Tuesday, March 26, 2019 Edition

Tuesday, March 26, 2019/ Rajab 19, 1440 AH

Vol. 31 No. 031 N150

1800 Days after

Appeal Court nullifies Zamfara APC primaries

@pmlonline

peoplesdailyng

. . . putting the people first

The nation awaits rescue of the remaining abducted Chibok schoolgirls

Minimum wage: Buhari pledges speedy review of implementation report

Court okays collation, counting of Bauchi guber results

APC petitions IGP, DSS pAGE 6

pAGE 15

pAGE 7

Wants PDP probed over illegal access to INEC server APC, Buhari jittery, PDP replies

page 5

Director General, National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye (middle), Planting a tree to mark the 25th anniversary celebration of NAFDAC, at the Agency’s headquarters, yesterday in Abuja. With her is the Director Public Affairs of NAFDAC, Dr. Abubakar Jimoh and others. Photo: Mahmud Isa

FG woos investors NASS leadership: We won’t share power to 22 Nigerian with PDP - Oshiomhole airports •As Buhari, APC work out consensus candidate >>>page 19

>>>page 5

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PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

News CONTENTS News 2-14 Op.Ed

12-13

Politics 15-17 Stock Watch Business Metro

18 19-20 21

World Analysis 22 Africa News

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World News

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Again, two-storey building collapses in Lagos

By Ese Awhotu with agency report

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two- storey building has collapsed in Lagos, bringing to three the number of buildings that have collapsed in less than one month.

The building collapsed midday on Lagos Island yesterday.

However, the Lagos State Management Agency (LASEMA), said no one was trapped in the rubbles.

Reports said, the occupants of the collapsed building have been exiting all apartments and shops attached to the building after the Lagos State building control agency marked the building for demolition last week Friday.

But at the time of collapse, some other residents were reportedly still moving their property.

Sources said a few people were injured and taken to the hospital for treatment.

Security operatives and emergency workers were said to have arrived at the scene to ensure others residents are safe and that the rubles are disposed of properly.

Recall that, on Wednesday, March 13, a three-storey building housing a school collapsed, trapping more than 100 persons, including pupils.

The collapsed building was located on the crowded Ita-Faji street within the heart of Lagos

Okowa calls for preservation of African languages Page 8 Digest

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Feature 26 Sports 30-31 Back Page

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Island. Twenty people were later confirmed dead.

Barely one week after this incident a building, located at Egerton Square, Oke Arin collapsed during demolition, trapping some persons.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency confirmed the collapse through its official Twitter account, saying four scavengers sustained minor injuries and had been taken to the nearest hospital for treatment.

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Abdullahi Haruna, confirmed the incident in a statement in Kano.

He said the seven classrooms were razed at about 1:30 a.m., adding that investigation revealed that the incident was as a result of a suspected electric spark from

one of the laboratory classes.

“Cause of the inferno was suspected to be as a result of electric spark from one of the laboratory classes.

“No loss of life or injury recorded,” he added.

T

he National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the federal government to punish, prosecute electoral offenders in the country to serve as deterrent to prospective lawbreakers.

The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu who disclosed this yesterday in Abuja during the media launch of the report on human rights assessment of the 2019 general elections, said Kwara state has the highest total of violence because of it high level of destruction of properties.

He added that Kaduna state came second due to high level of politically related killings and

FCT is third due to high level of injuries sustained by police officers, specifically during the presidential election, Rivers state accounts was fifty percent of the incidence of violence.

According to him, electoral justice is not limited to fairness and freeness of election, it goes beyond that and includes accountability, compensation and remedy for all victims and survivors crime committed during electoral process.

It also includes bringing to justice those who commit crimes during elections or who engage in electoral infractions, arrested, prosecuted and punished, impunity will thrive in elections, it is imperative for the machinery to be strengthened

to bring perpetrators of crime or electoral infraction to justice.

Ojukwu further explained that the report also captures the challenges associated with social media, fake news and hate speech, data analysis report, provide methodology of data mining, analysis and interpretation of every finding.

He noted the report recommends more assertive communications by INEC transparent6 results management, staffing reforms, consistent security preparations, improved internal democracy within political parties, and creation of specialized election offences commission to alleviate risks of violence in forthcoming

News Editor, Ese Awhotu

Shun corrupt tendencies, CJN urges directors, inspectors

By Vivian Okejeme Abuja

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to write a negative report about a judge who refused to dance t your tune is certain possible. ‘’As Directors and Inspectors of the Area/Sharia/Customary courts, you are saddled with the responsibility of working in the temple of justice, your actions and inactions within and outside the court premises, must be in consonance with the dictates of the Code of Conduct for Court Employees,’’ he concluded.

In her welcome address, the Administrator of the National Judicial Institute, Justice R.P.I Bozimo, said, the workshop with the theme: Improving the Quality of Justice Delivery in the Lower Court, was designed to ensure quality of justice delivery at all levels.

Justice Bozimo, who advised the participants to guide against miscarriage of justice, warned that

L-R; President Muhamadu Buhari receives the report from PTAC Chairman, Mr. Bismarch Rewane, during the presentation of the report of the Presidential Technical Advisory Committee on the Implementation of the National Minimum Wage (PTAC) held at the Council Chambers, State House, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: State House

Buhari mourns literary icon, Okaya

He said the fire was brought under control by the firefighters.

Mr Haruna called on the people of Kano State to continue with their daily activities, stressing that people should not panic.(NAN)

Rights commission urges FG to punish, prosecute electoral offenders

By Albert Akota

News

he Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, has charged the Directors and Inspectors of Area, Sharia, and Customary Courts to ensure that corruption is eschewed among them in the discharge of their duties.

He urged them to pay unannounced visits to Judges to keep them on their toes.

Justice Tanko, who said these unannounced visits will not only keep the judges of the courts on their toes, also said that the inspection on a regular basis, will ascertain the personnel productivity and the condition of the facilities.

Speaking at the National Workshop for Directors and Inspectors of Area/Sharia/ Customary courts, Muhammad, said they should not allow the challenges they face deter them from carrying out their statutory duties.

The acting CJN reminded the participants that their behaviour and attitude to both court users and the general public, is like a billboard which advertises the character of the whole Judiciary. ‘’ Challenges of inadequate funding, man-power development and inadequate facilities must not deter you in the utmost performance of your duties. ‘’I urge you to ensure that corruption must be eschewed in your rank and file as the tendency

Fire razes classrooms in Kano secondary school n early morning fire outbreak on Monday destroyed seven classrooms at Badawa Secondary School in Kano.

The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO),

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PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

elections.

The report also identifies the emerging and shifting risks of election violence for 2019 with a focus on unlawful killing, injuries, destruction of properties, vote trading and others and provides recommendations for authorities and stakeholders supporting the election process to help mitigate these risks.

Also shedding light to the event, Executive Director Human Rights Advancement, Development and Advocacy, Ayodele Ameen said that one hundred and seven four persons dead during the 2019 presidential election and implored government to punish and prosecute offenders.

By Lawrence Olaoye

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari mourns passage of the renowned poet, novelist and playwright, Gabriel Okara, aged 97.

In a statement made available to newsmen yesterday by his

they should handle issues of bias with utmost carefulness, so not to fall victim to the same allegations of bias.

Further in her address, she called on all the participants to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and moral rectitude contained in the code of conduct for court employees.

“No doubt, your duties as Directors and Inspectors is to guide you against miscarriage of justice,

therefore, on your intervention on the complaint of bias and miscarriage of justice, be careful as litigants may sometimes fell that the court is biased in favour of the other party in the proceedings. ‘’ Where allegations of bias are made against the Judges of your courts, you should not be easily swayed or carried away to show sympathy to the party complaining without hearing from the judge,’’ she charged.

A medical personal of Operation Safe Haven (R), examining a patient, during the free drugs and feeding programm for the victims of suspected Herdsmen attacked organized by Operation Safe Haven Plateau State in Nandu community, yesterday in kaduna State.

Photo: NAN

spokesman, Femi Adesina, the President on behalf of the Federal Executive Council, extended heartfelt commiserations to the Okara family, the government and people of Bayelsa State, the literary community and all who drank from the writer’s fountain

of knowledge.

As a dedicated and wellpublished writer in all the literary genres, Buhari believed Okara, who was deservedly known as the ‘‘founder of Modern African literature’’ will be fondly remembered for his immense

contributions to the development of African literature, drawing on experience from his native Ijaw language.

The President extolled the great story-teller whose powerful use of imagery and symbolism in his literary writings helped the world

to appreciate and understand the richness, complexities and uniqueness of the African heritage and culture.

He prayed Almighty God to grant the soul of the departed writer peaceful repose and comfort all who mourn.

ASUP kicks as Rector of Fed. Poly Bida reappointed From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

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he Rector of Federal Polytechnic Bida has been reappointed for the second term by the federal government with effect from 21st May, 2019 and terminated on 15th February, 2021 when the rector will attain the mandatory retirement age of 65 years.

But reacting his reappointment, ASUP chapter chairman of Federal Polytechnic Bida, Dr Umar Saganuwan in an interview with journalists in Minna said that the issue of Rector’s reappointment would be handled by the National Headquarters of the union as agreed.

Saganuwan, however, confirmed that the union has suspended its strike last week Tuesday after its congress meeting, when the management of the polytechnic was given up to 31st of this month to address its local issues of meeting up their demands and not because of

the reappointment of the rector that made them to suspended the strike as insinuated in some quarters.

Also the Rector, Dzukogi said that he has done well to deserve another term, noted that his reappointment can only be determined by the federal government not a union.

The Rector however, unveiled plans to introduce additional degree courses in the ongoing efforts to create academic niche for itself while assuring of continued transparency and accountability during his tenure.

He said that the institution

spends about N25 million monthly from its IGR on allowances and other expenses.

He said the Polytechnic has signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the Federal university of Technology (FUT), Minna and the Kwara State University on the matter.

Reports revealed that the Institution already has existing understanding with FUT Minna which enables it to run Bachelor of Technology Degree in some Engineering and Environmental

courses.

It also currently runs some management courses in collaboration with the Kwara State University, Malete which commenced in January, 2018.

Dr Dzukogi said the Institution plans to collaborate with both universities for additional courses which have direct bearing on the manpower drive of the federal government.

According to him, such courses include Mining Technology, Railway Engineering and Maritime Services

amongst others.

He said the advantage of the effort is to bring university education closer to Nigerians, especially the people of the Polytechnic catchment area, even as he allayed fears that the gesture might negatively affect the Institution’s core mandate.

“These programmes will not only put our name on the map of higher institutions in the country, but also provide avenue for growth and expansion, both in manpower development and facilities, “ he explained.

Four children who went missing and were suspected drowned in Rima

R

iver last Saturday in Brinin Kebbi have been rescued, with one dead.

Confirming the incident to newsmen yesterday in Birnin Kebbi, the father of the deceased who is also a Director in the Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji

Issa Mohammed Koko said that his son was the only one that died while the remaining three boys were rescued alive.

He explained further that the incident happened on Thursday last week when they went to river area to catch fish and later were

reportedly drowned in the river.

“They did not see them until Saturday when people started searching for their bodies and found my only son’s dead body, while the other three boys were still alive but now receiving medical treatment, “he added.

Confirming the incident, the State Executive Director Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency, Abbas Rabiu Kamaba said that the management is not aware of the issue yet but they will confirm and assist the victims.

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News From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

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Kaduna State High Court presided over by Justice Gideon Kurada yesterday adjourned indefinitely the trial of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), also known as Shiite, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zinat indefinitely.

The judge, Justice Gideon Kurada, adjourned the case indefinitely following his appointment to serve as the judge in the Presidential and National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Yobe.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after the adjournment, Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) From Oluseyi Dasilva Ilorin

A

n expert in financial matters, Mr. Abdulmumini Sanni - Jawondo on Monday attributed insensitivity of government, poor rural development and lack of support for small and medium scale business in Kwara as the reason for the poor economic development and standing of the state.

Sanni -Jawondo who made the assertion Ilorin while featuring on Media Parliament organised by the Kwara council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) spoke on the theme: “Economic and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) Potentials of Kwara.”

The guest speaker, a Chartered Accountant, Revenue Consultant and Forensic Auditor insinuated that it is worrisome that despite the enormous resources and economic potentials the state is abound with, Kwara is facing so many challenges which accounted for the poverty level of the state.

“It is on record that despite the fact that the state was created in 1967, it is currently ranked, as reported by Wikipedia in February, 2019 as one of the 10 poorest state in Nigeria with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

Court adjourns trial of ElZakzaky, wife indefinitely and lead counsel to the defendants said, aside the absence of the trial Judge, his Clients (El-Zakzaky and wife Zinat), were in dire need of medical attention, the reason they could not appear in court.

Falana, said that his clients had not been given adequate medical care since Dec. 14, 2015 when they were detained.

It will be recalled that El-

Zakzaky and wife are standing trial over allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, and disruption of public peace, among others.

“So the court has adjourned Sine die, meaning indefinitely. My clients are yet to access any form of medical attention even after the court had ordered so.

“The case had to be adjourned

as both my clients need time to attend to their health,”Falana said.

The court had on , Jan. 22, 20199 ordered the Kaduna State Government to avail the IMN leader and his wife Zinat, access to medical care.

The judge had on that date also accepted the withdrawal of charges against the third and fourth defendants, Yahya Yakubu

and Sunusi Abdulqadir, who were standing trial alongside the IMN leader Prosecution counsel, Dari Bayero had told newsmen after the proceedings that they had withdrawn the charges against the third and fourth defendants.

Bayero added that the court had asked the prosecution to amend its charges to conform with the new development.

Why Kwara is ranked among 10 poorest states in Nigeria - Expert $3.840 billion.

“It is sad to note that the state is ranked with the states that were created in 1990s like Yobe, Gombe, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Taraba and Zamfara.

“While the GDP of Kwara stands at $3.840 billion as reported, other states created at the same time with Kwara such

as Lagos and Kano states even without oil have GDP of $33.679 billion and $12.393 billion respectively”, he said.

The financial expert lamented that the state had been consistently governed by various political leaders that had no vision or economic road map for the state.

He, however, noted that the

state had economic potentials in areas like agriculture, commerce and industry, small and medium scale enterprise and mining among others that were never explored.

These areas, he explained remained germane to the improvement of the socioeconomic activities in the state.

The accountant also advocated

the need to tap into informal sector, stamp and development levy among others to raise the revenue base of the state.

He advised the incoming government in the state identify state’s asset and liabilities with a view to know their true existence, ownership and beneficiaries to avoid manipulation.

R-L: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu; Minister of Communication, Dr. Adebayo Shittu and Minister of Information & Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during the National Research and Innovation council - NRIC meeting, at the Presidential Villa, yesterday in Abuja.

Hall 7 targets 3,000 trees in Imperial Vista Estate

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

H

all 7 Real Estate Development Company said it has concluded arrangements to plant 3000 trees in the 216 development units in Imperial Vista Estate.

The Chief Exective Officer of Hall 7, Braimo Olayinka stated this recently while marking the World Tree Planting Day at the estate in Jabi Life Camp, Abuja.

According to him, “tree planting is very important in any environment.

Aside the fact that it helps absorb carbon dioxide, it also beautifies the environment.

“Any environment that does not have trees planted around it is lacking behind and does not appreciate nature. We are also campaigning against deforestation and encouraging Nigerians to plant trees and promote the green environment which every country is working towards

achieving.

“In develop societies of Europe and America, people are encouraged to imbibe the culture of tree planting in their houses to promote the green environment. Trees also guard our houses against wind and promotes security”.

Also speaking, an Architect with the firm, Maimunat Sanusi said the firm is working assiduously to partner major stakeholders in tree planting exercise

across the country.

She added that the various agencies of government will also play key roles in ensuring green environment for all Nigerians.

On his part, Architect Jiya David while harping on the importance of tree planting in all houses said the venture will stablise the soil.

He said Nigerian must take the lead in Africa to bolster its stand as the giant of Africa in all areas.

We believe in Boeing despite air crash – Ethiopian Airlines

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thiopian Airlines said on Monday that it would work with both local and foreign investigators to unravel the cause of the March 10 fatal crash of its Boeing 737-Max800 aircraft.

The airline also said that it would continue to work with aircraft manufacturer, The Boeing Company, and the United States Aviation, despite the incident.

Tewolde GebreMariam, the Airline’s Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), dropped the hint in a statement obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

“We will work with investigators in Ethiopia, in the U.S. and elsewhere to figure out what went wrong with flight 302,” he said.

NAN reports that the Airlines’ flight ET302 en route Nairobi from Addis Ababa crashed six minutes after take-off, killing all 157 persons on board.

The incident has led to the grounding of the B737-Max-800 aircraft globally over safety concerns, pending the outcome of investigations into the tragic incident.

Mr GebreMariam said the heartbreak for the families of the passengers and crew who

perished would be lasting, adding that the incident had forever changed their lives.

“We at Ethiopian Airlines will feel the pain forever. I pray that we all continue to find strength in the weeks and months ahead.

“The people of Ethiopia feel this very deeply too. As a state-owned airline and the flagship carrier for our nation, we carry the torch for the Ethiopian brand around the world.

“In a nation that is sometimes saddled with negative stereotypes, accidents like this affect our sense of pride.

“Yet, this tragedy won’t define us. We pledge to work with Boeing and our colleagues in all the airlines to make air travel even safer,” he said.

The CEO noted that the pilot and crew of the aircraft were properly trained to fly B-737Max, adding that the truth would be revealed after the investigation was concluded.

He said that while the airline was fully in support of the grounding of the B737-Max aircraft, its confidence in Boeing had never waned..(NAN)

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PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

APC petitions IGP, DSS •Wants PDP probed over illegal access to INEC server

By Umar Muhammad Puma and Lateef Ibrahim

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari Presidential campaign council has yesterday sent a petition to the acting Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu, and the Director of the Department State Security (DSS), accusing the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of illegally having accessing internet server of the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC).

But the PDP, in swift reaction, has asked the President Buhari and the APC to stop spreading unnecessary fabrications, smear campaign and prepare to face its legal team at the Presidential election tribunal.

In the petition sent to the acting Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu, and the director of the Department State Security (DSS), by Director strategic communication of the Buhari campaign council, Festus Keyamo, APC urged the security agencies to investigate the leadership of the PDP over claims relating to INEC server.

APC said though opposition is healthy in a democracy, it is not a license for criminality and illegality.

“A country governed by laws cannot be blackmailed or cowed into indolence by the perceived underdog status of the opposition so as to condone such a blatant criminal claim by the PDP of having illegal access to INEC’s server.”

The latter reads: “It will be recalled that the president has refused to sign an Electoral (Amendment) Bill which containing the provision for electronic transmission of results to INEC’s central computer system (otherwise called “server”) was sent to him by the National Assembly for assent late in the year 2018.

“Despite the shortness of time before the Presidential/National Assembly Elections, and the lack of time to first simulate the process to ensure its effectiveness in a country like ours with problems of effective networks in many rural areas and constant failure of technological devices, together with its violation of the time frame of such laws as provided for in regional and continental Protocols in terms of the length of time required for the passage of such laws before any major election, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party was hell-bent that the President should sign the Bill into

law.

“That was the first indication that the main opposition was up to something sinister regarding the electronic transmission of the results.

“Upon the last-minute postponement of the February 16, 2019 Presidential/National Assembly Elections, the nation was shocked to see already prepared presidential elections results floating around in the cyber space just less than 24 hours after the postponed election was originally billed to hold!

“The fake results had details of the scores of the candidates of the major parties. Of course; the fake results gave victory to the candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, even when elections did not hold.

“The only conclusion one can draw from the above is that the PDP had prepared those results which were to be smuggled into the INEC Server. However, the sudden postponement of the election scuttled that evil plan; but it was too late to restrain the release of the fake results.

“Sirs, we wish you to note that INEC’s server is the back end of electronic records of INEC. This is not INEC’s website but its server!

Although, the purported results

News

•APC, Buhari jittery, PDP replies

have been conclusively shown by public engagements to be false and even ridiculous, especially as the total number of accredited voters is exactly equivalent to the purported votes of the APC and PDP candidates, this criminal claim of the PDP has revealed a few things: “ It is now clear that some criminally-minded PDP operatives have access to the INEC server to be able to smuggle in fake results into that server.

“The only means by which they could have access to the INEC server is by the criminal hacking of the server or through the criminal conspiracy of some INEC officials.

“The APC Presidential Campaign Council therefore, the party prayed that the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the Department of State Services use your good offices to investigate the hacking of and/or illegal tampering with the INEC server by the PDP. “The leadership of the PDP must be invited, interrogated and investigated and those identified as perpetrators must be arrested and prosecuted,” it said.

Reacting to APC’s petition, the

PDP stated that the facts and issues touching on the INEC server are already within the public domain and Nigerians are already at home with them.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan yesterday in Abuja, the leading opposition party said, “By resorting to shadow-boxing outside the tribunal, President Buhari and the APC have shown that they have no defence to present to the court against PDP’s submission that they stole our mandate.”

According to PDP, “It is even more appalling that Festus Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a member of Buhari’s legal team, who should know better, would engage in this act of subjudice, designed to distort facts already known to Nigerians that our Presidential Candidate and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, clearly won the February 23 Presidential election.

“Since it has become clear that President Buhari has no defence to present to the court, we counsel him to save the nation further stress by surrendering our mandate, which was freely given by majority of Nigerians to Atiku Abubakar,” the party said.

NASS leadership: We won’t share power with PDP - Oshiomhole

By Umar Muhammad Puma

A

dams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said his party will not share committee chairmen and deputies with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 9th National Assembly.

Oshiomhole, while assuring that the party will not repeat the mistakes of 2015, said the party will not share power in the House of the Representatives with the PDP; and the leadership must ensure that critical committees that drive government are chaired only by APC members.

“We have the numbers to produce the Speaker and we will produce the Speaker who must be a member of the APC. We have the numbers to produce the Deputy Speaker and we will use the numbers to produce the Deputy Speaker who must be a member of the APC. We have the numbers; and we must use the numbers to elect a House Leader who must be a member of APC. We have the numbers and we will use the numbers to produce a Chief Whip and a Deputy Whip who must be members of the APC. “I think the only position that we are not interested in is the Minority Leader. Let it remain minor in the hands of the minors in the opposition.

“The first is the challenge of ensuring that this time around we ensure that we have a leadership of the National Assembly that shares the vision of the executive. Although we speak of separation of power, but there is only one government; and unless the various arms pursue the same agenda, it is difficult for the executive to realize its purpose because legislative backing is often required for the executive actions.

“So, I will expect that you bear in mind that we are one family joined

together as shown in our broom, with a share commitment to bail Nigeria out of the condition in which we find it in 2015.

“And that you have the numbers and we will use these numbers to ensure that we have a leadership that commands the trust and the respect of all the members of the

House of Representatives. There will be contestation, that is why we are in democracy; but after the contestation and debate we have to agreed; and once you have agree, you move forward.

“We will not share power in the House of the Representatives; and the leadership must ensure that critical

committees that drive government are chaired only by APC members. If the Nigeria people wanted to be chairmen of committees they would have voted for them. So, all the chairmen of committees, except one that is statutory reserve for opposition, which is Public Account, they can have that. So, we would not do the kind of

thing that happened the last time, in which some APC members as members of the leading party, became distance spectators in the management of committees, when PDP had majority of the strategic committees in the House. That will not happen in the next Assembly.”

L-R: Wife of the President Hajia Aishat Buhari presenting an award to the Board Chair, Stop TB Partnership Nigeria, Prof.

Lovett Lawson during the Gala Night Celebrating TB Champions and Survivors in Nigeria, at the State House Conference Centre, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: State House

Buhari, Oshiomhole strategize for emergence of consensus Senate leadership

By Lawrence Olaoye

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari alongside the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday met with senators-elect on the platform of the ruling party to strategize for the emergence of a consensus leadership for the ninth Senate at a dinner in the Presidential Villa.

Oshiomhole in his remarks cautioned that the lawmakers should be careful not to repeat the mistakes of the past where the ruling party

produced the Senate President only for the opposition to emerge as his deputy.

It would be recalled that lack of consensus among Senators on the platform of the majority APC members resulted in the election of Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President of the eighth Senate in alliance with People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s Senators which later produced Senator Ike Ekweremadu as his deputy.

Oshiomhole called on the lawmakers to work on a consensus since the APC senators are in the majority so as not to give room to the

PDP members to hijack the Senate leadership.

As things stand, four ranking members of the Senate have openly shown interests in contesting for the position of the Senate President.

These include the incumbent Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, former governor of Gombe state, Sen. Danjuma Goje, Senator Ali Ndume and former Abia state governor, Orji Uzor Kalu.

Oshiomhole urged the President, as the head of the APC political family, to wade into the leadership struggle to avoid the repeat of 2015 power

struggle that resulted in the opposition taking over strategic committees in the Senate.

According to him, with about 65 Senators on the platform of the APC and over 230 House of Representatives members, the ruling party is in a comfortable position to form the leadership without the input of the opposition members.

Oshiomhole stressed that it is imperative for the party to get the leadership of the National Assembly right for there to be seamless working relationship between the legislature and the executive

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

PAGE 6

News Woman who videotaped angry pupil, Success, to receive N500,000, car gift

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tephanie Idolor, the lady who videotaped Success, an angry school pupil sent home for not paying her school fees, is to receive N500,000.

Popular comedian, Mc Jollof, recently took to his Instagram page with a video in which he revealed that the Delta State deputy speaker, Friday Osanebi, has requested for Miss Idolor’s account number to credit her with N500,000.

Similarly, the principal secretary to the governor of Delta State, Hilary Ibegbulem, has made the promise of a car to Miss Idolor.

Mr Ibegbulem said that she was the real hero and not the little school girl.

Her public outcry has also attracted the attention of Daddy Showkey who stated that she is the real hero and transferred N100,000 to her bank account.

“Without you this Success story will not be. So my dear @ stephanie_idolor pls don’t regret anything, the truth is that you are an Angel and for me you are the true hero, pls send me your account.”

Miss Idolor took to social media just recently to demand compensation from the family after several Nigerians reacted positively to the sensational video which had now gone viral.

According to her, if she had not recorded and posted the video on social media, the family would not be enjoying all the financial assistance and gifts they are now getting.

Social media was buzzing some days ago when a video of a young primary school girl identified as Success, surfaced online.

In the video, Success was angry after being sent away from school for owing school fees.

The video clip which had become an instant sensation in the online community had attracted the attention of celebrities and some well-meaning citizens.

Toke Makinwa, AY Makun , Wale Gates and a host of others were among those who had reacted to the young girl’s plight and offered to do their bit in addressing the issue (NAN)

Minimum wage: Buhari pledges speedy review of implementation report

By Lawrence Olaoye

P

resident Muhammadu Buhari has received the reports of the Presidential Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) on the Implementation of the National Minimum Wage with a pledge to review it expeditiously In his comments at the brief ceremony where he received the reports from the chairman of the panel, Bismark Rewane, the President stated the terms of reference of the committee and thanked the members for delivering on time even before the new minimum wage passed recently by the National Assembly was submitted to him for assent.

The President had on 9th of January constituted the PTAC with a mandate to advise Government

on how best to fund, in a sustained manner, the additional costs of implementing the imminent increase in the National Minimum Wage.

He said “You were also asked to advise on the consequential increases in salaries and allowances for other employees, without worsening our already difficult fiscal condition, and without adversely impacting the nation’s development goals as set out in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

“The Committee was also required to propose a work plan and modalities for implementation of the salary increase.

The Technical Committee is chaired by an economist and businessman, Bismarck Rewane,

and has other experienced economists and administrators from the private sector, as well as relevant officials in the Government. It also has a representative of the Governors’ Forum.”

He thanked the chairman and members of the panel for their hard work and patriotism while commending the Honourable Minister of Budget and National Planning, for coordinating the work of the Committee.

“I also commend the Budget Office of the Federation; the National Incomes, Salaries and Wages Commission; the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation; the Federal Inland Revenue Service; the National Bureau of Statistics and the Central

Bank of Nigeria, all of which I understand provided strong support to the Committee in the course of this assignment,” he added.

Buhari equally appreciated the support the government received from private sectors, particularly, Access Bank Plc; PricewaterhouseCoopers; KPMG Advisory Services; Financial Derivatives Company and Economic Associates.

While assuring the panelists that the government would review the reports expeditiously, the President added that in the process, he may need to engage with some members of the Committee while imploring them to make their services available whenever they are called upon.

L-R: APC National Vice Chairman, North Central, Mr. Suleiman Wambai, National Chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, National Auditor of the Party, Mr. Judge Moughalu and Party’s National Welfare Secretary, Mr. Ibrahim Masari, during the APC National Working Committee meeting with Party’s House Representatives Members Elects, at the ‘Yar’adua Centre, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Abducted daughter of NGE’s deputy president regains freedom

By Usman Shuaibu

M

rs. Habiba Abdulsalam, the daughter of the Deputy President of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mallam Uba Gaya, who was abducted recently in Kano, has regained her freedom and reunited with her family members.

Speaking on the terrifying incident, Uba-Gaya told PRNigeria that his daughter miraculously escaped from her kidnappers’ den on Saturday night.

Gaya, who disclosed that the abduction of his daughter happened between 5 and 6 pm on Friday evening, described

the incident as most ‘horrific and traumatic’ for him and the extended family.

He said they could not sleep properly, just as many of them were tramatized and lost appetite for foods.

He added that they got to know of Habiba’s kidnap when his younger brother called some few minutes past 5pm to inform him that his daughter’s phone number was not reachable, after she had spoken to a close family member at about 4:49 pm.

“On the fateful Friday, Habiba went to plait her hair in the house of one of her friends. And after making her hair, she then proceeded to my late father’s

house in Kano metropolis. But the ugly fate that would later befall my daughter started when she boarded a tricycle, and the Keke rider thereafter took two other women at various locations in Kano town, immediately he carried her.

“According to my daughter, the Keke rider then took a road leading to the popular Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.

Immediately, a bus came and overtook them. It quickly stopped, and three hefty men emerge and whisked them into the vehicle and zoomed towards Zaria.

“When the kidnappers arrived at an area in Kaduna that Friday evening, they took my daughter

and the two other women to an unknown house.

They were blindfolded and taken to a thick forest in Niger State,” Mal. Gaya narrated.

Uba-Gaya further told PRNigeria that Habiba’s freedom was secured without paying any ransom to the kidnappers even when some members of the family had started negotiating the sale of assets in case.

The Deputy President of NGE expressed gratitude to the Police, and other security agencies, especially the Army for its robust intelligence gathering on the circumstances surrounding his daughter’s abduction and timely release by the kidnappers.

Catholic priest kidnapped in Kaduna From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

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he parish priest of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Ankwa Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna state, Rev. Fr.

John Bako Shekwolo has been abducted by unknown persons.

The Chancellor of Kaduna Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Daniel Kyon disclosed this in a statement made available to the media in Kaduna

yesterday.

The statement called on all faithful of the church and beyond to join in prayers for the safe release of the priest.

The statement also appealed

to the abductors of the priest to release him without any delay.

It was gathered that Rev, Fr Shekwolo was abducted in his resident at the early hours of yesterday.

When our reporter visited the Catholic Secretariat along Tafawa Balewa Road in Kaduna metropolis, people were in sober mood over the abduction of Rev. Fr. Shekwolo.

PAGE 7

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

CRIME News

DPR seals Abducted 5-year girl, Aisha Ibrahim 21 petrol reunited with family - Police stations in Akwa T Ibom

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

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he Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Akwa Ibom said on Monday that it had sealed 21 filling stations for operating without licenses and for nonrenewal of licences.

The Operations Controller of DPR in the state, Tamunoiminabo Kingsley-Sundaye, disclosed this to journalists in Eket, Eket Local Government Area of the state.

Mr Kingsley-Sundaye, however, said that eight out of the sealed 21 filling stations had applied to renew their licenses.

“In our aggressive surveillance of filling stations in Akwa Ibom, 21 filling stations were sealed and their offences were mostly operating with expired licences and without DPR’s licences.”

“We found out that four filling stations took over from the former management to form a new company,” he said.

The operations controller further said that the department clamped down on four illegal Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) refilling points in Uyo, the state capital.

“People just rent a two-room apartment, connect some pipes to 50kg cylinder and do some constructions that are unknown to any engineering standard,” he said.

Mr Kingsley-Sundaye said that the constructions were dangerous to the public and described the business as an offence.

He said that the department, in collaboration with sister agencies, had dismantled three out of the four illegal LPG refilling points.

“One is still under seal; we will dismantle it because such a business is illegal. I don’t know where they got the idea from; we can’t call this technology,” he said.

He warned the operators or people who want to venture into the illegal business to desist from it or face the wrath of the law.

Mr Kingsley-Sundaye called on the public to report the existence of such illegal LPG refilling points to the law enforcement agencies or DPR for proper action.(NAN)

he police said its officers have have reunited a five -year old girl, Aisha Ibrahim with her family.

The police in a statement issued yesterday by its PRO Frank Mba said the girl who was kidnapped on 16th March, 2019 at Ibudu 1 Area, Warri, Delta State by unknown persons was rescued unhurt by the Police at BukanKwatu, Lafia, Nasarawa State.

“Aisha Ibrahim was reunited with her father Mr Ibrahim Abdulmalik of

Gibori Street, Ibudu Market, Warri, Delta State on 20th March, 2019 at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

It said the obviously elated father was exclaiming; “I thank God o! I thank Police o! I have even lost hope!

I just received a call I should come to Force Headquarters to collect my pikin!” as he showered encomiums on the Nigeria Police Force for the intense follow-up which led to the quick rescue of his daughter who was kidnapped while returning from school on the said day.

The statement said on receipt of the information, Police detectives from the Force Headquarters, Abuja, acting on the directives of the Inspector General of Police, Ag. IGP M.A Adamu, swung into action which led to the arrest of the suspects and rescue of the victim.

The two (2) suspects are Abdullahi Abubakar ‘m’ 30yrs and his mother, Mrs Jummai Salihu 62yrs old, both of Bukan-Kwatu, Lafia, Nasarawa State.

Abdullahi Abubakar the principal suspect, who is well-known to the family of the victim, under the pretext

of helping the victim to cross the road, abducted her and took her from Warri, Delta State to Lafia, Nasarawa State where he kept her with his mother (second suspect) while he contacted the parents of the victim for ransom.

“The suspects have made useful statements to the Police on the roles they played in the kidnap of young Aisha. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend other persons, particularly one Inusah Ibrahim ‘m’ 58yrs of No.7 UCC Road, Hausa Quarters, Warri, Delta State, connected to the crime.”

L-R: Director, Policy and Strategy, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Mr. Abdullahi Sidi- Aliyu; Advisory Economic Trade and Investment Affairs, Embassy of the kingdom of the Neitherland, Ms. Sonia Fajusegbe; and Counselor/ Head of Trade and European Section, Mr. Filippo Amato exchanging pleasantries during the Focus group session on Nigerian nonoil export stakeholders meeting, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-owo

Woman, 75, detained for standing surety for son that jumped bail

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eighbours and relations of an ailing 75-year-old woman, Elizabeth Otubambo, have expressed concerns as she is being held in prison custody since last month.

Otubambo has been incarcerated at Ibara Prisons in Abeokuta, Ogun State, over an alleged offence committed by her son.

The News Agency of Nigeria learnt in Abeokuta on Friday that Otumbabo has been held since February 15 for her inability to produce her only child,

Destiny Otubambo, who is alleged to have jumped bail after his mother stood surety for him.

The septuagenarian, residing at Iyana Isashi community in Ojo, near Lagos, is said to be in deteriorating health, a condition that has reportedly taken a turn for the worse since her incarceration.

One of Otubambo’s neighbours, Mrs. Bidemi Erinle, appealed to the Ogun Government to intervene in the matter, to ensure that the old woman, a

widow, does not die in prison.

Speaking on the matter, Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Police Command, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi, told NAN that Elizabeth was being held on the orders of an Ogun State Magistrates’ Court.

He said that her son was arrested by the Police, following complaints by the owner of Soultrag Hotel, Petetdo, Agbara in Ogun State, over unpaid hotel bills.

The Police spokesman said that

Destiny had lodged in the hotel with his three other friends for about a month, incurring a bill of about one million naira.

Oyeyemi disclosed that Destiny, who was held in prison custody after his arraignment, was later granted bail after his aged mother stood surety for him.

He said that the court had ordered that the old woman should be held in prison custody until her son shows up to answer to the charges brought against him.(NAN)

Court okays collation, counting of Bauchi guber results

By Vivian Okejeme

J

ustice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday, dismissed a suit seeking to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from collating, concluding and making declaration in the March 9, governorship election in Bauchi State.

Delivering the ruling, Justice Ekwo, vacated the order of status quo maintenance issued by the court on March 19, 2019 which stopped the electoral body from proceedings with

the collation of the election results.

The Judge upheld the submissions of the counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC),Tanimu Inuwa, who argued that the court has no jurisdiction to entertain the suit on account of being a post-election matter.

The plaintiffs, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, had approached the court on March 18, through their counsel, Ahmed Raji (SAN) with a suit seeking to stop INEC from collating, concluding and

declaring the Bauchi state governorship election.

The plaintiffs in their arguments claimed that INEC cannot continue with collation of results.

In a counter affidavit by INEC, deposed to by one Hassan Adamu, a Higher Executive Officer, in its legal department, the electoral body insisted that the Federal High Court has no jurisdiction to hear a post-election matters.

INEC informed the court that its decision to continue with the collation of the results was based on the figures

contained in the duplicates of the results of the election.

However, the court, after hearing submissions of parties in the matter, declined jurisdiction and ordered INEC to perform its statutory functions.

Further on the server allegation, PDP claimed that President Buhari is overweighed by the burden of illegitimacy, following overwhelming evidence before the tribunal that he stole the Presidential mandate, “hence this lame attempt at blackmailing the tribunal by engaging in clear acts of subjudice.”

Blind man asks court to recover N350, transistor radio from repairer

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50-year-old blind man, Abubakar Umar of Sabon Gida Kano Road, on Monday prayed a Kaduna Sharia Court ll Magajin Gari to recover his N350 and radio set from a repairs man.

Mr Umar told the court that his radio set was the only friend he had and he was tired of going to the repairer’s shop seeking back his N350 and the

radio set.

“I am a blind beggar, I suffered to raise that N350, he must give me back my money and radio set, he has betrayed the trust I had in him.

“I am tired of going to his shop.

Sometimes he tells his boys to tell me that he has travelled and when I go to the shop, I hear his voice speaking softly.”

The respondent, 51-year-old Garba Abubakar of Sabon Gida Guragu Street, Kano Road, Kaduna, who appeared in the court with the radio set, told the court that he delayed fixing the radio due to the unstable power supply.

“I fixed the radio set. I was only keeping it for him to come and get it. ”Umar has a temper. The last time he came to my shop, he began hitting

everybody with his stick, I refused to give him the radio because of his last action”, he added.

After listening to their testimonies, the judge, Musa Sa’ad-Goma, ordered Mr Abubakar to tune the radio to a particular station, to see if the radio was working.

The judge also ordered Mr Umar (the blind man) to touch the radio to

confirm if it was his.

However, Mr Umar tested the radio and further complained that the stations are not tuning and that the ambience was very low.

The judge further urged Mr Umar to remain calm and not to go to the repairer’s shop again for any action, promising that the case will be solved amicably.(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

PAGE 8

News

Buhari’s policies will stabilize economy, says APGA

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

T

he All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has scored President Muhammadu Buhari high on his economic policies, saying that the results of his economic initiatives will soon begin to result in stable economy and better living standard for Nigerians.

Briefing journalists yesterday in Abuja, the APGA chairman, Victor Ike Oye, said also that what Nigerians must do today is to give moral and spiritual support to the President by praying for him, adding that the President deserves

complete eight years as provided by the Constitution.

Speaking further, he lamented that some Nigerians spend their time criticising the President, warning that politics is not a do or die affairs, just as he pointed out that desperate politics is why there is always political violence during elections.

He charged Nigerians to learn how to cooperate with the those in leadership position in the country, saying it is by this understanding that the unity and peace of the country can be promoted irrespective of race and religion.

He further emphasized the need

for Nigerians to offer valuable advice to the President to enable him succeed in office.

Commenting on the 2019 general elections, Oye said the party believes that the election was generally free, fair and credible, noting that even the international community adjudged the process as such. He said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was not given such benefit of the doubts by Nigerians to conduct a credible general elections.

“We have our own misgivings, but in our own thinking, the outcome of the election was fair.

Nobody gave INEC the chance to perform the little it has done. INEC showed immeasurable courage by ensuring that the elections went the way they did, especially the Presidential elections. In our own estimation, the election was free and fair and APGA is happy with the outcome of that elections”, he said.

Responding to the loss of the three Senatorial seats of the State to PDP, he said the party is growing in leaps and bounds, having won six House of Assembly seats in Imo state, twenty four out of thirty seats in Anambra state House of Assembly, five seats in the House

of Representatives in Anambra.

Oye further said that APGA has made in-route into the north by winning three House of Representatives in Benue state, one House of Representatives seats in Taraba state and another House of Representatives seat in Imo state.

While pointing out that the party has done very well and ready to do more, the APGA chairman said the party had won the Gwagwalada Area council election, three seats in Taraba House of Assembly and another three seats in Bayelsa House of Assembly, among others.

Page 9

News

Oil prices near flat amid economic slowdown fears

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il prices were little changed on Monday, with concerns of a sharp economic slowdown overshadowing support from tighter supply due to OPEC’s production cuts and U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

Brent crude oil futures were up 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $67.15 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were at $58.96 per barrel, down 8 cents, or 0.1 percent.

Both crude oil price benchmarks closed down last week after briefly hitting their highest since November 2018.

“Oil remains in a tug-of-war

between fundamentals and a fickle sentiment in the global financial markets,” said Vandana Hari of consultancy Vanda Insights.

Concerns about a potential U.S. recession emerged on Friday after cautious remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve caused 10-year treasury yields to slip below the three-month rate for the first time since 2007.

Historically, an inverted yield curve - where long-term rates fall below short-term ones - has signaled an upcoming recession, and world stocks hit a 12-day trough on Monday.

Bullish sentiment helped drive

benchmarks to last week’s highs, but that move could now leave them vulnerable to a correction.

“Speculators increased their net long in ICE Brent by 15,934 lots over the last reporting week, to leave them with a net long of 308,606 lots ... the largest position since late October,” ING said in a note.

“A large gross long is a key downside risk for the market, especially with growing concerns over the economy.”

Adding to concerns of a widespread global downturn, manufacturing output data from Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, shrank for the third

straight month, though an improved index on business climate there provided some cheer.

“Estimates for growth and earnings have been revised down materially across all major regions,” said U.S. bank Morgan Stanley.

But BNP Paribas strategist Harry Tchilinguirian told the Reuters Global Oil Forum: “Oil supply fundamentals remain price-constructive with OPEC+ collectively making good progress on pledged supply cuts while involuntary supply losses in Iran remain sizeable and those in Venezuela continue to mount.”

The Organization of the

Late presentation cause of high cancerrelated deaths —UCH boss

Okowa calls for preservation of African languages From Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

D

elta State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa has called for the preservation of African Languages.

The governor made the call on Sunday at the public presentation cum dedication of the Holy Bible written in Ika language.

The event took place at the Cathedral Church of Ascension, Boji Boji Owa, Ika North-East local government area of Delta State.

According to Governor Okowa, “it has become very common to see parents communicating with their children in pidgin English rather than their mother tongue.”

“With the Ika Bible, we are making progress in the preservation of our language and the spreading of the word of God in Ika language, “ he said.

While congratulating those who made it possible for the Bible to be translated in Ika language, Governor Okowa asserted, “it is important that we teach our children how to speak, read and write in Ika language.”

The Primate of Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh in a sermon at the event, thanked God for the several ways He is assisting Nigeria and congratulated Governor Okowa for his re-election victory.

He observed that the implication of having the Holy Bible in Ika language is that it will make the Ika people to know God well, make the Ika people to come back to God through His son, Jesus Christ, among others.

The Bible is the manual which God gave to man on how to worship him, adding, “God speaks and acts and the proper reaction of human being to the words or actions of God is to worship Him.” “When God speaks to you or He appears in your life, the reaction is to worship Him, rejoice for what God has done for you with your heart, dance like David did,” the Primate said, adding that with the translation of the Bible in Ika language, God has spoken to the people of Ika nation.

He asserted, “the most important aspect of having the Holy Bible in Ika language is evangelism; it is very important that wherever you find yourself, no matter your profession, preach the word of God, win souls for Christ.”

Chairman of the Board of Trustees to Ika Bible Project, Bishop Augustine Iweriebor in an address, said, “we are here to set a landmark which generations yet unborn in Ika nation will make reference to, stand upon as a bedrock for further spiritual enhancement and make claim to as a means of both local, national and international identification.

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas accompanied by the Commandant Naval War College Nigeria, Rear Admiral Thaddeus Udofia addressing the press after the Inauguration of Course 3 of the College, yesterday in Calabar Cross River State.

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L-R: Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Adamu; Criminal Intelligence Officer, Vulnerable Communities Sub-Directorate, Interpol Central Secretariat, Mr Bulent Tansel and Acting Head, National Central Bureau, Abuja, DCP Lanre Bankole, during a workshop to counter trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling in Nigeria organised by INTERPOL, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

We need $461m to fix new airport terminals – Minister

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he Minister of State Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has urged the National Assembly to approve $461.8 million for additional work on the new terminals ongoing across the country.

Mr Sirika made the request when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Aviation on Monday in Abuja for his ministry’s budget defence.

He said the required amount, which was needed in addition to the $500 million loan already gotten from China Exim Bank for the purpose would help to tackle some challenges encountered in the process of building the terminals.

He said some of the challenges encountered in the process of building the news terminals were change in the structural design of the airports, foundation footing and escalators.

The minister also said there was a need to make provisions for the biggest modern aircraft, change in departure and arrival floors to flow with railway station, provision of adequate power supply and relocation of control tower and fire service station, among others.

“The challenges have resulted in the need for variation and additional works to the tune of $461,795, 551.02, which has been approved by

the Federal Executive Council (FEC), “he said.

Mr Sirika, a former senator, stressed that the China Exim Bank had indicated willingness to consider funding additional works.

He added that the ministry had written to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to provide for the sum of $73.9 million as counterpart fund in 2019 outside the ministry’s proposed national budget.

He said the airports being worked upon were already wearing new looks befitting of modern airports.

According to Mr Sirika, two of the new terminals, in Port Harcourt and Abuja have been

commissioned, while Lagos and Kano will be completed shortly.

He said adequate provision had been made to complete the new terminal buildings at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

He solicited the support of the National Assembly and other stakeholders to ensure all needed equipment necessary for safety and security were provided to meet the Standard and Recommended Practices (SARPs) as outlined by regulatory aviation bodies.

The minister assured that more bilateral and multilateral air service agreements would be signed for the benefits of travellers.(NAN)

hief Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, says late presentation of cancer remains one of the three major causes of morbidity and deaths in the hospital in the last three years.

Otegbayo said this during the opening ceremony of a threeday workshop organised by the Pharmacy Department of the hospital.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the workshop, entitled, Pharmaceutical Care in Oncology Practice, was to create more awareness on cancer and find ways to address its challenges.

The CMD was represented by the chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, Dr. Victor Akinmoladun.

According to him, the late presentation of patients with cancer to tertiary hospitals contributes to the recorded cancer morbidity and mortality.

“Cancer care is multidisciplinary and pharmaceutical oncology is one of the most critical aspects.

“It involves diagnosis and therapy; the hospital management is in full support of this workshop.

“It is very relevant in helping us address some of the challenges of cancer care in the hospital.

“The Department of Pharmacy has paid a lot of attention to oncological cases and we hope that the department will become the hub and the foremost in pharmaceutical oncology in the country.(NAN)

Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-affiliated allies such as Russia, together referred to as OPEC+, have pledged to withhold around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil supply this year to prop up markets, with OPEC’s de-facto leader, Saudi Arabia, seen to be pushing for a crude price of over $70 per barrel.

Commerzbank noted declines in U.S. crude stocks and expenditure

by U.S. shale firms were also providing support.

“Oil market-specific reports, which point to tighter supply, are preventing prices from falling any more sharply.”(CNBC)

Four academies get N20m grant for professional journals

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he Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, on Monday in Abuja, gave a total grant of N20 million to four national academies for publication of professional journals to boost Research and Development (R & D).

Mr Onu said the four academies: Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE), Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) and Nigerian Academy of Social Science (NASS), received a cheque of N5 million each.

The minister said the grant would assist the academies to

produce journals that would fast track information dissemination of research findings toward national development.

He added that “we are making history today. It may be a small beginning, but this is a very important step to integrate all knowledge.

“In the past, we supported the Nigerian Academy of Science and the Nigerian Academy of Engineering. Today, we want to expand this by bringing in Nigerian Academy of Letters and Nigerian Academy Social Sciences.

“If you are solving a scientific

problem, you need to also understand the environment.

You also need to understand the relationship with human behaviours.”

Mr Onu further said the support was to demonstrate the readiness of the ministry toward supporting the academies’ future activities.

He said the grant was also to ensure that the national academies no longer depend on foreign funding for their activities.

He added that “we think that Nigeria has come of age to make sizeable contribution to your

funding.”

The NASS President, Mosto Onuoha, who responded on behalf of the academies, thanked the minister, adding that the grant would be used well for the next production of journals.

He said “on behalf of the four grant recipients, we want to thank you for your thoughtfulness and concrete action.

“We want to thank you for this gesture. We will like to assure you that we will use the fund judiciously to ensure the next edition of our professional journals come out in time.”(NAN)

CWED sensitizes pupils on importance of water From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

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entre for Water and Environment Development (CWED) has sensitized the pupils of Karji LGEA primary school in Chikun local government area of Kaduna State on the importance of water.

Speaking on the importance of water both to human and

animals, the CWED Program Manager, Shanni Doris Zakama said, the sensitization was part of activities which marked the celebration of this year’s Water Day with the theme, “ Leaving no one behind”.

She emphasised that billions of people today live without safe and portable water and stress the need to address such gap in

order to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to provide safed water for all by the year 2030.

The program manager urged the pupils to always use clean water to safeguard themselves against all forms of diseases such as malaria, cholera etc.

Represented by the Public Relations Officer Lydia Saleh,

the program manager took the enthusiastic pupils through various uses and importance of water, such as for bathing, washing, cooking, drinking among other uses.

She said, the world water day which is annually celebrated every 22nd March is aimed to among others tackle the water crisis through identifying and

addressing reasons why so many people are still being left behind in their access to portable water.

Earlier, the Head Teacher of the School, Mrs Mary E. Umoru commended the NGO for choosing her schools for such sensitization.

She said, the knowledge impacted on the pupils will certainly help their day to day live particularly on the usage of water.

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

PAGE 10

News EITI confers on NNPC highest discloser status

By Etuka Sunday

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lobal extractive industries watchdog, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has confered on Nigerian Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) the highest Discloser Status.

The accolade is the most prestigious and credible medal on offer in the international extractive industries circle.

NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in a release in Abuja stated that the recognition was conveyed to the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, through a letter dated 5 March, 2019 and endorsed by Waziri Adio, Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), on behalf of its parent global body.

The statement said, the decision to confer the award on the NNPC was reached at EITI’s Board meeting in Kiev, Ukraine, on 27 February, 2019, having adjudged Nigeria to have attained “Satisfactory Progress in implementing all EITI requirements”.

The report said: “Nigeria is the first Anglophone African country and one of the seven countries within the EITI community to have attained this status so far.’’

The global extractive industries transparency watchdog explained that the laurel was a milestone for Nigeria and a clear recognition and appreciation of the invaluable role of NNPC. NEITI stated: “We particularly note and commend the increasing collaboration and cooperation from NNPC and its subsidiaries and the new wave of reforms which your organization exemplifies by the monthly disclosure of operational and financial data of the National Oil Company’’.

It pledged to work with the NNPC to ensure that it continues to sustain its leadership as champion of transparency.

Commenting on the development, Dr. Baru, said the global recognition was a testament to the far reaching reforms his Management was carrying out in the corporation to inculcate probity and accountability in all tiers of its operational value chain.

He stated that the NNPC would sustain its adherence to transparency and accountability, saying the corporation was committed to full disclosure of its activities.

Kebbi’s Farouk Mohammed wins 9Mobile N5m star price

By Etuka Sunday

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he management of 9mobile Nigeria has rewarded some of their customers in their ongoing promo known as ‘Magic Hour promo’ by giving out N5million to the star winner, Farouk Mohammed from Birni Kebbi and N50,000 each to 12 other winners.

While friends of the winners got shopping dash (Time allotted them to shop in a store with the amount allocated within the specified time.

The time ranges from 29 minutes to 99 minutes while the amounts ranges from N100,000

to N300,000.

Speaking after presenting cheques to the winners in Abuja, the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Stephanie Beuvelet said it was the company’s way of rewarding its loyal subscribers.

“It is one way 9mobile recognizes the loyalty of its customers and also to be able to reward their presence on the network. We also want to change the live of a few customers and we found the opportunity through this promo to really change some of the lives and we are very happy for that.

“This promo will last for 90

day; I believe it should end by May ending (2019). We have seen an increased number of participants and it is becoming very popular especially in Abuja. And we have seen a very good feedback and our customers are quite happy that they are able to participate.

“As you know entry ticket is very low it is only N100 and outside this they recognize the value and quality of service of the network.

What is most important for us is that we are able to empower our customers in Nigeria” he said.

In creating awareness about the promo he said, “We try our best to create awareness through electronic media and adverts and

we are also doing everything we can to increase awareness as we want everybody to participate.

Mr. Farouk Mohammed who won the star price of N5million was very excited and thankful as he appreciated 9mobile for the promo and the price money narrated his experience.

“I am very happy and I say thank you 9mobile. I will use this money to expand my mobile phone business. Because I won N5million in this 9mobile promo all my friends have gone to buy 9mobile line. I recharge regularly and one day I just saw a text message that I have won N5M and that is how it happened.”

L-R: Chairman, Buruku Local Government Area of Benue State, Mr Justin Sorkaa; Benue State Commissioner for Health in, Dr Eru Ukonu and Country Program Director, Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Nigeria, Dr Echey Ijezie, during the inauguration of a new clinic built by AHF at Awuapila Mbalagh Community in Buruku Local Government Area, yesterday in Benue State.

106 bag first class as UNIPORT graduates 9,452 students

T

he University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) will on Saturday graduate 9,452 students with 106 of them bagging First Class degrees.

Ndowa Lale, a professor and Vice-Chancellor of the university, disclosed this at a news conference on Monday in Port Harcourt as part of programmes to mark the 32nd Convocation Ceremony of the institution.

Mr Lale said the conferment of degrees, higher degrees, diploma, certificates and prizes would hold at the university from March 29 to March 30.

According to him, the convocation was mainly for students who finished their academic programmes for the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic sessions.

“In the undergraduate category, a total of 4,771 students were harvested with 3,205 and 1,566 for the 2016/2017 and

2017/2018 academic sessions respectively.

“Out of the figure, 106 graduands will receive the First Class Honours, 1,799 Second Class Upper Division, 2,533 Second Class Lower Division while 132 will receive Third Class degrees.

“Also, a total of 70 will receive Bachelor of Pharmacy degrees; 105 will be admitted into Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery while 26 students gets Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree,” he said.

Mr Lale said no fewer than 4,681 students would also be conferred with the Doctor of Philosophy degree, Master’s degree and Postgraduate Diploma in various specialisation and programmes.

The vice chancellor said the students were drawn from eight faculties which included Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, Education, Engineering,

Management Sciences, Agriculture and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Others were School of Science Laboratory Technology (SSLT) and College of Health Sciences.

“The Minister of Science and technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu will deliver a convocation lecture on March 28 entitled: “Higher Education as a Driver of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of a Nation.’’

“UNIPORT will continue to produce quality graduates that will compete favourably with their counterparts locally and internationally,” he said.

Mr Lale said since he took office in 2015, several programmes had been introduced with the focus of making UNIPORT a world class university in academics, research and development.

He said students and lecturers now take attendance to class and other academic work seriously due

to stringent measures introduced in the university.

“We have completed rehabilitation of 15 hostel accommodation and nine lecture halls and classrooms in collaboration with the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS).

“Also, 16 of the 32 housing units that we initiated at the University Park have now been completed and allocated to staff.

“I am also pleased to announce that all the programmes offered in UNIPORT now enjoy full accreditation status – thanks to the quality of our academic programmes and personnel,” he added.

The vice chancellor said UNIPORT would continue to play a leading role in research and development in order to solve practical problems of industries and the larger society.(NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, march 26, 2019

PAGE 11

Letter to the Editor

EDITORIAL

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Agriculture: Kill the insidious killer

othing artificial is ever Organic nature means that this is enduring. It goes with what nature is all about without consequencies, sometimes polluting it with salt, the chemical small and sometimes enormous fertilisers are salt. but because of the prospensity of ‘‘They damage the soil of all kinds and man for experimentations mostly over a while, you find out that the for commercial gains, negatives are soil is no longer good for you because often overlooked. they destroy the microbes which This observation can best qualify the make the soil more productive. We gigantic transformation by man need to make the food healthier in the agricultural sector. First, because a lot of self-poisoning is it was the chemical revolution going on in the country. that changed before our eyes the ‘‘Even the machines we use to grind amount of yields per hectare which tomatoes in the market, metal greatly gladdened the hearts of food rubbing against metal; particles of producers. heavy metals getting Further in the pursuit into the food. of inventions for ‘Suddenly, you see the sector, crossa young person in fertilisation of plants the hospital, like 20 and animals gave rise We are slowly years of age suffering to hybrids that look going to begin from liver and kidney beautiful to the eyes but problem and you ask, to eliminate awkward and in most do you drink alcohol, chemical cases, less strong and he says no, then what is afflictive.

Whatever happening? fertilisers. the case, consumers ‘‘We are not probing gobbled them down Organic nature enough but we want with delight whether means that this to start in agriculture, palatable or not, even is what nature eliminating dangerous when the foods are elements from our food. is all about spiced with harmful ‘‘The place to begin is preservatives. without polluting the farm, right from Then, came the debates where you are planting, it with salt, about genetically from the soil, from the chemical the bio-chemicals, the modified foods praised by innovators as fertilisers are salt water, all of that has healthy and side-effect to be controlled and free, while others saw then you have healthy them as lethal toxins foods,’’ the minister designed to destroy humans slowly. said.

But overtime, scientific analysis of In this regard, we commend the efforts our agricultural production system of Mr Ogbeh in collaborating with worldwide point to a general an Indian company, Contec Global agreement on the need to return Agro Limited which is already to nature which has all our food as conducting an experiment to medicines. develop microbes from the soil in We may not agree more with the federal the laboratory and putting them government of Nigeria for joining back into the soil without the use of other well-meaning citizens of the chemicals. world against the will of industry, in However, to effectively achieve this, all her bid to gradually phase out the hands must be on deck because the use of chemical fertilisers to ensure process of gradual conversion to the the production of healthy foods for organic fashion will require study the people. on the existing ferlitiser plants The news coming from Mr. Audu scattered in almost all the states of Ogbeh, an agric scientist and the the federation and which are not Minister of Agriculture and Rural without costs.

Development, is highly pleasing It will also require the contributions amidst worries over the increasing of the health authorities, the number of liver and kidney diseases Customs service, food and drug among young people. administrators and other relevant ‘‘We are slowly going to begin to authorities in the overall success of eliminate chemical fertilisers. the ban.

“

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NASS leadership as APC’s Sword of Damocles

By Sufuyan Ojeifo

A

feeling of de javu in the Nigerian political milieu seems to flow from the Marxian anecdote that “History repeats itself, the first as tragedy and then as farce.” Ahead of constitution of the leadership of the 9th National Assembly in June, this year, this presents a real bugaboo, particularly, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

There is a historical context to the current anxiety within and outside the party. The constitution of the 8th National Assembly leadership in 2015 was a critical point of departure from the culture of suzerainty in which the governing party, with the majority seats in both Chambers, reins in the conflicting aspirations of its members in compliance with its zoning arrangements.

But, unable to contain internal dissonance, the leadership of the APC, in 2015, lost its core role in guiding members who were interested in the positions of presiding officers to exercise their rights within the ambit of party’s decisions.

The ramification of that loss of control was the emergence of Bukola Saraki as senate president, contrary to the party’s choice.

The APC caucus in the Senate was irredeemably fractured and effort was dissipated along different directions as a plethora of aspirants pushed for the Senate Presidency.

Saraki from the North Central zone was one of them. He was sufficiently prepared to step in the saddle, but lacked APC leadership’s endorsement.

Conversely, Ahmed Lawan from the North East zone, with the support of the leadership, looked good to clinch the position. George Akume from North Central dropped his aspiration to queue behind Lawan for the position of Deputy Senate President (DSP).

But Saraki had quickly deployed his political legerdemain in the circumstance to undercut, circumvent and upstage the applecart of the APC high-command to become Senate President.

Clearly piqued that Saraki was victorious against its internal arrangements, the APC took his victory as far less painful than the stratagem he deployed. The astute Saraki worked in cahoots with the PDP caucus to secure the critical simple majority votes - and in the spirit of the deal - trading away the position of DSP to the opposition party. Ike Ekweremadu emerged to retain the position that he had held for eight years in a PDP-controlled Senate.

The emergence of the Saraki-Ekweremadu leadership by subterfuge and sheer conspiratorial alliance has become history. It is a painful history that continues to remind the APC of how it historically mismanaged its majority position in the 8th National Assembly. Even in the House of Representatives, the APC was unable to enforce its choice of Femi Gbajabiamila from the South West zone as Speaker. The forces that upended APC’s arrangements in the Senate reportedly supported Hon. Yakubu Dogara from the North East zone to emerge as Speaker.

The convoluted trajectory by the APC in 2015, which produced a National Assembly leadership perpetually feuding with the Buhari Presidency, presents in much bolder relief the tragic nature and dimensions of the party’s recent inexplicable history of allowing an otherwise simple matter of selection of National Assembly leadership to go awry.

To be sure, the APC leadership, under the national chairmanship of Chief John OdigieOyegun, proved unimaginably inept in managing the process in a very utilitarian fashion. Through laissez-faire footing and perverse compromise, the party leadership failed to rein in its members in the National Assembly.

Reflectively, Buhari was complicit in the hypocrisy that damaged the APC. Whereas, Buhari was purported to have preferred the North East zone to produce the Senate President and, specifically, Senator Ahmed Lawan, he did not push the agenda through as an imperative presidential action. He was even reported to have scheduled a meeting with the APC senate caucus on the morning of the inauguration of the

8thNational Assembly to issue the final directive.

The President did not show up for the meeting, which was fixed for the same time the Senate was being inaugurated. Saraki had already been elected unopposed as Senate President before the majority members of the APC caucus got to the chamber. For not effectively pulling whatever strings behind the scene, perhaps, as not to be seen to be teleguiding the constitution of the National Assembly leadership, Buhari and his party paid the price for their imprudence for all of four years under the Saraki/Dogara leadership.

Currently, the 2015 scenario is building up ahead of the inauguration of the 9th National Assembly. Will the APC and President Buhari allow a repeat of history? It will be farcical if, under his nose and in a back-to-back manner, the President allows the 2015 ‘tragedy’ to be reenacted. Desperation, muted APC leadership and cloaked presidential interest in the leadership of the federal legislature, which are some of the conditions precedent for the repeat of that tragic history, exist in the APC. Why is there apparent desperation for the position of the Senate President and Speaker? In the North East, three ranking senators -Lawan, Ali Ndume and Danjuma Goje are jostling for the position. Lawan has already elevated his campaign some notches by announcing his interest during a crowded media interactive session in Abuja last weekend.

There are fears that Ndume, who was supplanted by Lawan as Senate Leader in the 8th Senate, sees this as an opportunity to take his pound of flesh. Ndume believes that Lawan colluded with Saraki to effect his removal as Senate Leader without prior notice or complaints. Ndume had stepped out to pray only for him to return to the Chamber to discover that he had been removed and replaced with Lawan.

Saraki and his loyalists, according to feelers, are comfortable with Lawan; certainly not with Ndume.

Goje provides the third leg of the North East APC tripod targeting the senate presidency.

There are reports that Goje enjoys the support of the Saraki group because he appears more acquiescent to the group in its bid to secure the position of Deputy Senate President, acting in concert with the PDP caucus.

Some APC quarters are leery of the party leadership zoning the senate presidency to the North East, which is capable of spawning crisis.

The argument in some quarters is that APC should be politically sagacious to turn away from the North East and guide the senate presidency to the North Central zone. The zone has yet to throw up overtly desperate ranking senators.

Ranking senators have not unsettled the zone on the altar of vaulting aspirations.

The consensus is that the APC should tread the path of least resistance and acrimony. The North West zone and the South West zone are not the path to tread, having produced the president and vice president respectively. The South-south zone has produced the position of national chairman of the APC. Whereas, the South East zone has two ranking members of the National Assembly, do the APC apparatchiks consider the zone qualified in terms of performance in the 2019 general election and commitment to the party platform to produce the Senate President?

In the House of Representatives, no fewer than 13 members-elect are jostling for the position of Speaker. This is the reason the APC leadership, acting in concert with Buhari, must act proactively to avert the Sword of Damocles that the National Assembly leadership contests typify. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Buhari must be on top of the process this time round.

Hear Marx again: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.”

Oshiomhole and Buhari must be appropriately instructed.

Ojeifo, journalist and public affairs analyst, contributed this piece via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com

PAGE 12

Opinion

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

PAGE 13

Comment

Kano supplementary election and sundry matters

Case for sustaining Nigeria’s institutions

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By Mike Imafidor

By Jibrin Ibrahim

e observed the election activities in a joint team of A. B. Mahmoud and Professor Auwal Yadudu of Kano Peace and Development Initiative (KAPEDI) and Professor Jibrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development. We observed the opening at Gwagwarwa 5 centre, Polling Unit 010 A & B, with 756 registered voters where one polling unit had started voting but not the second at 8:20 am. Our attention was drawn to the fact that polling officials for the second unit were waiting in their vehicle for the pulling unit to be cleared of the large crowd that occupied the area.

We spoke to the police officer in charge who organised the security officials to clear the place and organise an orderly queue so that the polling officials could begin setting up at 8:30 am. The problem was that there was a very large crowd and the polling unit was on the road without any enclosure. It appears to be a road side suya place. When voting started, the smart card reader was working well.

Our driver was trying to take pictures and suddenly a crowd descended on him trying to seize his phone and we had to intervene to save the situation. There was a very intimidating presence of APC party agents all around us and we did not feel very safe. It appeared as if commotion could start at any moment given the huge crowd around.

We then proceeded to Gama Tudu Primary school Polling Unit 015 with 909 registered voters. There was a very large crowd outside the centre, again composed mainly of APC party agents and hundreds of people standing around.

There was an effective security cordon round the school and only voters with PVC and party agents were allowed into the premises. Within the school premises itself, voting was proceeding smoothly.

The problem was that the crowd outside was much larger than the number of voters inside. After counting, could the officials move out easily?

We proceeded to Kofar Mazugal, Masaka Primary School centre polling unit 051 with 752 registered voters where voting was going on in a fairly

orderly manner with the PVC in use.

There was however a very large crowd of non-voters amassed just outside the school. As we left the school at 10.25 am, we saw a senior police official outside, who had had seen earlier in Gama. We stopped to ask him how things were going and within a minute, the crowd got suspicious and started throwing stones at us. The police intervened immediately shooting warning shots and tear gas so we could leave unharmed. The tension and suspicion in all voting centres was extremely high producing a very volatile situation.

We then proceeded to Dala at Kukar Bulukiya Centre polling unit 040 with 613 registered voters and there was a large crowd outside the polling unit

“

We then proceeded to Dala at Kukar Bulukiya Centre polling unit 040 with 613 registered voters and there was a large crowd outside the polling unit which appeared agitated and unsafe

Winning in today’s business world

By Seni Adetu

O

ver the next few weeks, I will be sharing my thoughts on how to win in today’s very challenging and dynamic business world. If you were to ask an Economics or Business student to describe the Nigerian economy and its current state in one or two words, I imagine you would hear such words as ‘monolithic;’ ‘fragile;’ ‘import-oriented;’ ‘Africa’s largest;’ ‘developing’ (or ‘regressing’ depending on the school of thought), etc.

Irrespective of the side of the divide you are on, the one thing that we all seem to agree with is that the economy is shaky at the moment. We also know that the economic potential of the country in terms of the population (and its youthfulness) or the emergence of the spending middle class, or the vast expanse of arable land for agriculture or availability of solid minerals, is huge. However, as I have always said, people take cash, not potential, to the bank. Besides, we have sung the ‘we have potential’ theme so often we are sounding like broken records now. It’s high time we turned potential into reality to experience sustainable economic growth.

It is an undeniable fact that the current operating environment for business is harsh – poor power supply, little or no forex, low capacity utilisation, high (and increasing) cost of capital, etc. So how are companies reacting currently? I believe that several companies must have pressed the panic button by way of, for example, freezing hiring (or even cutting heads), cutting marketing and training budgets, stopping innovation (due to uncertainties around value accretion from such new brands), doing portfolio rationalisation (as in letting go of some brands without due evaluation) and cutting costs in an unstructured, shorttermist manner.

Question is, is this really the time to press the panic button or is there space for staying the course and remaining focused on the long-term strategic imperatives of the company while executing today’s plan, albeit cautiously? I argue for the latter. I strongly believe in the Nigeria project, and as I said before, the fundamentals remain strong. This is the time a truly inspirational leader demonstrates his ability to inspire employees to stay in the game and not give up the ghost.

For me, there are four to five key areas a CEO especially in a manufacturing organisation must focus on at a time like this: (i) Revalidating the strategy for the year to ensure it is still on point in view of the changes in the macro environment. (ii) Ensuring the company’s marketing investments are “active”, consumer – focused and geared towards delivering profitable growth and market share gains. (iii) Ensuring greater operating efficiency by moderating manufacturing and related costs – even if that requires some smart brand value engineering work, such as reformulation without

compromising product integrity. (iv) Innovation and (v) Employee engagement and communication.

Underlying all these, is the need for increased focus on matters of governance and compliance because when employees are under pressure for performance at work or for burdensome request for financial support at home (by especially their extended family), they tend to get ‘creative’ in breaching established ethical standards.

It is no omission that I have not mentioned the cutting of heads and of marketing spend in my list. These are the default reactions in most organisations anyway and, in truth, in some cases, the CEO has no choice but to do these. I posit however, that there’s only so much fat you can slash off before getting to the bone as it relates to cutting people and marketing.

Back to the point of strategy revalidation, this is not the time to spend endless hours at meetings preparing power point slides.

The leader needs to focus the team on execution. At times, the quality of efforts we put into planning and strategising is not matched by the quality of our execution; and that’s the performance bane of most

“

These are the default reactions in most organisations anyway and, in truth, in some cases, the CEO has no choice but to do these. I posit however, that there’s only so much fat you can slash

which appeared agitated and unsafe. We were advised to leave so we left.

Between 11 and 11:30 am were went back to Gama ward and drove through observing that crowds of non-voters appeared to be growing even large and there was tension in the air. Our assessment was that it was becoming unsafe so we left.

Observations 1) There was massive security presence composed essentially of the police and civil defence forces in all polling centres as well as major road intersections.

2) There were large crowds in all polling centres and most of them had badges indicating they were APC party agents and supervisors. The number of PDP agents was very small in comparison.

The huge disequilibrium in terms of the relative numbers of agents could present a risk factor as the voting proceeds.

3) The level of tension in the city is extremely high and there are multiple narratives of rigging plots circulating which is increasing suspicion.

4) There is a concerted plan to prevent people recording what is going on camera or video. The threats to stop photographic evidence being taken is direct and has increased the suspicion that some untoward is being planned.

Jibrin Ibrahim, Senior Fellow, Centre for Democracy and Development

organisations.

I recall that some years back, I was announced CEO in a major PLC outside Nigeria three months before I was to assume office. I then reached out to the incumbent CEO to share with me their business plan to prepare me for the task ahead. He replied that he was on the road, but would ask his Strategy Director to send. When his director sent by email, my computer system crashed – that was how heavy the document was! It took my IT team several hours of hard work to recover my files. One week after, my outgoing predecessor was back in his office, and apparently without checking that his Strategy Director had sent, also sent the exact material. Of course my PC crashed again. I became so nervous that I called on God for help. I wondered how I was going to successfully navigate my tenure as CEO of a company where the strategy document was so huge as to have crashed my PC twice! I recall vividly that on assumption of office and at my first town hall meeting with all staff, I announced that since we had “enough strategy to last a lifetime,” my three–year tenure was going to focus on executing the strategy flawlessly. I genuinely meant it, and that’s exactly what we did, and to great effect, leading to a career height where, to God’s glory, I was recognised by CNBC/ Forbes as a leading CEO. My point here is that today, execution must count even much more than before.

Finally, I submit that at a time like this, all roads lead to leadership. In the coming weeks, I will offer my thoughts on the leadership qualities required for successfully sailing through these difficult economic times.

Have a fantastic week.

Seni Adetu is a Public Policy Analyst.

I

have followed with nostalgia, the recent and ugly trend resurfacing in Nigeria; where people deliver judgements, and execute same on the streets without any sort of trials. Death penalties are now being dished and served hot like “akamu” on a hot afternoon in Sokoto.

Only recently, young boy was beaten and burnt to death in Lagos. On the morning of Friday, 2nd of December 2016, two persons, alleged to be armed robbers were also lynched and burnt in Anambra. Numerous cases abound such that time, space, and memory will fail me if I begin to mention.

Just pause and take a moment to reflect; if you find yourself in a position of being robbed, and you could overcome the robber and apprehend him, what will you do? Let’s go further by assuming this was your third experience with robbers and in the earlier experiences they had succeeded.

I can’t assume what you will do, but one thing I know, if you hand over this robber to the appropriate authority – which is the best thing to do-, you will feel unsatisfied, because you do not trust the system to deal appropriately with the issue.

The big question that then bugs my mind is “whose responsibility is it, to develop the required trust for the system”. When you see well known burglars and thieves parading your street on a Sunday morning, only after being arrested the Thursday before, having been caught in the act. How would this influence your trust for the system to deal with deviant behaviours that are against the social contract we all signed for? Can this lead us to the natural state of mankind as described by Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan, where life was “poor, nasty, brutish, and short”.

My sense is that our institutions have failed in checkmating societal ills and thus

stimulating a return to a “banana republic”.

Much of Nigeria’s history is replete with falling living standards, armed conflicts, political disorder, health challenges, and poor state of human development. This provides a prima facie case, and an indictment on poor institutions of governance to adequately deal with, and manage societal ills.

As early as 1989, the World Bank had in its long-term perspective study argued that of Nigeria’s development problems are underlined by a crisis of weak institutions; and more specifically, a governance challenge.

Past and even present development performance indicators reveal that the country lags greatly behind most developing countries within Africa and even beyond.

This is despite implementing series of economic reform agendas in which their direct impacts were to stimulate development in the country. The World Bank Global Development Report (2016), puts Nigeria as one of the top ten (10) countries in the world with the highest number of poor. With a poverty rate of 46 percent, Nigeria is put only ahead of three countries -Madagascar, Mozambique and Congo Democratic Republic.

In Nigeria, economic rents, which perpetuate on the cover of ethnicity and religious bigotry take precedence over productivity. The unbridled taste to promote corruption and the redistribution of wealth in favour of certain ethnic and political groups is a pure manifestation of the inability of institutions in Nigeria to play its expected role.

In the Nigeria context, it is very common to hear such phrase as the “Nigerian factor”.

This factor simply implies that standards have been reduced or compromised by the basic institutions in service delivery. This factor has also succeeded in making nonsense of accountability in the country.

This factor has worsened and weakened institutions, such as the legislative, executive and the judicial institutions where rule of law and the devotion to formal rules are not strictly observed; where political patronage is typical practice, where the independence and professionalism of the public sector has been weather-beaten and where civil society lacks the means, or the will to bring public pressure to bear.

According to the Fund for Peace – which is an independent, nonpartisan, non-profit research and educational organization-, a failed nation is characterized by social, political, and/or economic failure. In their 2016 rankings, Nigeria is the 13th most fragile state in from 17th in 2014 out of 178 countries listed.

Nigeria scores 103.5, out of a maximum score 120 (being a totally failed state) and falls in the same group of “high alert” countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Pakistan, and Guinea. Although the credibility of the FFP’s methodology has been called into questions, the results present a real cause for concern, given the recent happenings and trends in the country.

When institutions, which are supposed to be at the apogee of nationhood, are now being slaughtered on the altar of corruption, weak governance, ethnicity, and religious bigotry, what you get is the lynching and burning to death of a seven year old boy in Lagos on the 16th of November 2016, of two alleged armed robbers in Anambra on the 2nd of December 2016, in Aluu community on the 5thof October in 2012, the Zaria Massacre on the 12th of December 2015, and a whole lot of similar occurrences that are happening daily.

In the words of Chinua Achebe, things are indeed “falling apart”, and the centre is losing its grip unconsciously.

The role of institutions in the peaceful progress of a state and stemming this ugly

tide cannot be over emphasised. They are the very foundations of our democracy and are at the core of any reform or policy. Some studies have even shown that nations with strong institutions are two times as efficient and grow three times as fast, in per capita terms, as countries with weak institutional endowments.

Daron and Acemoglu in their award winning book “Why Nations Fail”, also pointed out the key role institutions play in the survival and growth of a state. They noted that the quality of institutions overrides geography and integration (i.e., international trade) in explaining cross-country income levels.

Going forward while few economist have argued that governance reforms in strengthening institutions should not be the priorities of African countries such as Nigeria, since according to them, to trigger economic growth and development in Africa, a ‘big push’ is needed, and that it requires massive investment in support of infrastructure and health care. While this argument might seem tenable in Nigeria where massive infrastructural investment is required to grow businesses, weak and extractive institutions cannot provide the platform for investment to incubate to the desired value.

For this nation to move forward, and not just in circles as its currently being observed, it is imperative that we reawaken our institutions; by this I mean not just the governmental institutions of the legislature, executive, and the judiciary, but also the very fundamental institutions -values, norms and cultures- of our families and local communities.

Mike is a Research and Policy Analyst with Adams and Moore Nigeria.

The future and opportunity for black Africans

By Abimbola Lagunju

I

t is an unfortunate fact of our existence as Blacks that African contribution to human history has been and is being actively negated by the drivers of current civilization. Eurocentrism that neatly carved out every other race from any contribution to human development has had to grudgingly accept the role of Asians and Arabs in the development of human history. This reluctant acceptance stems not only from scholar and historical evidence, but from the current development level of these States. But not so for Africans. The adoption of the languages of colonialists as official languages of African States, the espousal of their religions, the embrace of the political and economic models have further convinced Eurocentrists that Africans had nothing to be proud of before they set their feet on our soil. Even when confronted with contrary evidence as was provided by Cheick Anta Diop, these Eurocentrists backed by their governments go to extreme lengths of historical distortion and manipulation to not only deny any African role in human development but also to demonize the purveyor of such ideas.

Georges Curvier, a French biologist, once wrote, “The African manifestly approaches the monkey tribe. The hordes of which this variety is composed have always remained in a complete state of barbarism…”. America’s Thomas Jefferson also shared this position and said, “…I advance it therefore as a suspicion only

that the blacks whether originally a distinct race or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments of the mind and body…”

Georg Wilhem Hegel in his Philosophy of History, said this of Black Africans: “….their condition is capable of no development of culture, and as we see them at this day, such they have always been…” The Vatican, through Pope Julius II after having declared at the beginning of 16th century (1512) that Indians in South America could be considered the sons and daughters of Adam and thus could not be enslaved, but that Black Africans could be enslaved as they were not of Adam and Eve, recanted in 18th century by advancing the doctrine that indeed, Africans could also be considered as children of Adam and Eve, but that they were the accursed sons of Ham (Genesis 9: 18-27). Africans came and continue to be viewed as objects of history. Any role of Black Africans as agents of history is either actively negated (and backed by “research”) or given a Eurocentric twist when physical facts make induced amnesia impossible.

Nicholas Sarkozy, the French president put the Eurocentric cards on the table for the Africans to see when he declared on 26th July 2007, in a speech in Dakar, Senegal that “The tragedy of Africa is that the African has not fully entered into history. The African peasant, who for thousands of years has lived according to the seasons, whose life ideal was to be in harmony with nature, only knew the eternal renewal of time, rhythmed by the endless

repetition of the same gestures and the same words. In this imaginary world where everything starts over and over again there is no place for human adventure or for the idea of progress. This man (the traditional African) never launched himself towards the future. The idea never came to him to get out of this repetition and to invent his own destiny. … Africa’s challenge is to enter to a greater extent into history. Africa…is to realise that the golden age that Africa is forever recalling will not return because it has never existed.”

But we, Africans know that we have always contributed to human history. We have been contributing since Man came out of the Rift Valley. We know that as each day passes, we contribute as individuals and as groups to human development.

We contribute through their language and culture to human development. More importantly and unknown to them is our contribution to all aspects of human endeavor through our language, arts, culture and knowledge.

Eurocentrists have always claimed that our history is oral that has no value as human memory fails over centuries, but we know that in addition to oral we have monuments (the pyramids), we have written evidence, (the hieroglyphs), and we gave the world the concept of monotheism years before Moses (Akhenaten, whose life resembles ours – “after his death, his monuments were dismantled and hidden, his statues were destroyed, and his name excluded from the king lists”).

Like other civilizations before it, this current civilization will also elcipse out either as a natural phenomenon beyond human knowledge or more likely as a result of destruction of the planet by humans.

Whichever way it happens, we will be history someday.

Yesterday, I read a very interesting story about Martin Kunze, an Austrian, who has developed a unique way of storing knowledge for the future on ceramic tiles in the oldest salt-mine in the world. The initiative is called “Memory of Mankind” (MOM), and it accepts texts, music, cultural events, personal stories, books, blogs for storage. It is a storage designed to transmit who and what we are now to those who will come behind us (here on this planet if it exists or from outer space).

Africans must be present in the future; so I am appealing to all my readers who write, sing, produce any form of art or science to take this opportunity and store your materials for the future. I do not know Martin, but I am really fascinated by his idea. You can read more about MOM on www.memory-of-mankind.com I want my books, this article you are reading now, as well as my entire blog to be read by the creatures of the future 500, 000 years from now.

Abimbola Lagunju is a writer and author of several books and can be reached abimbola.lagunju@gmail. com

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PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

NEWS

32 entities stole N1.3trn in four years – Magu

T

he Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has disclosed that the money stolen by 32 entities (human and corporate) between 2011 and 2015, is well over N1.3 trillion.

Mr Magu disclosed this in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 2019 First Batch Conversion Training Programme to Procurement Cadre for Federal Parastatal and Agencies, organised by the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, in Lagos on Monday, March 25, 2019.

Mr Magu, in a paper delivered on his behalf by the commission’s secretary, Ola Olukoyede, decried this huge financial loss

on the country, and noted that “one third of this money, using world bank rates and cost, could have comfortably been used to construct well over 500km of roads; build close to 200 schools; educate about 4000 children from primary to tertiary levels at N25million per child; build 20,000 units of two-bedroom houses across the country and do even more.

“The cost of this grand theft, therefore, is that these roads, schools and houses will never be built and these children will never have access to quality education because a few rapacious individuals had cornered for themselves what would have helped secure the

lives of the future generations, thereby depriving them of quality education and healthcare, among others.”

He stated that the poor state of the procurement process in Nigeria was one of the major reasons why corruption has continued to thrive in government agencies and parastatals.

The EFCC boss further noted that the training, organised by the BPP was aimed at giving the participants the tools, knowledge and understanding they would need to carry out their duties in their respective places of primary assignments in an efficient and transparent manner.

“I sincerely hope that at the end of this training, we will see

a few cases of financial propriety in our procurement processes in government agencies and parastatal. Indeed, corruption could kill Nigeria, if we do not scale up our proficiency in contract and procurement management process,” Mr Magu said.

He further observed that “the establishment of the EFCC in 2003 was because of the determination of the Federal Government to combat fraudulent activities of some Nigerians and foreigners, mismanagement in the economic sector, corruption by public officials and lack of accountability and transparency in government dealings.”

He identified some of the fraudulent practices in

procurement processes in Nigeria to include: kickbacks, conflict of interests, fraud in the bidding process, bid suppression, collusive bidding, bid rotation and market division.

Others according to him are: comingling of contracts, change order abuse, cost mischarging, defective pricing, false statement and claim, phantom vendors, product substitution, unnecessary purchases and purchases for personal use or resale.

Mr Magu expressed confidence that Nigeria still has patriotic and credible individuals who would do all within their abilities to uphold the credibility and honesty required for leadership in public offices.(NAN)

NOUN graduates 20,799 students

By Usman Shuaibu

From Ibrahim Sidi Muh’d, Gusau

T

he Court of Appeal sitting in Sokoto State had yesterday set aside decision earlier taken by the Zamfara State High Court led by Justice Bello Shinkafi, which permitted APC to field its candidates in the recently conducted guber, national and state assemblies’ elections in the state.

While passing the leading judgment, Justice Tom Yakubu who was supported by two other Judges, Justice Tijjani Abubakar and Justice Jamilu Tukur respectively held firmly that the lower Court had failed in the discharge of its duty upon proper calculation on the evidence

presented before it.

Justice Yakubu further challenged that Judges attending to cases across Courts, have legal power to arrive on judgments but should be based on legallyclear reasons, adding that, “That was not done by the lower Court in its move to calculate out the controversial decision”.

He ruled that the plaintiffs, who were card-carrying members of the APC and aspirants for that matter, have legal right to constitute the suit, adding that, “The Judges have agreed that the judgment should serve as a “Bitter Lesson” for other political parties to learn to respect the guidelines and rules laid for primary elections.

It would be recalled, the

Zamfara State High Court had on 25/01/2019 recognized the said primary elections claimed to have been conducted by the APC in the state, the situation which led to filing the case before the Court of Appeal in Sokoto by Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa, with 129 others, through his Counsel, Mr. Mike Ozehokome (SAN).

In a swift reaction to posts on Social media, the Special Adviser on Media and Communication to the Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Magaji Dosara, said the decision by the Court of Appeal would not affect the elections conducted by the party in the state.

“However, unlike the rumours now awash all social

media platforms that the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, has nullified our elections, is not true.

The statement is incorrect.

Those circulating the rumours are doing so to cause mayhem in our state to satisfy the ego of their masters. You may recall that they have been doing so to mislead the public.

“What the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, did this morning was setting aside the judgment by the Zamfara State High Court on the ground of “examination of proofs of evidence “. This has nothing to do with our elections.

“The Court has not, in anyway, tempered with our elections, as only Tribunal has

the right to listen to issues arising from election matters.

“Again, the Court of Appeal Sokoto Division has not in anyway tempered with the processes of the primary elections. It only faulted the examination of the proofs of evidence.

“Furthermore, the processes of filing the appeal were done after the expiration of period within which to do so.

“For these reasons, His Excellency, the Executive Gov of Zamfara State and Chairman Nigeria Governors Forum and Senator- elect, Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar is appealing to all members of the APC and its supporters to remain calm and law-abiding,” Ibrahim Dosara stated.

Ortom promises to amend mistakes of first term

T

he National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) on Saturday graduated a total number of 20,799 students.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu who disclosed this during the 8th convocation ceremony at the Headquarters of the University in Abuja, pointing out that the best graduating student was Bala Salihu Magaji .

He said: “The total Number of Undergraduate graduands is 15,642 with a total of 103 receiving first class, while the number of postgraduates is 5,157”.

He noted that NOUN was the only University in Nigeria that provided hopes for those who had lost hope in getting higher education in the country.

He told the gathering that the management of NOUN had admitted 34 out of the over 250 students who applied for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Programmes run by the University.

His words: “ I am glad to report that all the programmes the university submitted to the National Universities Commission (NUC), have all received accreditation”.

Professor Adamu,however, thanked the president Muhammadu Buhari for giving the necessary support to the university to actualize its dreams for Nigerians.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Chancellor of NOUN, His Royal Highness, Dr Lawrence Okolio, advised the graduating students to be good diplomats of the university in anywhere they found themselves.

On his part, Pro-chancellor of the University, Peter Okebukola, assured the entire staff that the Governing Council would not relent in its efforts to improve on their welfare.

Meanwhile, the graduation ceremony was attended by the government functionaries, business moguls as well as politicians.

Appeal Court nullifies Zamfara APC primaries

From Uche Makurdi

Nnorom,

R L-R: Representative of the Acting Executive Chairman, Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Mr Osita Nwaja; Director General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Maj.-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure and the Director, Human Reassures Management of NYSC, Alhaji Abdulrasak Salami, during a leadership and anti-corruption sensitization workshop for NYSC staff, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN

Exercise caution on Lagos-Abeokuta highway, FRSC urges motorists

T

he Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission in Ogun State, Mr. Clement Oladele, on Monday urged motorists plying the LagosAbeokuta Expressway to exercise caution.

He spoke against the background of complaints by motorists on the slow pace of the rehabilitation work on the highway and the consequent traffic snarl.

Oladele, who noted that the challenge on the road would end with its rehabilitation, said the Command could only interface with the construction firm to complete the project on schedule.

“With the ongoing rehabilitation, there is now hope that when the project is completed, the hiccups associated with using the corridor would fizzle out as soon as the project is delivered.

“On our part, the FRSC will continue to interface with the construction firm to provide adequate signage that conforms to the relevant UN conventions which Nigeria recently acceded to for purpose of highway safety,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that motorists plying the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway have expressed concerns over the slow

pace of work by the construction company handling the project.

The motorists, in separate interviews with NAN on Monday in Abeokuta, particularly complained that the construction company was using dividers to block a major part of the OwodeIjako end of the road, resulting in traffic snarl.

Abeeb Ahmed, a commercial driver, said the pace of work was slow and had caused motorists and residents untold hardship.

“We usually spend hours on this particular axis of the road.

For example, this morning, we have already spent almost 50 minutes on a stretch of a journey

that is supposed to take between five to 10 minutes.

“I urge the Federal Government to monitor the activities of the construction company continuously and also give them an ultimatum which it must not fail to meet,” he said.

Another motorist, Femi George, said there was need for proper monitoring of the state of work done so far, adding that the current tempo was not encouraging.

Patrick Jones, a resident of Owode, said the Owode /Ijako axis of the expressway was becoming a nightmare to travellers using the route. (NAN)

e-elected Governor of Benue State Samuel Ortom has promised to make amends for the mistakes of his administration in its first term by delivering the dividends of democracy to the people.

Governor Ortom who said this in his re-election acceptance speech after INEC declared him winner of the Benue Governorship supplementary election, acknowledged that mistakes were made and lessons have been learnt, pledging that they will be corrected in his second term in office.

According to him, ‘Our days in the wilderness are over. The end of my tenure will be better than the first’.

The Governor also, extended the olive branch to his fellow contestants, appealing to them to join hands with him to build a new Benue of their collective dreams.

“I urge you to bring whatever ideas you have to the table so that together we can add value to the State. Since, politics is over now, we should refrain from acts that would cause bitterness but engage in behaviors that would promote peace and reconciliation.

I will set up a Peace and Truth Reconciliation Committee to find ways to truly forgive one another and usher peace and development in the State”, Ortom pledged.

New Members Elects of the All Progressives Congress (APC), during the National Working Committee of the party meeting with Party’s House Representatives Members Elects, at the ‘Yar’adua Centre, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Kwankwatso instigated Kano violence - BMO

By Umar Muhammad Puma

T

he Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of instigating violence in Kano in the aftermath of the electoral victory of Governor Abdulahi Ganduje in the supplementary gubernatorial election.

This, according to the group, is because the PDP gubernatorial candidate Abba Yusuf had set the tone for the outbreak of violence with a vow that the state would be plunged into violence if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declares the All Progressives Congress (APC) victorious.

BMO said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, that the opposition party should be held responsible for the isolated cases of violence during and after the March 23 election.

“There were indeed pockets of

violence in Kano during the rerun election but we at BMO are alarmed at the level of propaganda that PDP and the Kwankwasiya movement were pushing out while actual voting was ongoing.

“Some of the gory pictures posted online were found to have been from a bar brawl in Ghana while at least one showing a machete sticking out from an individual’s shoulder was actually a special effect shot by a make-up artiste.

“Yet another set of gory pictures were taken from previous Jos crises, all in an effort to discredit an election that the Coalition of INEC Accredited Observers said was largely peaceful.”

BMO expressed dismay that a former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso was at the centre of the call for public disobedience in the state at a time former Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakkko was in Sokoto urging aggrieved APC supporters to be calm after PDP candidate and incumbent Governor Aminu Tambuwal was declared re-elected for a second

term in office.

“Nothing could be more shocking than seeing a highprofile politician like Kwankwaso, a two-time Governor, a Senator and a one-time defence minister, who had on more than one occasion aspired to be president of the country making comments on national TV that could best be described as inciting public disorder.

“Even while the election was still on, he was reeling out incidents of violence based on social media posts in an interview on Channels TV and he is on record to have told his supporters before Saturday that there was no way PDP could lose the election.

“But somewhere in Sokoto, another former governor, who is also a Senator, did not make any inciting comment even after the APC gubernatorial candidate Ahmed Aliyu lost the election by a slim margin of 342 votes.

“Rather, he called for calm and promised to challenge the outcome of the election at the

tribunal. That is what is expected of true statesmen instead of a call for ‘unprecedented crisis’ like PDP leaders did in Kano”, it said.

The pro-Buhari group also acknowledged the statesmanship exhibited by President Muhammadu Buhari, not only during the run-up to the March 23 election, but also during the process.

“In the midst of all these, we are impressed by the dignified and impressive neutrality of President Buhari who did not take any extra-constitutional measure to tilt the electoral scale in favour of his party especially in the states that he won with overwhelming majority on February 23.

“That is the main reason the re-run was a tight contest between the contending candidates in Kano and Sokoto.

“We challenge leaders of the opposition to mention at least one PDP-era President who did not interfere with the electoral process during supplementary elections, with a view to ensuring victory for his party’s candidates.”

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PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

POLITICS

Ganduje won squarely – Coalition

By Ochiaka Ugwu

A

coalition of civil society organization, Coalition for Electoral Advancement (CEA) has said that the victory of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje in the March 23 supplementary poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) followed the Electoral Act and guidelines of the commission.

The CEA, which is made up of the Peoples Alliance for Indigenous Rights (PAIR), Society for Gender Equity (SGE) and Network for Onward Nigeria Equality (NeON), said in Abuja on Monday that any aggrieved party should seek legal recourse rather than foment trouble.

At a press briefing by Isa Yaro, national coordinator, and Priye Briggs, Director of Information, the coalition said Governor Ganduje worked for his victory which should not be overshadowed by a few peoples’ idea of what the law says.

“This briefing has become necessary in view of the cacophony of voices over the outcome of the Kano supplementary elections which was won gallantly by Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, Executive Governor of Kano State.

“Since INEC announced Dr. Ganduje as governor-elect, a few but vocal minority have continued to harp on issues that are outside the law.

“Gentlemen of the press, we sincerely believe that you are all familiar with Clause 33(e) of INEC Guidelines and Regulations.

“For clarity, the Clause provides: “Where the margin of lead between the two leading candidates in an election is NOT in excess of the total number of voters registered in Polling Units where elections are not held or voided in line with sections 26 and 53 of the Electoral Act, the returning officer shall decline to make a return until polls have taken place in the affected Polling Units and the results collated into the relevant forms for Declaration and Return. This is the Margin of Lead Principle and shall apply wherever necessary in making returns of all elections to which these Regulations and Guidelines apply.”

The coalition noted that while there were ‘little skirmishes, expected in electoral process, which was resolved quickly by the police, some mischief makers have sought to hold on to it even when it is unlike some places like Benue where a collation officer was shot dead to create tension.”

They called on the PDP and its candidate in Kano state not to cause the breakdown of law and order, rather if they are dissatisfied by the conduct of the electoral process to seek legal recourse, which they are entitled to.

Kano Supplementary Poll: Ganduje thanks God, Kano voters

G

ov. Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has thanked God and the people of the state for re-electing him for a second term.

NAN reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday declared Ganduje, winner of the Kano State governorship supplementary election held Saturday.

In the supplementary election held in 28 out of the 44 local government areas in the state, Ganduje won by scoring 45,876 votes to the PDP Abba Yusuf’s 10,239.

State Returning Officer Prof.

Bello Shehu, announced that Ganduje scored a total vote of 1,033,695 while Mr Yusuf polled 1,024,713.

Ganduje , who made the promise in his re-election speech on Sunday night in Kano, called on all to join hands with him to build the state.

He also said that he would run an all inclusive government that will carry everyone along in the administration of the state.

The governor thanked the people for their belief in his capacity to lead them and for the peaceful conduct of the March 23 re-run election.

The governor also promised

not to fail the electorate.

He said he would consolidate on his achievement and also embark on people oriented projects.

“We are going to complete all projects and initiate new ones and we are also open to new ideas and new vision,” he said.

The governor who thanked God for the dramatic victory urged the people of the state, irrespective of their political inclination, to join hands with him to move Kano forward.

“I thank all who voted me, those that did not vote me and and those who did not vote at all.

“Girl child education,

L-R: Governor of Lagos state, Akinwunmi Ambode, Vice President, Prof.

Yemi Osinbanjo, His wife, Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, with others, during the Thanks-giving Service, at the Interdenominational Praise on Sunday in Lagos.

Kano re-run election largely peaceful - Observers From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

C

oalition of Accredited Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commended security agencies for maintaining the highest level of professionalism before, during and after the supplementary election in the state.

The state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje emerged winner of the re-run election conducted in 28 Local Government areas on Saturday, March 23.

In a statement signed by seven officials of the group on Monday,

the coalition said despite some reports of election related violence and intimidation, the overall political climate in the state remained peaceful, which paved way for the successful conduct of the poll.

According to the group, the collaborative relationship between INEC and Inter-agency Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCS) is what contributed to the general peaceful atmosphere in the state.

The group also commended INEC for successful conduct of supplementary election in the tate.

“We call upon the winners/ loosers to respect rule of law and call on their supporters to remain peaceful and law abiding.

“We call on the political actors to refrain from disseminating false information and channel their electoral grievances through established legal processes,” the group said The group also called on INEC to collaborate more effectively with Nigerian Police to investigate electoral offences and offenders and “apply appropriate measures to sanction any person or group of persons found culpable to serve as deterrent in subsequent election.”

Atiku’s suit lacks merit, bounds to fail - says BMO

By Umar Muhammad Puma

A

bubakar Atiku’s suit challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari is one that is bound to fail, as it lacks merit and is a waste of time of the Judiciary, according to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO).

The group, in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, stated that Atiku knew that he had no chance of victory even before the elections and is only attempting this suit to hoodwink Nigerians and ultimately waste the time of the country’s judiciary.

“The loser of the 2019 Presidential Elections, Atiku Abubakar has yet to wake up from his hallucination that he can steal a chance to defeat President

Buhari in an election. Mr Atiku never had a chance at victory and would never.”

“If the Presidential elections were to hold ten times, Atiku would lose ten times to President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Atiku knew it, even before the elections were held, that he never stood a chance at beating President Buhari at the polls. He continues to allow marabouts and his paid praise-singers to sing him tunes of chances which he never had.”

BMO noted that Atiku’s loss at the 2019 Presidential Polls was evidence of Nigerians rejecting the former Vice President.

“The majority of Nigerians have rejected Atiku. And he must come to terms with that. While we are not

against his exercise of his constitutional right to seek justice in a court of law, we are insisting that Nigerians are aware that his claim to seeking a mandate in the court is only a pipe-dream as the entirety of his observations lack merit, are false and only a waste of time.”

The group noted that what the courts would eventually do, would be to stamp the authority of victory on President Buhari at the end of the day, adding that Atiku’s loss started at his polling unit where President Buhari beat him.

“The signs were very clear before the elections, during the elections, and with the eventual victory that President Buhari was the victor and had the popular appeal across the country.

“Atiku’s rejection by Nigerians started with his own household.”

agriculture, women and youth empowerment, healthcare delivery, peace and security will be my focus in the next four years.

“I thank you for the fresh mandate and I promise to serve you better because the victory is not for me or my deputy, the victory is for the good people of Kano.

“As we get ready to start our second term, I urge you to continue to maintain the peace we have so far enjoyed,” he said.

He commended INEC for their professionalism and also thanked the electorate in the state for reelecting President Muhammadu Buhari. (NAN)

Be magnanimous in victory, Kano elders tell Ganduje From Edwin Olofu, Kano

K

ano Concerned Citizens Initiative (KCCI) has called on Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of the state to be magnanimous in victory.

Ganduje won the re-run election by defeating his major contender, Abba Kabir Yusuf of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with 8990 votes.

The result of the election announced on Sunday put Ganduje ahead, having scored 1,033,695 votes against Yusuf who polled 1,024, 705 votes.

However, in a statement signed by the KCCI chairman, Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa yesterday, the elders called on Ganduje to embrace all ‘Kanawa’ as one family and treat all as equals.

KCCI also urged the governor to pursue the agenda for development je shared with the group during interaction with governorship candidates before election.

“We acknowledge and appreciate H. E. Governor Ganduje in this regard, who already made a call for peace to reign in Kano State.

“Now that the results of the supplementary elections are officially declared by INEC, the electoral umpire, we wish to re-echo our call on the need for peace to reign, irrespective of the disappointment in what others may perceive of the outcome.

“It is worthy of note that adequate windows are provided by our laws to redress ant type of wrong. We urge that those opportunities be used. So there is no reason whatsoever for anybody to resort to illegalities as means of seeking redress. We are glad that is the thinking everywhere,” he said The group also commended the emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II for his constant calls for peace throughout the trying moments in the state.

The elders also commended youth for behaving reasonably before during and after the elections.

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PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

POLITICS

Senator Lawal begins campaign for Senate Presidency

Y

obe North Senator, Ahmed Lawan, has flagged off his campaign to become the next Senate President.

Mr Lawan, currently the Senate Leader, kicked off the campaign in Lagos on Sunday urging his colleagues to endorse and vote for him.

Details of the kick off was published by The Nation.

Mr Lawan has had his eyes on the number three position since 2015.

In 2015, the APC endorsed him following zoning of the position of the president of the Senate to the North-east.

However, he failed as the incumbent, Bukola Saraki, emerged president of the Senate against his party’s wish.

Mr Saraki’s reign was characterised by faceoffs between the executive and legislature even before he dumped the APC in 2018.

On Sunday, Mr Lawan said the next Senate would assist the country by helping President Muhammadu Buhari to achieve his agenda.

He said the doctrine of the separation of powers should not translate into an unnecessary rift that will cripple harmonious working relations among the organs of government to the detriment of the country.

He announced his campaign slogan to be: ‘A Senate and National Assembly that works for Nigeria.’

His campaign manager,

Yahaya Abdullahi (senator, Kebbi North), said Mr Lawan’s entry into the race is a new beginning for the Senate. He also hailed Oluremi Tinubu for “the partnership for the progressive agenda”.

Mrs Tinubu, the wife of senior APC leader, Bola Tinubu, had few weeks ago made public her intent to become the next Deputy Senate President.

Mr Lawan, who described himself as a progressive, observed that the next Senate will be made up of seasoned professionals, technocrats and statesmen, adding that “the experience we have garnered will help us to assist the country through legislation”.

“I have been in the National Assembly for almost 20 years.

I have served in the House of

Representatives for eight years and the Senate for 12 years, I thank God and my people for renewing my mandate.

“I am a progressive. I was an APP and later, ANPP House of Representatives member and I am now in the APC. I believe in the progressive politics, in ensuring that ordinary people – the masses – get support and opportunities to actualise their potentials and dreams. We should support entrepreneurship and business to grow and thrive for employment to boom.”

“We need a National Assembly that will look at Nigeria as its constituency. We want a Senate and a National Assembly that will maintain cordiality, synergy and cooperation with other arms of

government.”

Mr Lawan said the welfare of Nigerians should not be compromised, adding that jobs and wealth “should not be concentrated in a few hands.”

He said the relationship among the three organs should be characterised by cooperation, collaboration, partnership and synergy.

“We may disagree. Our perspective(s) may differ. We don’t go to the market square to settle our differences. We should be able to meet and discuss issues and make compromise in the national interest. That is the way to grow democracy. We may disagree, but the disagreement should not escalate,” he said.

(NAN)

How APC, PDP bought votes in Akwa Ibom – Election observers

E

lection observers in Akwa Ibom on Monday narrated their experiences in the just concluded general elections in the state.

At a post-election event in Uyo, one local observer said vote-buying was a phenomenon in the elections.

“The two major political parties, PDP and APC, struggled to outdo each other in the amount of money they were giving out to voters during the election,” the observer said while narrating his experience in the election.

He said one party, through its agent at the polling unit, was dishing out money in naira to voters, while the other party was paying in dollars.

More than 30 observers attended the event. Most of them were of the opinion that the elections, though fraught with irregularities, was ‘generally’ free, fair, and credible.

Apart from one local government area where the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the House of Assembly election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won in all the elections in the state.

The event, tagged “Stakeholders’ Briefing on Niger Delta Watch 2019”, was organised by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), in collaboration with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room.

Joseph Ekong, the SDN team lead, said they monitored the elections in the 31 local government areas of Akwa Ibom State, tracking incidents that occurred with the intention of getting the information across to stakeholders like the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police and other security agencies, as well as the media.

Mr Ekong said he was hopeful that the information gathered from the field and passed on to the stakeholders would be used for the purpose of improving future elections in the country.

Policy Alert, an NGO in Akwa Ibom, coordinated the monitoring of the elections in the state.

Tijah Bolton-Akpan, the executive director of Policy Alert, in his presentation at the briefing, said elections in the state was characterised by violence, ballotstealing, vote-buying, harassment of election observers and journalists,

and the late arrival of voting materials.

“Our observer in Oruk Anam Local Government Area had to hide in the bush for several hours till around 9 p.m.

“In Ibiono Ibom, the PO (presiding officer) in one polling unit had to run through the bush to get to the collation centre. We had reports of thugs being arrested in hotels in Uyo, a day to elections,” Mr BoltonAkpan said.

Mr Bolton-Akpan spoke about the razing of the local office of INEC, the burning down of buses conveying election materials in the state, and the cancellation of elections in some wards in Essien Udim and Udung Uko local government areas due to violence and other malpractices.

“For fear of violence, there was a low turnout of voters in the governorship election in the state, compared to the presidential election,” he said.

Mr Bolton-Akpan said INEC wasted much time in deploying election officials and materials for the elections.

He said members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) who participated in the elections were kept in deplorable conditions which affected their performance in the elections.

“The ad-hoc officials were not well-trained. There’s a need for voters to understand that what you give is what you get. It’s time the electorate take the electoral process seriously.

“On the whole, the election in Akwa Ibom State in 2019 was an improvement on that of the 2015 elections. But there is much that still needs to be done,” he said.

However, a university lecturer, Aniekan Brown, who attended the briefing, said INEC deserves some commendations for the 2019 elections in Akwa Ibom.

Mr Brown, a lecturer in the department of sociology and anthropology, University of Uyo, said the just concluded elections was “the nearest to the best” in the state.

“INEC has done its best to educate voters in the state, it is left for political parties to take up the responsibility of voter-education,” he said.

“Even the politicians themselves are not politically educated,” Mr Brown added. (PREMIUM TIMES)

Blocked creeks been opened by the Bayelsa State Government to avoid flooding as the rains have started, yesterday in Bayelsa State.

Photo: NAN

Reps Spokesman, Namdas sets to declare for Speaker’s seat

By Umar Muhammad Puma

C

hairman House committee on media and public affairs, Rep Abdulrazak Namdas, has concluded arrangements to declare his intention to run for the office of speaker of the 9th National Assembly.

Confirming the development to newsmen yesterday, Rep Namdas said the declarations will comes up at the Nicon Luxury in Abuja.

Information available to the effects that the House spokesman will make the declaration ahead of the

All Progressives Congress (APC’s), decision on zoning of principal offices said to come to light on Wednesday.

Abdulrazak Namdas is a returning member representing Jada/Ganye/Mayo Belwa/Toungo Federal Constituency of Adamawa State.

Elected on the platform of the ruling APC in 2015, Namdas’ declaration will bring the number of top contenders for the post of speaker to 6 so far.

The leadership of the APC has on Monday called a meeting of all

lawmakers elected on it’s party’s platform, and zoning if principal offices was top on the agenda.

Apart from Namdas, also top on the log of contenders are: Femi Gbajabiamila from Lagos, Ahmed Idris Wase from Plateau, Muhammad Umar Bago from Niger, Babangida Ibrahim from Katsina and Aminu Sulaiman from Kano have all indicated interest to run.

But as at the time of filing this report, Namdas’ impending declaration is the one preceding those of other contenders.

Nigeria needs female Speaker - Group

By Christiana Ekpa

A

s the struggle for who becomes speaker of the House of Representatives in the 9th Assembly hots up, a human rights and advocacy group, Coalition of South East Civil Society and Human Rights Organizations has drummed support for the candidacy of Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, who’s the only female in the race so far.

In a statement signed by Jasper Uche and comrade Ibuchukwu Ezike who are the conveners, the groups said the All Progressives

Congress (APC), being a national party should consider geographical spread and gender balance in allocating the political positions to deserving members in line with what the United States just did recently with the election of a female speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

According to the group, Nkeiruka is a “tested hand in legislative matters judging from her contributions in the last 12 years as a legislator in the green chamber with numerous legislative accomplishments which include the Anti-Turture Act, 2017, Compulsory Treatment and Care for Gun Shot

Victims Act 2017, Local Government Autonomy Bill which was merged with the constitution amendment bills, to mention but a few”.

The group further described the lawmaker as “a woman of strong character.

“She has to her credit a clean record in public office, and her achievement as current House Committee chairman in Aviation speaks volume.

“Her grassroots appeal and her interpersonal relationship with other legislators is a great asset to the APC and the country at large”, the group noted.

PAGE 18

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

Page 19

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

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FG woos investors to 22 Nigerian airports

From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

W

ith massive infrastructural upgrade and development ongoing across airports in Nigeria, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is offering irresistible array of incentives to investors who are ready to do business with the airports management agency, according to a document put together to serve as a guide to would be investors.

Currently, FAAN, managers of 22 aerodromes, including five major international airports, domestic and state owned airports as well airstrips is investing heavily in the renewal and expansion of infrastructure in majority

of the airports with five new International Terminal buildings nearing completion in Lagos, Kano and airports while that of Abuja and Port Harcourt airports have been commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari late 2018.

Managing Director of FAAN, Engr. Saleh Dunoma explained that investment opportunities in the various airports are nearly inexhaustible, making them major attractions to collection of partners from airlines, concessionaires, and specialized investors.

According to the document, investors can explore opportunities in non-aeronautical sector such as agro allied and cargo facilities, hangars for aircraft maintenance facility, Independent Power

Project (IPP), terminal building development/management and multi-story car park development.

Others are petrol station, avio bridges, aviation fuel deports; develop surface/ ground transportation (road and monorail), in-flight catering complexes, VIP Lounge, shopping malls, cargo complex/ware housing and hotels, holiday inns/ resort centre.

The rest include advertising and branding, large scale farming, harvest and process aquatic plants, amusement part/aquarium, public gallery, office complex, media hub/film village, trolley management, equipment leasing and horticulture/flower gardens among other.

Also, the document, seen by our reporter explained that the tenure of each project shall be determine by the type and cost of each project while the construction period for capital intensive ventures will be determine by it type, material use for construction, project location as well the size and structure of the land and it cost.

It also enumerated specific opportunities at the various airports and outlined project requirement and tariff for particular investment.

It also stipulates that concession fee range between N3 million and N2 million for international and domestic airports with both requiring a nonrefundable fee of N.5 million for

slot and ATM tariff.

Telecommunication base station tariff commands the highest in the category as it attracts a concession fee of over N3.1million and N1.5million for international and domestic wings of the airports.

Engr.

Donuma assured investors that “our aim is to create capacity and promote an excellent investment environment, put in place international best practise regulatory policies and world class service delivery at our airports.

We are poised for a significant growth in passenger traffic and therefore confident that investors, both local and foreign, would realize prompt significant returns on their investment.

Port Harcourt Refinery bags Africa’s First ISO Certification

By Etuka Sunday

P

ort Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Limited, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has attained the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) 9001:2015 Quality Management System (QMS) certification, the first by any refinery on the African continent.

Mr. Richard Omale, Managing Director of 3FM Solutions, a Management Consulting Company whose outfit conducted the QMS assessment, announced the milestone during a town hall meeting of the NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, with the refinery staff in Port Harcourt.

Omale, who presented the certification to the GMD said: “PHRC has a lot to gain from sustaining its ISO certification.

Apart from belonging to a global movement for improved standards, the certification would provide senior management with an efficient management process and set out areas of responsibility across the organization, among other benefits”.

According to the Consultant, people doing business with the organization would also have the confidence that they are working with a reputable organization that does not only have documented processes and procedures but also pays attention to continual

improvement.

Responding, the GMD congratulated staff on the feat even as he charged other NNPC subsidiaries to emulate the refinery by ensuring that they are up-to-date in their respective certifications in line with global standards.

“ISO Certifications don’t last forever. The onus is now on you to redouble your efforts and ensure the sustenance of this certification,” the GMD told elated staff during the meeting.

The impact of PHRC’s latest certification meant that the company had to keep going through various audits by Bureau Veritas (BV) to ensure that its quality management system was reviewed and standardized based on the streamlined process and improvement plans.

The ISO 9001:2015 specifies requirements for a quality management system when an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

It also shows that the organization aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (middle), Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Science and Technology Mr. Bitrus Bako Nabasu (3rd left), President Nigerian Academy of Letters Prof. Francis Egbokpere (3rd right), Past President Nigerian Academy of Letters Prof. Munzah Jibril (2nd right), Director Legal Adviser of the Ministry Barr. (Mrs.) Yv Odu-thomas (2nd left), Director Science Technology Promotion Mr. Ekanem Udoh (left), Director-General National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. Ibrahim Dan Azumi (right), during the Cash Presentation to Four National Academies for Publication of Professional Journals by the Minister, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

NERC replies ANED, says Metering is DisCos’ Responsibility under MAP

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday replied the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) that the obligation to ensure that all electricity consumers are metered remains with the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) under Meter Asset Provider (MAP) Regulations 2018.

NERC said, this is consistent with their respective Licensing Terms & Conditions and Section 4 (1) of the said Regulations that provides that, inter alia, “Distribution licensee is responsible for the achievement of metering targets as specified by the Commission from time to time.”

Recall, ANED, through its Executive

Director, Research and Advocacy, Mr Sunday Oduntan on Friday last week announced that the association is no longer in charge of metering.

In a swift reaction, the Commission in a statement by its General Manager, Public Affairs Department, Dr. Usman Abba Arabi said, Section 4 (3) of the MAP Regulation requires that all distribution licensees shall engage the services of a Meter Asset Provider(s) towards meeting the metering targets as specified by the Commission and in accordance with the provisions of the MAP Regulations 2018. The DisCos were expected to engage MAP(s) within 120 days of coming into effect of the Regulations.

The deadline was fixed for July 31, 2018 but was extended to November

30, 2018 to engender more competition between potential MAPs thus providing better value for consumers.

Several of the DisCos experienced slippage in the timeline stipulated by the Commission and this infraction is being handled in line with the enforcement regulations of the Commission.

The Commission is currently reviewing the MAP procurement reports and successful Meter Asset Providers shall be announced after a meeting with the DisCos and preferred bidders scheduled to hold next week.

The Commission wishes to reaffirm its commitment to expedite a closure of the current metering gap thus limiting the practice of estimated billing to very exceptional cases in line with the provisions of the MAP regulations.

Powet Sector achieves Energy Peak of 110,724.93MWH

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced that the power sector has achieved a new daily grid energy peak of 110,724.93MWH. This, TCN said, was an improvement on the previous maximum daily grid energy peak of 109,372,01MWH attained over two years ago on the 2nd of February 2016.

In a statement signed by the General Manager (Public Affairs), Ndidi Mbah, TCN said that the new maximum daily energy peak is much higher than the last one attained over two years ago by 1,352.92MWH. TCN explained that the maximum daily grid energy of 110,724.93MWH is different from the peak grid generation (power) of 5,375.0MW attained on February 7, 2019.

The maximum daily grid energy refers to the quantum of energy that is wheeled from generators to distribution load centers nationwide throughout a whole day (00.00Hrs 24:00Hrs).

This is measured in Maga Watts Hour, while the peak grid generation (power) which is a singular reading or high point in grid generation is measured in Megawatts.

According to the statement, the new maximum daily energy and the peak

generation (power) show that TCN now has enhanced capacity and capability to wheel and transmit more power, over time, into the grid, provided the Distribution companies are ready to serve the load to electricity consumers.

It is also an evidence that the ongoing Transmission Rehabilitation and Expansion Program (TREP) being executed by TCN is paying off.

TCN noted that the success of TREP

is in line with this administration’s incremental power policy and that it is poised to continue to play its role in the power sector value chain as well as ensure that its grid expansion plan is implemented on time.

Implementation of TREP it said is tied to its 20 Year Least Cost Transmission Expansion Master Plan, aimed at systematically expanding the nations transmission grid.

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

Page 20

ICT

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

NCC concludes process for subsidy disbursements to InfraCos

METRO

Page 21

… Hosts USTDA delegation

By Etuka Sunday

A

s part of its plans to boost broadband penetration and make it pervasive nationwide, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has concluded process leading to the disbursement of subsidies to the six licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos).

This is part of the digital transformation agenda which the NCC has put in place for actualisation. The subsidy will augment the InfraCos’ capital expenditure (CAPEX).

Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, dropped the hint at the weekend when he received a delegation from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

The USTDA team led by its Ag. Country Director, Mr. Thomas Hardy, was received at the instance of the

NCC Board members and senior management of the Commission, where Chairman, NCC Board, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye called on USTDA to work with the Commission towards addressing deployment challenges being faced by some InfraCo licensees in the SouthSouth geo-political zone due to the riverine, swampy nature of the region.

While providing updates on the Commission’s broadband infrastructure development project, especially the licensing of InfraCos each in the six geo-political zones and Lagos, which is carved as the seventh zone, Danbatta said InfraCo scheme has a publicprivate partnership (PPP) arrangement with a subsidy component that is being worked out for the licensees to fast-track deployment in their respective zones.

“The licensees are expected to play some roles and NCC too is to play some roles to encourage broadband infrastructure deployment by the licensees. Currently, we have seen the

licensees’ CAPEX, we have negotiated the CAPEX and we have arrived at percentage of subsidies based on the negotiation that we have had with them. However, the subsidy will be paid to them by the Commission upon attainment of reasonable milestones by the licensees in their zones of deployment,” he said.

The already licensed six InfraCos include MainOne Limited for Lagos Zone, Raeana Nigeria Limited for SouthSouth Zone, O’dua Infraco Resources Limited for South-West Zone, Fleek Networks Limited for North-West Zone, Brinks Integrated Solutions for NorthEast Zone, and Zinox Technologies Limited for the South-East Zone while the remaining seventh licence for North Central Zone is being processed.

Danbatta told the USTDA team that the idea of InfraCo is an auspicious initiative of the Commission, as it will see licensees deploy their infrastructure for a period spanning

five years and providing wholesale services to other licensees to drive last-mile connectivity to people in the rural, under-served and unserved areas of the country.

“We are trying to build an intra-city and inter-city networks that will be able to connect citizens all over the country irrespective of where they are and what their circumstances are. To that extent, we have decided to provide access points in all the 774 local government areas in the country, trying to provide access to close to 190 million Nigerians, a lot of whom live in rural communities,” he said.

The EVC, however, emphasised that while the Commission is adopting fixed and wireless broadband approaches to its broadband infrastructure development, InfraCo model is open to the use of combination of terrestrial, sub-terrestrial and aerial fibre optic deployment options and the use of television white space (TVWS) spectrum

to provide connectivity in rural areas.

Earlier, USTDA team leader, Thomas Hardy, who commended the NCC for achieving and surpassing the country’s broadband penetration target of 30 per cent in 2018, said the agency’s mission was to see areas where the agency can help to support the digital transformation goals of the country, by working with the NCC and other organisations “to open up opportunity for greater trade, greater economic development and closer bilateral cooperation.”

“As a small foreign sister agency of US with a long-standing history in Nigeria, we support economic infrastructure projects; help in the telecoms, energy and transport sectors where countries have identified their priority development goals in the area of infrastructure development and through US companies, we develop an independent analysis of ways to meet your infrastructure goals,” he added.

31% Broadband Penetration: Group Commends Danbatta, NCC

By Etuka Sunday

M

ore acclamations are coming the way of the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications (NCC), Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, FAEng, and the telecom regulatory agency for successfully helping the country to surpass its 30% Broadband penetration target at the end December 2018.

It could be recalled that Nigeria, under its National Broadband Plan 2013-2018, had set the target of 30% broadband penetration by the end of last year, and the NCC was mandated to drive the process.

However, while there was palpable concern that the country would not meet the target as the penetration level was mere 8.5 % in 2015 when Prof Danbatta took over the mantle of the commission’s leadership, 31.48% was achieved at the end of December, 2018.

In a statement signed by its President, Abdaullahi Sani Ya’u,

the National Alliance of Youth for Development, described the feat as worthy of celebrating by all and sundry.

“In a country notorious for missing vital national policy targets, what Prof Danbatta-led NCC achieved is worthy of recognition. We, as members of an organization that is deeply interested in development of the nation, are particularly thrilled by what the NCC is doing especially in the area of broadband and ICT development generally,” the statement noted.

Speaking further, Ya’u praised President Muhammadu Buhari for “putting a square peg in a square hole by appointing Prof Danbatta to superintend over the affairs of the nation’s telecom market, the biggest in Africa”.

“No doubt, Prof Danbatta is one of the best appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Achieving the broadband target and his other giant strides at the NCC stand him out,” Ya’u observed.

Staff of National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), during the road walk to mark the agency’s 25 anniversary celebration, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Insecurity: Archbishop harps on steadfast trust in God

By Stanley Onyekwere

T L-R: Mr. Joshua Egba, Business Development Specialist, West Africa, United States Trade & Development Agency (USTDA); Mr. Thomas Hardy, Ag. Director, USTDA; Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, Chairman, NCC Board; Shannon Roe, Country manager, Sub-Sahara Africa, USTDA and Mr. Clement Baiye, member, NCC Board during a courtesy visit by USTDA team to the NCC’s headquarters in Abuja at the weekend.

Only 4.7% of FG Institutions optimally use IT -NITDA DG

By Etuka Sunday

T

he Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami has said that only 4.7percent of Federal Government Institutions use Information Technology (IT).

Dr. Pantami said, it was discovered from the survey of 106 participating MDAs at the strategic capacity building for CEOs of our Federal MDAs in August,2018 that 66.04 percent and 4.72percent of them are at the first stage and last of the e-Government Development Index (EGDI)respectively.

“The first emerging stage means MDAs’ use of IT is limited to websites offering basic information online while transformation stage means the way each MDA or government agencies use it.

“From this empirical study,the implication is only about 4.7precent of federal Public Institutions are using IT in somewhat efficient manner where

some transaction Leading to delivery of government services are completed and carried out through a single website or portal even if those transaction require action and business processes from two or more government agencies,” he said.

The NITDA boss said, “despite the above scenario,we have experienced some possibilities in ICT adoption which are evident in the Treasury Single Account(TSA),Integrated Personal Payroll Information System(IPPIS),Government Information Financial Management Information System(GIFMIS),Bank Verification Number(BVN),e-Taxation,e-passport,eWallet for farmers,business registration ong others.

“Presently, ICT contributes over 13.63percent in the of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product)GDP. These good experiences are part of the few successful silo e-Government initiatives in the country,” he said.

Dr. Pantami said, “our public institutions form a big and critical

enterprise that must be managed efficiently to ensure its resources including IT are maximised to create value for stakeholders given the prevailing political, legal and managerial/ administrative context.

“An enterprise architecture provides for an integrated and long-term view of the election strategic goals, structure, people, finance, data/information, business processes and services and their relationship with information technology and the external environment with the aim deriving maximum benefits from the use and adoption of IT. “IT systems are are getting getting more complex and many problems are beginning to emerge. For instance the following challenges are currently being noticed: Inefficient and unscalable IT environment; poor interoperability of IT systems, inability to provide efficient shared services,” he said.

NITDA DG said, there was strong need for efficient deployment of IT in government to ensure desirable out

come as it remains a major strategic tool for implementing government policies,strategic,plans and programmes.

“Federal Public Institutions can leverage efficient IT system to improve governance and create innovative solutions that will transform our governance.”

“We want to create enabling environmental through programmes and initiatives that would facilities the full adoption of ICT for effective governing processes for better service delivery.

“We therefore, committed to ensuring the required ICT skill are deployed in public services are promoted and IT procurement and deployment in d public sector are properly coordinated.

“And also to partner with stakeholders to rnsure silos are broken in our government IT system and lay foundation foran agile citizen-centric,smart, innovative and collaboration government.

“In view of this, something must be done to ensure we fundamentally change

our approach and have a rethink of e-Governance implementation.

ICT needs to be integrated into all development and transformation options, reforms and plans.This necessitates THINKING GLOBALLY and ACTING LOCALLY attitude.”

“Thinking globally to address these challenges requires building foundation for execution, especially in the areas of IT infrastructure and digitized business processes for automating government core capabilities for digital transformation.

“Foundation for execution requires a strategic framework that articulates how IT will be deployed and coordinated in government to create the expected value.”

“Therefore there is a need to develop an Enterprise Architecture that best represents our collective interest and takes us to the desired transformation stage.This is in line with yhe country’s National e-Government Master Plan and NITDA’s strategic focus,” he said.

he Founder, Solid Rock Fellowship International, Archbishop Zakka A. Bonet, has called on Christians and non Christians to always trust in God, in spite of the prevailing insecurity and other challenges they go through in life.

Bonet noted that challenges are common things in life of any man, stating that no matter of challenge should make a

man to derail from serving God almighty, for His mercies.

Speaking during his 60th birthday celebration in KubwaAbuja last Sunday, Archbishop Bonet noted that it has been very inspiring to continue to serve God within these years of his life.

The archbishop maintained that 60 years birthday is unique, because it marks the years of fulfillment in spite of the challenges of life.

According to him, “The celebration is unique in the sense

that 60 is a year of fulfillment. It is the year of feeling great. Normally you get so excited after 50 years, that you have joined the crew of elder statesmen, but at 60, you are a Papa.

“So, I am 60 and I am very excited to have lived these numbers of years, with the glory of God.” Similarly, the chairman of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), FCT chapter, Rev Isaac Komolafe, noted that the number

role as Christians is to pray more and also get people enlightened more on peaceful coexistence.

He said: “We have ability to make changes where need be, so therefore when our people are enlightened, some of the compromises here and there will come to an end.”

Komolafe, who is the Senior Pastor, Four Square Gospel Church in the FCT, noted that Archbishop Bonet is a humble personality, who is ready to work under any

condition.

While calling on other ministers of God to learn from the archbishop’s sense of humility, the PFN Chariman described him as a very supportive leader and aman that has put smiles on many faces in FCT here and in other places.

Our correspondent reports that the occasion was graced by top clergymen drawn from Christian faith-based organisations in FCT and accros the country.

NGO empowers widows, youth with farming skills

By Stanley Onyekwere

I

n furtherance to building capacity towards selfsustenance and economic empowerment, an Abuja based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Helpline Foundation for the Needy has trained over 300

persons on fish farming.

Our correspondent reports that participants were made up of widows, retired civil servants and youth, drawn from the six Area Councils of the FCT. While a total number of 250 trainees were sponsored under the scholarship of Helpline

Foundation, other participants were private individuals who expressed keen desire to acquire such capacity.

The training, which took place inside the Cinema Hall of the Abuja Arts Centre was organised in collaboration with’ Brekete Family’, operators of

Human Rights Radio.

According to the President of the Helpline Foundation, Dr. (Mrs) Jummai Ahmadu, the NGO intends that the participants acquire knowledge and invest in it. She said that after the training, harvest would be just in four months, and that

they can make 70 per cent return on investment.

Dr. Ahmadu commended the Brekete Family for underwriting the cost for over 200 percent, even as she expressed her excitement over the enthusiasm of the women to build capacity and cross the poverty line.

Abuja property developers warned against unauthorized structural re-modification

By Stanley Onyekwere

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roperty developers in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been cautioned to ensure that buildings pass through integrity test before embarking on structural re-modification.

This warning was handed down by the FCT Development Control Department recently, in the wake of increasing incidence of building collapse, largely due to unauthorized alterations.

Speaking during an inspection of a modify building at no 6 Madonna close Wuse

II area of Abuja, Director, Development Control, Muktar Galadima noted that integrity test is to prevent the building from collapsing as a result of additional structures.

Galadima noted that several buildings have gone through remodification without approval

stating that the Department will carry out demolition exercise on such buildings in the Territory.

According to Galadima, who identified building remodification as a result of economic situation in the country said it is allowed only

upon appropriate authorization.

Recall that FCTT and other major cities in the country have continued to experience several building collapses, mainly as a result of failure to obtain building approval as well as passing through integrity test from the appropriate authority.

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Mueller report: White House roasts critics over Mueller

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he White House has assailed President Donald Trump's critics after he was cleared of Russian election collusion.

Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told cable morning shows that Mr Trump is happy for the full report by special counsel Robert Mueller to be released.

She said the summary of the findings issued by the attorney general amounted to a full vindication of the president.

Mr Mueller's long-awaited report, however, stops short of exonerating Mr Trump of obstruction of justice.

It was the culmination of a nearly two-year investigation that saw some of the president's closest former aides prosecuted and, in some cases, imprisoned, though not for collusion with Russia.

Media captionMueller report: One summary, two interpretations What did the White House say?

White House aides took to the airwaves on Monday to depict the president as the victim of an inquiry that should never have been allowed.

When asked whether Mr Trump would support the release of the full report, Mrs Sanders told NBC News' Today programme: "He's more than happy for any of this stuff to come out."

Speaking on CNN later on Monday, Mrs Sanders said it was "outrageous" that Democrats and journalists had spent two years portraying the president as an agent of a foreign power.

ADVERTISEMENT "That's equivalent to treason," said the press secretary. "That's punishable by death in this country and that is outrageous."

Mrs Sanders said the "obscene lie" was used to try "to overthrow the president of the United States".

White House adviser Kellyanne Conway on Monday called on Democrat Adam Schiff,

Sarah Sanders lashed out at Donald Trump's critics on Monday for trying to take down the Republican president Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to step down.

"He ought to resign today," she told Fox News. "He has been on every TV show 50 times a day for practically the last two years promising Americans that the president would be impeached or indicted."

How did Trump react?

"It was a complete and total exoneration," Mr Trump declared on Sunday, even though the report specifically states that he has not been fully exonerated.

Speaking at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, he said: "It's a shame that our country had to go through this.

"To be honest, it's a shame that your

president has had to go through this. Before I even got elected it began and it began illegally."

The Republican president said the inquiry was an "illegal takedown that failed".

Is Trump in the clear?

In his four-page summary released on Sunday, Trump-appointed Attorney General William Barr wrote: "The special counsel did not find that any US person or Trump campaign official conspired or knowingly co-ordinated with Russia."

But on the issue of whether justice was obstructed, Mr Mueller's report says: "While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."

Mr Trump still faces about a dozen other investigations.

These include a federal inquiry in New York into possible election law violations by the Trump campaign and his businesses, and possible misconduct by the Trump inaugural committee.

Congress is also continuing its own inquiries, mostly in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.

What's the political reaction?

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham summed up the conservative response on Monday, telling reporters Mr Trump was stronger today than ever.

"This cloud has been removed," he said. "To those wanting an outcome of removing Trump, you're going to be disappointed."

Opposition Democrats are demanding full access to Mr Mueller's report.

The Democratic Chair of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Jerry Nadler, said he would ask Mr Barr to testify in front of the House Judiciary Committee "in the near future" over "very concerning discrepancies and final decision making at the Justice Department".

What are they saying in Russia?

Russia has denied being involved in hacking to influence the 2016 US election result.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mocked suggestions there had been collusion, saying: "I recall the words of the Chinese philosopher who said that it's hard to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if it's not there. Well, centuries pass and unfortunately they still don't understand that across the ocean."

Alexei Pushkov, a member of Russia's upper house, tweeted: "Democrats, Russophobes and leading media created a virtual conspiracy which existed only in their heads and in headlines, and

Brexit: Not enough support for Brexit deal vote yet, says PM

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heresa May says she does not have enough support to win a vote on her EU withdrawal deal “as things stand”.

She said she would continue trying to get MPs to back it before putting it to the Commons for a third time this week.

The PM will also order Tory MPs to vote against a bid by a group of MPs, headed by Tory Sir Oliver Letwin, to hold votes on alternatives to her plan.

The government would give MPs time to hold such votes, but Mrs May said she was “sceptical” about the process.

She said the government would not commit to delivering the outcome of the votes but would “engage constructively” with MPs. “The votes could lead to an outcome that is un-negotiable with the EU,” she told MPs. “No government could give a blank cheque to commit to an outcome without knowing what it is.”

DUP leader Arlene Foster told the prime minister her party had not changed its position and would not be backing the deal, in a telephone call after this morning’s cabinet meeting.

The prime minister said the “default outcome” remained leaving the EU without a deal.

“The alternative is to pursue a different form of Brexit or a second referendum,” she said.

“But the bottom line remains: if the House does not approve the withdrawal agreement this week and is not prepared to countenance leaving without a deal, we would have to seek a longer extension.”

That would mean holding European elections, she added, and would mean “we will not have been able to guarantee Brexit”.

She also confirmed that the government will

on Wednesday seek to change the UK’s 29 March departure date through a piece of secondary legislation, which will make 11pm on 12 April the earliest Brexit date.

But she warned MPs that even if they voted against the change, it would still happen because it was contained in a piece of international law.

Confirming that the government will oppose Sir Oliver Letwin’s amendment calling for indicative votes, Mrs May said it would set an “unwelcome precedent which would overturn the balance of our democratic institutions”.

She said the government would provide time for MPs to debate alternatives but added: “When

we have tried this kind of thing in the past, it has produced contradictory outcomes or no outcome at all.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn confirmed that his party will back Sir Oliver Letwin’s attempt to secure “indicative votes” on Brexit, telling MPs: “It is time for Parliament to take control.”

EU no-deal preparation ‘completed’

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he has said she would only bring it back for a third Commons vote if there was “sufficient support” for it - and she spent the weekend trying to persuade Brexiteer Tories to get behind it.

But many are thought likely to take their lead from the DUP, which has led objections to the Irish backstop clause.

Meanwhile, the EU has said all its preparation for an “increasingly likely” no-deal scenario on 12 April has been completed.

Jeremy Corbyn met the prime minister for over an hour earlier, and had what Labour described as a “frank and comprehensive exchange of views” on Brexit.

Mr Corbyn told the PM there was no basis for holding a third vote on her deal.

Last week Mrs May was forced to ask the EU for an extension to Article 50 and hundreds of thousands of people marched in central London calling for another EU referendum.

What’s happening this week?

Monday: MPs will debate the Brexit next steps and a number of amendments - possible alternatives - to the government plan will be put to a vote. The most important of these is the

indicative votes plan.

Wednesday: This is when indicative votes would be held - we don’t know yet whether MPs will be free to vote how they want or be directed along party lines. The chances of any genuine cross-party consensus being achieved are not high.

Thursday: A possible opportunity for meaningful vote three. The prime minister may hope that Brexiteers will finally decide to throw their weight behind her deal because indicative votes have shown that otherwise the UK could be heading for the sort of softer Brexit they would hate.

Friday: This is still written into law as the day the UK leaves the EU, but the PM is attempting to change that through a piece of secondary legislation. If she succeeds, the earliest Brexit will happen is 11pm on 12 April.

The indicative votes are a process for MPs to indicate which version of Brexit they might like if they don’t fancy the prime minister’s deal.

But there’s a clash in government over whether or not they should go into this process at all.

Parliament is going to do this anyway and the

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

government has given a commitment for MPs to be able to have their say on a series of different ideas.

To be clear, it would not bind the government - even if there is one option that gets a clear preference from Parliament.

It would still have to get through the cabinet and it would still have to be workable for the Tory party.

That could then mean if Parliament puts down a marker to have a softer Brexit, Theresa May is stuck with the same problem she’s had all along: if she moves to something softer she might implode the Tory party.

Quite openly now, people in government are talking about something more dramatic as a way out.

Cryptically they call that a “democratic event”. What would we call that? An election.

Government vs Parliament In normal times, the government runs the country and Parliament - comprising all the MPs and Lords who are not members of the government - is there to monitor and scrutinise the way they are running things.

The government cannot make new laws or

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#FreeOurGirls: Twitter users back detained Burundi schoolgirls

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witter users have rallied to the cause of three schoolgirls arrested for defacing photos of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza by following their example.

Crudely doctored images of the leader are being circulated online under the hashtag, #FreeOurGirls.

The girls were charged last week with insulting the head of state and could spend up to five years in prison.

Burundian authorities are routinely accused of cracking down on human rights and dissent.

The schoolgirls, aged 15,16 and 17, were arrested two weeks ago after the president’s image was defaced in textbooks. Four other students arrested with them were later released.

Here are some of the images that have been circulating online in support of the girls.

The father of one of the detained girls told campaign group Human Rights Watch that they were too scared to eat.

HRW has urged the government to release the schoolgirls and concentrate on curbing abuses by the security forces.

“Authorities should focus on holding perpetrators of serious rights violations to account instead of jailing schoolchildren for doodles, the group’s Central Africa director, Lewis Mudge, said.

In a similar case in 2016, several schoolchildren were imprisoned and hundreds expelled for scribbling on images of the president’s face.

Social media users have been altering the president’s image

Caster Semenya: United Nations criticises ‘humiliating’ IAAF rule

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lans to classify female athletes by their testosterone levels “contravene international human rights” says the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, 28, is challenging the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) over its bid to restrict levels of testosterone in female runners.

The UN called the plans “unnecessary, humiliating and harmful”.

The IAAF said the motion given to the UN contained “inaccurate statements”.

Under the IAAF rules, female athletes with naturally high testosterone levels would have to race against men or change events unless they took medication to reduce those levels.

The regulations will apply to women in track events from 400m up to one mile and require that athletes have to keep their testosterone levels below a prescribed amount “for at least six months prior to competing”.

The issue was discussed at the UN Human Rights Council’s 40th session in March, at which delegates asked for a detailed report to be put together for a future meeting.

In the meantime, the body put on record its “concerns” with the IAAF proposals.

The council said it wanted governing bodies “to refrain from developing and enforcing policies and practices that force, coerce or otherwise pressure women and girl athletes into undergoing unnecessary, humiliating and harmful medical procedures in order to participate in women’s

South Africa’s Caster Semenya is a double Olympic champion in the 800m events in competitive sports”.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, experts recently claimed the IAAF’s regulations risked “setting an unscientific precedent for other cases of genetic advantage”.

Speaking in June, two-time Olympic champion and three-time world champion Semenya called the rule “unfair”, adding: “I just

want to run naturally, the way I was born.”

The IAAF intended to bring in new rules on 1 November 2018 but the subsequent legal challenge prompted that to be delayed until the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) had ruled on the matter.

That ruling was due on 26 March but Cas has postponed it until next month.

A win for Semenya would see her free to continue competing the way she has always done, but a loss means the South African athlete could end up not competing altogether, competing against men or having to take medicine to lower her hormone levels.

Semenya has previously been asked to undertake gender testing by athletics chiefs, but no results have officially been made public.

Testosterone is a hormone that increases muscle mass, strength and haemoglobin, which affects endurance.

How has the IAAF responded to the UN’s motion?

In a statement provided to BBC Sport, the IAAF said “It is clear that the author is not across the details of the IAAF regulations nor the facts presented recently at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“There are many generic and inaccurate statements contained in the motion presented to the UN Human Rights Council so it is difficult to work out where to start.

“The common ground is that we both believe it is important to preserve fair competition in female sport so women are free to compete in national and international sport.

“To do this it is necessary to ensure the female category in sport is a protected category, which requires rules and regulations to protect it, otherwise we risk losing the next generation of female athletes, since they will see no path to success in female sport.”

Son of Angolan ex-president released from jail

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he son of the former Angolan president has been released from prison, where he was being held on charges of embezzlement.

José Filomeno dos Santos had been

detained for seven months.

He was accused of attempting to steal $1.5bn (£1.1bn) when he was head of Angola’s sovereign wealth fund.

He was appointed to that role in 2013

Cambridge student charged with terrorism in South Sudan

Zambia arrests politician for calling president ‘mentally ill’

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South Sudanese activist who was studying for a PhD at Cambridge University has been charged with terrorism having already spent “eight months in detention with limited contact with the outside world”, AFP reports.

The news agency says Peter Biar Ajak, 35, was detained in July last year following comments he made criticizing the failure of South Sudan’s political leaders to bring five years of brutal civil war to a end.

At the high court in Juba, prosecutor Deng Acuil charged Mr Biar with sabotage against the state, banditry, possession of firearms and public disorder, according to AFP. His six co-accused reportedly including businessman and philanthropist Kerbino Agok Wol, who has been jailed since April 2018.

A

Zambian opposition leader has spent the weekend in police cells after he was arrested for allegedly defaming President Edgar Lungu.

Sean Tembo, who leads the Patriots for Economic Progress (PEP), made a series of posts on social media in which he questioned President Lungu’s mental state.

He accused Mr Lungu of possibly suffering

by his father, who was president at the time. But he was sacked last year by current President João Lourenço who came to power in 2017.

On Friday, prosecutors announced they

from a mental illness, which he said might be to blame for what he called “recent poor decisions”.

It’s a position he has stuck to despite the ruling party asking him to withdraw his statement: Quote Message: “We do not believe that someone who is mentally fit would decide to spend [millions] of tax payers’ money to purchase a private jet for himself at a time that he is failing to pay salaries for civil servants, council workers,

had recovered all the financial and other assets of the Angolan sovereign wealth fund.

Mr dos Santos’ lawyer said the legality of his client’s detention had expired weeks ago.

local government workers as well as parastatal workers.”

“We do not believe that someone who is mentally fit would decide to spend [millions] of tax payers’ money to purchase a private jet for himself at a time that he is failing to pay salaries for civil servants, council workers, local government workers as well as parastatal workers.”

Speed limiters pledged after Ghana road crashes

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uthorities in Ghana say they will introduce speed limit devices to prevent traffic accidents in the country, where an average of six people die on the roads.

Commercial vehicles with engine capacities of 3.5 litres or more will be targeted. The top speed will

be set depending on the type of vehicle.

The announcement follows the deaths of more than 60 people in two separate accidents in the country on Friday.

Speeding, dangerous overtaking and drunk driving are just some of the major causes of

accidents on Ghana’s roads.

Available statistics from the national road safety commission show that in the first two months of this year more than 400 people died in road accidents, while last year more than 2,000 such deaths were recorded.

Source: BBC

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Saudi Arabia sisters given humanitarian visa and leave Hong Kong

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wo young sisters from Saudi Arabia who spent six months hiding in Hong Kong after fleeing their family have left for a third country after being given humanitarian visas, their lawyer says.

Rawan and Reem (not their real names) said they did not want to return home because they feared punishment.

The women said they were stopped by Saudi officials at Hong Kong’s airport en route for Australia in September.

No details about where they are and how they left have been released.

“We are thrilled that our story has a happy ending and that we have found our way to safety to re-start our lives free of violence and oppression,” the sisters said in a statement released by their lawyer.

“We wish for our story to offer hope to others who face similar situations. We want to say loud and clear to the Saudi authorities and other regimes which treat women unequally: never underestimate the strength of brave women.”

They left Hong Kong late last week and were “safe and well,” the statement added.

The Saudi authorities have not commented on the case.

What is their case?

Rawan, 18, and Reem, 20, arrived at Hong Kong’s airport in September in a twohour stop as they travelled to the Australian city of Melbourne. They had fled their family while on a holiday in Sri Lanka.

But they were stopped from continuing on by Saudi officials who attempted to seize their travel documents, the sisters said. They then resisted boarding a flight to

The sisters say they spent six months hiding in Hong Kong Dubai, only to find the flights to Melbourne they had booked had been cancelled.

The women fled the airport and spent the following six months in Hong Kong hiding in 13 different places, including hotels, hostels and shelters, they told the BBC in an interview last month after launching an appeal for help.

In November, they were informed that their Saudi passports had been invalidated under Saudi law, women have to get a male relative’s approval to apply for a passport or travel outside the country.

The sisters said they had hatched a plot to flee their family because they had “no dignity” in their lives in Saudi Arabia, where they were beaten, humiliated and forced to do household chores by their male relatives.

The women said they had renounced Islam - punishable by death under Saudi law - and feared for their safety if they were forcibly returned.

The women launched an appeal for help after making their case public “They are now in that third country,

beginning their lives as free young women, looking forward to assimilating into the local culture, contributing to their new home and leading lives as equal human beings,” their lawyer Michael Vidler said.

Reem told the BBC in February she had been studying English literature before escaping and that she had plans to write about their lives in Saudi Arabia. Rawan said she wanted to study biology and gain a PhD in genetics.

Reacting to the news, Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International, said: “The sisters must be allowed to build their lives without living in fear that their family or the Saudi authorities will force them back.”

She added: “No woman or girl should fear for their life like Reem and Rawan did. Saudi Arabia must urgently reform the guardianship system and end the whole range of discriminatory laws and practices women face.”

Other recent cases • Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun also tried to escape to Australia earlier this year.

She ended up in a stand-off in an airport hotel room in the Thai capital, Bangkok, where she appealed for international help.

Eventually Ms al-Qunun was granted asylum in Canada • Hakeem al-Araibi, who fled Bahrain for Australia in 2014, was arrested in Bangkok during his honeymoon on an Interpol notice requested by Bahrain.

He was released two months later after an international outcry. He became an Australian citizen earlier this month.

Thailand election: Rival camps woo allies amid confusion over results

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wo rival camps contesting Thailand’s first election since the military coup in 2014 have both said they are trying to form a coalition government.

Early results give the pro-military Palang Pracha Rath Party (PPRP) a larger share of the popular vote.

At the same time, the main opposition Pheu Thai party currently has the biggest number of seats in parliament.

But there are growing complaints about irregularities during Sunday’s poll and a vote count marred by confusion.

The Electoral Commission (EC) is also facing strong criticism for its decision to delay publishing the full results without providing any explanation.

Thailand’s complicated electoral system allocates some parliamentary seats according to the number of votes received.

Critics say electoral law changes introduced by the military in 2017 are primarily designed to keep pro-military forces in power.

What are the results so far?

On Monday, the EC announced that Pheu Thai party, which is linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had won 137 seats in the 500-strong lower chamber of parliament.

The PPRP, which supports Thailand’s current leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha, was in the second place with 97 seats.

Several other parties were getting between 30 and 39 seats each.

But the winners of 150 seats were still unclear, the EC said.

At the same time, the commission earlier said that with more than 90% of ballots counted, the PPRP had gained 7.6m of the popular vote. That is half a million more than Pheu Thai.

Amid confusion over a vote count, the EC was expected to clarify the preliminary results

More than 50 million people were eligible to vote in Sunday’s poll at a news conference on Monday.

But the EC instead again delayed announcing the preliminary figures. It also said there would be no official results until 9 May. More than 50 million people were eligible to vote in a much-delayed election, the first since Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha led the coup that ousted Mr Thaksin’s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, five years ago.

But the reported turnout was unexpectedly low, at just 64%. Many questioned this figure as well as discrepancies in the vote count numbers.

Speaking to journalists, the EC’s secretarygeneral, Charungvith Phumma, blamed “human error”, saying the people who put the numbers of votes in were just regular people.

The EC later said that media had

misreported the data it was giving them, and that its servers had suffered from unspecified hacking attacks.

A matter of manoeuvring and momentum What’s your definition of an election winner? Answers on a polling card, please.

Is it the party with the most votes across the whole country or the party with the most seats in parliament?

In Thailand, where power can be seized at gunpoint, this is not so much a constitutional technicality but a matter of manoeuvring and momentum.

After repeatedly promising - and then delaying - a national vote, the military junta finally granted a ballot only once it had successfully manipulated the electoral system in its favour.

Many foresaw a General Prayuth victory as being hollow and illegitimate - achieved through the backing of a handpicked, new senate.

But the coup leader can now point to the way the pro-military Palang Pracha Rath Party apparently hoovered up the majority of votes cast as a clear democratic mandate.

The opposition Pheu Thai does not see it that way. It feels its own achievement - gaining the biggest share of parliamentary seats should be rewarded fairly by being allowed to form a coalition of anti-military parties.

How does Thailand’s electoral system work?

The military introduced a new constitution in 2017 which opponents say is designed to keep pro-military forces in power.

Thailand’s electorate only votes for the 500seat lower house of parliament. The members of the 250-seat upper house are appointed by the military.

But it’s the combined votes from both houses that will select the future prime minister.

The vote has been seen primarily as a contest between pro-military parties and allies of Mr Thaksin.

He was ousted in a coup in 2006 and lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a conviction for abuse of power. But he still has a significant following, largely among rural and less affluent voters.

At the time of the 2014 coup, the military said it wanted to restore order and stability and put a stop to the street protests which have broken out repeatedly over the years.

But the junta has been accused of taking an authoritarian approach to power, strictly controlling the media and arbitrarily using laws like lese majeste - which prohibits any criticism of the monarchy - to silence opponents.

Source: BBC

Digest

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesDAY, march 26, 2019

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How too much brandy butter, cream and Stilton are bad for your cholesterol

Scientists have warned that indulging in too much cream over Christmas raises a person’s cholesterol level come January, which is associated with heart disease (stock)

By Alexandra Thompson Senior Health Reporter For Mailonline

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elebrating Christmas is associated with higher cholesterol, scientists have warned.

A study of more than 25,700 people found their cholesterol levels are up to 20 per cent higher in January.

Researchers say this could be because they indulged in fatty foods like brandy butter, cream and Stilton over the festive season. Scientists have now warned doctors they should not diagnose people with high cholesterol in January.

And any patients who are told they have the condition at the beginning of the year should be retested before taking medication.

The research was carried out by the University of Copenhagen and led by Dr Signe Vedel-Krogh, from the department of clinical biochemistry.

The study, ‘The Christmas holidays are immediately followed by a period of hypercholesterolemia’, was published in the journal Atherosclerosis. ’Our study shows strong indications that cholesterol levels are influenced by the fatty food we consume when celebrating Christmas,’ study author Dr Anne Langsted, who also specialises in clinical biochemistry, said.

‘The fact that so many people have high cholesterol readings straight after the Christmas holiday is very surprising.’ High cholesterol occurs when fatty deposits

build up in the blood vessels, which make it difficult for blood to flow through the arteries.

This is often the result of a poor diet that includes too much red meat and fullfat dairy.

If the heart does not get enough oxygenrich blood, you may have a heart attack, while lack of blood to the brain can cause a stroke. Such conditions are responsible for one in four deaths in both the UK and US. The researchers looked at the cholesterol levels of 25,764 people, aged 20 to 100, from the Copenhagen General Population Study, over the course of a year.

Results suggest a person’s overall cholesterol level in December or January is 15 per cent greater than in May to June. And their amounts of so-called ‘bad cholesterol’, known as LDL, is 20 per cent higher during the festive season.

Cholesterol is measured in units called millimoles per litre of blood, or mmol/L. The researchers defined high cholesterol as having an overall level of more than 5mmol/L and an LDL reading of above 3mmol/L. The NHS also recommends healthy people keep their levels below 5mmol/L and 3mmol/L, respectively.

Of those whose cholesterol levels were measured in January, 77 per cent had LDL levels above 3mmol/L and 89 per cent had levels of more than 5mmol/L. And an astonishing nine out of ten of the study’s participants had high cholesterol in the New Year - six times more than in the

“

The fact that so many people have high cholesterol readings straight after the Christmas holiday is very surprising.’ High cholesterol occurs when fatty deposits build up in the blood vessels, which make it difficult for blood to flow through the arteries

other 11 months.

‘Celebrating Christmas is associated with higher levels of total and LDL cholesterol and a higher risk of hypercholesterolemia in individuals in the general population,’ the authors wrote.

They stress people should not panic if they are told they have high cholesterol in the New Year.

‘There is a greater risk of finding that you have elevated cholesterol if you go to the doctor and have your cholesterol tested straight after Christmas,’ Dr Vedel-Krogh said.

‘It is important to be aware of this, both for doctors who treat high cholesterol and those wishing to keep their cholesterol levels down.’

WHAT IS HIGH CHOLESTEROL? Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is vital for the normal functioning of the body.

But too much can cause it to build up in the arteries, restricting blood flow to the heart, brain and rest of the body.

This raises the risk of angina, heart attacks, stroke and blood clots.

Cholesterol is made in the liver and is carried in the blood by proteins.

The first - high-density lipoprotein (HDL) - carries cholesterol from cells to the liver where it is broken down or passed as waste. This is ‘good cholesterol’.

‘Bad cholesterol’ - low-density lipoprotein (LDL) - carries cholesterol to cells, with excessive amounts then building in the artery walls.

High cholesterol can be genetic but it is also linked to a diet rich in saturated fat, as well as smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure and a family history of stroke or heart disease.

Blood cholesterol is measured in units called millimoles per litre of blood, often shortened to mmol/L. A healthy adult’s overall level should be 5mmol/L or less, while their LDL level should be no more than 3mmol/L. An ideal level of HDL is above 1mmol/L. Cholesterol can be lowered by eating a healthy, low-fat diet; not smoking; and exercising regularly.

If these do not help, cholesterol-lowering medication like statins may be prescribed.

Source: NHS

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, march 26, 2019

26

Feature

CLASSIFIED PUBLIC NOTICE

Could an ancient Greek have predicted a US-China conflict?

N

ot so long ago, China’s rise was seen as essentially benign. A growing economy, it was thought, would go hand-in-hand with a liberalising political system. China was, to use the phrase favoured by US experts, becoming a responsible global stakeholder.

But today China is increasingly viewed as a threat. Indeed, many fear that rivalry between China and the US could ultimately even lead to war, a conflict with global ramifications.

In America, a new model is being proposed, one that harks back to the ancient world and the work of Thucydides, the historian of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.

Prof Graham Allison, of Harvard University’s Belfer Center, is one of the US’s leading scholars of international relations. His groundbreaking book Destined For War: Can America and China Avoid Thucydides Trap? - has become required reading for many policymakers, academics and journalists.

Thucydides’s trap, he told me, is the dangerous dynamic that occurs when a rising power threatens to displace an established power.

In the ancient Greek world, it was Athens that threatened Sparta. In the late 19th Century, Germany challenged Britain. Today a rising China is potentially challenging the United States.

Having reviewed 500 years of history, Prof Allison has identified 16 examples of rising powers confronting an established power: 12 of those led to war. The rivalry between Washington and Beijing is, he says, “the defining feature of international relations today and for as far as any eye can see”.

So asking if the US and China can avoid Thucydides’s trap is no mere academic question. The trap has fast become a major analytical prism through which to view the competition between Washington and Beijing.

Of course, not everyone agrees.

Prof Hu Bo for example, of Peking University’s Institute of Ocean Research and one of China’s foremost naval strategists, told me: “I think the balance of power doesn’t support the Thucydides hypothesis.”

Although China’s rise is remarkable, he believes its overall strength is simply not comparable with that of the US. It is only in the Western Pacific, he says, where China stands a chance of matching US capabilities.

The Peloponnesian War was a 27-year conflict between Athens and Sparta But a confrontation there might just be enough to tip these two great powers into war. Not least because China is pursuing the world’s largest comprehensive naval build-up.

“That’s not just impressive today,” says Andrew Erickson, a professor of strategy at the US Naval War College and one of the leading experts on the Chinese Navy, “that’s impressive in world historical terms.”

Its quality is also improving significantly, with larger, more sophisticated warships whose capabilities are, in many respects,

Harvard professor Graham Allison’s book has popularised the Thucydides trap

getting closer to those of comparable Western vessels.

China’s maritime strategy is also becoming more assertive.

Though the focus of this assertiveness remains, for now, relatively close to Chinese territory, Beijing is trying to raise the costs of possible US interference in a crisis. It wants to be able to keep the United States at bay if, for example, China decided

to use force against Taiwan. And the US is determined to maintain access.

But growing Sino-US tensions are also a product of personalities. Chinese President Xi Jinping brings a sense of history, even of destiny, to the rivalry with Washington.

Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told me that Mr Xi has been a transformative leader with “a much more

“

Some have spoken of the possibility of a second Cold War, this time between the US and China.

However, unlike the 20th Century Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, the American and Chinese economies are deeply interlinked. This gives their rivalry a new dimension: a battle for technological dominance.

PAGE 27

PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

expansive and ambitious sense of China’s place on the global stage”.

She argues that the most underappreciated element of Mr Xi’s ambition is “his effort to reshape norms and institutions on the global stage in ways that more closely reflect Chinese values and priorities”.

The US is also shifting its position.

Washington has branded China, along with Russia, a revisionist power. The US military now regards China as a near-peer competitor, the benchmark against which key air and naval capabilities must be measured.

But while there is a new mood in Washington, it is still very much early days in terms of setting out a new strategy towards Beijing.

Some have spoken of the possibility of a second Cold War, this time between the US and China.

However, unlike the 20th Century Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, the American and Chinese economies are deeply interlinked. This gives their rivalry a new dimension: a battle for technological dominance.

The giant Chinese telecommunications company Huawei is at the eye of the storm. The US is refusing to allow the company’s technology to be used for key future communications networks, and is pressuring its allies to impose a similar ban.

Washington’s battle with Huawei exemplifies broader concerns about China’s high-tech sector over the theft of intellectual property, illicit sales to Iran and espionage.

Underlying all this is a fear that China may soon dominate key technologies on which future prosperity will depend.

Economics and grand strategy are inextricably bound up in this debate, with China intent on becoming the dominant global player within the next decade.

This of course will depend upon China continuing to rise.

There are signs that its economy may be faltering as it clings to its authoritarian model and rejects further market reforms.

What might happen if its economic progress slows?

Some argue that Mr Xi might rein in his ambitions. Others fear his domestic legitimacy could be hit, encouraging him to ratchet up nationalism, leading potentially to even greater assertiveness.

The rivalry between China and the United States is real and is not going away.

Strategic miscalculation is a clear danger, not least because of the absence of any rule book to help to manage tensions between them.

The two countries are at a strategic crossroads. Either they will find ways to accommodate each other’s concerns, or they will move towards a much more confrontational relationship.

This brings us back to Thucydides’s trap. But Mr Allison emphasises that nothing here is fated. War between the US and China is not inevitable. His book, he told me, is about diplomacy, not destiny.

Source: BBC

INITIATIVE FOR THE PROMOTION OF CLEANER ENERGY

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.WATTI Oluwadamilola 2.WATTI Oluwafisayo 3.OTIOTIO Emmanuela.

THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : A. To promote and support a range of cleaner energy projects and initiatives in Nigeria.

B. To increase awareness of renewable energy sources towards a more energy efficiency country.

C. To promote Natural Gas as the transition fuel in the Renewable Energy Transition.

D. To promote a recycling culture especially at the grassroots and To supply recycle bins to schools and Institutions in partnership with waste management associations in different states.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : Barr Chidiebere Nwachukwu.

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TOKUNBO ORIMOBI FOUNDATION

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

SIGNED : SECRETARY.

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. Michael Orimobi Chairman 2. Kayode Falowo- Secretary 3. Juan Stoltz THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1. To cater for the educational needs and expenses of the beneficiaries including but not limited to, supporting students with educational scholarships and grants, adopting school and supporting schools 2. The foundation is established for adoption of schools and provision of educational materials and infrastructure for the use of students in the adopted schools 3. To grant pro bono advisory services to entrepreneurs and small medium scale businesses 4. To mentor students at large especially law students, law graduates, young lawyers and young entrepreneurs via internship and externship programmes, Life After School Series, and also on career and personal life path.

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. TANKO AHMED 2. ALIYU FATIMA 3. MARYAM AHMED 4. AISHA BABAYO THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1. TO HELP THE LESS PRIVILEGED. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION.

PSALMISTS’ HAVEN KHADOSH

OBI BISHOP AKABUOGU FOUNDATION

SIGNED : SECRETARY.

MINISTRY THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. MAUREEN BABA 2. VICTOR BABA 3. JOEL MADAKI THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1. TO CREATE A PLATFORM AND AN ATMOSPHERE FOR UP-COMING GOSPEL ARTIST. 2. TO TRAIN, PREPARE AND EQUIP UP-COMING GOSPEL ARTIST FOR MINISTRY. 3. TO CREATE AN AUDIENCE AND A MARKET PLACE FOR PERFORMING GOSPEL ARTIST .

4. TO PROVIDE A LINK BETWEEN THE UP COMING /LOCAL GOSPEL ARTIST AND THE ESTABLISHED/INTERNATIONAL GOSPEL MINISTRIES .

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY.

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SONS OF GLORY NETWORK INTERNATIONAL

ARROWS OF BLESSING CHRISTIAN CENTER

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR CERTIFIED TRUE COPY (CTC) OF LOSS OF CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES REMAIN THE SAME. THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES REMAIN THE SAME. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS APPLICATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION.

Global youths legacy foundation TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT

THIS IS THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.Barnabas demlonk .

2. aki nwande seun mary, 3. alhaji sule sadiq THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.To educate and empower the youth and to raise youth of integrety.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.lagang jonathan nansel 2: Falmata Haruna Bwala 3:Daniel P Wakawa 4:lagang nanchak mathias THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.To preach the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION.

SIGNED : SECRETARY.

SIGNED : SECRETARY.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. OBI AKABUOGU - CHAIRMAN 2. BLESSING AKABUOGU - SECRETARY. 3. UMEH CHINEDU 4. ANAYO UMEASIEGBU. THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.TO CATER FOR THE NEEDY AND THE LESS PRIVILEGED IN THE SOCIETY. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. ODII JOSEPH OGONNA 2. ODII ADANNA MARY THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : 1.TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Adah

FETIMI

KAZARI DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS John Rachael Omateyi date of birth 01/10/1992. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS Adah Racheal 29/09/1991. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS FETIMI EBIMENE EKPOBOMENE. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS FETIMI PRINCE EBIMENE. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

USMAN

Echeozo

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS Usman Abubakar. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS USMAN SADIQ ABUBAKAR. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS Chukwuma chibuikem leo.

NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS Echeozo Chukwuma chibuikem Leo. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

AUWAL

Danjuma

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS AUWALU ISMAIL. NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS AUWAL ISMAIL UMA. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS Danjuma Bello Peter.

NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AS Danjuma Bello.

ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. ALL AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND GENERAL PUBLIC PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : (1) Mr Markus Chun:- Chairman (2) Mrs Chun Lydia Markus:- Secretary.

(3) Mr Marcus Nathaniel Chun.

(4) Mr Wash David Bitrus.

(5) John Ezekiel Chun.

THE AIM AND OBJECTIVE : (a) to provide clean and healthy environment for sustainable development. (b) to provide educational facilities to the less privilege. (c) to provide medical and health care services to communities.

ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY.

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PEOPLES DAILY, tuesday, march 26, 2019

CLASSIFIED PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

PERFECT GRACE OF GOD’S PEOPLE MINISTRY

MILLENNIUM HOMES RESIDENT ASSOCIATION – CAC/IT/NO 25706

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OCHIMA FOUNDATION

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1.BASSEY ERNEST EKPOTO- General Overseer; 2.EMOGOR DENIS EKPOTO -Treasurer; 3.ADAGA DANIEL IDO-secretary; 4.BASSEY FELICITAS ERNEST; 5.BASSEY SYLVESTER ERNEST; 6.EZETA JOEFRANK PAUL; 7.EDOKI ANTHONY EMMANUEL. THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1.TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. 2. TO ORGANISE SYMPOSIA, EVENTS, FORA, SEMINARS SOCIALLY AND SPIRITUALLY IN LINE WITH CHRISTIAN FAITH. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS REGISTRATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR THE CHANGE OF ITS TRUSTEES UNDER PART ‘C’ OF THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990: THE OLD TRUSTEES ARE : 1. PHILIP ODOGWU - REMOVED 2. TIMA ANIMASHAUN - REMOVED 3. ADEMOLA SOGUNLE - REMOVED 4. FEMI KOLADE - REMOVED 5. IFEANYI OKOH - RETAINED 6. SOLA YOUNG - RETAINED THE NEW TRUSTEES ARE : 1. AKINWUNMI ABIODUN OLUSEYI 2. SADOH GEORGE ABOIRALO 3. ABDULSALAM-OGUEYI TIJANI 4. KOLADE OLAYINKA BOLANLE. ANY OBJECTION TO THIS APPLICATION SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE REGISTRAR_GENERAL, CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION, PLOT 420, TIGRIS CRESCENT , OFF AGUIYI IRONSI STREET , MAITAMA , ABUJA WITHIN 28DAYS OF THIS PUBLICATION. SIGNED : SECRETARY.

THIS IS TO INFORM THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT THE ABOVE NAMED HAS APPLIED TO THE CORPORATE AFFAIRS COMMISSION (CAC), ABUJA FOR REGISTRATION UNDER PART ‘C’ OF COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS ACT, 1990.

THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. Barr. Samuel Chigozie Otoboeze; 2. Mrs. Faustina Uchenna Otoboeze; 3. Dr. Edwin Chukwura Agbo; 4. HRH Dr. Emmanuel O. Ugwu 5. Mr. Brian Chijioke Amonu THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1. To serve as a platform to address security challenges in the society, through research, security awareness programs and lectures .

2. To use charity, socio-economic intervention as a vehicle to create employment opportunities for youths and women in the society.

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BOBBY FOUNDATION

YOUTHS IN AFRICA ANTI-CORRUPTION NETWORK

Network for Global Mobility Management

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1 Folasade Olusanya 2 Taiwo Adesina 3 Afolasade Olowe THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1. To provide Support and benefits to its members in relation to the migration and management of expatriate employees and their dependants 2. To support advocacy and promote relevant policies in relation to expatriates’ management and migration of skilled and unskilled labour.

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THE TRUSTEES ARE: 1. OKOH PETER BOBBY ----- CHAIRMAN 2. EMEGHA NKEM FAITH ------ SECRETARY. 3 EBUH GLORIA ------MEMBER 4. NKANKA NGOZI CHRISTABEL ------ MEMBER AIMS/OBJECTIVES 1. TO ASSIST VULNERABLE PEOPLE INCLUDING WIDOWS AND ORPHANS IN SOCIETY. 2. TO PROMOTE, ERADICATE POVERTY, AND EMPOWER THE LESS PRIVILEGE PERSONS IN SOCIETY. 3. TO BUILD CAPACITY IN MEMBERS THROUGH SKILL ACQUISITION. 4. TO TEACH, EMPOWER ENTREPRENEURS TOWARDS ADDRESSING FUTURE CHALLENGES IN BUSINESS. 5.

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THE TRUSTEES ARE : 1. MR. EMOKINIOVO OTARIGHO 2. BARR.UGWUALA, CHRISTIAN ONYEKACHI 3. MISS. CHENEMI FAITH AYEGBA 4. MR. PETER OLUGBENGA ADELEYE 5. MISS. IHEANACHO OKWUCHI CECILIA 6. MRS. EVELYN EZEAGU IFEYINWA 7. MR. MAHMUD ABUBAKAR SA’EED THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ARE : 1. To support the fight against corruption through research, advocacy, lobbying, capacity development and awareness campaigns.

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MANSUR

JOSEPH AGADA WOMEN AND CHILDREN REFUGE CENTER

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loss of document

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I Sophia Umeke Adothy of No 15, River Kubanu Crescent off Nile street Maitama, Abuja: This is to inform the general public of the loss of original copy of right of occupancy (R of O) and Acknowledgement Recertification Receipt of plot No 755 Dape with file No ED10375 Issue to her by Abuja Geographical Information System Dated 25/04/2005. All efforts made to trace the said documents proved abortive. If found, kindly return to the nearest police station. Authority concerned and general public should please take note.

SULE

SIGNED : SECRETARY.

I, FORMERLY KNOWN AS AUDU SULE NOW WISH TO BE KNOWN AND ADDRESSED AS SULE ABDULKARIM MUHAMME D. MY date of birth 17-2-1990. ALL FORMER DOCUMENTS REMAIN VALID. AUTHORITIES CONCERNED AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC SHOULD PLEASE TAKE NOTE.

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Tyson Fury gets bout date against Tom Schwarz

sports@peoplesdailyng.com, SMS- 08142929046

tuesday, march 26, 2019

Super Falcons will do well in France – German Amb.

T

yson Fury is heading to Las Vegas to fight Tom Schwarz in his first return to the ring since a dramatic bout with Deontay Wilder last December.

Fury will take on the German, who has won all 24 of his fights, on June 15 at the Thomas & Mack Centre, boxing management company MTK Global said.

Fury and Wilder could not negotiate an immediate rematch, with the Brit signing a multiyear, multi-fight agreement with United States broadcaster ESPN and promoted by Top Rank’s Bob Arum alongside Frank Warren.

Fury said he was excited to be returning to America after overcoming two knockdowns in a controversial draw against WBC heavyweight champion Wilder in Los Angeles last year.

“I’m really looking forward to it as it will be my first time in Las Vegas,” the 30-year-old said.

“When you start boxing as a little kid, you dream of going to America and cracking it. In my last fight I did that with Wilder, and now I’m going back and will be seen by a lot of people around the world.”

“I’m very fit and ready, so I can’t wait. Tom Schwarz is a young, fresh and ambitious fighter, but I’m going to put on a good show as usual.”

In an earlier interview, Top Rank boss Bob Arum told World Boxing News they wanted to “get a guy who hadn’t tasted a loss”.

“Tyson is such a big, big guy, we didn’t want to put him in with a small guy and Schwarz is a big, big guy. It will make a really compelling fight,” he said.

Tanzania President offers land reward to Amuneke, others over AFCON ticket

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t

Why Nigeria was granted Cycling Cup of Nations hosting right

T

he President, Cycling Federation of Nigeria President Engr.

Giandomenico Massari has provided update on why Nigeria was granted the hosting right for the 2019 Cycling Cup of Nations championship.

Speaking in an interview, Massari said that apart from the commitment of the federation and its board to turn around the fortunes of cycling in the country, another reason the hosting right was granted to Nigeria was due to availability of facilities.

Massari who described the Abuja Velodrome at the Package A of the National Stadium as the best in Africa and among the world, said that the current board is ready to make cycling a household name and ensure that many Nigerians take to cycling as their preferred sport “It is something that does not

come over night. It is as a result of the jobs we have been doing that earned us the hosting right. Since the election of the board in 2017, I am privileged to work with people that have passion for cycling. We have the board behind us and we have been thinking outside the box.

Thinking outside the box means we are trying to do things to develop the sport. To make sure that cycling becomes one of the fastest growing sport in the country and the sport that gives a lot of opportunities for Nigeria people.

“We have had several events and we work as a team to reach the goals. We had achieved a lot since we started as a federation. We have achieved a lot in the Junior All Africa Games held in Algeria July last. We took our two cyclists on trial and Mary Samuel from Cross River has been ranking in the Junior as the 5th in the world in the track but she is also very good on

the road.

“The Abuja Velodrome is the best infrastructure in Africa and one of the best in the world. We went to South Africa Track and won 7 medals, 5 silver, 2 bronze. That was in January this year. All these achievements have made Nigeria prominent in the cycling world.

I was invited by the president of the Confederation of Africa Cycling in Cairo Egypt to discuss and find ways to boost Cycling in Nigeria and after that we went to South Africa and it was then that the decision to award Nigeria the hosting rights of the 2019 Cycling track was made.

That is not all, Nigeria is being made the satellite centre for west Africa region and that is why we are organising three events from End of April. It is a two-week event in track. We have a lot of things in the pipeline and we are trying to actualise them,” he said.

NNL Sponsorship: We are in talks with Bet9ja, others – Okenwa

By Amaechi Agbo

German Amb. To Nigeria, Bernhard Schlagheck

By Amaechi Agbo

G

erman Ambassador to Nigeria, Bernhard Schlagheck, has declared that reigning African champions, Super Falcons will do well in FIFA Women World Cup in France this year.

The Ambassador who spoke exclusively in an interview, said that Nigeria has the potentials to become a world super power in female football if the federation and government put more focus and pay greater attention to female football in the country.

“They are the best in the continent, no doubt about that. I am really amazed about the quality and class in Nigeria female team. I expect them to consolidate

on the gains they have made so far in the continent and be upfront in the world.

Women football in Nigeria is one of the best in the world and I see Falcons doing well in the World Cup this year. But government end the football body in the country need to pay more attention to female football in the country like they do with the male team.

On the inability of the Super Falcons to re-enact their continental dominance in the global football, Schlagheck attributed it to lack of proper attention and psychological deficiencies from the team.

“I am not an expert in this area but I will say it is a little bit of lack of luck. And that is of course is key and there is need for total focus on female football in Nigeria.

The attention given to the female football by those in charge of football in the country compared to that given to the men team is not the same.

“Another issue is that when it comes to tournament, there is a particular climate that surround the atmosphere that makes the women not to bring out their best in that particular tournament. These are what I think are the main deficiencies with the Nigeria women football but again, I am not an expert, it is just my personal view.

On the chances of his country female team in the World Cup, Schlagheck, said that but for some crises within the German national female team, he does not expect them to win the World Cup but to end up among the top four.

“German football is much more organised compared to that of Nigeria because if you look at the German teams, whether men or women, they are former world champions. But one thing you cannot take away from Nigeria is that there so much talents here in Nigeria. I am totally amazed by the performance of the Nigeria team because there is a sort of ingenuity perhaps we Germans don’t have. I don’t expect Germany to win the World Cup but the will end among the top four. When the crises are down, we can talk about winning the trophy in 2023,” he concluded.

Super Falcons of Nigeria will open their 2019 FIFA World Cup campaign with a match against Norway in Group G on June 8, 2019.

Why Nigeria was granted Cycling Cup of Nations hosting right >>pg>>pg 3130 32 pupils shortlisted for Sani Lulu’s football/education scholarship

C Emmanuel Amunike celebrating with Tazanian players after they booked their ticket to Egypt 2019 AFCON

F

ollowing the historic feat achieved by Taifa Stars of Tanzania in the just concluded 2019 AFCON qualifier, the president of the country, Josep Magifuli has given each member of the team including technical crew a plot of land in Dare Salam, BSNSports.com.ng can report.

Former Super Eagles assistant and Tanzania coach, Emmanuel Amuneke led the team back to the

African soccer biggest showpiece after 39 years of wait.

The president of Eastern country hosted the team at the state house on Monday where the reward was announced.

Tanzania finished second with 8 points behind Uganda who topped the group L with 13 points.

The team will know their group opponents for the tournament finals on April 12 when the draw will be made.

hairman, Nigeria National League, NNL, Chidi Ofo Okenwa has disclosed that the second tier league is in talks with Bet9ja and others to bring them back as the league’s title sponsor.

Okenwa who disclosed this in interview said that the withdrawal of its title sponsorship of the league

by Bet9ja would affect the league in view of the benefits accrued to the league from the two-year deal.

KC Gaming Networks Limited, operators of Bet9ja recently pulled out of its title sponsorship deal with the NNL citing breach of contract as the reason for their action.

NNL chairman has provided an update on the matter and efforts the management of the league are making in bringing back Bet9ja to the fold and other alternative plans they are exploring.

“You cannot take Bet9ja out of

football in Nigeria today because they are participating in different spheres of the game. It is a family issue and it is not our making but we are trying to get it fixed and that is why we are reaching out to them and other corporate organisations to offer corporate social responsibility to Nigerians especially through football.

“They said, based on the letter they sent to us (February 25, 2019), that they are pulling out of the league because of the inability of the league to attract relegated teams from the premier league which was part of the contract. In article 3.7, it was stated that in the course of the league, there should be relegations and promotions.

“It is a known fact that the only instrument of marketing and the image of the league is attraction of high profile clubs from the upper league to the lower league.

“The inability of the league to have attracted same at the end of last season, is primarily the

reason the bowed out. It is not for any other reason. The letter is very self-explanatory; they are not talking of anything untoward from the league or the federation but specifically, for not living up to that very clause concerning relegation.

“Certainly the pull-out will affect the league. It is equivalent to having one of your sons whom you have lived with for quite a long time to go on a very long holiday.

We believe that they will have a rethink and come back in one way or the other. When that happens, we will be very grateful.

“Of course some other people are looking into the window to ensure that they get in too. You can appreciate the fact that the end of everything marks the beginning of a better one. We are beginning to work out plans to get into a good relationship with whosoever would come in and we are ready to ensure that the needful is done to attract a very good sponsorship,” Ofo said

QUOTABLE QUOTE

. . . putting the people first

TuesDAY, march 26, 2019

“We have the numbers to produce the Speaker and we will produce the Speaker who must be a member of the APC. We have the numbers to produce the Deputy Speaker and we will use the numbers to produce the Deputy Speaker who must be a member of the APC. We have the numbers; and we must use the numbers to elect a House Leader who must be a member of APC. We have the numbers and we will use the numbers to produce a Chief Whip and a Deputy Whip who must be members of the APC. I think the only position that we are not interested in is the Minority Leader. Let it remain minor in the hands of the minors in the opposition.”

—Adams Oshiomhole, APC National Chairman

SPORTS Revisiting corporate social responsibility latest

Olympic Eagles humiliate Libya, get N4 million largess

By Amaechi Agbo

S

uper Eagles invitee and Manof-the match, Victor Osimhen’s hat trick ensured Nigeria brushed aside a determined Libyan U-23 team to qualify for the next African Cup of Nation finals in Egypt later this year The team, popularly called Dream Team VII humiliated Libya 4-0 at the regulation after a tough first half that ended 1-0 at the Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba.

Nigeria’s U23 team had last Wednesday lost 0-2 to Libya in Tunisia but turned the table against the stubborn Libyans as the first half ended 1-0 in favour of the hosts.

The Dream Team VII had four goal attempts hit the woodwork in the first half but got it right in the second round as Osimhen’s double and super-sub David Okereke completed the 3-0 second half rout in front of a scanty home fans.

Nigeria now qualified for the 3rd U23 African Cup of Nations qualifier coming up in November in Egypt.

Nigeria are the defending champions of the U23 African Nations Cup. The Dream team are four million naira (N4 million) richer now as Super Eagles stand-in captain, Ahmed Musa promised One million naira per goal and is expected to redeem the promise soon.

Cardiff claims Sala transfer deal ‘not legally binding’

C

ardiff City are set to claim the deal to buy Emiliano Sala from Nantes for £15m was not legally binding.

The Bluebirds are refusing to make interim payments for the striker, who died in a plane crash on 21 January.

Cardiff will tell world football’s governing body Fifa that Nantes’ conditions for completion of the deal were not fulfilled and Sala was not registered as a Premier League player.

Nantes claim the required paperwork was completed.

The French club referred the matter to Fifa, who want Cardiff to submit their evidence by 3 Taye Taiwo and Oduamadi April.

Advert: business: news: lagos:

W

hen the question is asked, ‘what is the objective of a corporate organisation’, the answer is usually, ‘to maximise profit’. This is not correct. Yes, companies are in business to make profit which is why they often say that they are not a charity organisation or a Father Christmas that dishes out money anyhow, that whatever money they intend to dole out is weighed against a cost/benefit analysis with their eye on the ball, namely to make as much profit as possible; in other words, to maximise profit. However, there are a number of groups/ persons that contribute to a company remaining a going concern. Each of these groups expects the highest reward/return for their own contributions. But they each have conflicting claims in that meeting the desires of one group in toto impinges on the ability of the company to satisfy the expectations of other groups. But satisfy them one way or other it has to, otherwise its operations could be jeopardised. Hence, it sets out not to fully meet desires of all its stakeholders including its own desire to maximise profit but to make SATISFACTORY profit and to satisfactorily meet everybody’s expectations.

Those that have a stake in a company or contribute to it thereby, enabling it to remain afloat are its shareholders, workers, suppliers, customers, the community, government and the management. Arguably, they all have equal stake in

“

Tuesday Column

By VICTORIA NGOZI IKEANO vikeano@yahoo.co.uk 08033077519

the organisation. For each of them, their contributions are just as important as those of others.

Shareholders/ investors provide the funds with which the company operate as a going concern and their reward for this contribution is payment of dividends. They want to be paid the highest of dividends but should the company acquiesce to their wishes, then there will be nothing left for the others. Workers who produce the goods or service that are sold by the company desire to be paid the highest of salaries and wages but then, paying highest wages means it would not be able to reward other stakeholders.

Suppliers, both of raw materials/services and bank credit to the organisation wish to get the highest price for their services and materials, just as customers that patronise goods and services produced by the company would wish to pay the least price for such items while the company itself would want to set highest price for them. But selling its products/services at give-away prices or floor prices means it cannot recoup its expenses and would have

Government in theory provides the enabling environment for the company to carry on its business through policy formulation. For this the government expects prompt payment of taxes from it

0806 564 8620 0704 385 9705 0814 292 9046 08074420617

little money left to continue its operations while selling them at the highest of prices would put them out of reach of many customers, resulting in poor turnover. Ditto, paying highest amounts to suppliers of raw materials, services and bank credit. Rather, it strikes a balance between the two, selling and buying at equilibrium prices.

Government in theory provides the enabling environment for the company to carry on its business through policy formulation.

For this the government expects prompt payment of taxes from it. Management it is that literally makes things happen in the organisation through its managerial skills, by running it in an efficient way, which is, using the least amount of resources to get the most results. And its reward lies in receipt of dividends and bonuses.

The community provides the land on which the company is sited and for this they expect in return, some form of employment and social amenities. These are generally referred to as corporate social responsibility (CSR), that is, the responsibility of a corporate organisation to its host community. They include provision of scholarship, roads, renovation or building of classroom blocks, health facilities, etc.

Of course, the company cannot give scholarship to every indigene of the community nor can it build all the roads or provide healthcare facility to everybody in its host community at the same time.

These are not its core business.

But it has to find a way of recompensing the community for its own contribution to the company as a going concern for, without their land, the

company cannot undertake anything. In fulfilling its social responsibility to the community and society, the company is also assuring its future as a going concern as it is only when its host community is happy generally that it can carry on its operations in peace and harmony.

Besides, giving out educational scholarships could help enhance quality of its manpower, providing some health facility could help ensure that its workforce are healthy enough, just as constructing good roads within and around its operational base would help reduce wear and tear on both its vehicles and human bodies due to bad roads which could affect productivity. As the company cannot possibly meet all of its social responsibilities in one fell swoop, it would do well to take them one after the other by setting aside a minimum or satisfactory amount of money for its CSR. A certain percentage of companies’ net profit is being advocated for this. Government is being asked to encourage CSR by giving tax incentives for such activities. In addition the community itself should decide the particular social amenities they want the funds so allocated expended on every year. This way the community would feel like a true stakeholder in the affairs of the industry, viewing it in positive light rather than regarding it negatively as an exploiter of its resource.

DAN GAYE

NASS leadership: We won’t share power with PDP Oshiomhole -News

-It’s now winner takes all?

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