Tuesday, september 27, 2016 binder1

Budget deficit: AfDB approves $1bn loan for Nigeria

...to inject additional $10bn in three years Anule Emmanuel

approved $1 billion loan for the financing of Nigeria's N2.2 trillion budget deficit

Abuja

T

he African Development Bank (AfDB) has

in the 2016 fiscal year.

AfDB in the next three years is also expected to in-

crease its investment portfolio in the country to about $10 billion.

Besides the $1 billion budget support, other packages of AfDB for Nigeria in-

clude $300 million to create jobs for 185,000 youths; $250 million towards North-East infrastructure development, $1 million grant to CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

Speculation drives naira down to N445/$ on parallel market

}37

AfDB’s packages

Investment portfolio = $10b Budget support = $1bn Job creation = $300m FCT infrastructure devt = $300m North-East development = $250m TCN = $200m Grant to IDPs = $1m Grant to EFCC = $2m Grant to, ICPC = $1m

Sanctity Of Truth

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

How I changed millions of dollars for Jonathan's aide –Witness }6

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Vol. 3 No. 951

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

New Telegraph’s Shadare wins Aviation Writer of the Year }5

Father kills two daughters, dumps bodies in stream }9

@newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com @newtelegraph1 www.newtelegraphonline.com

N150

Edo guber poll:

Police, Civil Defence deploy 45,000 personnel

...vehicular movement restricted

lINEC receives sensitive materials }12

Judges in trouble Dudafa

Shadare

Obaseki

Ize-Iyamu

lNJC, DSS, EFCC step up probe over misconduct lCJN sets up panel to try judges }2 lBiafra: Justice Tsoho hands off Kanu's case Buhari approves 13 CEOs for agencies S/N ORGANISATION 1 Industrial Training Fund (ITF) 2 National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) 3 Nigerian Content Monitoring Board 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

DESIGNATION APPOINTEE Director-General Mr. Joseph Ari Director-General Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) Executive Engr. SimbiKesiye Secretary Wabote Standard Organization of Nigeria Director-General Aboloma Osita (SON) Anthony Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) Director-General Mamman Amadu Pension Transitional Arrangement Executive Barrister Sharon Directorate (PTAD) Secretary Ikeazor New Partnership for Africa’s National Princess Development (NEPAD) Coordinator/CEO Akodundo Gloria Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) Executive Alhaji Ahmed Secretary Bobboi Oil & Gas Free Zone Authority Managing Umana Okon Director Umana Sa’adiya Faruq National Commission for Refugees, Federal Commissioner Migrant and Internally Displaced Persons Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) Chairman Engineer Usman Abubakar Petroleum Technology Executive Dr. Bello Aliyu DevelopmentFund (PTDF) Secretary Gusau Nigeria Investment Promotion Executive Yewande Sadiku Commission (NIPC) Secretary

L-R: President, Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma and Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole during a meeting of the National Economic Team with the bank in Abuja…yesterday.

PHOTO: TIMOTHY IKUOMENISAN.

APC crisis: I’ll consult before replying Tinubu –Oyegun

lNWC: Tinubu's accusations misplaced lSpokesman: More leaders’ll back chairman's resignation }3

Hope rises for use of stem cells for heart treatment

}10

2

NEWS

Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

W

ith the rampant complaints against judges in recent times, the National Judicial Council (EFCC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS) have stepped up their move in probing judges over alleged misconduct, New Telegraph has learnt.

Although, the NJC has the statutory power to hire and fire judges, the EFCC and DSS had, however, joined in the bid to bring corrupt judges to book.

According to a top source in the NJC, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Mahmud is set to bring all the erring judges to book within the remaining two months he had in office.

“Very soon, you will see judges going to jail. With allegations of misconduct with overwhelming evidence, some of the serving judges may soon be in court to answer charges of misconduct, especially corrupt practices,” a highly placed source told our correspondent at the weekend.

The source, who preferred anonymity, told New Telegraph that the Council had received petitions against some judges, especially those who sat on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership tussle suit where conflicting judgements were delivered and others presiding over sensitive cases with alleged report of compromise.

The source further stated that such petitions had been referred to a panel that will look into its merit and seek the response of the affected judges.

"The CJN is really not comfortable with the ways things are going on in the judiciary circle, especially as it relates to conflicting judgements.

"The CJN has called for all the judgements alleged to be conflicting. He has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remit all conflicting judgements against it to his office for necessary action.

"Remember, the electoral body had earlier complained that it is confused on which judgement to obey in some cases," the source stated.

N30.97bn The total value of payment channels made by POS of Nigeria in February 2015..

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

2.105m

The total number of active mobile (CDMA) lines of Nigeria in June 2015.

Source: Ncc.gov.ng

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Judges in trouble over misconduct The CJN had, last Monday at the beginning of the New Legal Year, revealed that the NJC had received petitions against some judges for delivering conflicting judgements.

The CJN, however, added that the probe is ongoing and that any judge found guilty will not go unpunished.

For the DSS, New Telegraph learnt over the weekend, that the secret service is presently investigating some judges over alleged misconduct.

Though the names of the judges under investigation were not mentioned, but an impeccable source told New Telegraph that some of them are involved in controversial decisions.

New Telegraph scooped that the DSS is probing some of the judges handling cases involving the arms deal scam.

A source who spoke with New Telegraph revealed that one of the rea-

sons why the DSS has not obeyed the court order was because such orders “were not genuinely obtained, but rather purchased.”

According to the source, "some of the judgements are questionable. The DSS has already commenced investigation to establish a link between the judges handling some of the cases and the defendants as the case may be. That is one reason why the secret service has refused to obey some of the orders, because we know that they are obtained not on sound ground."

The source further stated that any judge found guilty would definitely not escape justice.

Similarly, the EFCC is already prosecuting some senior lawyers over their alleged shady dealings with judges handling their matters.

The commission, however, promised to intensify efforts to bring all the cor-

rupt judges to book with immediate effect.

The commission had, on March 9, 2016, arraigned Rickey Tarfa (SAN) before Justice A. A. Akintoye of the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere on a 27-count charge bordering on alleged willful obstruction of authorized officers of the EFCC, refusing to declare asset, making false information and offering gratification to a public official.

The anti-graft agency in the charge had alleged that Tarfa, on the 29th day of January 2014 in Lagos, intentionally gave the sum of N1.5 million to Justice Nganjiwa Hyeladzira Ajiya of the Federal High Court directly from his Zenith Bank Account No. 1002926967.

Tarfa was also alleged to have, on 15th day of December, 2015 in Lagos, intentionally gave the sum of N500,000 to Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa of

the Federal High Court indirectly through Awa Ajia Nigeria Limited’s account No. 0000971941 domiciled in Access Bank Plc. In a similar development, the EFCC also arraigned Dr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN) before Justice R.I.B Adebiyi of the Lagos State High Court on a five-count charge of allegedly offering gratification and attempting to pervert course of justice.

Nwobike was alleged to have bribed a Federal High Court Judge to refrain from exercising the duties of his office.

Nwobike had admitted in his statement to the EFCC that he gave N750,000 to Justice Yunusa to assist the judge in the treatment of his ailing mother who is alleged to be suffering from kidney disease.

The anti-graft agency had alleged that Nwobike, on the 28th day of March 2015, in Lagos intentionally gave the sum of N750,000

Leader, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, during his trial in the court in Abuja… yesterday

to Justice Yunusa of the Federal High Court directly through his United Bank for Africa Account No. 1002664061 in order that the said judge refrains from acting in the exercise of his official duties.

Sources said both Justices Yunusa and Ajiya are under investigation by the EFCC and the NJC. Another controversial judge with a link to a popular politician is also under investigation. There are petitions against the judge at the NJC. The NJC had, not too long, sacked some judges over alleged gross misconduct and breach of code of conduct for judicial officers.

Specifically, the NJC had, on April 19, sacked Justices Tanko Yusuf Usman and Idris Evuti of the High Court of Niger State, among others, over falsification of age.

There is strong indication that the two judges will be prosecuted for the alleged offences committed.

It will also be recalled that the factional chairman of the PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff had petitioned the NJC against Justice A.M Liman of the Port Harcourt division of the Federal High Court.

Sheriff, in his petition dated July 4, alleged that he on two different occasions met with Justice Liman on his (Justice Liman) request both in Kaduna and Accra, Ghana respectively.

Feelers at the NJC however showed that investigation had commenced on the said petition.

There are also feelers that the DSS had established prima facie against some of the judges and a CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Biafra: Justice Tsoho hands off Kanu's case

...returns case file to Chief Judge Tunde Oyesina ABUJA

J

ustice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday handed off from handling the case filed by the Federal Government against the self-imposed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

The judge, however, returned the case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for reassignment.

Kanu had earlier petitioned Justice Tsoho before the National Judicial Council (NJC) over alleged

judicial rascality.

Kanu, alongside his co-accused, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi, are facing a six-count charge of treasonable felony, brought against them by the Federal Government.

At the resumed trial yesterday, Kanu's lead counsel, Chuks Muoma (SAN), brought an application where he claimed that the court was biased in the manner it has so far handled the matter.

He told the court that his client has written a petition to the NJC and that it will only be proper for the court to suspend hearing of the case pending the

outcome of investigation by the NJC. He also informed the court that the NJC has responded to the petition filed by Kanu against the judge, saying they are investigating the matter.

According to him, “We are only asking the court to hands off the case; my client has lost confidence in this court.

"Following the development, all we are asking this court to do is to hands off the case pending the outcome of the NJC’s investigation.

"It would not be proper for the court to continue with this matter when investigation is ongoing. So,

in the interest of justice, we are asking the court to hands off the case.

“I would urge the court to transfer the matter; I would suggest that it be sent back to the CJ.” He further submitted that the court was acting in line with the suggestion of President Muhammadu Buhari that Kanu was not going to be released under any circumstance.

Justice Tsoho, in a short ruling, held that he has no personal interest in the trial of Kanu and further returned the case file to Justice Auta.

The judge also condemned the attitude of the defence counsel, saying he acted un-professionally through utterances and added that he does not care

if he takes the case to another planet.

Justice Tsoho ruled that since the defence counsel noted lack of confidence in the way the court has handled the case, "it is only reasonable for the court to disqualify itself from further hearing the matter.”

"Accordingly, this case is hereby forwarded to the Chief Judge for further re-assignment," the judge ruled.

He said logically the procedure would have been for the court to wait for the response of the NJC so as not to pre-empt NJC's decision.

Kanu had petitioned the NJC against Justice Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Abuja of “committing judicial rascality” over two rulings given against him.

NEWS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

3

APC crisis: I’ll consult before replying Tinubu –Oyegun Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

T

he National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, yesterday said that he would consult with stakeholders before joining issues with the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, over the outcome of the party’s governorship primaries in Ondo State.

Tinubu had, on Sunday, accused Oyegun of being a fraud and regressive ele-

ment over his conduct on the outcome of the governorship primaries that produced Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN).

The APC leader, in a statement entitled: “Oyegun’s Ondo fraud: The violation of democracy in the APC,” stated that the national chairman’s conduct was tantamount to a coup as he (Oyegun) decided to safeguard the fraud done by perpetrating a greater fraud.

He added that Oyegun was forced to undertake his “desperate fraud” in broad daylight and that the

party’s national chairman must go.

But, the embattled National Chairman told newsmen in Benin, Edo State capital, that he couldn’t be seen heaping invectives on Tinubu, whom he described as a respected leader of the APC. Besides, he said the Edo State gubernatorial poll remained utmost priority

€34.2m

The estimated transfer value of Shkodran Mustafi of Valencia in 2016.

Source: 101greatgoals.com

at the moment, even as he denied most of the things said about his person in the media.

Oyegun, however, stated that he needed to consult with other key leaders of the ruling party before he could say anything on the contentious matter that compelled the former Lagos State governor to explode in some of the na-

13

The life expectancy of men at age 60 years of Gambia in 2010-2015.

Source: Un.org

L-R: Chief Magistrate Elekeson Samuel; former Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu and Martha, wife of the Chief Magistrate, at the burial of Elekeson's mother in Igbere, Bende LGA, Abia State.

tional dailies yesterday.

According to him, “Asiwaju is well respected leader of our party. So, I cannot be seen speaking evil against him. I have to consult properly with other leaders of the party before we make any definite statement. Again, you know we have a crucial election here in Edo which is my priority right now.

“We don’t want to lose focus and I know Asiwaju also wants us to win because we all have worked hard for this. So, maybe after the election, if there is need, I will speak if no need, I will relax.

“But all I can say now is that most of the things said in the papers about me are not true. I have always believed in internal democracy, that the credibility of primaries must be taken seriously.”

Oyegun stated that he

Judges in trouble over misconduct CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

suit will be filed against them.

Reacting to this, an Abuja-based lawyer and rights activist, Adesanya Tomori, stated that it is a good idea to bring all the bad eggs in the judiciary to book without further delay.

Tinubu's accusations misplaced, says NWC members lAPC spokesman backs call for Oyegun's resignation Johnchuks Onuanyim, ABUJA

T

he sudden outburst of the former Governor of Lagos State and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on the outcome of the governorship primaries of the party in Ondo State appears to have torn apart the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

Tinubu had, in a statement released from his media office on Sunday, demanded the resignation of the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, accusing him of fraudulently foisting Chief Rotimi Akeredolu on the party as its candidate in the forthcoming Ondo governorship election.

But some members of the NWC disagreed with Tinubu on his allegation that Oyegun overruled the body after it voted to cancel the primary election and conduct a fresh one to select a more popular candidate.

The members, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised

won’t join issues with Tinubu, but insisted he doesn’t joke with his credibility. “I believe that if primaries of parties are not credible, it may derail any democracy. So, I don’t play with these things at all. Everybody knows me and I don’t joke with my credibility and I have tried to maintain it. Like I said, Asiwaju is our leader and we all hold him in high esteem; so I will never join issues with him.

“But maybe after Edo elections, after we must have emerged victorious, we may speak on some of the issues raised. So, there is no problem at all.

“Edo is the focus for now and as you know, this is my state. So, it is a very serious election for us. So, I want to be allowed to remain focused, then after the election we can speak,” he added.

to speak on the matter, said that Tinubu may have been misled by some NWC members on the Ondo State governorship primaries and the recommendations of the Appeal Panel Committee.

The NWC members said that they were taken aback by the outburst of the former Lagos State governor on the decisions of the NWC on the Ondo governorship primary election because, according to them, the decision not to cancel the poll was not imposed on the body

by Oyegun, but a collective decision based on the available facts and evidence on the issue.

According to them, there was no iota of truth on the allegations of voting on the recommendations of the Appeal Panel Committee and Oyegun never overruled the members of the NWC on the matter.

The NWC, they said, unanimously rejected the recommendations of the Appeal Panel Committee, last week Tuesday, the second day of its sitting to consider the report.

They also explained that the issue of voting was only mentioned on Thursday, the final day of its sitting to submit the candi-

date's name, Akeredolu, to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

According to them, after some deliberations, a member of the NWC raised a motion that the party should submit a dummy name to INEC, but another member said no, that the party should submit Akeredolu's name as he scored the highest number of votes at the primaries.

"It was at this juncture of considering the two motions that the three person stood up and said: Why do we have to submit a dummy name when we all agreed and rejected the recommendations of the Appeal Committee on the grounds that it didn't add up. If we had rejected that, what that simply means is that we have upheld the result of the Electoral Committee, therefore Akeredolu is our candidate and his name should be submitted."

The NWC members stated that based on the last argument, that the National Chairman considered superior, he called the National Vice Chairman (South-South), Prince Eta Hilliard, to give the closing prayer for the meeting.

They expressed disap-

pointment over the presentation of the NWC meeting by some members to the APC national leader.

Meanwhile, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Comrade Timi Frank, yesterday lent his voice to the call for the resignation of Oyegun.

At a press conference in Abuja yesterday, Frank said Tinubu’s outburst has further confirmed his earlier stance that Oyegun was incompetent to lead the ruling party.

He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the crisis plaguing the party before it was too late and advocated the convoking of an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to address the crisis rocking the party.

He stated that there were numerous issues in the party that needed to be addressed, noting that the "Change Begins With Me Campaign" of President Buhari must start with the party.

"There was a conspiracy against me when I was questioning the competency of Oyegun, but today, God has vindicated me. The National Leader of our party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has concurred to my earlier call that Oyegun should resign as national

chairman, that should let you know I foresee what they didn’t see," he said.

According to him, Oyegun ought to step down based on the weighty allegations brought against him by Tinubu.

"If Oyegun knows that what Ahmed Bola Tinubu has said is not true, I’m challenging him to immediately call for an emergency NEC meeting for us to seat face to face and tell ourselves where we are getting it wrong because if we cannot resolve this crisis now, we cannot resolve it again.

“There are lots of my colleagues that are complaining. Today, it is Tinubu that is shouting, more will still speak out because if we don’t do anything for this man to go, what happened to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may happen to us if care is not taken," he said.

The deputy spokesman of the party disclosed that he has started consultation with other members of the party to give Oyegun a 14day ultimatum to convene an emergency NEC meeting, saying failure to do so will lead to wild protest at the party’s national secretariat to register the grievances of party members against the current leadership of the party.

"The judiciary is the last hope of the common man.

It will be a disaster on the entire state if the judiciary is allowed to collapse totally due to the activities of corrupt elements. I think it is not enough for the NJC to sack judges who it has been proved that they are corrupt; they should also be tried at the court of law.

That is only when such can serve as deterrent to others.

"If it is only sacking without any punitive measure, it cannot pass any message to others. This is because, some of them might have even earned their pension through corrupt means, when NJC sacks them, they will just go home and begin to enjoy their proceeds. But if after the sack, they are prosecuted and sentenced accordingly, the judiciary will be more sanitised," the source said.

Before now, stakeholders in the judiciary had expressed concern over the spate of allegation of corruption in the third arm of government.

Most recent was the call by the body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) during a special court session to mark the 2016/17 new legal year.

Speaking on behalf of the body of SAN, Chief T.J Okpoko had challenged the CJN and NJC over various conflicting judgements by judges in recent time.

"In our nation as it stands today, no one needs to be told that the bar and bench are at a crossroads… I call on the regulatory authorities to step in immediately to do the damage control so as to save our justice system from further ridicule," he stated.

4

NEWS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Egbemode: Churches must explore media platform for evangelism Chijioke Iremeka

T

he Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, New Telegraph Newspapers, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, yesterday, urged church administrators in Nigeria to leverage on the platform provided by media technology in soul winning.

Egbemode, one of the speakers at the 3rd Annual Conference of The Church Administrators Society of Nigeria (CASON), held in Lagos, emphasised the need for the churches and its administrators to go extra mile to win souls by organising educative and attractive programmes that would address the needs of the church members, especially the young people, thereby, impacting on church’s growth.

Speaking on the theme: ‘Increasing Ministry Impact Through Media Technology,’ Egbemode advised churches and church administrators to take over radio and television stations; print and social media for evangelism, saying that the impact of media will be felt in the ‘Great Mission’ by such move.

According to her, church-

es and church administrators are not doing enough with the tools available to them, harping on the use of social media, movies and video clips for evangelism since congregants tend to recall what happened in a movie and film better than messages from pulpit.

Egbemode, who is also the President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), exemplified this by asking the participants to recall a particular message they listened to in the past 20 years, which nobody could recall.

With this, she advised the church to pay attention to visual messages and interesting ‘talk shows’ that deepen ministry work.

She said: “Harvest is ripe, but few hands are there. We need to go extra mile, using different

approaches and media technologies. How do we get better result using the same unattractive old methods? There are some church programmes that cannot catch people’s attention. Of course, these are not the kind of programmes you would hear on a TV and would like to record.

“A ‘talk show’ like, ‘The choice of your spouse determines whether you will go to heaven or hell,’ will at-

tract a number of people. If we want to take ministry on air, let’s make sure that the programmes are irresistible. We all listen to radio in some cases on our way home from work. Imagine slotting in a Christian programme in popular radio programme that has great audience.

“We need to bring topics that appeal to the listening audience. We need to bring creativity in it. The shorter the message, the

easier it is to comprehend.

As the ministers of the gospel, we need to do more.

We can use what seems secular and take over the ‘world’ instead of leaving the available platforms to the ‘world.’”

Egbemode, however, implored Christian bodies like the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pentecostal Faith Ministry (PFN), and others to pool their resources together and organise educative

$470m

The net worth of Tom Cruise in 2016.

Source: Fropky.com

8%

The percentage of the population of men above 60 years of Grenada in 2012.

Source: Un.org

L-R: Speaker, Mr. Tunji Abioye; President, Church Administrators Society of Nigeria (CASON), Mr. Seyi Oladimeji; Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief, New Telegraph Newspapers, Mrs. Funke Egbemode; Speaker, Dr. Kunle Hamilton and Chief Executive Officer, Red Media Africa, Mr. Chude Jideonwo, during the 3rd CASON Annual Conference, in Lagos…yesterday.

PHOTO: GODWIN IREKHE

Budget deficit: AfDB approves $1bn loan for Nigeria CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

deal with challenges of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), $300 million for infrastructure development around Abuja, $200 million for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to deepen facilities, among others.

A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, stated that the AfDB would give a total of $4.8 million as grant for institutional support, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) getting $2 million, and $1 million to Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

President of the Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, made the disclosure yesterday after he led his management team to the presidential villa, Abuja for a meeting with VicePresident Yemi Osinbajo.

The meeting was also attended by members of President Muhammadu Buhari's Economic Management Team (EMT).

Speaking to State House Correspondents after the meeting, Adesina, who is visiting Nigeria officially for the first time since he became president of the bank last year, explained that several other financial support strategies have been lined up for the country.

He said the AfDB between now and 2017 would dedicate the sum of $4.1 billion to fund power infra-

programmes that would win souls to Christ and not only fighting and discussing Boko Haram.

Vice President, CASON, Pastor Steve Akoni, said the association was established to bridge the knowledge gap that exists between church managers and their counterparts in the corporate world, towards effective management and administration of resources in churches and other faithbased organisation (FBOs).

structure, agriculture and assist the private sector especially Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMSEs) in areas of financing and lending.

According to Adesina, the bank's decision to invest in the nation's power sector was because it was the major cause of inflation.

According to him, "I'm not here to lecture the Nigerian government; I'm here to support very strongly.

We have said that we are going to support the Nigerian government with the budget support to be able to deal with some of fiscal imbalance that they have.

"We are granting $1 billion loan to help to deal with that particular [budget] deficit. In addition to that, there are other challenges that the economy has which is in terms of diversifying and deepening the level of diversification in critical sectors. So, agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing as well as industrial sector is very important.

"So the bank is going to provide in total, between 2016 and 2017 $4.1 billion to Nigeria in power infrastructure to agriculture and for the private sector, the SMEs financing and lending.

"I expect that our portfolio in Nigeria will not decrease; it will actually grow. We expect to invest in Nigeria by 2019 a total of $10 billion," Adesina noted.

He continued that: "Of course, we also recognise

that power is perhaps the most important challenge that is driving inflation in the country. So we expect in our portfolio this year to invest a total of 1,400 megawatts of projects to focus on the energy sector and by 2017 we plan to invest in 1,387 megawatts of project for the sector.

"We discussed with vice president and minister of finance about how to invest in areas of women and youth employment in the country as well as to look for opportunities to support access to finance by supporting the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) with $500 million which will help to

provide cheap financing for the real sector that the country wants to grow.

"We are also providing $100 million to the Bank of Industry (BoI) to be able to lend to small and medium size enterprises. We also want to finance the Bank of Agriculture to reform itself to be able to get more financing.

"So all in all, I want to say that we are not fair weather friends of Nigeria; we are here to provide strong support to the Nigerian government.

"Let me just say that Nigeria is in tough times, but Nigeria is not falling apart and when people talk about

debt crisis, Nigeria is not in debt crisis. If you look at the fiscal deficit of this country with regard to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it is about three or 3.5 per cent, which is still way below the five per cent for the Fiscal Responsibility Act. If you look in terms of the debt to the GDP ratio for Nigeria is 15 per cent," the AfDB President said.

Hence, he explained that "there is no debt crisis in Nigeria.”

“What you have is liquidity problem and we are trying for the country to be able to drive down inflation and to be able to make sure we are working with

the government to be able to provide incentives to the private sector," he said.

In her remark, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, explained the loan coming from the AfDB is concessioned at 1.2 per cent interest rate and will be used on the critical sector.

Meanwhile, President Buhari has assured Adesina that his government was doing everything possible to get Nigeria out of the current economic challenge.

Buhari received Adesina after his team met with the vice president.

He told the AfDB president that Nigeria has the people and the resources to surmount her economic problems.

Kill cows wandering in FCT, Senate mandates minister Chukwu David Abuja

O

verwhelmed by the menace of herdsmen in the nation's Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Senate Committee on FCT, yesterday gave a matching order to the Minister of the territory, Mohammed Bello, to slaughter any cow loitering within the metropolis.

The committee however, gave the Minister alternative mandate to impose a N50,000 fine per cow on the herdsmen who would defy government directive not to graze cows in the FCT. The members of the

committee expressed concerns over the continued movement of cows in the city centre despite several warnings by the FCT authorities.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, Dino Melaye, who gave this directive to the minister when he appeared before the committee, said that the Upper Chamber was not happy with the grazing trend in the country's capital city.

Melaye lamented that arbitrary movement of cows in the streets of the FCT and highways of Abuja had become a great cause of worries to the lawmakers and residents of the city.

He recalled how on his way to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, he saw a minor herdsman with over 50 cows passing through the pedestrian route thereby blocking the only route for pedestrians, causing pandemonium among residents of the area.

"Honourable Minister, Senate as an institution is not happy at how Fulani herdsmen continue to move their cows across the city centre, which we are aware you have given directive against that some time ago.

"From now, get knives and ask your men to slaughter cows found in the capital city or pros-

ecute herdsmen seen with cows in the city centre, and if that is not going to work, any cow that is seen within the metropolis of FCT must be arrested with a minimum fine of N50,000 per cow.

"This must be enforced, if not anytime again we see cows or we receive reports of cows moving around the streets, the committee would sanction the FCT administration."

Responding, the minister assured the committee that his administration would address the issues raised by the committee while stating that efforts were being made to check the menace of cattle rearers in the metropolis.

NEWS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

5

Tambuwal, Dogara, Udoma seek budget reform Philip Nyam Abuja

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overnor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ike Ekweremmadu have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to order for a comprehensive review of the budgetary process in the country.

The trio made the call yesterday in Abuja at the Gallery Colloquium organised by orderpaper.ng, an online news medium, with the theme 'Budgeting as an Effective Tool for Socio-Economic Development' Tambuwal, who was chairman of the occasion, in his address, said that since 1999 the budget has generated a lot of tensions, adding that the main issue in the budgeting process is

the respective powers of both the executive and the legislature.

He said that it has become imperative that the nation reforms the entire budgeting process.

He noted that friction usually occurs in executive-legislative relationship, especially on the issue of budgeting and added that the proposed budget reforms will make the budgeting system more transparent and all-inclu-

sive.

He explained that in advanced countries like the United States of America, it usually takes two years to prepare this most important fiscal policy document.

The governor stated that everyone must be allowed to participate in the budgetary process by allowing the collation of views from the public on the annual budgets.

"This idea of inclusive-

L-R: A musical artiste, Righteous Man and Aviation Editor, New Telegraph, Wole Sadare, during the presentation of award to Shadare at the Nigeria Media Nite-Out Awards in Lagos... on Sunday.

New Telegraph’s Shadare wins Aviation Writer of the Year

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viation Editor of New Telegraph Newspapers, Wole Shadare, has been named Aviation Writer of the Year at the 10th edition of Nigeria Media Nite-Out Awards (NMNA) 2016.

At the award ceremony held on Sunday at Time Square Event Centre in Ikeja, Lagos, Shadare was announced Aviation Writer of the Year, ahead of Comfort Oseghale (Punch), Olusegun Koiki (National Mirror), Loius Ibah (Sun) and Kelvin Osa Okunbor of The Nation.

Speaking at the event, founder of NMNA, Sola Olagbemiro, described the NMNA as a child of necessity to recognise excellence, distinction and achievements by media practitioners in virtually all the major categories and sub-sectors.

He further stated that if members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm could go out of their way to fish out and recognise individuals in other sectors of the economy, “why then can’t we, the veritable source of gauging achievement and excellence in the society, do same to ourselves?”

Olagbemiro said it was for this sole reason the NMNA launched out 10 years ago to fill this yawning gap.

He advised the awardees not to rest on their oars because henceforth, light would beam on them to assess whether they truly

and meritoriously deserve the awards or not, adding that it was left for them to prove the organisers right for selecting them out of a handful of their colleagues.

A member of the jury revealed that the criteria for selecting the rewarded journalists were originality, accuracy, fairness in reporting, objectivity, depth of writing, conformity with ethics of the profession, currency of the report and social responsibility.

Also in the category is Best Television Station of the Year that went to Television Continental (TVC), while Best Radio Programme of the Year was won by Radio Continental with its programme, Kubanji Direct.

The On Air Personality of the Year Award went to Joshua Morakinyo of Silverbird Television, while that of radio was won by Olayemi Ogunwole of Radio Continental.

Other awardees were Maureen Ihua Maduenyi of Punch Newspapers who won in the Business Writer of the Year category.

Oladesu Emmanuel of The Nation came top in the Writer of the Year (Politics) category, while Photo Journalist of the Year award went to Akeem Salau of Vanguard newspapers.

Ikem Okuhu of Brandish won Brand Writer of the Year award; Society

Writer of The Year award went to Juliet Ebirim of Vanguard, Kunle Akinrinade of The Nation won Crime Writer of the Year award, while Tade Asfat won Editor of the Year (Soft Sell).

Receiving his award, Shadare dedicated it to his family, New Telegraph for

providing him the platform to win the award and to the families of ‘Chibok girls.’

The event was attended by corporate industry players, state governors, who were represented by their aides, journalists, the award-winners and their colleagues.

ness should not only pertain to members of the National Assembly who are constitutionally mandated to perform oversights on the federal budget, but should include other arms of government, civil society groups, leaders of the private sector and private citizens.

"Everyone, in fact, must be allowed to contribute at every stage from the budget preparation, passage, implementation, supplementary or amendment stages," Tambuwal said.

He reasoned that there is a need to amend the constitution to make the president submit his proposals at least three months before the end of the preceding financial year so that the legislature can perform its vetting duties in time for the budget to be operational by January 1st.

The governor argued: "For the process of passing our national budget to become harmonious, less turbulent, and implementable, the stakeholders must develop the principles of collaboration, consensus and compromise.

Most significantly, the executive must plan way ahead, submit the proposals early, and make wide consultations to encourage inputs from a variety of stakeholders.”

Also speaking on the need for budget reforms, Dogara said that the Nigerian Constitution did not envisage that the legislature should be a rubber stamp on the annual budget.

Dogara said a critical

UBA offers N2.25m grant in essay competition Mojeed Alabi

A

s part of the Foundation's initiative to promote creative and analytical thinking among senior secondary students in Nigeria and across Africa, the 2016 edition of the UBA Foundation’s annual essay competition has officially opened.

The competition, which is open to secondary school students nationwide, offers a total of N2.25 million in grant to the best three essayists while nine others will also be entitled to various other consolation prizes including certificates, laptops, branded school bags, among others.

The Managing Director/CEO of the Foundation, Ms Ijeoma Aso, during a briefing at the weekend, announced that the Foundation will start receiving entries from eligible participants in senior secondary schools in Nigeria from now till 4th of November.

According to her, the essay topic for this year is, “If you were in a position to help the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), what would you do?” adding that the prizes which are in educational grants include N1 million for the first position; N750,000 and N500,000 educational grants for first and second runners-up respectively.

“Entries received for the competition will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges made up of professors from reputable Nigerian universities, who will then shortlist 12 best essays for further assessment. A second round of the competition will involve the 12 finalists who will write a second supervised essay from which three best essays will be selected,” Ms Aso explained.

Also speaking at the event, the Group Head, Communication of UBA Plc, Charles Aigbe, said the essay competition was one of UBA’s contribution to educational develop-

ment in Nigeria and across Africa.

“As a pan-African financial services group with operations in 22 countries, we aim to impact on the countries we do business through the three main anchors of education, environment and social empowerment. UBA is Africa’s global bank and we believe that we should give back to the society and this is an important part of our business culture. Over the years, we have contributed to the development of education in Nigeria by giving various grants, endowment chairs and facilities to institutions all over the country” said Aigbe He urged students to take the national essay competition seriously as it provides a massive opportunity for them to change their lives for the better, adding that the competition “ is part of the process to make our younger ones to be better for their families, the nation, continent and the world as a whole.”

look should be taken at the operation of financial year to ensure that its 12-month period is fully completed before another budget implementation begins.

According to him, "Nigeria's budgeting system is closer to the model practiced in the US, where Congress has authority to alter, increase, reduce or indeed introduce new budget items."

The Speaker urged Buhari to make full disclosure on the national budget size and include all sources of revenue and expenditure of all government agencies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and others as an integral part of it.

He also hinted that the House will set up a budget reform committee to ensure transparency and inclusiveness in the budgetary process and commended the president for attaching details of 2016 budget proposal to the budget.

Ekweremadu also spoke on the need for far-reaching reforms in the budgetary process of the country.

He pointed out that under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), the president has the last day in a fiscal year to present the budget to the legislature.

According to him, the major issue in the annual budgetary process is the time frame under which the budget can be presented to the legislature by the executive.

In a keynote address titled "budget as a critical tool for effective executivelegislative relations," Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, said there are two main reasons why the budget process stands out in the executive-legislative relationship.

"One, it concerns the use of public funds which has far-reaching impact on the lives of citizens. Two, it is the most frequent exercise that brings the two arms of government to a decision table.

"The main issue of contention has been the respective powers of the executive and the legislature in producing the budget.”

N149

The average price of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) of Kwara State in July 2016.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

$2.52m

The capital importation of the IT Services sector of Nigeria in Q2 2013.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

6

NEWS | national

tuesday, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

How I changed dollars for Dudafa –Witness

Akeem Nafiu

F

urther hearing in the trial of Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan over alleged N5.1 billion fraud

continued yesterday before Justice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court in Lagos with a bureau de change operator, Alhaji Murtala Bashiru Abubakar, revealing how he changed millions of dollars to naira for the

accused person.

Dudafa was arraigned alongside one Iwejuo Joseph Nna, a. k. a. Taiwo Ebenezer and Olugbenga Isaiah by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 23-counts charge of al-

leged fraud.

Some of the companies allegedly used by the duo in committing the offences includes; Seagate Property Development and Investment Limited, Avalon Global Property Development Company

Nigeria hits 20.95% mobile broadband penetration Kunle Azeez

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obile broadband penetration in the nation’s telecommunications industry has reached 20.95 per cent, telecoms industry umpire, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), disclosed at a media interaction in Abuja yesterday.

The development is coming, even as the telecoms regulator said it had generated N47 billion from spectrum usage and licensing in the last one year.

Mobile broadband is high-speed internet, which is accessible on mobile devices with great potential to accelerate growth in economic activities of a

nation.

New Telegraph learnt that in the last 15 years of telecommunications liberalisation, the telecoms regulator has generated over N500 billion in spectrum fees and licensing into the government.

In a country such as Nigeria, where over 99 per cent of telecoms services are offered through wireless means, efficient allocation and usage of available spectrum has become essential in deepening broadband penetration.

Speaking during the media interactive session organised to present the first progress report of implementation of the Commission’s eight-Point Agenda, the Executive

Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, said that broadband was the future of telecoms and that the regulator was committed to engendering broadband momentum.

The agenda was unveiled by the current NCC leadership in February this year, as the limits of telecoms regulatory performance and actions as envisaged by the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, and other extant provisions such as the National Telecommunications Policy direction and the Strategic Management Plan of the Commission as already articulated from 2013 and 2018.

The agenda encapsulate such objectives as facilitation of broadband

penetration, improvement in quality of service, optimisation of benefits of spectrum, promotion of ICT innovations and investment opportunities, facilitation of strategic collaboration and partnerships, consumer protections and empowerment, promotion of fair competition and inclusive growth; and regulatory excellence and operational efficiency in the industry.

Though, Nigeria is targeting 30 per cent broadband penetration both for fixed and mobile by 2018, Danbatta said the commission has committed resources towards deployment of broadband services across the country with some significant impact.

Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade (middle), with others, at the beginning of the 2016/2017 Legal year by the Lagos State Judiciary, in Lagos…yesterday. PHOTO: TONY EGUAYE

Budget padding: Jibrin shuns probe panel Philip Nyam Abuja

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ormer Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, yesterday failed to appear before the Ethics and Privileges Committee.

Jibrin, who was scheduled to appear before the Committee, is being investigated over alleged sundry acts of misconduct against members and institution of the House of Representatives.

He had at various instances expressed his distrust for the Ethics Committee, insisting that its Chairman and some other members were interested parties and would not dispense justice.

On Sunday at a briefing in Abuja, Jibrin accused the chairman, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai and his members of bias, alleging that Ossai had made public statements suggesting that he was biased; and some members wore #istandwithDogara# muffler last Wednesday when his matter was referred to the committee for investigation.

He had also declared that he would not honour the invitation from the panel. Earlier, his lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana had written to Speaker Dogara advising him to call off the investigation.

But Chairman of the Ethics Committee, Hon. Ossai said that Jibrin’s absence demonstrated his defence in the investigation.

Limited; Iwejuo Joseph Nna and Pluto Property and Investment Company Limited; Iwejuo Joseph Nna and Rotate Interlink Services Limited.

Others include; Ibejige Services Limited; DE Jakes Fast Food and Restaurant Nigeria Limited; and Ebiwise Resources.

In his testimony, the bureau de change operator, who is the Chairman of Namuduka Ventures, Yamusa Oil and Gas Limited and Yumusuka Ventures, said he had known Dudafa since his appointment as the Balyesa State Commissioner for Local Government under former Governor Timpreye Sylvia.

Murtala, while being led in evidence by EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, said transactions between him and Dudafa were done through text messages, except on one occasion when he went to Aso Rock Villa to collect some naira which he changed into dollars and transferred such into the accounts of the companies.

In his narrations, the witness said he received a text message from Dudafa on January 22, 2015, to pay the naira equivalent of $400,000, into the account of Digest Fast food and Restaurant account with number 0042308724, domiciled with GTB. He also stated that on February 7, 2016, Dudafa instructed him through a text message to pay the sum of N10.3 million, into the account of Lanhir Travels and Tours limited, account number 1012400949, domiciled

Buhari approves appointment of chief executives for 13 agencies

Militants serve final quit notice P on oil firms

Dominic Adewole ASABA

T

he Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, yesterday served a quit notice on all multinational oil companies to vacate the region or risk "Operation Hammurabi Code".

The group, which changed tactics from "Operation Crocodile Tears" to the aforementioned code, said since the oil firms have all fled to the protection of Nigerian soldiers, they should be prepared for war.

3.3m

The total population of Melanesia in 1970.

Source: Un.org

While the factional militia group made mockery of the Niger Delta Avengers over their botched ceasefire, they threatened oil firms that have turned deaf ears to their warnings and their army of defence to "watch out for the next big statement."

According to the group, until there was a sincere and genuine step to address the unjust and inequitable injustices of the past years in the region, bombing shall persist.

The spokesperson for the group, Gen. Aldo Agbalaja, in a statement yesterday proverbially said: "The chicken seem to be coming home to roost now.

The truth is dawning on blacklegs that working to short change their people will always backfire."

with Zenith bank.

He said he had no business transactions with the companies.

The witness further informed the court that he paid the sum of $50, 000 equivalent in naira to the account of one, Festus, who was an aide to Dudafa. He further revealed that he went to the Villa and collected the sum of $4 million, and paid its naira equivalent into the accounts of Seagate Property Development and Investment Limited, Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited the Pluto, Rotate Interlink Services Limited and Ebiwise Resources belonging to Dudafa on May 27, 2015.

He further informed the court that on June 17 and 18, 2015, a total sum of N55 million was paid into his company's account (Namuduka Company Limited) while the sum of N20 million was also deposited into the account of Seagate Property and Investment Company Limited on July 29, 2013.

The witness informed the court further that he received through Ebiwise's account the total sum of N90 million between June 1 to 4, 2015, which he changed to dollars for Dudafa.

He added that the sum of N95 million from Rotato interlink Services limited was also paid into his company's account.

Besides, he said he did a net-transfer of the sum of N28.5 million to Rotato Interlink Services Limited account given to him by Dudafa.

Hearing in the matter continues today.

resident Muhammadu Buhari yesterday approved the appointments of Chief Executives for 13 Federal Government agencies.

Mr Bolaji Adebiyi, the Director of Press in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) stated this in a statement in Abuja.

He listed the appointments are as follows: Mr Joseph Ari, Director-General, Industrial Training Fund; Dr Isa Ibrahim, Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, and Mr Simbi Wabote, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Monitoring Board.

Others are Mr Aboloma Anthony, DirectorGeneral, Standards Organisation of Nigeria; Mr Mamman Amadu, Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement, and Sharon Ikeazor, Pension

Transitional Arrangement Directorate.

Also on the list are Princess Akodundo Gloria, National Coordinator, New Partnership for Africa’s Development; Alhaji Ahmed Bobboi, Executive Secretary, Petroleum Equalization Fund; and Umana Okon Umana, Managing Director, Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority.

There are also Sa’adiya Faruq, Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons; and Usman Abubakar, Chairman, Nigeria Railway Corporation.

The rest are: Dr Bello Gusau, Executive Secretary, Petroleum Technology Development Fund; and Yewande Sadiku, Executive Secretary, National Investment Promotion Commission.

News|NATIONAL

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sale of assets: NLC assembles 20 lawyers to battle FG

Yekeen Nurudeen Abuja

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s part of efforts to resist plans by the Federal Government to sell some of the nation’s critical assets to bail out the economy from the current recession, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has disclosed that 20 lawyers have expressed willingness to defend the interest of the Nigerian masses in court.

NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, who disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday while inaugurating a 10-man Think Tank to develop a position paper on the economic recession, lamented that all national assets were under threat, saying there was the need to protect them.

Wabba said that the lawyers had told the Congress that there was a legal angle to the proposed sale of the national assets which they were willing to take up against the Federal Government.

He said the Congress would use a three- prong approach to address the planned sale of assets by the Federal Government, noting that the position paper to be developed by the Think Tank would be used as a basis for engaging government on the matter.

The three-prong approach, he said, would include engaging the government, mobilising Nige-

Ambode promises to rule of ...inaugurates 10-man think thank on recession uphold law Nigerians must move evading taxes and those rians to the street and also ernment. Regimes change exploring legal option if the first two approaches failed.

According to him, the Think Tank would look at the social and economic issues facing the country with the view to coming up with an alternative policy, noting that what the country was passing through was what brought about Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1984.

He said “We have been turning round the same issues, SAP, Vision 2020.

They are all the same neo-liberal policies of gov-

former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar yesterday in Yola expressed satisfaction that the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East “has been substantially degraded.’’

Abubakar, who was the guest speaker at the opening of a three-day regional conference on “Peace Building and Reconstruction in the Chad Basin,’’ however, noted that terrorism was an enemy difficult to defeat.

The conference was co-hosted by the Nigerian Army and the Centre for Peace and Security Studies, Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola.

The former head of state lamented that the insurgency had taken unprecedented toll on human, property and ecology of the countries around the Chad basin.

According to him, planning for post-insurgency situation – peace building and reconstruction in the area required a clear understanding of the cause of the

but our problems remain the same.

Today, our country is sold and another sale is being proposed. We will try and address these issues. NLC is on the side of Nigerian people and Nigerians should support the NLC. The Congress has issued a statement about our take on the matter and some of our affiliates and progressives have also moved against it.

While it is important to bail out the country from the recession, sale of assets is not the best move.

against it. This is no doubt a capitalist Neo-liberal idea. It is another version of SAP. The notion that government has no business doing business has been proved wrong.

Ethiopia is a good example with their airline, railway and even power that they already planning to be exporting”.

The NLC President, who noted that the problem with the country was manmade, advised the Federal Government to explore what he called tax justice where the high and mighty who had been

getting tax waiver were made to pay taxes.

“Tax is one area that government should look into . We are still canvassing that issues raised in the Panama Leak should be investigated. Government should also take stock of all enterprises that have been privatized.

“We are opposed to the sale of our assets in whatever guise. The consequences will be more grievous if we don’t protect our assets. It will serve no good if those assets are sold. This is our position.”

L-R: Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Port, Mr. Sultan Ahmed Bin Suleyem; Chairman, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Hakeem BeloOsagie and Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, shortly after the Governor’s meeting with the Dubai Port World in Lagos … yesterday.

Abdulsalami: Boko Haram substantially degraded A

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conflict.

Quoting statistics from the UN, he said as at November, 2015 there were over 2.2 million IDPs in Nigeria, over 158, 000 in Cameroon, over 66,000 in Chad and 47, 000 in Niger.

“Similarly, there are 93,000 refugees in Niger, 64, 000 in Cameroon and 7,000 in Chad as at Nov. 2015,’’ Abubakar said.

He said during the period, 1.6 million IDPs were in Borno alone, being the epicenter of the insurgency, while 218,000 villages and hamlet were affected by the insurgency.

He said that infrastructure damaged included 18,000 houses and 22,000 schools.

“In Borno alone, the following were damaged: 1, 630 water sources, over 700 electrical distribution lines and 1, 205 government institutions. This is a colossal damage.

“As a result, 952, 000 children of school age are currently displaced, among, which are tens of thousands of orphans,’’ he said.

PDP peace process may collapse Onyekachi Eze ABUJA

T

he peace moves, initiated by two factional leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last week is under serious threat.

The two factions led by Senators Ahmed Makarfi and Ali Modu Sheriff, had on Tuesday last week, at a joint press conference, said they had “set up a joint committee that will carry out a holistic reconciliation of all aggrieved segments of our party across the country and

the Diaspora.”

They also promised to pursue the vision of the founding fathers of the party.

But there are signs that the peace move is not enjoying the support of some hard line members in both factions.

Some actions and statements of factional members are indications that out-of-court settlement of the over four-month crisis may not possible.

“You don’t do settlement when there are pending cases in court.

There are procedures for out of court settlement, and that has not

been made. It is not just for people to come and sit down and say they are settling. It is a lie.

“How do you settle an issue in which there are about 17 cases in court?”

Asked former national officer of the party who is sympathetic to Makarfi.

Also, the Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, advised party members to wait for the appeal before the Court of Appeal, for the resolution of the crisis.

Fayose, who spoke in Abuja last week, said nobody had withdrawn the cases filed before the court.

Plea bargain stalls trial in N8bn CBN scam

J

ustice Joyce Abdulmaleek of the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan yesterday adjourned till tomorrow, the trial of four accused persons an alleged N8 billion currency scam.

Justice Abdulmaleek adjourned the trial following prayers by the defence counsel that plea bargain arrangement entered into

by the fourth accused person, Oni Ademola was ongoing.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the other accused persons facing trial included Kolawole Babalola, Olaniran Adeola and Togun Philip.

“I shall give the opportunity to know the content of the plea bargain

and whether it affects their case.

“It is my own view that the issue of plea bargain is solely an affair of the fourth defendant and the prosecution.

“Let me also state that the issue of plea bargain cannot stall further examination and cross examination of the accused persons,” Abdulmaleek

Akeem Nafiu and John Chikezie

L

agos State Governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, has assured residents of the state that the rule of law would be maintained by his administration. The governor made the pledge while speaking yesterday at a church service to mark the commencement of the 2016/2017 legal year for the state judiciary.

The governor also called on judiciary officers to discharge their duties with the fear of God, saying the judiciary remained the last hope of the citizens.

He said: “We are gathered here again the same way we came last year, to seek the protection of God in this legal year. Jointly, with all of you and even those of us in the executive, we have a tough task of delivering justice to the citizenry.

“Our administration is determined to enthrone the rule of law and protect the less privileged. That is why we lay so much emphasis on judicial sector reform which I believe should be replicated everywhere.”

90% of awaiting trial women are nursing, pregnant – NHRC

T

he National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says 90 per cent of women awaiting trial in prisons across the country are either nursing mothers and pregnant women.

The Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof. Bem Angwe, made this known when he received, Mrs Gloria Shoda, National President, National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) in his office in Abuja yesterday.

Angwe said that the percentage was derived from the commission’s recent prison audit in the country.

He said that the commission needed the collaboration of the NCWS to provide an immediate intervention in this regard. said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the case slated for trial was stalled by Adebisi Adeniyi, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes’ Commission (EFCC).

Adeniyi told the court that Y.A. Ruba, counsel to the fourth accused person, Ademola, had entered into a plea bargaining arrangement with the commission.

8

tuesday, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

METRO

ABIODUN BELLO

...CRIME, CITY WATCH, COURTS

Housewife assaults, injures orphan with saw blade

Flood destroys houses, crops at Ogbaru Okegwo Kenechukwu Onitsha

S

everal families at Ogbaru in Anambra State have been rendered homeless by torrential rains and the subsequent increase in the volume of the River Niger.

Property, household items and farm produce said to worth millions of naira were also destroyed by flood.

Flood sacked all those residing at the bank of River Niger from Odekpe to Afami communities while farm crops on the right axis towards Atani from Onitsha were swept away. Also tubers of yam, cassava, potatoes were harvested prematurely.

A resident of Odekpe, Mrs. Agenes Opene, said: “We are yet to relocate to the government Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps because we can still manage. We don’t know if we go there we can have enough places to stay. That is why we are still watching the tide.”

But a farmer, Chief Felix Ononiba, said the tide would soon recede.

He said: “This is its time. We know it because we are used to it. You see it has affected some places but not all. Our people are used to water and it is also a blessing. You can see people are fishing and the flood is bringing the sand sold almost every kilometer on the road. It is not a bad omen.

“I want to appeal to our amiable Governor Willie Obiano to come to the aid of those whose crops and other means of livelihood have been lost to the flood.”

The injured housemaid’s hand

Udodoikpm

Taiwo Jimoh

A

housewife, Mrs. Mfoniso Udodoikpm, has allegedly inflicted bodily injury on her teenage housemaid for breaking a plastic bowl and burning beans while cooking.

The incident occurred at Meiran area of Lagos metropolis.

Udodoikpm, a mother of three, is now in the custody of the police.

City Briefs Gunmen assassinate Benue monarch Cephas Iorhemen MAKURDI

G

abiodun.bello@newtelegraphonline.com 08023938212

unmen have assassinated Chief Awuhe Alev, the paramount ruler of Mbayongo District, Gbise in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State.

The traditional ruler is from the same area with the wanted criminal, Terwase Akwaza alias Ghana, who security operatives have launched manhunt for in the last two months.

Sources from the area said that Alev’s assassination might have been masterminded by Ghana and his foot soldiers on suspicion that the monarch might have information about them to divulge to the security operatives.

The assassins reportedly stormed Alev’s palace about 7p.m. on Sunday at Vingir village and started shooting sporadically to scare away neighbours after which they shot him dead.

The monarch’s body has been deposited at the morgue of the General Hospital, Katsina-Ala. The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Moses Yamu, confirmed Alev’s killing.

Yamu said the command got wind of the assassination about 8:30p.m. on Sunday.

He said: “We received the report about 8:30p.m. yesterday (Sunday) that the traditional ruler of Mbayongo, Chief Awuhe Alev, was shot dead by gunmen in his house at Vingir village in Katsina-Ala.”

She was said to have assaulted the 13-year-old girl identified simply as Esther.

Some residents, who heard the screams of the teenage girl, reported the incident to the police.

A man, identified as Godswill Bassey, was said to have reported the incident to the police after seeing the girl in a pool of blood, at the same time doing some domestic chores with the injured hand.

Bassey rescued Esther from Udodoikpm and administered first aid on her.

The man, however, reported the matter to the police after he discovered that the woman had attacked the girl, said to be an

orphan, with a saw blade which resulted in the deep cut on her hand.

“Despite noticing that the girl had sustained injury, the woman was said to have forced her to wash her clothes with the hand. The incident was later reported to Meiran Police Station and the woman was arrested and detained at the station,” a witness said.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident.

Badmos said the suspect picked the orphan from the village and brought her to Lagos to stay with her.

She said: “The girl was assaulted with a saw blade. Efforts are ongoing to partner with Lagos State government to keep the child while the suspect would be charged to court.”

Man defiles two minors simultaneously Dan Atori MINNA

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23-year-old man, Audu Faskare, has reportedly defiled two minors, Maimuna (eight) and Saidatu (10) several times at Tunga area of Minna, Niger State.

Faskare, who was apprehended at the weekend, was said to have raped the girls simultaneously.

Maimuna was said to have reported the incident to her parents after he had slept with the two girls at the same time on the same day.

She said the weekend es-

capade was the second time the man forcibly had carnal knowledge of her. The first, according to her, happened when she was sent on an errand by her mother.

Explaining the weekend incident, Maimuna said she and Sadiatu met on the way when the man called them that he wanted to send them on an errand.

But, according to her, on getting to his house, Faskare locked the door and asked them to strip and defiled them.

On her own part, Sadiatu said the Saturday incident was the fourth time the man

forcibly had carnal knowledge of her.

She said: “It all began a few months ago when I was going to school and he called me into his room saying he wanted to send me on an errand. He then locked the door and told me to remove my clothes.

“I refused but I was unable to scream because he shut my mouth and then raped me. This happened three consecutive times and I became used to it but last weekend incident was the first time he raped me and another person at the same time.”

METRO

tuesday, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Father kills two daughters, dumps bodies in stream

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Abduction: Security agents free female corps member Emmanuel Masha Port Harcourt

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father was yesterday remanded at the Koton-Karfe Prison for allegedly killing two of his daughters and dumping their bodies in the stream.

The accused, Samuel Anyaogu (29), was remanded by a Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court.

Anyaogu had the children with his mistress, Grace Edwin.

It was Edwin, who reported the matter at the ‘A’ Division Police Headquarters, Lokoja, Kogi State.

Edwin told the court that on December 25, 2015, Anyaogu suffocated her nine-month-old baby, Chinonso.

According to her, Anyaogu carried out the crime by blocking the baby’s nostrils and mouth under the guise of playing with her. The child was

rushed to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Lokoja, but doctors on duty said the baby was dead.

Edwin also told the court that on December 26, 2015, the accused put the body in a sack and threw it into the stream near NITEL office in Lokoja.

She said the accused again on January 1, 2016, hit their two-year-old daughter, Miracle Edwin, with a heavy object. The child collapsed and later died. Miracle’s body, like that of her sister, was flung into the same stream and exact location Anyaogu, after disposing of Miracle’s body, allegedly threatened to kill Edwin if she ever told anyone how the two children died.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr. Levi Animoku, said: “This court declines to ad-

mit the accused to bail. Consequently, he shall be remanded in prisons.”

Edwin said that did not have courage to report the matter until her family members forced her to reveal the truth and later compelled her to report the matter to the police.

Counsel to the accused, Mr. O. S. Atokolo, applied for Anyaogu’s bail, citing Section 36(5) of the constitution and 341(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code. But the application was opposed by the prosecutor, Sergeant Tuesday Ganagana, who said investigation into the matter was still on.

He said: “We object to the bail of the accused as the offence of culpable homicide is not bailable.”

The case was adjourned till October 18 for mention.

female corps member kidnapped by gunmen last Friday at Omademe community in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State yesterday regained her freedom after security operatives engaged the hoodlums in a gun fight.

The corps member, Helen, who is from Kogi State, was abducted at the Corpers’ Lodge by gunmen who demanded N50 million ransom.

But rather than pay the ransom, a combined team of security operatives combed the bush suspected could be accommodating the hoodlums, and engaged them in a shootout after locating them.

The local vigilantes also joined the security operatives in the rescue mission, which yielded fruit yesterday when Helen was rescued.

The corps member, who was rushed to the hospital for medical attention, disclosed that the gunmen moved her from one place to another Helen said she was not given food throughout the three days the abductors held her captive.

She said: “I did not know exactly where they took me to. They tortured me and for the three days that I was in the bush, I was not given anything to eat.”

Commenting on the incident, the immediate past Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, warned criminals in the area to take advantage of the amnesty programme offered by Governor Nyesom Wike or face the full wrath of the law.

He said that the criminals who abducted Helen fled when they realised that security operatives were determined to rescue her.

Girl arranges own kidnap with boyfriend Igbeaku Orji Umuahia

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A shrine

Pastor charged for destroying shrine Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

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olice have arraigned a pastor, who reportedly destroyed a traditional shrine at Ketu community, Ayetoro in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi, who disclosed this in a telephone interview in Abeokuta, said Evangelist Wale Fagbere was charged for malicious damage and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

Oyeyemi said the action

of the cleric was wrong, because, according to him, every Nigerian has the freedom of worship.

He said: “What he did was wrong and so, he must be charged to court. If it was the other way round too, they would also be charged to court.

“Everyone has a right to worship whatever deity one chooses without fear or favour.”

Fagbere, who ministered at a local church in the community, was allegedly transfixed as he attempted to destroy one of the traditional shrines in the community.

The cleric had reportedly told his congregation that

he was directed by God to destroy the shrine but his effort boomeranged.

He got stuck in the shrine, looking like a statue, and this prompted people in the area to raise the alarm.

The intervention of the Alaye of Ayetoro, Oba Abdulaziz Adelakun, saved the pastor as the monarch appealed to the priests to cleanse him of any diabolical enchantment.

Fagbere regained consciousness moments after the priests performed their rituals, sources said.

The PPRO, however, said he could not tell which court the accused was arraigned at press time.

22-year-old lady, Grace Igwe, who lives with her parents at 19, Agulu Street, Umuahia, Abia State, has reportedly organised her own abduction with her boyfriend, Sunday Bright.

Igwe and Bright were yesterday paraded by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Leye Oyebade.

Bright, according to Oyebade, is from Esan North, Edo State. He was arrested in connection with the abduction of the lady after she was reported missing by her father, Obinna Igwe, on August 9.

“Search for the whereabouts of the missing Grace Igwe by the police and the family of the victim yielded positive result when an unknown

Bright and Grace

caller demanded N100,000 ransom, which was paid in parts into the bank account of the suspect.

“This link was followed by the police in their investigation until the suspect was arrested on September 9 at Akpakpava area in Benin City, Edo State and the suspect led the police on the rescue of the victim,” Oyebade said.

Narrating his own side of the story, Bright said his girlfriend, Grace, came to him demanding N200,000 and when he said he did not have the money she pressed for whatever he could afford. He explained that because of the pressure and the urgency of the demand he suspected she had fallen into the hands of fraudsters who wanted her to bring the money.

Bright said he asked her whether the parents were aware of the development and she said no. From that time he started making contacts with her parents to raise the money demanded by the fraudsters who Grace alleged took her phone and other valuables until she returned with the ransom.

The suspect added that when it became obvious that she was a victim of fraudsters, he decided to help her raise the money by making calls and text messages to her parents and in the process he was arrested by the police.

He said Grace stayed with him for three weeks while trying to raise the money.

10 NEWS | national World Tourism Day: Ki-moon, others Abdulwahab Isa call for access to Abuja tourism

tuesday, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

ACF, NES kick against sale of national assets

Andrew Iro Okungbowa

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ecretary Generals of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon and that of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Dr. Taleb Rifai, yesterday called for access to tourism for people of all races, statuses and physical state, insisting that everyone on earth has the right to enjoy the beauties and bounties of leisure and tourism.

They spoke in separate messages on the occasion of this year’s World Tourism Day. September 27 every year is set aside

by UNWTO for people of the world to focus on and celebrate the essence of tourism and its gains.

According to UNWTO, the yearly celebration is meant ‘to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. As the official day set aside in the United Nations calendar, the celebration seeks to highlight tourism potentials.

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he Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday urged the Federal Government to drop the plan to sell off major national assets to tackle the nation’s economic recession.

The ACF said this in a statement issued in Kaduna by Muhammad Ibrahim, its National Publicity Secretary, that selling strategic, viable national assets to take the economy out of recession, was inappropriate.

That was even as the Nigeria Economic Society (NES) described attempts to sell off some national assets as an irony that contradicts sustainable development.

The body said selling off the assets was not the solution to pulling the economy from recession, neither is it a guarantee that recession won't happen in future.

ACF also condemned the call by some prominent politicians and businessmen on the Federal Government to con-

sider selling the national assets to get the country out of recession.

“Past privatisation exercise did not yield the desired result in terms of judicious use of proceeds by the government or management practices of the assets by the new owners.

“ACF considers it unwise for the Federal Government to contemplate selling off major national assets like the oil refineries, federal airports, NLNG, among others.

“They can be used as security against needed funds to boost the economy.”

According to the forum, the amount to be realised is not worth the exercise, adding that the recession is temporary.

ACF noted that national assets; including Nigeria Airways, National Shipping Line, Ajaokuta Steel Company, NITEL, NEPA, sold to selected Nigerians and their foreign collaborators had not added value to the economy.

It added that most of the sold assets ended up becoming comatose, adding that “the ones that survived, their service

delivery cannot be said to be better.”

The ACF said the government should consider the advice of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

ACF suggested that unnecessary allowances of public officers and overhead cost that formed over 40 per cent of the annual national budget should be converted to capital allocation to boost the economy.

“This is the time for national sacrifice in order to bequeath an enduring legacy to the next generation. Positive change usually comes with painful necessary sacrifice.

“ACF, however, supports some of the measures proposed by the National Economic Council, but seriously objects to the selling of strategic national assets just to get out of a temporary economic recession.

“ACF calls upon our prominent businessmen and women to invest their resources in the oil and gas industry, building of airports that will compete favourably with the public ones.

“This will equally

Hope rises for use of stem cells for heart treatment Appolonia Adeyemi and Eleazar Nwanti

H

ope has risen for the use of stem cells in heart treatment following the promise of a stem cell ‘patch’ to treat cardiovascular diseases.

According to the finding of a study published in the ‘Journal Cell Stem Cell,’ scientists conducting the trial may be closer to reality as they test the device in animals, a necessary step prior to embarking on a human trial.

Cardiovascular diseas-

es generally refer to conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke.

Other heart conditions, such as those that affect heart muscles, valves or rhythm, also are considered forms of heart diseases.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in the United States (US), said in theory, the heart patches, engineered tissue composed of the several different types of cells that make

up heart muscle, would be implanted to replace diseased or damaged tissue and would perform all the functions of healthy, beating heart muscle. The seven-year-old study is being funded by the National Institutes of Health, the newsmax reported.

Co-Director of the UWMadison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center at the Madison, Timothy J. Kamp said: "The proposed studies in animal models are essential to develop this novel therapy, but the gold standard, of course, is a human

patient."

He said building the heart patch technology and testing it in a large animal model will go a long way toward harnessing the potential of stem cells to treat heart disease, which in many respects is still unproven.

Stem cells are mother cells that have the potential to become any type of cell in the body. One of the main characteristics of stem cells is their ability to self-renew or multiply while maintaining the potential to develop into other types of cells.

LCCI to Buhari: Declare emergency in Lawani congratulates Nigerians at critical sectors to revamp economy 56, says country will reinvent itself Taiwo Hassan

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he Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare emergency in some critical sectors to revive the country’s prostrate economy.

Vice-President and Chairman, Trade Promotion Board, LCCI, Sola Oyetayo, revealed this during the chamber’s press conference to herald this year’s Lagos International Trade Fair in Lagos, yesterday.

He said the president should take advantage of the diversification programmes and declare the

much needed emergencies in these critical sectors to renew belief in the country’s ailing economy rather than paying lip service to other sectors.

Oyetayo noted that oil price, volatility in foreign exchange, burst of ‘rent seekers’ phenomenon in the oil sector, fiscal rascality, sloganeered ‘diversified’ economy, neglect of manufacturing sector, energy crisis, growing unemployment rate, lull in capital market, lack of adequate planning and inertia in decision making process resulted in the present economic recession, all without solution based response.

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ormer Deputy Governor of Benue State, Chief Stephen Lawani, yesterday congratulated Nigerians on the nation’s 56th independence anniversary, describing it as a major milestone.

Lawani, who spoke in Abuja, said the harsh economic situation in the country notwithstanding, freedom calls for celebration and reflection.

“I think we must congratulate ourselves for Nigeria’s survival despite the challenges from the dawn of independence to this very day. I know it could have been better, but we must also thank God that Nigerians are still together in one country, working for a

common goal.

“Therefore, a day like this brings hope and also reminds us of our tortuous journey to nationhood. It is imperative for us to reminiscent today on the heroic and patriotic preindependence struggles of our founding fathers, the civil war, the oil boom, the missed opportunities and the current economic challenges facing us.

“But our people must not despair even in the midst of all the myriad of challenges, because we have what it takes to be great. Nigeria is hugely blessed in both human and material resources and we are too important to fail.

boost the economy through employment and infrastructure development.

“Let us put on our

thinking cap and do the needful, rather than taking short term measures,” ACF added in the statement.

CONFIRMATION/change OF NAME Salawu: I formerly known and addressed as Oseni Rofiat Bidemi now wish

to be known and addressed as Salawu Rofiat Bidemi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Akinola

This is to confirm that Oyebade Richard Akinola and Oyebade Richard is one and the same person.

Henceforth, wish to be known and address as Oyebade Richard Akinola.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

Obeitor

I, formerly known and addressed as Ismaila Onoruoiza Audu, now wish to be known and address as Audu Ismaila Obeitor. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Ariri

Sampson

This is to confirm that Joseph .S. Ete is the same person as Joseph Sampson. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as Joseph Sampson. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

Madueke

I, formerly known as Chioma Ifeyinwa Udebuani now wishes to be address as Chioma Ifeyinwa Madueke.

All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Emmanuel

I, formerly known as Miss Faith Agunabu now wishes to be address as Mrs. Faith Ariri. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly known as Ayegba Emmanuel Solomon now wishes to be address Emmanuel Onuche Solomon.

All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly known Miss Funmilola Adekunle now wishes to be address as Mrs. Funmilola Showunmi. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

I, formerly known as Miss Janet Kikelomo Akerele now wishes to be address as Olakunle Janet Kikelomo. All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Showunmi

Audu

I, formerly known and addressed as Abidemi Temitope Oladipupo, now wish to be known and address as Audu Ismaila Obeitor.

All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Kemenanaboemi

I, formerly known and addressed as Ambrose Boloubo Mayor, now wish to be known and addressed as Ambrose Kemenanaboemi Ecstasy. All documents bearing my former name remain valid. The general public please take note.

AWOTEDU

I formerly known and addressed as Adefala Ademilola, now wish to be known and addressed as Awotedu-Adefala Ademilola.

All former documents remain valid. General public take note.

Ajoku

This is to notify that the names Akalonu Agnes Favour Chienyenwa, Akalonu Favour Chienyenwa and Akalonu Agnes Chienyenwa refer to one and the same person. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajoku Agnes Chienyenwa. All former documents remain valid. FCMB Plc, Diamond bank Plc, FETHA and the general public should take note.

Ubi

I, formerly known and addressed as Johson Ubi Abam now wish to be known and addressed as Abam John Ubi. All former documents remain valid. Heritage bank Plc, GTBank Plc and the general public should please take note.

Olakunle

Peter

I, Joseph Peter Kayode of Ososo in Akoko - Edo, in Edo Local Government Area, Edo State, a Christian, Trader, a Nigerian Citizen do hereby make an oath and state as follows. That I am the deponent to this Affidavit. That I was formerly known and addressed as Peter Kayode Ola. That I now wish to be called and addressed as Joseph Peter Kayode. That in respect of this I wish to be called and addressed as Joseph Peter Kayode from now hence forth. That all my Particulars/ documents bearing Peter Kayode Ola still remain valid, hence this affidavit. That this affidavit is now required for official and record purposes and to whom it may concern.

Kelvin

I, formerly known and addressed as Kevin Kingsley, now wish to be known and addressed as Kelvin Kingsley Binafa. All documents bearing my former name remain valid. The general public should take note.

Osahon

This is to confirm that Uhunmwangho Elaija Osahon is the same person as Uhunmwangho Osahon. All former documents remain valid. First bank Plc and the general public please take note.

Okwudirichukwu

I, Onwukwe Donatus Okwudirichukwu do hereby confirm that the name Sydney Donatus .O. refers to one and the same person. Henceforth, I wish to be known and addressed as Onwukwe Donatus Okwudirichukwu. All former documents remain valid. FCMB Plc and the general public please take note.

Obi

I, formerly known and addressed as Augustine Obiekosi Chidi now wish to be known and addressed as Augustine Obi. All former documents remain valid. Heritage bank Plc, GTBank Plc and the general public should please take note.

PUBLIC NOTICE APOSTOLIC GRACE FOR ALL NATIONS CHURCH

The general public is hereby notified that the above named CHURCH has applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for registration under Part “C” of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2004.

The Trustees are: 1. Pastor Oloro Olasoji Michael -Chairman 2. Mr. Victor Omonzane -Vice Chairman 3. Sarah Omolara Alaka -Secretary 4. Andrew Esezobor -Financial Secretary 5. Mrs. Ifeoma Okoye -Treasurer 6. Mr. Isaac Akanle -Auditor AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE: 1. To preach the Gospel of Christ all over the world.

2. To take care of the Welfare of its members.

3. To establish local branches for the propagation of the Gospel Worldwide.

Any objection to the registration should be forwarded to the Registrar-General, Corporate Affairs Commission, plot 420 Tigris Crescent, off Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja within 28 days of this publication.

SIGNED: Secretary

11

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Edo decides Police, Civil Defence deploy 45,000 personnel

Politics PHILIP NYAM reports on the rowdiness that characterised the process leading to the resolution to investigate allegations of breach of members’ privileges and misconduct against former chairman, House of Representatives Appropriation Committee, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin

Interview Failure to subject aspirants to proper scrutiny, bane of leadership – Ilaka

FELIX NWANERI

GROUP PoLITICAL EDITOR nwanerif@newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

13

Reps match against Jibrin

S

ince July 21, the House of Representatives has been in the eye of the storm over allegations of budget padding and corruption against the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara; Deputy Speaker, Hon. Yussuff Lasun; Chief Whip, Hon. Alhassan Doguwa and Minority Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor.

These allegations by the former chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, made the lower legislative chamber a centre of attraction. Hence on resumption from its annual recess, all eyes were set on how the chamber would handle the allegations, which had seriously dented its image and leadership.

Expectedly, the first issue that came up for debate after reconvening was the conduct of Jibrin in divulging information regarding allegations of budget padding and corruption, which he leveled against Dogara and others.

Although, there was no physical combat among the members as most analysts had anticipated, the session was not devoid of a mild drama that temporarily disrupted orderliness in the chambers.

In the midst of the confusion that ensued during the plenary, it was clear that Dogara still remained very popular amongst his colleagues. The support shown for the speaker was overwhelming as he was given a standing ovation from the members, including Jibrin, who had before then raised moral questions on the person of the speaker and even called for his resignation.

Consequently, the House did not

12

Jibrin

delve into the allegations raised

by Jibrin, apparently because the security and anti-corruption agencies are already investigating the matter. Therefore, the issue at stake was the conduct of the messenger, Jibrin. The leadership of the House accused him of misconduct and breaching the privileges of members by bringing the institution of the House to disrepute.

Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Hon. Emmanuel Orker-Jev, fired the first salvo when in a motion on matters of privileges, he called for the investigation of Jibrin, noting that since he was relieved of his appointment as committee chairman on July 21, he “embarked on a campaign of calumny and denigration by making false and scandalous statements and publications against the entire membership of the institution of the House of Representatives and National Assembly as an institution” He argued that “the statements and publications are contrary to section 24 and 30 of the Legislative (Powers and Privileges) Act. They are in breach of the standing orders of the House of Representatives, particularly the provisions on privileges of the House and that of members thereof touching or seizing the mace order 10 Rule 5 (13) and (15).”

According to him, Jibrin’s statements are contemptuous of the House as an institution even as he added that the offence attracts suspension of not less than six months.

He therefore prayed that the matter be referred to the Ethics and Privileges Committee for proper investigation and for the committee to report its findings

While the Ethics Committee is yet to submit its report, there is no doubt that Jibrin may be on his way to suspension

and make appropriate recommendations to the House within one week.

Trouble, however, began as soon as Orker-Jev started reading the motion and as such was severally interrupted by some members sympathetic to Jibrin, who protested and shouted ‘no, ‘no, no.’ As he read half way into the motion, Jibrin, who sat behind Orker-Jev walked out of the chambers quietly, while his supporters continued with the screaming.

The rowdiness continued for about 30 minutes but Orker-Jev was undeterred and the speaker later put the motion to vote and the ayes were overwhelming. It was thereafter referred to the Ethics Committee for investigation.

Attempts by Hon. Aliyu Garba Madaki (APC, Kano), to raise a point of order and complaint against the manner the allegations against the speaker and some principal officers were treated were rebuffed by Dogara’s supporters.

Madaki observed that the motion to investigate Jibrin was not seconded before the speaker ruled on it. He also argued that the allegations were damning and that the allegations affected not only those fingered in the budget padding but every member of the House, hence the honourable thing to do was for the speaker to step down and allow an independent committee to investigate the allegations. But Dogara threw it back at Madaki advising him to take the first step by resigning.

It is obvious that in spite of the bile Jibrin’s allegations have caused within the National Assembly and in the public domain, Dogara still enjoys the support of his colleagues as soon as the resolution to investigate Jibrin was passed, mufflers bearing the inscription, “istandwithDogara” were freely distributed to members on the floor and all the speaker’s supporters were decked in the green coloured apparel on their necks.

Surprisingly, two groups: Transparency and Integrity groups that have been critical of the speaker and had vowed that he must step aside as soon as the House reconvenes, showed no sign of existence on the floor.

Apart from Madaki, who attempted a point of order, none of the members’ of these groups attempted to utter a word. The speaker had a field day and was hailed by majority of the members.

Besides, not many members indicated intention to even speak.

The House was indeed united on the issue of Jibrin. Hon. Gudaji Kazaure (APC, Jigawa), who was given special privilege to speak on developments in the House, admonished members saying the speaker will complete his term and that no member too would be

suspended.

Perhaps, the massive support the speaker enjoys from his colleagues gave him the courage to be emphatic and unequivocal in his welcome address. He declared that the House under his leadership would not be distracted but lamented that Jibrin’s attitude was capable of ruining the reputation of the chamber.

“Events of the recent weeks give cause for grave concern and pose existential threats to the corporate integrity and image of the House as a democratic institution designed by the constitution to play a vital role in our nation's governmental system,” he said.

Although, the Kano lawmaker had earlier expressed his resolve to appear before the Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai-led Ethics and Privileges Committee, he made a detour and declined from making an appearance. First, his lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, wrote to the speaker urging him to stop the committee from going ahead with the probe as it would amount to contempt of court.

Jibrin followed suit with a letter to both the speaker and chairman of the committee and refused to honour its summons. He had at a press conference alleged that public statements credited to Ossai cast his impartiality in doubt. He further alleged that some members of the Ethics Committee wore the #IstandwithDogara# muffler during Wednesday’s plenary, where he was referred to the committee for investigation.

He confirmed that he has responded to the letter of invitation from the committee’s chairman, expressing his position on the matter and therefore asked the House to direct Dogara, Lasun, Doguwa and Ogor to step down as “they cannot be judges in their own matters.”

He recommended that a speaker pro tempore should take over and constitute an ad hoc committee to investigate his allegations in collaboration with the ongoing external investigations by the anti-graft agencies as the House can only investigate the allegations in conjunction with anti-corruption agencies.

But dismissing Jibrin's allegations against the committee, the Ethics Committee chairman – Ossai – said the committee was impartial in its dealings and urged Jibrin to appear in his own interest even as he challenged him to prove his allegations against the committee.

While the Ethics Committee is yet to submit its report, there is no doubt that Jibrin may be on his way to suspension given the House antecedents. The leadership of the House is against his conduct, majority of his colleagues are against him and for failing to testify at the probe panel, he will certainly not be spared.

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POLITICS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Police, Civil Defence deploy 45,000 personnel Emmanuel Onani Abuja

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s part of measures to safeguard electoral materials, as well as guarantee maximum security during tomorrow's governorship election in Edo State, the Police has announced the deployment of 25,000 personnel for the exercise.

This is as the Commandant-General (CG) of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mr. Abdullahi Muhammadu, also ordered the deployment of 20,000 men of the Corps for the poll.

It will be recalled that adverse security and intelligence reports from the Police and the Department of State Services (DSS), had forced the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the

...vehicular movement restricted poll by 18 days. The election was formally scheduled to hold on September 10.

Consequent upon the circumstance that necessitated the shift, the Police, yesterday, said they have enunciated a revised operation plan for tomorrow's exercise.

In the said revised security plan, the Force said officers and men will be "firm and decisive" in handling electoral offences and other infractions before, during and after the exercise.

A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Don Awunah, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, reads: "The Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K Idris...determined to ensure that the rescheduled Edo gubernatorial election is conducted in an atmosphere of peace and security has ordered

the activation of the revised operation plan for the governorship election slated to hold throughout the state on Wednesday.

"The revised election security operation plan will guarantee free, fair and credible election, secure electoral process, enable eligible voters exercise their franchise freely and voluntary, protection of election materials and officials, ensure adequate security before, during and after the election.

"In the same vein, protection of life and property in the entire State will be of paramount importance. However, the Police will be firm and decisive in dealing with any infractions of the law, actions and activities that constitute breach of peace and contrary to public order."

According to the statement, the tactical teams that will prosecute the election security mandate alongside conventional policemen, will be drawn from the Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU), Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD), Police Air Wing (for aerial patrol), among others.

While directing the Commissioner of Police (CP) in Edo State to enforce restriction of movement of vehicles (not on essential duties) between 12 midnight today and 6:00pm on the election day, the IGP enjoined officers to conduct themselves within the ambit of their mandate.

In the same vein, the NSCDC has deployed 20,000 of its personnel, to provide security during the poll.

Edo DECIDES

The disclosure was made in a statement yesterday by the Corps' Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Okeh, an Assistant Commandant of Corps (ACC).

According to Okeh, the Acting Deputy Commandant General in charge of Operations, Mr. Hillary Madu, will coordinate operations during the period.

"The Commandant General of the...NSCDC... has directed the immediate deployment of 20,000 Person-

nel for the Edo gubernatorial poll of September 28.

"The CG has charged the Acting Deputy Commandant General Operations... to relocate his office to Edo state for the purpose of the election in order to guarantee free and fair election without violence, rancour and gerrymandering.

"The Acting DCG is to be assisted by two Assistant Commandant Generals in Charge of Zone G Benin and Zone E Owerri with five commandants drawn from the neighbouring states, while the personnel are to be re-deployed from Kogi, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa and Anambra state Commands respectively to complement the deployment of personnel from Edo State Command to all nooks and crannies of the state," the statement read in part.

Persons with disabilities deployed as observers

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eventy-eight persons with disabilities have been deployed as observers for the governorship election across the 18 local government areas of Edo State.

Speaking at a press conference held in Benin by the Leave No One Behind Campaign outfit, made up of various groups, its coordinators, David Anyaele and Grace Jerry, harped on the need for all stakeholders to work together to ensure that “barriers that make it difficult for over 250,500 000 PWDs in Nigeria take part in the nation’s electoral processes on an equal basis with other citizens.

The body insisted that disability votes must counts, pointing out that the campaign would conduct an accessibility audit of polling units and election material for PDWs during the governorship election in Edo state and “the audit will help to ascertain the magnitude of the barriers faced by

PWDs on election days across the state.”

They also decried their marginalisation in the electoral system saying: “Polling units are not always physically accessible to those that are unable to walk or have impaired walking. The placement of ballot boxes on high table or other inaccessible locations also make it difficult for PDW voters especially those on wheel chairs.”

Also speaking, INEC National Commissioner, Hajiya Amina Zakari, expressed the readiness of the commission to always partner with persons with disability to bring their interests and desires to bear positively in the country’s electoral process.

She disclosed the establishment of a Disability desk by the commission to collate relevant information on some critical challenges affecting the participation of PWDs in the nation’s electoral processes.

INEC receives sensitive materials

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he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, took delivery of sensitive voting materials for the Edo governorship election from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Benin.

INEC Assistant Director on Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs. Prisillia Sule, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin.

Sule said that party agents of the 19 political parties participating in

the election were invited to witness the retrieval of the sensitive materials at the CBN. She also said that INEC headquarters had deployed National and Resident Electoral Commissioners to assist the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Edo State, Mr Sam Olumekun, to conduct the election.

NAN also reports that fierce-looking armed security operatives were seen in and around the Ikpoba-Hill office of the commission.

Obaseki

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, INEC boss

Ize-Iyamu

Traditional Council warns chiefs against partisanship Stories by Cajetan Mmuta BENIN

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he Benin Traditional Council (BTC), yesterday, warned all palace chiefs against any attempt to drag the name of the Oba of Benin into the murky waters of politics.

It described as unacceptable the attitude of some chiefs who went to the villages in various councils of the state to campaign for one of the governorship candidates

with claims that it was an instruction from the palace of the Oba. The BTC in a statement signed by its Secretary, Frank Irabor also cautioned that on no account should an Enogie in the Kingdom be referred as a monarch but His Royal Highness, adding that the title of His Royal Majesty is only for the Oba of Benin.

The council said: “We will like to state emphatically what has been repeatedly stated by His Royal Highness, Crown Prince (Amb) Ehenede Erediauwa, Edaiken

N’Uselu, that the Benin monarch is non-partisan.

“The prayer Omo N’Oba Erediauwa left for us as a legacy regarding gubernatorial elections is that we should always pray to God and our ancestors to give us a governor that will develop the state, provide food for the people and accord respect to traditional rulers.

“Benin chiefs have different political affiliations. Statements emanating from them are therefore not necessarily on behalf of the palace of the Oba of Benin. It has

NUJ disclaims suspected fake journalists

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he National leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), yesterday, said it knows nothing about 10 persons in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Edo State.

The suspected journalists on arrest in a popular hotel in the state had claimed that they were in the state to cover Wednesday’s governorship election.

But addressing journalists on behalf of the national president of

NUJ, Waheed Odunsile, the chairman of Edo State chapter of the union, Comrade Roland Osakwe, said attempts by the NUJ to seek the release of the suspected journalists uncovered that they were unable to provide any form of identification linking them to any media house.

He said: “I must confess that the union was seriously embarrassed when it was discovered that the arrested persons were not practicing journalists as

their means of identification were misleading as their contradictory claims of working with Watch Dog, a publication based in Abuja did not add up.

“Although one of them had an invalid NUJ national identification card, their inability to explain their mission in the state and the established fact that they were not practicing journalists owing to the fact that none of them had any published story to their names gave them out as fake.

been brought to the attention of BTC that rumour mills has it that chiefs are going round villages to campaign for a particular candidate.

“For purpose of clarification, Benin Traditional Council would be tantamount to contradiction of the non partisan policy of the Benin Royal Crown as already stated. The Benin Traditional Council therefore wish to inform the public to discountenance such rumours, because the palace has not and will not contradict itself in the matter of partisan politics.”

“WE are not particularly concerned about why they were arrested in the first place by the DSS, what we can only demand is for security operatives to dig thoroughly into the matter with a view to unravelling their actual identity and mission in Edo State.

The union urged members to ensure they are properly accredited before the coverage of the election to avoid clashes with security agents.

POLITICS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

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Failure to subject aspirants to proper scrutiny, bane of leadership – Ilaka Chief Oyebisi Ilaka, Accord Party (AP) Oyo Central senatorial candidate in last year's general elections, in this interview with ADEWALE AJAYI, speaks on the Muhammadu Buhari administration, governance and anti-corruption war, among other issues How would you assess the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), considering how recent elections conducted by the electoral body ended on inconclusive notes?

There is still a lot to be done by the electoral body and the National Assembly. A number of things, like the card reader, which INEC has brought in, have been regarded not mandatory by various pronouncements of the courts.

We have a lot of cases where the card reader did not work, where it was abandoned, and there is no standard level of performance recently by INEC. We hope that this body will still discharge its responsibility properly. We are all aware that in the Nigerian terrain, we have certain challenges, because politicians themselves from time to time will try to frustrate the process. So, we are not saying politicians themselves are not culpable, but as an umpire, INEC itself should do all that is necessary to ensure elections are free and fair, and more so to ensure the elections are brought to conclusive end. The issue of inconclusive elections is a dent on INEC's reputation. It gives a sign that they are quite untidy in the way they discharge their responsibility.

What is your take on the anticorruption war by the present administration, considering the belief in some quarters that it is a move to silence the opposition?

There is no smoke without fire.

The people who are making this remark can justify it. What we see for a fact is that corruption is pretty endemic in Nigeria. The coast was not just members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but also those who formed what is now known as All Progressives Congress (APC). They are known to be corrupt. For example Lagos has probably been referred to as one of the most corrupt places in Nigeria, and nobody from Lagos has at any point in time been charged for corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offense Commission (ICPC). The same goes for a lot of states in the South West, which we know a lot about their maleficent.

So, it does look a little bit lopsided, but having said that, it is up to the people who have been charged to establish their innocence. The burden of prove still rest with the prosecution.

The prosecution has made various allegations about these people, but as at now, we haven’t seen any conviction; nobody has actually been convicted. We talk of plea

bargain and most of plea bargain upheld remain in the military class, and these are not the politicians. This is fact to prove that there is justification in this assertion. Till date, we have not known of any member of APC that has been indicted. Is that to say that all the people in APC are saints and there is no sinner among them or in their party? I don’t think that is the case.

Nigerians at present are complaining about economic recession in the country. Are you not worried the way the economic situation is getting worse and the inability of government to fix the problem?

The court of public opinion is really tired of excuse. Yes, the PDP administration has its own fault. I am not making a case for the PDP, but if you look at the challenges the PDP government had, one of which was that, they were trying to save for the rainy day. But the governors led by Rotimi Amaechi, Babatunde Fashola, and others, who were all in the APC today took the Federal Government to court to say states were federating units of the federation, and as such the Federal Government could not decide on its behalf to save for a rainy day and so this is the challenge that we have. We haven’t saved enough for a rainy day. Whatever reserve savings we might have had, has been eroded by the impudent policy called the subsidy regime, and those who were saying they wanted to occupy Nigeria at that point in time when subsidy was proposed for removal, are all members of APC. They can’t say they didn’t support this squandermania called the subsidy policy. As we speak, I don’t think we have subsidy regime. If subsidy has been removed three or five years ago, we would have had all those things that can cushion the effect.

Economy is the main thing; it is all about confidence. The public, both the domestic and international do not have confidence in the visible economic team that we have. Without confidence in the system, things are going to progressively get worse. The end is not in sight out there. What do the government stand for itself ?

What is the policy? What we are getting is flip flop policy; there is no consistency. There should be real economy; let us call it strategic path way, a salvation thing that can tell us this is where the state wants to take us to and for us to all buy into it.

You see, this old story about diversification is a little bit tired; successful administrations have talked about it but they only paid

Ilaka

lip service to it. We are going to face extremely challenging times, because our economy is import dependent. We have to address that because the manufacturing base is decimated. We hope our crisis do not get to the level of what is happening in Venezuela, which is another oil dependent country like us, which was pretty buoyant a couple of years ago.

When people put themselves up for public office, we do not subject them to adequate scrutiny

Do you think the All Progressives Congress (APC) can bring about the change Nigerians desire?

I don’t look at issues on the basis of party or politics; we are all Nigerians and it is our interest that our nation forges ahead.

It doesn’t really matter to me what colouration the party or the government has. What is most important is that government should discharge its responsibilities to the citizen. By and large, our people are being impoverished and corruption story has become a side show. People are saying catch them, jail them, recover the loot from them, but what concerns us is that on a day to day basis, the condition to which the economy is. Every single one of us knows corruption has eroded a lot of resources. Now, we know we are in a new regime; there is a new sheriff in town. That ought not to be the case, but all we are talking about is corruption. The economy is the most important thing to every single Nigerian. If we do not get the economy right, the government would have failed in the massive challenge they have before them.

If you are to assess Nigeria since return to democratic rule in May 29, 1999 to date, will you say we are progressing or retrogressing as a nation?

For me democratic setting is always better than the military nightmare we subjected ourselves to. We are just coming out of that nightmare. Our democratic experiment is pretty young; it has challenges but we are overcoming them. We had it for the first time that the main party gave way to an

opposition party. Our people now know that they can vote a government out; that is democracy in action. There is discussion about restructuring our nation. These discussions can only be aired properly in a democratic setting.

We are learning the rope, we can’t really compare ourselves to Western countries because they have practiced democracy for years.

We have only just started. There is a long way to go and we have to understand that. It is for us to focus on the direction we want our democracy to go.

The problem we have with our leaders is that some of them are happy with the status quo. They do not have the vision on how to unleash the potentials that this country have in terms of minerals; natural and human resources.

It is God given gifts and we need to harness them properly. I am sure that when we start doing that, then our Eldorado will be in sight, but as of now, it is long way off.

Since this administration came on board, there has not been much synergy between the executive and legislative, and some people believe this is slowing down the progress that could have been recorded by the National Assembly...

It is a two-edge sword. The electorate usually get the representatives they deserve. More often than not, when people put themselves up for public office, we do not subject them to adequate scrutiny we ought to. If we do, the quality of people who represent us will be a lot better. We follow people like that, we do not bother to find out if those people will truly be good representatives on our behalf.

If you are supposed to be a public office holder, I am sure there should be some minimum behaviour standard that one should adopt. Most of the problems we have in the National Assembly now are intra party problems, they are problems within APC and I won’t like to intrude in their affairs.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Opinion Obaseki and Oshiomhole's future My Word CLEM AGUIYI totalpolitics@ymail.com 0803-474-7898 (sms only)

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overnor Adams Oshiomole will not be on the ballot in the Edo State governorship election scheduled to hold on Wednesday September 28, 2016 but the election will nevertheless be about his legacies. In a shift of principle, the man who preached against the influence of godfathers in politics is desperate to impose his godson, Mr. Godwin Obaseki on Edo State. And he is leaving nothing to chance.

When the election which was originally scheduled for September 10 was postponed by INEC over security concerns, many watchers of Edo politics saw Oshiomhole’s hand in the postponement. With the PDP candidate coasting home to a landslide victory over the APC candidate, he needed the postponement to buy time and retool the failing campaign of his godson.

Postponement or not, I am still confident, the voters in Edo State are vexed and ready to express their anger against the wicked and harsh policies of not just the APC in Edo state but against the APC led federal government which has shown incompetence in presiding over the affairs of the nation.

I don’t need to remind Edo people that any attempt to vote a candidate with K-leg will become a huge a mistake which they will live to regret.

I am confident that Edo voters will be wise not to vote for another candidate with NEPA bill or bread label for a credential.

Due to the incompetence of the APC leadership at the center, the economy has crashed with no sign of recovering. If for nothing else, Edo needs to vote out APC as a way of showing Abuja that we are serious about changing the change. It amounts to insult for us to be suffering the way we are suffering , buying fuel at N147, exchanging a dollar at N420 and buying a bag of rice for close

to N25,000 and yet allow APC win elections. If the party cannot fix our economy and security, lower inflation and develop our infrastructures, then we must use the people’s power to remind them to sit up and work for our common good or we all perish.

They said they will pay N5000 to unemployed youths and it ended up being a ruse. They promised jobs and ended up taking away over six million jobs in just one year; the insecurity they promised to end has become worse as Fulani herdsmen have joined the killing spree. We have never had it this bad. To further insult our sensibilities, the simple change they promised will now begin with me and you and end with us why they live in the status quo of revelry, corruption and profligacy. If they cannot keep to the promise they freely made in 2015, then Edo voters must come to the rescue by voting massively against them come September 28, otherwise, they will assume that we are happy with our current situation.

I have followed the campaign, the issues, the candidates’ profiles and antecedents. I know Edo people know the truth about these candidates better.

I am however confident that this will be a straight contest between Mr. Godwin Obaseki of APC and Pastor Ize- Iyamu of PDP. Between the two major candidates, I see Ize-Iyamu as being more prepared and ready to lead. I entertain no fears about his ability to lead well. So far, he has presented real, simple, realistic, scalable and achievable plans, real policies and real strategies to put Edo state back on the path of greatness. I therefore recommend him to Igbo voters in Edo state.

Ize-Iyamu told me that he will provide enabling environment for Igbo traders and that under his leadership, trade and commerce will flourish. Being a God fearing man, he should be believed and I believe him. I also believe he is a friend of Ndigbo.

If we come together and stick together in Edo as we did in Lagos in 2015 we will be sending a clear message to Abuja, that Igbo votes count and matter. If we don’t, we will be big for nothing, hence our sufferings and marginalization will continue unabated.

INEC’s record shows that the number of registered Igbo voters constitute about 48 per cent of total registered voters in Edo. The implications of this figure are obvious and have the capacity of determining who emerges winner in the Edo

The eight years of APC in Edo State has seen many Igbo businesses destroyed

state governorship elections.

I know Iyamu will win, but I do not want him to win without our massive support. I call on all ndi Igbo in Edo State to unite and team up with other Edo progressives to take advantage of our population so that the candidate that will best serve our interest will emerge victorious.

The eight years of APC in Edo State has seen many Igbo businesses destroyed. There is nothing to show that the outgoing APC government invested anything in the areas of trade and commerce. Markets across the state became grossly deteriorated under the current leadership. There is no justification for the excessive levies and taxes collected from traders; no running water, safety measures or medics; no light and no access road.

Nothing on ground! This is the state of all the markets in Edo. From Ebvareke market to New Benin market, Ekiosa to Uwelu, the story is the same. From Ekpoma to Uromi, Oredo to Ikpoba Oka, all bear the same governmental neglect for a sector that contributes more than 40 per cent in Edo IGR. Indeed, it is only in the area of taxation that government remembers this important sector.

A look at the implementation of Edo tax law by APC government leaves much to be desired. People are overtaxed without corresponding social amenities to justify the tax burden suffered by our people.

In fact the opinion of ndi Igbo in Edo is that the APC government is stifling potential business expansion by its wicked regime of multipletaxation. This in part forms the reason for the high rate of unemployment in the state. How can the people be employed when small and medium scale enterprises which ought to form the fulcrum of employment generation are not encouraged to thrive?

National Bureau of Statistics was not wrong when it reported that Edo ranks 7th among the 10 states with highest number of unemployed persons.

I have no doubt in my mind that candidate IzeIyamu of PDP irrespective of his party platform fits the bill and will cater for the general interest of Edo indigenes and non-indigenes. I therefore endorse him and recommend him as being worthy of bloc Igbo votes.

Sallah celebration in economic recession Shittu Yunus Shittu

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efore the recent Islamic celebration of Eid-Kabir, many Muslims were quite apprehensive on how they could manage the occasion in view of the economic recession in the country.

The situation was so alarming that some Islamic scholars had to intervene with consoling sermons and preaching on economic management in critical period.

An Islamic Scholar, Imam Abdulhameed Shuaib Agaka declared that the sacrificial Ram for Sallah is not obligatory or compulsory. He said: “Considering the current economic situation, Muslims should prioritize their need and ensure they provide basic necessities for the family, especially accommodation, feeding, medication, education and mobility.

It is after meeting the basic essentials that surplus income could be utilise for Sallah ram and other celebrations.”

The warning by the scholars came at the time the National Bureau of

Statistics (NBS) released its report on Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures inflation. The report shows that inflation hit 17.6 percent in August compared to 17.1 percent recorded in the month of July 2016. According to the NBS, the major divisions responsible for accelerating the pace of the increase in the headline index were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, Fuel, Education and Transportation Services.

For instance, the Food Index rose by 16.4 percent (year-on-year) in August, up by 0.6 percent points from 15.8 per cent recorded in July. During the month, all the major food groups contributed to the increase in the Food sub-index, however the pace of increase was slowed by Fruits, Potatoes, Yam and other Tubers as well as Oils and Fats, which reported slower increases during the month. Furthermore, imported foods as reflected by the Imported Food Sub-index increased by 0.2 per cent points from July to 20.7 per cent in August.

Many experts have raised issues about the inflationary trends in the economic recession. The President,

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Mr. Titus Soetan, said that the current economic recession in the country would have been avoided if substantial savings had been made into the Excess Crude Account when the price of crude oil was high. Speaking in a media chat, Soetan said dwindling oil revenue and poor savings culture by past administrations contributed significantly to the current recession.

Given the huge revenue gap created by dwindling oil revenue, the ICAN president said that the economy would not have performed better regardless of the economic policies of the government. According to him, a minimum of $100bn in the ECA would have saved the country from recession.

In suggesting solutions to the economic crisis, an economist and Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane declared that the federal government must borrow and sell assets to raise funds and must inject money into the economy. He said: “The government must inject funds into the system and the executive is fully engaged because they know they cannot hide, they have

to deal with the problem."

In desperate search for a way out of the steady decline of the economy and its disturbing impact on Nigerians, the Federal Government is about to inject N350 billion into the system in order to stimulate economic activities.

It is also in the process of obtaining $1 billion Eurobond which would be concluded before this year ends. This was disclosed by Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.

The government further stated that its pledged feeding programme, recruitment of 500.000 teachers and payment of N5000 to vulnerable citizens would commence this month.

The injection of funds into the economy is most delighting and refreshing news to rekindle the hope of Nigerians.

Reality is that the country is facing unbearable condition and unwarranted hardship. In fact, many have hailed the injection of funds by government but demanded more measures in order to ameliorate the hardship across the land.

• Shittu (syshittu@yahoo.com), a graduate of Economics from Kwara State University (KWASU).

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Rising suicide cases

he spate of suicides has assumed an alarming dimension in the last one year. Although this situation is not something of a complete surprise as the signs have been glaring for some time given the harsh economic situation, the increase still gives cause for serious concern.

Across the country, people are taking their own lives as way out of their predicament which, in the main, is a function of the prevailing economic realities. A man, Ekanem Edet, reportedly hung himself in Akwa Ibom State and was said to have cited inability to meet his financial obligations to his family as reason. The man left a suicide note wherein he blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for his decision. A manager with First City Monument Bank, Olisa Nwakoby, also took his own life over a bad debt estimated at N350 million. The banker took the option of blasting himself to death with a gun.

Another man was said to have jumped off a tall building to his death in the Apapa area of Lagos.

On August 16, Mrs. Omolola Atejioye, hung herself in her apartment in Ilishan-Remo, Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun State.

A 36-year-old man in Mgbaleze Isu Community, Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Chijioke Ani, hung himself in his farm.

Before Ani’s case, Ogonna Obaji, a 22-year-old man from Umuezeukwu Community of the same local government had also taken his life.

Earlier in January, a 19-year-old, identified simply as Chiamaka, also committed suicide. She was said to have been impregnated and abandoned by her lover.

In Delta State, some cases of suicide were recorded by the state Police Command. The cases were those of a 26-year-old student of Delta State University, Abraka, Evelyn Mogekwu and a woman identified simply as Jane, who was said to have committed the act after her fiancé abandoned her for another woman. The other incident was that involving a student of the Delta State Polytechnic, OtefeOghara, Miss Oritsegbubemi Udu. There was yet a similar tragedy on August 4, when a 48-year-old ex-

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child in Olugbode, Odo-Ona area of the town, before the calamity.

Sara Imoleayo, a 400 level student of Bayero University Kano, was among those that took their lives in the last few months. Another Kano indigene simply identified as Dauda was said to have complained about the harsh times on many occasions before killing himself with a sharp knife.

We have deliberately outlined these cases to show not just how rampant suicide cases have become

The continuing excuse of blaming the past government will not and cannot hold water

NEPA staff committed suicide in his house at Ayegbami Zone 7, Idi Ose, along Akanran Road in the Ona Ara Local Government Area of Ibadan.

Adepoju was disengaged from the establishment in Abeokuta two years before his death. His claimed he had not been paid his entitlements. The deceased however left a suicide note indicating that he was suffering from a chronic disease.

Another 54-year-old woman, Oluwabunmi Oluwafemi, also took the same route on August 29, in Ibadan, by hanging herself on a tree. The deceased who resided in Bembo, Apata area of Ibadan, was said to have gone to spend the weekend with her first

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but also to underline the fact that it’s widespread.

We also note that the main reason for the rise in suicides is the increasing inability of many people to

meet their various obligations, ranging from paying house rents, school fees to sundry bills. In the tougher instances, people even find it difficult to meet the basic need of feeding.

Government’s economic policies in the last one year have, in the main, precipitated the recession which Nigeria finds itself. Indeed Professor Pat Utomi described the recession as self-inflicted and policy-induced. Buhari’s policies since coming to power have tended largely to further stifle long suffering Nigerians.

The continuing excuse of blaming the past government will not and cannot hold water in the weeks and months ahead. Government poli-

cies, decisions and actions must be judged in their ability to provide the kind of environment for citizens to unleash their productive potential and capacity to provide jobs and other economic benefits to the people.

If this is not the case, no amount of excuses - whether crash in the prices of oil prices, fall in crude production resulting from incessant bombing of oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta by militants, profligacy of the past government - would make any meaning to the people. What they voted for is good governance and not excuses.

We insist that it is the responsibility of government to find a way to ensure that the scourge of suicides does not further escalate especially given the fact that recent rise is directly related to government actions and inactions in the last year.

We equally insist that government must knuckle down and do the hard work of rescuing the economy from the woods so that long suffering Nigerians can have a much needed respite from the buffeting times.

This is not the time to shift responsibility as the government did recently. The so-called ‘Change Begins with me’ campaign is another example of passing the burden to the masses. The president and his party, the All Progressives Congress, made promises to Nigerians. They promised change for the better and that is what Nigerians are demanding, not the harsh and harrowing economic situation that is driving them into suicide.

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POLITICS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Igbo political renaissance and rescue A presentation by the National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie at the recent World Igbo Summit in Enugu

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he unfortunate state of affairs that has led Ndigbo to where we are in Nigeria today calls for dedicated, selfless, focused, and patriotic leadership that will provide direction and articulate a properly thought-out political roadmap that will re-launch a sustainable Igbo political resurgence in spite of man-made obstacles.

There are certain potentialities that Igbo political leadership can wield into an irrepressible political force on the platform of a political party we control its machinery, which also has its Manifesto registered with INEC, with provisions that articulate policies and programmes that are inclined towards the realization of Igbo political aspirations and agenda.

Studies have proved that Igbo people are the most widely dispersed people in Nigeria. We are at least the second largest population in most states of Nigeria and constitute the overwhelming majority of the people in the South-East geopolitical zone of the country. It has been conservatively estimated that we constitute about 40 per cent of the population of Lagos State and about 60 per cent of the population of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of the Federal Capital Territory.

In political terms we can mobilize minimum of 25 per cent of the voting population of 31 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, while controlling 99.9 per cent of the voting population of the five states of the South East geopolitical zone.

In Nigerian democracy population and spread are the critical factors that can determine the direction and control of power after every general election. Ndigbo have no business being irrelevant in the matter of politics in Nigeria with what God has already given to them.

A properly organized political platform championed by the Igbo that promises true federalism, devolution of power, resource control, State Police and Community Policing etc shall attract the involvement of people of other geopolitical zones that are similarly inclined such as the South-South and North Central geopolitical zones. Such movements will also attract interest from other sections that share in such political ideology. We must not forget that in the Second Republic, Plateau State led by Dr. Solomon Lar formed a State government elected on the platform of the Nigerian Peoples Party led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, an Igboman.

What is clear is that the Igbo is like a sleeping giant. The challenge that we face today is the proactive steps we need to take to arouse this giant from its slumber. This Summit is a commendable step in that direction. It was upon the realization of the Igbo political dilemma as far back as 1995 that I mobilized my associates to commence the process of forming a national political party based on Igbo initiative. In 1996 we

Ilaka

approached the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON) to register the Peoples Democratic Congress (PDC) but the political association was not registered. In 1998 we made the second attempt to register again the Peoples Democratic Congress.

We were for a second time denied registration. In those two attempts we had the Cock as symbol because we realized that our people needed to be woken up from slumber and in Igboland as in other places in Nigeria the Cock crows to signal the dawn of a new day. We also had “Be Your Brother’s Keeper”, in Igbo, “Onye Aghala Nwanneya” as the motto. In 2001, when the opportunity presented itself again for the registration of new political parties, we had realized the intrigues and the machinations that played out in the two failed attempts. We therefore changed tactics and strategy and succeeded in the registration of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), still with the cock as logo and “Be Your Brother’s Keeper” (Onye Aghala Nwanneya) as its motto.

The Certificate of Registration of APGA was received by me in the company of the Protem National Officers of the party on June 24, 2002.

APGA then became the first political party registered in Nigeria based on Igbo initiative. I entered the history book as the founder and National Chairman of this historic political party. The excitement among Igbo people at home and abroad was palpable. As a result of that accomplishment Ohanaeze Ndigbo under the leadership of the indomitable Hon. Justice Eze Ozobu (rtd) former Chief Judge of Enugu State and now a traditional ruler of his community conferred on me the title “Ogbaturu Enyi Ndigbo.” With all humility, I remain the only person, whether living or dead that has ever been conferred with a traditional title by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo since its formation in 1976.

Our first policy pronouncement was to zone the presidential slot of the party to the South East geopolitical zone for the 2003 presidential election. It was at this point that I

The challenge that we face today is the proactive steps we need to take to arouse this giant from its slumber

and my associates came face to face with the timidity that had afflicted Igbo political leaders. There were not less than 6 carefully selected Igbo persons who were politicians of appreciable political profiles we approached to fly APGA Presidential flag. One after the other, they declined. In deep sadness and frustration, I went to Hon. Justice Eze Ozobu, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo to share my experience with him.

I resisted the temptation to fly the presidential ticket myself like what those who founded political parties did in the past. I refused to be persuaded because I had convinced those who supported the effort morally and/or materially that I did not lead the initiative for personal aggrandizement and I was determined to maintain that principled stand. It was Justice Eze Ozobu that advised that we should make the same offer to Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, whom I had been closely associated with as my leader for over 20 years since he returned from exile in 1982.

I requested Justice Eze Ozobu to present Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu to the party leadership at a private ceremony in Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu’s residence for reasons that space will not permit me here to narrate.

That presentation was done on 24th December, 2002, in the presence of people who are still alive but whose names shall be mentioned in a book that is still work-in-progress. On 26th December 2002, two days after Justice Ozobu’s presentation of Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu to the Party, I addressed a World Press Conference at the Zodiac Hotel, Enugu where I proposed Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu as APGA presidential candidate.

His candidature was ratified at a well-attended National Convention of the Party at the Old Parade Ground Abuja on January 10, 2003, where I handed over to him the Presidential flag of the Party. That event signaled the match for Igbo political resurgence. Majority of Igbo people all over Nigeria, especially those in the South-East voted overwhelmingly for Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu as presidential candidate and other candidates who contested that general election on the platform of APGA. The young party lacked the financial resources to protect its votes and the candidates also lacked the resources to defend their mandates except Mr. Peter Obi of Anambra State who had the support of the people of Anambra State and the resources to defend his mandate at the Election Petition Tribunal and ultimately prevailed to become the first elected governor on the platform of APGA. Unknown to us, the presidency under President Olusegun Obasanjo was uncomfortable with the emergence of Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu as our Presidential candidate. APGA was viewed as a national security risk, based on the morbid fear that if Dim Odumegwu-Ojukwu gained political foothold in Nigeria, he would re-enact the effort to lead his people to secede from Nigeria, a second time.

This accounted for the undue attention paid to APGA to ensure that the Party’s candidates were denied their victory through massive rigging. It was in April 2003, after the election that the then President Olusegun Obasanjo told me pointedly in his official residence in the Presidential Villa that I committed a “Political

Sin” by presenting Dim OdumegwuOjukwu as presidential candidate.

The conversation lasted for hours and we touched on so many other issues that are not proper to be disclosed on a presentation of this nature. The Presidency was determined to decimate APGA and in no time they established a weak-link within the Party’s leadership which they used to launch their attack on the Party on the 15th of December, 2004, via a Press Conference at NUJ Press Centre, Abuja in which spurious and unsubstantiated allegations were spewed against me.

Before this press conference that signaled the unfortunate balkanization of APGA, the perpetrators of this act had craftily placed a wedge between me and our erstwhile presidential candidate with whom I had associated for over 20 years.

The dispute that ensued lasted for more than 8 years, resulting in over 20 litigations that saw us approach the Supreme Court 3 times without resolving the issue of the authentic leadership of the Party. Some of the litigations were still pending at the lower courts when we decided to let go and regroup to float another political party with the same vision, orientation and more radical and revolutionary agenda. This initiative led to the formation of the United Progressive Party (UPP) which was registered on October 2, 2012.

The attitude and the timidity of the Igbo political elite has not changed, instead it has further degenerated and retrogressed. In spite of the fact that we zoned the presidential slot to the South East geopolitical zone for the 2015 presidential election and given the fact that APGA adopted the presidential candidate of PDP, former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 general election and repeated the same thing in 2015 general election, no Igbo aspirant stepped forward to be considered for the UPP presidential ticket. It could be recalled that UPP became the first registered political party in Nigeria to host its National Convention in Igboland. It was on the eve of that Convention that took place at Aba in Abia State, that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of our party in a pre-Convention meeting nominated me and Barrister Bello Umar from Zamfara State to become Presidential candidate and Vice presidential candidate respectively.

The 2015 presidential election is now an eye-opener to us in UPP and to Ndigbo in general.The inescapable truth is that, it is only when all eligible Igbo men and women begin to actively participate in the electoral process, wherever we are domiciled in Nigeria, that we shall begin to recover our long lost place of relevance in Nigeria and reap the benefits of quality representation, accountable leadership, respect and governance at all levels of government. If we do not stir up ourselves and perform the civic responsibilities we owe to ourselves and our race, perpetual lamentation, shall be the outcome of political apathy and indifference.

We must bear in mind that the economy of Ala Igbo, our businesses, our religion and the way we choose to worship, our self and group esteem, the quality of our education and our quest for self-determination are all inextricably woven around politics. This is the truth that is selfevident.

17

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Transportation Abuja mass transit goes dormant

Inside Abuja Barely two months after the official inauguration of the Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge train service, the excitement and hope generated by it appear to be fizzling away too fast. CALEB ONWE, who went on an adventurous shuttle on the train, got more than a pleasant ride and reports

Demolition Anguish as bulldozers mow down "Canopy Market"

Onwuka NzeshI

ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF nzeshi@newtelegraphonline.com

Š Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

20

Abuja train service: From Idu to Rigasa •Workers groan over welfare

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari officially flagged off the Nigeria’s first ever standard gauge rail track on July 17 in Abuja. A project said to have gulped a whopping sum of about $1.457 billion.

It would be recalled that between 1963 and the early 80s, Nigeria had a reliable rail system that help economic development, as train was used in transporting agricultural produce, livestock and solid mineral resources from the North down to South, and vice-versa.

The younger generation of Nigerians who were not born when the rail system was operational in the country exuded quite exceptional excitement for the opportunity to enjoy train ride. Investors, stakeholders and even the ordinary people on the streets hailed that initiative as a demonstration of political will to compensate the citizenry with good governance.

More reasons why there was so much ecstasy when it was commissioned was that it appeared to be a radical step by the government to revamping the hitherto comatose Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and by extension resuscitate rail transportation, believed to be necessary missing link in the nation's economic journey. That singular achievement undoubtedly resonated hope that government was determined to restoring the lost glory in Nigeria's rail system.

However, it appears unfortunate these great expectations may have

18

Inside one of the first class coaches

been misplaced. There are fears that certain things might not be right in the system and this is capable of truncating the joy of many enthusiasts. It is coming from alleged internal maladministration that is already pitching members of staff against the management of the company.

On board Like a long awaited bride, residents of Abuja are so enraptured in a long desired 'honeymoon ' with the train ride. This is evident by the mad rush that is often witnessed at the stations, especially among those who have never seen or boarded a train in their life time.

On the first visit of this reporter to the Idu terminus in Abuja, it was observed that some people who probably were oblivious of the procedures, came to beg to be allowed to buy tickets in advance, the request, was however, and shockingly declined. The over-excited prospective passengers were told to come on the day they want to make the trip and purchase their tickets.

The staff selling the tickets was also magnanimous to warn the people to be at the station at least 30 minutes before departure time, and earlier on Fridays; the reasons being that there used to be heavy human traffic at the station, because of the number of those who wants to board the train.

The first class coach from Abuja to Kaduna is N900, while the economy class of the coach is N600. Interest-

Inside the economy class

Government should actualise its plans to concessioning the rail system

ingly, children are made to pay half of what the adults pay.

Inside Abuja observed that the only difference between the two available coaches is the number of people that can be accommodated, whereas the first class have more comfortable seats for about 60 passengers, the economy class coach has less comfortable seats for up to 90 passengers. All the coaches are fully air-conditioned.

Passengers' voices One of the passengers, a man who works with one of the parastatals of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), but craved anonymity, said he was excited that the type of development and facilities he enjoys each time he travels to places like Dubai, London, America and other places are now springing up in Nigeria.

He lauded government's initiative

in introducing the Standard Gauge Rail System in the country. He also told Inside Abuja's that what he has seen so far, regarding the facilities, both on board the train and at the terminus, are all international standard compliant. He, however, like many other Nigerians expressed the fear of abusing the facilities by some unpatriotic elements.

To ensure sustainability, he suggested that the government should actualise its plans to concessioning the rail system, as that according to him, will open up the system for private investors to come into the sector like the aviation industry.

He said that now he spends less to go to Kaduna from Abuja. Whereas he was fuelling his car with about N7,000 before, now, with the train service, he spends less than N2,000 to and fro.

Another cogent issue he raised was on the necessity for the rail line to be extended beyond the Rigasa terminus in Kaduna.

He decried the state of the road where motorist has to navigate through untarred roads infested with pot holes, from the Rigasa station to Kaduna city.

He further explained that due to the deplorable state of the road, the torturous journey from Rigasa to Kaduna city is half of the journey from Abuja to Kaduna.

Though, there are vehicles that can convey passengers from Rigasa train station to Kaduna city at N200 per passenger for vehicles that carry many passengers; anyone who desires car hire from that point to the city will paid not less than N1,000 depending on the part of the city that one is going to.

Another passenger who identified himself as Barrister Shettima Liberty also expressed joy that he can now travel to Kaduna from Abuja by train with relative comfort at less cost.

He also advised that government has to show enough commitment in order to maintain the facilities and keep to international standard which will attract more patronage to the sector and thereby contribute more to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

A female student at the Kaduna Polytechnic who declined to mention her name, said she enjoyed the ride, but however, was not comfortable when she visited the train's toilet to ease herself, but discovered that it was not flushing.

According to her, as a student, she finds it cheaper to board a train to Kaduna from Abuja, and make more savings, than flying or going by road.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 19

18

Inside ABUJA | SLUMS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Abuja mass transit goes dormant The Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company (AUMTCO), operators of the official intra-city bus scheme in Abuja is in crisis and on the verge of collapse. Its drivers are on forced holidays over unpaid salaries. YEKEEN NURUDEEN reports

•Drivers, conductors on strike over unpaid salaries

T

he Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company (AUMTCO) is going down.

The company is currently on its knee and may soon be shut down by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). As it stands, the company can no longer pay its workers’ salaries especially drivers who are the fulcrum of its business. As a result, drivers operating the company’s high capacity buses have all laid down their tools.

It is six months now that their salaries have not been paid by the management of the company under the pretext of paucity of funds.

Investigation by Inside Abuja revealed that the strike embarked upon by the over 200 drivers of the company followed a protest they organised in July to press home their demands. But their agitations did not move the management of the company who it was gathered insisted it could no longer raise enough funds from the proceeds out of the transport business to pay the drivers, conductors and security guards working with the company.

While commuters in the nation's capital have been the worst hit by the strike. There appears to be no end in sight to the problem as it was gathered that the FCTA is also making frantic efforts to shut down the company.

The company, which was established in 1984, operates mass transit buses commonly known by Abuja residents as el-Rufai buses in recognition of the contributions of a former FCT Minister and current Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, to improving transportation in the city. It has over 300 high capacity buses dedicated to different routes, shuttling passengers between the city centre and satellite towns.

Poor remuneration A driver with the company receives N30,000 monthly as salary while a conductor gets N15,000 and security guards in the company are paid N14,000, Inside Abuja gathered.

Drivers and conductors who are currently on strike are owed six months salaries, security guards who are yet to embark on strike are owed two months strike.

About 12 high capacity buses of AUMTCO are currently abandoned at its Area 1 terminus where some of their tyres are already deflated.

The compound of the company along Kubwa express road is littered with buses abandoned by the angry drivers.

The buses, it was learnt, were more than 12 at the terminus but were being taken away one after another by officials of the company,

Abandoned buses at Area 1

fuelling speculation that the buses were being sold out to private individuals.

No official was around at the terminus to respond to questions from Inside Abuja as the office was under lock.

Stranded commuters The strike has compounded the woes of Abuja residents who are already struggling with the current economic recession. It has left thousands struggling daily to get around the capital city. The elRufai buses are the preferred means of transportation for many Abuja residents and as such their disappearance due to the drivers' strike has nearly crippled public transport system in the FCT. Commuters now spend more time at bus stops and also pay more to get to their destinations. The situation is usually worse during rush hours in the morning and evening, as commuters depend solely on private service providers who mostly exploit the situation by arbitrarily increasing fares.

Chinyere George, a resident of Bwari town who works at AP Plaza in Wuse District, lamented the absence of the buses on the road.

The buses, according to her, were a succour to the masses, noting that movement from home to work in the last one month has been difficult for not only her but many in her shoes who rely on the buses to cut cost and get to their offices.

"We are not finding things easy now that the buses are no longer on the road. From Bwari to Berger now is between N250 to N300 whereas elRufai charges N150," she said.

Many residents of satellite towns like Nyanya, Mararaba, Masaka, One-man village and Ado, Kuje, Bwari, Ggwagwalada, Kubwa, and Zuba who work in Wuse, Central Area and Garki, rely heavily on the so-called el-Rufai buses.

Drivers and conductors who are currently on strike are owed six months salaries

"We are already finding it difficult to move down to the city centre given the high rate charged by private motorists," said Adewale Rasheed who lives in Lugbe.

He also bemoaned that many of the people in satellite towns cannot afford to spend more than a few hundred’s on transportation each day, saying "they use buses, which usually charge an average of N100 per trip, however long the distance."

The situation was compounded by the existing ban on the operation of mini-buses in the city. While announcing the ban in 2014, the then FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed said the re-introduction of the ban became imperative to fully implement the FCTA transportation policy.

The ban on the operation of mini-buses in Abuja generated public outcry and protest from members of Self Employed Commercial Drivers and Association (SECDA) in January when it was first introduced.

Drivers' grievances Besides the inability of the company to pay their salaries, the aggrieved drivers are also alleging that the management of AUMTCO were involved in some shady deals in the handling of the affairs of the transport company.

Some of them who spoke with Inside Abuja wondered why the company would not be able to pay workers’ salaries despite the huge revenue it generates through the buses.

They argued that those running the affairs of the company were responsible for its misfortune as their pay per month and other spending have created big holes in the purse of the company.

A driver with the company, who gave his name as Gideon, told Inside Abuja that there's no reason why the company should have problem paying workers’ salaries giving

what the drivers return to the coffers of the company each day.

He also hinted that other services rendered by the company such as leasing of its buses to churches and construction companies which, according to him, run into millions of naira were enough to offset salaries of workers. This, he said, is besides branding of the buses that corporate organisations and other interest groups which attracts huge revenue to the firm.

"The management of the company is corrupt. The main problem with Urban Mass Transport Company is corruption. If not, transport business is a very lucrative business after oil business, but they complain that there is no money.

“A situation where the marketing manager is collecting very high salary for just sitting in the office playing with computer, how do you expect the company to move forward? The problem of urban mass is the management. The minister needs to sack the management and bring new people. The money is there because we also go on special assignments and what we hear at the end of the day is there is no money," he said.

He argued that the drivers were not well motivated by the management, saying "if you are not motivating the drivers well, they won't deliver well."

Gideon, who said he was driving along Gwagwalada with the high capacity buses makes about N50,000 from two trips, however appealed to the FCT minister not to shut down the company. "The company is feeding many mouths. Let them call the managing director to order," he said.

Another driver, Usman Isa who has relocated to Kaduna where according to him he now works as a bus conductor to make ends meet, corroborated Gideon's position. AcCONTINUED ON PAGE 20

Inside ABUJA

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

19

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 7

The student said she would always patronise the train because it is safer.

Passengers also complained about lack of space at the Rigasa station.

Inside Abuja’s reporter observed that there are more influx of passengers at the Kaduna axis, and unfortunately, the departure lounge is so small that passengers who were waiting to get clearance to board were subjected to stay under a very harsh conditions.

Passengers stand outside as there is no enough space for them to sit down inside the lounge.

Train schedule Inside Abuja's reporter inadvertently missed the train on the first proposed date for this train ride due to wrong information about the schedule.

It was also observed that the spirit of the infamous "African Time" has not infested the schedule of the train service.

For the morning trip from Abuja, by 7a.m. prompt, the horrifying horns of the train was already blaring into the air, a signal that latecomers passengers will have to wait for the next trip.

This reporter also observed that the stop over at all the sub-stations were within the five minutes allowed and there are about five sub-stations en route Kaduna from Abuja. These sub-stations are located at: Kubwa, Asham, Jere, Rijana, Dutse and the Rigasa terminus in Kaduna.

Security arrangement At the Idu station in Abuja, located about 35 kilometres away from the city centre and into the Idu industrial layout, armed military men were sighted there, a patrol vehicle belonging to the Police that has already established a railway command was also sighted.

Another arrangement that many passengers consider ideal was the police escort that is provided for the train while on transit.

Each of the coaches has an armed police officer standing sentry. The report about security arrangement at the sub-stations may not be objectively established, because, passengers on board do not have the latitude to disembark at sub-stations, except for those who have reached their final destination.

Meanwhile, at the Rigasa terminus in Kaduna, there was heavy presence of police officers with supplementary security services being supplied by private security guards.

However, some passengers expressed worries that in less than two months of the operation, some aspect of security measures are already being compromised. This is especially the flouting of the directives from government, that passengers without a valid and recognised identity card will not be able to purchase the ticket.

These directives that were even boldly pasted on the notice board at the stations are no longer being followed. Inside Abuja's reporter was not asked to present any identity card and likewise other passengers that purchased the ticket in the presence of the reporter.

Maintenance culture Commendably, both at the Idu and Rigasa stations, people suspected to be employees of a private cleaning firm were seen carrying out a routine cleaning at the facilities. Some of the cleaners were also cleaning inside the train while on transit.

One area where some of the pas-

Idu rail station

Rigasa station, Kaduna

Abuja train service: From Idu to Rigasa sengers grumbled was finding that some of the toilet facilities both at the stations and in the train was already malfunctioning. The need to check the activities of some elements along the rail tracks is pertinent.

Inside Abuja reliably gathered that the train has in several occasions crushed several straying cows while on transit. Another security threat which the source said that security agents need to check along the railway lines is the mischievous act by some criminal elements that sometimes create obstacle with stones on the train track.

Gathering storm The problem that may eventually snowball into a major labour crises and become a 'clog on the wheel' of government's effort in revamping the rail system is what the NRC staff in Abuja described as "management's insensitivity to staff welfare."

The workers, especially those from Level 10 downward are disenchanted with the way NRC management is handling the welfare issues of the Abuja office.

A reliable source within the establishment told Inside Abuja that, many of the staff were transferred from places like Lagos, Kaduna, Enugu and Ibadan to Abuja for a training and orientation which started on May 9, 2016, without adequate arrangement for their accommodation.

Inside Abuja learnt that instead of the workers who came for training being lodged in decent accommodation facilities, they were kept in makeshift shelters within the Idu train terminus. Investigations revealed that the accommodation is within the construction site of the company handling the ongoing development of the terminus.

To register their grievances, the workers who are directly involved in the train service, reportedly embarked on one day warning strike on Saturday, September 17.

In an attempt to cover up the action of the aggrieved workers from public glare and possibly avert the consequences, the management staff quickly took over the duties of the striking junior staff for that day.

However, due to the nature of the responsibilities, said to be very strenuous, the NRC Abuja management decided to send an emissary, an influential senior police officer within the Idu train station to plead with the striking workers.

"After pleading and pleading by some influential personalities suspected to have been procured by management, we decided that we

In less than two months of the operation, some aspects of security measures are already being compromised

will work and give them more time.

Maybe between now and next week, if they don't perform, that is, do what they are supposed to do, we will not work again. In fact, by next Saturday if nothing happens, nobody will work, except for management staff if they want they can go ahead and work," the source said.

Another issue that is raising the temper of the workers is the perceived refusal of management to pay both training and transfer allowances to them.

According to the source, this problem is peculiar to the staff in Abuja.

According to our source, about 74 people came for the training in Abuja, some of them were sent back to their various stations, but later were brought back to Abuja.

"Normally in civil service when you go for training, you are paid training allowance, this is supposed to take care of your accommodation and other exigencies of duty. In our case, people were called for training and nothing was given to them.

"But as I talk to you now, there is no letter and we believe they are deliberately holding unto the letters because they don't want us to have any legal ground that will embolden us to ask for our allowances. We have asked them to come out and tell us our status, whether we are still on training, or transfer; to this, no response so far has come from the management," the source said.

Inside Abuja learnt that what is increasing the heartbeat of the workers is the fear that management may have a sinister plans to deny them their entitlements by not releasing the transfer letters which the civil service rule is said to have made provisions for.

They are also worried that should the Federal Government's strategy to concession the rail system by February 2017 sails through, they might be at risk of being technically schemed out with a valid document of commitment from management.

The aggrieved workers are also not happy that they are made to over work without any form of hazard or overtime allowance.

The source said: "As if withholding our training allowances is not enough, we are also made to overwork without overtime allowance. We start work as early as 5a.m. and close between 10p.m. and 11p.m. everyday.

Some of us work from Sunday to Sunday, while some work from Monday to Saturday. The only response we have continued to get from them is hold on, hold on, don't be agitated."

When Inside Abuja sought to

know how much that was involved in the allowance saga, the source said: "The amount of the allowance depends on your position and level, and you see, when you are transferred, you are to be paid what is known as 28 days; the 28 days allowance is like the money you need to rent a house, for junior staff it is between, N5,000 and N7,000 per day, while that of the senior staff is beyond that. When you calculate all this you may arrive at the aggregate figure that is involved."

One other issue making the workers more agitated is the fact that there was a hint that the funds have been released by the Ministry of Transport, but some unnamed persons were 'sitting' on it.

"We have gotten a hint that the funds meant to settle these allowances have been released by the Ministry of Transport to NRC, but somebody is probably sitting on the money and they have continued to hide it from us," the source added.

Another controversy that may also hinder the smooth running of this revitalised rail system in the country is the alleged too many vested interest.

Inside Abuja learnt that the outlets provided on board the train as restaurant and snacks bay are still vacant because all the top officials at the NRC have interests and want to determine who sells there. Some of them were alleged to be paving way for their cronies, family members and friends for the opportunity, while some of them are bent on appropriating the opportunity to themselves at all cost.

Meanwhile, since these spaces have not been officially allocated to anybody, in deference to the rules, some of the staff are already making brisk business inside the train, by 'smuggling' soft drinks and snacks to sell to passengers on board at exorbitant prices.

A plastic bottle of coke is sold at N150, while a small size of cake that goes for N50 elsewhere, is sold for N100 inside the train.

To confirm the validity of these claims and allegations, this reporter called a phone number found in the website of NRC, and purported to be from the office of the Deputy Director, Public Relations of NRC. The call made to the line was not picked, a situation that forced this reporter to send a text message to the same line. The message was later replied with an affirmative clause: "It's completely, not true, honestly."

Still not satisfied with the responses, another questions were asked which also got " nothing" as an answer.

20

INSIDE ABUJA

Last Friday, the bulldozers of the Development Control Department of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) swooped on a neighbourhood market located in Zone 3, Wuse, Abuja. The exercise left on its trail, tears and sorrow.

YEKEEN NURUDEEN reports

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Anguish as bulldozers mow down "Canopy Market"

But for Emeka, the FCTA should look for an alternative place to relocate the traders for them to continue to earn their living legitimately.

On his part, member, Board of Trustees (BoT) Wuse Zone 3 Market Traders Association, Ifeanyi Asiegbu, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved traders, affirmed that since 2012 they were served a notice that FCT Transport Secretariat wanted to make use of the place as transit corridor.

He said the government through its representatives had allocated the place to them temporary pending when an alternative place would be provided for them, anytime government wants to make use of the place.

Asiegbu added that as of last year, there were fresh allocations given to more people especially Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) and Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs) to trade there.

“Yes we want to leave, but please give us alternative place to take our trades to within the territory.

Do you want us to go back to the streets, and start hawking around the city again? he asked.

P

aschal Emeka watched helplessly as bulldozer was rolling over his shop, pulling down other structures. He had struggled to salvage the little he could before the earth moving machine descended on his taupoline shop and those of others.

For him, his over N3 million business has gone down the drain just within the blink of an eye.

This is the story of demolition at Canopy Market located near the popular Neighbourhood Shopping Centre, Zone 3, Abuja. The market though informal was popular for cheap computer accessories, office furniture and equipment, second hand electronics and foods.

Traders salvaging the remains of their shops

An unforgettable day Friday, September 23 will remain a traumatic day for years to come in the memories of Emeka and over 2,000 traders in the market. For them, the notice of demolition served on them earlier in the week was just like one of those in the past they have received and after some moves here and there, nothing happened.

But when the bulldozer from the FCT Department of Development Control came roaring about 10a.m. when buying and selling were picking up, the whole market was thrown into pandemonium.

They were left with no choice than to make last-minute rush to remove their properties as the machine came heavily secured by men of the Nigerian Army and the Police. Therefore, there was no space for trouble making or stopping the demolition.

Though the shops were majorly of planks and roofing sheets, distraught traders told Inside Abuja said it was worth more than N500 million.

According to Emeka, who is also the Assistant Publicity Secretary of Canopy Market Traders Association, the market housed major importers who he said are also key players at the Neighbourhood Shopping complex but use Canopy

Market because of high patronage it enjoyed from customers due to cheap price of items there.

"Me alone, I have goods worth more than N3 million in this market.

There are importers here who own shops at Neighbourhood Shopping complex but you know it is cheap to have shops here and we make more sales here than at the complex. I know of someone who is an importer that has five shops here but he is in Lagos as we are speaking," he said.

Speaking on why they were caught unaware by the bulldozer, he said officials of the Department of Development Control had come three days ago to serve them a quit notice. But he admitted that the notice was not taken serious.

"They came here three days ago that we should vacate this place.

But we were not told what they want to use the place for," Emeka said as he gazed into the sky.

Speaking on whether the plot was allocated to the traders by the FCTA, he disclosed that officials of the Department of Development Control have always come to serve them quit notice but was quick to add that traders used to contribute money each time they come to pacify them.

"Yearly, the person I bought my shop from used to pay them. There was a time we contributed N30,000

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1 8

cording to him, the buses rake in millions of naira for the company every week.

"I left Abuja since there is no job. I'm now in Kaduna, sometime I do bus conductor or drive town service when my friends give me chance to work. At Urban Mass, it is not small money that we are making because all parts of Abuja there are government buses there.

“Everyday we work, yet they say there is no money. Other assignments that we do also bring good money for the company. We used to carry Living Faith church people, 10 of our Marcopolo buses are with Stabilini as staff buses and that alone bring

Over N3 million business has gone down the drain just within the blink of an eye

each, we have done that about three times all of us here, about 2,000 of us. They have been coming and people will go and settle them. So when they came on Monday, we thought it was just one of those cases. We deal with AMAC and Development Control. These are the people our executives have been dealing with.

“This place does not belong to AMAC (Abuja Municipal Area Council) but we do give them money too. The truth is both parties were not transparent to us.

They have been collecting money ranging from N25,000, N30,000 and N50,000 from us.

“Even this morning, my chairman told me we were going to have a meeting with the officials but I was surprised when they came with bulldozer and Police and soldiers," a distraught Emeka said.

But another trader who was angry with the demolition exercise and the timing wondered why the FCTA would come and throw them out of their businesses at a time the nation is passing through serious economic hardship.

"As you can see, this is the part of job that Buhari is creating for the youth. We are counting our losses," said the livid young man who declined to give his name .

Mass transit goes dormant

money every week for them," Isa said.

However, an official of the company, who did not want his name to be mentioned because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said that the FCTA was planning to shut down the company. According to him, FCT minister would soon scrap the transport company on the recommendations of FCTA officials.

Should the minister carry out the plan, about 920 staff of the company will join the labour market, aside throwing the commuter system in the territory into chaos.

No plan to shut down AUMTCO – FCTA However, the FCTA said there was no plan to close down the company. A recent report quoted FCT Director of Information, Stella Ojeme, as saying “FCTA is not planning to shut down AUMTCO. The company will be restructured to put it back to profitability, since it is a limited liability company."

AUMTCO and SURE-P buses In May 2014, the then FCT Minister, Mohammed, injected 100 high capacity buses

Canopy Market as railway corridor The demolition exercise, according to the FCTA, which is the custodian of all landed property in Abuja, was part of efforts towards curbing the abuse of the Abuja Masterplan. The FCTA through the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) has upped the tempo on removal of illegal structures within the territory.

Accordingly, the administration has commenced intensive service of final demolition notices on illegal structures within the nation’s capital city centre for immediate removal among which were the controversial informal Wuse Zone 3 Market, otherwise known as Canopy Market and stores, restaurant and bar located within Nkisi Parks and Recreation Centre (near Asokoro Community Secondary School ) and EFAB Mall in Asokoro and Area 11 respectively.

Speaking to newsmen while leading FCTA officials to some of the sites, Acting Coordinator of AMMC, Safiya Umar, insisted that having served the affected structures with final demolition notices, the next line of action was actual removal exercise within less than 24 hours period, noting that most of the places have been marked since 2011.

into the fleet of AUMTCO as part of the implementation of a palliative scheme.

Under the mass transit subsidy scheme which was designed to be sustainable and reduce cost of mass transportation in the country, 300 of such buses were in 2012 released to the system by the Federal Government.

Efforts to get reaction from the marketing manager of the company, Tunde Akintola, were not fruitful. When calls were put across to his telephone, he said he as on transit, that he would call back but never did as at the time of filing this report.

21

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Features

Ikare-Okeagbe-Omou Road

Akoko: Agonising over poor roads

T

hese are difficult times for the people of Akokoland in Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo State because of the agony and nightmare they go through daily, especially on the deplorable Owo-Ikare /Ikare-OkeagbeOmuo Road.

Apart from this major road connecting the state to the northern part of the country, the condition of other roads in the entire Akokoland, such as OwoIsua-Akoko, the border town between Ondo and Kogi states is pitiable.

In the last few years commercial, farming and social activities in the areas have almost been grounded, while the people have been living in palpable trepidation because moving from one town to the other has become

ABIODUN BELLO FEATURES Editor

abiodun. bello@newtelegraphonline.com

Š Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

People of Akokoland in Ondo State are crying out over the deplorable state of Owo-Ikare-Okeagbe Road, which has made life unbearable for them and other road users, report KAYODE OLANREWAJU and BABATOPE OKEOWO hellish.

While market women and farmers are daily agonising their plight of transporting their wares and farm produce to the markets, the activities of hoodlums and armed robbers terrorising and robbing them, have put the people and others plying the roads in perpetual fear.

It is, however, regrettable that virtually all the roads linking the Akoko community to neighbouring towns and states, under the purview of the Federal and Ondo State Governments are in a state of total disrepair.

In fact, Owo-Ikare-Akoko Road, which serves as the major road linking the state to Abuja and the northern states, is now a death trap and den of armed robbers.

In the last three years, most motorists and commuters are forced as a result of the total collapse of Owo-Ikare Road to make a detour to Ekiti State to make use of good roads in the state.

The condition of the road has worsened since the beginning of the raining season, forcing commuters to spend several hours

for the people of OkeagbeAkoko...it is a nightmare travelling on IkareOkeagbeOmuo-Ekiti Road

on the road. On some days motorists have to spend the night on the road owing to some bad portions, which exposes them to robbery attacks.

Although government has in last two weeks begun palliative repairs on the Owo-Ikare-Akoko Road, what the road requires is total rehabilitation, since the ongoing repairs will only provide the road users temporary relief, which is not what the people need.

Worried by the deliberate neglect of these roads which link the state with Kogi State, Ekiti State and the northern part of the country by the Federal and Ondo State Governments, the traditional rulers from the four local government areas in Akokoland - Akoko SouthWest, Akoko South-East, Akoko North-East and Akoko NorthWest - have passed a vote of no confidence on the political leaders from the zone and Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State over deplorable condition of the state and federal roads in their area.

Residents of the area and

other motorists plying the road are worried that all the roads leading to and out of Akokoland, which has produced the likes of former Minister of Power and governorship aspirant, Dr. Olu Agunolye, former Defence Minister, Kayode Adetokunbo (SAN), immediate past Deputy Governor of the state, Alhaji Ali Olanusi, former Vice-Chairman of Mobil Oil Producing Company and one-time governorship aspirant, Otunba Solomon Oladunni, former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero, former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Chief Joseph Oladele Sanusi, the incumbent Deputy Governor, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo, a governorship aspirant, Senator Ajayi Borofice, other Senators and House of Representatives members representing the senatorial district in the National Assembly, speakers of the state House of Assembly, including former Speaker, Dr. Bakkita Bello, among other top politicians in the area could be in such a mess.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

22

FEATURES

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Seeking govt’s attention on failed roads

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

Speaking the minds of over 43 monarchs in the Akoko Division, the Owa-Ale of Ikare-Akoko, the Headquarters of Akoko North-East Local Government Area, Oba Samuel Adedoyin Adegbite, expressed disappointment that none of the federal and state roads in the division is motorable.

The monarch spoke during the presentation of scholarships to students of the area, sponsored by Bisi Ogunjobi Foundation (BOF) and the inauguration of the BOT Centre in Ikare-Akoko.

Adegbite, however, expressed disgust that the Federal Government did not include the roads in this year’s budget.

He said: “The government’s attitude, one could conclude, is like the area (Akoko) is not part of the country due to neglect by the state and Federal Government. It was due to the lack of Federal and state Governments presence in the four local government areas that prompted the traditional rulers in the area to meet a fortnight ago and insisted the area should produce the next governor.

“It appears that our political leaders, to some extent, are comatose and they have not been active. But there is a body that is very active, the Akoko Development Group (ADP). The leader of the group is a former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Joseph Sanusi. We shall be having a meeting where the issue of the road will be discussed extensively. We are not happy about it. We are not happy about the attitude of our political leaders as far as the issue of Akoko roads is concerned.”

Adegbite said the monarchs had raised the issue of the roads with the governorship aspirants who had sought their blessings in order to become the governor.

“The issue of the road is one of the major reasons we are insisting on producing the next governor of the state. We, the traditional rulers in the area, met a fortnight ago and we took a decision that the next governor of Ondo State must come from Akoko because nobody can look at yourself more than you do since the government has neglected the area,” the monarch added.

A motorist, Mr. Gabriel Owolowo, who came to Okeagbe-Akoko in Akoko North-West Local Government Area from Lagos for a burial ceremony, relieved his experience and vowed never to go to the state unless the road was repaired.

He said: “On reaching Akure from Lagos, the journey to Okeagbe, which ordinarily supposed to take less than two hours, eventually took me six hours owing to gridlock caused by truck and other heavy-duty vehicles which got stuck in some of the bad portions on the road.”

Owolowo, like many other drivers, said he had to make detour from Akungba-Akoko to Ise-Ekiti and from there to Ikere-Ekiti.

“The situation is so bad that the journey of two hours from Akure to Ikare-Akoko now takes about four hours resulting in time and resources wasting,” Owolowo added.

As a result of the deplorable condition of the road, motorists now ply the road with their hearts in their mouths, following the activities of men of the underworld, who capitalise on the bad portions to attack, rob

A portion of the Okeagbe-Ikare Road

Owo-Ikare Road

and kidnap road users.

For instance, during one of their escapades on the road on June 2, 2015, gunmen abducted of the Regent of Akungba-Akoko, Princess Toyin Omosowon, and with her driver and an employee of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Asala Oyewunmi and Dele Obote, while returning from Akure.

They were held for more than one week under dehumanising condition before they secured their freedom, not after they had paid ransom.

With the poor state of the road, business and commercial activities have been slowed down, as traders from the northern part of country who come to Ikare-Akoko and its neighbouring towns with their wares such as yam, pepper, tomato, among others, and buy cola nuts and other farm produce in return, no longer come to the area due to the situation of the road.

Investigation by New Telegraph revealed that prior to its utter neglect, the Owo-Ikare Road was under periodic repairs and rehabilitation, through Delkit Nigeria Limited, a construction company hired by then Dr. Olusegun Agagu’s administration to carry out repairs on the road.

This arrangement by the Ondo State government to maintain the road and ensure it was in good condition, was said to have been discontinued by the Mimiko administration, thereby resulting to the

deliberate neglect, and which led to its total collapse.

Similarly, for the people of Okeagbe-Akoko, a sprawling community and headquarters of Akoko North-West Local Government Area, it is a nightmare travelling on Ikare-Okeagbe-Omuo-Ekiti Road.

The road, like Owo-Ikare Road, also a Federal Government road, has been neglected in the past eight years, while its deplorable state has remained a source of agony to the people.

The bitter experience of the people on the less than 30-kilometre Ikare-Okeagbe-Oyin-Omuo Road, is better imagined than experienced.

The Ikare-Okeagbe-Omuo Road, which connects the area to Abuja and other parts of Ekiti State, and which is marked ‘Federal Road’ has continued to be neglected by the Federal Government and the Ondo State government.

Like the Owo-Ikare Road, the Ikare-Okeagbe-Omuo Ekiti Road, which was constructed under the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) in 1998, and which would ordinarily take between 10 and 15-minute drive, today takes more than one hour, depending on the condition of the vehicles.

Further investigation showed that the contract for rehabilitation of the road was awarded by the Federal Government in 2009 to Philko Nigeria Limited, a Kano-based firm.

But the project was stalled as a result of the failure of government to capture the contract in the budget, leading to the contractor removing the last segment of its equipment from the road in 2013.

The contractor, Walid Philko (an engineer) in a telephone call, once told the New Telegraph that non-release of funds by the Federal Government for the road project was the major problem.

“What the government wants is for the company (Philko Nigeria Limited) to fund the project, but I told them to put it in the national budget so that it could be released after. It is not only Ikare-Okeagbe-Omuo Road, other roads across the country are suffering similar fate,” he said.

More worrisome is that many sons and daughters of the community who usually travel home, especially during festivities for the development of the community, seldom go there because of the condition of the roads.

Apparently worried by the neglect and the attendant poor state of the roads, the tradition ruler of Afa, Okeagbe, the Ajana of Afa-Okeagbe, Oba Oladunjoye Fajana, blamed the Federal Government for failure to release funds for the construction of the road, which was awarded in 2009.

He said: “Despite our numerous presentations to the government, nothing has come out of it. We were advised to write to the Senate and the Federal Government, which we had already done. Yet nothing has been done to assuage the suffering of the people, who have to toil daily travelling on the potholed-ridden road, which has become a farm path.

“The situation of the road is such bad that most commercial vehicle owners plying the roads have withdrawn their vehicles, and those of them who still have their vehicles on the roads and other car owners have to go to their mechanics or panel beaters daily to fix one part or the other on their vehicles.”

According to Oba Fajana, since it became the headquarters of Akoko North-West Local Government in the 90s, Okeagbe, apart from siting of the local government secretariat, has not benefitted anything in terms of development, either from the state or Federal Government.

“At times the entire community will not have electricity supply for weeks, while the hospital operates without doctors,” he lamented.

23

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Energy Divergent views trail sales of national assets

Business

Aviation Dissecting planned concession of Nigerian airports

25 29

What's news Nigeria’s unproductive oil wells rise to 63 in one year p.24

Nigeria slips to 6th top investment destination

p.24

L-R: Global Banking & Capital Markets Sector Resident, Ernst and Young (EY), Christine Gagnon; Group Managing Director, Skye Bank Plc, Adetokunbo Abiru; Financial Services Africa Leader, EY, Andy Bates, and Executive Director, Technology & Services, Skye Bank Plc, Innocent Ike, during a courtesy visit of EY to Skye Bank, at its Head Office, Victoria Island, Lagos. PHOTO: SULEIMAN HUSAINI

Bi-Courtney: Nigeria has $200bn aviation infrastructure deficit SOLUTION Air transport needs to be fixed or dire consequences will follow

Wole Shadare

The Business Desk Ayodele Aminu

Deputy Editor (Business)

Bayo Akomolafe

Asst. Editor (Maritime)

Sunday Ojeme

Asst. Editor (Insurance)

Tony Chukwunyem

Asst. Editor (Money Market)

Dayo Ayeyemi Property Editor

Adeola Yusuf Energy Editor

Wole Shadare Aviation Editor

Chris Ugwu

Capital Market Editor

Abdulwahab Isa Finance Editor

Taiwo Hassan

N

igeria’s current infrastructure deficit is estimated to be in excess of $200 billion, Chief Executive Officer, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operator of the ultra-modern Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA2), Capt. Jari Williams, has said.

Williams, who quoted the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), spoke at a conference on privatisation/concession of Nigerian airports held in Lagos last Friday.

Consequently, he said sadly, that aviation has not been spared in the wind of controversial concessions, which he said have either failed or have been stalled by government.

He, however, threw his weight behind the planned concession of the four major airports by government.

His words: “There are no two ways to save our almost derelict

airport terminals than concession.

Seeing the way MMA2 is being managed, the immediate past Minister of Aviation had recommended that more airports be taken away from FAAN and handed over to private managers.

“It is good that the incumbent Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, accepted this recommendation without any sentiment or partisanship because it is a brilliant idea; it remains the best way out of the bad situation the country’s airport terminals are in right now.”

The Federal Government had, in the wake of infrastructure deficit in the aviation sector, contracted BiCourtney to build an airport terminal under the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis seven years ago.

Shortly after the reported N35 billion facility was built, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) allegedly placed hurdles on the path of the concessionaire, claiming that it was not sure of the duration the terminal would revert to government, claiming that the deal was skewed in favour of the terminal operator.

Williams also cited the concession between FAAN and Maevis Nigeria Limited to shore up the authority’s revenue base through the Airport Operations Management Systems (AOMS). He said this was

N35 billion Being the amount spent to build airport terminal in Lagos

a classic case of a concession gone awry, lamenting that this happened after Maevis had invested billions of naira to buy and install equipment for the job at the Lagos airport despite the fact that the authority lost in the court of law.

Also, FAAN engaged billionaire businessman/politician, Chief Harry Akande’s AIC Hotels Limited in a battle of wits over a parcel of land leased to the company to build an international hotel around the international wing of the Lagos airport under a concession agreement in 1988.

Despite a court order, officials of FAAN allegedly went physical with those of AIC just to recover the land from the company. They chased away the company’s workers from the parcel of land and seized their tools.

To him, Public Private Partnership (PPP) would permanently solve the myriads of problems confronting the four airport terminals, but noted that for this to be realistic, the ICRC must be strengthened to bark and bite.

He stated that practicable conflict resolution mechanism must be put in place to resolve any issues that may arise in the proposed concessions.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

Industry, Agric & Brands Editor

Kunle Azeez

Senior Correspondent

Chuks Onuanyin Energy

Nnamdi Amadi Reporter

Johnson Adebayo

Asst Production Editor

Rates Dashboard INFLATION RATE August 2016 ..........................17.61 % July 2016.................................17.1% June 2016 ..............................16.5%

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

EXCHANGE RATE (Parallel Market as at September 23)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N442 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N560 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N475

l Foreign Reserves – $46.82bn as at 22/9/2016

Source: CBN

EXCHANGE RATE (Interbank as at September 23)

USD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N305 Pounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N395 Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N341

24

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

BUSINESS |news

Nigeria’s unproductive oil wells rise to 63 in one year DUNK Just 2.7 billion barrels of new supply was discovered in 2015, the smallest amount since 1947

Adeola Yusuf

T

he number of unproductive oil wells in Nigeria has risen to 63 in one year, as crude discovery in the country touched the lowest ebb in a decade.

Nigeria has $200bn aviation infrastructure deficit

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23

Williams further stated that if a Nigerian, Mr. Adebayo Ogunlesi, who owns Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a private equity firm operating the London Gatwick Airport is getting the British government’s cooperation and support to operate freely, he wondered why the Nigerian government should not consider, support and cooperate with indigenous firms to handle “our airport terminals.”

Williams stressed that that GIP, which manages about $18.7 billion, led the acquisition of Gatwick Airport Limited and had a stake in Australia’s Port of Brisbane.

Nigerian firms, especially with experience in airport development and management like BiCourtney Aviation Services Limited, he said, must be considered first in the attempt to concession the four terminals.

Concessioning the aerodromes to foreign firms, he stated, will eat deep into the country’s foreign reserve and may be a big threat to the nation’s security and safety as a nation.

A former Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren said if government goes into this concession without resolving the other concessions, there will be a flurry of litigations. He maintained that air transport needed to be fixed or dire consequences would follow.

Addressing Senator Ben Murray Bruce who had spoken earlier, Demuren said: “We need to fix aviation or Ben, you will be going to Abuja with a canoe.

If we don’t others after us will move with camels,” he retorted jokingly.

Demuren said: “When government doesn’t keep agreements, they destroy the industry. Right now we have to be clear on what concessioning is and what we are concessioning, we need to clear them, we need to know.

Right now we are still building airports. The Chinese loan airports, they are still building, they have not operated and have not even determined when to transfer so what are we concessioning.”

This came as Royal Dutch Shell Plc declared that $1 trillion investments deficit has also dipped global oil discoveries to its lowest in 70 years.

Statistical Bulletin of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) seen by New Telegraph showed that dwindling number of producing wells dropped from 2,010 in 2014 to 1,947 by December 2015.

The number of active rigs in the Niger Delta, according to the bulletin, has also “dropped from 59, which it recorded in 2013, to 29. Similarly, the number of completed wells in Nigeria’s oil sector has dropped from 141 to 116,” the report stated.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell, Ben Van Beurden, said at the weekend that oil companies will need to invest about $1 trillion a year to continue to meet demand.

He sees demand rising by one million to 1.5 million barrels a day, with about five per cent of supply lost to natural declines every year.

Explorers globally in 2015 discovered only about a tenth as much oil as they have annually on average since 1960.

This year, they’ll probably find even less, spurring new fears about their ability to meet future demand.

With oil prices down by more than half since the price collapse two years ago, drillers have cut their exploration budgets to the bone. The result: Just 2.7 billion barrels of new supply was discovered in 2015, the smallest amount since 1947, according to figures from Edinburgh-based consulting firm, Wood Mackenzie Ltd. This year, drillers found just 736 million barrels of conventional crude as of the end of last month.

Also, according to Statistics of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on producing wells, Obe Oil Field has not produced a single barrel of crude oil since January last year, after the initial 7,000 bpd output it achieved a few years ago.

With reserves of approximately 15 million barrels,

interest in the Obe Field was sold in 2004, but Allied Energy still retains an option to participate in deep water development.

Also, the Ukpokiti Field, comprising five oil wells and two injector wells, namely UKP 4R, 6R, 1R and 4B, 1B, has not produced crude oil since December after recording about 34,586 barrels in November, 2015.

Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) Joint Ventures also recorded a zero barrel production from Abura, Oredo, Oziengbe, Opuma oil fields in March, even as production from Oben Amukpe Oil Field has also significantly dropped from the 435,860 it recorded in the previous month to 51,708 barrels in March.

The US Energy Information Administration estimates that global oil demand will grow from 94.8 million barrels a day this year to 105.3 million barrels in 2026. While the US shale boom could potentially make up the difference, prices locked in below $50 a barrel

have undercut any substantial growth there.

New discoveries from conventional drilling, meanwhile, are “at rock bottom,” said Nils-Henrik Bjurstroem, a senior project manager at Oslobased consultants Rystad Energy AS. “There will definitely be a strong impact on oil and gas supply, and especially oil.”

Global inventories have been buoyed by full-throttle output from Russia and OPEC, which have flooded the world with oil despite depressed prices as they defend market share. But years of under-investment will be felt as soon as 2025, Bjurstroem said. Producers will replace little more than one in 20 of the barrels consumed this year, he said.

Global spending on exploration, from seismic studies to actual drilling, has been cut to $40 billion this year from about $100 billion in 2014, said Andrew Latham, Wood Mackenzie’s vice president for global exploration. Moving ahead, spending is likely to remain at the same level through 2018, he said.

Group Head, Communications, UBA Plc, Mr Charles Aigbe; Managing Director/CEO, UBA Foundation, Ms Ijeoma Aso, flanked by some students of secondary schools, during the ceremony to flag off the 2016 edition of the Annual UBA Foundation National Essay Competition for secondary schools, in Lagos .

Nigeria slips to 6th top investment destination SINKING Analysts foresee Ethiopia surpassing Nigeria in 2017 as scores of foreign investors seek opportunities

Dayo Ayeyemi

N

igeria has given in its number five spot to Kenya as it slipped to number six in the list of top 10 investment destinations in Africa.

Nigeria had held her current position (6th) in 2011, according to the sixth edition of Rand Merchant Bank’s (RMB’s) annual report.

The latest RMB report blamed current recession for Nigeria’s slip, noting that the economy has been weighed down by a dismal economic growth outlook and weak operating environment.

Nigeria is going through its first recession in over 20 years, triggered by low oil prices. Inflation rose to an 11-year high of 17.6 per cent last August. Naira has traded at a record

low of N436 to the dollar on the parallel market since last week.

However, despite the country’s many challenges, the report said that the Nigeria, being the West African giant, is still regarded as a viable long-term investment destination, but will be forced to endure painful structural adjustments over the next few years to safeguard its prospects.

Entitled: “Where to Invest in Africa – A Guide to Corporate Investment report,”, the top 10 countries investment destinations in Africa as rated by the RMB analysts included South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast, Tanzania and Algeria Kenya came fifth in the new rating, having steadily progressed up the ranks, surpassing both Ethiopia and Tanzania. “Investors are attracted

by Kenya’s relatively diverse economy, pro-market policies and brisk growth in consumer spending,” the report said.

Commenting, RMB Africa analyst and co-author of RMB’s sixth edition of its annual re-

port, Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana, stated that governments have been gradually coming to the realisation that diversification has become necessary to foster meaningful growth, noting that transformation cannot be achieved in isolation.

He said: “Structural reforms and greater private sector participation are crucial to unlocking Africa’s potential. Our analysis of sectoral developments - specifically in the spheres of finance, infrastructure, resources and retail - strongly support this point of view.”

The analysis of Africa’s development in RMB’s latest report plots the evolution of African economies using the RMB Investment Attractiveness Index and focuses on the theme “Back to the Future.”

Some surprising investment opportunities in Africa emerge, while former investment favourites lose their allure.

“Rather than evaluating the continent at a point in time, we sought to highlight its evolution over the last decade,” RMB Africa analyst and co-author of the report ,Celeste Fauconnier,

said.

“We compare current realities to past occurrences to better understand aspects that will shape future events,” he added.

The study predicted that Ethiopia might well surpass Nigeria in 2017 as scores of foreign investors seek to benefit from the country’s young and vibrant population, low unit labour costs and thriving manufacturing sector.

“Notwithstanding the regulatory challenges in establishing operations locally, the opportunity to participate in this budding economy cannot be overlooked,” it stated.

The RMB report noted that Africa’s feverish growth has decelerated in recent years and many countries have buckled under the pressure of falling resource prices, security disruptions, fiscal imprudence and adverse weather conditions.

However, it pointed out that most investors still believe Africa offers a treasure trove of opportunities, particularly in those countries, which commit to structural reforms.

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

25

energy

Nigerians are sharply divided over plan to sell oil assets and to concession other national heritages to get the country out of recession. ADEOLA YUSUF reports

P

resident of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, was, last Tuesday, on the same page with business mogul and President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on the sale of some national assets, including the Federal Government’s shares in the lucrative Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, Joint Ventures (JVs) with international oil companies (IOCs) and other crucial oil assets.

Dangote had called for the sale and concession of assets, including the refineries and airports, among others and the utilisation of proceeds for infrastructure development.

Saraki, however, took the recommendation a step further by painting vivid pictures of assets to be sold and concessioned.

The NLNG alone has paid $65 billion in dividends, taxes and gas purchase levies to governments at all levels and its other shareholders in just 17 years. Part of these proceeds was used last year to bail out bankrupt states whose governors last Thursday supported its sale.

Saraki stressed the need to sell NLNG share and other assets in his welcome address to Senators at the resumption of plenary last Tuesday. He added that this was one of the ways to get the country out of the current recession.

“The executive must raise capital from asset sales and other sources to shore up foreign reserves. This will calm investors, discourage currency speculation and stabilise the economy,” he said.

“The measures should include part sale of NLNG Holdings; reduction of government share in upstream oil joint venture operation; government stake in financial institutions, e.g, African Finance Corporaton; and the privatisation and concessions of major/regional airports and refineries.”

Also, rising from a meeting with the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, governors of the 36 states in the country last Thursday, agreed to dispose off some national assets to raise funds for the troubled economy.

Meeting under the auspices of National Economic Council, the governors endorsed plans by the Federal Government to sell some national assets as part of efforts to address the current economic recession in the country.

Also, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi (II), advocated the sale of national assets.

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said in a

Refinery

Divergent views trail sales of national assets statement that the sale of national assets was one of the recommendations of the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma (SAN), during the Thursday meeting.

Other recommendations, he stated, included the diversification of the economy and the use of recovered loot.

The statement added that as part of measures to revive the economy, “the president’s Economic Management Team is working on plans to generate immediate larger injection of funds into the economy through assets sale, advance payment of licences renewal, infrastructural concession, use of recovered funds etc. to reduce funding gaps and implementation of fiscal stimulus/budget priorities.”

The statement also said that government wants to “fast-track procedures through legislation and implementation of Strategic Implementation Plan of the budget and engage in the meaningful diversification of the economy and cut down importation.”

The NLNG The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has paid $65 billion in dividends, taxes and gas purchase levies to its shareholders.

The firm stated that 61 per cent of the money went to the coffers of governments at different levels between 1999 and 2015. Former Managing Director of NLNG, Mr. Babs Omotowa, who said this during the presentation of the NLNG Facts and Figures 2016, maintained that $39.56 billion (N7.793 trillion) in dividends, taxes, levies and other remittances was paid to the governments at different levels in Nigeria in 17 years.

The fireworks However, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has kicked against the plan, rather he told politicians to trim down their allowances to raise the needed funds.

Falana has called on members

Nigeria had never benefitted from the sale of national assets in the past because they were undervalued and sold to unscrupulous politicians

of the Senate to trim their high allowances and curb the government spending instead of calling for the sale of national assets to address the economic recession.

In a statement last Thursday, Falana said Nigeria had never benefitted from the sale of national assets in the past because they were undervalued and sold to unscrupulous politicians.

“Indeed, by virtue of section 44 of the constitution, the nation’s natural resources shall be held in trust for the Nigerian people by the Federal Government. One would have expected the senators who swore to protect the constitution to kick against the suggestion to sell the assets of the nation to a few people.

“But for selfish considerations, a few legislators who may be queuing up to participate in the purchase of the nation’s assets are not prepared to defend the constitution,” he said.

Falana disagreed with the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi (II), who advocated the sale of national assets.

He said instead of demanding that the remaining assets of the nation be sold to the beneficiaries of intervention funds and fuel subsidy, Sanusi should assist the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) and anti-graft agencies to ensure the liquidation of over N5trillion toxic debts and the recovery of huge funds given to banks and the private sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Similarly, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, described the decision to sell off National assets by the government as a betrayal of the change that Nigerians voted for in 2015 general elections and totally irresponsible.

The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran, said, “contrary to the desire of the masses for the government to abandon the neo-liberal approach in handling the National economy, it has chosen to shove down our throats policies that have failed over and

over again globally.

“Clearly, the decision to sell-off the heritage of Nigerians is based on the dictates of the World Bank, IMF and other Brentton Wood institutions. The decision by the Federal Government, the 36 States Governors and the National Assembly to sell off the heritage of Nigeria hiding under guise of socalled ‘recession’ is prodigal, irresponsible and unacceptable!”

Adeniran asked, “what did the previous sales or concessions of National assets achieve? They only achieved more pains for the people; further decay in infrastructure, poverty and of cause, the opportunity for the irresponsible and extremely wealthy members of the ruling class and their cronies to share amongst themselves what our heroes past left to us a country.

“The reality is that the regime is hiding under the guise of ‘recession’ to actualise the ‘agreement’ it had made with the World Bank/ IMF and the G-8 countries and this is the outcome of all the junketing around the World that President Muhmmadu Buhari had done since he was sworn in and even prior to his election into office.”

He noted: “Every reason been adduced for this decision is completely warped and very unintelligent. We had challenged the President to sell some of the aircraft in the Presidential Fleet; we had called for the reduction of overseas travel, the slashing the humongous allowances and salaries of elected officials, etc. for the country to cut the cost of governance but government have remained adamant.

“We condemn and reject this decision in its entirety. We call on Nigerians to act now by resisting this attempt to erase the historical achievements of our heroes past, we must not let this happen. The regime itself should be ashamed that it has no concrete achievement that can be pointed to, yet it wants to sell-off assets that were CONTINUED ON PAGE 26

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TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

BUSINESS | Energy

Shells unveils inventions from 6 energy start-ups TEAMWORK Shell engages citizens and global celebrities to launch campaign with six young smart energy innovators

greater global collaborations to meet the world growing energy demand.

This feat, the company said, would be achieved by creating more and cleaner energy through engagement with citizens and global celebrities to launch campaign with six young smart energy innovators.

One of the six celebrities, Yemi Alade, said in a conference call from London that there are needs for global collaboration on cleaner energy.

Expressing commitment to the promotion of solution-driven entrepreneurship among her peers and followers, the artist who would featured alongside other global celebrity en-

tertainers in Brazil, expressed excitement to be invited to contribute to solving the energy challenge the world faces.

Meanwhile, Shell said that as the world is growing, now to about seven billion people, the needs for energy grow.

“We believe the answers to tomorrow’s energy challenges lie in the power of people’s in-

genuity, and that together we can make the future today,” the company said.

Technology from bright energy businesses will be showcased in Rio de Janeiro’s Santa Marta community before they are installed in communities around the world that require urgent access to cleaner energy.

Adeola Yusuf

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oyal Dutch Shell has unveiled innovations from six smart energy start-ups as energy deficit for seven billion World population worsened.

The company, in a Lagos media briefing to herald its make the future campaign event in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, maintained that its campaign is highlighting the need for

Ikeja electric: Why part of Lagos remains in darkness Adeola Yusuf

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keja Electric (IE) Plc at the weekend gave further insight into reasons some parts of Lagos including Agege and areas of Alimosho, most populated local government in the state, remained in darkness.

IE’s Head of Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue, explained in a statement that the darkness caused by the cut off of supply to the Agege 33KV feeder, was worsened by the huge impact of erosion on the Double Circuit Powerline Tower located in Shagari Estate, Alimosho Local Government.

Repair works, he said, was still on-going for the powerline whose malfunction affected other areas like Abule Egba, Tabon-Tabon, Pen Cinema, Orile, Power Line, NYSC, Arigbanla and environs.

The supply cut was to forestall any threat to safety of lives, due to the huge impact of erosion on the Double Circuit Powerline Tower located in Shagari Estate, Alimosho Local Government. The Tower is currently at risk of imminent collapse.

Ofulue explained in a statement that the company needed to take the approach on the Double Circuit Powerline Tower as safety of lives and properties is paramount in all its operations.

IE engineers, he said, are currently working to supply the affected areas through alternative power lines.

“Cutting power supply on the tower is a “safety-first” approach to ensure that no live is endangered. The base structure of the pole is quite solid as it rests on pile foundation. However, we want to appeal to residents affected by the outage to be patient as technical teams are working on back feeding their location through alternative feeders,” he said.

power plant

Divergent views trail sales of national assets CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

put in place by past leaders.”

“We are telling the dishonourable members of the National Assembly in particular that, instead of selling-off our National assets, we would prefer to get rid of the country’s Parliament! If truly, Nigeria is in serious economic crisis, it is then the right time to cut the cost of governance at all levels. Government must demonstrate that; truly the interest of the poor masses is a priority beyond personal ostentatious living of a few amidst a vast majority who are living in penury.

“We assert that all the promises the present government made have been betrayed and with bare-faced impunity. We recall clearly that the pledge made by the present government when campaigning was to revamp the refineries to boost local refining of crude oil, the sale of national was never on the plate!

“The present situation has vindicated CACOL’s position when President Buhari was hunting for Ministers. Prior to the appointment of the Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, our group had advised to Federal government against it doing so based on our assessment. ”We thus once again call for the removal of the Minister who is obviously overwhelmed with the present economic situation in the country. The whole cabinet members’ performance should be assessed and the incompetent ones should be changed without further delay. These times require the very best hands, for the pe-

riod is indeed a very challenging one, but the neo-liberal approach of voodoo economics will only keep our country in economic quagmire.”

In the same vein, human rights activist and senator representing Kaduna Central Zone, Shehu Sani, condemned calls for the sale of national assets to exit Nigeria economic recession, saying that such decision may worsen the situation of the country.

In a statement last Friday, Sani said: “The call for the sale of NLNG, NNPC and other national assets in the name of raising funds to exit recession stands unreservedly condemned.

“The proponents of such ideas are capitalists rodents, leeches and parasites working towards benefitting from the pitiable state of our economy”. According to him: “Privatisation in Nigeria has not delivered the much anticipated efficiency and services other than enrich a few fronts and their masters.

“There is currently nothing to show for the sale of Government houses and firms, the advocates of the sale of our collective national assets simply want to dispossess Nigerians and expand their business empire.

“They call themselves private sector and business men; they refused to invest in agriculture, solid minerals or science and technology, they simply want to buy off profitable public assets.”

“Privatisation in the past; where are the projects used to justify the sharing of sovereign savings? I call on Nigerians to rise up against any

attempt to rob them of their national assets.”

Looming industrial action The organised labour unions; Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), are already beating the drum of industrial action over the plan.

To the unions, the call by billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote for the sale of the nation’s shares in the NLNG and the suggestion by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki that the shares, along with other sovereign assets in the oil and aviation sectors be sold and concessioned was unacceptable.

The investments in the NLNG and joint venture oil upstream operations were, according to NLC, profitable and represent potential sources of revenue into the future.

NLC President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, in a statement in Abuja, said those pushing for the sale of the commonwealth were already angling to acquire them and queried what happened, specifically, to the proceeds from the sales of power sector.

His counterpart at the TUC, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama added that the Congress was totally against the sale and warned that such national assets “are like security assets that must not be toyed with.”

Wabba argued that it would further weaken the nation’s economic base, and called on Nigerians to resist the move.

He vowed to liaise with all progressive and nationalist forces to resist further plundering of national assets.

“The accrued dividend payments from LNLG shares provided resources for the first

bail-out to states when many states could not pay salaries under this present regime. It is on record that dividends, in excess of one billion dollars, have accrued annually to the national coffers from the gas company over the past 12 years.

“The call is more worrisome when one considers the history of sovereign assets divestiture.

Where are the proceeds from sales of the assets in the power sector for instance? With the benefit of hindsight, it is obvious that these assets were distributed to favoured individuals and surrogates of the ruling elite without any appreciable benefits to Nigerians.

“Inter-generational considerations require that we build on these existing investments by identifying other profitable endeavours to invest in.

What we need is to leverage on the stream of potential earnings from these investments in seeking to turn around the economy,” Wabba said.

Conclusion The NLNG is one of the most viable businesses in the Nigeria whose proceeds were used to bail out some state governors that were not able to pay salaries months ago.

Besides the corrupt tendencies of selling the assets to cronies at ridiculous prices, which is no guarantee that even the planned sale will take the country out of recession, any attempt to sell the viable ventures without putting a caveat of an option to buy such assets back why Nigeria is buoyant, means that the government will have nothing to fall back on if its gets into another recession in future.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

HOMES&PROPERTY

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Experts, at a public lecture marking 50 years anniversary of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), last week, renewed call for the creation of town planning authority at the local government level. DAYO AYEYEMI reports

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n order to monitor growth of cities for the purpose of achieving sustainable human settlements, practitioners under the auspices of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) have called on state governors to create institutional framework for town planning authority at the local government levels This initiative, they said, would help chairmen of the local councils, who are mayors of cities, to implement, monitor and control physical development activities in their locality.

Besides, they said it would give room for ease of administration of town planning services at the local level.

Acting President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Mr. Luka Achi, who advocated the initiative, said that such action would move planning services and activities closer to the local people in the urban areas.

Achi, while stating this during the 50th Anniversary Public Lecture of NITP in Lagos, pointed out that Nigeria’s future was centered on urban areas.

He noted that 50 per cent of Nigerians currently lived in urban areas, hence the need to plan and prepare cities for various challenges associated with urbanisation.

Represented by a former President of the institute, Dr. Bunmi Ajayi, the NITP boss also tasked the Lagos State Government to revisit the issue of Local Government Planning Authority and make it part of physical planning implementation in the state.

In the area of institutional framework on management of cities, Achi stated that most of the local government chairmen “don’t know where they belong when other mayors of cities are enumerating their achievements.”

Others’ perspective A former President, Association of Town Planners Consultants of Nigeria (ATOPCON), Mr. Moses Ogunlelye, noted that operations planning authority at the local government level would make services of town planners closer to the people, adding that citizens would have more access to planning development.

“Instead of coming from Epe or Ikorodu to Lagos State Government Secretariat in Ikeja for plan approval, information and other planning permits, citizens can be attended to at their local government areas. This will save

Makoko environment, a waterfront community in Lagos

Stakeholders mull planning authority at council level cost, save time and allow easy access to town planning services,” Ogunleye said.

Buttressing the argument of the NITP president, Ajayi, a former President of Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN), recalled that the 2004 Supreme Court Judgment had placed the responsibilities of physical planning control on state and local government authorities, urging the need for decentralisation of planning authorities to the local government for easy implementation and administration.

He, however, lauded the Lagos State Government for doing well in technical areas by initiating and the implementation of its master plan, model city plans, district plans and structural plans for orderly physical development in the state.

He urged members of the state House of Assembly to look into these plans for proper enactment.

According to him, efforts should be made to set up management body for the implementation of the state model city plans, by taking planning to the local government for job creation.

Political interference On the solution to various interference by political office holders in the implementation of physical planning laws of the state, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, who was a guest lecturer at the event, noted that the bane of the society had always been corruption.

He noted that many people failed to comply with the law.

He urged town planners not to compromise their stand, pointing out that operation of planning laws in the state rested on them.

According to him, there have been a lot of illegal developments in the state due to compromise.

He urged town planners to

The impact of town planners on national development across various sectors is very consequential

explore provisions of the Lagos State Urban and Regional Town Planning Law to checkmate these illegalities in order to put an end to the menace of building collapse.

He urged town planners not to relent in their efforts, adding that they should keep emphasising the benefits and values of orderliness and well-planned communities “as they would not only affect positively the health of citizens , but also their economic wellbeing.”

Chairman, Lagos State chapter of NITP, Mr. Anifowoshe Abiola, pointed out that absence of planning was responsible for arbitrary development of cities and towns, putting the blame on the door step of stakeholders and the government.

He posited that if Nigeria paid more attention to physical planning matters, it would have an improved economy with better opportunities for wealth creation.

He said that Lagos now had a comprehensive master plan to guide physical development across the state in the next 25 years.

Abiola, who is the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development in Lagos State, stated that the key objectives of NITP centred on advancement of public awareness of the importance of living and working environments, with the inclusion of advancement of town planning education, training, research and practice.

planners who met in Ibadan.

According to Anifowoshe, celebration of 50 years anniversary of the body was meant to take stock of efforts and contributions so far in order to further expand the frontiers of its relevance in the promotion of professionalism, delivery of services and unwavering commitments to orderly physical planning and development of human settlements.

“I make bold to say that since the formal charter, which was made possible in 1988 during Ibrahim Babagida’s regime, our members through preparation of several regional plans, master plan, district plans, structure plans and policies have helped to shape and create direction of growth and development of our cities and settlements,” he said.

Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, said that NITP had proven its relevance to the entire Nigerians in the matter of town planning towards development after 50 years of existence.

According to Obasa, the impact of town planners on national development across various sectors is very consequential.

Being the largest economy in Nigeria, he said that the state government’s target was how to make Lagos work for everyone.

“This is a task that we have committed to attaining as legislators by legislating in areas related to security, economy, infrastructure, healthcare, social welfare and good NITP’s achievements He said that NITP was nurtured governance,” he noted. and had grown through dedication Urban challenges and commitment to advancing Obasa said that the critical the principles of orderly spatial problems facing cities of the development of Nigerian developing world included settlements. deteriorating living condition, According to him, the body increasing rate of death and has contributed tremendously diseases caused by pollution to national economy, states and and poor sanitation, noting various settlement developments. that environmental and social Nigerian Institute of Town consequences of urbanisation were Planners was formed on September CONTINUED ON PAGE 28 6, 1966, by six professional town

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BUSINESS | HOMES & PROPERTY

CUTTING EDGE The group has been urged to explore geodesy and photogrammetric surveys

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

‘Surveyors should expand professional frontiers’

L-R: Chief of Staff to Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Oladimeji Sofowora; Africa Program Associate, Wilson Center, Ms Elizabeth Ramey ; Africa Programme Director, Dr Monde Muyangwa; Minister of Power, Work and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola; Africa Program Assistant, Ms Grace Chesson; and Africa Program Communications Assistant, Mr Jeremy Gaines, after the minister’s presentation on the theme, ”Leadership and the Politics of Reform in Africa: Lessons from Nigeria,” at the Wilson Center, Washington DC recently.

Stories: Dayo Ayeyemi

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and surveyors have been urged to expand the frontiers of their profession in order to remain relevant and create more job opportunities for members.

A financial expert and Ekerin Baameto of Ibadan land, Chief Yemi Soladoye, made this call at the Annual Profession Development Workshop of the Association of Private Practising Surveyors of Nigeria (APPSN) in Lagos.

He tasked surveyors to widen their scope of work on cadastral, pointing out that their roles should not end on approval of survey plan, but to also create a single process/bill up to granting of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) and governors’ consent.

Themed: ”New Nigeria: The Roles, Rights and Responsibilities of Surveyors in National Rebirth,” Soladoye noted that 80 per cent of surveyors still concentrated on cadastral, urging them to look into other areas such as geodesy and photogrammetric.

The financial and insurance expert said that it had become imperative for surveyors to begin the provision of advisory services to the government, institutions and individuals on undeveloped and abandoned properties through refinancing.

By observation, he noted that surveyors in Nigeria had mastered the profession of surveying but not the commercial and strategic roles of surveying.

“Provide price guidance and risk classification on land and the environment,” he urged.

He also enjoined them to be active by studying both federal and state governments’ annual budget and economic programmes for meaningful contribution and engagement.

Role of surveyors, he stated, should involve guides in construction and development projects, and provision of information needed for buying and selling of property.

He said: “In construction, surveyors determine the precise location of roads or buildings and proper depths for foundations and roads.

“Surveyors use the Global Positioning System (GPS), a system of satellites that locates reference points with a high degree of precision.

Surveyors interpret and verify the GPS results.”

Senior Special Assistant

World Bank to support housing in Kenya

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he World Bank is committed to supporting county governments in Kenya to work with the private sector to offer affordable housing.

World Bank Regional Director in charge of East and Southern Africa, Oumar Seydi, said in a construction

Recession: Stakeholders to brainstorm on real estate market

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s the economic recession bites harder, stakeholders in various sectors have moved to identify the areas that are impeding progress in the key areas of the Nigerian economy.

The experts, in a forum slated for next week, will also identify the new growth drivers in today’s local capacity/ resources market.

Tagged: “Real Estate Unite” with the theme, “Filling the “G.A.P.S,” the Chief Executive Officer, 3Invest Limited, Ms. Ruth Obih, said the forum would provide the new collaborative strategy breakout that will allow participants to have a oneon-one discussions on demand and supply in retail, office and affordable housing sub-sectors.

Besides, she said it would afford stakeholders an opportunity to rethink local strategies to approach real estate in a recessive economy.

Recalling what the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, said while reviewing Nigeria’s growth in January 2016, she said that emerging markets and developing economies had been confronting a new reality of lower growth, with cynical and structural forces undermining the traditional growth paradigm.

She urged Nigeria to deal with the difficulties presented by falling

to the Governor on Survey, Mr. Leke Adekoya, advised surveyors to go into politics in order to influence their services for the betterment of the profession.

President of APPSN, Olufemi Odetunmibi, described surveying as the bedrock of all meaningful development, adding that sustainable development must mandatorily have its roots in

oil prices, reduced emerging market demands and tightening global financial conditions that have led to sharply lower export earnings and government revenues.

“Some of the policy recommendations related to improving the competitiveness of the Nigerian economy were discussed. These include focusing on the critical area of infrastructure, where power, transportation and housing are especially key,” the 3invest boss said.

Obih explained, “G.A.P.S is an acronym for Government-AccessPrivate Sector-Strategy. Government: Enhancing government performance through effective leadership, education and technology.

“Access: Enabling access through regulatory reforms. Private Sector: Real estate market in a recessive economy, local solutions to finding cheaper money.

Strategy: Rethinking local strategies for financing real estate in a recessive economy.”

She stated that Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, had confirmed to speak at the forum in addition to over 25 speakers and panellists such as Managing Director of UPDC, Hakeem Ogunniran; Director of South Energyx Nigeria Limited, and Ronald Chagoury Jr; Managing Director of Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company.

report in Nairobi that tackling problem in housing in Kenya, particularly for people who earn low income, would not only require capital from donors such as the World Bank, but most importantly, partnerships between public and the private sectors.

The World Bank regional boss said that for governments experiencing financial challenges such as Kenya, private public partnerships (PPPs) were the right option for both parties to complement each other in the development of infrastructure.

He pointed out that high cost of land was making investors shy away from investment even as most of the lands were in government’s hands.

Seydi called for a solution where public land that is controlled by county governments can be made available for housing development by the private sector.

He gave assurance on the readiness of the World Bank to support both parties in this endeavour.

Esther Koimett, who represented Treasury Principal Secretary, Kamau Thugge, at the event, said that government was committed to coming up with policies and solutions to lower housing budgets.

She said the government was encouraging PPP so as to offer decent housing especially for low income earners.

Currently, she said that the government was in talks with African Development Bank (ADB) and Shelter Afrique to build 20,000 units for the disciplined forces starting November.

Koimett, however, said that housing was not the only hurdle facing the government.

She noted that other challenges such as offering water and health were critical but that the state’s coffers cannot fulfill them at once.

it.

He said: “The frequent and often collapse of various infrastructure across the length and breadth of the country is rooted in not having the foundation right.

“The nation must realise that private practicing surveyors across the nation are well educated, rooted and better informed to ensure that right foundations are laid in all aspect of our national development.”

Stakeholders mull of planning authority at local govt level CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27

quite visible.

“Conversion of environmentally fragile areas to shanty towns by indigent migrants highlights the inextricable environmental degradation,” he said.

He said it had become the responsibilities of legislators to make Lagos State peerless in all ramification, most especially for investors who would want secure environment.

Obasa stated that the state House of Assembly had recently passed the Lagos State Properties Protection law, which is meant to prohibit forceful entry and illegal occupation of landed properties in the state.

“The law provides for prohibition over entry by force, illegal occupation of property, use of land agents, illegal use of law enforcement agents, encroachment with weapons, sale of property without authority and professional misconduct, among others, by the omooniles /land grabbers with their attendant punishments as regards the particular offence,” he said.

According to him, Property Protection Law, properly known as Land Grabbing law 2016, is seen as a huge step towards a lasting solution to the activities of land grabbers, popularly known as Ajagungbale, which has become an age-long menace in the state.

He called on investors worldwide to see Lagos as a safe place and well planned to pitch tents in the area of investment.

“The is needed for rapid investment in Lagos as the state is the economic nerve centre in Nigeria,” he said.

Conclusion It is a known fact that Nigeria would have improved economy with better opportunities for wealth creation if aligned properly with good physical planning. It is, therefore left for stakeholders to move towards achieving development of sustainable human settlements in the country.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

AVIATION

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Airports in terrible shape hat Nigerian airports are in decrepit state is not in doubt. The decay stares you in the face. This also brings to the fore over N500billion allegedly spent on airports remodelling. Not a few believe that the project was a scam on many tax payers.

The decrepit facilities at most of the country’s aerodromes have negatively affected the low passenger traffic currently recorded by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

These poor facilities have also not helped in rating Nigeria highly when it comes to global airports rating.

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Minister admits rot The Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika recently expressed his frustration, saying with the right facilities at the airports, Nigeria’s yearly traffic could be as high as 50 million, adding that many airlines that would have love to come are delaying their decisions.

The appalling state of Nigerian airports could have given rise to the concessioning of four of the major airports. The airports government has listed to be concessioned are the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja, the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano and the Port-Harcourt International Airport.

Had FAAN done well with resources at its disposal by providing world class aerodromes, perhaps nobody would be talking about concession or privatisation. The truth of the matter is that FAAN is highly inefficient, corrupt and unable to develop ideas that would bring our airports at par with countries such as South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt and others.

FAAN lacks transparency A former Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Olusegun Demuren at a stakeholders’ forum last weekend, said the FAAN lack of transparency. The former DG lambasted the agency, saying that the authority operated with no good governance and transparency in all its dealings.

He noted that apart from political interference, “FAAN is what I call going there to fetch water”, euphemism for alleged massive scam.

“I have no apology for saying this. We won’t be talking about privatisation/concessioning if FAAN had been efficient,” Demuren added.

He noted that right now we have to be clear on what concessioning is and what the government is concessioning.

He added, “We need to clear them, we need to know. Right now we are still building airports.

The Chinese loan airports, they are still building, they have not operated and have not even determined when to transfer so what are we concessioning?”

“We must get the best of investors but we haven’t resolved the issues that are on ground, all

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja

Dissecting planned concession of Nigerian airports As the calls for the concession of Nigerian airports grow, experts have called on government to put it on a sound footing to avoid the mistakes of the past. They agreed that FAAN’s inefficiency makes the call more vociferous. WOLE SHADARE writes the litigation, all the conflicting agreements should be reviewed.

Now are we going to concession the Chinese terminals too? It is a naïve question but I am naïve and the government should come out with clear explanations.”

Demuren suggested that the major airports slated for concessioning work with other airports so the state governments should be engaged as they have a stake in the airport and more often than not are willing to invest to keep their airports running, “it is a thing of pride”.

Policy not yet clear However, not everybody is buying into the concession deal as some are still in the dark about what exactly the government wants to privatise.

So those who are clamouring for concession reason that as the private sector is willing to invest in airport development, the facilities should be handed over to them, rather than the government holding tight to them when it does not have the wherewithal to develop the infrastructure.

Proponents of airport concession cite the Murtala Muhammed Airport Domestic Terminal (MAA2) as a good example of the private sector driven airport facility development. The terminal was built by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) under a build, operate and transfer agreement.

The terminal was opened in 2007 and today when compared to the airport terminals being managed by FAAN, MMA2 is relatively better in terms of passenger facilitation, modern facilities and IT equipment.

Experts are of the opinion that for Nigeria to develop its airport infrastructure, it must have to privatise. They recommended different models of privatisation, which include full privatisation, joint venture and management contract.

Nigerians, who are pushing for the concession, have suggested that government should development a policy on airport concession

Infrastructure development They explained that the management contract style must be run like a private sector; electricity must be constant, landing and navigational aids must be upgraded and the fiscal environment must change, as domestic airlines must get some level of protectionism.

The Chief Executive Officer of Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, Capt. Jari Williams, who spoke at a conference on privatisation/ concession of Nigerian airports held in Lagos at the weekend, said sadly, aviation has not been spared in the wind of controversial concessions, which he said have either failed or have been stalled by the government.

He however, threw his weight behind the planned concession of the four major airports by the government.

His words: “There are no two ways to save our almost derelict airport terminals than concession. Seeing the way MMA2 is being managed, the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, had recommended that more airports be taken away from FAAN and handed over to private managers.”

Williams noted that the concession between FAAN and Maevis Nigeria Limited to shore up the authority’s revenue base

through the Airport Operations Management Systems (AOMS) was a classic case of a concession gone awry. He lamented that this was even after Maevis had invested billions of naira to buy and install equipment for the job at the Lagos airport despite the fact that the authority lost in the court of law.

Also, FAAN engaged billionaire businessman/ politician, Chief Harry Akande’s AIC Hotels Limited in a battle of wits over a parcel of land leased to the company to build an international hotel around the international wing of the Lagos airport under a concession agreement in 1988.

Despite a court order, officials of FAAN allegedly went physical with those of AIC just to recover the land from the company. They chased away the company’s workers from the parcel of land and seized their tools.

To him, Public Private Partnership (PPP) would permanently solve the myriads of problems confronting the four airport terminals, but noted that for this to be realistic, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), must be strengthened to bark and bite.

Conclusion Nigerians, who are pushing for the concession, have suggested that government should development a policy on airport concession and put in place administrative and legal frameworks that will provide the platform for transparent concession agreement that would be fair to both government and the investors.

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BUSINESS | AVIATION

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Despite recession, RwandAir records best sale from Nigeria SUCCESS The airline has done well on Kigali-Lagos route

L-R: Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren; Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Capt. Noggie Meggison and Special Guest, Sen. Ben Bruce, during the Aviation Stakeholders “Privatation/ Concession of Airports’’ held at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

Stories: Wole Shadare

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frica’s fastest growing airline, RwandAir has admitted that the Nigerian route is the highest revenue earner for the carrier.

This is coming as the carrier plans to take delivery of two A330 airplanes with one of them replacing the B737-800 it currently operates to Lagos.

The carrier’s Country Manager (Nigeria), Ibiyemi Odusi, disclosed this when the airline met with its trade partners at the Southern Sun Ikoyi Hotel, Lagos.

She stated that the success recorded by the airline in Nigeria since it started operating to Lagos in 2011 would not have been possible without the input of its trade partners. She urged them to do more for the airline to make it more successful and an airline of choice for their clients.

Her words, “This meeting was convened to say a very thank you to all of you. You have made Rwandair very proud and we are also very proud of you. We urge you to assist more. This is a case of Oliver Twist; we want more.”

Ogunsi stated that the carrier has placed orders for two A330 aircraft in October, stressing that Nigeria would be one of the countries to benefit from the airplanes acquisition.

Rwandair is a relatively small airline when compared with other larger carriers on

the continent such as Kenya Airways, South African Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.

The purchase by RwandAir is expected to increase competition for other airlines in the region including Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airline, which are also undergoing fleet expansion and modernisation.

Rwanda had last December signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uganda and South Sudan to establish a legal framework for negotiations that would see local airlines attaining fifth freedom along Juba¬Nairobi, Nairobi¬Juba routes.

By aviation terms fifth freedom means an airline has the right to carry passengers

Egypt to release trapped airlines’ $240m blocked funds

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he International Air Transport Association (IATA) is working with Egyptian authorities to find a practical solution to release foreign exchange funds claimed by international airlines operating to Egypt.

Since March 2016, airlines have been unable to repatriate the full amount due them under international conventions, as a result of restrictions imposed by the Egyptian Government. The current value of funds blocked in Egypt stands at $275 million.

Discussions between airlines, the Central Bank of Egypt and Egypt’s Civil Aviation Authority have resulted in the release of $240million for repatriation. Talks continue to establish an achievable payment schedule to settle the remaining amount.

Connectivity is critical

for Egypt.

Aviation supports over 1 million jobs and provides $13.1 billion in social and economic benefits to the country.

Venezuela owes foreign airlines operating into the country $3.780 billion, the highest of the blocked funds, followed by Nigeria, put at $591 million, Sudan, $360 million, Egypt, $291 million and Angola, $237.

In Nigeria, IATA said in June this year that the total airline funds blocked from repatriation in the country are nearing $600 million.

Repatriation issues arose in the second half of 2015 when demand for foreign currency in the country outpaced supply and the country’s banks were not able to service currency repatriations.

Nigerian authorities were engaged with the airlines and were together with the industry, seeking possible measures to make the funds available.

from one country to another and from that country to a third country.

The three countries signed the MoU to create a legal framework before they could negotiate with Kenya on an airspace agreement, which would subsequently be signed by ministers in charge of infrastructure.

Ogunsi stated that despite the economic

recession that has hit Nigeria, the airline has done well for itself on Kigali-Lagos route, noting that the carrier had concluded plans to expand its operations to Mumbai in early December 2016 to be followed by Guangzhou early 2017.

“We fly six times out of Nigeria and we are bringing this A330 because Nigeria plays a major role in our operation”, she added.

Expert seeks urgent solution to aviation problems

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viation consultant, Olumide Ohunayo, has called for urgent solutions to tackle the myriad of problems confronting the sector in Nigeria.

He urged the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to as a matter of urgency, convene a stakeholders’ conference that will draft and present a National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP), adding that the sector needs the policy to tackle common bottlenecks to propel Nigerian aviation.

The new policy, Ohunayo said should reflect liberalisation and be pro-growth, hinting that some countries have done it.

He cited India’s new NCAP that is designed to empower carriers, negotiate commercial partnerships with little or no interference from the regulator, improve facilitations by using fast travel technology systems and self handling will be allowed to boost competition with ground handlers.

His words: “Taxes on maintenance will also be reviewed downwards. These and many more can be looked into to bolster our industry.

The purported deregulation of aviation fuel should be revisited, not reversed.”

“The supply mode is regulated by the oligopolistic suppliers while our passengers still pay fuel surcharge on each ticket till date, the price is increasing and sometimes not available, paradoxically the fall in oil prices in the international market and airlines increased profititability is completely absent in our airspace, “ he added.

On the concession of choice airports, he advised that the United Kingdom’s experience of privatising worked well in a matured political society after being a regulated environment for decades.

He noted that in less developed countries like Nigeria, governments should be tilting towards building and enhancing the transport system rather than just offloading the assets.

This is to him would help to avoid a situation whereby, “We move from ugly stateowned airports to even uglier privately owned airports.

“It is noteworthy that most reputable private sector investors would not consider

buying an airport with fewer than one million passengers.

“That is why airports have often been sold as a package - good and bad, small and large, domestic and international. In achieving the objective, the government should as a first step invite reputable international airport management companies, who will often achieve what governments can no longer take care of - improvements in capacity, efficiency and safety.”

Ohunayo stated that the new airport manager in a concessioned situation should the selected by an open and transparent process backed with international referral.

He noted that the essence will be defeated if “we don’t have a management company that can key into their international contacts and tracks.”

He urged government to go through all the different options on the table, while also using the nation’s peculiar socio economic and political barometers before closing the door.

Taking only the four viable airports alone and leaving the unviable ones he said wiould create more problems for the industry.

“Where do you place the Chinese loans for those airports and conditionalities such as having an airport management company in place? Will it not conflict with the concessionaire? He asked.

He said if government has agreed to concession all the airports as recently espoused why not start with the unviable ones?

He further urged fairness and transparency from the beginning to prevent future problems, while an independent, robust and strong regulatory body he advised must come on stream to protect the public,users, investors and the airlines.

The agencies in the sector he reiterated need urgent manpower and administrative surgery, they are tilted politically to the detriment of professionalism.

He therefore called for the need to restore efficiency and reduce cost, government should not only dig into the past rot, but ensure that the books are combed to ascertain purported expenses and liabilities.

31

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Interview Private sector is key to education development –Abraham

Education

Poor road UNIZIK students send S.O.S to Obiano over poor road

33 35

CRITICISM

Members of the academia and social critics, last week, gathered at this year’s Chief Gani Fawehinmi Scholarship Awards to appraise the education sector, and blamed the current rot in the sector on neo-liberalism ideology adopted by the government Chidiebere Ejike and Ayobola Lawal

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igeria education sector is indeed in shambles and there is the urgent need for spirited efforts on the part of the people to rescue it from the shackles of the government’s neo-liberalism ideology.

This was part of the consensus of some social critics, union leaders and university eggheads, last week, at the 2016 edition of the Gani Fawehinmi Scholarship Award.

The Gani Fawehinmi Annual Scholarship Awards was instituted over a decade ago by the legal icon, ardent advocate and promoter of fundamental human rights and justice for all, the late Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi to advance the education of the Nigerian students across the federation yearly.

The theme of this year’s award lecture was: “Education in the Age of Neo-liberalism: Local and External Contexts,” which was delivered

by Dr. Sylvester Odion Akhaine, a lecturer at the Department of Political Science at the Lagos State University (LASU), Lagos.

Other social critics at the event include former President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Hassan Sunmonu; Vice President of NLC, Comrade Amaechi Asugwuni, who represented the NLC President, Ayuba Waba; and former Attorney General of Edo State, Dr. Psagie Obayuwana; Dr. Adelaja Odukoye, UNILAG ASUU Chairman, who stood in for the National President of ASUU, Prof. Abiodun Ogunyemi; Chairman ASUU UI, Dr. Deji Omole; Prof. Tunde Fatunde of LASU ASUU; Comrade Femi Aborisade; former ASUU Treasurer, Dr. Ademola Aremu; Prof. Lai Olurode and Chairman, National Conscience Party (NCP), the late Chief Gani’s party; Tando Tanko,among others.

Like the previous editions, this year’s presentation ceremony of

kayode olanrewaju Editor, education

kayode olanrewaju@ newtelegraphonline.com

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Fashina (3rd right) with other officials of the scholarship scheme and the beneficiaries at the event

Neo-liberalism, bane of nation’s education

•Stakeholders move to rescue sector •Gani lived, struggled for the people –Students the scholarship awards took place at the Nigeria Law Publication House, Ikeja, Lagos, one of the legacies of the late legal luminary, where the memories of the late legal icon continued to reverberate and linger in the minds of his admirers.

While extolling the virtues of the late Fawehinmi, the Chairman of the Organising Committee and former National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr. Oladipo Fashina, said: The late Fawehinmi “Chief Gani Fawehinmi spent most of his life struggling along with the people of Nigeria for emancipation; for a free, healthy, educated and secure society in which people pursue their economic, political, cultural, personal and family goals without subservience to any individual or groups of individuals.”

For the sake Ordinarily, the forum was supof future posed to be a mere scholarship award presentation to some 20 bengenerations, eficiaries, who are recipients of the we must reject scheme for this year, but it turned out to be a platform to deliberate and defeat on the state of Nigeria education neo-liberalism sector and how to rescue it from the shackles of capitalism ideologies.

Setting the agenda of the brainstorming session, Fashina lamented the present rot and degeneration of the education sector, brought about by palpable underfunding,

infrastructural decay and dearth of facilities, which he attributed to neo-liberalism.

According to the don, who blamed the present comatose state of the nation’s education on this ideology, lamented that Neo-liberalism in Nigeria and Africa was designed without human face and human heart.

Fashina, however, said that rather than equilibrate the distribution of resources, it has successfully, but subtly located access to the national treasury in the hands of a minority in government or coteries close to those in governance, thus jeopardising investment in infrastructure, security, education and health of Nigerians.

“This is the neo-liberal danger to the future of education in Nigeria,” he argued, saying that the “danger is real and the Nigerian people’s intervention is required urgently to avoid the same path that led to the present disaster.”

To Fashina, the privatization of education through fixing of high school fees are major weapons the agenda of neo-liberalism with the goal of completing the dominance of the logic and practice of free market in the domain of education.

While insisting that privatization of education is an essential extension of the privatization of the

economy, he expressed worry that neo-liberalism in the nation’s education sector looks at education as a business in the hands of capitalists and not a social responsibility of the government to the citizenry.

“This regrettably looks at education as a business, which sells consumer goods in order to gather profit, with “entrepreneurs” in control of the edu-business,” he noted, warning: “For the sake of future generations, we must reject and defeat neo-liberalism.”

He lamented that the country’s education is in verge of becoming something like a good on the market where the success of young Nigerians yearning for education depends much on, and only on the whims and buying ability of their parents – a fake meritocracy – in which children from economically weak classes are systematically excluded.

Based on the foregoing, Fashina hinted that the country does not need an education system that simply replicates the systemic class inequality, and class domination, but rather a liberating education system where every child will have unfettered access.

Toward this end, he said: “We Nigerians should be decided whether CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

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TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Association donates N8m equipment to YABATECH Kayode Olanrewaju

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he Rector of the nation’s oldest higher institution, the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Lagos, Dr. Margaret Kudirat Ladipo has made to clarion call to corporate organisations, industries and well-meaning individuals to support and assist the higher institutions in the country.

This, she said could be done through direct investment and

Dr. Ladipo

Sokoto establishes N500m Arabic schools Umar Abdullahi Sokoto

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okoto State Government said it has spent over N500 million on the establishment of three new Arabic Secondary Schools in each of the three Senatorial Districts of the state to boost girl-child education.

The state Executive Secretary, Arabic and Islamic Board, Ahmad Baba Altine disclosed this in in Sokoto, where he explained that the new schools are Sultan Muhammadu Tambari Arabic Secondary School, Illela; Modibbo Adama Girls’ Arabic Secondary School, Maruda and Muhammadu Moyijjo Arabic Secondary School, Dagawa According to him, the schools which had commenced admission of students took-off yesterday, Monday September 25 for the 2016/2016 academic session.

Altine said with the new schools, the state currently has 15 Arabic Secondary Schools, located across the state, with four dedicated for female students, while the schools will operate an integrated system of education encompassing both western and Islamic education.

He noted that the state has witnessed a significant increase in student enrolment from 9,000 in 2014 to over 22,000 students in this current school year, with more students being targeted.

Meanwhile, the board in collaboration with communities had upgraded 10 community Islamiyyah Schools to Junior Arabic Secondary Schools across the state.

donation of equipment to boost and enhance quality learning and teaching, as well as research in the institutions.

“Corporate organisations and industrialists across the nation should rise up to the challenges of assisting the nation’s higher institutions through direct investment and donation of equipment for enhanced learning and teaching with a view to positioning the institutions as academic excellence for quality tuition and research,” the rector pleaded.

Dr. Ladipo, who made the appeal at the commissioning of the baking equipment valued at N8 million donated to the institution by the Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN).

“As an institution, YABATECH has continued to forge ahead in improving skills development through the adoption of best practices and teaching methodologies in advanced economies. We need the support of well-meaning people at a critical time like this so that our goal to produce graduates for the global market and en-

Dr. Ladipo

trepreneurs would be fully realised,” she noted.

She lauded the association for the donation, saying the commissioning and the ninth graduation of participants of the Master Bakers’ Course run by the Department of Food Technology were sufficient signals that the equipment would generate funds for the college.

The FMAN Vice Chairman and Managing Director

of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Mr. Lanre Jaiyeola said the association, apart from donating the equipment as part of the association’s corporate social responsibility came to the realisation that “improving the capacity and efficiency of master bakers will directly improve our business.

He said: “We recognise the good work YABATECH is doing and as you continue to improve, we will do more. This is just the beginning. It is our prayer that the college continues to soar higher, so that we will be encouraged to render more assistance. However, as a national association, we plan to repeat this feat in institutions in other geo-political zones of the federation,” he said.

On his part, the Group Managing Director (GMD), Flour Mills of Nigeria, Mr. Paul Gbededo said bread has come to stay as a staple food in Nigeria because of its affordability and popularity. “It is, therefore, important for us to train the users of flour on the best practices because if not properly prepared,

L-R: President, Junior Chamber International (JCI) Victoria Island, Jide Benson with pupils from some selected schools in Lagos and Sole Administrator, IruVictoria Island LCDA, Princess Aderemi Adebowale at the JCI Victoria Island ‘Back-To-School Project flag-off in Lagos.

owards fulfilling its core mandate of promoting vocational and technical education in Lagos State and the entire country, the Lagos State Vocational and Technical Education Board (LASTVEB) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a private firm, Trantouch Limited, to offer intensive training to the students in the state’s five technical colleges in partnership with other private companies.

The development, which is aimed at equipping the students with business, technical and communication, as well as proposal writing skills, is an innovation of a former student of one of the technical colleges and currently the Chief Executive Officer of Trantouch Limited, Mr. Collins Uwadia.

At the signing of the document, the Acting Executive Secretary of LASTVEB, Mr. Laolu Oguntuyi, an engineer, said the Board was proud of the initiator of the project, adding that it is a confirmation of the impacts of

Foundation awards scholarships to Borno indigenes Mojeed Alabi

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LASTVEB, group partner to train 6,000 students in technical school T Mojeed Alabi

flour could turn to poison,” he noted.

While responding to the rector’s call for support, the GMD, who incidentally is an alumnus of YABATECH, charged the alumni association to reach out to old students of the institution for support.

He, therefore, commended the management of the college for accepting to house the equipment in the institution.

The Head, Department of Food Technology, Mr. Peter Okolie thanked the association for the donation, promising to put the equipment to judicious use.

Other members of the association at the event include the representatives of Dangote Flour Mill, Mr. Kwaku Boateng; and that of Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr. Adil Director.

the technical school products on the larger Nigerian society.

He said the initiative would also further enhance the required collaboration between educational institutions and industries particularly in the areas of curriculum development and knowledge sharing.

He said: “Vocational and technical education is a major key out of Nigeria’s economic crisis, and we are proud that our products, including the initiator of this programme have been impacting positively on the society.

They have continued to provide jobs while others are excelling in various companies. This is an addition to what we stand for and we pledge our total commitment to its implementation.”

On his part, Uwadia explained that several corporate organisations and individuals including Slot Academy and Metrosoft Limited, among others have confirmed their participation in the long-term training project tagged: “TECHSEECS.” He added that a big conference is being proposed for November where local and inter-

national young entrepreneurs will mentor the students.

Uwadia added: “After the conference, which will feature exhibition of projects by the students and various companies and awards for best performing students, there will be post-conference training of between three and six months for the final year students in all the technical colleges.

“During the training, they will learn various relevant skills such as proposal writing, communication skills, attitudinal change, innovation and technology use, among others.

All these are aimed at empowering and guiding them in their career choice and development, as these will be provided free at no cost to the students and the government.”

Meanwhile, the Founder of Rhoda Michaels Fashion Academy and supporter of the initiative, Mrs. Rhoda Agbeyo, a graduate of Biochemistry, recalled how she developed a career in fashion designing and that the academy has been training students.

s part of moves to alleviate the suffering unleashed on North Eastern part of the country by the Boko Haram insurgents, especially in the area of education, and to address these challenges, a nongovernmental organisation, the Mohammed Indimi Foundation, has awarded scholarships to nine students of Borno State origin to study at the International University of Africa, Sudan.

A statement issued by the Foundation listed the recipients to include Maina Bukar, Ibrahim Abubakar Abubakar, Muhammad Ibrahim, Ahmad Yaqub Danah, Ameen Ali Ahmad, Shadi Bashir Adam Shadi, Ahmad Hassan Goni, Usman Muhammad Umar and Yahya Ali. This annual scholarship, which commenced in 2015/2016 academic session and had already facilitated the admission of five students from the state into the university on full scholarships, covers academic and accommodation fees, as well as upkeep for all the beneficiaries.

The scholarship, the foundation noted, was awarded to students based on their financial needs in order to bridge the gap in funding in their efforts to further their education.

The scholarship is being sponsored by the Founder of the Foundation, Dr. Mohammed Indimi, who is a board member of the university.

The Sudan-based university has faculties of Education and Humanities, Sharia and Islamic Studies, Pure and Applied Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and it admits students from over 70 countries of the world.

Indimi said: “The Mohammed Indimi Foundation has a steadfast commitment to investing positively and purposefully in education of students across the country.”

interview | education

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

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Private sector is key to education development –Abraham The state of education in the country at the moment is at its lowest ebb, but what would you consider the major challenges facing the sector?

First and foremost, I wish you will join us in this journey to make Nigeria’s education great once again. To put it succinctly, I would say that the industry is decrepit and at the same time, emerging.

Decrepit when you consider the challenges, but emerging when you look at private participation and the volume of investment being made in the sector.

The challenges facing the education sector are complex and humongous. I will like to start by emphasising the challenge of dearth of infrastructure. There are also the challenges of systemic decay of values, shortage of manpower, obsolete learning methodology, unnecessary bottlenecks for new entrants, misplaced priority on the part of industry players, lack of continuity and consistency of sector policy, weak regulation and control, extinction of skill training for players and weak financial system to adequately support the sector.

Indeed, the government should increase the budget allocation to the sector to enable it attain the 26 per cent stipulated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Of course, budgetary allocation to the education sector has increased over the years, but at a decreasing rate. How do I mean? For instance, take budgetary allocation to education between 2010 till date you will see the increase. In 2010, the budget was N234 billion, and in 2011 it was N306 billion, but in 2014 and 2015 it jumped to N493 billion and N492 billion respectively. These figures seem interesting, but when you compare them to the budget size, you will be shocked to realise that we contribute less to education on a yearly basis.

In 2014, the allocation to education accounted for 10 per cent of the total budget, while in 2015 it dropped to 6.2 per cent due to the disproportionate income in budget allocated to the sector.

Going by this analysis, what in your view is the way out?

Beyond the government, there is a need for urgent intervention in the education sector by the private sector operators because government cannot do it alone. This is why we have decided as a bank to focus on the sector.

We realise that Sterling Bank’s intervention in the sector will go a long way in helping to ameliorate some of the challenges facing the sector. Over the years, youth unemployment has remained one of the daunting challenges in the country, as recent statistics show that over 25 million Nigerian youths are unemployed.

This abysmal statistic is linked to, among others, the issue of employability as even where jobs abound, the lack of competence to handle them arises. This problem can be attributed to the declining quality of education in the country.

In this interview with KAYODE OLANREWAJU, the Group Head, Education of Sterling Bank Plc., Mr. Adolphus Abraham highlights the challenges confronting the nation’s education sector and efforts of the bank to remedy the situation This necessitated the bank’s foray into education as we too suffered the lack of employable graduates.

We hope to aid the reduction of unemployment in white collar jobs and also contribute to developing businesses for Nigerians.

I would also urge that ‘capacity building’ be given adequate and conscious efforts by concerned parties, be it teachers, school administrators, owners and regulators, among others, to develop themselves, imbibe the right attitude and paradigm shift in their value system.

There is also the problem of service delivery, which I should have mentioned earlier. In this wise, stakeholders should be conscious of the manner with which they deliver service and the quality. Customers in this sphere are open to alternatives, both locally and internationally to satisfy their educational appetite. Consumers of educational facilities should also hold administrators accountable and demand for quality. These days, vibrant Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs) are springing up and getting involved and active in the manner their institutions of interest is run. What doesn’t get measured, they say doesn’t get done. So, providers of education facilities should be held accountable for their products.

Recently, the bank set up what it called ‘One Education Desk.’ Why did it venture into this business despite the enormous challenges in the system?

The involvement of Sterling Bank in the education sector is very strategic. Strategic in the sense that our position is based on the outcome of various research conducted by the bank to determine the state of education in the country and areas that require immediate intervention.

There are two sides to education, the academic side and the business side. Most often, we concentrate on the academic side at the expense of the business. Our idea is to use the business orientation to drive the quality and delivery of academics.

We have designed models to Abraham achieve

So, providers of education facilities should be held accountable for their products

this. It is not straitjacket. Every project has its own solution and this is driven by a thorough understanding of the problem or issue. Understanding the problem and adopting the appropriate solution is where we have strength as a bank.

Let me say unequivocally here that the federal and state governments are doing their best to improve the sector. But the government by its structure does not have the capacity to achieve the desired results.

In fact, don’t forget that government has a lot of other pressing issues to attend to. So, it is our intention to introduce a unique model to support the various educational institutions and the government in order to drive the quality and delivery of academics.

Based on this, what areas of support does the bank plan to offer the sector?

What Sterling Bank is bringing to the table is the combination of tactics and strategy on one hand, and finance on the other hand.

What we want to achieve for now is to make necessary impact by focusing on technology, content and personnel or participants in the sector.

It is worth noting that Sterling Bank is the first and only bank to publish two books on financial literacy for kids and teenagers. The books were distributed free to the kids nationwide during the Global Financial Literacy Week two years ago. The second edition of the books was d i s -

tributed to the children during last year’s Financial Literacy Week as well as during this year’s edition across the country.

There is a need for institutions to promote financial literacy among students which would provide the foundation to understanding the use and management of money to ensure the child’s long-term financial security, as well as equip them with the ability to make informed and effective financial judgments and decisions.

This is what we are doing at Sterling Bank. We take each group, either students or teachers and provide solutions that make their lives better.

Secondly, to help education providers manage cost and quality.

Through this we have built partnerships with technology providers for the sector. These partners are equipped to provide educational content, payment system, inventory management and security management at lower costs than the schools are currently spending.

Lastly, we have not left out the value chain. We are also determined to support publishers, bookshops, importers of educational materials, contractors, consultants to educational outfits to mention a few. What I can say convincingly is that our package for the education industry is holistic.

So far, what specifically has the bank been able to achieve in those areas listed?

Let me remind you that the “One Education Group” is still less than two years old. We have had to run a pilot to fully understand the business and the responsibility expected of us. So, in the few months of existence we can conveniently outline our achievements to include, among others, but not limited to; adopted a public school for mentoring and infrastructural upgrade.

We are going to be doing this annually. Every year, we will adopt a school. This year it was Ireti High School in Ikoyi and we have trained the teachers on financial literacy while the renovation of their Home Economics laboratory is currently ongoing.

We established the Financial Literacy Clubs in schools free, with a combined population of students in excess of 10,000 children. We are signing on more schools as from this month (September) as we also plan to build capacity of the trainers. Currently, all resources are sourced in-house.

The bank under its strategies has deployed school management system and payment gateway for free to schools. We shall deploy more as we receive applications.

The benefit of a web pay system cannot be overemphasized as they range from completeness and accountability of collections to proper documentation and quality service delivery in schools. It cost so much to deploy, but we are giving it to schools for free!

Besides, the bank sponsored CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

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TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

20 students get Gani Fawehinmi scholarships

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 1

we need and must continue with a discredited neo-liberalism, or to embark on a political path of freedom. Ultimately, the development of a truly liberating education in the country will depend largely on the people’s struggle to free Nigerians from neo-liberalism.”

He, therefore, pointed out that if Chief Gani Fawehinmi were to be alive today, like he consistently did while alive, he would approve a loud national discourse on neo-liberalism and education in Nigeria.

Thus, Fashina listed some of the principles of the late legal icon and human right crusader that must always be remembered to include: that education is a right, which must be exercised by all Nigerians with real equality of opportunity; that such right must be to a free education; that education must be available to Nigerians at all levels from primary or elementary, secondary, university and must be made compulsory at least in the primary and secondary levels.

Part of Gani’s principles is that free education is an investment which should be planned, that is, one which is of great value and which constitutes an important factor in the overall development of a nation; and that free education is capable of ensuring political stability in Nigeria and constitutes a powerful instrument for understanding and cooperating among Nigerians, among other principles.

In his paper, entitled: “Education in the Age of Neo-liberalism: Local and External Contexts,” Akhaine said there was no de-

Some of the recipients displaying their certificates and cheques

nying the point that knowledge highway (education) is the battle ground for the 21st Century.

But, despite this, the don worried that if the dominant actors of the post-industrial societies who sit on top of the ladder of the global relations of production are primed on revamping their education sector in order to retain their global leadership, there is the urgent need to emphasise the importance of education for developing countries like Nigeria.

He, however, bemoaned the level of ignorance, illiteracy, disease, caloric deficiency, dependence on subsistence agriculture and excessive underemployment of youth, deficiency in techniques or technology and staggering poverty, among other problems in the country, saying to these myriad problems, education holds the key and indeed the solution.

The don recalled the greatest challenges facing education sector in the country to underfunding, curricula distortion and

dictatorship were being sacked for teaching what they were not paid to teach, and were being paid a pittance for a take home that could not take them home,” Akhaine said, recalling that it was that bad that military personnel were appointed by Babangida regime as sole administrators to undermine higher education in the country.

To overcome neo-liberalism, the duo of Fashina and Akhaine condemned in its totality what they described as the “medicine men” from Bretton Woods institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) and their ideologies being pushed to the government as the root cause of the people’s suffering.

Akhaine hinted that the Structural Adjustment Policy (SAP) introduced by Babangida regime further depleted the recurrent expenditure from N429 million to N316 million, thereby increasing the crisis in the education sector underlined

‘There is decline in nation’s education quality’

C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 3 3

Mathematics completion organised by Caleb Group of Schools. Under this, we partnered one of our technical service providers to train over 1,000 children during the last summer break on Coding and Computer skills.

We also published over 10,000 copies of financial literacy books, which include “My Little Money and Fund books.” They were all developed in-house and distributed to schools free.

More importantly, the bank established a functional e-library in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti at the cost of about N100 million, but our joy is that the academic community appreciates it and are putting the library to optimal use. We look forward to replicating this in select tertiary institutions.

We also supported our customers in the construction of hostel accommodation for institutions on a Build, Operate and Transfer basis. This model helps to eliminate the huge interest rate burden that would have arisen should the exposure be a direct lending especially during a recession like this.

Thus, the bank supported the Internally Displayed Persons camp in Jos with various educational and financial resources, while in collaboration

what he described as authoritarian intrusion.

He traced the crisis bedeviling the sector today to between 1978 and 1993, when under the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida, tertiary institutions were “purged of thinking lecturers” who had in solidarity with the students protested against the commoditization of education in the country in the popular “Ali-Must-Go” protest of 1978.

According to him, the likes of Comrade Ola Oni, Dr. Edwin Madunagu, Professors Bade Onimode, Akin Ojo, Ade Ajayi, Mr. Ebenezer Babatope and Laoye Sandra and other progressive intellectuals across the country were purged from the Nigerian universities, while under Babangida dictatorship, lecturers were accused of violating the teaching code, and many suffered similar fate, resulting to massive braindrain in the system.

“It was a time when Nigerian academics under military

by chronic underfunding, infrastructural decay, stagnation in staff development and pervasive deterioration in the condition of service of academic staff.

On the authoritarian onslaught, he said some academics labeled extremists such as the late Prof. Festus Iyayi, Osagie Obayuwana, Prof. Itse Sagay of the University of Benin then were hounded out of the academia.

“This, for me is the first order of battle and the battlefield is education,” he added.

But, as a way forward, they insisted that “we must rescue the education sector from its present paralysis; free it from policy summersault, underfunding and the spasm of massification underlined by the illusion of choice and banking approach based on memorization and no action.

The high point of the event was the award of scholarship to no fewer than 20 indigent undergraduates from different tertiary institutions in the country and academic background, who were beneficiaries of the 2016 Gani Fawehinmi Annual Scholarship Awards.

The students, who received N100,000 each, according to the organisers, were selected from several thousands of students in various fields of studies, who applied for the yearly scheme.

One of the beneficiaries of the scholarship award, a sophomore at the Department of Statistics at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Ephraim Jeremiah, expressed delight for being one of the winners and lauded the late Gani Fawehinmi for the scheme and the family for sustaining it even after the death of the legal icon.

Abraham

with our content and hardware partners - Cenfores and Intels, we trained school owners and their teachers in Abuja, under the umbrella of NAPPS, on practicable ways of using ICT to improve the quality of education to reduce operating cost.

What package do you have for the students, their parents, the school and members of staff as school resumed for new academic session?

Since resumption of schools this month is very

important to us, we developed what we called “Back to School Pack.” This pack provides for all parties in the educational ecosystem. I will quickly say that for the schools, we have decided to finance them against their collections. This is expected to give them quick, short and simple access to financing for those that will be looking to prepare their school for the next session; deployment of Eduportal and Payment Gateway which is expected to assist them in the collection and monitoring of school fees, textbooks and other education material finance.

We have accomplished this by entering into strategic partnership with notable publishers and book vendors. The idea

is for schools to have access to the textbooks of their choice and have the option of determining how and when to pay.

The teachers are not left out.

There was training for teachers and school owners during the summer. We also have all types of financing offerings which include Training Finance meant to help them pay their fees for any training in any part of the world.

Our package for the pupils and students is not exhaustive.

During the summer, we trained over 1,000 students between the ages of eight and 15 on computer coding and robotics. This is a reward for I-CAN Save accounts opened with the bank.

For the parents, they can approach us to finance the payment of school fees of their children and wards, while for the students in higher institutions, they will be exposed to what we call ‘Career Fairs’ on resumption. It is expected to give students opportunity for internship and employment.

As we speak, we have quite a number of students across our network spending between six

months and one year of internship. They are all a product of our career fair.

What is the bank planning to do in the next two years as regards education financing in the next five years?

In the next two years, we expect to expand our footprints in the education sector with more collaboration with stakeholders in the sector from preprimary to tertiary levels and the regulatory bodies. We want to boost infrastructural support and empower the teachers and students.

Our aim is to be the partner bank for two in every three educational institutions and stakeholders you come across. This includes students, schools, teachers, administrators, regulators and funding agencies.

More specifically, as a bank, we want to take the front row in the education discourse in this country. We want to initiate, advocate and influence policies in the sector and we also want to be a reference in education finance in the country.

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Buses and students stuck in the flood at a bad portion of the road to the campus

campus

education

Minister cautions principals against illegal collection Ayobola Lawal AAUA

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UNIZIK students send S.O.S to Obiano over poor road Franklin Onwubiko UNIZIK

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ollowing the hardship and agony students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka in Anambra State go through daily due to the dilapidated and deplorable condition of the Ifite-Amansea Road that links the university’s to the town, the students have sent a Save Our Soul message to the state governor, Willie Obiano.

The road like most roads in the South East, according to the students, is in a total deplorable condition, while the raining season has further compounded the suffering of the students, their lecturers and other users of the road.

“Owing to the fact that majority of us live off campus and that most of our rented residential apartment are situated in Ifite area of the town, the importance of this road which connects the area to the university gate cannot be underestimated, the students said.

Meanwhile, they lamented that the road has been rendered impassable by the raining season as it is flooded and most of the buses conveying them to and from the campus usually break down in the flood, resulting to untold hardship the students go through before getting to school.

“This pitiable state of the road has become a recurrent decimal

as successive state governments have been insensitive to the plight of the university workers and students, as well as other motorists that ply the route,” the students lamented, saying with the condition of the road, the government claimed that it had been fixed.

While expressing worry over the poor state of the road, the students recalled that several letters and representations had been written and made to past and the incumbent governors of the state, and most recently to Governor Willie Obiano, while nothing concrete had been done to assuage the plight of the students.

According to the students, sometimes in July this year, the governor during the monthly sanitation exercise visited the university through the Ifite Road to have first-hand experience about the suffering of the students go through and promised to ameliorate their plight.

Despite that commendation given to the governor by the members of the university community and particularly the students, no work has started on the road.

Indeed, barely three weeks ago, one of the Aides to the governor, who assured the students and gave next week then to commence rehabilitation work on the road, but nothing had happened two weeks after.

Only last week, the spirit of the students were again lifted as

heavy duty construction equipment were moved to the road, and to the consternation of the students nothing concrete has been done except granite that was poured on some portion of the road, while the heavy duty tractor has since disappeared.

Piqued by the continued neglect of the road, the students have resorted to the used of social media to cry out to the government to come to their aid as their sorrow is being aggravated on daily basis, as the road is almost on the verge of being cut off by erosion.

One of the lecturers, who spoke on a condition of anonymity said: “I don’t understand why the government should continue to renege on its promises to fix the road on time after witnessing the plight of the students. The governors’ Aides took to the social media to celebrate the promise and even posted pictures of caterpillars moved to the road that work had already begun to deceive the people. That is cheap blackmail and propaganda and it is high time the government stopped playing politics with issues bothering of people’s life.”

A student, Ebuka Obueze, however, noted that the government has been insensitive to the plight of UNIZIK students given the deplorable state of the road, and the failure of the government to fulfill its promises to rehabilitate the road.”

ducation Minister, Malam Adamu Adamu, has strongly warned principals of the 104 Unity Colleges in the country to adhere strictly to the directive of the ministry on the collection of only authorised school fees from parents of students in the schools.

The Deputy Director Press in the ministry, Mr. Ben Goong, who issued the warning in a statement in Abuja, said that any principal who is found wanting in regards to this directive would not only be sacked, but would also be prosecuted.

The Minister gave the warning following media reports that some principals of Federal Government-owned schools, otherwise referred to as Unity Colleges, were collecting fees well over the amount stipulated by the ministry.

He, therefore, directed that all authorised cost items, including boarding fees must be communicated to parents in writing and copied the ministry before any payment could be demanded.

“Any principal, who does otherwise will have his or herself

UNN

A

lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Prof. Charles Omekwu has stressed the need for the country to embrace technological advancements so as to meet contemporary challenges facing the nation.

He made the call during the 113th inaugural lecture of the university, which took place at the Princess Alexandra Auditorium of the institution.

In his treatise entitled: “Cyberspace Revolution: Issues, implications and imperatives,” Ome-

kwu, who held his audience spell bound for over one hour, said cyberspace has made everything easy as its impact is being felt in all aspects of human life, cutting across cultural and geographical divides.

According to the don, the influence of Cyberspace could be seen in the world with the advent of video conferencing, e-learning, e-banking, e-marketing and e-medicine, among other salient aspects of life.

While adding that it also provides a veritable basis for academic excellence, the lecturer pointed out that Cyberspace environment provides the enabling platform for individual and institutional visibility on the global

Ezekiel Efeobhokhan UNIBEN

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he Francis Ibhawoh Foundation, a non-governmental organisation has rewarded the winners of this year’s edition of its annual essay competition for undergraduates.

The award presentation ceremony, which took place at the Protea Hotel, Benin City, was chaired by the Chairman, Governing Board of the Foundation, Dr. Victor Asibor.

While welcoming guests

The lecturer, Omekwu, being congratulated by Ogbonna shortly after the lecture.

scale.

“Those who fail to embrace the technological revolution will be relegated to the background of global insignificance,” he warned.

While welcoming guests to the lecture, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, who

to blame,” the minister warned, saying: “For the avoidance of doubt, the authorised school fees for unity colleges for the 2016/2017 academic year has been placed on the ministry’s website and any school principal who collects or has collected a penny outside the authorised fees as clearly stated must refund same to affected parents or guardians immediately.”

Adamu also advised parents whose wards are in the colleges to report any infraction on the directive to the Federal Ministry of Education for appropriate sanction.

The minister said that one of the pillars of the Ministerial Action Plan is “Education for Change,” and which would soon be launched, is to make education accessible and affordable to all Nigerians children irrespective of their parents’ socioeconomic background.

“Nigerians are to enjoy the benefits of ‘Change’ which they voted for and I will stop at nothing to deliver same in the education sector.” he noted, even as the minister said the recent harmonisation of fees in unity colleges was to ensure that parents paid averagely less as well as eliminate indiscriminate collections by the principals.

Foundation rewards winners of essay contest

Don makes case for cyberspace in Nigeria Gideon Arinze and James Ojo

35

was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics), Prof. James Chukwuemeka Ogbonna, described the theme as timely and apt, stressing that the world has become a global village where virtually every endeavour is driven by Information Communication Technology (ICT).

and the awardees to the event, Asibor highlighted the legacies of the late Francis Ibhawoh, in honour of whom the foundation was instituted and named, saying that Ibhawoh until his death gave credence to education and endeavoured to ensure that those around him acquired qualitative education no matter how costly.

He congratulated the winners of the essay contest, adding: “The late Francis Ibhawoh believed so much in education as a tool for development, and hence we are currently enjoying the legacy of a true legend.”

Announcing the winners, Gerard Ibhawoh noted that the winners were selected after they satisfied the governing board based on the criteria for the essays competition and having met such academic criteria.

The winners of year’s edition are Sunday Jatto, a 600-Level Pharmacy undergraduate; Izebe Evbogame (400-Level Dentistry student) and Malcom Emwanta, a 400-Level Medicine and Surgery, who are all from the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

In his acceptance speech, Evbogame thanked the Foundation for creating such an opportunity to reward students, who distinguished themselves in their academic activities.

36

education

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

DBBCS pioneer graduates counselled on good conduct Kayode Olanrewaju

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he pioneer graduates of the Divine Blessing Bible College and Seminary (DBBCS) of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church, AIT Road, Alagbado, Lagos, have been advised to be good ambassadors of the college and to go out and win souls for the Kingdom of God. The advice was given during the maiden graduation ceremony of the interdenominational college, which took place at the church main auditorium, where no fewer than 30 pioneer certificate students received their scrolls for the award of Certificate in Theology.

According to the Lord Rector and Chairman of the Governing Council of the college, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Odeyinka, as graduating students of the college, wherever they may be now and in future they should realise that they are the image, ambassadors and living epistles of the noble college and seminary.

While congratulating the graduating students for chosen the right path to serve God, she said: “To achieve

great success as minister of God, you need to be diligent in your daily Bible study and research, live the word of God to the letter, as well as pursue continuous self-improvement.”

The Lord Rector urged them to be loyal stewards of Jesus Christ, saying to do this they should always be active in evangelism and soul winning for Christ and focused on doing the will of the Christ.

The Grand Patron of the college and the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Chemstar Paints Industry Nigeria Limited, Mr. Remi Awode, congratulated the graduating students, saying the college was established last year to offer sound understanding of the Scripture, which is the sword of the spirit needed to work with in populating the Kingdom of God. “Excellence in academic cannot be achieved without paying for it, this you have done and today we are celebrating you after the rigorous experience and toiling,” he said, even as he challenged the graduating students to go out on rugged evangelism to save the lost souls from the hand of the devil.

Awode, therefore, lauded the teaching and non-teaching members of staff for what he described as untiring efforts in providing the knowledge and skills required in ensuring that the college rolled out its first set of graduates in line with the college’s academic excellence without hinderrance.

The high points of the ceremony was the presentation of certificates, and prizes to then best graduates in academic and character, as well as presentation of gifts to the lecturers in recognition of their efficient service delivery.

In his graduation message, the Dean of Academics, C.A.C Bible College and Seminary, Idimu, Lagos, Pastor Shallom Olayinka, who quoted Exodus 25: 31-40 and II Timothy 2:15, urged the graduating students, he described as “Eagle being released to spread the Gospel,” to keep the fire burning and the light shining brighter as light of Jesus.

He said they should uphold the truth, stressing that with their graduation, they were being commissioned as ambassadors of God to do the great assignment of preaching the truth.

L-R: Registrar, Mr. Abiodun Babalola; Mrs. Odeyinka; Mr. Awode; the Bursar, Mrs. Tayo Odetola and Dean of Academics, Mr. J. Odusola

KWASU VC tasks FG on change in education sector Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

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he Vice-Chancellor of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Prof. AbdulRasheed Na’Allah has challenged the Federal Government on the need to begin its change agenda from the education sector, starting from curriculum, infrastructural development as well as reorientation of students and teachers.

According to him, there is a need to review the primary and secondary school curricula in the country so as to create a unique opportunity that will attach pupils to their cultures and value system.

Public schools, the vicechancellor argued should be made to surpass their private counterparts since they were designed primarily to be the heart of their communities.

Na’Allah, while speaking with newsmen in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, noted

that the current curriculum was designed to separate the pupils from their cultures at the elementary stage, when they are made to learn a foreign language that will give them a different personality.

He stressed: “Education must be number priority for the government and the people. The change we are talking about must start from there and we must experience that real change in education and when that happens, things will definitely fall in place.

When America had its recession and people were begging on the streets, what the country did was to grant land allocation to the people for the establishment of schools and today America is the number one country in the world in terms of education provision and quality.

“When you have someone who has lost his cultural identity, he does not see the public at the centre of his activities; the person who steals public money is because he does not feel part of you and that is part

of what happens when you are separated from your culture.

“It is time for the government and the communities to come together in some collaborative way to tackle the infrastructure decay in the education sector across the country. A new thought must be given to education development if we fail to do this, where we would find ourselves in the next 30 years would not be palatable.”

He expressed the readiness of the university to help the country in finding the lasting solution to the current economic recession, pointing out that in the next few years, the university would have secured a solid base in identifying some national problems and proffer solutions to them.

According to N’aAllah, the university has so far empowered its students and host communities under its Centre for Entrepreneurship, which proviodes them soft loans to undertake various businesses after they have been trained by officials of the centre.

EDUPEACE

with Mahfouz A. Adedimeji (08066372516, sms only)  Dr Adedimeji is a Senior Lecturer and Director, Centre

for Peace and Strategic Studies, Unilorin

Peace Day in retrospect

L

ast Wednesday (Septem- incidence of kidnapping, cultism ber 21), the world com- and Boko Haram. memorated the 2016 InTo arrest restiveness in the ternational Day of Peace, Niger Delta, the scholar strongly otherwise known as Peace Day, supported the suggestion of forwith various activities across mer Governor Godswill Akpabio the world. A creation of the that the Federal Government United Nations General Assem- should establish a major city in bly in 1982 by Resolution 36/67, the region that will be a hub of Peace Day was first observed on commerce, industry and investSeptember 21, 1982. In 2001, the ment. He related the rise of kidGeneral Assembly adopted Reso- napping to the militancy in the lution 55/282 which formally de- region arguing that opportuniclared September 21 the annual ties that a mega city would open day for peace, devoted to “com- up will drain kidnappers of their memorating and strengthening source of recruitment.

On Boko Haram, after saying the ideals of peace both within and among nations and peoples”. the problem “came with a fury The theme for this year’s Peace in 2002, with fire in 2007 and with Day was “The Sustainable Devel- firestorm in 2007”, he suggested opment Goals: Building Blocks that multiple approaches are refor Peace”. In this respect, the quired to deal with it. He encourUnited Nations Secretary Gen- aged proper orientation of youths eral, Ban Ki-Moon, urged all: by religious bodies. He also urged “Let us all work together to help universities to conduct research all human beings achieve dignity into cultism and defeat the menand equality, to build a greener ace from our campuses. planet and make sure no one is In essence, the imperatives of today are, according to the left behind.”

In furthering the philosophy expert, are that “Nigeria needs behind Peace Day, itself being to embrace peace for itself and one of the most peaceful and its behaviour towards its neighstable universities in Nigeria, the bours; prioritise its activities in University of Ilorin, through its order to excel at a critical area Centre for Peace and Strategic that can drive the other sectors; Studies, started to mark the Day build a Federal City in the Niger last year with a public lecture Delta; find softer approaches to that sensitised diverse stakehold- the problem of Boko Haram and conduct research into and burst ers.

This year, the Centre hosted cultism.”

On his part, Professor Osisiothe Chairman of Africa Peace Research and Education Asso- ma B. C. Nwolise of the Univerciation (AFREA), the African sity of Ibadan, who was a spewing of the International Peace cial guest on the occasion, drew Research Association (IPRA), Dr attention to how traditional apOlufemi Oluniyi, to address the proaches can address some of the problems facpublic, with a special focus ing Nigeria today. on students He advocated the and stakeuse of “Strategic Security Intelliholders in Nigeria needs to peace work gence”, an office like Peace for which should embrace peace December, Nibe set up in the for itself and its geria, FoundaOffice of the Nation for Peace tional Security behaviour towards its Adviser to the Professionals (FPP) and President. While neighbours Passion for stressing the imPeace Initiaportance of security, he identified tive (PPI) at the venue of how Strategic its Conflict Management Capac- Security Intelligence could have ity Building Retreat in Ilorin. helped in identifying the exact In his lecture, “The Imperatives location of the abducted Chibok of Peace and Sustainable Develop- girls citing various examples and ment in Nigeria,” Dr Oluniyi noted how social justice would have that Britain was not a country to helped Nigeria out of the woods.

Though the International Day be reckoned with some 500 years ago. However, as a result of opting of Peace might have come and for peace and avoiding war, Brit- gone, the truth of the matter is that ain had a sustained 200 years of everyday is a peace day and Nigeharmony that ushered in indus- rians should be educated enough trial revolution and phenomenal to always give peace a chance. As development. Therefore, “if Nige- John F. Kennedy said, “Peace is ria makes the choice for peace in a daily, a weekly, a monthly pro2016, it will reap the dividends of cess, gradually changing opinsustainable development,” he said. ions, slowly eroding old barriers, Dr Oluniyi, with insights from quietly building new structures.” data on the US, Britain, Botwa- Peace is also our collective responna as well as Sweden and other sibility because “if the human Scandinavian countries, used the race wishes to have a prolonged forum to highlight four major ar- and indefinite period of material eas that threaten peace and sus- prosperity, they have only got to betainable development in Nigeria. have in a peaceful and helpful way These, according to him, are the toward one another,” as Winston Niger Delta militancy, the rising Churchill once stressed.

BUSINESS |Money Line

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

37

Speculation drives naira down to N445/$ on parallel market DEPRECIATION Forex scarcity worsens

Tony Chukwunyem

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aira continued its decline against dollar on the parallel market yesterday, dropping 1.1 per cent to a record low of N445 to the greenback, as speculators took position, traders said.

New Telegraph also gathered that apart from the activities of speculators, strong demand from parents buying dollars to pay school fees abroad was also putting pressure on the local currency, which, however, exchanged

at N305/$ and N308.37/$ on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and FMDQ platforms respectively.

Worsening dollar scarcity in the system had pushed naira down to N442 against dollar on the parallel market last weekend as liquidity issues in the interbank foreign exchange market drove importers to the unofficial market.

Forex dealers point out that the naira, which had traded against the dollar in the range of N420 – N425/$ on the parallel market for most part of early September started to fall steeply after the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held rates at the end of its meeting last Tuesday.

However, President of the

Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, attributed naira’s decline to the failure of commercial banks to comply with the CBN’s directive to sell dollars to Bureaux De Change (BDCs.) “The market is being driven by speculators who are taking advantage of the poor implementation of central bank policy requiring banks to sell dollars to bureau de change operators to ease pressure in the market,” Gwadabe told Reuters. He added that most commercial lenders are reluctant to comply with the directive.

The ABCON President said last week that the failure of banks to comply with the

Unity Bank partners group on entrepreneurship devt

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nity Bank has commended the Amazing Amazons Initiative, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) under the leadership of Mercy Makinde for initiating “Lagos and The Woman Conference.”

The Head, SME Banking of Unity Bank, Mr. Opeyemi Ojesina, who commended the NGO, said the awareness created by the conference, which was held in Lagos last weekend, will not only promote entrepreneurship development, but also build the confidence of women in their pursuit of financial independence.

Speaking on the theme: ‘The

Place of the Women Entrepreneur,’’ Ojesina acknowledged the ability of women to multi task, but enjoined them to shift from mere buying and selling to creating businesses that will enable women fulfill the longer term drive of reaching their goals.

He charged women to strive to have a clear understanding of the concepts of the businesses they engage in as a guarantee for attracting the funding support they seek from banks.

Mr. Ojesina, who noted that good business ideas are as important as finance for budding entrepreneurs, urged women

to be open to sharing creative business ideas as that could be the leverage upon, which funding support could be found.

“Believe that you can start small and shelve the idea that you must have all the money or materials to take off. Existing businesses attract funding easier than yet-to-take-off ones” Mr. Ojesina said.

He noted that the initiative tallies with Unity Bank’s focus of supporting rural economy.

This he said, was the Unity Bank’s contribution to reducing the vulnerabilities of the rural dwellers and creating opportunities that could enhance their standard of living.

Economic Indicators As at M2* CPS* INF MPR 91-day NTB Bonny Light Ext Res**

Description 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 12.50 22-JAN-2026 10.00 23-JUL-2030 12.1493 18-JUL-2034 Tenor (Days) Call 30 90 180

N19,142,526.05m N18,579,219.49m 17.61

Mar, 2015 Mar, 2015 August, 2016

14 10.77 US$47.68 US$24,722,392,742

26/07/2016 Mar 2015 26/9/2016 23/9/2016 Source: CBN

FGN Bonds

TTM

Price 104.65 114.59 111.96 120.58 109.60 100.54 83.82 97.56

1.07 3.24 3.87 5.82 7.95 9.81 14.31 18.29

NIBOR

Rate (%) 4.4583 9.1071 11.0102 12.3790

Bid Yield 10.38 10.55 11.60 11.44 12.27 12.40 12.44 12.49

Change (%) -2.50 ▼ -0.74 ▼ -0.65 ▼ -0.68 ▼

Change (%) -0.02 ▼ -0.01 ▼ 0.00 ↔ 0.00 ↔ -0.07 ▼ -0.08 ▼ -0.03 ▼ 0.02 ▲

Price 104.80 114.89 112.26 120.88 109.90 100.84 84.12 97.86

Tenor (Months)

Change (%) -0.02 ▼ -0.01 ▼ 0.00 ↔ 0.00 ↔ -0.07 ▼ -0.08 ▼ -0.03 ▼ 0.02 ▲

NITTY

Rate (%) 6.9949 7.2368 8.0819 9.2061 9.5872 10.5042

1 2 3 6 9 12

Treasury Bills

Offer Yield 10.24 10.45 11.51 11.38 12.22 12.34 12.39 12.44

Change (%) 1.12 ▲ -0.27 ▼ -0.17 ▼ -0.11 ▼ 0.03 ▲ 0.42 ▲

Money Market

Maturity Date Discount Bid Yield Change (%) Discount Offer Yield Change (%) Rate (%) 7.67 7.82 -0.51 ▼ Open-Buy-Back (OBB) 3.83 30-Jun-16 7.92 8.08 -0.51 ▼ 6-Oct-16 8.59 8.34 8.71 -0.31 ▼ Overnight (O/N) 4.33 8.99 -0.31 ▼ 16-Mar-17 9.36 10.28 -0.07 ▼ 9.11 9.98 -0.07 ▼

Spot($/N)

Bid 199.14

FX

Offer 199.24

Change (%) 0.57 ▲

NIFEX

Spot($/N)

Bid 199.0000

CBN Clearing Rates of January 7, 2016 Spot($/N)

196.00

197.00

0.00 ↔

Offer 199.1000

Change (%) -1.75 ▼ -2.08 ▼

Change (%) 0.00 ↔

CBN’s directive had led BDCs to commence discussions with the apex bank and global forex dealer, Travelex, on how the latter can take over from the commercial banks as sole supplier of forex to BDCs. Indeed, speculation last weekend that Travelex would take over that role from yesterday.

Gwadabe said that with Travelex taking over the sale of dollars to BDCs from banks, the supply of dollars in the system will significantly improve, adding that most ABCON members would be able to access forex unlike the situ-

ation when the banks were the sole supplier of forex to BDCs. He noted that Travelex had the technology to sell forex to about a 1,000 BDCs within a couple of hours, which is a major advantage.

It will be recalled that the CBN had in circular dated July 22, 2016, directed agent banks to approved International Money Transfer Organisations (IMTOs) to sell foreign currency accruing from inward money remittances to licenced BDCs. It said the move was part of efforts to ensure stability of the exchange rate of the naira.

Ecobank re-launches Foundation for Africa’s transformation

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cobank has announced the re-launch of its foundation, the Ecobank Foundation, with a new strategy and focus.

The new strategy, according to a statement, was presented in Canada, on the side-lines of the Global Fund’s Fifth Replenishment Conference, in Montreal, last week.

Health, Education, & Financial Inclusion are the three key areas of the Ecobank Foundation’s renewed vision.

Working with partners across the African continent, the Foundation has set its sights on enhancing the lives of communities across Africa.

Ecobank Group Chief Executive Officer, Ade Ayeyemi, said: “Ecobank’s founding fathers established a Pan-African bank to support Africa’s transformation. We are committed to financial inclusion to extend financial services to Africa’s low-income segments, including the unbanked. We are relaunching the Ecobank Foundation to accelerate efforts towards this transformation.”

Ecobank Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, Julie Essiam, said: “The African private sector is the continent’s engine of growth. The Foundation will leverage Ecobank’s

considerable strengths and resources as a financial institution to empower and improve the lives of Africans now and in the future.” The Ecobank Foundation aims to become the go-to partner for organisations interested in the transformation of Africa.

The Foundation has renewed its partnerships with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for a further three years. Programmes supported by the Global Fund partnership have put 9.2 million people on antiretroviral treatment for HIV, provided 15.1 million people with TB treatment and distributed 659 million mosquito nets to protect families from malaria.

Ms. Essiam said, “As we re-launch the Foundation, we renew our commitment towards our role in leading the transformation of Africa, and a prosperous Continent. Our decision to reposition the Ecobank Foundation is one that aligns us with the investments required for our vision of transformation. The transformation we are interested in, is about prosperity for our children and generations to come, and the perpetual thriving of this continent - simply put, it is Africa Thriving”!

How FinTech boosts banks

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ith the disruptive arrival of financial technology tools and platforms, banks worldwide have been besieged with gloomy forecasts. Advisory firms and analysts are feverishly crunching the numbers and warning of a tech-fuelled banking revolution – with the established players on the backfoot.

It may be true that banking is in the process of changing forever, but digital transformation has actually placed the savvier incumbents in an enviable position, one where they can leverage an asset they alone hold, say Schalk Nolte, CEO of Entersekt.

Despite the wave of negative sentiment towards the financial sector and banks in particular since 2007,

consumers have continued to trust that their money is in safe hands. For decision makers within the banking sector, now is undoubtedly a critical moment to harness this trust and build on it. As it stands, banks are under threat and are fielding valid questions around their future relevance.

If they make the most of the advantage they hold over new and unproven competitors – trust and loyalty – they will surely turn the fintech tide in their favour.

As new payment tools like Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and others emerge, consumers are increasingly attracted away from traditional banking services to app-driven, on-the-go convenience and simplicity.

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BUSINESS |Financial Market News

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

BUSINESS |Financial Market News

TUESDAY, september 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

PONZI SCHEME The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had cautioned investing public on the activities of illegal capital market operators in the country

Stories by Chris Ugwu

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housands of people, among them civil servants and vendors, have lost thousands of dollars to fraudulent online pyramid scheme, MMM Global Zimbabwe, after it collapsed recently.

Unconfirmed report from online media obtained by New Telegraph noted that the social financial network, which relied on an accelerating number of new members to pay off

Ponzi scheme: Thousands of Zimbabweans lose money the old, abruptly terminated its services last week, leaving participants stranded.

This comes as Econet’s mobile financial service platform, EcoCash, yesterday distanced itself from the pyramid scheme. Participants claimed they were using EcoCash for their transactions.

Zimbabweans and Nigerians have, in the past months been joining the online investment scheme in droves in a bid “to get rich quickly.” The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe warned people that the scheme was fraudulent and there was no legal recourse in the event they lost their money.

The central bank said MMM, which advertises its operations through a website and recruiting agents, was not

Stock market bullish on sustained bargain hunting

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rading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday opened the week on a positive territory, driven by sustained bargain hunting activities, which lifted the NSE ASI and market capitalisation by 0.06 per cent.

Specifically, the All-Share Index gained 16.09 basis points or 0.06 per cent to close at 28.263.16 index points as against 28,247.07 recorded last Friday while the market capitalisation of equities appreciated by N5 billion or 0.06 per cent to close at N9.708 trillion from N9.703 trillion.

Meanwhile, a turnover of 249.7 million shares exchanged in 3,170 deals was recorded in the day’s trading.

Banking services sub-sector of the financial services sector was the most active during the day (measured by turnover vol-

ume); with 146.4 million shares exchanged by investors in 851 deals.

Volume in the sub-sector was largely driven by activities in the shares of Fidelity Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc. Other financial institutions sub-sector boosted by the activities in the shares of FCMB Plc and United Capital Plc followed with a turnover of 31.6 million shares exchanged in 260 deals.

The number of gainers at the close of trading session was 16, while decliners closed at 23.

Flour Mills Nigeria Plc led the gainers’ table with a gain of 4.99 per cent to close at N21.04 per share, while Cadbury Nigeria Plc followed with a gain of 4.95 per cent to close at N16.53 per share. Skye Bank Plc added 4.76 per cent to close at 66 kobo per share.

a registered or regulated entity. EcoCash yesterday said: “We have noted that some of these pyramid schemes are allegedly advertising in a manner that suggests that the Ecocash facility is a medium for prospective members to deposit their money. This is not correct.

“We advise our valued customers and all stakeholders that Ecocash is a licensed mobile payment platform that enables customers to make financial transactions such as sending money, buying prepaid airtime as well as paying for goods and services within the confines of the law of Zimbabwe. EcoCash promotes safe and legal transactions but will not be held liable for any losses arising from the use of EcoCash to engage in illegal activities such as Ponzi schemes.”

The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had also cautioned investing public on the activities of illegal capital market

operators in the country.

SEC in a notice obtained by this newspaper said its attention had been drawn to the activities of an online investment scheme tagged ‘MMM Federal Republic of Nigeria (nigeria.mmm.net).

The apex market regulator said the platform has embarked on an aggressive online media campaign to lure the investing public to participate in what it called ‘mutual aid financial network’ with a monthly investment return of 30 per cent.

“The Commission hereby notifies the investing public that the operation of this investment scheme has no tangible business model hence it’s a PONZI SCHEME where returns are paid from other people’s invested sum. Also, the Commission does not register its operation.

“The general public is hereby advised to distance themselves from this online scheme. Please note that anyone that subscribe to this ille-

39

gal activity does so at his/her own risk,” SEC noted.

The scheme advertises itself as a mutual aid fund under, which recruited members contribute money to assist others and are promised investment returns of 30 per cent per month. Some of the people left counting their losses told The Herald that they received emails that the scheme had been suspended until September 15.

“All along things were moving in the right direction and we now have nowhere to claim our investments,” said Mr Tinashe Muza of Harare.

“When we started putting our funds in the scheme one could get assistance within seven days but things later changed to 14 days and when we were shut out the waiting period was 21 days. What it simply means is that the number of people in need of help has outnumbered the number of people joining. Right now we have nowhere to get our money which we invested.”

Wema Bank partners Bank of Uganda

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ema Bank Plc hosted some staff of Uganda’s Apex Bank The Bank of Uganda (BoU), on a week-long knowledge and skills sharing session on Balanced Score Card and Performance Management.

Speaking on the BoU’s decision to take a cue from Wema Bank’s Performance Management System, Mrs Agnes KamyaKijjambu, who led the delegation from Uganda, in a statement, said the Bank of Uganda decided to partner Wema Bank after an extensive research.

“While making our findings, Wema Bank was recommended to us by the Balanced Scorecard Institute, Washing-

ton. The Institute assured us that Wema Bank is one of the leaders in the Nigerian banking industry in terms of best practices in strategy and performance management,” said Kijjambu.

According to the statement, the management of Wema Bank explained that the bank’s performance management system was overhauled in 2013 with the adoption of the Balanced Scorecard methodology, in partnership with Balanced Scorecard West Africa.

“This is in line with the Bank’s Project LEAP growth strategy that seeks to propel the Bank to be a leading player within the Retail & Digital Banking landscape.

“The balanced scorecard approach has led to improved effectiveness and productivity of staff, which has helped the bank to continue its steady growth. The bank closed the second quarter with an increase of 15.2 per cent in interest income to N20.16 billion and a rise of 21.6 per cent in non-interest income to N4.11 billion. Profit before tax rose by 11 per cent to N1.3 billion when compared to the first half of last year. The bank has continued its branch modernisation and expansion growth plans by reopening its branches in Lokoja and Minna. More branches are expected to be opened before the end of 2016,” the bank noted.

40

News|south-west

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

SSANU seeks removal of FUNAAB’s VC over alleged fraud Kunle Olayeni Abeokuta

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he Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) branch has called for the setting up of a visitation panel

to investigate alleged fraud rocking the institution.

Scores of SSANU’s members, during a peaceful rally at the university, yesterday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to relieve Professor Olusola Oyewole’s appointment as the institution’s Vice Chnancellor.

Oyewole and the ProChancellor, Senator Adeseye

Aregbesola bags most Innovative Governor award

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he Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has said that being innovative is the only route towards delivering good governance and meeting the yearnings of the people.

Aregbesola said this shortly after he was presented with the Most Innovative Governor of the Year award by the organisers of the Media Nite Out Award in Ikeja, Lagos.

Aregbesola, who was represented by his Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, said it was not without reason that he told his people in Osun and others who cared to listen at the inception of his administration that he would run an unusual government.

“We knew that for us

to deliver on governance which we promised our people, we must be ready to break the rules,” Aregbesola said while delivering the acceptance speech.

The governor’s nomination, according to the citation read at the event, came through after carefully following his many innovations in the course of his tenure as governor of Osun.

“He is a thinker, ardent performer, a visionary leader, an agent of strategic change” the organizers stated in the citation.

Aregbesola said: “We consciously designed our programs and policies to be different from the norms. We were convinced that many of the existing approaches to governance had left our people in poverty, ignorance, diseases and hopelessness.”

APC Youth leaders: We won’t support Akeredolu’s candidature BabatopeOkeowo Akure

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isquiet in the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the emergence of Mr Rotimi Akeredolu SAN as the candidate of the party for Ondo State governorship election worsened yesterday as youths of the party threw their weight behind the position of the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the dispute.

The youth leaders of the party rejected the emergence of Akeredolu as the candidate describing it as fraught with irregularities and corrupt practices.

They said Tinubu was

right in his position that the governorship primary election that produced Akeredolu as candidate defiled all known democratic ethos.

The youths comprising 13 of the 18 leaders, three senatorial districts’ youth leaders and the Deputy State Youth Leader of APC, Mr. Saheed Lateef, in a communiqué rejected Akeredolu as the candidate of the party.

Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday denied an insinuation that it had traded off its choice of governorship candidate in Ondo state as a way of resolving the leadership tussle between the rival party chairmen, Ahmed Makarfi and Ali Modu Sheriff.

Ogunlewe, had been in the eye of the storm following a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), detailing cases of sleaze in the university.

The duo of Oyewole and Ogunlewe had also been quizzed by the anti-graft agency amidst counterclaims by some labour unions in the institution.

Speaking on behalf of members at the rally, the SSANU branch chairman, Comrade Rotimi Fasunwon, alleged that some members of the union had been harassed by the management following the petition written to the anti-corruption commission and the Presidency, among others.

Three members of SSANU, who signed an 18-point petition to the EFCC, were suspended indefinitely by the university management, some weeks ago.

Fasunwon said the sus-

pended members, whom he referred to as “whistle blowers,” had done a good job by exposing corruption in the university system and wondered why they should be “persecuted.”

He called on the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu to set up a visitation panel for the university and ensure immediate removal of the Vice Chancellor and the dissolution of the Governing Council, insisting that SSANU had lost confidence in the vice chancellor as his action had continued to negatively affect the smooth running of academic and administrative activities in the university.

The union chairman also urged all the agencies of government saddled with the responsibilities of fighting corruption to live up to expectation of Nigerians by aligning with the anti-corruption crusade of the Buhari-led administration.

Osun community tackles ex-council boss over new LCDA

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jabe community of old Odo Otin local government area of Osun state, yesterday accused a former council chairman, Mr. Tope Adejumo of scuttling an agreement between communities in the newly created Local Council Development Area (LCDA).

The community specifically labelled Adejumo of allegedly using his position to unilaterally alter the headquarters of the new LCDA to Oyan contrary to an agreed parcel of land located in between component communities which made up the newly established LCDA. In a statement obtained in Osogbo and signed by Hon. Segun Oyegbade, Alhaji Mustafa Olagunju and eight other leaders and chiefs, communities complained that Governor Rauf Aregbesola had

turned death ears to their grievance as none of its petitions was responded to.

Also, Ijabe on behalf of other communities said the ex-council boss had insisted on a candidate from Oyan as helmsman for the new LCDA without recourse to other towns in the new LCDA. This, it said had been perfected through delineation of new wards as the delineation exercise had ceded five wards to Oyan as against other communities.

The statement reads: “On our collective request for the delineation of wards into 10 wards, the same Tope Adejumo allegedly altered the request in transit and allocated five wards to his town (Oyan) without considering the population, landmass, communities and establishments within the council area to give them edge over all other communities.

Executive Director, MD Nursery and Primary School, Lagos State, Omolara Adedugbe (middle), with pupils of special needs, at the 30th anniversary thanksgiving of the school, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos

Recession: Ambode’s wife gives 175,000 shoes, bags to pupils Muritala Ayinla

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n a bid to assist parents in discharging their responsibilities on their children, wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode yesterday presented 175,000 shoes and school bags to pupils of primary schools in the state, describing the gesture as palliatives at the time of economic recession in the

country.

Mrs. Ambode also counselled parents and guardians against using their children and wards to solicit for alms begging or sell goods in traffic and on the streets.

Speaking at an official launch of distribution of shoes and socks to 175,000 public primary school pupils in Lagos State by her foundation, ‘Hope For

Women In Nigeria Initiative’ (HOFOWEM), she urged parents to send their children to school rather than use them to hawk in order to avoid the dangers involved.

Mrs. Ambode said: “It’s HOFOWEMS’s way of encouraging us as a society that we have the power to collectively mould our future for the better. These children are our future and

it is disheartening to know that majority of them do not wear shoes and socks to school. I have seen this happen on several occasions and it’s heartbreaking.

“Unfortunately, walking without shoes has led many children to get sick, loose their feet to bacterial infections and other lifethreatening diseases. It is essential for these children to wear shoes and socks.”

Proprietor reveals vision behind school for special children Oyo PDP image maker dies at 56

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he Executive Director of MD Nursery and Primary School, Lagos State, Omolara Adedugbe, yesterday revealed mission and vision behind a 30 yearold school which initially began with children with special needs, saying it was founded in a bid to prove that challenged children can live normal lives.

Adedugbe, who founded the school along with her husband, late Dr. Anthony

Bamidele Adedugbe 30 years ago, said the objective had been achieved though it had been very challenging.

She said the vision of the school was that of her husband, a specialist doctor for children with disabilities, who never wanted parents with special children, to keep them at home.

Adedugbe, who spoke with newsmen at the 30th

anniversary thanksgiving of the school at its Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos State complex, said some of the special needs children had grown to become prominent members of the society, with one teaching in the Special School of MD Nursery and Primary school, having obtained a National Certificate of Education.

She said: “The whole idea was to erase the stigmatisation of being a special child.

“We were the first in Lagos, but after the success we recorded, many others have also followed suit.

“We initially had challenges with parents who had regular children allowing them to mix with the special children.

“I must say the journey in 30 years has been challenging, but with lots of successes.

“One special child is now a teacher in the school here.”

Sola Adeyemo Ibadan

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he Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Oyo state branch, Honourable Kehinde Salawu, is dead. He was aged 56.

The former member, Oyo State House of Assembly, was reported dead on yesterday morning after a brief illness.

According to his twin brother, Taiwo Salawu who confirmed the death to New Telegraph in Ibadan, “Kehinde died this morning during a brief illness.”

Speaking in an emotion laden voice, Taiwo described the death of his twin brother as a personal loss, saying, “I have lost a friend, a brother, a confidant, someone who is close to my heart. Kehinde is gone.”

News|SOUTH-EAST

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Ugwuanyi earmarks N3.4 bn for rural projects in 2017 G overnor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has said that N3.4billion will be spent to upgrade rural infrastructure in the 17 local government areas next year.

Ugwuanyi said this yesterday when he hosted people of Ezeagu Local Government Area who were on a thank you visit to him in his country home in Orba.

The governor said that the 2017 financial year would be action packed in the respective councils, adding that each council had been mandated to forward its projects to the state government.

He said that the rural areas needed to be made as catalysts for development, adding that his administration would not renege on its avowed commitment to raise the living standard of the people.

“Our administration has resolved to implement projects worth between N200 million to N300 million in each of the 17 local

Rector: FG should revive education Uchenna Inya ABAKALIKI

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he Rector, St. Augustine Seminary School Ezzamgbo, Ohaukwu local government area of Ebonyi State, Rev. Fr. Donatus Ofuluozor yesterday called on federal government to go back to the drawing board to revive the nation’s education.

Ofuluozor stated this when he spoke with journalists in the school in an interaction, noting that since government took over missionary schools in 1970s, the system had been battling to survive.

“The government took over missionary schools in 1970s. When the government took over the schools, they down played spiritual training. They started to highlight academic first and education collapsed.

“Education collapsed because of negligence of spirituality. You cannot train a child morally without first training him spiritually,” he said.

He described education as a tripartite built on academics, spirituality and morality.

“Academic without morality and spiritually, the person becomes a monster; and it is spirituality that controls morality and morality controls education.

“So, when spirituality was kicked-off in the education sector, immorality followed because there was no moral backing to make the child sit down and study.”

government areas which will be captured in next year’s budget.

“We have appealed to each council area to agree and furnish us with what their most pressing needs are,” he said.

Ugwuanyi expressed satisfaction with his guests, adding that the inauguration of an economic team by the council was a giant leap that needed to be replicated by all council chairmen in the state.

The governor praised the doggedness of his deputy, Mrs. Cecelia Ezeilo, an indigene of the area who, he said, had been consistent in her support.

The governor assured his august visitors that several road projects by his administration would be completed at the required times.

Earlier, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council, Mr. Chukwudi Ezinwa, said that they were delighted that the governor appointed their people in positions of authority.

Okorocha to oil firms: Don’t relate with host communities without approval Steve Uzoechi OWERRI

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s militants surrendered their arms and the ongoing effort to demilitarize the oil producing areas in Imo State, Governor Rochas Okorocha has directed oil companies not to deal directly with host communities without government approval.

The governor, who included the directive in the terms of reference of the newly inaugurated Amnesty Committee, directed the committee, “to write to the oil companies not to deal with the communities or traditional rulers again without the approval of the State Government.”

He also nullified every existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered between

oil companies and the host communities in the Ohaji Egbema and Oguta oil bearing communities, stressing that government must be part of every MoU in the area.

Okorocha charged the Amnesty Committee to come up with programmes and ideas that would ensure the sustenance of the peace recently restored in the oil producing areas of Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta.

Stating that the committee should define the role of oil companies in the development of their host communities, Okorocha directed that all the issues raised by the repented militants should be taken seriously as there were clear indications that the oil companies had played some key roles in igniting the crisis in

communities to feather their interest.

While also directing that no fewer than 1000 indigenes of the oil producing areas should be engaged in the Imo State civil service, the governor urged the committee

G

overnor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State yesterday donated 12, 480 writing desks and chairs for primary school pupils in the state and 868 tables and chairs for teachers, to improve the standard of learning.

Donating the furniture to the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB), Gov. Ugwuanyi, who was represented by his Deputy, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo, said that the initiative was part of the infrastructural reforms being undertaken by his

administration to ensure that pupils and teachers in the state primary school system studied under very conducive classroom environment.

Governor Ugwuanyi remarked that education remained a top priority in his reform agenda, given the fact that it is the pivot on which the other arms of development revolve.

He noted that he was moved to procure the items after his visits to public schools at the beginning of his administration to ascertain the situation of infrastructure.

He added that his administration made strong commitments in its four-point agenda to, “deploy government services to create fair opportunity for every willing citizen to make a living and create wealth, educate our children and enjoy life in a peaceful and secure environment.”

$600m

The net worth of Shahrukh Khan in 2016.

Source: Fropky.com

2.65%

The percentage of individuals using the internet in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2002.

Source: Itu.int

Enugu Assembly backs competence test for school principals

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to initiate health missions to the embattled areas.

The Amnesty committee headed by the Imo First Lady, Mrs. Nkechi Okorocha has three months to submit its report.

Enugu schools get desks, chairs

Enugu State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo (middle); Chairman, ENSUBEB, Chief Ikeje Asogwa (left); Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uchenna Eze (right), and others, during the unveiling and handing over of desks and chairs procured by the state government for primary schools in the state… yesterday.

nugu State House of Assembly has given its support for competence examination for principals of secondary schools in the state organised by the Post Primary School Management Board (PPSMB).

Mr. Mathew Ugwueze, the Chairman of the House Committee on Education, made this known yesterday in Enugu while speaking on a petition by some school principals challenging the examination.

Ugwueze, while addressing some of the principals, warned that legislators would not tolerate frivolous petitions that could truncate the resolve to move the state`s education sector out of precarious situation.

He said that the petition, which challenged

41

the PPSMB authority to summon public school principals for such test, was in bad taste “and a call to the dark days”.

“As far as I am concerned, that petition holds no water and you should not send such to me again because I will not attend to it.

“We are all in one direction to achieve a better and sound education for our children. I want to tell us that education without tests and promotion makes no meaning,” Ugwueze said.

The lawmaker described as unfortunate, that some stakeholders who were products of public schools had not shown enough empathy with the state government in revamping the sector.

He, however, com-

mended the state government for the achievements it had recorded in the education sector, for ensuring that public schools came back to limelight.

Ugwueze tasked the principals to, as products of public schools, reflect on their days in school to determine if the prevailing situations in the sector were encouraging.

“I am telling you as one who is a product of a public school and from a very primitive village that is just experiencing the presence of a secondary school for the first time of its existence.

“The very first secondary school in my village just got underway and the principal only resumed on September 21, while the teachers may have just started to arrive.

Ebonyi empowers 3,000 women, youths with N250,000 each Uchenna Inya ABAKALIKI

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bonyi State government yesterday said it will empower 3,000 women and youths of the state with N250,000 each.

The state Commissioner for Economic Empowerment and Job Creation, Chief Donatus Njoku, disclosed this in Abakaliki.

He said the measure was to reduce poverty in the state, adding that it was one of the cardinal policies of the government.

Njoku debunked the insinuations in some quarters that a minor cabinet reshuffle in the state which moved him from Ministry of Solid Minerals to Economic Empowerment and Job Creation was aimed at delaying the empowerment programme.

“Our amiable governor, Engr. David Nwaeze Umahi

is a visionary leader. He believes that as commissioner and member of the state executive council you are expected to be part and parcel of the administration of this state. So that any place you find yourself at any point in time you will be able to fit in. Even as a Solid Mineral Commissioner I was seriously conversant with the empowerment policy of this government which this ministry oversees.

“I must assure Ebonyians that this government is determined to end hunger and hardship in the state, and this empowerment is part of the series of strategies being adopted by the state government to that effect.

“We are giving out 250,000 naira each to about 3000 Ebonyians soon to help them start a business of their choice and be useful to themselves and the state,” he said.

42 News|south-South

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Dickson to opposition: Sheathe your swords for Bayelsa’s development

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ayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, yesterday called on the opposition in the state to bury their differences and sheath their swords in the interest of the state.

He said doing so will enhance the development of the state with a view to ensuring that peace reigns for the common good.

Governor Seriake Dickson, who made the call during an interdenominational thanksgiving service in commemoration of the 56th independence

Chris Ejim Yenagoa

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lood at the weekend ravaged OtuokeOnuebum road in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa. The road was totally submerged and vehicles had to pass through Elebele, which was a longer distance, causing a 100 per cent increment in fares.

A resident of the area, Mr. Amos Agah, said in Otuoke that passengers paid N800 as against of N400 from Otuoke to Onuebum.

Agah, a staff of the Federal University, Otuoke

celebration and 20th anniversary of the creation of Bayelsa State, said although the state was yet to fully ‘realise the yearnings and aspirations of its founding fathers,’ more would be achieved if the people pool their resources together for the development of the state.

The governor, who was represented by his deputy, John Jonah, challenged the people to develop themselves intellectually and through other legitimate means, especially through agriculture, to remain

relevant in the nation’s scheme of things rather than depend on government for all their needs.

Accordingtothegovernor, the government would do everything within its reach to drive the infrastructural and human capital development of the state through formulation and implementation of appropriate policies and programmes notwithstanding the challenge of dwindling resources.

Going down memory lane, Governor Dickson commended the country’s armed forces for all their

sacrifices in defending the territorial integrity and unity of the nation and urged Nigerians to keep hope alive in the face of the biting economic recession.

He also appreciated the efforts of security agencies towards the maintenance of peace, law and order in the state and expressed his administration’s determination to give necessary support to ensure the safety of lives and property.

Delivering a sermon entitled “Self-Industrialisation from a Religious Perspective, Pastor Samu-

el John-Peters admonished the people to harness their innate potentials by working hard, stressing that God had blessed every human being with what is required to live a fulfilled life without depending completely on others.

John-Peters, Special Adviser to the Governor on Religious Matters, who copiously quoted the scriptures, including Ecclesiastes 9 verse 10 and Proverbs 12 verse 24, decried laziness, emphasising that those

(FUO), appealed to the Bayelsa State government to come to the aid of the community for the sake of the university.

“This was how it happened in October 2012, when the whole community was submerged and up till now, there was no preventive measure put in place to stop a recurrence.

“We are expecting the government to come up with necessary measures to guard against future occurrence, but it is a matter of regret that such measures are not in place.

“The students of FUO will resume school soon, they are going to find things difficult if urgent action is not taken to mitigate the effect of the flood.

“I am calling on all relevant authorities to look into the matter because we cannot cope with it again this year.”

Mrs. Maureen Abute, a passenger, blamed the state

government for not properly utilising Flood Intervention Fund that was given to the state in 2012 to fight against flooding.

She said the people had been suffering and that they could not do anything because government was not ready to live up to its responsibility of preventing flood and rehabilitating the road.

Cajetan Mmuta

The total pay from endorsements of Neymar (Soccer) for 2016.

Source: Forbes.com

The total population of Australia and New Zealand in 2012.

Source: Un.org

Flood ravages Bayelsa community

$23m

27.5m

Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, with Facilitator, Mr. Richard Hill, during a training programme on “Oil Spill Response and Preparedness Training on the Job” by the European Union (EU) in Lagos.

unity of Nigeria Delta FRSC: 1.3m people die in Emmanuel: Pray for peace, peace being enjoyed in the Tony Anichebe country as other countries auto crashes Uyo had been plunged into criKumven said: “I hereby OlaJames Warri

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elta State Sector Commander of the Federal Roads Safety Corps, Commander Rindom Kumven, yesterday said no fewer than 1.3 million people die in auto crashes yearly.

Kumven, who disclosed this during the induction training held for new special marshals in Warri, also revealed that about 50 million others sustain injuries yearly.

Quoting the figures from the United Nations record, the sector commander, who blamed the crashes on over speeding, said the corps had introduced a device that would check excessive speed by motorists in the ‘Ember’ months.

urge motorists, especially commercial vehicles, to install the speed limit device in their vehicles as FRSC will begin a subtle enforcement across the country from October 1, 2016.”

He advised the newly inducted special marshals to be committed to their duty of saving lives and shun all forms of corrupt practices.

Similarly, the state coordinator of the special marshals and partnership, Mr. Dickson Amromawhe, urged the inductees to carry out their jobs with diligence and integrity.

“Special Marshals will collaborate with the Regular Marshals in ensuring that the ‘Ember’ months are accident-free.”

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kwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, has called on Christians in the country to see themselves as vanguards of change and pray for the peace, unity and recovery of the country from its current economic recession.

Governor Emmanuel stated this during an interdenominational thanksgiving service to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the creation of Akwa Ibom State and the 56th independence anniversary of the country held at St. Anne’s Catholic Cathedral, Ifuho in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state.

He called on Nigerians to be thankful to God for the

sis while he also blamed the economic travails of the country on poor planning by successive administrations, maintaining that leaders were appointed by God for a purpose.

The governor paid tribute to the patriarchs who fought for the creation of the state as well as the country’s independence and expressed appreciation to God for standing by the country in the past.

He also thanked the church for their support and sued for more prayers for the leaders to enable them provide quality leadership by evolving sustainable economic programmes that would launch the country into an economic haven.

who were slothful and depended on others would only attract poverty and misery to their families.

He also took a swipe at some clergymen who had taken advantage of the ignorance of some people by making false prophetic declarations of divine prosperity over their lives for pecuniary benefits instead of encouraging them to work hard, stressing that God Himself was aversed to indolence and lack of diligence.

Benin chief challenges Osemwingie over Ogiamen title BENIN

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op palace chiefs in Benin Kingdom, Edo State, have challenged Arisco Osemwingie to desist from parading himself as the representative of the Ogiamen family and to also produce the missing Mr. Osarobo Ogiamen, the heir apparent to the family title.

Chief Osamede Adun, the Aiyobahan of the kingdom, who made the call in an interview with newsmen during his visit to the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Council, blasted Osemwingie for laying claim to the Ogiemen title, a position that was not bestowed on him by the Oba of Benin.

Osemwingie had dragged the royal institution to court over the forthcoming coronation of the new Oba of Benin on October 20, a development that had received condemna-

tion of stakeholders in the kingdom, including top chiefs of the kingdom.

But Adun, who spoke on behalf of the chiefs, urged security agencies in the state to urgently asked Osemwingie to produce the missing Ogiamen without further delay.

He said: “Arisco Osemwingie is not a member of the Ogiamen family. I want Osemwingie to explain the whereabouts of Osarobo Ogiamen before thinking of assuming the Ogiamen title.

Mind you, the Ogiamen title is not the throne. Only the Oba of Benin can enthrone anybody.

“I still repeat, if he wants to go to court, let him go. I am already in court with them. Ogiamen is a slave to the Oba of Benin.

“Since 19AD, nothing like this has happened in Benin. We want to see the court where he will file the paper to restrain the Oba of Benin’s coronation.”

Amnesty: Fund diversion allegation against Boroh untrue Chris ejim Yenagoa

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t least 50 graduates sponsored by the Presidential Amnesty Programme for underwater diving, welding and diving at the CDA Technical Institute in St. Kitts and Nevis, West Indies, yesterday dispelled allegations of fraud and illegal fund diversion against the Coordinator of the programme and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Brigadier-General Paul Boroh (rtd).

He said the allegation that the coordinator had deceared people and allegedly amassing wealth from the programme to the detriment of the region was not true.

According to them, though there was a delay in the procurement of visas by the Amnesty Vendor and the Federal Government from the French Transits Visas through the French Embassy in St. Lucia, the Amnesty Office led by Paul

Boroh never abandoned us and we are on our way home after the completion of our programme.

The Amnesty beneficiaries, who spoke yesterday with newsmen in Yenagoa online from St. Kitts and Nevis, said though a few disgruntled students engaged a counsel identified simply as Barrister Kelechi, it was not meant to discredit the Amnesty Office or cast aspersions on the Federal Government. What happened was that someone called us from Nigeria to ask how we were doing and if we have concluded our training, we told him, yes, that we’ve completed our training and awaiting French transit visas to return home.

“He asked if we have seen the publication in a national newspaper, in which Boroh was quoted as saying that we were 70 in number to St. Kitts and has since returned home, we said no, he said he was going to send us a scanned copy, which he later did.”

News|north

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

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Minister flags-off youth, women programme in Kebbi Abubakar Abdul Birnin Kebbi

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he Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu yesterday flagged-off the acquisition training programme for 500 youths and women in Kebbi State.

The flag-off ceremony, which took place at the Technology Incubation Centre, Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, with aimed of reducing the unemployment among youths and women in the state and Nigeria at large.

The programme, which is being facilitated in collaboration with Kebbi State Government was said to have trained and graduated over a thousand youths and women on different vocations and entrepreneurial skills across the state.

The Minister, while flagging-off the programme,

said expressed confidence that the collaborative effort would go a long way in strengthening the science, technology and innovation as important instruments for the nation’s quest to diversify its economy and reduce poverty in the country.

“As we can all see this programme is aimed at tackling illiteracy, creating job and ensuring self-sufficiency in food production,” the minister added, even as he commended the state government for its efforts towards the success of the programme.

In his remarks, the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer of the National Board for Technology Incubation, Dr. Mohammed Jibrin, an engineer, listed at least 15 relevant skills being focused in acquisition training, adding that the 500 participants were drawn from the 21 Local Government Areas of the state.

UNICEF: Six of 10 children suffer sexual violence annually Musa Pam Jos

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he United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has disclosed that approximately six of every 10 children in the country experience some forms of physical, emotional or sexual violence yearly before reaching the age of 18 years.

UNICEF communication Officer, Media and External Relations, Mr. Samuel Kaalu painted this gloomy picture yesterday at a one-day media orientation for journalists in Jos, the state capital.

New Telegraph gathered that it was against this background, that UNICEF and the state Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, organised the one-day media orientation parley on “Violence Against Children” in order to cam-

paign to end the menace.

He said: “One in two children experience physical violence; one in four girls and one in 10 boys experience sexual violence; and one in six girls and one in five boys experience emotional violence.

“Indeed, Plateau State is the fourth state in the country to respond to the call by President Muhammadu Buhari during the launch of the National Action to End Violence Against Children that every state in the federation should initiate its own campaign.”

Kaalu, who noted that President Buhari launched the National Action to End Violence Against Children on September 15, explained that in response to that call, the campaign will be launched in Jos by Governor Simon Lalong on September 29.

$72.59m $32.98m

The capital importation of the Production sector of Nigeria in Q3 2013.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

The capital importation of the Production sector of Nigeria in Q4 2013.

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

L-R: Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Eric Mayaraz; Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai; Adamawa State Governor, Muhammadu Bindow; former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and Vice Chancellor, Modibbo Adamawa University of Technology (MAutech) Yola, Prof. Kyari Mohammed at the opening ceremony of the regional conference on peace building and reconstruction in Chad Basin, organised by Mautech in Collaboration with the Nigerian Army in Yola …yesterday. PHOTO: NAN

We need N30bn to rebuild Bama – Borno govt

Ahmed Miringa MAIDUGURI

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orno State Government would require over N30 billion to complete the ongoing rebuilding and reconstruction of residential houses and public structures in Bama in Bama Local Government Area, which is most hit by Boko Haram insurgency in the state, it has been gathered.

The state Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Dr. Babagana Umara Zulum disclosed this yesterday in Bama while addressing newsmen after inspect-

Jos

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he Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong yesterday described the defection of former governor of the state, Senator Joshua Dariye from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) as a good development to APC. This was as he said the

former governor’s decision would cause a devastating big blow to PDP’s already shattered dream of seeking to return to the Government House at Little Rayfield in 2019.

Lalong in a statement signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Mark Longyen and made available to New Telegraph in Jos, the state capital, described Senator Dariye as a respected political figure

government due to paucity of funds facing the state. I want to assure the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the camps in the town, that with commitment and support the Ministry of RRR is receiving from Governor Shettima and the security forces, we will complete some substantial parts of the destroyed structures for the people to return home as quickly as possible.

“We have about 10 public schools including primary and secondary schools that were completely destroyed in Bama, but I am happy to inform you that the Federal Government under the Victims Support Fund

(VSF) chaired by General Theophilus Danjuma (rtd) has promised to intervene and rebuild all these schools for the comfort of our children’s education.

“The VSF team was here in Bama sometimes ago to assess the affected schools, and very soon, these schools will be put into good shape.”

He, however, called on meaningful individuals and corporate organisations to come to the aid of state government, saying the entire 20 Local Government Areas of the state had really suffered devastation and attacks during the hit of the Boko Haram crisis.

Niger blames MDGs’ failure on dearth of data Dan Atori MINNA

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he Niger State Government has said that the major reason why the effects of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were not felt by Nigerians was due to the unavailability of baseline data.

The government, which spoke yesterday through Commissioner for Planning, Alhaji Mohammed Nda, however, insisted that no progress would be measured in the absence of baseline data.

Nda, while declaring

Dariye’s defection, big blow to PDP, says Lalong Musa Pam

ing ongoing reconstruction work with Governor Kashim Shettima, who had since last week relocated the government seat temporarily to Bama to fast-track and supervise the reconstruction projects.

Zulum said more than N30 billion was needed to fix the over 10,000 houses, hostels, classroom blocks, lecture theatres and staff quarters at the Umar IbnIbrahim College of Education, Science and Technology (UICEST) and other public buildings destroyed by the insurgents during their occupation of Bama.

He said: “Rebuilding of Bama is beyond the state

in the state, with a wide range of followership.

The statement read in part: “As a matter of fact, Dariye’s wise decision will trigger a seamless floodgate of his teeming supporters all over the state moving over to APC with him. The man is the most astute politician in the state with grassroots appeal who knows his onions with burgeoning supporters that can go the whole hug with him.”

open a training workshop on “Bench Marking of Sustainable Development Goals Indicators for Preparation of Niger State Statistical Year Book” organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), hinted that the Statistical Year Book developed by the National Bureau of Statistics is grossly inadequate.

According to him, “the existing Statistical Year Book (SYB) templates developed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and adopted by the 36 states of the federation is grossly inadequate and could not meet the Sustainable Devel-

opment Goals.”

He went on: “There is the need to develop appropriate data collection templates that will permit reporting of the SDGs implementation progress.

“In order to effectively monitor the implementation of SDGs goals and targets as well as measure progress towards attaining them, the need for timely, reliable, adequate and appropriately dis-aggregated data cannot be over-emphasised.”

Nda said that the training would go a long way in strengthening the statistical capacities of statistical personnel in the state and avail

the state a comprehensive bench marking and data mapping exercise of the SDGs indicators.

On his part, the Focal Officer of UNDP in Niger State, Alhaji Baba Wachiko noted that the MDGs’ intervention in the past had no baseline indicator which gave the need to strengthen the capacity of data collectors for SDGs in order for it to succeed.

He sought for synergy between Ministries, Departments and Agencies and the Bureau of Statistics to enable the state government reduce duplication of projects.

Kwara: Stakeholders endorse N5bn development projects Biodun Oyeleye Ilorin

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takeholders and project partners in Kwara State, yesterday endorsed the Kwara State Infrastructure Development Fund (IF-K) with a commitment of N5 billion for the provision of streetlights across the state.

At the event, Governor AbdulFattah Ahmed disclosed plans by his administration to inject over

N5.8 billion into the state’s economy through the IF-K within the next 10 months, expressing confidence that the fund would sustain the contractors in business as well as having a spiral effect on employment generation.

The IF-K is also billed to address the state’s N11.1billion indebtedness to contractors on ongoing projects, according to Ahmed, who noted that already N1.7 billion of the amount had been paid to

indicate the seriousness of his administration for the project.

Representatives of major banks such as GTB, Sterling Bank and contractors, who had partnership with the state, commended the introduction of the fund system, saying it would provide comfort for contractors, generate jobs for the youths and put an end to the negative experiences of abandoned projects in the state.

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WORLD \ NEWS

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ndia began a campaign to isolate Pakistan at the United Nations yesterday, telling the 193-member General Assembly it was time to identify nations who nurture, peddle and export terrorism and isolate them if they don't join the global fight.

India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the arrest of Pakistani Bahadur Ali was "living proof of Pakistan's complicity in crossborder terror." India has said Ali confessed that he was trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant group. "But when confronted with such evidence, Pakistan remains in denial. It persists in the be-

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

India begins campaign at UN to isolate Pakistan

lief that such attacks will enable it to obtain the territory it covets," she said on the final day of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.

"My firm advice to Pakistan is: abandon this dream. Let me state unequivocally that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so," Swaraj said.

India accuses Pakistan of having a role in a September

18 raid on an Indian army base in Kashmir, one of the deadliest attacks in the Himalayan region that has been divided since 1947 and lies at the heart of the nuclear-armed neighbors' rivalry.

Pakistan denies any role in the attack. "We need to forget our prejudices and join hands together to script an effective strategy against terror," Swaraj said. "And if any nation refuses to join this global

strategy, then we must isolate it."

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Saturday to mount a global campaign to isolate Pakistan. Last month US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Pakistan to join other nations in fighting terrorism.

India has long accused Pakistan of backing militant groups operating in disputed Kashmir as well as of sending

fighters to other parts of the country to carry out acts of violence. Pakistan denies the allegations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last week told the UN General Assembly India had put unacceptable conditions on dialogue. "What pre-conditions?" Swaraj said yesterday. "We took the initiative to resolve issues not on the basis of conditions, but on the basis of friendship."

South African mining union backs Ramaphosa as next president

D Women in Saudi Arabia

Saudi women file petition to end male guardianship system

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petition signed by more than 14,000 Saudi women calling for an end to the country's male guardianship system is being handed to the government.

Women must have the consent of a male guardian to travel abroad, and often need permission to work or study.

Support for the first large scale campaign on the issue grew online in response to a trending Twitter hashtag. Activist Aziza Al-Yousef told the BBC she felt "very proud" of the campaign, but now needed a response. In the deeply conservative Islamic kingdom, a woman must have permission from her father, brother or other male relative, in the case of a widow, sometimes her son, to obtain a passport, marry or leave the country.

Many workplaces and universities also demand a guardian's

consent for female employees and students, although it is not legally required.

Renting a flat, undergoing hospital treatment or filing a legal claim often also require a male guardian's permission, and there is very little recourse for women whose guardians abuse them or severely limit their freedom.

In July, an Arabic Twitter hashtag which translates as "Saudi women want to abolish the guardianship system" went viral after a Human Rights Watch report was published on the issue.

Saudi women tweeted comments, videos and artwork calling for change. Bracelets saying "I Am My Own Guardian" appeared.

The women counted on the petition all gave their full names, though more signed anonymously. Hundreds of women one estimate suggests as many as 2,500 bombarded the Saudi King's of-

fice over the weekend with telegrams containing personal messages backing the campaign.

Human Rights Watch researcher Kristine Beckerle, who worked on the report, described the response as "incredible and unprecedented". "I was flabbergasted, not only by the scale, but the creativity with which they've been doing it. They've made undeniably clear they won't stand to be treated as second class citizens any longer, and it's high time their government listened."

However, there has been opposition from some Saudi women, with an alternative Arabic hashtag, which translates as #TheGuardianshipIsForHerNotAgainstHer, gaining some traction, and opinion articles, like this one on the Gulf News website, arguing that the system should be reformed and applied better.

Aleppo: Bodies litter floor at makeshift hospital

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ospitals are struggling to cope in Syria's Aleppo as government and Russian fighter jets continued to pound the city's rebel held east, killing more than 200 people in under a week.

Al Jazeera's Amr al-Halabi, reporting from a makeshift hospital in the city, described a bleak situation as the hospital overflowed with dozens of dead and wounded people. "Dead people are on the floor of this makeshift hospital," Halabi said.

"The situation here is desperate." Bodies littered the ground inside and outside the facility, as volunteers and relatives carried severly wounded people inside,

looking for somewhere to put them down on a floor already full with air raid victims.

"There is not enough space for us. We have to leave immediately to make more room for those injured," Halabi said as a stream of ambulances ferried in the dead and wounded, overcrowding hospital wards. "It looks like judgement day," he said. At an emergency meeting of the UN two days ago, the US, Britain and France accused Russia, a key military backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, of war crimes.

"What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counter terrorism. It is barbarism," US Ambas-

sador Samantha Power said. "It is difficult to deny that Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes," said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, adding that high tech weaponry had inflicted "a new hell" on war weary Syrians.

Since a ceasefire deal broke down last week, the Syrian government and Russia have intensified a barrage of air raids aimed at taking the east of the city from rebels.

Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin conceded that the surge in violence over the past days meant that "bringing a peace is almost an impossible task now".

eputy President Cyril Ramaphosa's chances of becoming the next leader of South Africa got a boost yesterday when a powerful mining union backed him to succeed President Jacob Zuma.

Debates over who should follow Zuma, either when his term ends in 2019 or before, are heating up after the ruling African National Congress (ANC) suffered its worst local election results last month, exposing party divisions.

Ramaphosa, 63, would be the first choice for many investors because he is more likely to support pro-business policies than many in the traditionally

left leaning ANC. A decision has been taken "to support the candidacy of Cyril Ramaphosa for president" (of the ANC), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), one of South Africa's biggest unions, said in a statement. "It is not only NUM that is gunning for Cyril for president," General Secretary David Sipunzi added, without giving details.

However, Sipunzi said NUM wanted Zuma to see out his second term which runs until 2019. NUM has around 200,000 members and plays an important role in galvanizing public support for the ANC at elections.

Houston shooting: Nine injured, suspect pronounced dead

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gunman who died in a shootout with officers in Houston yesterday morning was a lawyer who lived in the neighborhood and left a car full of weapons near the scene, the city's police chief said.

"We are bringing in the bomb squad to secure it safe," Acting Police Chief Martha Montalvo told reporters. The FBI is at the scene and assisting the investigation, she said.

Montalvo did not reveal the suspect's identity, but told reporters, "he is a lawyer and there were issues concerning his law firm."

Police said nine people were injured in the shooting, one criti-

cally and one seriously. There are no reports of additional suspects, police said.

It was still dark when Antoine Wilson drove through the neighborhood yesterday morning and suddenly found himself in the middle of a gunfight."I didn't realize I was right there by the shooter," he told CNN affiliate KTRK. "Gunshots, I literally hear the gunshots pass my face, 'cause I'm leaning out the window looking, trying to see."

Then he saw police running down the street. "You (could) hear people screaming," he told media.

"I'm talking about steady gunshots, just steady shooting, back and forth police and the shooter.

Helicopters were everywhere."

Congo: Death toll from militia clashes now 49

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he death toll from clashes that erupted in central Democratic Republic of Congo last week was at least 49 people, of whom 16 were police, the governor of the province Alex Kande said yesterday.

Militia fighters from Kamwina Nsapu, seeking to avenge the death of their leader, battled security forces in two days of fighting from Thursday last week. Kande said 27 of them were killed along with six civilians. Initial estimates had put the toll at 13.

The militiamen first entered

Kananga on Thursday morning and continued attacks on Friday, including against the town airport.

Tensions between local authorities and Kamwina Nsapu, whose men are often armed with little more than clubs and magic amulets, has erupted into deadly violence on several occasions.

A decade after the end of a 1996 to 2003 regional war in Congo that killed millions, the mineral rich country remains a tinderbox of armed groups and ethnic militias.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Sport

Sport News

Did you know?

Mikel key for Eagles against Zambia - Eguavoen

That after the two goals Sergio Aguero scored against Swansea at the weekend, the striker has now recorded 28 goals in the last 27 matches for Manchester City

International Disgruntled Ronaldo eyes more records

46 47

Fear grips Rohr over Mikel, Balogun

Fitness of Eagles’ skipper, defender’s injury give German sleepless nights

Adekunle Salami

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uper Eagles’ skipper, Mikel Obi and Mainz defender, Leon Balogun, are players who have been giving the Manager Gernot Rohr sleepless nights in the past three days, New Telegraph can reveal authoritatively.

Rohr, it was lear nt was shocked that Mikel was not listed at all

Balogun

for the crucial London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea.

The German, according to reliable sources, is now thinking about the match fitness level of the Rio Olympic Games football captain of Nigeria.

“Mikel has not been playing this season. The last time he featured for Chelsea was last season. The way the coach also released him for the Olympics showed he was not in Conte’s plans.

Rohr is worried about this development,” t h e source noted.

Another worry for Rohr as the Zambia game draws n e a r is the

Uche Agbo

Rohr

injury Balogun sustained on Saturday during the Mainz, Bayern Leverkusen Bundesliga encounter which his team lost 3-2.

Balogun who was named in the Bundesliga team of the week last week, was replaced in the ninth minute of the encounter after a suspected hamstring injury.

He is expected to undergo a scan in the coming days to determine the extent of the injury and how long he will be on the sidelines.

The defender was moved to the central back position in the last Eagles’ encounter against Taifa Stars of Tanzania. He paired with William TroostEkong and they both did very well.

“It is a big challenge because Rohr is particularly happy about the height and intellect of Balogun in that position. The Zambia match is crucial and so the coach has been thinking about these two players,” the source added.

It was also reliably learnt that Uche Agbo of Granada of Spain is expected to replace Balogun for the encounter against the Chipolopolo of Zambia.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation has concluded arrangement to airlift the Eagles to Zambia on Friday October 7 with a chattered flight. The Eagles are expected to start arriving camp on Sunday in Abuja for the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier.

Giwa vs LMC: Appeal Court fixes Oct.11 for hearing The Sport Team Adekunle Salami Group Sport Editor

Emmanuel Tobi Assistant Sport Editor

Ajibade Olusesan Sport Correspondent

Charles Ogundiya Sport Correspondent

© Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited

Charles Ogundiya and Musa Pam Jos

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he Court of Appeal which sat on Monday in Jos, has secured an undertaking from the counsel to Giwa FC, Mustapha Abubakar, that his clients won’t attempt to tamper with the subject matter of the appeal filed by the League Management Company against the orders of Justice I.I. Kunda of the Plateau State High Court, Jos. This is even as the Inspector General of Police on Monday increased the presence of his men at the premises of the LMC to protect the staff and its activities.

In a related matter, the Court of Appeal also resolved the issue of who can make legal appearance for Nigeria Football Federation.

The court ruled that Barrister Maduabuchi who was appointed by Yahaya Adama, an ally of Chris Giwa, could not claim to be representing the NFF when their group was still battling for legitimacy in court.

Justice Kunda had amongst several rulings ordered the LMC to reinstate Giwa FC in the 2015/16 Nigeria Professional Football League and also committed the LMC Chairman, Shehu Dikko and Salihu Abubakar, the Chief Operating Officer to prison on contempt charges.

The rulings emanated from a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by one Mustapha Abubakar, a supporter of Giwa FC, who claimed that the expulsion of the club from the NPFL had denied him the right to get value for season’s tickets he purchased.

The LMC had on all occasions of the ruling of Justice

Giwa

Kunda challenged the orders at the Court of Appeal and filed for stay of execution which led to the hearing yesterday by Justices of the Appeal Court, Jos Division.

The Court of Appeal adjourned the matter to October 11, 2016 to hear the consolidated appeal and all motions and objections filed by the parties.

Dikko

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SPORT NEWS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

Mikel key for Eagles against Zambia – Eguavoen Ifeanyi Anyaka

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ormer Super Eagles coach Austin Eguavoen has said team captain, Mikel Obi, will be very

Eguavoen

instrumental to Nigeria’s Success when they battle the Chipolopolo of Zambia in the 2018 World Cup qualifier on October 9, despite being overlooked by Chelsea since the beginning of the season.

Mikel led the Nigeria U-23 team to winning bronze medal at the football event of the Rio Olympic Games in Brazil, but he is yet to feature for the Blues since.

“The Super Eagles are playing their most important game against Zambia in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and Mikel will play a vital role in the team’s quest to get a good result next month.

“In the last game against Tanzania in Uyo, Mikel featured just immediately after that stress of the Olympic

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Games where he led the nation to win the bronze medal.

We have not seen him play for Chelsea like he did at the Olympics and against Tanzania. He was outstanding in all the games,” he said Eguavoen expressed confidence in Mikel’s chances to feature for Chelsea in their subsequent matches.

He added: “Mikel not playing for Chelsea right now is not his doing. Chelsea are a very solid team but they have probably not found out the reason to use him and I am sure the coach will definitely play him.

“Having been in Chelsea for this long, I am sure that when the opportunity comes again he will be there to prove himself.”

Ajayi eyes more goals, hits brace for Al-Ahly Ubong Emmanuel

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l-Ahly striker, Junior Ajayi, has expressed determination to score more goals after recording two goals in his side’s 6-2 win over Shiko at the weekend.

The 20-year-old who joined the Cairo giants on a four-year contract for $2 million from Tunisian side CS Sfaxien is expected to beef up Ahly’s attacking department following the departure of Evouna, who bagged 12 league goals in his side’s triumphant campaign last season.

“The Shiko friendly game was useful as I followed all the tech-

nical instructions, so I am happy with my performance during the game,” Ajayi told reporters after the friendly.

“I dealt with the friendly game as if it were an official one to meet the coach’s expectations.”

“I am confident of joining the team’s starting lineup during the coming league games,” Ajayi added.

“I am following the coach’s instructions to improve my performance as I hope to please Ahly’s fans, who are waiting for more from me during the coming games,” the Nigerian attacker said.

att Holmes defeated Kola Sofola 6-1, 7-5 to emerge men’s singles ‘A’ champion as the 2016 Lagos Country Club Tennis Festival came to a colourful end at the weekend.

Omatsola Abati posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Olukayode Ifeajika to clinch the men’s Singles ‘B’ title of the three-week tournament sponsored

by Etisalat.

Holmes, the in-form player of the club however had to content with second position in the doubles as his partnership with Chijioke Agbo lost 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, to Prince Adejoro Olateru-Olagbegi and Tony Unuavworho in the last match of the tournament which was watched by Club President, Kayode Moradeyo, Wale Osomo, the immediate past president,

Etisalat officials among others.

The women’s doubles title was won by Tosin Osikoya and Dolapo Holmes who defeated Lola Aluko and Ayo Odiah 6-1, 3-6, 10-7 while

NCC Tennis League:

Civil Defence in good start ed by Team Lead Way from Lagos which took an unassailable 4-0 lead on Saturday and finished off with the three points on offer on Sunday.

Umoru Balami of Lead Way beat Wale Babalola of Goshen 6-4, 6-2 in the opening match while Monday Igbinovia defeated Tosho Yusuf 6-2, 6-0 in the second match. Ronke Akingbade ranked No.5 followed with a 6-0, 6-0 demolition of Rachel Adunoye in the Ladies singles.

At the end of the round robin phase, the top two teams from each group qualify for the semifinal.

The NCC Tennis League is offering a total prize money of N17 million with the winning team taking home N7m, runner-up N5m, third place N3m and the fourth place N2m.

Boxing: Henshaw vows to make Idowu miserable Ikenna Amadi

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Ajayi (right)

Holmes, Olagbegi shine at Country Club tennis festival

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eam Civil Defence, runner-up in the maiden edition of the NCC Tennis League last year, has started this year’s edition on a winning note by beating Team Hope in Asaba.

The star- studded Civil Defence team looked vunerable on the opening day when Team Hope’s No.1 player, Ikechukwu Iloputa, defeated former national champion Shehu Lawal 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 in the first men’s singles match but Babalola Abdulmumuni, also a former national champion levelled score with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Paul Emmanuel.

Christie Agugbom easily beat Abies Amadasun in the ladies singles 6-1, 3-2 (rtd) to give the Civil Defence a 2-1 lead.

Civil Defence further raised their level on the final day, winning the reverse singles, the men’s doubles and the mixed doubles to close the tie 6-1.

In Ilorin, Team Goshen playing at the Kwara State Stadium were rout-

the veteran’s doubles was won by Sani/Obed beat Olagbegi and Akinhanmi.

Nathaniel Aluko beat Tobi Ayoola 9-11,10-1,10-3 to win the under 8 (Red Ball)

while Mosisienemo Gabriel defeated Sewa Teluwo 10-1, 10-3 to win the girl’s title.

Toluwase Dele-Oshiga topped Fisayo Ariyo 10-4, 10-7 for the under 9 (Orange Ball).

ational cruiserweight title holder, Ekeng Henshaw, has vowed to make his opponent’s life miserable on the ring as he aims to defend his title this weekend in Lagos.

The ‘fighting policeman’ swore in an interview with New Telegraph that he would destroy his opponent, Idowu Okusote, popularly known as ID Cabasa in the showdown.

“This weekend, I am going to disgrace him, to make the ring miserable for him right from the first round,” he said.

“The ring belongs to me and I will control it and I will be the winner. I would have loved to knock him out but I want to entertain my fans that day. They have been waiting for this cruiserweight title fight.

“I will not disgrace my fans as I am training very hard and preparing well for this fight. There is no other medicine in boxing other than to train well and be fit, I train a lot and I believe I am ready.”

Henshaw lauded the efforts of his coach and members of the police force in their bid to give him adequate preparations while stating that he wants to end his career on a high as he is contemplating on retiring soon.

He added: “I will be quitting the sport soon.

And I am looking to fight for an African title and I am hoping on the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control to give me an opportunity to fight for the ABU title.

Because if you are holding an African title, it will enable you to move forward in the Commonwealth ratings.”

N2m up for grabs at Top Sprinters Challenge Charles Ogundiya

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his year’s edition of the Making of Champions’- organised Top Sprinters athletics championship, will see athletes going home with prize money to the tune of N2m.

Speaking during the press conference to herald the second edition of the meet, the CEO of MoC, Bambo Akani, said there would be prizes in cash and equipment in the senior and relay events for the meet scheduled to start from September 29 to October 1 at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.

“The essence of the Top Sprinters is to find a way of de-

veloping athletes that can win medals for Nigeria in years to come especially at the Olympic Games,” Akani said.

“In 2015 after the first edition, we were able to identified eight athletes that later formed the MoC Athletics Club, this year we are targeting another eight to join those already at the club under the tutelage of Olympic medalists like Deji Aliu, Uchenna Emedolu, Glory Alozie and Francis Obikwelu.

“This year we are giving opportunity to everyone to come together and try their best. The race is open to everyone and hopefully MoC can discover some young athletes that can win medals at the

next Olympic Games in Tokyo.”

One of the sponsors, Yusuf Muritala, of the Lucozade Sports, said the company decided to partner with MoC for the Top Sprinters Challenge because it met with their brand essence.

He said that they were very proud to be part of the move to discover athletes for the country while looking forward to a fruitful relationship.

Two of the athletes discovered at the last edition of the competition and currently training at the MoC Athletics Club, 17-year-old Joy UdoGabriel and 18-year-old Jeremiah Jakpa, were recently awarded scholarships by ARCO Group.

Oduduru

INTERNATIONAL SPORT

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 NEW TELEGRAPH

TUESDAY’S FIXTURES CSKA v Tottenham Monaco v Leverkusen Dortmund v Real Madrid S/Lisbon v Legia Warsaw Koebenhavn v Club Brugge Leicester v FC Porto Dinamo Zagreb v Juventus Sevilla v Lyon

Disgruntled C Ronaldo eyes more records

ristiano Ronaldo could make more Champions League history on Tuesday as his Real Madrid side look to end their losing streak at high-flying Borussia Dortmund.

A hat-trick for Ronaldo in Dortmund, who was left fuming after being substituted on Saturday, would see him become the first player to score a century of European goals.

Ahead of the flight to Dortmund, Real coach Zinedine Zidane subbed Ronaldo for the final 20 minutes of Saturday’s 2-2 Spanish league draw at Las Palmas.

The Portuguese superstar was furious

7.45pm 7.45pm 7.45pm 7.45pm 7.45pm 7.45pm 7.45pm 7.45pm

Conte: I’m losing sleep!

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ntonio Conte admits Chelsea’s recent woes are depriving him of a good night’s sleep as “it’s important to reflect”.

Three straight wins for Conte’s Chelsea in the Premier League have been followed by two defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal, plus a draw with Francesco Guidolin’s Udinese, while they conceded twice in their extra-time win against Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City in the EFL Cup. “I don’t sleep, sure. I don’t sleep,” the former Italy CT was quoted as saying by Sky Sports UK. “After this game, this defeat, it’s normal for me not to sleep. Not only one night, but for two nights.

“When I don’t sleep, I reflect. And it’s important to reflect.

“When you have a bad performance - we have a bad performance together,

47

with the decision, storming off the field without acknowledging Zidane.

It did nothing to help his mood when Las Palmas equalised five minutes from the end.

Madrid fans have backed Zidane over his handling of the club’s all-time top scorer with 83 percent supporting his decision in a poll carried out by Madrid sports daily AS. Ronaldo’s free-kick equaliser in Real’s 2-1 comeback win against Sporting Lisbon in their first Group F, the same night Dortmund won 6-0 at Legia Warsaw, left him on 97 goals in European club competition His main rival in the race to 100 goals is Barcelona’s

Simeone ‘yet to congratulate son’ enoa striker Giovan- ego, on his goal against G ni Simeone admits Pescara on Sunday. he has yet to be conSimeone followed in gratulated by his father, Atletico Madrid boss DiConte

me first, m y staff s e c ond, a n d then the players.

“It is important to take this experience as an opportunity to understand we want to come back very quickly.

Aubameyang

Simeone

Ronaldo

Aurier bags two-month jail term Coast footAurier was conIrier,vory baller Serge Au- victed on Monday of who plays for elbowing a police of-

Tottenham look to bounce back at CSKA

Paris St-Germain (PSG), has been sentenced to two months in jail for elbowing a police officer.

Aurier was also fined £600 (£521, $674) in damages over the incident at a Paris nightclub in May. He will remain free pending an appeal, which means he could play for PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old was suspended earlier this year over his comments about the then-PSG coach Laurent Blanc.

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auricio Pochettino has urged his Tottenham players to believe they belong in the Champions League ahead of Tuesday’s trip to CSKA Moscow.

Pochettino The north Londoners are bottom of Group E, having suffered a shock defeat to Monaco on matchday one, and anything less than three points tomorrow night will leave Spurs eicester will unleash the with a mountain to climb if they ‘Dragon Slayer’ on FC Porto are to avoid an early exit from Tuesday evening as Claudio Ranthe competition. ieri looks to deliver more ChamPochettino’s side failed pions League glory. to perform in their openRanieri’s side will target six ing game and the Argentine coach is adamant his players must believe they are deserving of a place among the elite if they are to progress.

“You need to put pressure on yourself,” Pochettino insisted. “And it’s important to believe that we belong in the Champions League. We need to win - it’s as simple as that.

“It’s not more pressure because we lost the first game.

In football your mentality always has to be to win.”

Spurs will be without Harry Kane when they face Leonid Slutsky’s side - who are second in the Russian Ranieri Premier League.

Ranieri ready to unleash Slimani on Porto

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his father’s footsteps by heading to Serie A over the summer with Genoa, and after opening his account in Italian football, El Cholito is ready to emulate his dad’s “mean streak and desire to win”.

“I still haven’t heard from him,” the 21-yearold told Il Secolo XIX. “I took his mean streak, his desire to win.

[Is he] proud? I think so.

“If he was there to mark me, I know that I wouldn’t have scored.”

points from two games in Europe’s top competition after their 3-0 win against Bruges with record signing Islam Slimani looking to pile more misery on the Portuguese club.

The £30m Algerian already has five goals in just three games against Porto in 2016 and signed off from former club Sporting Lisbon with a goal in a 2-1 win in August.

His record of six goals in eight games overall for Sporting against the Dragons earned him the nickname the ‘Dragon Slayer’.

Now, after marking his Premier League debut for Leicester with a brace against Burnley, Slimani has been giving his new boss manager on how to upset his old adversaries.

“Yes, I spoke with him about Porto,” confirmed Ranieri. “He came to me and I went to him.

ficer after leaving a nightclub in the early hours of 30 May. The defender had been stopped to take a breath test after leaving a Parisian nightclub.

According to the police account, the officer involved needed to take a day off work to recover from his injuries.

Aurier denied the charge, arguing that he was a victim of police violence.

In addition to paying damages, he was charged a further £1,500 (£1,304; $1687) to cover court costs.

Hamilton confident ahead Malaysian Grand Prix

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ewis Hamilton says he is confident he can return to the form he needs to reclaim the championship lead and win his fourth world title this year.

Before Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, Hamilton is eight points behind teammate Nico Rosberg with six races to go.

The 31-year-old world champion said: “It’s going to take some good results to get back in front and stay there.

“But I’ve had plenty of

those in the past there’s no reason to think they won’t come back to me again.”

Hamilton

On Marble The strength of a man's virtue

should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts. –Blaise Pascal

Obaseki and Oshiomhole's future

NIGERIA’S MOST AUTHORITATIVE NEWSPAPER IN POLITICS AND BUSINESS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

I

Clem Aguiyi

Sanctity of Truth

}14

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Tinubu and those who want him dead (1)

do not like to delve into matters touching and concerning the APC because I am not a member.

However what is happening in the ruling party today transcends partisan politics and should be a concern to us all. At the very least we can learn some very hard lessons from it.

The truth is that the behaviour of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun towards the man that single-handedly made him the National Chairman of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is reprehensible.

And neither does this matter begin or end with the way and manner in which the Ondo state governorship primaries were conducted or its final outcome.

It goes much deeper than that and the Ondo affair is only symptomatic of a much deeper malaise and wider conspiracy to humiliate the National Leader of the APC by forces within his party that are even greater than him.

Those forces represent the hidden hand. They are a small cabal of powerbrokers who constitute the leadership of the Buhari-led CPC. These people believe that they were born to rule and that they own Nigeria.

They simply used Tinubu's old ACN as a compliant and ready piggy-back to catapult their way back to power and once they achieved that they never looked back.

Some of us warned Tinubu at the time about the dangers of riding the tiger and allowing himself to be used by these very dark and sinister forces but he would not listen.

No true student of history could have made such a cataclysmic and monumental error given the terrible experiences of others from the south-west, and indeed the entire south, who collaborated with such ultra-conservative, sectarian and arcane forces with a clear and distinct ethnic and religious agenda in the past.

Such forces can never be comfortable with a well-connected, highly sophisticated, independent-minded, strong, unpredictable, uncontrollable and experienced Yoruba leader and southern gladiator with a June 12th pedigree, a NADECO background, a massive warchest and a widespread and formidable political base.

They may use him to achieve their objective but they can never trust him or allow him to have control of the party machinery or to wield any real power when it comes to running the affairs of the nation.

Most importantly, once they have finished using him it becomes their duty and cardinal objective not just to cut him down to size but also to castrate and render him impotent and eventually destroy him.

That is their way. It is also a classic and vintage Nicollo Machiavelli move. This great writer that has had more influence on political thinking and strategies than perhaps any other author in human history taught us a critical and crucial lesson in his famous 14th century literary masterpiece and treatise on the power game titled "The Prince". He tells us that the first thing that a Prince must do once he has achieved power is to destroy those that

Crossfire FEMI FANI-KAYODE ffk2011@aol.com

Tinubu

Odigie-Oyegun

affair and the Bukola Saraki matter which saw the defeat and humiliation of Tinubu's prefered candidate for Senate President.

The second shot was the Speaker of the House of Representatives affair and the Yakubu Dogara matter which, again, saw the defeat and humiliation of Tinibu's prefered candidate for the position of Speaker of the House.

The third was the vital issue of Ministerial appointments in which not one single Ministerial nominee of Tinubu's was accepted and appointed as a Minister by Buhari.

Every single person that he nominated from the south west and elsewhere as Minister was rejected and instead the slots were filled by his political adversaries and/or their nominees.

Many erroneously believe that Mr. Lai Mohammed, who is from Kwara state, was Tinubu's choice and nominee for Minister of Information but this was not the case.

The person that he nominated for Minister of Information was not Lai Mohammed but Mr. Dele Alake, his former Commissioner of Information in Lagos state.

Again he nominated Mr. Wale Edun, his former Commissioner of Finance in Lagos state, for the position of Minister of Finance but this was rejected and Governor Ibikunle Amosun's candidate, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, got the job instead.

This went on across the board for every single person that Tinubu nominated and presented for the position of Minister last year and it was a terrible humiliation for him. It was a dirty slap in his face.

The fourth shot was the James Faleke matter in Kogi state where it was agreed by the real landlords of the APC in the core north that Tinubu must not be allowed to gain a foothold in the north central zone by getting his own Yoruba kinsman and candidate to be elected as governor of that state.

Fashola

el-Rufai

put him there.

And that is precisely what those that seek to do Tinubu in are doing. Worst still they are using his own erstwhile discipiles as a first line of attack against him.

It is not just Odige-Oyegun that has turned his back on him but also his former political protegees and former ACN associates like Tunde Fashola, Ibikunle Amosun, Kayode Fayemi, Biodun Ajimobi, Olorunimbe Mamora, Niyi Adebayo, Rotimi Akeredolu and numerous others.

Pulling the strings from behind the scenes and encouraging and funding the rebellion are hardline Buhari-supporters like my good friend Governor Nasir

El Rufai and a number of others.

Their objective is to establish a new political order in the south west which is beholden to them alone, to replace Tinubu as the National Leader of the party and to utterly demystify and crush him in order to prepare the ground for the emergence of a new and more compliant Yoruba running mate for either Buhari himself or El Rufai in 2019.

As a graphic illustration of this interesting and unfolding agenda, the powers that be in the APC, led by President Muhammadu Buhari himself, fired six shots at Tinubu inmediately after they formed government.

The first was the Senate Presidency

Solution to B. Teaser 5

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