools.

According to a statement by the organisation, the block moulders were, at the weekend, given items such as wheelbarrows, shovels, rain boots and hand gloves.

They were handed over to them in Badagry and Ibeju in Lagos State and Agbara in Ogun State.

Making the presentations, the Regional Manager, Marketing Services of Dangote Cement, Johnson Olaniyi, told them that the gesture was one of the many incentives lined up by the foremost indigenous cement giant to help them boost their businesses.

He said that the donated items were to enable the block makers attain the necessary standards in the industry, which, he said, was necessary to ensure safety of buildings as well as curb the menace of sub-standard blocks, which has contributed to building collapse.

He said that contrary to what some quacks have been saying, cement block contributes to the safety and strengths of a building, hence the need to take great care in terms of the components used in moulding them.

Specifically, he explained that the wheel barrows were meant to assist the block makers in ensuring that they get the right measurements and correct ratio in terms of cement, granite dust and sand while the rain boots and hand gloves were for protective purposes.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

Ethiopian Airlines to boost trade with flights to Dublin, US p.38

37

Aviation

Low airfares: Reality or facade?

Before you know it, a fare advertised as N8,000 each way per person, suddenly costs between N18,000 and N25,000 once you add fuel surcharges and taxes.

But are these fares truly low? WOLE SHADARE reports

A

irlines all over the world, including the Nigerian carriers, try to outdo one another with what is generally referred to as low airfares.

Just recently, airline operators told New Telegraph that Nigeria had the lowest airfare pricing in Africa. Agreed that competition had forced them to ‘adjust’ fares a little, many travellers feel a one-hour flight priced at between N18,000 and N25,000, depending on the period tickets are purchased, is on the high side.

Role of national airline Many are of the opinion that the absence of a national carrier may have contributed to the problem. A good national airline would have dictated the pace for others to follow, not only in terms of standard, but also in the area of pricing.

In Ethiopia, Ethiopian Airline is the dominant carrier and provides over 95 per cent of travel within the vast country with almost the same landmass as Nigeria.

For instance, a trip to Lalibella from Addis Ababa, which is approximately the same hour by air from Lagos to Abuja, costs less than $50. Although, Ethiopian Airline could be said to be a monopoly, but it has used its national airline to bring down airfares considerably by making air travel very attractive to majority of whom are farmers.

The deregulation of the aviation industry by the former President Ibrahim Babangida’s administration leaves open the sector for investors (airline operators) to charge what they feel is appropriate in a liberalised economy.

Operators’ position But the carriers, at different fora, said that one-hour flight from Lagos to Abuja or Port Harcourt, for instance, should go for $150 (N30,000). This would definitely kill and is capable of luring travellers away from air travel.

Despite the glut in capacity, which has forced carriers to adjust their tickets, the general belief of demand and supply has come to play in the air travel sector while traffic has not improved significantly because of what travellers

Some of Nigerian and foreign airlines that are in operation

tag ‘astronomical’ fares.

Three years ago, Arik Air took advantage of the crisis in the sector when the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) grounded three big domestic airlines in the wake of Dana plane crash. The action left the sector with just Arik, Aero and Overland Airways. These airlines made a kill, as more passengers chased fewer seats that were available.

That was before Medview, Air Peace, Discovery and Azman were licensed to commence domestic operations. Because of poor passenger traffic, which amounts to less than 10 million passengers annually, it represents less than 10 per cent of the 160 million population of Nigeria.

Fares padding One of the ways carriers are ripping off passengers is the padding up of their revenue with fuel surcharges.

With oil prices having fallen below $80 a barrel and jet fuel prices heading for their first annual decline in six years, some consumers are asking why the airline fuel surcharge is not dropping as well.

Not all airlines impose a fuel surcharge, a marketing technique that’s been around for about a decade now.

Tricks by airline operators Citing huge operational costs, airlines in the country are now devising new methods of staying in business by breaking airfares down into ‘fake components’, including the ‘fuel surcharge’, which is regarded as a trick designed to make passengers pay more.

For instance, a breakdown of an airline’s air ticket (name withheld) to Abuja indicates N500 as Value Added Tax (VAT), N500 for Ticket Sales Charge (TSC), N500 for Passenger Service Charge

(PSC), while fuel surcharge is N22,000. For some airlines, the surcharge oscillates between N18,000 and N22,000.

Virtually all the carriers now pad their fares with ridiculous fuel surcharges, which travel experts said is being used to fleece government, aviation agencies and passengers.

This represents a significant expense, as in some instances, fuel surcharges are now higher than the airlines’ base fares.

Virtually all the carriers now pad their fares with ridiculous fuel surcharges

Expert’s position Aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo, described the fuel surcharge as a big rip-off, stressing that it is a taxable income that ought to be paid to government as it is done in other parts of the world.

He said: “It is an obscenity that airlines continue the sham of fuel price surcharges in an underhanded attempt to blame the oil companies for their biggest operating cost.”

Ohunayo recalled that shortly after foreign airlines got victory from the judicial panel and the concurring judgment of the review panel with a caveat that the regulations be updated to effectively fight surcharge rip-off, “the local carriers quickly latched on it by loading the ridiculous fuel surcharge to fleece government, aviation agencies and travelers.”

He alleged that the whole situation shows the deficiency in the regulations and the inability of the NCAA to regulate as it were.

Ohunayo said that it was contradictory that the same government that mandated British Airways and other foreign carriers to pay taxes on fuel surcharge is looking the other way when it comes to the issue of domestic carriers, adding: “This is a big rip off on travellers and passengers.”

He noted that the fact that the

oil industry’s products exist in a global market completely devoid of price competition is a separate issue that has vexed regulators for decades.

Situation in other climes Since April 2011, US airlines have hiked fuel surcharges by 53 per cent on average, according to Carson Wagonlit Travel, the corporate travel management firm.

But the cost of jet fuel has only risen by 23 per cent, having fallen from highs a year ago.

The surcharges can add hundreds of dollars to the price of a plane ticket for a long-distance trip.

Despite the fall of oil price last year, it is yet to be seen when US airlines would reduce their fuel surcharge, which closely reflects jet fuel prices - having dropped over 40 per cent since last year.

Let’s assume for a minute that the airlines are being dishonest.

What’s in it for them? Since last January, the US government had stopped airlines from advertising fares without including surcharges along with taxes.

One theory is that travel agents earn their commissions off the base fare, not the total ticket price. So, airlines can short-change clients of a bit of cash by disguising some of their revenue in the fuel surcharge.

Another theory is that fuel surcharges are taxed at a different, lower rate than the base rate, benefiting the airlines. This means that the airlines are probably breaking the law.

The airlines have broken the law before. Last year, federal prosecutors found that the airlines had done it before. Between 2000 and 2006, 21 airlines engaged in pricefixing. They made up for lost profits by artificially inflating fuel surCONTINUED ON PAGE 38

38

Business | Aviation

GROWTH These countries will play a critical role in the expansion of trade and tourism investment Stories by Wole Shadare

E

thiopian Airlines has commenced flight services to Dublin and Los Angeles.

The flights, which began last week, according to a statement, are operated three times a week, with the ultra-modern Boeing 787 Dreamliner, that offers unparalleled on-board comfort to passengers.

They are the only direct service connecting Africa with Ireland and the West Coast of the United States.

The carrier said that travellers from Los Angeles and Ireland would be able to enjoy seamless and convenient connectivity options, thanks to Ethiopian extensive network in Africa covering 49 destinations.

Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines Group, Tewolde Gebremariam, said that the flights are the only direct service between Dublin and Los Angeles, the Irish and US. He said: “Our new flights connecting Addis Ababa, Dublin and Los Angeles will play a critical role in the expansion of trade and tourism investment between the fast-growing

Ethiopian Airlines to boost trade with flights to Dublin, US continent of Africa, the United States and Ireland.”

Gebremariam added that as these flights are the first and only direct air route linking Africa with Ireland and the West Coast of the US, they will bring these two seemingly far away cities much closer to Af-

I

initiating non-aeronautical revenue streams in order to meet up with revenue targets based on the Authority’s 2015 approved budget.

During the meeting, which was attended by the top management of the authority, the FAAN boss reiterated the authority’s commitment to delivering services at international standards of quality, in line with its mission statement.

Speaking further, Dunoma charged the managers to promote a healthy working relationship between the Authority’s aviation security services and other government agencies at the airports, to discourage misunderstanding between various agencies at our airports.

Low airfares: Reality or facade?

CONTINUED FROM PAG E 37

charges, and they agreed to pay enormous fines as a result. No major US airline was charged.

In April this year, the British government said that the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways engaged in price-fixing of passenger fuel surcharges and fined British Airways.

Conclusion Each charge is designed to

rica and will facilitate mobility and connectivity for businesses and the large African Diaspora community living in the West Coast of the United States.

He disclosed that in line with the carrier’s Vision 2025 strategic roadmap, Ethiopian

Airlines is expanding its network and deploying the most technologically advanced aircraft as part of its commitment to customers to provide them the best possible travel experience and connectivity options.

“Our flights to Dublin and Los Angeles are operated with

the B787 Dreamliner, which offers unmatched on-board comfort, especially for such a very long haul route with its unique features such as greatly reduced noise, higher cabin air humidity, biggest windows in the sky and spacious cabin interior,” he added.

An airport lounge

FAAN moves to boost revenue with taskforce

n a bid to improve the revenue base of airports for greater productivity, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Saleh Dunoma, has established a special task force on revenue enhancement.

The managing director will head the task force according to a statement made available to New Telegraph.

Dunoma disclosed this at the weekend in Lagos at a meeting with regional and airports managers where he urged them to recover revenue at the point of collection as and when due, with applying sanctions where necessary.

The airport managers were also mandated to step up efforts in recovering debts and

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

trip you up and ensure that should you not understand or have any change of circumstances, you will be forced to pay even more in penalties.

No matter how ‘lowly priced’ the ticket is, which most times elicit joy from prospective travellers, they are ‘forced’ to pay more if they do not fly with such tickets that most times are not refundable.

To use the ticket, the passengers are forced to pay more for the ticket to be revalidated.

Nigerian re-elected into WMO executive council

T

he Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) received global endorsement yet again, last week, in far away Geneva, as the Director General of the agency, Dr. Anthony Anuforom, was re-elected into the Executive Council (EC) of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) for another four-year term.

Nigeria now ranks among the countries, especially in Africa, that have made significant progress in the development of meteorological services. Her voice is, therefore, well respected at all levels in WMO. There are 191 member states and territories in the WMO and the director of the meteorological agency represents each.

Out of this number, only 37 are elected into the Executive Council (EC) of the organisation, which consists of 37 members elected or appointed from the total of 185 drawn from various countries across the world. It is the highest policy implementation organ of that organisation.

Anuforom, who became a member of the Council in an acting capacity in 2009, was first elected as a full executive council member in 2011.

Although, WMO emphasises that the executive council members are elected on individual capacity, the reelection of the Director General last week, according to

the statement, is seen globally as a vote of confidence and mark of recognition of the tremendous achievement in the development of meteorological service in Nigeria.

In the last few years, NiMet, under the leadership of Anuforom, has recorded remarkable and visible improvement in infrastructure, human capacity development and quality service delivery.

It would be recalled that in 2012, the agency attained the ISO 9001:2008 certification for its aeronautical meteorological service.

In 2013 and 2014, NiMet also successfully underwent the first and second Quality Management System maintenance audit of the International Organisation of Standards.

Speaking with New Telegraph on the development, the Director General said that the world meteorological community acknowledges that NiMet has been transformed into a world-class meteorological service provider.

His words: “Nigeria’s presence at and my re-election into the Council is very significant for Nigeria, especially for aviation and other sectors that depend on, or are sensitive to weather.

“Don’t forget that the Executive Council is the highest policy implementation organ of WMO where crucial decisions affecting member states are taken, and

therefore every nation will be happy that the Director General or Chief Executive Officer of its meteorological agency serves at that level in the organisation. It is therefore significant and a boost to our international image for the representative of Nigeria in the organisation be re-elected into the Council.

“Nigeria’s membership of the WMO and my privilege to serve in the executive council also comes with huge benefits for NiMet and, therefore, for Nigeria, particularly in the areas of human capital development, policy framework formulation, institutional and infrastructural development and pear review, amongst others.”

He revealed that during the next inter-sessional period 2016 to 2019, WMO will give priority to aviation meteorological services, capacity development, disaster risk reduction, as well as implementation of the global framework for climate services (which incorporates services for agriculture and energy). All these areas are of interest to Nigeria.

The world meteorological congress brings together, every four years, the representatives of the organisation’s 191 members to determine the general policies, approve the long-term plan of WMO and appoint the SecretaryGeneral, elect officers and decide on budgetary matters.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESday, JUNE 30, 2015

39

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Photo | News

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel (right) with Presiding Elder of Qua Iboe Church, Elder Udo Asam Udo, after a church service in Uyo. Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa; Deputy Governor, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro; his wife, Ebierin, during a thanksgiving service for Otuaro and his family, at the Christ Embassy, Effurun, Delta State.

Speaker, Enugu State House of Assembly, Mr. Edward Ubosi (middle) with members of the state’s House of Assembly correspondents, during their courtesy visit in Enugu.

PHOTO: NAN

Kaduna and Katsina Area Comptroller of Customs, Alhaji Maitama Kura, inspecting some Textile materials at Magama-Jibiya border in Katsina.

A cross section of participants at a Ramadan lecture organised by Islamic Medical Association of Nigeria, Gombe, on health consequences of modern day lifestyle in Gombe.

L-R: Vice-Chancellor, Covenant University, Prof. Charles Ayo; Honorary Treasurer, The Nigerian Academy of Engineering, Prof. Peter Onwualu; Chairman, Board of Regents of the university, Dr. David Oyedepo and former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Peter Okebukola, at the 10th Convocation ceremony of the institution in Ota, Ogun State.

L-R: Dr. O. P. Aniof Hovas Eyes Clinic; founder, Meljestin Youth Empowerment Initiative, Amb. Chibuzo Patrick; Nollywood Actress, Grace Ama and Managing Director, Internist, New Albany, Dr. Ifeoma Okeke, during a Walk Against Drug Addiction organised by Meljenstin, in Lagos.

L-R: Business Partner/Director, Tiffany Amber, Nkiru Adekoya; Founder/Artistic Director, Folake Coker; Divisional Head, Corporate Communications, Diamond Bank Plc, Ayona Trimnell and Head, Retail Directorate, Aisha Ahmad, during the bank’s Women of Vision Forum held in Lagos.

Business | Money Line

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

GT Bank, Zenith, others excel in human capital ranking

EXPENSIVE STAFF Nigeria has eight of the top 14 most expensive bank employees in Africa

conducted by Thaddeus Investment Advisors and Research Limited.

Commenting on the modalities of the survey in a statement made available to New Telegraph, Founder, Managing Director and Principal Analyst at Thaddeus Investment Advisors and Research Limited, Mr. Jude Fejokwu, said a model to assess banks from a human capital perspective was created because hu-

Tony Chukwunyem

G

uaranty Trust Bank Plc, Standard Chartered Bank, Zenith Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Plc and Access Bank Plc, have led other Nigerian lenders in the human capital in the asset ranking of the top African 70 banks on the continent survey

man capital is considered the most critical asset of any company.

“Employees are entrusted with the assets of a company and are expected to maximise returns on these assets,” he said.

He disclosed that only GTBank made the top 10 in the final ranking, while simultaneously paying its employees within the top 20 per cent of all 70 banks ranked.

Fejokwu said: “This feat was achieved after reducing its workforce during fiscal year 2014 in excess of 25 per cent.

While this may appear draconian on the surface, the CEO got it right in hindsight. In addition, during the fourth quarter of 2014, GTBank was the most profitable bank in Nigeria. Apparently, the bank’s remaining employees stepped up another

Forex curbs: Bond yields soar, naira falls

T

he cost of borrowing for Nigeria rose yesterday and the naira weakened again in the wake of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new foreign exchange rules to conserve scarce reserves, traders said.

Investors had hoped for a sustained rally after smooth elections in March eased uncertainties about political risk in Africa’s biggest economy.

But worries over the government’s finances and the continued slide in the naira have hit markets.

The naira traded at

N226 to the dollar on the parallel market, down 2.7 percent since last Wednesday when the banking watchdog introduced rules to stop importers from sourcing dollars on the interbank market to buy a range of items.

Reuters quoted South African analyst at NKC African Economics, Cobus de Hart, as saying, “The fact that the forex controls introduced by the central bank have contributed to a wider gap between the official and parallel exchange markets is not surprising

and should add upward pressure on inflation moving forward.”

On the interbank market, the currency, which is pegged to the central bank’s rate of N196.90, was at N198.90.

The most liquid 5-year bond yield rose 12 basis points to 14.71 percent, up from 14.31 percent the day before the bank unveiled the currency rules but below 15.5 percent on the eve of the presidential election in March.

The 10-year benchmark yield rose 10 basis points to 14.25 percent

yesterday, up from 13.75 percent before the central bank measures and below 15.38 percent on March 27 Currency and bond markets in Africa’s top oil producer have been on the ropes since the price of oil, Nigeria’s main export, plunged last year.

The central bank has spent more than $3.4 billion to defend the currency and fixed the exchange rate in February to curb speculation. But the outlook remains negative, traders said.

Economic Indicators As at M2* CPS* INF MPR 91-day NTB Bonny Light Ext Res**

N19,142,526.05m N18,579,219.49m 9 13 10.77 US$60.72 US$29,008,577,306

Mar, 2015 Mar, 2015 May, 2015 4/6/2015 Mar 2015 10/6/2015 18/6/2015

Source:CBN

Description 13.05 16-AUG-2016 15.10 27-APR-2017 16.00 29-JUN-2019 15.54 13-FEB-2020 16.39 27-JAN-2022 14.20 14-MAR-2024 10.00 23-JUL-2030

TTM

Price

1.13 1.83 4.00 4.63 6.58 8.71 15.07

FGN Bonds 98.71 100.91 104.18 102.29 107.23 99.24 68.00

NIBOR

Tenor (Days) Call 30 90 180

Rate (%) 8.6667 14.9334 15.7678 16.7023

Bid Yield

14.28 14.48 14.58 14.82 14.63 14.34 15.56

Change (%) 0.04 ▲ -0.16▼ -0.34▼ -0.55▲

Change (%) 0.27 ▲ 0.26 ▲ 0.29 ▲ 0.25 ▲ 0.39 ▲ 0.19 ▲ 0.00 ↔

Price 98.86 101.06 104.48 102.59 107.53 99.54 68.30

Tenor (Months)

Offer Yield 14.13 14.38 14.49 14.73 14.56 14.28 15.49

NITTY

1 2 3 6 9 12

Treasury Bills

Rate (%) 11.6521 12.7146 12.9430 13.5742 13.6243 14.0058

Spot ($/N)

FX

Offer 197.39

Change (%) 0.26 ▲ 0.26 ▲ 0.29 ▲ 0.25▲ 0.38 ▲ 0.19▲ 0.00 ↔ Change (%) -0.75▼ 0.08 ▲ -0.06▼ 0.49 ▲ 0.28▲ -0.04▼

Money Market

Maturity Date Discount Bid Yield Change (%) Discount Offer Yield Change (%) Rate (%) 13.01 13.46 -0.14 ▼ Open-Buy-Back (OBB) 7.83 01-Oct-15 13.26 13.73 -0.14 ▼ 13.52 14.47 2.74 ▲ Overnight (O/N) 8.25 24-Dec-15 13.77 14.76 2.75 ▲ 12.34 13.94 0.04 ▲ 02-Jun-16 12.59 14.26 0.04 ▲ Bid 197.29

Change (%) -0.01 ▼

NIFEX

Bid Spot ($/N) 198.9500

Offer 199.0500

Change (%) 0.83▲ 0.50▲

Change (%) 0.03▲

CBN Clearing Rates of June 29, 2015 Spot ($/N)

195.90

41

196.90

-0.03 ▼ Source: FMDQ

notch when they were faced with collective adversity. Americans call it running a lean and mean shop while pursuing an up or out policy.”

He also pointed out that, only GTBank and Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria are in the top half of the overall ranking, adding that while Nigeria has eight of the top 14 (top 20 per cent) most expensive bank employees in Africa, South Africa has three of the top 14 most expensive bank employees.

He said: “I see a lot of wastage in the Nigerian banking space. Most of them are generating returns way below their capacity and this shows up in this ranking focused on human capital and in their below 5 Price/Earning (PEs) in most instances.

“In addition, the survey showed that five of the top 7 banks with the most financially productive employees in Africa are also among the top 8 banks with the most efficient employees.

Fidelity Bank bids retiring EDs farewell

F

idelity Bank Plc has announced the retirement of three of its Executive Directors – IK Mbagwu, Executive Director, Lagos & West Directorate, Onome Olaolu, Executive Director, Risk Management and John Obi, Executive Director, Corporate Banking.

The retirement of Mrs. Olaolu and Mr. Obi according to a statement from the lender, takes effect today, while Mr. Mbagwu proceeds on July 31, 2015. The retirements are in accordance with the Bank’s Human Capital Policy and predicated on attainment of retirement age, the statement added.

Mr. IK Mbagwu rejoined Fidelity Bank as the Executive Director, Operations, Technology & Shared Services in 2006.

IK started his career as a

tax senior in Arthur Andersen. He moved on to Nigerian American Bank Limited (Bank of Boston) before joining the then Fidelity Union Merchant Bank Limited in 1993, rising to the position of General Manager. In 2001 he moved on to Citizens International Bank as an Executive Director.

Mrs. Onome Olaolu was appointed to the Board as the Executive Director, Risk Management in July 2009. She had worked at Texaco Nigeria Plc. from where she moved to the then Nigerian Intercontinental Merchant Bank Limited (1990). In 1994, she moved to Metropolitan Merchant Bank Limited before joining Fidelity Bank in 1997 as a Senior Manager, rising to the position of General Manager, Risk Management Sector in 2006.

Skye Bank redeems N1m prize money to young essay winners

S

kye Bank Plc said it had redeemed the N1 million cash prizes to the five winners of its just concluded ‘Skye Rainbow essay competition’ organised for children who own and operate the bank’s Rainbow account.

The lender recently instituted a yearly essay competition for children between ages seven and 12 years as a way of encouraging their intellectual development as well as rewarding them for embracing the savings culture early. The topic of this year’s essay competition according to a statement, was “The Importance of an early savings habit”.

The bank said each of the five winners won N200,000 in what is a

novel intellectual competition for children in that age bracket. The five winners are Adedeji Adesida, Feyifoluwa Oriolowo, and Praise Sagbama, all based in Lagos.

Others are Abasiodiong Aniefiok of Uyo and Olukayode Sobande, a student based in Ibadan.

Skye Bank’s Head of Retail Banking Group, Nkolika Okoli said the bank chose to stand out from the others this year by putting in place a special programme for the children to celebrate them. She said apart from the five winners who won N200,000 each, other consolation prizes would also be presented to other participants who did well in the competition.

Business | Financial Market News

42

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

29-Jun-15

The DQL contains data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities and instruments in the financial market (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute professional, financial or investment advice. We attempt to ensure the Information is accurate; however, the Information is provided “AS IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE” basis and may not be accurate or up to date. We do not guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for a particular purpose of any of the Information, neither do we accept liability for the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information.

Bonds FGN Bonds

Price

Rating/Agency

Issuer

NA

NA

Description ^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 ^15.54 13-FEB-2020 ^16.39 27-JAN-2022 ^14.20 14-MAR-2024 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 ^10.00 23-JUL-2030 ^12.1493 18-JUL-2034

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

16-Aug-13 27-Apr-12 27-Jul-07 31-Aug-07 30-May-08 29-Jun-12 23-Oct-09 13-Feb-15 27-Jan-12 14-Mar-14 28-Nov-08 22-May-09 20-Nov-09 23-Jul-10 18-Jul-14

13.05 15.10 9.85 9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 15.54 16.39 14.20 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00 12.1493

581.39 476.80 20.00 100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 233.73 600.00 599.99 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 324.50

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,838.17

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

4,438.68

Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

Bid Price

Offer Price

1.13 1.83 2.08 2.17 2.92 4.00 4.32 4.63 6.58 8.71 13.42 13.90 14.39 15.07 19.05

14.28 14.48 14.51 14.51 14.55 14.58 14.77 14.82 14.63 14.34 16.36 16.67 17.02 15.56 14.78

14.13 14.38 14.42 14.42 14.48 14.49 14.66 14.73 14.56 14.28 16.30 16.60 16.93 15.49 14.72

98.71 100.91 91.87 90.63 91.07 104.18 75.79 102.29 107.23 99.24 92.68 77.60 54.69 68.00 83.36

98.86 101.06 92.02 90.78 91.22 104.48 76.09 102.59 107.53 99.54 92.98 77.90 54.99 68.30 83.66

Maturity Date

TTM (Yrs)

16-Aug-16 27-Apr-17 27-Jul-17 31-Aug-17 30-May-18 29-Jun-19 23-Oct-19 13-Feb-20 27-Jan-22 14-Mar-24 28-Nov-28 22-May-29 20-Nov-29 23-Jul-30 18-Jul-34

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Modelled Price

03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

2.10 112.22 116.70 66.49

03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.76 1.44 1.81 2.02

2.27 1.85 1.00 1.00

16.63 16.20 15.46 15.51

100.47 99.72 104.71 101.36

Agency Bonds FMBN ***LCRM

17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

297.52

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

303.62

Sub-National Bonds A/Agusto

KADUNA

12.50 KADUNA 31-AUG-2015

31-Aug-10

12.50

8.50

31-Aug-15

0.17

4.44

17.40

99.08

A-/Agusto

*EBONYI

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

13.00

2.16

30-Sep-15

0.25

3.23

17.14

98.92

BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

14.00

3.90

30-Jun-16

0.50

4.46

19.20

97.68

‡ /Agusto

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.53

3.48

18.18

98.74

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

1.81

1.00

15.46

91.63

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.07

1.00

15.06

98.79

‡ /Agusto

EDO

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.51

1.79

16.32

95.38

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

30.81

30-Sep-18

1.89

1.80

16.28

96.48

Bb-/Agusto; A-/GCR

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

1.90

1.00

15.48

97.63

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR†

*EKITI

14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018

09-Dec-11

14.50

12.40

09-Dec-18

2.08

1.00

15.51

98.29

Bb-/Agusto

*NIGER

14.00 NIGER III 12-DEC-2018

12-Dec-13

14.00

9.21

12-Dec-18

2.09

4.78

19.29

91.54

‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR

*ONDO

15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019

14-Feb-12

15.50

27.00

14-Feb-19

2.07

1.00

15.51

99.93

BBB+/Agusto; A-/GCR Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

*GOMBE LAGOS

15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 14.50 LAGOS 22-NOV-2019

BBB-/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019

02-Oct-12 22-Nov-12 12-Dec-12

15.50 14.50 14.75

15.09 80.00 24.74

02-Oct-19 22-Nov-19 12-Dec-19

2.51 4.40 2.57

2.02 1.00 1.00

16.55 15.82 15.53

97.91 95.89 98.42

BBB-/Agusto

*OSUN

14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020

10-Oct-13

14.75

10.78

10-Oct-20

3.02

1.82

16.38

96.38

Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

13.50 LAGOS 27-NOV-2020

27-Nov-13

13.50

87.50

27-Nov-20

5.41

1.00

15.81

91.76

A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro

KOGI

15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020

31-Dec-13

15.00

5.00

31-Dec-20

5.51

1.00

15.80

97.14

‡ /Agusto A-/GCR

*EKITI *NASARAWA

14.50 EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021

31-Dec-13

14.50

4.55

31-Dec-20

3.16

1.00

15.56

97.56

06-Jan-14

15.00

4.56

06-Jan-21

3.19

1.00

15.57

98.68

99.51

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

448.65 427.93

Corporate Bonds BBB+/Agusto BBB-/Agusto

*UPDC

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

17-Aug-10

10.00

2.50

17-Aug-15

0.14

1.00

13.52

*FLOURMILLS

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

09-Dec-10

12.00

9.38

09-Dec-15

0.45

1.00

15.56

98.50

BB/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.42

06-Jan-16

0.28

2.63

16.61

99.38

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

29-Sep-16

1.25

1.00

15.20

97.52

A-/Agusto

FSDH

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

25-Oct-16

1.32

1.34

15.59

98.39

A/GCR

UBA

13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

30-Sep-17

2.26

1.00

15.52

95.30

BBB-/GCR

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.56

30-Nov-17

1.49

1.88

16.26

102.90

Nil

*C & I LEASING *DANA#{r}

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

5.40

09-Apr-18

1.53

3.84

18.24

97.16

A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR

*TOWER#

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

18.00

2.54

09-Sep-18

1.70

1.00

15.44

103.49

#

100.72

AAA/DataPro†; A/GCR

*TOWER

MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018

09-Sep-11

16.00

0.70

09-Sep-18

1.70

1.00

15.44

A+/Agusto; A/GCR

UBA

14.00 UBA II 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

35.00

30-Sep-18

3.26

3.00

17.57

91.35

BBB+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR

15.75 LA CASERA 18-OCT-2018

18-Oct-13

15.75

2.10

18-Oct-18

1.80

2.29

16.75

98.46

BBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR

*LA CASERA *CHELLARAMS#

MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019

17-Feb-12

18.00

0.36

17-Feb-19

1.88

6.11

20.59

96.32

Nil

*DANA#{r}

16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019

01-Apr-14

16.00

4.50

01-Apr-19

2.51

2.16

16.69

98.58

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

15.25 NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020

14-Nov-13

15.25

2.05

14-Nov-20

5.38

2.76

17.58

92.06

BBB/GCR

FCMB

14.25 FCMB I 20-NOV-2021

20-Nov-14

14.25

26.00

20-Nov-21

6.39

1.80

16.46

91.43

A/GCR

UBA

16.45 UBA I 30-DEC-2021

30-Dec-14

16.45

30.50

30-Dec-21

6.50

2.63

17.27

96.88

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

16.29

0.10

30-Sep-24

9.26

1.00

15.35

104.49

A/GCR

STANBIC IBTC

13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024

30-Sep-14

13.25

15.44

30-Sep-24

9.26

1.00

15.35

89.74

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

178.07

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

168.41

Supranational Bond AAA/S&P

IFC

10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018

11-Feb-13

10.20

12.00

11-Feb-18

2.62

1.00

15.54

88.83

Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P

AfDB

11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021

10-Jul-14

11.25

12.95

01-Feb-21

4.75

1.00

15.87

81.24

Bid Price

Offer Price

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

24.95 21.18

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

Issuer

Description

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value ($mm)

Maturity Date

Bid Yield (%)

Offer Yield (%)

6.75 JAN 28, 2021

07-Oct-11

6.75

500.00

28-Jan-21

6.02

5.81

103.40

104.41

5.13 JUL 12, 2018

12-Jul-13

5.13

500.00

12-Jul-18

4.93

4.62

100.53

101.41

6.38 JUL 12, 2023

12-Jul-13

6.38

500.00

12-Jul-23

6.34

6.20

100.21

101.11

FGN Eurobonds

Prices & Yields

BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

FGN

BB-/Fitch; BB-/S&P

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

1,500.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

1,520.67

Corporate Eurobonds B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC I

7.50 MAY 19, 2016

19-May-11

7.50

500.00

19-May-16

4.28

4.28

102.75

102.75

B+/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC

7.25 JUL 25, 2017

25-Jul-12

7.25

350.00

25-Jul-17

7.51

7.51

99.50

99.50

B/Fitch; B/S&P

FIDELITY BANK PLC

6.88 MAY 09, 2018

09-May-13

6.88

300.00

02-May-18

11.07

10.06

89.95

92.25

B+/Fitch; B+/S&P

GTBANK PLC

6.00 NOV 08, 2018

08-Nov-13

6.00

400.00

08-Nov-18

7.50

7.11

95.60

96.74

B+/Fitch; BB-/S&P

ZENITH BANK PLC

6.25 APR 22, 2019

22-Apr-14

6.25

500.00

22-Apr-19

7.24

7.24

96.75

96.75

B/Fitch; B/S&P

DIAMOND BANK PLC

8.75 May 21, 2019

21-May-14

8.75

200.00

21-May-19

10.21

9.66

95.40

97.09

B-/Fitch; B/S&P B-/Fitch; B/S&P B-/Fitch; B/S&P

FIRST BANK PLC ACCESS BANK PLC II FIRST BANK LTD

8.25 AUG 07, 2020 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021 8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

07-Aug-13 24-Jun-14 23-Jul-14

8.25 9.25 8.00

300.00 400.00 450.00

07-Aug-20 24-Jun-21 23-Jul-21

9.28 10.57 9.55

9.28 10.25 9.55

95.25 94.51 92.25

95.25 95.85 92.25

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

14-Aug-21

10.49

10.12

91.51

93.10

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

3,650.00

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

3,496.49

**Treasury Bills^ DTM 10 17 24 31 38 45 59 66

FIXINGS Maturity 9-Jul-15 16-Jul-15 23-Jul-15 30-Jul-15 6-Aug-15 13-Aug-15 27-Aug-15 3-Sep-15

Bid Discount (%) 11.79 11.67 11.69 11.54 11.50 12.52 12.95 12.45

Offer Discount (%) 11.54 11.42 11.44 11.29 11.25 12.27 12.70 12.20

Bid Yield (%) 11.83 11.73 11.78 11.65 11.64 12.71 13.22 12.74

Money Market Tenor

NIBOR Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Rate (%) 8.6667 14.9334 15.7678 16.7023

Rate (%)

OBB

7.83

O/N

8.25

Tenor Call 1M

REPO

Rate (%) 8.25 8.50

Foreign Exchange (Spot & Forwards) Tenor

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M 3M

197.29 201.81 202.13 202.87 204.24 205.60

197.39 201.93 202.28 203.37 205.31 207.21

NA

9.35 31-AUG-2017 10.70 30-MAY-2018 ^16.00 29-JUN-2019 7.00 23-OCT-2019 ^15.54 13-FEB-2020 ^16.39 27-JAN-2022 ^14.20 14-MAR-2024 15.00 28-NOV-2028 12.49 22-MAY-2029 8.50 20-NOV-2029 ^10.00 23-JUL-2030 ^12.1493 18-JUL-2034

NA

31-Aug-07 30-May-08 29-Jun-12 23-Oct-09 13-Feb-15 27-Jan-12 14-Mar-14 28-Nov-08 22-May-09 20-Nov-09 23-Jul-10 18-Jul-14

9.35 10.70 16.00 7.00 15.54 16.39 14.20 15.00 12.49 8.50 10.00 12.1493

100.00 300.00 351.30 233.90 233.73 600.00 599.99 75.00 150.00 200.00 591.57 324.50

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

4,838.17

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION Rating/Agency

31-Aug-17 30-May-18 29-Jun-19 23-Oct-19 13-Feb-20 27-Jan-22 14-Mar-24 28-Nov-28 22-May-29 20-Nov-29 23-Jul-30 18-Jul-34

Description

17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017

FMBN

Blue chip firms stimulate activities TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

***LCRM

03-Apr-12 09-Dec-11 20-Apr-12 06-Jul-12

17.25 0.00/16.00 0.00/16.50 0.00/16.50

2.10 112.22 116.70 66.49

formance measures, the Index rose by 392.7 basis NSE ASI and market cap- points or 1.20 per cent Sub-National Bonds 31-Aug-10 , italisation,12.50 firmed by from 32,856.49 last Friday A/Agusto KADUNA KADUNAup 31-AUG-2015 Stories by Chris Ugwu A-/Agusto *EBONYI 13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015 while 1.20 per cent on the back to close at 33,249.19,30-Sep-10 30-Jun-11 BBB+/Agusto *BENUE 14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016 of blue chip companies. the market capitalisation 30-Jun-09 ‡ /Agusto *IMO 15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016 19-Apr-10 10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017 A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR LAGOS rading activities The market had last appreciated by N135 bil30-Jun-10 13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017 ‡ /Agusto *BAYELSA Friday closed on the lion or 1.20 per cent on the floor of from 30-Dec-10 14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017 ‡ /Agusto EDOthe 30-Sep-11 DELTA 30-SEP-2018 ‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR *DELTA Nigerian Stock downward 14.00 trend, as mar- N11.215 trillion to N11.350 04-Oct-11 14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018 Bb-/Agusto; A-/GCR NIGER Exchange (NSE) ket speculators shunned trillion.

09-Dec-11 ‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR† *EKITI 14.50 EKITI 09-DEC-2018 12-Dec-13 Bb-/Agusto *NIGER 14.00 of NIGER III 12-DEC-2018 opened week yesterday the low prices stocks.

Further analysis of 14-Feb-12 ‡ /Agusto; A-/GCR *ONDO 15.50 ONDO 14-FEB-2019 At the close of trading, bullish note, local 02-Oct-12 BBB+/Agusto; A-/GCR as the *GOMBE 15.50 GOMBE 02-OCT-2019 the day’s trading showed Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR LAGOS 22-NOV-2019 22-Nov-12 bourse recovered LAGOS from 30 stocks 14.50 appreciated, that Forte Oil Plc and 12-Dec-12 BBB-/Agusto; BBB+/GCR *OSUN 14.75 OSUN 12-DEC-2019 days of losing streaks Plc while 20 others constitut10-Oct-13 BBB-/Agusto *OSUN 14.75 OSUN II 10-OCT-2020 Guinness Nigeria 27-Nov-13 Aa-/Agusto; ‡ /GCR LAGOS 13.50 LAGOS 27-NOV-2020 topped the day’s gainers’ table. following appreciable de- ed the losers’ 31-Dec-13 A-/Agusto; BBB+/DataPro KOGI 15.00 KOGI 31-DEC-2020 The twin in- table with five per cent 31-Dec-13 ‡mand /Agusto by investors. *EKITI 14.50market EKITI II 31-DEC-2020 06-Jan-14 A-/GCR 15.00 NASARAWA 06-JAN-2021 each to close at N191.10 The twin market*NASARAWA per- dicators, the All-Share TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

T

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

297.52

and N161.17 per303.62 share respectively, while May 12.50 8.50 Plc and Baker Nigeria 13.00 2.16 followed with 4.93 per 14.00 3.90 cent to close at N1.49 15.50 5.73 per 10.00 57.00 share.

Red Star Express 13.75 25.73 Plc gained 4.79 per cent 14.00 25.00 14.00 30.81 to close at N5.03 per share.

14.00 9.00 On14.50 the flip side, Nei12.40 9.21 meth14.00 Nigeria Plc led the 15.50 27.00 losers’ chart with 15.09 a drop 15.50 14.50 of 4.90 per cent to80.00 close 14.75 24.74 at N1.36 while 14.75 per share, 10.78 13.50 87.50 e.Transact Nigeria Plc 15.00 5.00 shed 4.79 close 14.50 per cent to 4.55 15.00 Costain Nigeria 4.56 at N3.18.

90.78 91.22 104.48 76.09 102.59 107.53 99.54 92.98 77.90 54.99 68.30 83.66

#

43

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Modelled Price

03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.76 1.44 1.81 2.02

2.27 1.85 1.00 1.00

16.63 16.20 15.46 15.51

100.47 99.72 104.71 101.36

*UPDC

10.00 UPDC 17-AUG-2015

17-Aug-10

10.00

2.50

*FLOURMILLS

12.00 FLOURMILLS 9-DEC-2015

09-Dec-10

12.00

9.38

BB/GCR

*CHELLARAMS

14.00 CHELLARAMS 06-JAN-2016

06-Jan-11

14.00

0.42

A+/Agusto; A-/GCR

NAHCO

13.00 NAHCO 29-SEP-2016

29-Sep-11

13.00

15.00

A-/Agusto

FSDH

14.25 FSDH 25-OCT-2016

25-Oct-13

14.25

5.53

A/GCR

UBA

13.00 UBA 30-SEP-2017

30-Sep-10

13.00

20.00

BBB-/GCR

*C & I LEASING *DANA#{r}

18.00 C&I LEASING 30-NOV-2017

30-Nov-12

18.00

0.56

MPR+7.00 DANA 9-APR-2018

09-Apr-11

16.00

5.40

8.00/2Y USD SWAP+6.488 JUL 23 2021

24-Jun-14 23-Jul-14

9.25 8.00

400.00 450.00

8.75 AUG 14, 2021

14-Aug-14

8.75

250.00

*TOWER he International OrganAAA/DataPro†; A/GCR *TOWER isation of Securities ComA+/Agusto; A/GCR UBA missions has*LAreleased BBB+/Agusto; BBB+/GCR CASERA BBB-/DataPro†; BB/GCR *CHELLARAMS the consultation report on ElNil *DANA ementsA-/GCR of International ReguA+/Agusto; NAHCO BBB/GCR latory Standards onFCMB Fees and A/GCR UBA Expenses of Investment Funds.

A/GCR STANBIC IBTC A/GCR STANBIC IBTC The report proposes an TOTAL OUTSTANDING updated set of VALUE common inTOTAL MARKET standards CAPITALISATION ternational of best Supranational Bond practice for the operators of AAA/S&P IFC Collective Investment Schemes Aaa/Moody's; AAA/S&P AfDB (CIS) and regulators to consider.

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE A statement obtained from TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION IOSCO website, said the conRating/Agency sultation report builds on Issuer the recommendations made in the FGN Eurobonds 2004 paper on International BB-/Fitch; B+/S&P Regulatory Standards on Fees BB-/Fitch; FGN BB-/S&P and Expenses of Investment BB-/Fitch; Funds.

BB-/S&P It seeks to determine TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE whether these standards are still TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION valid or might be updated or Corporate Eurobonds supplemented in light of marB+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC I ket and regulatory changes.

B+/S&P ACCESS BANK PLC B/Fitch; B/S&P BANK PLC The report also FIDELITY examines B+/Fitch; B+/S&P GTBANK PLC and consults on issues identiB+/Fitch; BB-/S&P ZENITH BANK PLC fied as being key across jurisB/Fitch; B/S&P DIAMOND BANK PLC B-/Fitch; B/S&P FIRST BANK PLC dictions. #

A-/DataPro†; B+/GCR

#

#

#{r}

B-/Fitch; B/S&P B-/Fitch; B/S&P

ACCESS BANK PLC II FIRST BANK LTD

B-/S&P

ECOBANK NIG. LTD

MPR+7.00 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 Such issues according to MPR+5.25 TOWER 9-SEP-2018 IOSCO concern, inter alia: 14.00 UBA II 30-SEP-2018 types15.75 ofLApermitted fees and CASERA 18-OCT-2018 MPR+5.00 CHELLARAMS II 17-FEB-2019 expenses, performance-relat16.00 DANA II 1-APR-2019 ed fees, of fees and 15.25disclosure NAHCO II 14-NOV-2020 14.25 FCMB I 20-NOV-2021 expenses, transaction costs, UBA I 30-DEC-2021 hard 16.45 and soft commissions on 182D T.bills+1.20 STANBIC IA 30-SEP-2024 13.25 STANBIC IB 30-SEP-2024 transactions.

For the current report, IOSCO said it conducted a second review of existing regulatory 10.20 IFC 11-FEB-2018 practices with respect to fund 11.25 AFDB 1-FEB-2021 fees and expenses, in order to gather information about how these practices have evolved in recent years. Description Since the 2004 report, the natural evolution of the in6.75 JAN 28, 2021 dustry has resulted in new 5.13 JUL 12, 2018 CIS product structures, new 6.38 JUL 12, 2023 and investment strategies changing distribution models, amongst other developments.

At the same time, regulatory developments in some ju7.50 MAY 19, 2016 risdictions or at regional 7.25the JUL 25, 2017 6.88 MAY 09, 2018 way level have changed the 6.00 NOV 08, 2018 fees and expenses are dis6.25 APR 22, 2019 closed, and the8.75 effectiveness May 21, 2019 8.25 AUG 07,models 2020 of certain disclosure 9.25/6M USD LIBOR+7.677 JUN 24, 2021

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

3.02

1.82

16.38

96.38

5.41

1.00

15.81

91.76

31-Dec-20

5.51

1.00

15.80

31-Dec-20

3.16

1.00

15.56

97.56

06-Jan-21

3.19

1.00

15.57

98.68

97.14

S

oft drink 0.14 producer, 1.00 billion during the99.51 period 13.52 Seven-Up 0.45 Bottling 1.00 under review as against 15.56 98.50 06-Jan-16 99.38 Company 0.28 Plc has 2.63 N3.917 16.61 billion recorded 29-Sep-16 1.25 1.00 15.20 97.52 the previous year. posted a 10.7 per cent rise 25-Oct-16 1.32 1.34 15.59 98.39This 2.26 for the 1.00 represented 15.52 95.30 an increase in30-Sep-17 profit after tax 30-Nov-17 1.49 16.26 year ended March 31, 2015. 1.88 of 13.7 per cent. 102.90 09-Apr-18 1.53 3.84 18.24 97.16 09-Sep-18 1.70 the Ni- 1.00 15.44 before 103.49 tax In a filing with Profit 09-Sep-18 1.70 1.00 15.44 stood at N5.822 100.72 billion gerian Stock Exchange 30-Sep-18 3.26 3.00 17.57 91.35 (NSE), billion 18-Oct-18 the company’s 1.80 2.29 as against 16.75 N5.10498.46 17-Feb-19 20.59 previous 96.32year post-tax profit1.88 grew to 6.11 posted the 01-Apr-19 2.51 2.16 16.69 98.58 N7.12 billion during the 2.76 accounting for a growth 14-Nov-20 5.38 17.58 92.06 20-Nov-21 under6.39review 1.80 of 12.3 per 16.46 cent.

91.43 period 30-Dec-21 6.50 2.63 17.27 96.88 against N6.43 billion reIts turnover firmed 30-Sep-24 9.26 1.00 15.35 104.49 30-Sep-24the previous 9.26 15.35 89.74 durcorded year. 1.00 up to N59.829 billion This represented an in- ing the period, compared crease of 10.7 per cent. with N54.954 billion in the Profit before tax stood same period of last year, 2.62 15.54 88.83 at11-Feb-18 N8.74 billion as against 1.00 representing a growth of 01-Feb-21 4.75 1.00 15.87 81.24 N7.61 billion posted the 8.1 per cent. previous year accountThe management of ing for a growth of 14.8 NSE had in October last Maturity Date Bid Yield (%) Offer Yieldyear (%) Bid Price Offer Price per cent. included the compaAlso, turnover firmed Prices ny to the league of high & Yields up28-Jan-21 to N82.45 billion dur- 5.81 priced stocks.

6.02 103.40 104.41 ing the period, compared The Exchange’s Head 12-Jul-18 4.93 100.53 101.41 with N77.88 billion in the 4.62 of Market Surveillance, 12-Jul-23 100.21 101.11 Babalola, same period of 6.34 last year, 6.20 Mr. Abimbola representing a growth of stated that the analysis of 5.8 per cent. the trading activities of Seven-Up had report- Seven-Up indicated that ed19-May-16 a 13.7 per cent rise in 4.28 in the last six months the 4.28 102.75 102.75 has met 99.50 the criprofit after tax7.51 for third 7.51 company 25-Jul-17 99.50 02-May-18 ended December 11.07 10.06teria set 89.95 92.25 by the Exchange quarter 7.50 7.11 95.60 and thus has been96.74 includ31,08-Nov-18 2014.

22-Apr-19 7.24 7.24 96.75 96.75 The company’s post- 9.66 ed among the High97.09 Priced 21-May-19 10.21 95.40 07-Aug-20 95.25 tax profit grew9.28 to N4.541 9.28 Stocks. 95.25 17-Aug-15 09-Dec-15

09-Sep-11 18.00inves2.54 has been tested with 16.00 0.70 tors. 09-Sep-11 30-Sep-11 14.00 35.00 IOSCO had recently 18-Oct-13 15.75 pub2.10 0.36 lished 17-Feb-12 the report on 18.00 credible 01-Apr-14 16.00 4.50 deterrence, 14-Nov-13 which identifies 15.25 2.05 20-Nov-14 14.25 that 26.00 key enforcement factors 30-Dec-14 16.45 30.50 may deter misconduct in in30-Sep-14 16.29 0.10 30-Sep-14 securities 13.25 15.44 ternational and 178.07 investment markets.

168.41 A statement obtained from IOSCO website, said the re11-Feb-13 10.20 12.00 port draws on the collective 10-Jul-14 11.25 12.95 experience and expertise of 24.95 IOSCO members and was pro21.18 duced by IOSCO’s Committee Outstanding Value Issue Date Coupon (%) Ex4 on Enforcement and the ($mm) change of Information, which is chaired by the UK6.75Finan07-Oct-11 500.00 cial Conduct Authority (FCA).

12-Jul-13 5.13 500.00 It identifies key elements 12-Jul-13 500.00 in the prevention of 6.38 misconduct and financial crime from 1,500.00 a range of international regu- 1,520.67 latory authorities and encourages regulators operating in 19-May-11 7.50 500.00 both emerging and developed 25-Jul-12 7.25 350.00 09-May-13 6.88 they 300.00 markets to consider how 6.00 400.00 might 08-Nov-13 integrate credible de22-Apr-14 6.25 500.00 terrence into new or 8.75 existing 21-May-14 200.00 07-Aug-13 strategies.

8.25 300.00 enforcement

FMDQ Daily Quotations List

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

10-Oct-20

27-Nov-20

SevenUp reports 11% net-earning growth

448.65 427.93

Investment funds: IOSCO unveils standards on fees, expenses

T

90.63 91.07 104.18 75.79 102.29 107.23 99.24 92.68 77.60 54.69 68.00 83.36

Plc dropped by 4.55 per Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc. cent to close at 84 kobo Other financial servic31-Aug-15 0.17 4.44 es sector 17.40 per share. boosted99.08 by the 30-Sep-15 0.25 17.14 activities on the 98.92 shares On the activity chart, 3.23 30-Jun-16 0.50 4.46 19.20 97.68 FBNH the banking sub-sector 30-Jun-16 0.53 3.48 of 18.18 Plc followed 98.74 19-Apr-17 15.46 with 42.4 million91.63 units, dominated in1.81 volume 1.00 30-Jun-17 1.07 1.00 15.06 98.79 terms with 179.4 million in 31-Dec-17 2.51million 1.79 worth N342.06 16.32 95.38 30-Sep-18 1.89 1.80 16.28 96.48 shares worth N1.1 bil570 deals.

04-Oct-18 1.90 1.00 15.48 97.63 lion in 1,585 deals.

The 1.00 In all, 09-Dec-18 2.08 15.51 investors 98.29 ex12-Dec-18 2.09 4.78 19.29 91.54 sub-sector was enhanced changed a total of 351.5 14-Feb-19 2.07 1.00 15.51 99.93 by02-Oct-19 the activities shares worth 2.51 in the 2.02 million 16.55 97.91N6.3 22-Nov-19 4.40 15.82 95.89 shares of Access Bank 1.00 billion in 3,982 deals.

12-Dec-19 2.57 1.00 15.53 98.42

Corporate Bonds

Nil

14.42 14.48 14.49 14.66 14.73 14.56 14.28 16.30 16.60 16.93 15.49 14.72

Stock market rebounds, gains N135bn

BULLISH

Agency Bonds

BBB+/Agusto BBB-/Agusto

14.51 14.55 14.58 14.77 14.82 14.63 14.34 16.36 16.67 17.02 15.56 14.78

Business | Financial Market News

4,438.68

Issuer

2.17 2.92 4.00 4.32 4.63 6.58 8.71 13.42 13.90 14.39 15.07 19.05

24-Jun-21 23-Jul-21

10.57 9.55

10.25 9.55

94.51 92.25

95.85 92.25

14-Aug-21

10.49

10.12

91.51

93.10

29-Jun-15

3,650.00 3,496.49

The DQL contains data relating to, amongst other things, market and model prices, rates of foreign exchange products, fixed income securities and instruments in the financial market (the “Information”). The Information does not constitute **Treasury Bills^ Money Market professional, financial or investment advice. We attempt to ensure the Information is accurate; however, the Information is provided “AS FIXINGS IS” and on an “AS AVAILABLE” basis and may not be accurate or up Exchange to date. We do &not guarantee Foreign (Spot Forwards) DTM Maturity Bid Discount (%) Offer Discount (%) Bid Yield (%) Tenor Rate (%) NIBORfor the results of any action taken on the basis of the Information. the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, performance or fitness for a particular purpose of any of the Information, neither do we accept liability 10 9-Jul-15 11.79 11.54 11.83 17 24 31 38 45 59 Rating/Agency 66 73 87 94 108 122 136 150 157 164 171 178 NA 192 199 206 213 220 227 234 241 248 262

16-Jul-15 23-Jul-15 30-Jul-15 6-Aug-15 13-Aug-15 27-Aug-15 Issuer 3-Sep-15 10-Sep-15 24-Sep-15 1-Oct-15 15-Oct-15 29-Oct-15 12-Nov-15 26-Nov-15 3-Dec-15 10-Dec-15 17-Dec-15 24-Dec-15 NA 7-Jan-16 14-Jan-16 21-Jan-16 28-Jan-16 4-Feb-16 11-Feb-16 18-Feb-16 25-Feb-16 3-Mar-16 17-Mar-16

FGN Bonds

11.67 11.69 11.54 11.50 12.52 12.95 Description 12.45 11.86 11.87 ^13.05 16-AUG-2016 13.26 ^15.10 27-APR-2017 13.44 13.63 9.85 27-JUL-2017 13.71 9.35 31-AUG-2017 13.75 10.70 30-MAY-2018 12.44 13.67 ^16.00 29-JUN-2019 11.57 7.00 23-OCT-2019 13.77 ^15.54 13-FEB-2020 12.53 ^16.39 27-JAN-2022 13.75 13.60 ^14.20 14-MAR-2024 13.75 15.00 28-NOV-2028 13.79 12.49 22-MAY-2029 13.58 13.70 8.50 20-NOV-2029 13.66 ^10.00 23-JUL-2030 13.42 ^12.1493 13.51 18-JUL-2034

11.42 11.44 11.29 11.25 12.27 12.70 Issue 12.20Date 11.61 11.62 16-Aug-13 13.01 27-Apr-12 13.19 13.38 27-Jul-07 13.46 31-Aug-07 13.50 30-May-08 12.19 13.42 29-Jun-12 11.32 23-Oct-09 13.52 13-Feb-15 12.28 27-Jan-12 13.50 13.35 14-Mar-14 13.50 28-Nov-08 13.54 22-May-09 13.33 13.45 20-Nov-09 13.41 23-Jul-10 13.17 18-Jul-14 13.26

11.73 11.78 11.65 11.64 12.71 13.22 Coupon 12.74 (%) 12.15 12.21 13.05 13.73 15.10 13.99 14.28 9.85 14.44 9.35 14.57 10.70 13.14 14.56 16.00 12.24 7.00 14.76 15.54 13.42 16.39 14.87 14.73 14.20 14.95 15.00 15.04 12.49 14.83 15.02 8.50 15.02 10.00 14.77 12.1493 14.95

Bonds

269 TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE

24-Mar-16

283

TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

7-Apr-16

13.39

13.14

14.94

297

21-Apr-16

13.24

12.99

14.84

311

5-May-16

12.86

12.61

14.45

339

2-Jun-16

12.59

12.34

14.26

13.46

Rating/Agency Issuer and not the duration *for the Amortising bonds, the average life is calculated

13.21

14.94

Description

Tenor O/N 1M 3M 6M

Outstanding Value (N'bn) 581.39

Rate (%) 8.6667 14.9334 15.7678 16.7023

7.83

O/N

8.25

REPO

Maturity Date

NITTY

Tenor 476.80 1M 2M 20.00 3M 100.00 6M 300.00 9M 12M 351.30

OBB

16-Aug-16

Rate (%) 27-Apr-17 11.6521 12.7146 27-Jul-17 12.9430 31-Aug-17 13.5742 30-May-18 13.6243 14.0058 29-Jun-19

233.90 23-Oct-19 233.73 13-Feb-20 NIFEX 600.00 27-Jan-22 Current Price ($/N)14-Mar-24 599.99 BID($/N) 198.9500 75.00 28-Nov-28 OFFER ($/N) 199.0500 150.00 22-May-29 200.00 20-Nov-29 591.57 23-Jul-30 324.50 18-Jul-34

Rate (%) 8.25

Tenor

Spot 7D 14D 1M 2M Yield Offer 3M (%) 6M 1Y

Bid ($/N)

Offer ($/N)

197.29 197.39 201.81 201.93 Price 202.28 202.13 202.87 203.37 204.24 205.31 Bid Price Offer 205.60 207.21Price 206.28 213.47 220.29 226.27

Tenor Call TTM 1M (Yrs) 3M 6M

Bid8.50 Yield (%)

Maturity Date

Avg. Life/TTM (Yrs)

# Risk Premium (%)

Valuation Yield (%)

Modelled Price

03-Apr-17 08-Dec-16 19-Apr-17 06-Jul-17

0.76 1.44 1.81 2.02

2.27 1.85 1.00 1.00

16.63 16.20 15.46 15.51

100.47 99.72 104.71 101.36

8.75 9.00

1.13 14.28 14.13 1.83 14.48 14.38 NOTE: 2.08 14.51 14.42 :Benchmarks 2.17 14.51 14.42 * :Amortising Bond 2.92 14.55 14.48 µ :Convertible Bond AMCON: Asset of Nigeria 4.00 Management Corporation 14.58 14.49 FGN: Federal Government of Nigeria 4.32 14.77 14.66 FMBN: Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria 4.63 Finance Corporation 14.82 14.73 IFC: International 6.58 14.63 Management 14.56 LCRM: Local Contractors Receivables NAHCO: Nigerian 8.71 Aviation Handling 14.34 Company 14.28 O/N: Overnight 13.42 16.36 16.30 UPDC: UAC Property Development Company 13.90 16.67 Company16.60 WAPCO:West Africa Portland Cement 14.39 17.02 16.93 15.07 15.56 15.49 19.05 14.78 14.72

98.71 98.86 100.91 101.06 91.87 92.02 NA :Not Applicable 90.63 90.78 ^ : Market Prices 91.07 91.22 # : Floating Rate Bond ***: Deferred coupon bonds 104.18 104.48 75.79 76.09 ‡ : Bond rating under review 102.59 †: Bond 102.29 rating expired 107.53 N/A :Not107.23 Available {r} :Issuer in receivership 99.54 99.24 92.68 92.98 NGC: Nigeria-German Company 77.60Bank for Africa 77.90 UBA: United 54.69 54.99 68.00 68.30 83.36 83.66

4,838.17 4,438.68

Issue Date

Coupon (%)

#

Risk Premium is a combination of credit risk and liquidity risk premiums **Exclusive of non-trading t.bills

Outstanding Value (N'bn)

Agency Bonds

FMBN ***LCRM

TOTAL OUTSTANDING VALUE Modified Duration Buckets TOTAL MARKET CAPITALISATION

<3 3<5

Sub-National Bonds

>5

17.25 FMB II 03-APR-2017 0.00/16.00 LCRM 08-DEC-2016 0.00/16.50 LCRM II 19-APR-2017 0.00/16.50 LCRM III 06-JUL-2017 Porfolio Market Value(Bn)

03-Apr-12 17.25 2.10 09-Dec-11 0.00/16.00 112.22 20-Apr-12FMDQ FGN 0.00/16.50 BOND INDEX 116.70 06-Jul-12 0.00/16.50 66.49

Total Outstanding Volume(Bn)

Weighting by Outstanding Vol

Weighting by Mkt Value

% Exposure_ Mod_Duration

Implied Yield

Implied Portfolio Price

INDEX

YTD Return (%)

847.12

828.10

28.63

31.25

303.620.29

14.63

14.54

104.4074

1,169.78

5.5898

1,212.14

1,173.14

40.56

44.71

0.41

41.32

14.48

110.2053

1,099.64

8.5987

651.91

891.07

15.25

78.1635

1,098.59

30.81

24.05

31-Aug-10 100.00

12.50 100.00

13.00 EBONYI 30-SEP-2015

30-Sep-10

14.00 BENUE 30-JUN-2016

30-Jun-11

*IMO

15.50 IMO 30-JUN-2016

A+/Agusto; ‡ /GCR

LAGOS

10.00 LAGOS 19-APR-2017

‡ /Agusto

*BAYELSA

‡ /Agusto

EDO

‡ /Agusto; A+/GCR Bb-/Agusto; A-/GCR

A/Agusto

297.52

Bucket Weighting

0.31

44.05

31-Aug-15 100.00

0.17 14.83

13.00

30-Sep-15

0.25

3.23

17.14

98.92

14.00

3.90

30-Jun-16

0.50

4.46

19.20

97.68

30-Jun-09

15.50

5.73

30-Jun-16

0.53

3.48

18.18

98.74

19-Apr-10

10.00

57.00

19-Apr-17

1.81

1.00

15.46

91.63

13.75 BAYELSA 30-JUN-2017

30-Jun-10

13.75

25.73

30-Jun-17

1.07

1.00

15.06

98.79

14.00 EDO 31-DEC-2017

30-Dec-10

14.00

25.00

31-Dec-17

2.51

1.79

16.32

95.38

*DELTA

14.00 DELTA 30-SEP-2018

30-Sep-11

14.00

30.81

30-Sep-18

1.89

1.80

16.28

96.48

NIGER

14.00 NIGER II 4-OCT-2018

04-Oct-11

14.00

9.00

04-Oct-18

1.90

1.00

15.48

97.63

12.50 KADUNA2,711.17 31-AUG-2015

A-/Agusto BBB+/Agusto

*BENUE

‡ /Agusto

2,892.30

4.44 98.6738

17.40 1,115.01

9.0941

8.50 1.00 2.16

KADUNA Market *EBONYI

99.08 5.6694

Daily Summary as of 29/06/2015

Printed 29/06/2015 15:15:49.049

44

Business | Capital Market

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Daily Summary (Bonds)

Daily Summary as of 29/06/2015 Printed 29/06/2015 15:15:49.049

No Debt Trading Activity

The Nigerian Stock Market Exchange as at June 29, 2015 Daily Summary (Equities)

Daily Summary (Equities)

Activity Summary on Board EQTY AGRICULTURE Crop Production OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Crop Production Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Livestock/Animal Specialties Totals

Symbol OKOMUOIL PRESCO

No. of Deals 31 14 45

Current Price 29.00 33.50

Quantity Traded 319,891 58,100 377,991

Value Traded 9,286,097.07 2,023,426.00 11,309,523.07

Symbol LIVESTOCK

No. of Deals 24 24

Current Price 2.06

Quantity Traded 258,001 258,001

Value Traded 541,293.17 541,293.17

635,992

11,850,816.24

Quantity Traded 11,500 4,918,397 473,380 5,403,277

Value Traded 10,350.00 13,642,682.48 19,947,614.54 33,600,647.02

5,403,277

33,600,647.02

AGRICULTURE Totals

Daily Summary as of 29/06/2015 CONGLOMERATES

Printed 29/06/2015 15:15:49.049 Diversified Industries JOHN HOLT PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PLC U A C N PLC. Diversified Industries Totals

69 Symbol JOHNHOLT TRANSCORP UACN

Daily Summary

No. of Deals 5 95 58 (Equities) 158

CONGLOMERATES Totals Activity Summary on Board EQTY CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Structure/Completion/Other COSTAIN (W A) PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Building Structure/Completion/Other Totals

Current Price 0.94 2.80 42.05

158

Activity Summary on Board EQTY HEALTHCARE HEALTHCARE Totals

Processing Systems CHAMS PLC E-TRANZACT INTERNATIONAL PLC Processing Systems Totals

No. of Deals 13 13

Current Price 0.84

Quantity Traded 668,645 Page 668,645

Value Traded 11 1 569,981.80 of 569,981.80

Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Infrastructure/Heavy Construction Totals

Symbol JBERGER

No. of Deals 21 21

Current Price 48.50

Quantity Traded 87,519 87,519

Value Traded 4,255,813.76 4,255,813.76

Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Real Estate Development Totals

Symbol UAC-PROP

No. of Deals 26 26

Current Price 10.50

Quantity Traded 254,850 254,850

Value Traded 2,593,285.29 2,593,285.29

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) UPDC REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Totals

Symbol UPDCREIT

No. of Deals 1 1

Current Price 10.00

Quantity Traded 5,000 5,000

Value Traded 50,000.00 50,000.00

1,016,014

7,469,080.85 Value Traded 575,936.80 71,889,648.53 3,083,017.82 1,221,788,054.74 1,748.40 1,297,338,406.29

CONSUMER GOODS Daily Summary as of 29/06/2015 Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Printed 29/06/2015 15:15:49.049 CHAMPION BREW. PLC. GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. PREMIER BREWERIES PLC Beverages--Brewers/Distillers Totals

61 Symbol CHAMPION GUINNESS INTBREW NB Daily Summary PREMBREW

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Published

by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Beverages--Non-Alcoholic Totals

No. of Deals 8 65 15 141 (Equities) 2 231

Current Price 6.26 161.17 19.01 147.20 3.26

Quantity Traded 91,910 447,848 161,683 8,253,577 564 8,955,582

No. of Deals 22 22

Current Price 179.10

Quantity Traded 25,806 25,806

Value Traded 4,801,946.23 4,801,946.23

Page Symbol 7UP

2

of

Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC U T C NIG. PLC. Food Products Totals

Symbol DANGFLOUR DANGSUGAR FLOURMILL HONYFLOUR NASCON UTC

No. of Deals 35 34 47 14 19 1 150

Current Price 3.86 6.81 34.00 3.50 8.00 0.50

Quantity Traded 108,950 551,690 172,497 390,101 256,100 25,000 1,504,338

Value Traded 422,467.09 3,762,563.07 5,843,248.42 1,362,404.50 2,036,278.00 12,500.00 13,439,461.08

Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Food Products--Diversified Totals

Symbol CADBURY NESTLE

No. of Deals 26 66 92

Current Price 36.50 889.20

Quantity Traded 151,305 331,430 482,735

Value Traded 5,527,166.56 296,339,526.08 301,866,692.64

Symbol VITAFOAM VONO

No. of Deals 21 3 24

Current Price 5.63 1.14

Quantity Traded 308,672 60,000 368,672

Value Traded 1,700,769.12 65,500.00 1,766,269.12

Symbol

No. of Deals 41 32

Current Price 32.00 45.50

Quantity Traded 368,148 8,749,082

Value Traded 11,713,346.11 397,827,985.86

Household Durables Daily Summary as of 29/06/2015 VITAFOAM NIG PLC. Printed 29/06/2015 15:15:49.049 VONO PRODUCTS PLC.

Household Durables Totals Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC.

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © CONSUMER GOODS

Personal/Household Products Personal/Household Products Totals

DailyPZSummary (Equities) UNILEVER

Page

Symbol

No. of Deals 73

CONSUMER GOODS Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. UNITED BANK FOR AFRICA PLC Daily Summary as of 29/06/2015 UNION BANK NIG.PLC. Printed 29/06/2015 UNITY 15:15:49.049 BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH INTERNATIONAL BANK PLC Banking Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services

Current Price

592 Symbol ACCESS DIAMONDBNK ETI FIDELITYBK GUARANTY SKYEBANK STERLNBANK UBA UBN UNITYBNK WEMABANK ZENITHBANK

of

Value Traded 409,541,331.97

20,454,363

2,028,754,107.33

No. of Deals 286 46 55 74 223 80 335 143 37 38 28 240 1,585

Current Price 5.73 4.20 22.50 1.72 27.30 2.35 2.00 5.00 9.35 2.47 0.96 19.70

Quantity Traded 94,642,313 8,906,694 903,762 21,798,964 9,732,317 3,157,089 18,382,824 9,388,565 117,156 2,121,693 3,158,530 7,146,695 179,456,602

Value Traded 543,698,259.91 37,288,197.25 20,214,299.60 37,747,581.58 263,301,062.24 7,390,148.56 36,770,463.13 47,342,587.82 1,073,579.38 5,192,077.86 2,944,702.00 139,118,645.20 1,142,081,604.53

No. of Deals

Current Price

Quantity Traded

Value Traded

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol

3

Quantity Traded 9,117,230

Printed 29/06/2015 15:15:49.049 Micro-Finance Banks NPF MICROFINANCE BANK PLC Micro-Finance Banks Totals

Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services ABBEY MORTGAGE BANK PLC UNION HOMESon SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC. Activity Summary Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Published byMortgage The Nigerian Stock Brokers Exchangeand © Services Carriers, Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services Totals 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 AIICO CONTINSURE CORNERST LASACO LAWUNION LINKASSURE MANSARD NEM NIGERINS PRESTIGE SOVRENINS STACO STDINSURE UNIC WAPIC

No. of Deals 10 10 4 1 2 18 7 65 1 2 2 1 1 2 15 141

Current Price 0.95 1.01 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 2.96 0.72 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50

Quantity Traded 1,109,288 Page 218,756 11,300 1,000 36,714 1,341,865 13,606,222 7,700,536 58,400 1,100 1,500 1,000 100 10,360 662,815 24,760,956

5,650.00 500.00 18,357.00 670,932.50 40,232,778.12 5,796,365.42 29,200.00 550.00 750.00 500.00 50.00 5,180.00 331,407.50 48,364,062.50

Symbol NPFMCRFBK

No. of Deals 10 10

Current Price 1.05

Quantity Traded 399,500 399,500

Value Traded 419,725.00 419,725.00

Quantity Traded 500 50

Value Traded 595.00 275.00

Daily Summary (Equities) Symbol No. of Deals Current Price ABBEYBDS UNHOMES

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

1.25 5.78

11

11

369,549

1,171,680.82

Quantity Traded 14,700 2,200 5,835

Value Traded 337,295.00 23,496.00 227,273.25

Symbol ASHAKACEM BERGER Daily CAP

No. of Deals Current Price 13 22.60 4 11.24 Summary (Equities) 3 41.00

Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. Electronic and Electrical Products Totals

Symbol CUTIX

No. of Deals 4 4

Current Price 1.65

Quantity Traded 32,000 32,000

Value Traded 51,260.00 51,260.00

Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. Packaging/Containers Totals

Symbol BETAGLAS

No. of Deals 7 7

Current Price 35.50

Quantity Traded 131,848 131,848

Value Traded 4,670,111.86 4,670,111.86

4,735,916

373,809,308.06

200 No. of Deals 3 3

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 76,100 76,100

Value Traded 38,050.00 38,050.00

Symbol Daily Summary (Equities) OANDO

No. of Deals 235 235

Current Price 15.90

Quantity Traded 54,732,110 54,732,110

Value Traded 899,727,861.14 899,727,861.14

Page

Symbol BECOPETRO CONOIL ETERNA FO MOBIL MRS TOTAL

No. of Deals 1 14 13 110 17 3 15 173

Current Price 0.50 40.85 2.50 191.10 155.00 50.54 165.00

Quantity Traded 9,574,230 51,007 290,797 492,819 42,588 54 1,059,900 11,511,395

Value Traded 4,787,115.00 2,040,503.08 727,172.50 93,127,169.85 6,593,618.77 2,593.08 174,883,588.94 282,161,761.22

Exploration and Production SEPLAT PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD Exploration and Production Totals

Symbol SEPLAT

No. of Deals 13 13

Current Price 340.06

Quantity Traded 157,489 157,489

Value Traded 53,534,443.26 53,534,443.26

66,477,094

1,235,462,115.62

424 Symbol RTBRISCOE Symbol REDSTAREX TRANSEXPR Daily Summary

No. of Deals 8 8

Current Price 0.77

Quantity Traded 20,100 20,100

Value Traded 14,914.70 14,914.70

No. of Deals 8 4 (Equities) 12

Current Price 5.03 1.27

Quantity Traded 119,500 8,100 127,600

Value Traded 601,235.00 9,834.00 611,069.00

Activity Summary on Board EQTY Page

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

SERVICES Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. Employment Solutions Totals

Current Price 0.54

Quantity Traded 2,341,910 2,341,910

Value Traded 1,263,631.40 1,263,631.40

Hotels/Lodging IKEJA HOTEL PLC Hotels/Lodging Totals

Symbol IKEJAHOTEL

No. of Deals 6 6

Current Price 3.70

Quantity Traded 435,213 435,213

Value Traded 1,612,933.30 1,612,933.30

Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. LEARN AFRICA PLC UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. Printing/Publishing Totals

Symbol ACADEMY LEARNAFRCA UPL

No. of Deals 1 7 8 16

Current Price 0.91 1.26 5.61

Quantity Traded 250 45,301 200,730 246,281

Value Traded 237.50 56,125.20 1,121,234.20 1,177,596.90

Road Transportation ASSOCIATED BUS COMPANY PLC Road Transportation Totals

Symbol ABCTRANS

No. of Deals 9 9

Current Price 0.50

Quantity Traded 893,534 893,534

Value Traded 446,767.00 446,767.00

Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Transport-Related Services Totals

Symbol AIRSERVICE NAHCO

No. of Deals 6 23 29

Current Price 2.08 4.77

Quantity Traded 41,000 89,608 130,608

Value Traded 84,720.00 432,124.30 516,844.30

98

4,195,246

5,643,756.60

3,979

351,508,766

5,237,786,920.62

Daily Summary (Equities)

Page

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © Activity Summary on Board ASeM

Current Price 2.75 4.00 7.97 3.00 0.50 26.99 1.41

Quantity Traded 1,655,746 79,266 29,941,485 6,277,913 201,000 2,888,856 1,414,437 42,458,703

Value Traded 4,609,491.52 316,183.14 238,584,033.15 18,567,770.09 100,500.00 77,902,675.49 1,984,560.92 342,065,214.31

247,076,311

1,532,931,476.34

Quantity Traded 85,500 73,430 126,984 538,040 313,134 2,916 5,000 1,145,004

Value Traded 108,430.00 241,519.80 5,500,928.74 788,708.80 426,069.24 17,525.16 10,750.00 7,093,931.74

11

of

No. of Deals 18 18

Daily Summary as of 29/06/2015 Printed 29/06/2015 SERVICES15:15:49.049 Totals

No. of Deals 34 5 389 45 2 51 44 570

9

Symbol CILEASING

EQTY Board Totals

CONSUMER GOODS Food Products MCNICHOLS PLC Food Products Totals

Symbol MCNICHOLS

No. of Deals 3 3

CONSUMER GOODS Totals

Current Price 1.50

10

of

11

Quantity Traded 3,900 3,900

Value Traded 5,668.00 5,668.00

3,900

5,668.00

3

ASeM Board Totals

3

3,900

5,668.00

Equity Activity Totals

3,982

351,512,666

5,237,792,588.62

Daily Summary (ETP) Exchange Traded Fund

Name LOTUS HALAL EQUITY ETF NEWGOLD EXCHANGE TRADED FUND (ETF) VETIVA GRIFFIN 30 ETF Exchange Traded Fund Totals

11

Symbol LOTUSHAL15 NEWGOLD VETGRIF30

No. of Deals 1 1 1 3

Current Price 10.61 2,271.00 15.44

Quantity Traded 1 52 1 54

Value Traded 10.61 118,092.00 15.44 118,118.05

ETF Board Totals

3

54

118,118.05

ETP Activity Totals

3

54

118,118.05

Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange ©

Value Traded 15,231,470.74 89,838,843.97 462.50 8,982.44 263,420,112.30 369,087,936.20

Symbol JAPAULOIL

Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC CONOIL PLC ETERNA PLC. FORTE OIL PLC. MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors Totals

Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC TRANS-NATIONWIDE EXPRESS PLC. Courier/Freight/Delivery Totals

870.00

of

Value Traded 50.00 1,134,461.82 1,134,511.82

Current Price Quantity Traded 10.20 1,407,419 11 Page 7 of 174.00 528,067 0.50 925 4.45 2,014 101.00 2,610,908 4,572,068

SERVICES Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Daily Summary as of 29/06/2015 R T BRISCOE PLC. Printed 29/06/2015 15:15:49.049 Automobile/Auto Part Retailers Totals

Value Traded 1,053,138.40 11 of 218,703.56

6

Quantity Traded 100 356,749 356,849

OIL AND GAS Totals

Symbol AFRIPRUD CUSTODYINS FBNH FCMB ROYALEX STANBIC UBCAP

Page

Current Price 0.50 3.18

No. of Deals 28 86 1 1 53 189

OIL AND GASNigerian Stock Exchange © Published

by The

5 Value of Traded11

Current Price 1.27 3.30 43.50 1.49 1.36 6.32 2.20

No. of Deals 1 1 2

Symbol CCNN DANGCEM FIRSTALUM PORTPAINT WAPCO

Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC Integrated Oil and Gas Services Totals Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Page Quantity Traded 550

No. of Deals 4 6 18 21 11 1 1 62

Symbol CHAMS ETRANZACT

OIL AND GAS Equipment and Services Daily SummaryEnergy as of 29/06/2015 OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC Printed 29/06/2015JAPAUL 15:15:49.049 Energy Equipment and Services Totals

Current Price

Symbol EVANSMED FIDSON GLAXOSMITH MAYBAKER NEIMETH NIG-GERMAN PHARMDEKO

Value Traded 3,790.00 17,279.00 16,100.00 37,169.00

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Totals

No. of Deals 2

2,308

Quantity Traded 1,000 1,700 10,000 12,700

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC Published by TheDANGOTE Nigerian Stock Exchange © CEMENT PLC FIRST ALUMINIUM NIGERIA PLC PORTLAND PAINTS & PRODUCTS NIGERIA PLC LAFARGE AFRICA PLC. Building Materials Totals

Symbol

FINANCIAL SERVICES Totals HEALTHCARE Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC NIGERIA-GERMAN CHEMICALS PLC. PHARMA-DEKO PLC. Pharmaceuticals Totals

1 1

4

Current Price 3.98 11.02 1.69

Activity Summary on Board EQTY

Activity Summary on Board EQTY FINANCIAL SERVICES Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. Published by The Nigerian Stock Exchange © PLC CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LAW UNION AND ROCK INS. PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MANSARD INSURANCE PLC N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. SOVEREIGN TRUST INSURANCE PLC STANDARD TRUST ASSURANCE PLC STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. UNIC INSURANCE PLC. WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Insurance Brokers and Services Totals Daily Summary as ofCarriers, 29/06/2015

7,093,931.74

No. of Deals 1 3 1 5

7

INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC BERGER PAINTS PLC CAP PLC

1,145,004

Symbol CWG NCR TRIPPLEG

Daily Summary as of 29/06/2015 ICT Totals Printed 29/06/2015 15:15:49.049

Symbol COSTAIN

CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Totals

62

ICT IT Services COMPUTER WAREHOUSE GROUP PLC NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. TRIPPLE GEE AND COMPANY PLC. IT Services Totals

Page

11

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11

8

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NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

Features

45

For Ondo workers, it’s cap in hand N on-payment of over three months workers’ salaries in Ondo State is now having a debilitating effect on every facet of life in the Sun Shine State.

Civil servants in the employ of the state government have resorted to different methods to survive.

It has not only affected the living standard of many of the workers, it has almost crippled the social and economic lives of the citizens who depend largely on the government for survival.

Some people have postponed their major events such weddings, burials, etc or, in some instances, organised low-keyed ceremonies.

A landlord, who three of his tenants are civil servants, said they had not paid their rent for the year.

But, according to him, he cannot give them quit notice because he knows they have not been collecting their salaries as at when due.

He added that it would be insensitive on his part to send them out of his house.

A hotelier said there was low patronage because most of his clients were civil servants and since they had not collected salary, they had abandoned his facility.

The hotelier added some of his patrons owing him had not paid.

This, according to him, is impacting negatively on his business.

Market women, artisans and property owners are feeling the pains as economic activities have slowed down considerably in the state.

“We no longer sell as usual. You know that the only industry in Ondo State is civil service and if it fails to run properly, it will affect us,” a trader said.

Aside businessmen, workers were caught unawares. In the past, payment of salaries, emoluments and pensions was taken for granted in the state.

Governor Olusegun Mimiko introduced the payment of the ‘13th month’ salary which endeared his administration to civil servants.

In the run-up to the October 20, 2012 governorship election, labour unions and civil servants came out en masse to support Mimiko’s second term bid because he had introduced many welfare packages for the workers.

But owing to the dwindling revenue accruing to the state from the Federation Account, the government

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

The sun may not really be shining for civil servants in the ‘Sunshine State’ as they have resorted to begging and doing menial jobs to survive the non-payment of salaries, writes BABATOPE OKEOWO

File picture of Nigerian workers during a protest

Mimiko

last year reached an understanding with the leadership of workers that in the case of any uncertainty, it would not owe them more than one month.

However, the situation has changed and agreement has equally changed as workers are now waiting on the government which has defaulted for more than three months.

Civil servants received salary last in March, making many of them, especially those without other sources of fund, to groan.

Some workers have now resorted to begging for money from friends and relatives, securing loans from different official and unofficial sources in order to survive.

Some male junior workers now use their vehicles for commercial purposes. This is to cushion the effect of the non-payment of salaries.

Their female counterparts are now doing menial jobs to survive.

It was learnt that senior civil servants have deserted their offices to avoid their juniors who daily look onto them for money.

Many have been skipping meals while others report to their duty posts with garri with ‘kulikuli,’ groundnuts and sugar as accompaniments. The sale of garri and its concomitants has now become a lucrative business in various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

A senior civil servant said: “It is unfortunate that we have to do this. It is even more profitable and moving fast more than the sales of recharge cards because people have to satisfy their stomach before any other thing.”

Some senior officers now park their cars at home because they have been finding it difficult to fuel the vehicles. Workers go to the office at will because disciplinary measures against truancy and lateness to offices have been relaxed.

“I only go to office each time I have transport fare. I cannot kill myself,” a senior female civil servant said.

Another person said many of them were now being forced to go into fasting and prayers to seek the face of God. “The situation is becoming difficult for us. Before, it was one month arrear but now three months. Even with that, there are no signs that we would be paid soon. We are appealing to the governor to pay our salary from April till date with its deductions,” a top government functionary said.

The state Chairman, Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JNC), Mr Sunday Adeleye, said: “The leadership of the workers regrets economic hardship being faced by the workers in the state. There have been a series of meetings with the state government officials over the unpaid salary. We have weighed different options and come to the conclusion that the present situation is not accept-

able to the workers in the state.

“We also believe that embarking on industrial action would not help the situation but that it would only compound the already perplexed economic hardship we are going through. What we have been doing is to continue to monitor what comes in to the state and to ensure that all is diverted to the payment of workers’ salaries.”

But Mimiko had said the difficulties faced in the payment of salary and emoluments would soon be a thing of the past.

He appealed to workers to exercise patience.

The governor, who gave the assurance at the 13th anniversary of the Prayer Centre Church of God in Akure, the state capital, identified the inability by state governments to pay workers' salaries as the greatest challenge facing state governments in the country today.

The governor added that despite the numerous sins committed in the country on a daily basis, God has continued to show uncommon mercy to Nigeria.

He added: “When the whole world thought that it is over for the country, God comes to our rescue and our country is now in peace.

“We should all be thankful to God in this country, because many people thought that by today our country will be in crisis but I'm glad to say that each time we thought that it is all over for Nigeria, God will come to our rescue. Where we are today is because of the prayers of the saints.

“God promises that there will be peace and prosperity in our palaces, what we are going through today in this country will soon pass away, even the inability of state governments to pay salaries.”

46

FEATURES

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Cross River and challenges of land speculators Activities of land speculators in Cross Rivers have claimed the lives of many innocent people. But they are regrouping for an onslaught, writes CLEMENT JAMES

O

ver the years, acquiring land has remained a thorn in the flesh of Nigerians in parts of the country, particularly in major cities.

In Cross River State in particular, despite spirited efforts by previous administrations to use the various land edicts to bring sanity to land acquisition and allocation, speculators have always devised new means to infringe on such laws, often with impunity. Thus, those desperate to buy land, especially in the state capital, Calabar, more often than not, play into the hands of fraudsters.

In most cases, land sold to one person might have been sold to more than three persons previously. Whatever happens to the parties involved in the purchase may not be the business of the seller thereafter.

The consequence of this has almost always manifested in the disputes which erupt soon after the buyer attempts to take possession of the land, with some unknown persons emerging from nowhere to lay claim to the same land.

Apart from the court cases involving land disputes in the state, many people have lost their lives while attempting to possess what they thought rightly belonged to them.

Others have been killed during communal clashes over land.

For instance, in December 2012, the General Overseer of Faith Builders Church, Rev. John Ene-Obong and two members of his church, Effiong Koko-Ette and Victor Ene-Boco, were killed over a parcel of land which was said to belong to the family of the late pastor.

In 2013, youths of Okpoma in Yala Local Government Area of the state invaded the neighbouring Igbekerokor community over a land dispute.

Still in 2013, 40 persons reportedly died during a communal clash over land between Ntan Obu-Ukpe in Odukpani Local Government Area of the state and Ikpanya community in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

That same year, 11 persons died and no fewer than 2,000 people were displaced in Adadama, Abi Local Local Government following a clash between Adadama in Cross River State and Amagu in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

In February, a pastor of Assemblies of God Church was killed on his way to Usumutong during a preaching mission. His killers were alleged to have come from Ediba, a community that has been having a long standing dispute over land with Usumutong. Killed alongside with him was a member of his church, Ani Mgbele.

In March this year, one Asuquo Duke, was killed as two communities in the state laid claims to the ownership of a piece of

A developing area in Calabar

Ayade

land situated in the state capital.

Duke, an indigene of Kasuk, was killed at Ikot Uduak in Calabar Municipality as the contention for the piece of land between two Qua clans, Kasuk Qua and Ikpai Qua degenerated to a fight where guns and machetes were freely used.

The deep animosity existing between Ebijakara and Ebom communities over land matters is well known to those who are conversant with the history of land disputes in the state.

Yet, these are only a few of some of the crises that the state has had to either deal with or live with.

Sadly, in most of these cases, fingers have been pointed at land speculators who exploited the weakness of extant laws to a great advantage.

Also, the bureaucracy that attended the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O), which in some cases took almost eternity to obtain, contributed in no small measure in encouraging speculators and exacerbating tension and ultimately crisis.

Besides, information on available land by agencies saddled with the management of land matters was either inadequate or nonexistent.

It was for these reasons that the

Oshaka

immediate past Governor, Liyel Imoke, in an attempt to control the spate of crisis emanating from land disputes, set up the Cross River State Geographic Information Agency (CRGIA) in 2012 with the former Managing Director of Associated Data Systems Limited, Dr Clement Oshaka, an ICT expert, at the helm of affairs.

The agency was given the mandate of sustainable management of all residential, commercial, as well as agricultural land across the length and breadth of the state.

Its mandate include, among others, identifying arable land, forest reserves, detecting earthquakes and volcanic eruption as well as mapping out the entire land mass of the state for usable purposes.

As daunting as this task was, it is to the credit of the agency that although there are still pockets of disputes arising from land matters, efforts so far made have reduced conflicts in disputeprone areas.

For instance, in Atimbo, Calabar Municipality, where the agency used as a pilot area, speculators have scurried into hiding and land in the area is now safe for serious minded people to buy and build.

Before now, speculators in-

vaded the area and were selling a portion of land to two or more persons. In a particular area called “Arab,” speculators feasted on ignorant buyers, many times, without a paper to prove ownership.

Now, speculators have started complaining about the new method adopted by government with regard to the geographic information model.

Recently, some of the speculators were complaining that the new method had sent them into the unemployment market and promised to lobby the administration of Governor Ben Ayade to either revisit or reverse the digitalisation process.

One of the speculators even bragged that with the coming of a new government, pressure would be mounted for a return to the status-quo.

The new method has not only modernised land management in the state, it has facilitated the process of obtaining land and collecting the C of O with minimal hassles and with avoidable dispute.

The positive implication of this is that, unlike before when prospective land owners were duped, with the inherent crisis, this model has checkmated abuse and minimised conflict. The speculators’ move will entrench the crisis government plans to avoid.

“The new method will end all land and boundary disputes in the state because every title for land in this state is held by satellite images and can never be changed or tampered with.

“The whole Cross River map is stored in the system, heavily computerised. In fact, all the streets and the layouts are stored here in the computer in CRGIA,” Oshaka said.

It is not, therefore, in the interest of the state and its people for the new government of Governor Ayade to halt or reverse this process.

For long, the people have yearned to have houses of their own within the ambit of the law and live in peace. But for too long, speculators have hampered their desire for selfish reasons.

The new government has a moral responsibility to not only continue with the process, but to also devise a means of enhancing this process if the state must meet its own housing need for the people.

There is also the need for the Geographic Information Agency to sensitise the public in order to resist the practice of paying for land without proper checks with the agency.

That C of O could be obtained within 21 days in the state is a record achievement and this will no doubt encourage serious minded people to go through the process with a high measure of relief, certainty and security.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the hi-tech approach of the agency will generate the needed revenue for the state.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

News 47

SOUTH-EAST

Anambra markets shut over Boko Haram scare Okegwo Kenechukwu Onitsha

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he President General Anambra State Markets Traders Association (AMATAS), Mr. Okwudili Ezenwankwo, yesterday raised the alarm over the allege transfer of 47 Boko

Haram suspects (convicted/awaiting trial) from Northern Prisons to Ekwulobia Maximum Prisons in the Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Following this development, the president has declared the closure of all markets in Anambra State, to continue the peaceful protest started

last Saturday, to press home their demand for the Federal Government to relocate the awaiting trial inmates immediately or make a public statement on the issue.

The market leader alleged that they gathered from dependable sources at the Ekwulobia Prisons that already, the Boko Haram suspects had ar-

rived other prisons in the South-East region apart from Anambra State.

“We heard 47 of them have been brought to Aguata prisons, we will not allow that”. Why must the Federal Government send those ‘animals’ to South East Zone when the North have more states with enough prison cells in their re-

gion,” he queried.

He vowed that if nothing is done to address this issue proper the association of the South East Traders would be forced to shut down all markets and other activities within the region.

Reacting to this development the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), parallel

Group backs Buhari embers of the Good M Governance for the Masses of Nigeria,

(GGMN), at the weekend gave reasons why they resolved to support President Muhammadu Buhari, to ensure that he succeeds as President of Nigeria.

GGMN was formed to support the actualisation of President Buhari’s policies and programmes.

Speaking with journalists in Owerri, the national coordinator of the group, Hon. Prince Clems Onyeali, said members of the group were confident in the ability of President Buhari, to restore the lost glory of the country.

Onyeali said the group was ready to do everything possible to ensure that the president succeeds in the performance of his duties as Nigeria’s President because of the prospects the country holds for her citizens.

He described the president as a man of simplicity and discipline who canno,t but fulfill the promises he has made to Nigerians.

On whether the president would be able to carry out all his programmes in the face of the economic meltdown, Onyeali, expressed optimism, stating, “the money will come because our money which have stolen will be recovered and channeled properly.”

The national coordinator noted that though

Ugwuanyi tasks lawmakers on effective legislation

T

L-R: Chief Superintendent of Prisons, Dr. Chijioke Onwe; Controller of Prisons, Enugu Command, Mr. Ikechukwu Uchenwa and Deputy Controller of Prisons, Mr. Fred Akam, during a reception for newly promoted officers of Enugu Prisons Command in Enugu …at the weekend

Enugu judge disqualifies self over alleged bias

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Federal High Court Judge in Enugu, Justice V. Agishi, yesterday disqualified herself from adjudicating in a case of treason against eleven accused persons over alleged bias.

At the resumed hearing of the case yesterday, Justice Agishi said she could not continue to preside over the case as the accused persons had accused her of bias.

The judge, therefore, said that she had sent the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High

Court, requesting the chief judge to transfer it to another judge.

“In view of the fact that the accused persons have accused me of bias in this matter, the case file has been transferred to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to be assigned to another Judge,” Agishi said.

The accused persons, who claimed to be `Biafrans’, are facing trial over a four-count charge bordering on alleged treason.

They are: Bejamin Onwuka and Ndubishi

FRSC plans check against tanker, haulage trucks’ road mishaps Uchenna Inya ABAKALIKI

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ederal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has said that it would increase its efforts to check the incessant road accidents involving fuel tankers and haulage trucks on Nigerian roads.

The Zonal Commanding Officer of the corps in Enugu State, Mr. Samuel Obayemi, made this known in Abakaliki, during a familiarization tour of the sector command of the corps in Ebonyi state.

At the event which also

governorship candidate in Anambra State in the 2013 governorship election, Dr. Chike Obidigbo, called on Igbo leaders at the National Assembly, as well as the South East Governors, to investigate the allegation with a view to finding lasting solution the situation before it degenerates to a catastrophic situation.

witnessed the inauguration of a Traffic Control Point, donated to the sector by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) 2014 Batch B –Community Development Service (CDS), the zonal commander noted that FRSC recently held a summit to deliberate on the carnages caused by fuel-tankers and resolved on several issues to curb the trend.

“The FRSC Corps Marshal is going round the country, meeting state governors and other stakeholders to seek areas of

collaboration in curbing the menace.

He explained that the corps is ensuring that at every point of loading of petroleum products, no tanker would be allowed to leave the depot if it is not certified fit to ply the road.

He commended the Ebonyi Sector Command for dedication to duty and also the NYSC (CDS) club for the traffic control point gesture, noting that it would help in curbing road accidents along the Abakaliki-Enugu Federal highway.

Nnamshi, who hailed from Enugu North Local Government Area; Kelvin Ekeh from Enugu East Local Government, Japhet Nwodo and Fidelis Nwonu; both of Idemili Local Government area of Anambra, amomg others.

Mr. Olu Omotayo, the counsel to the accused, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), that his clients had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for a transfer of the matter to another judge because

of what transpired in court at the last hearing.

He said the accused persons had expressed fears that they might not get justice if Agishi continued to preside over the case.

The prosecuting counsel, Mr. David Kaswe, had earlier on said that the matter had been reported to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Enugu on June 5.

The accused had pleaded not guilty to the charges at the first hearing.

he Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has called on legislators in the state to always show commitment to their legislative duties towards achieving the desired success that will impact on the state in the life of the present administration.

The governor made this call through his deputy, Hon. Mrs Cecilia Ezeilo, during a formal opening of a three day induction workshop for members of the sixth Enugu State House of Assembly at the Nike Lake Resort Hotels, Enugu.

According to the governor, the induction workshop was a period of seclusion, reflection, brainstorming, acquisition and exchange of knowledge for the intellectual capacity and personal attitudes of legislators for effective service delivery.

The state chief executive, noted that the induction workshop would provide a platform for the participants to diligently apply professional values in the performance of their duties and also in pursing the transformational agenda of Enugu State Government as stated in the inaugural speech of 29th May 2015.

Ebonyi APC kicks against CJ’s wife’s appointment Uchenna Inya Abakaliki

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faction of the Ebonyi State All Prog ressives Cong ress (APC), has condemned the appointment of the wife of the state Chief Judge, Mrs. Lilian Nwankwo, by Governor Dave Umahi, as the Chairman of the State Local Government Service Commission.

This was contained in a communiqué released at the end of the

party’s meeting and signed by its Chairman, Pastor Eze Nwachukwu Eze and Publicity Secretary, Ngaji Nwodo.

It noted that such appointment will have negative impact on the state judiciary.

According to the communiqué, the appointment would bring to bear the unpreparedness of the Peoples D e m o c r at i c Pa r t y (PDP) led-government in the state, as being demonstrated by its

many policies and administrative summersaults including vindictiveness.

“This shows that it is not only lacking in focus and ideas but also not the type of government the Ebonyi people are yearning for.

The party said it appreciated the optimum growth of the party as recorded by the recent influx of other members from different political parties in the state into its fold.

48 News Standford Bank set for business in A’Ibom Tony Anichebe Uyo

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he league of microfinance banks in Nigeria will increase by one tomorrow, July 1, 2015 said the management of the new Standford Bank in an interview with journalists at the bank’s corporate headquarters in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

Announcing the planned take-off of the new micro-finance bank, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Unyime Idem, said the vision and mission of the bank was borne out of the need to address some teething challenges facing small and medium scale entrepreneurs in the country.

Idem, who doubles as the Managing Director of the Uyo-based telecommunications company, Idems Ultimate Limited, said his investment in the private sector since 2004, has given him the edge to compliment government’s efforts at job creation and also growing the economy.

Since he launched his telecommunication company in 2004, Idem said his business has grown tremendously with branches all over the state, employing over 200 workers.

According to him, the diversification into the financial sector was a strategic action plan to boost the private sector by creating more entrepreneurs in the Akwa Ibom economy as well as engender positive multiplier effects of cutting unemployment and reducing crimes among the population.

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wo explosions on Sunday night and yesterday morning at a facility owned by Italian oil company, Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC), in Ebeocha town, near Omoku, in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, have resulted into fire.

Sources at the facility said a tank had exploded on Sunday, resulting in fire, which fire-fighters succeeded in putting off, and that another explosion occurred on Monday morning, which a combined team of firefighters from Agip and Total E & P, had a tough time putting off.

Ughelli

T

housands of ex-militants including phase one, two and three of the presidential amnesty programme, yesterday thronged the major roads of Warri to request President Muhammadu Buhari to, as a matter of urgency, fill the vacant position of Special Adviser to him on amnesty programme.

The former militants, carrying placards with various inscriptions like “We have credible leaders like Mr. Famous Daunemugha to be appointed,” “We are like sheep without shepherd,” “Daunemugha is a unifying force,” “Buhari don’t leave us in disarray,” among others, charged the ruling All

Twin explosions rock AGIP facility in Rivers The fire attracted a large number of security operatives, who surrounded the facility, attempting to secure the place, while people living in the area, which is located after Omoku, have been asked to temporarily move from Ebeocha, which hosts some facilities owned by Agip.

Sources also said the fire did not claim any life, but that some buildings were affected and that fire fighters were working to

ensure that it was put off.

The Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Hon. Augustine Ahiamadu, while commenting on the incident, ruled out sabotage, explaining that some of the tanks used by the oil giants were old, and needed to be replaced with new ones.

He said he had spoken with the management of the company to ensure that some of the tanks were replaced, and to fo-

cus more on safety.

He said: “The fire started on Sunday and fire-fighters contained it.

Early this morning, another explosion occurred.

“From now, we cannot ascertain anything, because I'm yet to be briefed officially. But, I have told them that they need to do all they can to ensure that the incident is properly handled; and also to make sure that my people are secured,” Ahiamadu said.

Funding Director, Ijaw Council for Human Rights, Mr. Patterson Ogon (left), presenting Heroes Award to Chairman of the occasion, Rear Admiral Ocheago Fingesi (rtd.), during the Rivers Ijaw Youths Heroes Award in Port Harcourt …at the weekend

Ex-militants demand appointment of SA for amnesty programme Gabriel Choba

tuesday, june 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

south - south

Progressives Congress (APC) to make their demand paramount.

Led by Mr.Preye Ekpebide, Mr. Ayakpo Niekebi and Mr. Founkoro Dia, who are leaders of ex-militants from Delta, Bayelsa and Ondo States for the phase one, two and three of the amnesty programme, endorsed Daunemugha as their most preferred choice to occupy the position of special adviser or chairman presidential amnesty programme.

The three leaders said they decided to embark on the match to inform Nigerians that leaving them without a man that would link them to the Presidency for almost one month is causing mixed feelings among them.

Wike commends corps members for deepening democracy Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

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ivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, yesterday commended members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for their contributions in deepening the country’s democracy, noting that they participated in the last general elections, despite serious security challenges.

Speaking when the management of the (NYSC) paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Wike said corps members participated fully in the general elections across the country and made useful contributions.

He said: “I want to commend corps members for

the role they played during the 2015 general elections.

The sacrifice made by the corps members contributed to the success of the elections.”

He assured of the NYSC management in the state of the government’s continued support, and approved a monthly subvention to enable the scheme function effectively, just as he pledged to support the families of eight corps members who died while serving in the state.

Earlier, the NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Ngozi Nwatarali, had earlier appealed to the governor to support the scheme, noting that NYSC had served the state diligently, especially in rural and riverine communities by adding value in critical areas of need.

Ekeh tasks INEC on recognition of electorate Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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frica's foremost social theorist and emeritus Professor of the State University of New York, Prof.

Peter Ekeh, yesterday faulted the outcome of the March and April general elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as not better than previous elections.

He said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won during the epic contest because the citizens were poised to throw out the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party government.

He said the PDP lost at the general elections because the then ruling “PDP was careless with public good.”

Speaking at the two day symposium on Nigeria's 2015 Elections: Coming to terms with a 'miracle', Building a better future (A Postmortem and Futuristic Colloquium), organised by Igbinedion University, Okada in collaboration with the Ford Foundation held in Benin, Edo State, the seasoned professor noted that Nigerians were indeed tired of the PDP because they were worried about the absence of care for 'our common good.'

He pointed out that bribery and corruption were common phenomenon across the nation and that there was no expression of anguish that Jonathan was going to lose in the South-South region, where the PDP supposedly had a strong presence.

Oil firm gets ultimatum to vacate family land Joe Obende Warri

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he Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) Limited has been handed a 14-day ultimatum to enter into negotiation with the Omo Ode family of Irri Clan in Isoko South Council Area of Delta State over alleged illegal occupation and use of their land for oil and gas exploitation and exploration activities or vacate the land.

In a letter dated May 20, 2015 and addressed to the District General Manager, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State from the family’s counsel, White Phoenix Partners and signed by Michael Asugo, the family said all entreaties to the company to bring them to the negotiation table has not yielded any fruitful result till date.

According to the letter; “Request for a meeting with the Managing Director to discuss your illegal occupation and use of our client’s land was disregarded.

“In the circumstances, we hereby give you notice that if you fail to vacate the land where you presently operate in Irri Clan within 14 days, we shall without further notice to you seek to evict your company from there through the court.”

Head of the Omo Ode family, Pa. Ikpawomuno Omoefe, briefed lawyers to execute the eviction action in the letter entitled: “Re-illegal, oppressive and criminal occupation and use of the Omo Ode family land for oil exploitation without the consent or authorisation of the family, a reminder.”

NEW TELEGRAPH tuesday, june 30, 2015

News 49

south north - south

Kwara workers to Ahmed: Devise means of paying our salaries Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

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orkers in Kwara State have asked Gover nor AbdulFattah Ahmed to devise means of paying their salaries as his administration had done up till April this year.

Chairman of the state branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Yekini Agunbiade, who made the workers’ position known in a chat with newsmen, said they were not comfortable with a proposal to spread whatever allocation is available for salaries across the working force at whatever percentage it can cover.

The proposal, he said, was mooted by the government at a meeting that followed agitation

Leadership tussle tears Benue PFN apart Cephas Iorhemen MAKURDI

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he leadership crisis rocking the Benue State chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) yesterday assumed a worrisome dimension as it tore the association into shreds with one of the factions led by its former Chairman, Tor Uja, accusing the new state executive of the union, led

by Rev. Mike Angou, of being behind the crisis.

Uja, in a statement yesterday, queried the reasons behind the election of the new state executive in Abuja, noting, however, that an election was earlier held and conducted

by Vice-President, North Central zone of the association, Rev. Yakubu Pam. Uja described the new executive of the association as charlatans parading themselves as Pentecostal pastors, maintaining that the election earlier held in Makurdi in October, 2014 was 'sacrosanct, and vowed that the outgoing executives would continue to function until it is inaugurated.

But in a counter reaction, the Chairman of the new executive, Rev. Pat Angou, described Uja's utterances as laughable, stressing that the National President of the PFN, Rev. Dr. Felix Omobude, had nullified the election.

by labour leaders on the issue of unpaid salaries.

The NLC boss, however, acknowledged that the state government owes only May salary, but that some local governments and government agencies are yet to be paid about

four months’ salaries.

He appealed to the state, local governments, agencies and parastatals of government to ensure prompt payment of workers’ salaries, saying it has become imperative, especially in this Ramadan

period.

He said: “The government owes the civil servants May salaries, but the local government workers are also being owed four months and some one month while SUBEB workers are be-

ing owed one month.

“The governor called us on this issue of unpaid salaries, the last salaries we received was in April, during the election. So, the agitation was why would the government not pay salaries after the

A cross section of Muslim faithful at the memorisation of Holy Qur’an at Savanna Bank Road in Sokoto …at the weekend.

Kaduna modifies Ramadan Tribunal begins legal fireworks in Ortom, feeding programme Ibraheem Musa Tarzoor's case Kaduna

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aduna State government has modified its earlier decision not to undertake the annual Ramadan feeding programme, where some people are given measures of millet and rice as palliative during the Muslim fasting period.

A source, who did not want his name mentioned, told New Telegraph yesterday that “feeding centres” will now be opened for the needy, who may want to break their fast at desig-

nated centres across the state.

According to him, government will not be directly involved in the programme, because it has given the responsibility to the Federation of Muslim Women of Nigeria(FOMWAN) and other Islamic bodies to run.

Our correspondent recalls that government’s decision to stop the programme has divided the Muslim Ummah in the state as some clerics support the move while others kicked against it.

KWASU to establish Centre for Wole Soyinka Studies Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

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uthorities of the Kwara State University, Malete, have concluded plans to establish the Centre for Wole Soyinka Studies in the institution.

Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, who made this known at the opening ceremony of the Abiola Irele Seminar in Theory and Criticism, held at the university, said it was in appreciation of the great

impact of the Nobel laureate in the academic world.

The KWASU boss added that the centre would house comprehensive documentation and digitisation of materials on Professor Wole Soyinka.

Speaking on the seminar named after the Nigerian doyen of the 20th Century literary and cultural criticism, the ViceChancellor said the university established a School of Theory and Criticism in the doyen’s name to facilitate the yearly organisation of the seminar.

Cephas Iorhemen Makurdi

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he Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, yesterday commenced legal fireworks in a pre-trial hearing session into the suit filed by defeated governorship candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 11 governorship election, Terhemen Tarzoor, who is challenging the election of Governor Samuel Ortom, of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC).

When the case came up, counsel to Governor Ortom, Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), raised a preliminary objection, questioning the jurisdiction of the tribunal to entertain the suit filed by Tarzoor and the PDP. Adeniyi Akintola noted that the grounds and reliefs of the petition are the same as those dismissed by the Federal High Court in Makurdi, adding that it is already status barred.

“They cannot come here and ventilate anything. They are just busy shopping for nothing.

elections?

“We asked whether the last salary was paid because of the elections.

But, when the governor called us, he explained that the government borrowed money to pay April salaries. He also explained that when May’s allocation came, salaries of all workers could not be accommodated. Only pensioners and judicial workers were paid from the allocation as others could not be accommodated.

The APC has the power to nominate anybody to be its flag bearer and it is not the business of anybody to question it. The relieves are the same as those that were struck out by the Federal High Court,” Akintola said.

Counsel to the second respondent, APC, Sebastian Hon (SAN), in his submission, argued that the preliminary objection should be taken with the substantive suit, while counsel to the petitioner, J. O. Adesina, relied on first schedule to the Electoral Act and urged the court to hear the suit.

Addressing the litigants, Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Elizabeth Asabe Karatu, promised that they would be fair to all parties, warning that the panel will not entertain unnecessary delay tactics from the litigants.

She also advised journalists to always crosscheck their facts before publishing to ensure fairness. Other members of the panel include Justice Catherine Ogunsanya, Ogun State and Justice Hadiza Ali, Borno State.

Justice Karatu adjourned the matter till today for continuation of hearing.

PHOTO-NAN

El-Rufai appoints Bala-Usman as Chief of Staff Ibraheem Musa Kaduna

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aduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has appointed Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman, the former Administrative Secretary of the Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation and ex-Director of Finance in the Nasir ElRufai Campaign Organisation as his new Chief of Staff.

A statement issued yesterday by Samuel Aruwan, El-Rufai’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, said the governor has also appointed Bashir Dabo, as Special Assistant on New Media and Mrs. Saude Amina Mohammed, as his Personal Secretary.

According to the statement, Bala-Usman had worked at the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) from 2000 until 2004, when she was hired by the UNDP for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) as a Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Project Implementation.

Since 2011, she has been Director of Strategy for the Good Governance Group (3G), the statement said.

50 WORLD | News

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

Greece shuts banks in bid to prevent collapse

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anks in Greece stayed shut yesterday as officials scrambled to prevent the country's financial system from collapsing in panic. Account holders were also facing tough limits on what they can withdraw from ATMs, and trading in Greek stocks and bonds was also halted. The measures were announced Sunday as Greece slid rapidly toward default and exit from the eurozone.

European leaders are now facing one of the worst moments in the history of the

euro. President Obama called German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, and the two agreed to take all steps to try to resolve the crisis. The trigger for the rapid escalation in the crisis was the Greek government's decision late Friday to pull its negotiators out of bailout talks. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras slammed a draft proposal from Europe and the International Monetary Fund, and said he would put it to the Greek people in a referendum on July 5. Since then, European officials have been focusing

their efforts on how to limit the damage.

Meanwhile,the European Commission chief, JeanClaude Juncker, said he feels "betrayed" by the "egotism" shown by Greece in failed debt talks. He said Greek proposals were "delayed" or "deliberately altered" but added the door was still open to talks. Along with several other European leaders, he has urged a yes vote in the snap referendum called for Sunday. Global stock markets saw big falls yesterday after the weekend's events which saw

Greek banks close for a week.

Mr Juncker said the talks had been broken "unilaterally" by the announcement from the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that he was calling a referendum.

The Greek government responded to Mr Juncker's comments by saying: "An essential element in indicating good faith and reliability in negotiations is sincerity."

Despite the public war of words a Greek official said Mr Tsipras had spoken to Mr Juncker on Friday and asked him to extend Greece's bailout until the referendum. A critical deadline looms

today, when Greece is due to pay back â&#x201A;Ź1.6bn to the International Monetary Fund the same day the bailout expires. There are fears of a default and a possible exit from euro. Mr Juncker said that he still believed a Greek exit from the euro was not an option and insisted that the creditors' latest proposal meant more social fairness. German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed those comments on Monday, saying Greece had received a "generous offer" but adding she would not be opposed to further talks with Greece after Sunday's vote.

Car bomb attack kills Egypt's top public prosecutor

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gypt's top public prosecutor died yesterday of wounds sustained in a car bomb attack on his convoy as it was leaving his Cairo home yesterday in a marked escalation of Islamist militant attacks on the judiciary. Judges and other state officials have increasingly been targeted by radical Islamists opposed to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and angered by hefty prison sentences imposed on members of the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Yesterday's attack claimed the most senior state official since Sisi, a former army chief, ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. Mursi was sentenced this month to

death over a mass jailbreak in 2011. State media, medical and judicial sources confirmed the death of chief prosecutor Hisham Barakat at a hospital in the residential district of Heliopolis where he had undergone surgery hours earlier. Health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar had earlier said that Barakat suffered a dislocated shoulder and a deep cut and may have fractured his nose.

There was no confirmed claim of responsibility for the attack, in which security sources said a bomb in a parked car was remotely detonated as Barakat's motorcade passed by. They initially said a car bomber had rammed into the convoy.

Nepal tells UN to destroy low quality food meant for quake survivors

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he United Nations must destroy hundreds of tonnes of substandard food it imported for distribution to survivors of the recent earthquakes in Nepal, a senior Nepali government official said yesterday. Two quakes, on April 25 and May 12, killed 8,844 people, injured more than 22,000 and destroyed 500,000 homes forcing tens of thousands into temporary shelters and in need of food and medical care.

The UN's World Food Programme has distributed more than 6,500 tonnes rice, high energy biscuits, pulses and oil to more

than two million people in areas hit by the disaster. But Nepal's Food Technology and Quality Control Department said laboratory tests of some rice and pulse samples showed they were "unfit for human consumption". That included more than 500 tonnes of split peas stored in Nepalgunj in the southwest of the country, and 6 tonnes of rice in Laprak, a village in the badly hit central Gorkha district. WFP said none of the problem food was distributed and the stocks would be returned to suppliers once the government cleared necessary papers because they had failed to meet the quality specifications.

US Supreme Court backs use of contentious execution drug

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he US Supreme Court has upheld the use of a contentious drug used in executions, saying it does not violate a ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The ruling is a setback to opponents of the death penalty, who say midazolam is not suitable for lethal injections. The drug raised concerns after it was used in executions in three US states in 2014 that took longer than usual.

Executions have been delayed recently in the US amid problems buying drugs as many firms have refused to sell

them. In the case, called Glossip v Gross, three inmates in Oklahoma argued that the sedative could not achieve the level of unconsciousness required for surgery, meaning severe pain and suffering was likely.

This, they said, was contrary to the Eighth Amendment of the US Constitution, which forbids "cruel and unusual punishments". But the court, in a 5-4 decision, handed a loss to the inmates after judges ruled they did not prove that midazolam was cruel and unusual when compared to known and available alternatives.

Top security officials of Britain, France,Germany and Belgium paying homage to the people killed in the terrorist attack in Sousse, Friday.

New arrests in Tunisia attack as Europeans honour victims

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op European security officials paid a somber homage on Tunisian sands yesterday to 38 people killed at a beach resort, as Tunisian authorities announced the arrest of seven alleged accomplices of the gunman. British officials confirmed that most of the dead were British, and Prime Minister David Cameron said it was time for his country to become "intolerant of intolerance" and crack down on the ideas that fuel Islamic State groupinspired terrorism. Cameron's office said that 18 Britons have been confirmed dead, and the

total is expected to rise to around 30.

Tunisian Interior Minister Mohamed Najem Gharsalli on Monday announced the arrests of several Tunisians allegedly from a network behind attacker Seifeddine Rezgui, a 24-year-old student who was killed by police near the scene of the attack. Authorities say he acted alone during the rampage but had accomplices who supported him beforehand, providing him with weapons and logistical support. A person close to the investigation told The Associated Press that seven people were arrested in at least three different

cities and were being interrogated in the capital Monday. The person was not authorized to be publicly named speaking about the investigation.

British Home Secretary Theresa May, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon joined Gharsalli on the beach in front of the Imperial Marhaba hotel in the Mediterranean resort of Sousse for the tribute yesterday. Standing on the sand surrounded by security officials, they at one point put their arms on each other's shoulders.

French beheading suspect denies jihad motivation

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he man being held in France under suspicion of beheading his boss and trying to blow up a chemicals plant has told investigators there was no religious motivation behind the attack, a source close to the inquiry said today. The source said Yassin Salhi, 35, told investigators he was not a jihadist and repeated earlier statements that he committed the act outside the southeast city of Lyon on Friday after a row with his wife the day before and his boss a few days earlier. Salhi, who was arrested on the scene of the crime on Friday, can be held

for a maximum 96 hours under French law before being charged or released.

The severed head of his boss was found hanging on the fence of a site belonging to US-based gas and chemicals company Air Products, next to flags bearing professions of the Muslim faith.

Examination of one of Salhi's phones revealed he had taken a picture of himself with the severed head before his arrest and sent the image to a number belonging to a French national last traced to the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria. Friday's attack stirred new security fears in France

less than six months after January's Islamist killings at a satirical weekly and Jewish foodstore in Paris. Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said the threat facing France, a member of the international coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq, has never been greater.

A number of sites around the country have been put on maximum security.

French authorities say Salhi frequented Islamic radicals and was filed between 2006 and 2008 as being at risk of becoming radicalized, but he had a clean criminal record and did not show signs of preparing any attacks.

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY JUNE 30, 2015

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Wimbledon

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Messi bemoans goal drought at Copa America

Taiwo eyes return after 14 months absence

Sport Adeolu Johnson Abuja

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he Nigeria Football Federation apparently jittery over the series of poor results recorded by national teams has kicked out Super Falcons coach, Edwin Okon.

His assistant, Christoper Danjuma, is to prepare the Falcons for the All Africa Games qualifier slated for Port Harcourt on July 18.

Okon was in charge of the national team at the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. Nigeria crashed out of the competition in the first round without winning a match. Nigeria drew 3-3 with Sweden in the first match but lost 2-0 to Australia and 1-0 to the USA. Followers of the game accused Okon of not exhibiting enough technical depth to boost the talents of the Falcons.

The fate of U-20 coach, Manu Garba, is yet to be determined apparently because there is no programme for the team now NFF image maker, Ademola Olajire, had last week in Abuja said the contract of any national coach terminates with a world championship except it is renewed like in the case of Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi.

Also the poor results recorded have stimulated the NFF to hand over an appointment let-

The Sport Team Adekunle Salami Group Sport Editor

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Sport Editor

Ifeanyi Ibeh Sport Correspondent

Ajibade Olusesan Sport Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sport Correspondent

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

NBA clubs chase free agent Aminu

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Djokovic begins title defence in style

Did you know?

That Serena Williams has won 73 games and suffered only 10 losses at Wimbledon. Those 10 losses are to nine different women with her sister, Venus, the only person to beat her twice.

Jittery NFF kicks out Falcons coach

• Football body worried over series of poor results • Amodu gets letter, starts work as technical director

Amodu

ter to Amodu Shaibu to commence work as the Technical Director of the football body.

The former Eagles Coach on Monday resumed duty officially after he finally received the letter of appointment which has been on hold since tenure of the last board expired. The letter according to the coach was dated April 1, 2015.

Amodu said he hoped to operate from the Technical Centre at the FIFA Goal project where he will be free to interact with other coaches.

The ex BCC Lions handler said he would start work by listening to both the administrators and coaches at various levels before making any input.

Amodu said this would reduce the huge funds usually used in prosecuting matches in the past.

“I think we should go back to (former Super Eagles coach, Clemens) Westerhof days when majority of the boys were picked from the local teams with an addition of few foreign based pros” he said.

“I will advise that the homebased players are kept together in camp in order to realise our ambitions” he added.

Nigeria’s Desire Oparanozie (left) in action against Sweden

Gatlin sets world-leading time in 200m

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ustin Gatlin became the fifth-fastest 200m runner in history as he won Sunday’s final at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships.

The 33-year-old American, who has served two doping bans, recorded a time of 19.57 seconds in Oregon.

It bettered the 19.68 secs

he ran in May which, at that stage, was the best in the world.

“I wanted to go out and make a statement, and that’s what I did,” Gatlin said.

Gatlin has been the dominant sprinter in 2015, having also achieved the quickest time in the 100m (9.74 secs).

He will go up against 100m

and 200m world-record holder Usain Bolt in both events at August’s World Championships in Beijing.

In a race run in a legal wind of 0.4 metres per second, Gatlin finished ahead of Isiah Young (19.93 secs) and Wallace Spearmon (20.10 secs) to record the joint-11th quickest 200m in history.

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Odyssey of a Green Eagle: Skill honed at barracks The former Director General of the National Sport Commission, Dr. PATRICK EKEJI, recently unveiled his book titled “Odyssey of a Green Eagle”. We continue the serialisation of the interesting book.

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t Standard Five, I made it into the school football team and we eventually got to the final against St Stephen’s Catholic School Ebute Metta, in the Lagos Primary Schools football competition of 1962 played at the King George V (KGV) Stadium.

From my outside right position, I scored the equaliser to level scores at 1-1 and was chosen as one of five outstanding players from either side. Each of us was presented with one piece of the winner team memorabilia.

Football rules at that time had no provision for extra time or penalty shootouts at the end of a stalemated match. In any case it was the equivalent of Under-13 of today. It was a dream fulfilled to have played in the KGV. Before that experience, Ishola Folorunsho, the ace broadcaster and football commentator brought the KGV arena to the ‘feel and sight’ of all football followers whenever he ran live radio commentaries of matches.

Ironically, I would record my first major victory in my sporting life in that stadium, in 1971.

My first love of a profession was medicine. I desired to become a medical doctor. As a six-year-old boy, growing up in Obalende Police Barracks, I recollect that Mr. Anthony Njoku (Da Antho), as we called him, was a laboratory technician in the service of General Hospital on Broad Street Lagos. He was fond of me and sometimes on

his way to work and if we were on holiday, he would occasionally take me with him to his office.

I guess that a combination of my admiration of him in his immaculate white overcoat and perhaps the cleanliness of the entire environment left an indelible mark on me. I also admired nurses not only because they turned out for work very sprightly in their combination uniforms, they smiled all the time and I wished my younger sister, now Mrs. Rose Onuoha, would one day be a nurse. This ambition was further reinforced when I got admitted into St Gregory’s (GREGS) College, Obalende Lagos. Gregs was one of the better-known elite Catholic Missionary Schools.

My attraction to Gregs evolved from watching some inter college football matches in the school compound, in addition to the annual inter house athletics competitions, which organisationally, I would describe as flawless.

John Enahoro was blessed with football skills. Only leftfooted and not endowed with a lot of height, he was quick, stylish, flexible, but strong. He was the Lionel Messi of his time.

I saw the likes of Carew in goal for Gregs. Carew was simply a delight to watch in between the uprights and the cross bar.

He was equally a great high jumper. He and Charles Njoku would be the first college students in Nigeria to scale the high jump bar at 6 feet 1 inch

and 6feet 2 inches respectively at the school’s inter house sports.

Now I know that my attraction to Gregs as a child growing up at Obalende Police Barracks was intricately connected to the sports programmes I witnessed on the school’s grounds.

My skills in football were honed at the police barracks sports field where we played daily after school. It was addictive.

On many occasions I got flogged by my mother for abandoning laundry to go play football.

I got admitted into Gregs in 1963. At the first football practice during games period, I was selected for the school’s ‘Rabbit’ team drawn essentially from class one (first year) students. I turned out to be multitalented. Indeed, I excelled at any sport I took part in.

In 1966, I represented the school in the 110 yards (known today as 100 metres) hurdles at the Grier Cup competition among secondary Schools in Lagos, held on King’s College grounds. Okunowo, (I guess his father owned the popular Okunowo transport services in Lagos in the 1960s) of Igbobi College coasted home with ease after Pat Njoku and I (both from Gregs) were disqualified for two false starts.

Pat was the favoured school huddler in Lagos at the time until I caused an upset at our school’s trials as well as at the school’s inter-house Sports shortly before the Grier Cup. At the Grier Cup event, both of us tried to have a head start on each other as that would (we individually believed) determine who won the race, between the two of us. Okunowo was supposed to a distant favourite in that event.

I also did some long, and tri-

ple jumps, and played cricket as well. But I would become more involved in football as I was selected into the first team in class three in 1965. This was an outstanding feat in the school.

Prior to this, the school team had always been drawn from class four through upper six.

Monsignor Edmond Akpala (the present Administrator) and Chris Okwudibonye were other classmates who made it into the team with me.

Gregs was different in so many ways. The motto of the school then was—and still is— “Pro Fide et Scientia”. It means ‘For faith and knowledge’. By the policy of its establishment, it was a public school, yet its administration and their style of management infused it with a dose of elitism which led to production line of students imbued with knowledge, love and respect for each other irrespective of social strata of their parents or guardians. The neologism, publitist, conveys my feelings about the school. This culture of excellence in the school was handed down by the Irish Catholic Reverend Fathers who significantly influenced and husbanded the growth and development of the College. They include: Rev. Fr. Leo Taylor (1928-1934), Rev. Fr. James Saul (1934-1937), Rev. Fr. Francis Duyan (1938-1942), Rev. J.T Moran (1943-1957), Rev. Fr. MacAndrew (1957- 1959), Rev. Fr. J. McCarthy (1959-1969) by ensuring the engagement of very high quality teachers in both science and arts subject but more importantly for respect and adherence to rules. Gregs was a public-private school with a difference. It was a pride to be a Gregorian.

As a fresh student coming into

the compound for the first time, one cannot but take note of the meticulously manicured flower hedges, the immaculately neat compound and the alluring flush green football pitch lined, at the western end, with well trimmed non-fruit-bearing foxtail coconut trees. The sereneness of the daily morning assembly, followed by the prayer session in the chapel, brought to our consciousness a sense of orderliness to which compliance was mandatory.

We would get to know also that our Principal, Father McCarthy; a very quiet, soft spoken Irish priest had very little tolerance for behaviours antithetical to morals and learning.

And he knew every student by surname! Of course he sustained discipline with strict application of all the rules contained in the school’s brochure provided for all new students, which included as well entrants into the HSC two-year program.

In Gregs, participation in one or more sports was an integral part of our education and, sports equipment were issued out to students for games in those sports which had the facilities.

By my last year at Gregs in 1967, I had become the star of the school’s football team. And then came the 1966 coup which eventually led to the Civil War. One Friday afternoon in April 1967, my father came back from work and got me into an Eastbound passenger lorry at Iddo Motor Park the next day. The situation in Lagos, he said, was getting very precarious for the Igbos. The year before, he had sent my mother and my seven other siblings home.

TO BE CONT INU E D NE XT WE E K

Taiwo eyes return after 14 months absence

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former AC Milan and Nigeria defender Taye Taiwo is keen to find a route back into top-level action despite 14 months of inaction.

His last game was in April 2014 for Turkey’s Buraspor, but his contract was ended a year later by mutual consent.

“I know I can still play

for another top club and that’s why I’ve been training hard to stay fit,” the 30-year-old told BBC Sport.

“There are good possibilities in Italy, France and Netherlands so we’ll see.”

Taiwo’s biggest success came during a six-year stint with French side Marseille, his first European club which he joined in March 2005.

He made over 200 appearances for the club, scoring 21 goals before joining Italian giants AC Milan in 2011.

He struggled to establish himself in Italy and then spent six months on loan at QPR in 2012 before the move to Buraspor.

The left-back says playing club football is his main goal rather than playing for

the Super Eagles again.

“Even when I was playing regularly in Ukraine and Turkey I never got a chance with Nigeria,” he said.

“In football you have to arrange your priorities and my immediate target is to get back to club football.

“As a Nigerian I remain a big fan of my country and that will never change.”

Basketball: NBBF names Adeka as U-16 coach Ifeanyi Ibeh

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he Nigeria Basketball Federation has named veteran youth coach, Adeka Daodu, as coach of the U-16 women’s team ahead of the FIBA Africa U-16 Championship for Women taking place in Madagascar from July 10 to 19.

Daodu, who is the technical adviser of DStv Premier League campaigners, Dodan Warriors, has past experience with several of the country’s national youth teams.

According to a state-

• Set to pick D’Tigers’ handler ahead 2015 AfroBasket ment signed by the NBBF’s spokesperson, Patrick Omorodion, Daodu will be assisted by First Deepwater stand-in coach, and former national team captain, Shola Shomala. They are expected to select team for the championship from a shortlist of 20 players who have been in Abuja since Sunday.

Nigeria received a wildcard to take part in the 2015 FIBA Africa U-16 Championship for Women from the continental body earlier in

June. It will be the country’s maiden appearance at the championship whose maiden edition took place in 2009 in Mali.

The top two teams at the end of the championship will qualify for next year’s FIBA U-17 World Championships.

Meanwhile, the NBBF is set to name a coach for the senior men’s national team, D’Tigers, later in the week.

According to a state-

ment from the NBBF, the basketball body received over 20 applications for the head coaching job. Among the applicants are 2012 Olympic team assistant coaches Sani Ahmed and Timothy Shea. Others are Jose Maria Berrocal Riera (Spain), Ricardo Daniel Maffei (Argentina), Guy Arnaud (France), William Voigt (USA), Sodini Marco (Italy), Dennis Felton (USA) and Aramis Naglic (Croatia).

Taiwo

International Sport

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY JUNE 30, 2015

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TRANSFER

Ospina set for Marseille move

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RSENAL goalkeeper David Ospina could be set for a return to France this summer.

The Colombian ace joined the Gunners from Nice 12 months ago in a 4.2m deal.

But he looks set for a swift Emirates Stadium exit, with Petr Cech due to arrive from Chelsea.

Ospina

Allegri confirms Oscar admiration

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uventus coach Massimilaino Allegri wants to sign a playmaker, and has identified Real Madrid’s Isco and Oscar of Chelsea as his preferred targets.

The Champions League finalists have been busy so far this summer bringing in midfielders Sami Khedi-

Messi attempting to dribble past Colombian players

Messi bemoans goal drought at Copa America

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orld Cup runners-up Argentina came to the Copa America in Chile as favourites and were expected to put plenty of goals past their opponents.

Instead they are the lowest scoring team to reach the semi-finals in which they clash with Paraguay in the southern city of Concepcion on Tuesday.

“It’s terrible what it’s

costing me to get a goal,” Lionel Messi, accustomed to breaking scoring records in Spain and Europe with Barcelona, said after Argentina beat Colombia 5-4 on penalties following a 0-0 draw in their quarter-final.

Argentina’s attacking game is improving with each match but defences at the tournament, especially in their tougher half of the draw, have been hard, putting many men behind the ball to

handle the likes of Messi and Sergio Aguero.

Aguero has scored two goals, Gonzalo Higuain one and Messi a penalty in Argentina’s four matches.

Their defence has three cleans sheets since conceding two goals in a 2-2 draw with Paraguay in their opening match.

“I don’t understand, it appears there’s a different football in South America,” Aguero told reporters after earning a yellow

Arsenal unveil Cech

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rsenal have confirmed the signing of Petr Cech from Chelsea in a deal worth about £10m.

The Czech Republic goalkeeper, who played more than 400 club games in 11 seasons at Stamford Bridge, has joined the Gunners on a four-year contract.

Cech, 33, made only seven league appearances last season after losing his place to Belgian Thibaut Courtois.

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“Over the last six months I’ve had a front row seat as Golden Boy fighters including Canelo Alvarez, Bernard Hopkins, Lucas Matthysse, Jorge Linares and David Lemieux have stepped into the ring and shown what boxing should be all about -- a commitment to fight the best, to respect the sport and to put the fans first,” de la Hoya said through his verified social media account.

Sampdoria confirm Eto’o exit

card for dissent protesting at rough treatment from the Colombians and being denied a penalty.

“The referee said ‘This is (Latin) America, kids’, yet we’re from here,” the Manchester City striker added, commenting on something Mexican Roberto Garcia Orozco had said in the heat of the match suggesting forwards could not expect the same protection they were used to in Europe.

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ampdoria have confirmed striker Samuel Eto’o’s contract has been terminated amid rumours he has signed a deal with Antalyaspor.

Eto’o, who joined Samp from Everton in January, is reported to have agreed to join Turkish Super Lig side Antalyaspor after scoring just two goals in 18 appearances for the Serie A club.

The Cameroonian was said to be set to walk away from Samp in February

following an argument with then head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic over his intention to hold a double training session.

Eto’o

Ronaldo sells image rights to Valencia owner

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: “Cech is a player I have admired for a long time and I am very pleased he has decided to join us.”

Cech set a club goalkeeping record of 228 clean sheets in all competitions, beating the previous highest total of 208, set by former England international Peter Bonetti between 1960 and 1979.

Cech is Arsenal’s first signing of the summer.

ristiano Ronaldo has revealed he has struck an image rights deal with Valencia owner Peter Lim as he bids to grow his personal brand in Asia.

The Real Madrid star, 30, was recent-

ly named the third best paid athlete in the world in Forbes’ annual rich list and has his sights set on enhancing his wealth even further.

I am very excited to announce my latest deal with Mint Media, owned by my good

friend, businessman Peter Lim from Singapore, to acquire my image rights. This is a very strategic move for me and my management team to take the Cristiano Ronaldo brand to the next level, especially in Asia.”

Van Gaal mute on De Gea

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De la Hoya: I have decided to stay retired

or the second time in as many month, Oscar de la Hoya has decided against a comeback to the ring.

The Hall-of-Fame fighter who claimed titles in six weight classes has hinted in recent months of an overwhelming desire to once again lace ‘em up, even at age 42 and well over six years since being pummeled into retirement by Manny Pacquiao.

ra and Roberto Pereyra as well as strikers Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic for a total outlay of 65 million (Dh262m).

However, equally Allegri has witnessed the departure of Carlos Tevez while Andrea Pirlo is set to sign an 18-month contract with New York City this week.

Ronaldo

ouis van Gaal insisted he will not be discussing Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea’s future in the media, with Real Madrid waiting in the wings.

Real are interested in attracting Madrid-born De Gea back to the Spanish capital, as the international enters the final year of his United contract.

Both teams are at loggerheads over the valuation of De Gea, while United have turned their attention to Real defender Sergio Ramos.

Van Gaal was quizzed about De Gea by Spanish TV channel Cuatro, but said: “I don’t want to discuss the issue through the media.

“I will speak with my directors, not with the media. I

don’t have a problem.”

De Gea, who moved to Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid in 2011, kept 10 clean sheets in 37 Premier League appearances as United finished fourth in 2014-15.

Van Gaal

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TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015 NEW TELEGRAPH

NBA clubs chase free agent Aminu Ifeanyi Ibeh

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t least five NBA teams are keen on securing the services of Nigeria international, AlFarouq Aminu, according to media reports.

Currently a free agent, Aminu, who played for the Dallas Mavericks last season, according to reports, is wanted by the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Portland Trailblazers, Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Pelicans.

Aminu, who is renowned as a defensive specialist, spent two seasons with the Pelicans before joining the Mavericks at the start of the last NBA season, helping the former NBA champions to the NBA playoffs.

Ifeanyi Ibeh

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he Vice President of the Nigeria Boxing Federation, Ibrahim Zango, has commended the President of the NBF, Kenneth Minimah, for his genuine interest in developing boxing in the country.

Zango, who spoke to reporters on Monday, at the National Stadium, Lagos, on the opening day of the maiden edition of the Kenneth Minimah National Men and Women Open Boxing Championship, said he was overwhelmed by the large turnout of boxers for the tourney.

Not less than 200 boxers on Monday began weighing-

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in and medical fitness tests, for the championship which comes to an end on July 4 and Zango said: “This has been our prayer for Nigerian boxing; somebody who has the interest to develop the sport. In just two years as President of the NBF, Minimah has raised the standard of Nigerian boxing to greater heights.

“He used his personal funds to sponsor Team Nigeria to Cameroon where the country won two gold and bronze medals. He also sponsored the Nigerian team to the African

days, Mercy also played for Nigeria at the Women’s Football Tournament of the 2000 and 2004 Olympics in Australia and Greece respectively, and was the first African Woman Player of the Year in 2002.

She will attend the three – day symposium that will take place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Vancouver, and will also be a special guest of the world body at the final match of the 7th FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place at the BC Place, Vancouver on Sunday, July 5.

Boxing Congress held in Togo, all in an effort to reposition boxing in the country.”

“For instance, in 2010, the Nigerian boxing team went to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India without winning a single medal but four years later, our boxers, under the leadership of Minimah, went to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and won three medals which was a great improvement when compared with the 2010 outing in India.

“And now, the same Minimah is sponsoring another

National Championship from where boxers that will represent Nigeria at the forthcoming 2015 All Africa Games in Congo Brazaville in September will be selected,” Zango stated.

Three unnamed coaches have been given the task of selecting the country’s boxers for the All Africa Games. And according to Zango, those that would be selected need not win their weight categories, but must have shown an appreciable level of potential during the championship.

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he Nigeria National League, after a hectic seven weeks of top football, will go on a two-week break as the first half of the abridged league ended at the weekend.

The league has produced a lot of thrills and frills in the past weeks as teams struggled to win vital points in a bid to pick promotion tickets at the end of the season.

In a release signed by the NNL secretary, Lawrence Katken, the league will go on a two-week

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nglish Premier League club, Stoke City, are ready to let go of Nigeria’s Victor Moses after identifying West Ham’s Stewart Downing as a replacement.

Stoke manager, Mark Hughes, is keen to keep the 24-year-old Moses at the club permanently following a successful loan spell last season, but the Nigerian is not too committed to making his stay at the Britannia Stadium permanent.

Moreover, the Super Eagles forward is keen to go back to London after Tottenham Hotspur reportedly registered interest in him.

However, Hughes is said to have turned to Downing and now has Moses as his option B.

break because of the financial difficulties the clubs are facing.

Katken said in the press statement that the recess was to allow the clubs to source for funds to execute their matches in the second stanza of the league.

Plateau United currently top Group A1 with 11 points from seven matches while Niger Tornadoes currently occupy the top position in A2 with 13 points.

Group B1 has Crown of Ogbomosho at the top with 15 points while MFM top group B2 with 14 points.

Moses

Four athletes target AFN Golden League jackpot Charles Ogundiya

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our athletes are currently leading the race for the Athletic Federation of Nigeria Golden League jackpot of N1.5m after winning the first two legs of the meet in their respective events.

100m men sensation, Nicholas Imhoaperamhe, former African junior champion in 400m women, Tosin Adeloye, 400m men discovery, Orukpe Erayokan and Javelin men throw-

National League goes on break Charles Ogundiya

Ajibade Olusesan

Minimah receives praise over boxing tourney

FIFA invites Akide, Pinnick to Women’s symposium

orld football –governing body, FIFA, has invited Nigeria legend, Mercy Akide-Udoh, and the president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, to the 6th FIFA Women’s Football Symposium taking place in Vancouver, Canada between Friday, July 3 and Sunday, July 5.

Akide-Udoh, who played for Nigeria at the 1995, 1999 and 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals, is one of FIFA’s 15 ambassadors for women’s football.

A graceful striker in her

Playing most of the regular season from the bench, a knee injury to Chandler Parsons afforded Aminu a greater opportunity to feature in the playoffs. And he made the most of the increase in playing time in the Mavericks’ first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets.

In the five-game series won by the Rockets, Aminu averaged 11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. He also shot 54.8 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from three-point territory.

Prior to the playoffs, the five-year NBA veteran small forward, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2010, averaged 5.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 74 games for the Mavericks.

Stoke to dump Moses for Downing

Erayokan after winning the 400m

er, Adams Kure, all won the first leg inside the Rojenny Stadium, Anambra, before winning the second leg in Abuja at the weekend.

According to a release by the AFN and signed by the Technical Director of the federation, Navy Commodore Omatseye Nesiama, “All athletes entered into the Golden League events (not promotional events) are entitled to share in the jackpot prize of N1,500,000, if they meet the established requirements.

“To qualify for the jackpot prize, an athlete must win in all legs of Golden League and must participate at the Golden League Final.”

The standard set by the AFN in 100m is 10.40secs and Imhoaperamhe won the first two legs in Anambra and Abuja, returning in 10.23secs and 10.36secs respectively.

Adeloye improved on her time recorded in Anambra to put herself in a good position to be part of the jackpot.

She won the 400m women in Anambra with a time of 52.72secs while ending with a better time in Abuja, finishing the race in 52.48secs.

It was a personal best time for Erayokan in Abuja after finishing the 400m men in 46.13secs, he had earlier returned a personal best time in Anambra where he finished first in 46.28secs.

For Kure, he recorded a distance of 69.78m in the Javelin men eventduring the 1st leg in Anambra before raising the bar with a distance of 70.21m in Abuja.

The final leg of the 2015 AFN Golden League will be coming up in a fortnight in a venue yet to be fixed.

Interview 55

NEW TELEGRAPH TUESDAY JUNE 30, 2015

Altidore: 2018 W’Cup will be tough USA and Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore sat down with FIFA. com to chat about his early start in the professional game, his love for the passion of Turkish football and why, for a selfprofessed lover, he hates losing so much.

You were only 16 when you began your professional career. Were you mentally ready for that?

I actually signed [with New York Red Bulls] when I was 15, but I didn’t start playing until the next year. It was a difficult time for me in many ways, especially in the United States where we didn’t have too many professional players coming through at such a young age. It was a challenging time, but I don’t have any regrets about it. I enjoyed it and it helped me become the player I am today.

You’ve lived and played in many different cultures – Spain, England, Turkey, the Netherlands, Canada - which was the toughest to adapt to?

Turkey. I was there for six months and I really didn’t know what to expect. It took me some time to settle. The fans are so fanatical and so passionate about their teams and players, and I had to get used to that. I grew to really love it. It was a very good experience for me and one I would recommend to a lot of young players.

Which country was easiest to adapt to?

Holland. I was there at AZ Alkmaar with a sporting director that I had a very good understanding with. I was playing with players that liked the same type of football that I did. That’s a key for any player – to go into an environment where you’re comfortable.

It was an easy transition from day one.

Altidore

You played in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada in 2007. What did that tournament mean to you?

It’s an amazing competition. You play against the stars of the future and, for me, it was a great moment. I remember we played against Uruguay, and in that team were a lot of the players that are now leading world football.

You’re very active on Twitter. How did this come about?

I don’t even remember. I’ve been on Twitter for so long, I can’t even remember when I got started. I think it’s a good platform to engage with fans and express your views. I think the fans appreciate that, to see that you’re normal

and someone they can talk to.

Do you usually answer tweets from fans?

Sometimes. I’m a big joker. I can address positive things or negative things and I want to make sure the fans know that I have no problem talking to them.

You say you’re a lover. So, what do you love?

I love football. I love my family. I love sports. I love to be around positive people. I don’t waste my time on people who are always looking for the negative, or are always complaining.

What can you say about the current moment in the US national team?

Positive things are happening since the World Cup in Brazil. If you look at the trajectory of US soccer – where we’ve come over the last 12 or 15 years – it’s incredible. We’re constantly growing and getting better. Out football is improving all the time. The best is yet to come and we’ve got exciting times ahead in Russia. We will have another strong team and hopefully we can surprise a few more people.

You must imagine that the USA will qualify for Russia 2018?

I would like us to qualify for Russia.

But nothing is a given. We still have to go to these tough places and work hard and qualify. It would be a huge disappointment if we didn’t qualify.

Wimbledon 2015

Serena eases through to second round

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orld number one Serena Williams overcame a minor blip against debutant Margarita Gasparyan to progress to the second round of Wimbledon with ease.

Five-time champion Williams, 33, was broken in the first game of the match, but came through to win 6-4 6-1.

“She did good, she should be really proud,” said Williams of Gasparyan, 20.

The task before the Russian, who had not played at Wimbledon even as a junior, had been described by one American newspaper as the most daunting in modern tennis.

Williams is the favourite for the women’s title. Should she triumph at SW19 for a sixth time, the top seed will move closer to completing a calendar Grand Slam and emulate Steffi Graf, who won all four in 1988.

The win, her 73rd singles victory at Wimbledon which equals her sister Venus’ tally, was achieved with a vicious overhead smash on her second match point.

The American will next play either Timea Babos of Hungary or Czech Serena Petra Cetkovska in the next round.

Djokovic begins title defence in style

D

efending champion Novak Djokovic began his Wimbledon title defence with a straightsets win over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The Serbian top seed won 6-4 6-4 6-4 in the opening match on Centre Court and goes on to face Lleyton Hewitt or Jarkko Nieminen in round two.

Djokovic, 28, was playing his first competitive

match since losing to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final. He made 20 unforced errors but broke serve to win each of the three sets.

“He can be very tricky on all the surfaces, especially grass, and had nothing to lose but I managed to stay composed,” the world number one said. “I made the crucial breaks at 5-4 in all three

sets, so hopefully it can stay that way for me.”

He added: “It’s great to be back, this is the cradle of our sport. It doesn’t get any bigger than Wimbledon so it’s an honour to open this year’s play on Centre Court as defending champion.”

“This is a tradition and history that is nurtured here, so it really is a special feeling.”

Punter places £50,000 bet on Murray to win

A

Scottish punter has placed a £50,000 bet on Andy Murray to win this year’s Wimbledon.

The man, who is thought to be from Aberdeen, would net a £175,000 return should the 5/2 second favourite go all the way at SW19.

A Ladbrokes spokesman claimed that it was

the largest tennis bet ever placed in Scotland, saying: “Our Murray fan in Aberdeen has given his hero the ultimate vote of confidence with this record-breaking bet.”

Murray, who reigned supreme at the Grand Slam event in 2013, will face Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin on Tuesday in his first-round outing.

Murray

On Marble

Sanctity of Truth

You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

– Christopher Columbus

World Record

The longest tongue measures 9.8 cm (3.86 in) from the tip to the middle of his closed top lip and was achieved by Stephen Taylor (United Kingdom), at Westwood Medical Centre, Coventry, UK, on February 11, 2009.

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015

N150

Public arena : the column you write

Reforming the Land Use Act Olubunmi Aboderin

A

s state governors desperately look for ways to boost their internally generated revenue base, here’s a radical idea for them: Use whatever influence you have at the federal level to push for the removal of the Land Use Act of 1978 from the constitution, then proactively support those working on getting that piece of legislation reformed, and allow their recommendations to be effectively implemented in your respective states. With the current system, it is estimated that less than five per cent of housing units have formal title registration. Reforming the land management system will open up the possibility of bringing the remaining 95 per cent of existing housing into formal title registration.

There is a shortage of affordable housing in Nigeria. Some estimates say we need 14 to 17 million more units than what we currently have. Others say the figure is closer to 40 million.

Either way, reforming the land management system will release the chokehold on private sector urban housing developers who have the ingenuity and the energy to tackle the multimillion housing deficit, which the states' housing corporations, the states’ ministries of housing and their federal counterparts, are trying valiantly to satiate. Think of what the states would gain directly in increased transaction volume through stamp duties, fees, PAYE, and indirectly through reduced unemployment, increased civic satisfaction and so on. This can be achieved if the bureaucracy is trimmed down, the response times are faster, the process is transparent and the per unit processing cost is reduced.

Prior to the Land Use Act of 1978, a dichotomous system prevailed in country. In Northern Nigeria, the land was vested to the governor who then apportioned or utilised it as he deemed fit. One could say it was a form of controlled socialism, in comparison to the free market system adopted in the South. In Southern Nigeria, other than areas selected for public purposes, land was owned by individuals or clans and passed along from one generation to the next. Permission however had to be sought from the governor before land rights could be assigned to aliens. In the absence of a formal titling and registration mechanism, the system in the South threw up endemic problems of multiple sales of the same parcel of land to various buyers. The South also experienced land speculation, problems with acquiring land for public purposes, exorbitant pricing, and the social malaise resulting from the accumulation of land by those who had unjustly dispossessed others of their property. The Land Use Decree was created in 1978 ostensibly to solve these problems and to install

Yar'Adua

Mabogunje

Falade

Olashore

one codified land administration system across the country.

As can be imagined, the decree was not popular in the South. People accustomed to owning land were effectively turned to tenants via the wholesale transfer of land ownership rights to the governor, and compensation was only paid for developed land or agricultural land. The decree also empowered governors to issue Certificates of Occupancy which would allow the possessor to use a specific piece of land for a pre-defined period of time. And more importantly, the consent of the governor had to be given before any transfer or transaction could be done with the land, (including mortgages or assignments). This specific provision is one of the protagonists causing the current bottleneck in the mass housing industry. The potential quantum of paperwork that this must necessarily involve for a country with over 170 million citizens is mind-boggling. To

expect all that paperwork to pass efficiently through the office of 36 people is unrealistic. It is a stumbling block to the proliferation of home ownership and it’s time to make a concerted effort to take the breaks off. In his essay, The Land Use Act: 11 Years After, Dr A. Nnamani, who was the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation in 1978 said, “It seems to me that it is not healthy for the economy that the Governor’s Office should be flooded with these applications for consent.” We should not sacrifice efficiency on the altar of control.

The Land Use Decree was inserted into the 1979 and 1999 constitutions, to make it difficult for it to be revised or repealed. In 2009, President Umaru Yar’Adua established the Presidential Technical Committee on Land Reform and gave members the task of finding a better way for the country to handle the administration and recording of land ownership, the issuance of titles and the process for registra-

tion, as well as other land-related matters. Professor Akin Mabogunje, the 2009-2011 Chairman of the Committee, described the Land Use Act as “a clog in the wheel of development”.

The Mabogunje Report states that “Although the decree has made it easy for governments to acquire land for public purposes, drastically minimised the burden of land compensation and considerably reduced court litigations over land, it has, since its inception…created a new genre of serious problems for land management in the country.”

The report goes on to list at least nine of these problems and in 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan directed the committee to look into the practicalities of reforming the Land Use Act. According to the Managing Director of Crusader Sterling Pensions Niyi Falade, “the Nigerian housing sector is currently valued at N6.5 trillion with an annual growth estimation of 10 per cent over the next few years.” Trying to benefit from the untapped potential in the real estate and construction industry without reforming the Land Use Act is like trying to drive a Ferrari with the hand brakes on. Yes, the vehicle will move but its progress will be hampered. Reforming (or some would say repealing) the Land Use Act would be a catalyst for housing development on a mass scale.

However, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. There are some redeeming features of the Act. Let’s hold on to those while revising the ones that need revising. Updating the Land Use Act will certainly assist in taking us from where we are to where we want to be. It is one of several tipping points available to us as a country for moving millions of people out of poverty. Currently, close to 85 per cent of urbanites live in rented accommodation which swallows up as much as 40 per cent of their salary, if not more. The need for affordable housing is further compounded by urban migration.

People, mainly young adults, are moving out from rural areas into the cities. The population in Abuja is estimated as growing by nine per cent every year. In Lagos, the estimate is three per cent each year. Where will they live? Where will they work?

At a real estate forum in 2015, the CEO of Lead Capital Abimbola Olashore estimated that the production of just 75,000 homes per year would create “at least 300,000 direct jobs and 488,000 indirect jobs.” Assuming the housing deficit is 17 million units, we would need to build 850,000 units per year for the next 20 years, ceteris paribus. Overhaul the Land Use Act of 1978. Unleash the real estate sector. Let the multiplier effect go to work on the economy.

• Ms. Aboderin is a member of the Institute of Directors.

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