Monday 4th April 2016

NNPC: IOCs to Support Oil Marketers’ Demand for Forex Chineme Okafor in Abuja The Chief Operating Officer, Downstream Division of the Nigerian National Corporation, Mr. Ikem Obih, has disclosed that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has negotiated a workable solution to address the challenges of accessing

foreign exchange for the importation of petrol by oil marketers.

This solution, he explained to reporters yesterday, would include international oil companies (IOCs) working in conjunction with the NNPC

and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide forex to marketers for the importation of petrol.

“It is still work in progress and we are working extremely hard to ensure we eliminate the queues. What we have seen

today is encouraging but we are still not there.

“For us, we will get there when we go into the service stations and within a couple of minutes you can buy fuel; that is the objective for us,” Obih said.

He added: “As you know, forex was one of the prime reasons we didn’t do well in the first quarter, as most marketers who had allocations couldn’t import because they couldn’t access forex.

“What the minister has done

Tinubu, Osoba Reconcile, Former Ogun Governor Returns to APC… Page 11

now is to work very closely through his own initiative with the upstream oil companies.

So we have a number of them on board and they will support the local entities to help provide forex for them to import and meet their PPPRA allocations.

Continued on page 8

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CBN Allocates $921m to Banks in One Month Diamond Bank takes lead in forex allocation

Obinna Chima As the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continues with its rationing of the greenback, bank returns on foreign exchange utilisation bought from the central bank and compiled by

THISDAY have shown that it allocated $921,352,549 to 17 commercial banks in the country in March in order to meet the foreign exchange demand of their customers.

Continued on page 8

Nigerian Military Confirms Arrest of Key Islamist Leader on US Wanted List Says more terrorist leaders surrendering

Senator Iroegbu in Abuja The Nigerian military has confirmed the arrest of the leader of the Ansaru Islamic sect, Khalid Albarnawi,

who was once described as the second-in-command to Abubakar Shekau, leader of the Boko Haram terror group.

Continued on page 8

Army Retires General over Ekiti Guber Poll… Page 11

DANGOTE AND RABIU SHEATHE THEIR SWORDS

President, Dangote Industries Limited and Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote (left), and the Chairman of Bua Group, Alhaji Samad Rabiu, at the funeral service held for the mother of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Alice Emefiele, in Agbor, Delta State… weekend

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NSIA Closes in on Signing Concession Contract for Second Niger Bridge Records N26.3bn income in 2015 Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja The process for the construction of the Second Niger Bridge remains on course with the signing of the concession agreement expected to be consummated in the second half of this year, the Managing Director, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), operator of the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), Mr. Uche Orji, has disclosed.

Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja weekend, Orji, who rekindled hope that the realisation of the project was still very much alive, noted that having successfully completed Early Works III (EW3) of the project in January 2016, coupled with the N17 billion allocation for the project in this year’s budget, the engagement

towards facilitating financial closure had been given further impetus.

Orji said that once the concession agreement and supporting documents are executed, the project was expected to move to a financial close.

According him, the concession agreement for the public-private partnership (PPP) project was expected to be signed in the second half of 2016.

On investment commitments for the bridge, the NSIA chief executive, said in spite of the rather difficult economic and financial environment, there was sustained interest from investors outside the country.

He stated that an unnamed investor from the Middle East was also willing to be part of the funding, adding that he was excited by the fact that

the project is well structured.

“It’s being well developed; it’s being well structured. With what has been done with the 2016 budget, I am impressed and confident that the project is on course,” Orji said.

On the performance of the NSIA in 2015, Orji said its audited financial results showed that total comprehensive income increased to N26.3 billion, compared to N15.7 billion in 2014, an increase of 67 per cent, adding that the investment income of the authority stood at N5.8 billion, while its total assets, which grew by 20 per cent, stood at N213.6 billion at the end of 2015.

Orji further disclosed that $250 million additional capital was approved for allocation to NSIA, which was received in February 2016 and would

be invested within the new fiscal year. The additional $250 million, he clarified, will be invested in the subsisting structure with the Future Generation Fund getting 20 per cent, Stabilisation Fund – 40 per cent and the Infrastructure Fund – 40 per cent.

According to him, in 2015, the NSIA also deepened its investments in Nigeria-based private equity and fund managers.

“Private equities are people who seek opportunities in private markets and invest over time and get returns.

This has been one of the most successful asset classes of investment in the world, the difference, however, is that they invest over three to four years and start giving returns.

“We believe it is one of those things that will help

the Nigerian capital market develop significantly and will earn us significant amount of returns.

“We on-boarded five private equity (PE) fund managers, four are Nigerian-based portfolio managers in private equity, bringing our total commitment to private equity to 24,” he said.

Orji added that a key area where the NSIA showed a strong presence in 2015 was the framework for coinvestments to bring other investors to partner the authority to invest in the projects.

“The first we arrived at was in real estate and we expect that it will be operational in the second half of this year,” he said.

“This would be used as a strategy for other segments like power, agriculture and

health care to help channel investments from outside into the country.”

Orji, who observed that the 2015 fiscal year was hallmarked by high volatility and global market uncertainty, added that in spite of the challenges, NSIA still recorded an overall positive result.

In health care, he said within the period, the NSIA advanced its health care investment programme, which involved the development of five modern medical diagnostic centres and a specialist hospital across the six geo-political zones of the country.

“Till date, the NSIA has approached 14 federal health care institutions across the country and signed seven Memoranda of Cooperation (MoC) with as many,” Orji disclosed.

put in place the necessary measures which it would use to import and supply petrol into the country during the second quarter of the year.

Parts of the measures include the deployment of its newly created direct sales-direct purchase initiative to fulfill its share of the allocation.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency

(PPPRA) had allocated the NNPC 41.73 per cent of total fuel imports, while oil marketers got 58.27 per cent of imports.

Obih however said when he inspected petrol filling stations in Abuja, he noted that the corporation had taken care of issues that disrupted its successful implementation of first quarter fuel imports, adding that it would do better

in the second quarter.

He also explained that as part of the measures, NNPC expects that within the month of April, the country’s refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna would begin to contribute to fuel domestic supply, adding that this would increasingly become available to meet subsequent PPPRA allocations to the state-run oil firm.

by Stanbic IBTC, which got $19,305,571 to come in second, while GTBank with $16,807,578 held the third slot.

Also, FCMB with $15,903,487 came in fourth last week, while Ecobank Limited which published returns of $15,352,404 occupied the fifth position.

FirstBank, on the other hand, reported returns of $14,903,487 to occupy the sixth place, just as Standard Chartered Bank with $14,629,570 held the seventh, while UBA with $13,551,412 was in the eight slot.

Access Bank with $12,432,960 returns on forex utilisation occupied the ninth position

last week, Fidelity Bank came in tenth with $9,263,961.

Speaking in an interview with THISDAY, the chief executive officer of Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria Limited, Mr. Michael Larbie, said that the central bank has increased scrutiny on the allocation of forex. This, he said, has also affected capital expenditure, as most firms in the country have put new projects on hold as they seek to get clarity on the country’s forex policy.

“But the situation is also opening opportunities for other clients. Specifically around our clients who source their raw materials locally, so we have challenges with some clients, but it has opened opportunities for other clients.

“Supermarkets are also refocusing where they source their products to the extent that those things that can be produced locally take priority over those that are imported,” he said.

NNPC: IOCS TO SUPPORT OIL MARKETERS’ DEMAND FOR FOREX “And so, through the central bank, NNPC would support the importation of fuel in the second quarter and these oil companies too will work with us. This combined effort, we hope, will help us meet 100 per cent of import allocations in the Q2,” he said.

Obih added: “We have talked in the past about starting the direct sales-direct purchase initiative: In this

regard, we are working with the best refining and trading companies around the world to help source fuel in a timely manner.

“A lot of the work we are doing now, together with the marketers under the PPPRA arrangement, is to ensure that we plan supplies into Nigeria in a way that ensures that we have sustainable inflow in the market to avoid gaps

which lead to scarcity.”

On the refineries, he said: “Most of the work at the refineries are on-site, getting them to begin to crack fuel so that they can begin to contribute to the amount of pool we have to distribute.

It is our goal that within the month of April, we will have some local refining contribute to our mix.”

He stated that NNPC had

CBN ALLOCATES $921M TO BANKS IN ONE MONTH The computation, however, did not capture total returns of all commercial and merchant banks in country, as their reports were not made available to THISDAY. It was sufficient, nonetheless, to show that actual demand for forex stood at almost $9.21 billion during the month, given that the CBN only manages to meet 10 per cent of banks’ demand for forex.

A top bank official explained to THISDAY that the returns were not in any way reflective of total demand by the banks on behalf of their customers, saying that what the central bank was trying to address were the backlog of forex demand.

“On average, our returns or allocations are just about 10 per cent of total demand, which means that the CBN is unable to meet forex demand on the official market.

“It is for this reason there is so much pressure on the parallel market, where businesses that are unable to get their forex requirements met through the official window turn to,” a bank CEO had explained.

Forex allocations in the month of March ranged from fuel, machinery and pharmaceuticals imports, all the way down to school fees and personal travelling allowances.

Allocations for the payment of tuition fees overseas were the most numerous items. Also, other invisibles such as business and personal travel allowances, repatriation of capital, and divestments by foreign portfolio investors from the equities and bond markets accounted for a large chunk of forex purchases, in terms of volume.

Based on THISDAY’s computation, Zenith Bank Plc got a total of $102,279,505 from the central bank, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) was allocated $102,565,144, Stanbic IBTC got $100,590,015, while Standard Chartered Bank of Nigeria got $69,088,105.

Also, in the month under review, while First City Monument Bank was allocated a total of $64,171,254; First Bank of Nigeria Limited - $79,428,530; Access Bank - $69,149,137; Diamond Bank Plc -$77,911,934; United Bank of Africa Plc (UBA) - $40,930,338 and Union Bank of Nigeria - $47,403,725.

Also, Ecobank Nigeria reported

total returns of $44,205,507 in March, Citibank Nigeria Limited - $31,019,298, Fidelity Bank Plc - $42,236,367, Sterling Bank - $21,081,525, Skye Bank Plc - $6,585,134, Wema Bank Plc -$10,554,233 and Unity Bank Plc - $5,303,622.

Meanwhile, for the first time since THISDAY started reviewing weekly returns on forex utilisation, Diamond Bank recorded the highest allocation of foreign exchange from the CBN, last week’s returns published by the banks have shown.

Diamond Bank with an allotment of $20,084,368 for last week, was followed closely

CBN FOREX ALLOCATION TO BANKS IN MARCH BANK Zenith GTBank Stanbic StandChart FCMB FirstBank Access Diamond UBA Union Ecobank Citibank Fidelity Sterling Skye Wema Unity Total $921,352,549 N/A = Not Available

MAR 1-4 ($) MAR 7-11 ($) MAR 14-18 MAR 21-25 ($) ($) 24,171,100 16,823,160 24,547,235 23,630,485 31,305,913 30,902,090 N/A 23,549,564 18,867,994 19,206,106 22,718,300 20,492,044 N/A 13,541,059 20,913,963 20,003,513 9,924,876 14,273,731 9,757,980 14,780,851 17,308,944 19,610,856 13,086,352 14,903,487 14,263,557 13,698,086 16,184,742 12,569,794 15,500,472 13,929,883 16,872,038 11,525,173 N/A 9,164,899 9,677,855 8,536,169 11,064,350 15,602,956 9,677,855 11,058,564 13,732,604 N/A N/A 15,120,559 5,480,542 8,843,320 8,689,014 8,006,422 6,755,109 11,152,668 7,938,945 7,125,684 5,397,672 6,645,092 2,690,021 6,348,740 N/A N/A 2,056,428 2,554,770 5,537,567 1,052,199 1,502,220 1,705,494 N/A N/A N/A 1,930,379

28-31 ($) 13,107,525 16,807,577 19,305,571 14,629,570 15,433,816 14,518,891 12,432,958 20,084,368 13,551,412 N/A 15,352,404 N/A 9,263,961 N/A 1,973,936 2,302,247 3,373,243

NIGERIAN MILITARY CONFIRMS ARREST OF KEY ISLAMIST LEADER ON US WANTED LIST The US had placed a $5 million bounty on his head after branding him one of three Nigerian “specially designated global terrorists” in 2012.

Ansaru is a splinter group of Boko Haram known for kidnapping foreigners.

Ideologically aligned to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, it is also accused of killing a number of Westerners.

Ansaru once claimed that it carried out an attack on a maximum security prison in Abuja in 2012, freeing dozens of inmates.

The Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, in response to THISDAY enquiries last night, confirmed the arrest of the Ansaru leader by security forces.

Abubakar however stated that further investigations were ongoing and that the details would formally be communicated to members of the public in due course.

“We have confirmed that Khalid Albarnawi is the one

who was arrested. We are sorting it out and looking for full details. The moment we finish our investigation, we will inform the members of the public,” he said.

Continued on page 10

TOP GAINERS NGN NGN JBERGER 3.30 44.80 INTERBREW 1.49 20.49 AFRIPRUD 0.15 2.43 FCMB 0.05 0.88 FBNHOLDINGS 0.15 3.15 TOP LOSERS NGN NGN OKOMUOIL 1.57 29.85 UCAPITAL 0.07 1.43 TIGERBRANDS 0.11 2.32 TRANSCORP 0.05 1.06 LIVESTOCK 0.05 1.07 HPE Nestle Nig Plc ₦680.00 Volume: 264.642 million shares Value: N1.939 billion Deals: 3,298 As at 1/04/16 See details on Page 35

% 7.9 7.8 6.5 6.0 5.0 % 5.0 4.6 4.5 4.5 4.4

T H I S D AY MONDAY APRIL 4, 2016

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STARTERS

Why Nigerians Melt Their Gold Jewellery in Dubai

Two-Minute Briefing NEWS Tinubu, Osoba Reconcile,

Former Ogun Governor Returns to APC Top leadership of theAPC yesterday converged on the Oloto Street, Off Boudilon, Lagos residenceof theformer Ogun State Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba…

Page 11

EDITORIAL Before The Ban on‘okada’In Lagos Although theLagos State Government has not categorically stated that it will placea total ban on theuseof motorcycles, popularity called 'Okada', as a means of commercial transportation in the state…

Page 15

POLITICS In Kogi, Their Brand is Crisis Dubai offers all the gold you can buy

Dubai likes to describe itself as the city of gold - but many, including Nigerians, don’t just come here to buy new jewellery, they also bring their old necklaces and bracelets to be melted down and restyled.

Rows of 22-carat gold chains and bracelets twinkle in the shops at Dubai’s main airport, one of the busiest in the world. Waiting by the gate for the 14:25 flight to Lagos in Nigeria, is the Esochaghi family, who are returning home after a shopping trip.

“My favourite pieces are these necklaces,” says Ugochi Esochaghi, gesturing towards a small butterfly bobbing on a chain round her neck.

“I got one for my daughter too, spelling out her name,” she smiles, as toddler Valeria sucks her thumb.

“For me and my family, gold is a really treasured thing. I was brought up with it, I love it.”

Esochaghi’s gold butterfly sparkles under the bright airport lighting as she describes her latest visit to Dubai’s famous gold souk. “We brought some of our old jewellery and it was weighed.

We were then given some designs to choose from and the ones we wanted were created by melting down the gold we already had.

“It took around two days from start to finish. The product is good and it’s also cheaper here than in Nigeria.”

Her husband, Enyioha, who has been anxiously watching the airport clock, agrees to pose for a photo with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Gold Label whisky he bought in duty free. Esochaghi can’t hide her glee. “You don't see this everywhere, it's a special thing, so we’re giving it to a good friend as a gift.”

But is it normal for Nigerian families

to travel to Dubai to buy gold?

“Yes,” says Ugochi, as she heads for the departure gate. “A lot of my friends come here. It’s a popular thing to do.”

One of seven Emirates, for years Dubai has been furiously marketing itself as a tourist hub - last year, it attracted more than 14 million visitors who stayed for at least one night. And gold tourism has been carefully cultivated.

Although there are other global centres for the gold trade - India and China being two of the biggest - according to the World Gold Council (WGC) about 30-40 per cent of the world’s gold flows through tiny Dubai.

“Ten to 15 years ago, Dubai became famous as a gold souk. Since then it’s developed as a commodities centre, and a trading business has emerged,” says John Mulligan, the WGC’s head of member investor relations.

Not having a sales tax is key, Mulligan says, as is the quality of the gold on sale, which makes it an attractive investment.

“It’s generally of high caratage, which means it’s relatively pure. If you’re buying jewellery, the gold will have high intrinsic value. Because of this it will be easy to work out how much it’s worth.”

Ugochi Akwiwu, a travel blogger, tells me more about her love of gold from her home in Benin City, Nigeria.

“Nigerians in general love gold and in my part of the country, it’s a show of wealth,” she says.

“My roots are with the Igbo community in south-east Nigeria and it’s traditional for mothers to hand down their gold to their daughters. Men get property and land, women inherit gold and Hollandais - traditional patterned fabric wraps.”

Akwiwu travels to Dubai once a year, invariably coming back with gold, often in the form of earrings.

These are just for herself and her family but others have turned shopping trips into a business. “When I was at school some of my classmates made money by buying gold in Dubai and selling it in Nigeria.

“A few managed to put themselves through university with the profit. Gold is roughly $5 (£3.60; 4.50 euros) a gram cheaper over in Dubai and who doesn’t like a bargain?”

With fluctuating exchange rates, the price disparity can be even greater and there are opportunities for serious buyers. Lagos-based Talutu Ahmed Olulana, for example, is a self-made woman who trades in gold. “We buy around 5kg of gold a year and the source depends of what it’s used for,” she says. “I get raw gold from Africa but for finished gold I’ll go to Italy, India and Dubai.

“Gold is a store of value, it is movable, divisible, it appreciates and it provides a hedge against inflation. It’s really a true measure of wealth.”

Yet, like Akwiwu, she does not only regard gold as a commodity to be bought and sold. “It’s symbol of royalty. Traditionally kings, queens and chiefs would be adorned with what we call the king of metals - gold,” she says.

“I’m from Kogi State in north-central Nigeria and culturally we ascribe a lot of importance to owning it. In most parts of my state, owning gold is a prerequisite of marriage.”

Fast cars and flashy jets may come and go, but - for Nigerians in particular - there will always be gold.

• Culled from BBC

NIGERIAN MILITARY CONFIRMS ARREST OF KEY ISLAMIST LEADER ON US WANTED LIST A report by an online portal, The Cable, had at the weekend quoted Ahmad Salkida, a journalist known for his access to some of the leaders of Boko Haram, as having said that Albarnawi was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Lokoja, Kogi State and moved to Abuja last Friday.

The Ansaru leader, Albarnawi, who was reportedly trained in Algeria, is believed to be highly influential in the nation’s terror network and is believed to have ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

He is regarded as the most influential member of Nigeria’s terror network with contacts to other Jihadi groups in North

Africa and the Middle East. Salkida said Albarnawi is believed to have reconciled with the leader of Boko Haram.

Still speaking on the arrest, the Defence spokesman termed it a “great achievement”, adding that recent clearance operations by the military in northern Nigeria were yielding positive results.

Abubakar further disclosed that in addition to the arrest of Albarnawi, more terrorist leaders were surrendering to the Nigerian military and other security agencies.

He informed THISDAY that more arrests would be made and that the clearance operations would be pursued to a successful

conclusion until all terrorists are routed from every inch of the country's territory.

“This is a great achievement in line with the efforts of the military and other security agencies to clear the Boko Haram remnants, and we will continue to sustain that.

“You know that in recent times we have been arresting the commanders and some have been surrendering on their own because they cannot face the firepower of the military.

“So we believe that more would be arrested and we advise those who are still hiding to surrender themselves. The operations have been quite successful and on course,” he said.

Thecrisis currently rockingthe Kogi StateHouseof Assembly, and by extension, theentirestate is onechallengetoo many, write Shola Oyeyipo andYekini Jimoh Page 16

FEATURES The Agatu Massacre

Adams Abonu writes on therecent violent attacks carried out by some unidentified Fulani herdsmen in villages in Agatu LGAof Benue State, wheremany lost their lives…

Page 20

BUSINESS Fuel Crisis: NNPC, Major

Marketers’ Filling Stations Engage in Racketeering Despitetheefforts by IbeKachikwu to end thecurrent shortages of petrol across thecountry, someretail outlets owned by theNNPC… Page 23

CITYSTRINGS In the Spirit of Easter

As part of efforts to commemoratetheresurrection of Jesus Christ, Fountain of Hope Society organised its 2016 Easter Cantata at theArchbishopVining Memorial Church Cathebral in Lagos, reports Ugo Aliogo Page 36

INTERNATIONAL Parliament to Debate Zuma’s Impeachment Motion Tomorrow South Africa’s parliament will tomorrow debatea motion to impeach President Zuma, Mbete said, after a top court ruled the Zuma had violated theconstitution.

Page F

SPORTS Dalung: Nigerian Sports Not Backed by Law Youth and Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, stirred the Hornet’s Nest when hesaid that therewas no legal framework in support of fundingof sports in Nigeria.

Page 52

MONDAY APRIL 4, 2016 • T H I S D AY

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NEWS

News Editor Davidson Iriekpen Email davidson.iriekpen@thisdaylive.com, 08111813081

Tinubu, Osoba Reconcile, Former Ogun Governor Returns to APC

Shola Oyeyipo and Gboyega Akinnsanmi Top leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday converged on the Oloto Street, Off Boudilon, Lagos residence of the former Ogun State

Governor, Chief Olusegun Osoba, who dumped the party in October 2014 for a crucial reconciliatory meeting.

Osoba, former Chairman, APC constitution drafting committee, left the party for Social Democratic Party (SDP) due to irreconcilable

Army Retires General over Ekiti Guber Poll Senator Iroegbu in Abuja The Nigerian Army has sent Brig.-Gen. Aliyu Momoh, who was indicted for being complacent during the Ekiti State governorship poll in 2014, on early retirement.

This was confirmed yesterday by the Director of Army Public Relation, Col. Sani Usman, who however clarified that there was nothing like “resignation” in the Nigerian Army, as reported by some media organisations.

The army’s board of inquiry established to investigate the alleged misconduct of some military personnel during the 2014 and 2015 elections, had on January 11, 2016 released a report recommending the compulsory retirement of two officers, Momoh inclusive.

Other than recommending the two officers for early retirement, the board also advised that three other officers be striped of their

command, while one other officer was to face prosecution for collecting financial gratification.

The verdict, which was confirmed by Usman in a statement, though was silent on the names of the indicted officers, alluded to the fact that Momoh was the main culprit in the Ekiti governorship election.

The board, which submitted its report to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), however commended one officer, Captain Sagir Koli, for what it described as non-partisanship and professional conduct while various disciplinary measures were recommended for over 90 other personnel.

The army spokesman had disclosed that 23 officers, over 100 soldiers and 62 civilians had appeared before the board headed by Maj.-Gen. Adeniyi Oyebade, the General Officer Commanding 1 Division of the Nigerian Army.

difference between him and Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State.

Former Lagos State Governor and national leader of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu; former Osun State Governor and former acting National Chairman, APC, Chief Bisi Akande; the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola; Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; former Ekiti State Governor, Chief Niyi Adebayo and the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Idiat Oluranti Adebule, attended the meeting.

Others present at the meeting were National Vice-Chairman, APC, South-west, Chief Pius Akinyelure; former Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mr. Segun Adesegun, who was later the deputy governorship candidate to Mr. Akin Odunsi of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2015 election, Senator Gbenga Obadara, Akintola Benson and Alhaji Bimbo Awofeso.

Addressing journalists after the closed door meeting that lasted about three hours, Aregbesola said the discussions had brought

Osoba back to progressive fold in western Nigeria.

“It is my pleasure to address the band of media houses that the leadership of the progressive politics in the western part of Nigeria met today at the residence of Akinrogun Aremo, and have resolved all the differences completely with the leadership.

“We are happy to inform the world that the leadership of progressive politics are united and ready to jointly prosecute the agenda for purposeful leadership in western part of Nigeria as we plan to do at the national level; to revive the economy.

“I believe with good governance and purposeful leadership, West Africa and the black race will be better for it.

“A time was when Aremo switched to another party. He was with the SDP but with what we have done, Aremo is back in the progressive leadership of Yoruba race,” Aregbesola said.

He said the reconciliation was on the platform of the APC, adding that: “With the leadership united, whoever subscribes to the leadership is part of this.”

Fielding questions from journalists when asked if he was happy about the development, Tinubu said: “You see me here, what do you expect? My happiness is personal to me. What is crucial is forging on “I’m an unapologetic progressive and I will remain a progressive.”

Asked if the absence of.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State was a sign that he was excluded from the reconciliation meeting, Tinubu said: “Nobody is left out. No one. No matter your insinuation. The governor is with us. We can excuse people. He was elected on the APC platform. He is for the APC. “This is not a leaderless revolution. It is clear we are one, including the governor of Ogun State. Who told you we are fighting? That is you insinuation?”

“We want to strengthen Nigeria.

We want to stay focused in redefining Nigeria. We want to reverse the decay of the past years.

For 16 years, PDP destroyed this country. We can’t be emotional and in self-denial about it.”

Tinubu bemoaned that the past PDP leadership in Nigeria did

not prioritise road and rail road constructions, electricity and other crucial sectors attributing it to why Nigeria is where it is today.

On whether Nigerians are already getting impatient with the APC leadership, Tinubu who disagreed, said instead, what Nigerians want is to understand the direction of government.

“I research Nigeria. What they (Nigerians) want is to be certain of the direction of government. We will not continue to be leaderless. The fact is we don’t have to continue to import tooth pick. We need good leadership and that is what President Muhammadu Buhari is providing,” he said.

The APC national leader denied putting Akande forward for the Board of Trustee (BoT) chairmanship of the APC. When asked about the reconciliation, Osoba who did not give a clear statement, sang a Yoruba song he referred to as one of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, stating that “The fight is over and the war is ended, the Lord has fought and won the war, halleluyah.”

NNPC Offers to Discuss Revenue Retention Claims, Says NRGI The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has offered to talk to an international watchdog that said it failed to hand over billions of dollars in oil revenues despite government promises to tackle mismanagement and corruption.

President Muhammadu Buhari last year fired senior staff at the corporation and approved a revamp of its structure last month.

But in a report published this week, the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) said NNPC withheld around two thirds of the $6.3 billion of oil proceeds in the second half of 2015.

NRGI, according to Reuters, said there was an increase of 12 percent from the proportion kept by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, in 2013 and 2014.

The NNPC has previously said such accusations failed to account for its costs.

The oil sector in Nigeria, Africa’s top crude producer, accounts for about 70 per cent of national income.

The constitution requires NNPC to hand over its oil revenue and money it then paid back based on a budget approved by parliament. But the act establishing the company allows it to cover costs before remitting funds to the government.

Last Friday, NRGI posted a statement on its website in which it said NNPC had offered to hold talks.

“NNPC has invited NRGI

to meetings where NNPC will clarify its position. NRGI appreciates NNPC’s open doors and willingness to engage, and will post further updates based on these discussions,” it said.

NNPC posted, the text of the statement on its Twitter feed but a spokesman could not immediately be reached to confirm the details or say when the meetings would take place.

Last month, the AuditorGeneral of Federation and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) both said NNPC failed to remit billions of dollars to the public purse during the Jonathan era.

The NRGI report said until there are agreed rules governing how much money NNPC can keep and how it must spend the money, it will continue to “leak” out of the system.

“NNPC spending on this scale raises questions about fiscal responsibility, especially at a time when public finances are stretched and the federal government is looking to fund more of its budget with debt,” the report said.

NRGI praised Buhari’s work to reform oil sales, notably efforts to cut out “passive, well-connected middlemen,” and reforms of crude for oil product swap deals that have been replaced with revised agreements directly with oil refineries.

S’WEST APC LEADERS KISS AND MAKE UP

R-L: National Leader, All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bola Tinubu; former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba; and National Vice-Chairman, South-West, APC, Chief Pius Akinyelure, during the meeting of the South-west APC leaders at Osoba’s residence on Fosberry Road, Ikoyi, Lagos… yesterday

Fayose: I’m Not Interested in the Presidency The Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has ruled himself out of the campaign for a joint presidential ticket with the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, saying he is not interested in being the president or vice-president of the country.

Besides, the fiery governor also ruled himself out of a senatorial ticket when his tenure expires, noting that the campaign would be an exercise in futility as he would not contest for another position in 2019.

He said he is the most senior and most experienced governor in the country having served during the tenure of President Olusegun

Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.

The governor made it clear that he would never support any presidential move by Sheriff, adding that if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman has such dream he should jettisoned it forthwith.

Fayose told those flying the kite of Sheriff/Fayose joint ticket that it will not fly.

“I will not support him now and I will never support him in 2019,” he insisted.

Again, Fayose took a swipe at President Muhammadu Buhari, saying he (Buhari) has no capacity to rule the country.

Fayose was also angry at those already campaigning for a second

term for the president when he is barely one year into his first tenure to desist from the move as the country is on edge of collapse both political and economically under the president.

He said Buhari is the most unlucky president the nation has ever had as the economy is always performing at its worse each time he comes to power.

He stressed that the president must change his attitude, warning that no investor would come and invest in a nation where the president not only believes that he is the only incorruptible person but calls his citizens corrupt.

Fayose advised the president to stay at home to grapple with the

many problems facing the nation instead of jetting out of the country at every opportunity.

He noted that the president was using the opportunity of the office to tour round the world as he never had it in the past.

“Buhari has no luck. The economy may shut down anytime from now because of the inconsistency of the government policy. The president must learn to stay at home,” The governor stated.

He lamented that every policy taken by the government in the last one year has been revised, saying such inconsistency has been the bane of the country and the economy.

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Sheriff: Arrogance, Greed, Sell-out Cost PDP the Presidency

Joseph Ushigiale

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Borno State Governor, Alli Modu Sheriff, has blamed arrogance, greed and sell-out by some influential party members as factors that caused the party to lose the presidency to rival All Progressives Congress (APC) last year.

In an exclusive e-mailed interview with THISDAY recently, Sheriff revealed that erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan lost not because he was unpopular stating that “I know that arrogance was one of such issues and I also know

that some of our party men and women sold out.”

According to him, “So many factors contributed to Jonathan’s failure to win the elections. I may not be able to tell you everything now, but it is an open secret that even his own men worked against him. By the time we went into that election, so many things had happened which served as warning signals of failure, but they were ignored.”

“The PDP was in a better position to win, but somehow, we squandered our fortunes and we paid for it. We know better now and we will work towards avoiding some of the obvious pitfalls.” “Recent activities in

the country have put the PDP in a safe position to rework our strategies and bounce back to power. We are already on the drawing board and I assure you we are going to get it right next time.”

When asked if the outcome of the election would have been better if he had been in charge, Sheriff said “I do not have to praise myself, but if I were in charge, things would have been different. You can see even for the few weeks that we took charge; we have begun changing the old order of doing things.”

On the controversy that trailed his emergence, Sheriff noted: “It is normal for people to express dissenting opinions in such

situations. Some people may have spoken against my choice, which I consider to be their right, but I don’t think it is right for you to say I emerged against popular opinion, because those who identified with me were actually more in number, but they did not deem it necessary to join issues with those who feel otherwise.”

Sheriff assured Niegerians that “If we do not have our own ideas which we plan to inject and turn things round, we would not have accepted the responsibility to lead at this time. If I were in charge, I would not have allowed our members, especially people who control strategic states with large voting population to move out of the

Stop Causing Crises in Rivers, Wike Tells Amaechi Ugo Aliogo Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has warned the former governor of the state and current Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, to stop promoting crisis in the state.

Wike in chat with THISDAY last night, said Amaechi was in the habit of instigating crises in the state and turning around to say the state was unsafe.

The governor alleged that most of the crises leading to the loss of lives in the state were caused by Amaechi.

He said some boys who were at the weekend arrested with AK47 riffles in Ubima, Amaechi’s home town, claimed that the former governor was behind their armoury.

“It is unfortunate that the man who arms youths in the state to cause crisis, is the same person who goes about saying

that Rivers State is not safe.

“At the weekend, some youths were arrested with AK47 riffles in Ubima with some of them claiming that they were armed by Amaechi.”

Wike dared the former governor to deny that he was not responsible for most of the crises rocking the state.

He added that the governorship and recent rerun elections in the state where Amaechi’s party, the All

Progressives Congress (APC) performed poorly were evidence to show how irrelevant the former governor is.

He stated if the minister has any modicum of pride, he should have by now buried his head in shame and shunned anything that would cause crisis in the state.

He appealed to the minister to accept in good faith the fact that he had been rejected by the people of the state.

party massively in the build up to the elections.”

He said his reconciliation efforts are yielding results and uniting the party, stressing that: “I am leading a more united PDP, than I met it. I have been making all-inclusive consultations with stakeholders across the country, and we have been able to win the confidence of people who were hitherto reluctant or uncooperative.

It may interest you to know that those who were initially repulsive have come round and we are now working together.

The interest of the party is above

any personal feeling.”

On the prospect of upsetting the rival APC in 2019, Sheriff was cautious in his optimism, adding that: “We are optimistic, but 2019 is still far away and I feel it is too early in the day to say whether we have a chance or not.

It will also appear presumptuous to state what strategies we plan to deploy in 2019. When we get to the bridge we will cross it. Our strategies, for no, are to pray for Nigeria to have a conducive and free democratic atmosphere in 2019 for Nigerians to express their true feelings towards the PDP.”

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Elumelu, Kaberuka Tell African Leaders to Reform Policies Adeola Akinremi in New York, USA Lack of good policies is stunting Africa’s entrepreneurial growth, frustrating development and threatening the continent’s progress, a philanthropist and Chairman of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr. Tony Elumelu, said at the weekend at the Harvard University, United States.

“The government must provide the enabling environment and create policies that support sustainable development. The entrepreneurs are there, but they face enormous challenges that government needs to address with favourable policies for business growth,” Elumelu said.

He spoke to an audience populated by development experts and students from across the US and from Africa at the 22nd annual International Development Conference (IDC) at Cambridge, Massachusetts, alongside the former President, Africa Development Bank, Ronald Kaberuka.

The conference themed: “Pathway to progress: exploring successes and opportunities,’ provided platform for the two economists to discuss economic stimulation from the public and private sector perspectives.

In Africa, unchecked bureaucracy, insecurity, lack of access to finance and expansion of government policies that hinder economic growth and economic opportunity are barriers to progress in new business formation.

“A good policy is like a triangle.

It must be technically sound.

Development is about the choice a country makes. Development is not lack of knowledge. It is not something that can be imported.

It has to be homegrown. It is an internal process,” said Kaberuka, a former Finance Minister from Rwanda.

The difference between a country making progress and others at the bottom according to Kaberuka is about choices they make in development. “Those choices are

possible,” he said.

Kaberuka cited the successes of India in green revolution, the deregulation of the telecommunication sector in most parts of African countries and how they triggered economic progress.

“You have the business, you have the government, business invests, provides solution, government provides support, regulates and you have progress. So it can’t be lack of knowledge. It must be lack of something else, when a country is not moving forward. In the 1990s, when we asked the government to deregulate the telecoms sector, there was explosion and with the explosion, businesses have improved. We have tried to replicate this in the energy sector.

It worked in some countries, but failed in others. It can’t be lack of knowledge and it can’t be lack of money,” he added.

Both Elumelu and Kaberuka asked for realignment of interest for progress in Africa, making case for collaboration among stakeholders.

“Policy, knowledge and resource combination are the pathway to progress. The three are critical to development,” Elumelu explained.

The model of Africapitalism pioneered by Elumelu for Africa’s development piqued the interest of participants at the conference who asked varied questions on how innovative ideas can trigger development.

Over the course of the discussion, the billionaire banker shared ideas on the promotion of entrepreneurship development and his economic philosophy of Africapitalism which encourages long term private sector investments in strategic sectors of the economy that create economic prosperity and social wealth.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP), a 10-year, $100m commitment to help identify and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs with the aim of creating one million jobs and adding $10 billion to African economies, is

one of the ways Elumelu is working to turn African continent to a truly prosperous economy that will change the statistics.

Later, at the Columbia University, New York, Elumelu shared the story of how he moved his bank from one branch on a corner street to having branches in several countries in Africa, France, the US and the United Kingdom.

“While Entrepreneurship is key to development, Africapitalism an economic philosophy that encourages long term investment in key sectors that create economic prosperity and social wealth is also critical to sustainable development.

“In 1997 some of us came together and acquired a distressed financial institution and turned it around. We set out with three strategic intents. The first was to turn the bank around.

The second was to become a leader in the continent and the third was to expand globally.

“Today we have achieved all.

UBA is operating in 19 countries in Africa and we are in three global

centres: London, Paris and here in New York. In fact, we are the only African bank regulated by the OCC. What started as a not so huge investment in 1997 has grown exponentially, creating wealth for us and other stakeholders.

“The lesson here is that there was an overriding drive and the need to invest long term in a key sector-financial services- and helped to democratise banking by creating access to financial services for all.

‘No one but us would develop Africa’. It is this belief that is driving a lot of the things that we do. We have to move away from the concentration of resources in the extraction. Value creation has been lacking in the exploitation of our resources. Consequently GDP growth figures for African countries are not really felt by our people.

“Africapitalism and entrepreneurship including the entire ecosystem of it in my view will lead to development in Africa,” he said.

Osun Doctors Suspend Seven-month-old Strike Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo Medical doctors in the service of the Osun State Government yesterday suspended the industrial action they embarked upon since last September.

The doctors working with the state Hospital Management Board and those attached to Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, embarked on industrial action to reject the payment of modulated salaries among other grievances.

All efforts to settle the rift between the two parties had met a brick wall, as the doctors rejected all entreaties and threat to bring them back to work.

Also in a letter addressed to the state Head of Service signed by the state chairman of OSAMDO, Dr. I. Adekunle, copies of which were obtained by journalists yesterday, the doctors said the decision to suspend the strike was arrived at after considering the rising cases of avoidable deaths among the indigenes of the state.

The association also aprreciated the efforts of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Najeem Salaam and some prominent medical practitioners to resolve the industrial crises.

Speaking with journaists on the development, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association, Dr. Suraj Ogunyemi, stressed that members of OSAMDO had decided to restrategise, adding that part of the new strategy is the suspension of the strike with immediate effect.

Ogunyemi said: “The OSAMDO members held their meeting last Wednesday and part of the decisions taken was the suspension of the ongoing industrial action. This development is coming despite the fact that government had not paid them their outstanding dues and their failure to accede to their demands.

“But in the interest of the good people of Osun, we cannot continue to ignore the intervention of the Speaker and other critical stakeholders. We just have to give them due honour.”

Arrest, Prosecute Tinubu Now, PDP Demands Segun James The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to immediately arrest and prosecute former Governor of Lagos State and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, following the disclosure by the CCB lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs, that the former governor was erroneously discharged by the CCT in the trial of holding 10 foreign accounts contrary to Section 7 of the CCB and Tribunal Act, Cap 15 LFN, 2004 as amended.

The PDP in a statement by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Taofik Gani, charged that the “learned SAN made the

disclosure in his opposition to the application by Senate President, Bukola Saraki, that he be discharged.

“We demand the immediate invitation, arrest and prosecution of Tinubu for violating the laws of the land and breaching public trust by operating several foreign accounts during his tenure as Lagos State governor between 1999 and 2007.

“During these period, the state did not witness meaningful developments commensurate to its internally generated revenues and federal government allocations. We strongly believe that those foreign accounts were allegedly used to steal Lagos

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SPREADING THE GOSPEL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

R-L: Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Prof. Thomas Patterson; Keynote Speaker and Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu; David Gergen and former African Development Bank President, Donald Kaberuka, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA... weekend

ICPC Investigates Ex-Lagos Solicitor-General over $10m Scam Gboyega Akinsanmi A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Afe Babalola, has asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate former Solicitor-General of Lagos State, Mr. Lawal Pedro, for allegedly defrauding his law firm of $10 million in professional fees.

Babalola also asked the ICPC to investigate how the family of Gbadamosi Eletu of Osapa Village, Lagos, substituted his law firm for that of Pedro, thereby depriving his firm of $10 million professional fees.

He made the request in a petition he addressed to the Chairman of ICPC, Mr. Ekpo Nta, detailing how the former solicitorgeneral allegedly abused his office and hijacked the briefs he handled for the family of Eletu in Supreme Court while his professional fees had not been paid.

As contained in the petition, the senior advocate asked the ICPC to investigate the corrupt practices in respect of the settlement of some

lawsuits, which Pedro concluded in connivance with the Eletu family and other parties “to defraud his law firm of its professional fees.”

He said the Remedium Chambers “is the private law firm, which Pedro used fraudulently to hijack the briefs of other lawyers while he was in the employment of the Lagos State Government.

He alleged that Pedro used his private law firm to hijack the negotiation of Suit No: LD/4897/2014 between Beach Resorts and the Eletu family. As a result, the Eletu family deprived the law firm of Afe Babalola of its professional fees of $10 million.

He buttressed his claims in a suit no: LD/1827/LMW/15 he recently filed in a Lagos High Court contending that after his retirement, Pedro moved “to the premises of De Remedium Chambers located at No. 2 Akintoye Shogunle Street, Off John Olugbemi Street, Ikeja, where he practices law privately. He has since changed the name of the said office to Lawal Pedro, SAN and Co.” The senior advocate

provided insight into the genesis, explaining how the Eletu family approached his law firm through a lawyer, Mr. Ademola Koko in 2005, asking him to appeal against the decision of a Court of Appeal involving 254 hectares of land.

After he agreed to handle the appeal at the Supreme Court, Babalola asked the Eletu family for a professional fee of $20 million, which he said, was reduced to $10 million after the family pleaded.

But when asked to pay part of the professional fees, the senior advocate noted that the Eletu family offered “to give him land to cover the payment,” which he said, was rejected in favour of a cash payment of fees.

Upon agreement, the senior advocate requested an agreement on his professional fees to be in writing and that the agreement should be executed before a magistrate, which the family complied with as proof of good faith.

He added that his law firm prosecuted the appeal for eight years before the Supreme Court

delivered judgment on July 12, 2013 and awarded 216.7 hectares of land in favour of the Eletu family.

He said the attempt by his law firm to pursue the execution of the Supreme Court judgment stoked diverse litigations and protests, which perhaps compelled the Lagos State Government to intervene in the dispute.

The senior advocate alleged that all the suits filed after the judgment of the Supreme Court were fraudulently settled without his knowledge, and cited the suits filed

by Wole Olanipekun & Co on behalf of Lekki Silver Touch Limited; Dele Farotimi & Co. on behalf of Sun City Properties Limited; Olalekan Yusuf on behalf of UACN Properties Development Company and Joseph Nwobike & Co. on behalf of Beach Resorts Nigeria Plc. He noted that the suits, which arose from the decision of the Supreme Court secured by his law firm for the Eletu family were settled without his knowledge and with the involvement of Pedro, who allegedly used his private firm.

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Bakare Advises Buhari on New Constitution, National Reconciliation Shola Oyeyipo

President Muhammadu Buhari has been advised to leverage his good will among Nigerians to take far reaching decisions that would spur genuine national progress even in the face of global economic crisis.

Speaking yesterday on the topic: ‘Championing the Cause for a New Nigeria’, during a national broadcast marking the 27 years anniversary of his church, The Latter Rain Assembly, the running mate to President Buhari on the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) platform in 2011, Pastor Tunde Bakare, called for the creation of a ‘New Constitutional Order and a National Reconciliation Commission’.

“Now, all that is required to give Nigeria a national rebirth is the political will of a president

who enjoys a great deal of respect from the Nigerian people, including those who do not support him.

The president may exercise this political will by creating a novel institution,” Bakare implored.

According to the cleric, one of such areas that needs to be addressed is the 1999 Constitution, which he said lacks the capability to move Nigeria to the next level.

“Whoever holds the view that the current constitution is sufficient as the national norm fails to recognise the aberrations which the constitution itself represents, or the import of these aberrations on our national psyche or value system.

“Contrary to its claim that ‘we the people’ gave ourselves a constitution, the 1999 Constitution was designed without the participation of the Nigerian

Mbu Begs Buhari to Rehabilitate Police Colleges The Commandant, Police Staff College, Jos, Mr. Joseph Mbu, has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government to rehabilitate police colleges ahead of the coming massive recruitment in the Force.

Mbu, an Assistant Inspector General (AIG), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday that the recruitment would be worthless without better facilities in training schools.

Buhari recently approved the recruitment of 10,000 policemen in the country.

Mbu described the state of police colleges as “in utter decay,’’ saying hostels, lecture halls and other necessary facilities in the colleges were in very poor conditions.

The commandant also decried inadequate teaching and nonteaching staff in the colleges,

which according to him, remained a major problem.

“Our police colleges, both senior and junior are in very bad state.

Most of the structures you see there are dilapidated and the issue of poor staffing is also there.

“Recruitment exercise into various cadres in the force has begun, but the major lacuna will be where to train the recruits. We need good facilities and atmosphere to make them better policemen.

“You cannot start exposing recruits by making them pay money indirectly for one thing or the other when ideally the government is supposed to provide everything for them.

“So, I appeal to the president to set up a special committee to examine our colleges with a view to putting them in good shape before the training for the new recruits commences,’’ Mbu said.

people,” he said, stressing that: “This non-inclusion of a people in a process by which they supposedly resolved to give themselves a constitution is unrivalled in the history of political falsehood, thereby laying the foundation for a culture of political fraudulence.

It was also a lost opportunity for a pre-transition learning experience in democratisation.”

With reference to insider report by a former director at the presidency, Mr. Eric Teniola, who revealed that the committee that produced the 1999 Constitution “visited just few states, stayed most of the time in Abuja, held public hearings just for a few days, compiled its report and submitted, doubting that the government of the day would even approve it,” Bakare described the constitution as “shoddily put together.”

Bakare therefore noted that due to the many breaches to which the 1999 Constitution has been subjected, constitutional conventions are already evolving in unconstitutional directions, urging that: “The sooner we channel this discontent constructively towards constitutional rebirth, the better

for us. Ignoring it is risking a revolution.”

The clergyman said there was need for a “Presidential Commission for National Reconciliation, Reintegration and Restructuring comprising a team of highly respected national influencers of high moral standing and unquestionable integrity, and having bridge-building antecedents.”

He explained that when established, the commission should be mandated to work closely with stakeholders and power blocs as well as legislative houses to create a new national identity for the Nigerian people; promote forgiveness and reconciliation among contentious interest groups in Nigeria; foster the integration of the diverse sectional groups in Nigeria into true nationhood; facilitate the creation of an acceptable functional governmental structure for Nigeria and midwife a process of constitutional rebirth that will culminate in a referendum by which the people will adopt a new constitution.

He also advised that the report of the 2014 National Conference with its Nigerian Charter for National

Reconciliation and Integration will provide a ready-made operational springboard for this team.

“In a three-dimensional strategic arrangement, this national rebirth process can go on seamlessly alongside socio-economic development championed by the economic team of this administration headed by the vice president as well as a national security and anti-corruption strategy spearheaded by the president.

“However, within the allowance provided by the current constitution until it is replaced, socioeconomic development and national security strategies will be channeled in line with the cutting-edge nation philosophy from which the new constitutional order will emerge.

“Very importantly, this process will also result in the adoption of a long-term constitutionallybacked national vision that will subsequently guarantee accurate succession as well as guide policymaking for many generations, irrespective of the party in power,” Bakare stated.

He said Nigeria is currently experiencing predicted socioeconomic and political

quagmire, which requires a reexamination of the configuration of the nationhood and a re-assessment of the framework of state.

“The time has come, once again to ask ourselves whether our nation is appropriately configured to survive current and coming upheavals, let alone fulfilling her great destiny,” he added.

The cleric highlighted terror and violence which produce fear, internal displacement and exile; corruption which asphyxiates national development plans and policies; excessive consumption and the forceful commercialisation of our national patrimony by a few cronies of the powerful oligopolies; injustice and deviation from norms, disregard for boundaries, and lawlessness as some of the major problems that Nigerians must collaborate with President Buhari to confront.

“Except we cleanse the injustices in the land, there is no way the nation will progress, and there are so many of them. A nation where the people play lip service to the issue of the Chibok girls, there is no way the youths will believe in the nation,” he emphasised.

ARREST, PROSECUTE TINUBU NOW, PDP DEMANDS funds.

“It still amazes us how a Tinubu, well known before he became the state governor, is now the undoubtedly wealthiest and ‘influential’ personality out of politics in the country. The code of conduct tribunal erroneously discharged him but that does not remove the fact that the offence was committed.

“Now that the facts of Tinubu’s erroneous discharge are in the public glare and in the spirit of the hyped anti-corruption crusade, President Mugammadu Buhari ought to take a stance and speak out on the proprietary of Tinubu walking free while Saraki, Sambo Dasuki, Nnamdi Kanu, are being prosecuted with vigour.

“Alas! Rather, the president and other APC leaders chose to adopt and celebrate a betrayer of public service. The president particularly recently directed the grounding of the capital city to celebrate Tinubu’s birthday.

An unequivocal declaration of loyalty to Tinubu who no doubt bankrolled the President’s election.

No doubt that president Buhari is only mouthing anti corruption and cannot summon the gut to prosecute APC leaders.”

The PDP said lawyer to Saraki, Kanu Agabi (SAN), applied for Saraki’s discharge on the basis that he was also not invited before he was charged by the CCB, which is similar to Tinubu’s fact of case.

They wondered why Tinubu was discharged whereas Saraki continues to be prosecuted even when the surrounding facts are similar.

“The erroneous discharge of Tinubu must be appealed against. Alternatively, Tinubu should be invited, interrogated and prosecuted. He was discharged and not acquitted and there is no time limitation for criminal trial. The PDP lamented that if Jacobs the lawyer of the bureau can “described Tinubu’s discharge as wrong and that the tribunal was misled into discharging the former governor,” the former governor should be arrested and prosecuted immediately.”

This is just as the party has also accused President Muhammadu Buhari of manifesting selective fight and prosecution in his anti corruption crusade.

It enjoined the president to prove his anti-corruption stance by ensuring the prosecution of the APC national leader.

WELCOME BACK HOME

President, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Dr. Olumuyiwa Aliu (middle); being received by the General Managers, Public Affairs, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Sam Adurogboye (left) and his counterpart in the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Yakubu Dati, at the Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos....yesterday

Stability, Continuity in Governance Necessary to Defeat Terrorism in West Africa, Says Osinbajo Tobi Soniyi The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), has identified continuity in governance and political stability in the West African sub-region as important elements in the fight against Boko Haram and insurgency.

A statement issued in Abuja yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice-President, Laolu Akande, said Osinbajo spoke at the weekend in Niamey, Niger Republic at the inauguration of President Issoufou Mahamadou for a second term in office as the president of Nigeria.

The vice-president said the re-election of the Nigerien

leader was significant for the sub-regional coalition against insurgents.

He said Niger remained a good neighbour of Nigeria and an important partner, and also in the war against terrorism Osinbajo noted that Mahamadou’s investiture “has great significance because first Nigeria understands President Issoufou well. He is an old hand and Nigeria has worked well with him as a partner. So, his re-election brings continuity and is good for the fight against Boko Haram and the insurgency in general.”

The Vice-president who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the

ceremony, said Nigeria held the Nigerien President in high esteem, adding that “he is an old friend of President Buhari who is abroad attending the nuclear security summit in Washington, USA which is why he could not attend this event.”

He stated that the Nigerien President’s inauguration was also an opportunity to honour a strong ally and “to reinforce all our important diplomatic and military ties.”

In his inauguration address after he was sworn-in at the ceremony, Mahamadou noted that current worries regarding insecurity was global, transcending boundaries.

He restated Niger’s renewed

commitment to join forces with Nigeria and other neighbours to fight insurgency at the sub-regional level.

The Nigerien president explained that defeating Boko Haram has several benefits particularly for economic integration in the region stating that it ‘ will facilitate trade between Niger and Nigeria’.

About 52 countries witnessed the ceremony including nine West African presidents.

There were also several Nigerian dignitaries at the occasion including the APC National leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and several governors especially from the northern states.

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COMMENT

Editor, Editorial Page PETER ISHAKA Email peter.ishaka@thisdaylive.com

THE FACE OF THE NAIRA

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Boniface Chizea argues the recent hike in monetary policy rate may contribute to a stable exchange rate of the naira

he Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) following its meeting held on March 21-22, 2016, hiked the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) - the benchmark interest rate which the monetary authorities would charge the banks that approach it in fulfilment of its lender of last resort function from 11 per cent to 12 per cent. What was a bit surprising regarding this decision is that this rate was only reduced at the November meeting of the MPC from 13 per cent, the rate it had been for over four years. It was then rationalised that this reduction was in response to the outcry for the need to reflate the economy to create an environment that would be conducive for launching a massive attack on the worrisome problem of growing and rising unemployment. It was also argued then that such a development is better aligned with the avowed determination of the fiscal authorities to stimulate the economy for job creation as could be gleaned from the content of the fiscal policy document of 2016 which included an unprecedented deficit of N2.2 trillion, the equivalent of 2.1 per cent of the GDP. But it would appear that what has led to this reaction by MPC is the recent spike in the inflation rate which was reported by the National Bureau of Statistics to have reached 11.4 per cent in February, rising from 9.6 per cent in January, 2016. Some of the reasons advanced by the MPC for this decision included but not limited to the fuel scarcity, increase in energy tariffs, and slow growth of credit to the private sector and foreign exchange scarcity. There is of course also the issue of the uncertainty surrounding fiscal policies, security challenges in parts of the country which had impacted negatively on the ability to distribute agricultural produce across the country, low electricity supply, fuel shortages, an adverse external environment and overall slow growth of the economy which are mostly outside the purview of monetary authorities. In as much as monetary tightening is almost a reflexive reaction expected from the monetary authorities in the event of rising inflation, to most informed observers of the economy it is an unassailable fact that what has largely accounted for the recent inflation is the uncertainty surrounding the availability of foreign exchange particularly the rate of exchange of the naira as it crashed precipitously at the parallel market; which would then mean that the recent increase in inflation is in response to cost push factors instead of demand pull as it would seem to have been interpreted. And if that is a correct reading of the situation most commentators have wondered whether a hike on the MPR is the most suitable response in the circumstance.

The Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) was also increased to 22.5 per cent, up from 20 per cent which would result in the draining of liquidity from the banking system. In fact it was reported that interbank rate increased to 20 per cent just before the Easter recess as an estimated amount of N409.7 billion was reported to have been sterilised from the banking system as a result of this upward review on the reserve rate. But by the admission of MPC the accommodative policy stance adopted since July, 2015 had not impacted the economy because the deposit money banks could only access the surplus funds resulting from this measure based on their ability to identify viable projects for funding which has the potential of impacting positively on the unemployment situation.

And that it is work in progress as the central bank is still processing

THE MPC HAS SERVED NOTICE THAT THE MONETARY AUTHORITIES ARE WORKING ON NEW MODALITIES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF EXCHANGE RATE WHICH WE EXPECT SHOULD ACCOMMODATE THE MUCH TALKED ABOUT FLEXIBILITY TO INCREASE THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE ECONOMY TO AUTONOMOUS INFLOW OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE

some of the proposals submitted by the deposit money banks. If that is the situation it begs the question whether it is also timely for the CRR to have been increased even as we admit that those on the outside looking inwards would most certainly not have all the facts?

The asymmetric corridor around the MPR was also reduced from +200/-700 to +200/-500 basis points to encourage the banks to deposit their excess liquidity with the central bank consistent with the liquidity mopping up thrust of monetary policy. The likely consequences of this development is that there will be increase in lending rates across board which is not a good development for the Small and Medium Scale enterprises already reeling from many other challenges in the economy not the least of which is the ability to source affordable credit and foreign exchange as most of these category of businesses are hooked on importation to sustain their operations against the general scarcity of foreign exchange which is now being rationed for the importation of prioritised goods and services. And interest rates as veritable factor costs as they record an increase should impact the level of inflation and all these foreground the difficulties which conducting monetary policy portends. There is this little debate whether the MPR could be below the rate of inflation in an economy with the example of Turkey where monetary policy rate is 7.5 per cent which is lower than the prevailing inflation rate at 8.78 per cent. If the MPR is below the rate of inflation, that is a situation of veritable subsidy to the deposit money banks and for obvious reasons such a stance could not be countenanced in a situation of credit tightening. This hike in the MPR is supposed to impact the savings rate by increasing it to 3.6 per cent from the prevailing 3.3 per cent rate which still represents a negative return of -7.8 per cent which is often categorised as the payment of an inflation tax.

It is expected that this development would result to an increase on the yields on fixed income securities and might attract more investors including portfolio investors who might find them more attractive relative to the yields from money market instruments. But overall the capital market might be impacted negatively as there is flight from shares to safer bonds with now enhanced yields. It is also expected that the mopping up of liquidity from the system would ultimately impact on the demand for foreign exchange and help in the fight to stem the falling rate of exchange of the naira. While we await the passage of Budget 2016 which we are informed was sent to the President without the breakdown which now presents a veritable cog in the wheel, it is expected that the cash infusion expected from the reflationary budget would definitely exacerbate the liquidity situation in the economy negating the thrust of monetary policy as it attempts to keep a leash on rising liquidity within the system. The MPC has served notice that the monetary authorities are working on new modalities for the determination of exchange rate which we expect should accommodate the much talked about flexibility to increase the attractiveness of the economy to autonomous inflow of foreign exchange. And may be contribute inexorably to the much desired stability of exchange rates in the economy so that we commence the process of deescalating the dominance of foreign exchange concerns in the management of the economy.

Dr Chizea is a management consultant

THE DISCONTENTS OF PROGRESS (1)

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The Standards Organisation of Nigeria could do better in maintaining standards, argues Patrick Dele Cole

he federal government has a large number of institutions aimed at monitoring the power of the executive, increasing personal freedom, protecting consumers from exploitation ensuring justice and so on. These institutions include the Public Complaints Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau, Legal Commission, Consumer Protection Council, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Trade Promotion Commission, etc. None of these institutions have made any impact in achieving its stated goals: they are what in the UK are called quangos and their Director Generals (DGS) seem to have secured cushy sinecures. Their existence confirm the erroneous idea that the civil service does not do any work and that those who work in these organisations have a safe place from which to exploit their position for profit either through that office or in some other enterprise.

The Public Complaints Commission, the Ombudsman, was established so that if citizens feel aggrieved by a decision of a government department like late or non-payment of pensions, unreasonable appropriation of property, overbearing attitude of civil servants, police brutality, etc., they have a place to go to for redress. Nigerians could also report bad conduct, corruption etc., with the Code of Conduct Commission. Legal Aid is available to those who cannot afford a lawyer should they be charged before the courts. NAFDAC is to make sure that all drugs, drinks, etc., that we drink are safe and genuine. The Consumer Protection Council was to protect the interests of consumers; Trade Promotion Council to ease trade with foreign

business – all these organisations are remarkable in only one way, that is, their total ineffectiveness to meet the main reasons why they were established.

They are comatose. These agencies are still funded but no one uses them.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria was established by Act No. 56 of 1971 and subsequent amendments. Its functions include the preparation of standards relating to products, measurements, materials, processes, certification of industrial products made in Nigeria or imported into Nigeria.

It was charged with the certification of industrial goods, to help in producing quality goods and circulation of quality standards of products.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria has five sections and departments, a quality and environment management system; laboratories that test goods and products; food, and chemistry section; and engineering section that deals with materials, civil and electrical, textile and leather. Factories are expected to submit samples of all the materials they use in manufacturing so as to ascertain their quality. There is a section that checks instrument calibration facilities and NIS is supposed to help in industrial planning, research information. The Library has 3000 Nigerian Standards and over 55000 volumes of foreign standards. The Standards Organisation of Nigeria works closely with their foreign counterparts whose standards are also recognised. Imported goods are expected to meet standards of the SON and when this does not happen the products are either destroyed or some other corrective action is employed. The SON works closely with NAFDAC, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), etc.

Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has four laboratories to examine all the quality of all the goods coming into Nigeria. Two in Lagos, one in Enugu, and one in Kaduna. The law requires that all manufactured goods in Nigeria should have a SON registration number or certificate.

Products may have one – registration numbers. The procedures for these are clearly spelt out. Some of the proud achievements SON claims are that it now has three new cement standards, 32.5, 42.5, and 52.5 grades for various kinds of usage of cement - for making blocks, casting and bridge construction. Steel strengths are also certified by SON as are thousands of building materials. A quick look at a list of what SON says they have standards for is absolutely bewildering. Various paints including paints for automobile vehicles, sausage rolls, extruded puffed corn snacks, fruit drinks, and medication soap, soft drinks, mineral based oils, ball pens, hair conditioning creams and over 20 other creams, polyurethane foams, biscuits, plastic containers, milk, kerosene, aero fuels, diesels, premium motor spirits etc. There are thousands of other standards.

It does not take too much imagination to realise that for Standards Organisation of Nigeria to do its work properly it has to be a gigantic organisation.

Thankfully there are many internationally accepted standards by international organisation to which Nigeria belongs. Most of these standards are simply applied. But for manufacturers of products in Nigeria, including well known brands these still have to meet the standards of SON. But what stops goods not up to standards to be imported into Nigeria? Originally, SON was at the ports to check standards but lately they have been withdrawn. The SON also is empowered to

carry out market surveys to see whether what is sold meet standards. To do this, the organisation should have an army of inspectors and vehicles to send out and collect goods for examination in their laboratories.

Some of the regional offices of SON and (there are only four) have two vehicles to be used by few inspectors. Moreover public awareness campaigns are necessary as the public know little about SON. Just testing the number of pure water makers in Lagos alone would demand a lot of people. Or testing the various fuels used in Nigeria must be a mammoth task, even before adding the plethora of creams and tooth pastes, soft drink and other beverages.

Technically there should be no substandard goods in Nigeria if SON is working efficiently. Standards Organisation of Nigeria knows where most of the substandard goods come from into Nigeria: ideally our inspectors or eyes should be in and on those countries. There are a whole lot of substandard goods in Nigeria, especially electrical goods, some of which may lead to death – wires used for buildings, steel rods that are substandard, long life bulbs which are not long life; everyone has had experience of buying goods which are below standards.

Standards Organisation of Nigeria needs to train its inspectors better, and the Nigerian factor must be exterminated in the organisation. Our importers deliberately bring in substandard goods and pharmaceuticals. Even the factories in Nigeria cut corners and produce below standard goods; palm oil makers are now introducing some chemicals to make the oil redder!

Dr. Cole (OFR) was Nigeria’s Ambassador to Brazil

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T H I S D AY MONDAY APRI 4, 2016

EDITORIAL BEFORE THE BAN ON‘OKADA’IN LAGOS

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An outright ban of motorcycles will be fraught with problems, but it’s the right thing to do are. Yet India is five times bigger than Nigeria in terms of population.

Indeed, commercial motorcycles as a means of public transportation was an anomaly that sneaked into Lagos, explaining its low regulation. But the state government started the modernisation of public transportation eight years ago with the successful phasing out of the ubiquitous ‘Molue’ and its replacement with the BRT buses. It also restricted the use of these motorbikes from about 500 roads. The Ambode administration therefore will only be carrying forward this policy if it phases them out as a mode of public transportation. And we think some recent steps the administration has taken may help to address the social and security concerns that have been expressed about the policy.

lthough the Lagos State Government has not categorically stated that it will place a total ban on the use of motorcycles, popularly called ‘Okada’, as a means of commercial transportation in the state, the handwriting is on the wall, particularly after the resolution of the recent Mile 12 violent clash.

Indeed, part of the resolutions was the agreement by traders and stakeholders to have the market relocated ultimately and to restrict these commercial motorcycles within the environs.

Right now, the thinking among government and security officials in Lagos is that an outright ban of ‘Okada’ will have three immediate positive impacts: it will reduce accidents, it will bring down incidences of armed robberies, and the environment will be cleaner. If that happens, Lagos will only be taking a cue from states like Edo, Delta, Abuja and even Akwa Ibom that have phased this mode of transportation out of their metropolis for similar reasons.

However, there are grave security implications for what the Lagos State Government is said to be contemplating.

What will the ‘Okada’ LAGOS AS A MEGA operators now do?

CITY REQUIRES MORE Will they not become MODERN MODES OF jobless and stray into TRANSPORTATION anti-social activities, THAN COMMERCIAL including criminality?

MOTORCYCLES. EVEN How will those presIN INDIA, WHERE HALF ently commuting by OF THE MOTORBIKES IN NIGERIA ARE REPORTEDLY commercial motorcycles within the state now MANUFACTURED, THEY move around?

ARE NOT ALLOWED AS A Obviously, the MODE OF COMMERCIAL Governor Akinwunmi TRANSPORTATION Ambode administration will have to critically examine these issues before making its next move. However, we are also of the strong opinion that the growth of Lagos as a mega city requires more modern modes of transportation than commercial motorcycles. Even in India, where half of the motorbikes in Nigeria are reportedly manufactured, they are not allowed as a mode of commercial transportation, only tricycles

Letters to the Editor

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M T H I S DAY

EDITOR IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU DEPUTY EDITOR BOLAJI ADEBIYI MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI EDITOR NATION’S CAPITAL IYOBOSA UWUGIAREN

T H I S DAY N E W S PA P E R S L I M I T E D

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU, EMMANUEL EFENI, IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OLUFEMI ABOROWA DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, FIDELIS ELEMA, MBAYILAN ANDOAKA, ANTHONY OGEDENGBE DEPUTY DIVISIONAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI SNR. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC OJEH ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS HENRY NWACHOKOR, SAHEED ADEYEMO CONTROLLERS ABIMBOLA TAIWO, UCHENNA DIBIAGWU, NDUKA MOSERI GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUHI GROUP HEAD FEMI TOLUFASHE ART DIRECTOR OCHI OGBUAKU II DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO TO SEND EMAIL: first name.surname@thisdaylive.com

aking road rehabilitation its focus, the administration has fixed more than 400 roads since its inception 10 months ago and it has also expanded the BRT corridors with 430 brand new buses that have impacted positively on the Ikorodu - CMS axis. It however needs to replicate this along the Iyana-Ipaja, Ajah-Epe and Badagry axis as well as complete, within the shortest possible period, the blue line rail project expected to carry about half a million people daily.

With government’s increased investments in the sector, commuters will find less need for the use of motorbikes as a mode of public transportation. Those who would be laid off from the business will then have to take up the opportunities the development of Lagos into a mega city will offer. Already the Ambode administration has established the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund, which from this year will make small funding from N1,000 to N1 million to start-up businesses for residents of the state. There is also the multibillion naira rice farming partnership between Lagos and Kebbi States that will employ several thousands of people. Also, as more jetties are built and BRT corridors expanded, more jobs would be created for people to take advantage of. We believe that Lagos has the capacity to provide alternative possibilities to those who are in the ‘Okada’ business. It will not be easy and the idea requires more strategic thinking but phasing out commercial motorbike from Lagos streets is possible.

TO OUR READERS Letters in response to specific publications in THISDAY should be brief (150-200 words) and straight to the point. Interested readers may send such letters along with their contact details to opinion@thisdaylive.com. We also welcome comments and opinions on topical local, national and international issues provided they are well-written and should also not be longer than (9501000 words). They should be sent to opinion@thisdaylive.com along with the email address and phone numbers of the writer.

INNOSON, NAF AND THE MDAS

he recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between Nigeria’s first indigenous auto maker INNOSON and Nigeria Air Force for the fabrication and manufacture of spare parts signposts a new dawn in our quest for technological development.

After several years of depending on wholesale importation of operational equipment, the Nigeria Air Force has now taken the lead among other government institutions to look inwards in solving some of their problems.

With the paucity of foreign exchange and glut in Nigeria’s oil sales, it is indeed commendable that the Nigerian Air Force has decided to close the gap created in the servicing of their fighter jets by patronising INNOSON Vehicles Manufacturing Company at Nnewi, Anambra State.

For a very long time, Nigeria has depended on the importation of virtually all equipment, vehicles, and plants from abroad, until INNOSON broke the jinx by venturing into automobile manufacturing. The result is that they were able to manufacture the first Nigerian vehicles, utilising our local engineers and technicians.

Obviously, the credit goes to Chief Innocent Chukwuma who many consider a genius on account of his ingenuity and creativity in spearheading the manufacturing process. While he has received eulogies and acclaim nationally and globally, INNOSON has successfully emerged as a Nigerian brand that has made the nation proud.

By venturing into a sector that was hitherto considered the

exclusive preserve of the white man (Europeans and Americans) and their Asian counterparts, INNOSON has elevated the position of the average black man among other homo sapiens. It is also gratifying that out of necessity, the Nigerian establishment, and indeed the entire nation are beginning to appreciate this singular, but gigantic effort on the part of INNOSON. Lest we forget, INNOSON led the revolution that is currently unfolding before our very eyes in the automobile sector, with many foreign companies now setting up factories in Nigeria. The concomitant effect is that jobs will be created; the elusive foreign exchange will be conserved, and the possibility of technology transfer is high.

For clarity, let me cite examples with PAN, Toyota, Hyundai, BMW, Nissan, Honda, and others that have set up their assembly plants in Nigeria, or in the process of doing that. On the whole, INNOSON was the catalyst that showed the way, and practically demonstrated that it is possible.

Therefore to sustain the tempo, there is the need for all the ministries, departments and agencies at both federal and state levels to emulate the good example of the Nigerian Air Force by patronising INNOSON vehicles which range from cars, buses, SUV’s, trucks and other high-capacity vehicles. Such patronage will enhance the company’s capacity to create more jobs for Nigerians. Already there are over 10,000 Nigerians under the employ of INNOSON. As we await the implementation of the 2016 budget, it is necessary that all MDA’s adhere to the policy of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in patronising locally made vehicles.

The era of waste and total dependence on foreign made vehicles is over. Nigeria as a country can only realise its vision of a great nation and giant of Africa by leading the way in promoting locally made vehicles. The reason is that the benefits accruing from this sector are numerous, and multi-dimensional.

Today, INNOSON vehicles are in high demand across West Africa and Nigeria as country of production must showcase their pride.

Perhaps, government must enunciate a clear policy for MDA’s to patronise locally made vehicles by issuing a directive mandating all of them to buy their vehicles locally.

Even in the case of standards, INNOSON vehicles have been proven to be durable, aesthetic and in compliance with the best world standards. Additionally, the vehicles are designed to withstand our tough terrains, whereas most imported vehicles are designed to suit the climatic weather conditions of Europe, Asia and America.

It is regrettable that in our country today, we have thousands of imported vehicles that our technicians are not able to maintain or fix due to lack of requisite knowledge. This has equally led to massive loss of foreign exchange, and value – deficit. The only way to stem the tide is to look inwards, reorder our priorities, and demonstrate patriotism and love of country by patronising INNOSON vehicles.

Once again, the Nigerian Air Force deserves our accolades for taking the bull by the horn, by realising the need to patronise Nigeria’s first indigenous automobile manufacturer.

Chukwudi Enekwechi, Abuja

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

POLITICS

Group Politics Editor Olawale Olaleye Email wale.olaleye@thisdaylive.com 08116759819 SMS ONLY

T H E M O N D AY D I S C O U R S E

In Kogi, Their Brand is Crisis The crisis currently rocking the Kogi State House of Assembly, and by extension, the entire state is one challenge too many, write Shola Oyeyipo and Yekini Jimoh

Bello (r) with Kogi APC chairman, Alhaji Hadi Ametuo...thinking the way out

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ogi State seems to have a thing for crisis and sometimes, politically orchestrated violence. But the violent slant to its crisis is not as pronounced. Since the rebirth of civil rule in 1999, Kogi had chosen the crisis brand, perhaps inadvertently.

There is hardly any administration that was not baptised in the crisis river of the confluence state.

Even where the successive governments had the genuine intentions to deliver on their promises and in some cases, outperform one another in a healthy competition engendered by democracy, the inherent crisis of interests, complicated by the many fault lines of Kogi’s peculiarity had always stood in the ways of such intentions, thus leaving the ordinary people of the state to bear the huge and needless brunt.

In less than four months that the Governor Yahaya Bello government assumed office, Kogi has returned to the trenches and in full swing. Although the crisis preceded Bello’s ascension to office, it however assumed full circle immediately he was sworn in, starting typically from the state House of Assembly, the usual take-off point for nearly every crisis that had bedeviled the state. First, it appeared like a child’s play, but the turn of events in the last few weeks had however shown clearly that it is not only a crisis that will tarry for a while, it also promises to claim casualties, albeit with time.

A Flashback…

In Kogi, politics, tribalism and sectionalism go hand-in-hand. The people have never been able to distinguish their differences and what is currently happening in the State House of Assembly is not without precedence. The reason is because every election held in the state since it was created had produced an Igala governor (Kogi East senatorial district) but this has never gone down well with people

from the Central (Ebira speaking part where the incumbent governor hails from) and West (Yoruba speaking zone where James Faleke, who is contending the governorship with Bello comes from) but the people were usually pacified with other top offices like the deputy governor, Speaker and ministers amongst others.

This condition has created mutual distrust and made visible, the many fault lines that are peculiar to the diversity of the state. As a result, there has always been a subtle power tussle which struck heavily in the state House of Assembly in November 2012. Just as in the current situation, the National Assembly was compelled to shut down the Kogi Assembly following a protracted leadership crisis that engulfed the legislative arm of government.

The crisis culminated in a controversial

Kogi State seems to have a thing for crisis and sometimes, politically orchestrated violence.

But the violent slant to its crisis is not as pronounced.

Since the rebirth of civil rule in 1999, Kogi had chosen the crisis brand, perhaps inadvertently.

There is hardly any administration that was not baptised in the crisis river of the confluence state

impeachment of the Speaker, Hon Abdullahi Bello and other principal officers of the House by 12 of its 25 members in a secret meeting on Tuesday, November 12, 2012.

The minority lawmakers, who carried out the impeachment, allegedly did so with the backing of the erstwhile governor, Idris Wada, but the impeachment was condemned by civil society groups, the National Assembly and lawyers; and it was described as an illegality.

The House of Representatives six-man ad hoc committee led by Hon. Mohammed Mourktar Ahmed, which eventually shut the assembly, said they had to seal off the complex to prevent any of the factions from sitting or performing any legislative duties since they were unable to ensure quick resolution of the crisis.

It was a combative situation back then.

Some persons went as far as attempting to disrupt proceedings of members of the House of Representatives, who were in the state on fact-finding mission over the illegal impeachment of the former Speaker. It took the proactive action of the police and other security agents in the state to enforce peace and order. In fact 13, persons were arrested in connection with the alleged plot to disrupt the activities of the National Assembly delegates.

What was basic here was that everybody understood what happened as not without the surreptitious support of the former governor and top Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the state.

There were allegations of secret meeting held at the Kogi State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, between Wada and Hon. Yakubu Yunusa, Majority Leader of the Kogi Assembly, then representing Ofu constituency and a strong member of the 13-pro Speaker lawmakers on November 5, where Wada allegedly implored Yunusa to influence his colleagues from East senatorial district, who are with the Speaker, to dump him, with financial inducement.

There had also been similar meeting to allegedly coerce four legislators from the West, to support the new Speaker. The meeting was held at about 10.30pm at the residence of Chief Jide Omokore in Maitama, Abuja.

In fact, some of the lawmakers like the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Hon. Saliwu Akawu and Hon. Henry Ojuola, openly accused Wada of being the perpetrator of the discord in the house. They also accused him of investing hugely in actualising his ambition to control the leadership of the assembly.

But the ousted Speaker, Hon. Bello, had on Channels Television on Thursday, October 18, 2012, traced the root cause of his travails to the executive. Bello, who spoke in a telephone interview, accused the executive of sponsoring his removal. He alleged, among other things, that he had a running battle with the governor over some irreconcilable differences. And to settle scores with him, the governor induced members with large sums of money to facilitate his removal.

In the heat of the tussle, Bello, resigned from his job. It was his resignation that brought some calm after a long period of tension in the house. A new speaker, Momoh JimohLawal, who is now the embattled Speaker, was subsequently elected as the replacement in a unanimous vote by all the 22 members in attendance at a plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Emmanuel Omebije.

It was a political solution. A vote of confidence was passed on all the former principal officers of the House as they retained their seats. However, Saidu Salihu relinquished his position as Chief Whip to Suleiman Babadoko, an in-law to former governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris.

But what was Bello’s crime? He was considered as too overambitious because when the Supreme Court handed down its judgment following the appeal by the CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

POLITICS/ THE MONDAY DISCOURSE IN KOGI, THEIR BRAND IS CRISIS

The 15 Kogi lawmakers and their speaker, Momoh-Jimoh (fourth from left) with members of the House of Representatives

Even where the successive governments had the genuine intentions to deliver on their promises and in some cases, outperform one another in a healthy competition engendered by democracy, the inherent crisis of interests, complicated by the many fault lines of Kogi’s peculiarity had always stood in the ways of such intentions, thus leaving the ordinary people of the state to bear the huge and needless brunt Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the verdict of the Court of Appeal on tenure elongation, it ended the tenures of the five governors of Adamawa, Cross River, Bayelsa and Sokoto and Kogi States and people expected that he (Bello) should be sworn-in as acting governor.

Recall that Wada and Bello were sworn in as governor and acting governors of Kogi State on January 27, 2012 in Lokoja, the state capital, making the state have two governors in one day. Wada and his deputy-elect, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi, were sworn in at the Government House as governor and deputy governor respectively by the President, Customary Court of Appeal, Mr. Shaibu Atadoga, while Bello was later sworn in as the acting governor by the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasiru Ajanah.

The real problem was that Wada and his associates needed a Speaker that would stand by his administration should any of the series of legal battles instituted against his government pull it down. Bello was not considered loyal and therefore, had to go.

The Current Impasse Returning to the 2012 path, the House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, at their plenary session, announced that they had taken over of the functions of the Kogi State House of Assembly as empowered by the provision of Section 11 (4) of the 1999 Constitution, which says the National

Faleke

Assembly could take over the functions of any state assembly that is enmeshed in crisis.

Though slightly different this time around, due to the circumstances, the recent sealing off of the Kogi Assembly was as a result of leadership tussle that has been on since December 2015, and which has paralysed the activities of the state assembly.

The leadership face-off started precisely on December 5, last year, shortly after the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the election, Alhaji Bello. Hon. Godwin Osuyi of PDP representing Ogori-Magongo constituency had led some other members of the House to impeach the speaker, which later failed following the intervention of the national leadership of PDP. Commentators on the present leadership tussle in the assembly have been alleging that the state government was behind the crisis.

The embattled Speaker, Jimoh-Lawal, who himself got to the exalted position – ousting his predecessor in questionable manner and circumstances, is also alleging that the governor was behind the whole crisis.

Sometime in February this year, immediately after the swearing-in, it was alleged that the governor held a closed door meeting with

Jimoh-Lawal and other members of the House over the possibility of being replaced with one of the seven (7) members of the APC in the assembly.

The reason purportedly cited by Bello for this was because the Speaker and the governor come from the same senatorial district and as a result, the governor viewed it as unfair to the remaining two senatorial districts, particularly the West, and as such insisted that for the sake of equity and fairness, the position should go to Kogi West senatorial district.

Though unconfirmed sources alleged that after the meeting, the governor gave the Speaker N50 million and another N7.5 million each to the 14 PDP members in the House to give their support for his anointed candidate, Hon. Ahmed Imam Umar of Lokoja I constituency of APC .

Governor Bello has however denied ever interference in the affairs of the Kogi Assembly or seducing them with money. In the same light, Jimoh-Lawal too has vehemently denied that money exchanged hands between him and the governor and the other PDP members of the house.

When the national leadership of the PDP got wind of the development, it immediately

summoned its members to Abuja for a meeting, where it was decided that the status quo must be maintained. With this, JimohLawal retained his position as the Speaker while all other principal officers of the house were also retained.

At the meeting, the PDP members were instructed to prevent a situation where APC with seven members will take over the leadership of the house. But the situation took a more dramatic turn on February 16, when Hon. Friday Sani, a PDP member representing Igala-Mela Odolu state constituency led four other APC members of the house to impeach Jimoh-Lawal. This was barely one week after the meeting between the national leaders of the PDP and the 14 PDP members of the party in the house.

It was alleged that before the purported impeachment of the Speaker, four lawmakers of the APC including the arrowhead, Sani had allegedly held a meeting with the deputy governor, Hon. Simon Achuba in his office where the plan was hatched.

Sani, while addressing newsmen after the impeachment justified the action by accusing the Speaker of incompetence and lack of capacity to lead the assembly. According to him, the assembly cannot be led by anyone as a sole enterprise in which all house rules are ignored and the house remained closed perpetually.

He insisted that he and his colleagues followed the due process in removing the Speaker, saying that fifteen members signed the impeachment notice as against seven members required to form quorum to remove the principal officers.

“With the Court of Appeal ruling which sacked five of our members, reducing it to 20, only seven members are required to form quorum and we have more than that” he said.

Sani said the house has for a long time remained inactive following the ineptitude of the house leadership, saying the replacement was necessary for improved productivity, unity and togetherness.

Allegations and Counter-allegations The embattled Speaker has maintained that he remained the Speaker, declaring his impeachment as null and void. He has continued to allege that Governor Bello wanted him out as Speaker at all cost and to replace him with APC member, who is a minority in the house.

According to him, rather than Sani’s claim, fifteen out of the 20 members of the house passed a vote of confidence on him, stressing that the purported impeachment did not hold water.

But the state government, reacting to allegations of meddling in the assembly affairs, has repeatedly denied any such interference.

The governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Alhaji Abdulkarim Abdulmalik, said: “The attention of the Governor of Kogi CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

POLITICS/ THE MONDAY DISCOURSE IN KOGI, THEIR BRAND IS CRISIS State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has been drawn to the spurious allegations by some group of legislators in the legislative arm of Kogi State to the effect that the governor was the person stoking crisis in the assembly.

“The governor wishes to inform the general public that he has never interfered in the affairs of the state legislature in line with his determination to promote the rule of law and strict adherence to separations of power. To drag the name of the Governor to the crisis in the Kogi State House of Assembly is in the least, uncharitable. The crisis in the House of Assembly predates the present administration in the state,” he said.

Governor Bello also noted that before the advent of the present administration, the assembly crisis assumed a violent dimension when vehicles belonging to the different caucuses in the House were vandalised.

He therefore urged all aggrieved parties in the Kogi State House of Assembly to close ranks and work in unity for the progress of the state.

While exonerating himself, Governor Bello accused his rival to the seat of governor and member of the APC, Faleke, who was the running mate to the late Alhaji Abubakar Audu in the November 21, 2015 governorship election, of playing politics with the crisis in the Kogi Assembly.

His words: “We are aware some people have threatened to make Kogi State ungovernable if they are not allowed to take over the state.

What all Kogi people should be concerned about now is how to ensure unity and save the state from its battered state.

“Faleke should stop painting a gory image of Kogi State in order to score cheap political points. Governor Yahaya Bello does not know about the crisis and would not meddle in the affairs of the legislature. Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly are great men with capacity to resolve their differences in order to move the state forward.

“It is clear that some disgruntled elements are scared of the immense achievements of the governor since assuming office. Those collaborating to run this state down will soon discover the futility of their ignominy”.

He therefore pledged continued collaboration with the legislative arm to actualise his dream of a better Kogi State.

But disagreeing with Governor Bello, former Commissioner for Information and a stalwart of the APC in the state, Dr. Tom Ohikere Kogi said the state House of Assembly problem is as a result of some “remote and immediate causes.”

According to him, “The remote causes are traceable to the interference of past governments in the affairs of the assembly.

For example, ex-governor Wada was very involved in the conducts of the assembly throughout his tenure. So, it has become the practice for governors to control the assembly in Kogi State.

“Remember the case of Abdullahi Bello, who had 17 members to Jimoh-Lawal, who had just eight members in the last imbroglio during ex-governor Wada’s era when eight was stronger than 17?”

He stressed that “The present case of Yahaya Bello and the Kogi Assembly is the worst scenario. It is full of absurdities and aberrations. The governor does not seem to believe in the law, process and constitutionality as he wants to conduct the office of the governor his own ways.

“The case is getting messier day-in-day-out as the governor is seemingly demonstrating his lack of capacity to manage the situation.

Kogi State is presently sitting on a keg of gun powder as things are upside down and there is no clue as to how the case will be normalised.

The assembly is totally in disarray while the governor is hanging on a string,” Ohikere said, painting a sorry state of affairs in the crisis-ridden ‘Confluence State.’ …The Crisis Lingers Though the fact finding committee of the House of Representative led by Hon. Pally Iriase has visited Lokoja with the bid to resolve the crisis, the situation remains unabated.

Agreeing with Ohikere, Iriase, who is the Deputy Chief Whip, explained that the Kogi Assembly has been enmeshed in leadership crisis for quite sometimes.

On whether or not the committee was aware of an interlocutory injunction granted to the other faction, Iriase stated that the committee has yet to receive any injunction, stressing that the committee members would not take injunction from Television flashing news bar and there is difference between filing papers seeking injunction and granting injunction.

He argued that if the Federal High Court, Lokoja had granted such interlocutory

Wada

injunction, the committee would have been properly served. Iriase however assured the stakeholders that the committee would get to the root of the matter and reunite the factions in the House for the benefit of the people of Kogi State.

Governor Bello too promised to cooperate with the delegation from the National Assembly that is currently on a fact-finding mission towards the resolution of the crisis.

Bello contended that the intervention of the National Assembly in the crisis is a welcome development that would help the state to move forward, stressing that “The amicable resolution of the warring factions of the state assembly will go a long way in restoring confidence, hope and unity that is required for the rapid growth of the state.”

He promised to meet with the embattled lawmakers so as to rob minds with them on the need for the executive and the legislative arms of government to work together in the interest of peace and fulfillment of the mandate given them to serve the people of the state.

While all these entreaties are on, the State House of Assembly has remained under lock and key and is being guarded by fully armed policemen on the order of the National Assembly.

Security agents also barred the factional members of the state House of Assembly who were billed to conduct ministerial budget defence from accessing the complex, as the road leading to the complex was also barricaded by armed policemen, who subjected staff of the assembly to rigorous search and only allowed them in upon

Taken together, it is the position of many that leaders and elders in the state intervene in this needless crisis of interests by calling the two sides to a table and finding a lasting solution, perhaps political and without sentiments. This is because the state is fast becoming notorious for negative news and losing its allure – away from what it used to be

Idris

confirmation of their employment status through their identity cards.

A superior police officer, who led the team of armed policemen to the assembly complex, ASP A. Adeniran told newsmen that the directive came from the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase.

“We were directed not to allow any assembly member into this complex, only the staff of the complex are allowed in to perform their official duties,” Adeniran volunteered to say.

Two weeks ago, the Nigerian Senate had directed Arase to seal off the Assembly complex until the crisis in the assembly is resolved. The problem is largely unresolved.

Egos have crept in, tempers are still running high and not a few people are waiting to see how the drama would eventually end.

Jimoh-Lawal’s deputy, Hon. Aliyu Akuh said the crisis remained unresolved. The earlier directive to return to status quo ante by the House of Representatives was ignored by the five members. According to Akuh, it was an aberration for five out of the then 20 members of the assembly to impeach the Speaker in whom the 15 other members had passed a vote of confidence on his leadership.

Akuh said the 15 members considered the action of the minority five members as an infringement on the constitution of the country, adding that in a good democratic setting, such infringements must be challenged.

“What happened with five members seeking to impeach a Speaker in a house of 20 members is an aberration, unheard of and more so that some members’ names and signatures were forged and included as being part of them.

“We had to go to the higher authority which is the National Assembly vested with the constitutional powers to intervene in such situations. The House of Representatives ordered the seal-off and it was concurred by the Senate,” he said.

On the position of the law as regards the suit filed by the five members at the Federal High Court, Lokoja, challenging the intervention of the National Assembly on the impasse, Akuh said there was no injunction or court order restraining the National Assembly from performing its duties in the Kogi assembly crisis.

But the factional Speaker, Imam said the seal-off was illegal, adding that for the National Assembly to have gone ahead to seal-off the assembly in spite of the fact that the matter was pending in court smacked of illegality.

Imam, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Umar Ali argued that the action of the National Assembly was aimed at stunting the growth of the state as all legislative businesses especially the passage of the 2016 Appropriation Bill would be affected.

In instructing the IGP to seal the Kogi State House of Assembly, the upper legislative

chamber also declared null and void, the impeachment proceedings embarked upon by five members of the Kogi State House of Assembly. The Senate further condemned the role played by the Police in providing cover for five members out of 20 members of the Assembly to commit what it described as “illegalities.”

These resolutions by the Senate were in concurrence with the House of Representatives, which had ordered the takeover of the Assembly over illegal removal of its Speaker. The Senate noted that it was “invoking the powers conferred on it by section 11(4) of Nigeria’s constitution to take over the legislative functions of the state House of Assembly pending the resolution of normalcy in the Assembly.”

It added that the action was in view of the fact that the Kogi State House of Assembly could not perform its legislative functions due to intractable.

Special Adviser to the governor on Legislative Matters, Hon. Haruna Yusuf said the assembly was not sealed off as reported in some quarters. He said it would be wrong to say the assembly complex was sealed off without the presence of heavy security and free flow of human and vehicular movements.

His words, “We have been asking from any of those that have been saying there is an order to seal off the premises for the order but no one has been able to come up with one. People should not sit down in their bedrooms and conjure things because they are not happy with the system”.

Umar too reiterated that he was at the complex to ascertain the status of security in the assembly and discovered that there was no restriction whatsoever.

“It is not true that the assembly has been sealed off. The essence of being here is to confirm whether or not the complex was sealed. We have done a tour of the assembly and we found out that the assembly is open and members of staff are working. The members have adjourned sitting till April 12 but the oversight functions are going on.”

He however said the members had moved to the Government House for the budget defence because there was a security report that made the assembly premises unsafe for legislative duties. So, the committees that were sitting on the budget had also moved elsewhere following a security report that some people were planning to foment trouble in the complex.

Taken together, it is the position of many that leaders and elders in the state intervene in this needless crisis of interests by calling the two sides to a table and finding a lasting solution, perhaps political and without sentiments.

This is because the state is fast becoming notorious for negative news and losing its allure – away from what it used to be.

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

POLITICS/ PERSPECTIVE

Jonathan, Sheriff and the Devils’ Alternative The choice of the PDP National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff is curious, writes Musa Abba

P

oliticians are funny characters.

Apart from being funny, they are also incurable optimists, when it comes to the pursuit of their major preoccupation and vocation being the insatiable thirst for power, more often than not, as an end in itself rather than a means to an end.

Even in the face of formidable challenges, dwindling popularity ratings or diminishing prospects in their political calculations, you can always bet your last kobo on their knack for mischief and dreams for gaining or reclaiming power, which they may have lost due to their deeds or misdeeds while they previously called the shots as emperors of the corridors of power. I don’t blame them.

Not when in the particular case of the Nigerian politician, there is no more hiding place for treasury looters and corrupt elements, given the hot pursuit of such characters by President Muhammadu Buhari. They have thus, no option but to dream dreams of staging a come-back to power even when the odds are clearly pitched against them. You cannot, therefore, stop them from trying.

Year 2019 is approaching and already, politicians have started scheming how to reclaim their lost glory and most prized possession – political power. Among these is ex-president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who I presume needs no introduction.

In case he needs one, Jonathan will be remembered as Nigeria’s immediate past President, who was disgraced out of office by Nigerians on account of his misrule which was characterised by monumental corruption; looting of the nation’s treasury and looking the other way while a gang of infantile delinquents called Boko Haram terrorised and set the country on fire.

The gist in town is that Jonathan has risen out of the Ogogoro-induced political coma and trance he fell into after his defeat in the 2015 presidential elections

by Muhammadu Buhari. Now, he wants to be president again. Whoa! What, if one may ask, has Jonathan forgotten in Aso Rock Presidential Villa that makes him want to return to collect it? May be to redeem his battered image or better still, to stop the wind of change blowing across Nigeria which is strong enough to exhume the skeletons languishing in his wardrobes?

Your guess is as good as mine. Jonathan has not been a happy man since he lost the coveted seat of President and Commander-in-Thief (Sorry Chief) of the Armed forces. Not when the Ministers he conspired with to milk the nation’s treasury dry are on the run, his National Security Adviser has been a guest of various courts in the land for diverting millions of dollars meant for buying weapons to fight Boko Haram and worst still, he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in jail for his deeds or misdeeds while in office as president.

Jonathan cannot but be sad with the political structures and machinery he has built over the years crumbling before his very eyes. He needs an alternative and fast. The way out, the devil’s alternative if you like, is to scheme President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) out of power, come 2019 and re-install himself as president as he did in 2011.

Fantastic alternative indeed! To achieve this obviously diabolical objective, Jonathan is enlisting the support of a controversial and a not so strange bedfellow in the person of ex-Borno strongman, Ali Modu Sheriff as his main point man. For the avoidance of any doubt, Ali Modu sheriff and Goodluck Jonathan are not exactly strange bedfellows but birds of the same feather destined to flock together.

Like Jonathan, Sheriff was a two-term Governor of Borno State, where he ruled as a dictator and tyrant as well as squandered the state’s resources with reckless abandon. Having attempted unsuccessfully to stage a comeback to the senate on the platform of the APC, Sheriff pitched his tent with Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Against all odds, Sheriff was recently appointed PDP interim national chairman.

And in the plot to install Jonathan as president in 2019, Sheriff is said to

Jonathan and Sheriff...fronting a new bond?

being tipped as vice-president. There is a problem, however. Sheriff lacks a political machinery in the PDP and needs one to position and empower himself in the horse-trading to gain the joint ticket with Jonathan. To circumvent this draw back, Jonathan has mobilised his allies in the South-west and South-south to back Sheriff to continue in office as PDP chairman until 2018, long enough to allow him build a political machinery and platform in the PDP. And with Sheriff on his side, the coast becomes clear for Jonathan’s capacity to defeat Buhari and the APC, in 2019 or so his warped mind tells him.

So probably pushed by his wife, Patience, Jonathan has gone back to the drawing board to plot his return to power in 2019. Fortunately, wishes are not horses for if they were every political desperado will ride into the Aso Rock Presidential Villa. It beats one’s imagination that Jonathan could even dream of becoming Nigeria’s president again after his scandalous and disgraceful record.

Here is a man who got to power as president of the world’s most populous black nation on a platter of gold but within four or so years squandered the

In the plot to install Jonathan as president in 2019, Sheriff is said to being tipped as vicepresident. There is a problem, however. Sheriff lacks a political machinery in the PDP and needs one to position and empower himself in the horsetrading to gain the joint ticket with Jonathan. To circumvent this draw back, Jonathan has mobilised his allies in the Southwest and South-south to back Sheriff to continue in office as PDP chairman until 2018, long enough to allow him build a political machinery and platform in the PDP

goodwill he enjoyed among the citizenry largely because he mistook his position as president for the leader of Niger Delta irredentist thugs and gunmen.

Rather than pursuing a national agenda, Jonathan thought Nigeria began and ended with his native Niger Delta and his second home, South-east Nigeria.

It is this same person, who wants to be president of Nigeria again. Wonders shall never end! The truth of the matter, however, is that with Jonathan and Sheriff in-charge of the presidency, it is RIP Nigeria. While Jonathan’s obsession was and still may be to be the czar of the South-south and South-east, Sheriff wants to be the doyen of the North East.

Remember crude oil has been discovered in Lake Chad and the ex-Borno State strong man cannot wait to lay his hands on the oil that may be found in Borno.

With Jonathan as president and Sheriff as his deputy, Nigeria is heading for a disaster waiting to happen. Jonathan and Sheriff are free to delude themselves into believing that they can win an election.

After all, Nigeria is a democracy, where every fool can aspire to occupy public office. Who knows, they may succeed in misleading Nigerian’s to give them another chance. You never know. In politics unlike mathematics nothing is impossible. Thus seen from a political perspective, Jonathan could enjoy the benefit of the doubt in relation to the prospect of staging a comeback to Aso Rock in 2019.

There is, however, the legal dimension which Jonathan and his apologists must contend with. One important issue here is Jonathan’s eligibility to contest election into the office of the president again given the fact that he was sworn into the same office on two previous occasions which disqualifies him from aspiring to occupy the same office again. There is the urgent need to resolve this constitutional lacuna before 2019 to save the country from unnecessary constitutional and political crisis that could heat up the polity.

It may be recalled that this issue of eligibility of politicians, who have been sworn into office on two previous occasions have been subject of litigation shortly before the 2015 presidential and general election. A case in point was the suit filed by Professor Auwalu Yadudu and others challenging the eligibility of (then) President Jonathan to contest the 2015 elections, given that he was sworn into the same office on two previous occasions.

This case was not fully resolved up till the conduct of the 2015 presidential election in which Jonathan lost any way.

For now, the case seems to have been abandoned by those who instituted it or by the Judges handling it, may be because

Muhammadu Buhari, on whose behalf the case was filed, ultimately won the elections. This should not be the end of the matter and given plans by the PDP to present Jonathan as its candidate in the 2019 presidential election, it becomes necessary to resolve the issue of his eligibility once and for all.

The lingering question about the expresident’s eligibility to run for future elections demonstrates the critical, some say negative, role the judiciary has been playing towards destabilising the democratisation process by allowing pre-election cases to linger for long up till after the elections or the expiry of the term of office of the public officer, whose election or eligibility to contest is being challenged.

Recently, the National Judicial Council (NJC) had cause to sanction Justice Ofili Ajumogobia over allegations of misconduct capable of leading to injustice.

Justice Ajumogobia’s alleged crime was that she deliberately refused or failed to deliver judgment in suit No FHC/AB/ CS/31/2011, a pre-election case between Victoria A.A Ayeni and Olusola Sonuga and two others.

She was further alleged in a petition written by one of the parties to the case of adjourning the case, which involved an election into the Ogun state House of Assembly, until the termination of the life span of the Assembly in 2015.

A similar case is playing itself out at an Abuja FCT High Court, where Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam, the Governor of Yobe State’s eligibility to contest the 2015 gubernatorial election was being challenged. In a manner similar to justice Ajumogobia’s style, the judge handling the Ibrahim Gaidam eligibility case has been delaying the delivery of judgment for reasons best known to him.

The judiciary needs to operate by the principle that justice delayed is justice denied. This brings to question the roles being played by the Professor Itse Sagayled Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption.

In the final analysis, the judiciary owes a responsibility to Nigerians to dispose of cases that have a bearing on electoral issues as its contribution to the survival of democracy. As we await 2019, Nigerians should prepare for the mother of all battles (apologies to the late president Saddam Hussein) with the objective of stopping Jonathan from installing himself as president of Nigeria again.

Nigerians had enough of his misrule.

The most candid advice is for Jonathan to forget his pet dream of becoming president again. He should, instead, maintain his peace in retirement and enjoy the ‘fruits’ of his labour.

•Abba wrote in from Mando, Kaduna

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MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016 • T H I S D AY

FEATURES

Acting Features Editor Charles Ajunwa Email charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

The Agatu Massacre Adams Abonu writes on the recent violent attacks carried out by some unidentified Fulani herdsmen in villages in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, where many lost their lives and property worth millions of naira was also destroyed

Some of the houses destroyed by suspected Fulani herdsmen

N

ow in its most frightening pace, the recurrent crisis between some Fulani herdsmen and indigenous crop farmers in many areas of the North-central geo political zone of the country has continued to take its toll and shows little signs of abating.

The incessant exchange of violence has claimed more than 4000 lives with several thousand persons displaced across the states of Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau and even in Kwara.

In the early hours of Wednesday February 24, 2016, rural dwellers in five villages of Aila, Ugboju, Akwu, Odugbeho and Enogaje of Agatu Local Government Area in Benue State, an area that has common borders with Nasarawa State, were awakened by sound of gun shots and flicks of machetes as suspected Fulani militias swept into the area unleashing an orgy of violence.

The unfortunate incident left, in its wake, more than 300 dead, among which were more women and children because of their vulnerability. The displaced communities have been scattered with many seeking refuge in various Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps scattered across Benue and Nasarawa States.

Owing to the frightening carnage of the Agatu crisis, Benue State Governor, Dr. Samuel Ortom, paid an emergency visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo “to seek the federal government’s assistance to stop further escalation of the violence.”

“The people of Agatu Local Government in

my state have been visited with unimaginable violence. The act is so dastardly and despicable and I have come to call the attention of the President to this unfortunate situation.

“We have to do everything possible as a government to arrest this situation and bring the perpetrators to book. We have an understanding and sympathetic leader in President Muhammadu Buhari and we have come to call on him to come to our aid,” Ortom told States House Correspondents in Abuja recently.

While the governments of Benue and Nasarawa States held a joint security summit in early January “to find ways to end the violence that regularly occurs at borders of the two states,” according to Nasarawa Governor, Tanko Al-Makura, the futility of

The people of Agatu Local Government in my state have been visited with unimaginable violence.

The act is so dastardly and despicable and I have come to call the attention of the President to this unfortunate situation

such ventures continues to stare indigent communities in the two affected states in the face.

Much as the helmsmen of Benue and Nasarawa States- two states coincidentally superintended by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)- might have expressed some degree of readiness in combating this ugly menace of violent attacks on innocent villagers by people suspected to be pastoralists of Fulani origin, a lot remains to be done on the part of the federal government.

The fallout of the still raging Agatu crisis is that there has been reported cases of attacks after the large scale violence of that fateful February dawn. It has revealed a lot also about the socio-political and security architecture of our system. While denials of roles and blame games played out, with a chieftain of Miyetti Allah Cattlerearers Association blaming Agatu people for “triggering” the massacre by allegedly killing over a thousand cattle belonging to Fulani pastoralists, the controversies further exposes the weakness of our claims to change.

Leading in the unfortunate denial game is the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, who said with a note of sarcasm in Minna, Niger State recently that he needed to be shown the grave “where 300 people were buried” while he was on a visit to Makurdi, the capital town of Benue State.

The massacre in Agatu happened over a hundred kilometres away from Makurdi where IG Arase visited.

“The Police Chief’s counter claims that not up to 300 lives were lost in the massacre

against Agatu people is unfortunate and a sort of indication that the police appears to playmaking sides. His assertion was very unbecoming of a security chief with the responsibility of safe-guarding the lives of every Nigerian.

“What any right thinking person expects from Mr. Arase at this point is to assuage those who are hurt and show confidence in protecting the lives of citizens. No one expects the police to stoop to such denial games,” Sebastian Orih, a civil society advocate and convener of Arise for Agatu, told THISDAY in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

There is also no denying the socio-political implications of the needless and avoidable imbroglio. On Saturday, March 11, several newspapers, including THISDAY, reported the attack on the convoy of former Senate President David Mark, who went on an assessment tour of the area. Agatu Local Government is one of the nine local governments that Senator Mark represents at the National Assembly. Reports had it that suspected Fulani herdsmen attempted to disrupt the tour at Akwu, but for the prompt intervention by security agents attached to his convoy.

THISDAY had reported that one of the youth leaders in Aila lamented the porous security in Agatu local government when Senator Mark visited area.

“But Mark appealed to the youths to maintain peace and be law abiding as he promised to convey what he has seen to the government for prompt action.”

Senator Mark, apparently irked by the

21

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

FEATURES

Ortom

Another house destroyed by suspected Fulani herdsmen

Mark

IG Arase

The Save Agatu protest in Abuja

extent of devastation visited on Agatu land decried the action of the marauders and promised that perpetrators must be made to answer for their crimes against humanity.

“This violence on our people is unacceptable and we call for immediate cessation of hostilities and violence. I have gone and assessed the level of destruction and what I saw was very shocking. This is a clear violence targeted at my people and this must stop forth with.

“I will ensure that the appropriate authorities know the details of this carnage and evolve ways to prevent further escalation.

“This devastation must not be allowed to continue even as I appeal to Agatu people to remain peaceful and law-abiding and go about their duties without fear,” the former Senate president implored Mark is seen as the champion of the people of Agatu land and could serve as a strategic figure in the peace process as government strives to forge a peaceful way out of the ensuing crisis.

“Sincerely, we appreciate the disposition of Senator Mark in trying to bring peace between us and Agatu people. Mark’s voice

is a voice of reason and I wish all the sides involved in this crisis heed his call for peace and decorum,” Lawan Hamza, an official of Miyetti Allah told THISDAY in Keffi.

While there are a lot of concerns about the responsiveness of the federal government to the ongoing reign of violence in Agatu, the

The president must act as the father of the nation and come to our aid in this our hour of need. Our hope is that the government should protect us against these mercenary forces that are more than us and seemed bent on wiping us out of existence

administration has taken some steps indicative of the readiness to deal with the issue. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, penultimate Thursday, was reported as saying that open cattle-rearing in towns and villages have been banned.

This is seen as a panacea towards curbing the incessant excesses of pastoralists.

With the additional step of deploying federal troops to the troubled region to salvage the festering situation, the Buhari’s administration might be responding to the crisis with considerable commitment. But to a section of the civil society, the government needs to act proactively to nip these acts of violence in their buds.

“The president must act as the father of the nation and come to our aid in this our hour of need. Our hope is that the government should protect us against these mercenary forces that are more than us and seemed bent on wiping us out of existence,” Sule Ajaka, an internally displaced person living in Lafia told THISDAY. As the ghosts of the violence in Benue and Nasarawa States cry for justice, the humanity of Nigerians was brought to the

fore again. Across the social media, hashtags like #AgatuMassacre, #StopAgatuGenocide and several others sprung up on twitter, facebook and instagram calling for actions to stop the violence. Nigerians from all works of life were united on the social media to call attention to the issue. Many also called on Buhari to empanel a presidential inquiry to look into the issue with a view to determining immediate and remote causes of the fracas.

While it is the responsibility of governments to safeguard the lives and property of the people of Agatu, and by extension all Nigerians, THISDAY can also report that many observers have called on all sides to the debacle to exercise restraint and show more commitment to harmonious coexistence.

There is no price that cannot be paid to ensure that we live together in peace as there can be no development in any atmosphere of chaos. With Agatu producing a proportionate chunk of the nation’s food supply, the federal government’s declaration to ensure food security is in quandary as the local farmers have been displaced by this avoidable crisis.

22

IMAGES

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

Photo Editor Abiodun Ajala Email abiodun.ajala@thisdaylive.com

Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu(right) and Chairman, Umuahia south council of traditional rulers, HRM Eze G.C.Onwuka during a visit to the governor with other members of the council in Umuahia...recently

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L-R ; Professor Samuel Wara of Covenant University, Ota; Director General, Africa Clean Energy Summit, Dr. Victor Fodeke; Vice Chancellor, Covenant University, Professor Charles Ayo; Chief Operating Director, Africa Clean Energy Summit, Pastor Olawale Akinwumi and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Covenant University, Professor Taiwo Abioye ...at the signing of MOU between Africa Clean Energy Summit and Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State...recently

L-R; Director of External Affairs, ntel, Osondu C. Nwokoro; President Association of Licence Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo; CEO ntel,Kamar Abass and Director, Information, ntel, Basit Arogundade during a courtesy visit by ALTON to ntel’s project office in Ikoyi, Lagos.....recently

L-R: Representative of Lagos State Governor & Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello; Commissioner for Information & Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, presenting an award plaque to first civilian Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande during the re-birth of the Lagos Weekend Television in Lagos...recently

L-R; Director,BrandsandExperience,EtisalatNigeria,ElvisOgiemwanye,MajorityLeader,FederalHouseofRepresentatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and the Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher at the Awards Ceremony of the 2015 edition of Etisalat Prize for Literature in Lagos...recently

23

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD NIBOR OVERNIGHT 1-MONTH

R A T E S 4.4583 9.1071

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A S

11.0102 12.3790

A T

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Group Business Editor Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Email chika.amanzenwachukwu@thisdaylive.com 08033294157

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EXCHANGE RATE N197 / 1 US DOLLAR* *AS AT LAST FRIDAY

Quick Takes Arik Denies Increasing Fares

Arik Air has announced that the allegations making the rounds that it has increased its fares on the London Heathrow, New York JFK and Johannesburg routes are untrue.

Arik said it has not increased fares recently and it collects payment for fares in Naira.

“We wish to make it clear that we have not increased fares on any of our routes (international, regional or domestic) in the recent past.

“Also, we charge our fares in Naira at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) official rate.

Intending travelers are advised to book their tickets on line at www.arikair.com, Arik Air Airport and City Ticketing Offices or through IATA registered Travel Agents,” the airline said.

Since the high exchange rate, Arik and Medview that operate to London have attracted higher patronage because they accept fares in Naira and are forcing down the hitherto exorbitant fares from Nigeria to Heathrow and Gatwick, London.

Brussels Airport Reopens

TOWARDS EFFECTIVE COMPLIANCE

L-R: Chief Compliance Officer, Stanbic IBTC, Mr. Opeyemi Adojutelegan; Chief Compliance Officer, Access Bank Plc/Chairman, Committee of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria, Mr. Pattison Boleigha; Managing Director/CEO, Keystone Bank Limited, Mr. Philip Ikeazor and Chief Compliance Officer, Keystone Bank Limited, Mrs. Joyce Obi, during the monthly meeting of the committee of chief compliance officers of banks in Nigeria held in Lagos…recently

Fuel Crisis: NNPC, Major Marketers’ Filling Stations Engage in Racketeering Ejiofor Alike Despite the efforts by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu to end the current shortages of petrol across the country, some retail outlets owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the major oil marketing companies have been indulging in racketeering to shortchange customers, THISDAY has learnt.

THISDAY gathered that following the refusal of the major marketers to sell at government’s ex-depot price of N77.66k, some of their retail outlets have now resorted to racketeering to make extra margins at the detriment of their customers.

Investigations revealed that depots belonging to major

ENERGY marketers sell petrol to only their retail outlets and at a price of N86.50 per litre, which is the same price these dealers are expected to sell the product at the pumps.

However, these major marketers pay special margins to their dealers to ensure that they do not sell above the government’s pump price of N86.50.

It was however learnt that some of the dealers of the major marketers’ branded filling stations are not satisfied with the margins paid by the major marketers and have devised several means of shortchanging customers.

While some are selling above the stipulated pump price, others

that sell at the government’s pump price collect extra money from motorists before dispensing fuel to them.

THISDAY investigation also revealed that some sell only at night to avoid the regulatory agencies that monitor filling stations.

For instance, the NNPC at Yewande Junction in Oke Aro along Ijoko-Agbado-Ojodu Road in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State was selling at N110 per litre on Wednesday, against the official pump price of N86 per litre for NNPC’s stations.

It was learnt that the station received stock of petrol on Monday but refused to sell until Tuesday night from 8pm to 11pm. THISDAY also

gathered that the station sold on Wednesday at N110 per litre.

Investigation also revealed that the NNPC Filling Station at Itele Road, near Koro Otun in Ota, Ogun State was selling between N150 and N160 per litre throughout last week, instead of N86 per litre.

However, none of the major marketers in Lagos was caught selling above the pump price but the attendants were observed to be collecting extra money from motorists by the sides of the pumps before dispensing into their vehicles.

Some of the filling stations affected include MRS Filling Station at Palmgroove; Mobil Filling Station at Anthony; Total Continued on page 24

Proceeds from Pension Fund Investments Lowest Since 2004 Ebere Nwoji Pension fund investment managers and administrators have said proceeds from pension fund investments in 2015, hovered between 7 to 8 percent as against 11.9 percent, the year before, the lowest since the inception of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the country.

Describing the year 2015 as an exceptional bad year for the pension sub sector, the fund managers blamed the situation on two major reasons: the 2015 election and declining oil prices.

The Managing Director of Pal Pensions Ltd, and past Chairman, Pension Fund Operators

INSURANCE Association of Nigeria (PenOp), Mr. Dave Uduanu said in an interview with THISDAY that poor performance of pension investments in 2015, was mainly due to the general election that held during the year and the drop in oil prices.

According to him,”because of these, the stock market didn’t do well at all and also bond yields started to come down because the Central Bank decided to reduce rates. So you find that bond yields dropped from as high as 15 per cent to as low as 10 per cent last year and stock market was negative.”

About 60 percent of pension fund is invested in federal government Bond because the managers felt it is more secure and yields faster returns.

Uduanu said with decline in bond yield during the year, returns on pension investment declined too.

Expressing the dilemma the development has put the fund managers, Uduanu stated: “So pension funds didn’t do well. The returns were at about between seven and eight per cent on the average.

But that was an exceptionally bad year because over the last five years or since inception, the average return on pension fund

has been about 11.9 per cent, which up until now has been above inflation. As you know, the mandate of pension funds is to generate positive returns above inflation. But as inflation is beginning to inch up, the challenge now is that the bonds are still low, the stock market is still depressed and there are very few alternative assets to invest these pension funds.”

Against this backdrop, Uduanu said the fund managers, are actively seeking out for opportunities in private equity, infrastructure and housing so that they can continue to invest Continued on page 24

Brussels airport has reopened after police and the government resolved a dispute over security following the March 22 bomb attacks, agreeing that all passengers would be screened on arrival.

The airport has not handled passenger flights since two suspected Islamist militants carried out the suicide attacks.

Those bombs and a separate one on a metro train in the city killed 35 people and wounded scores of others.

The airport, whose departure hall was badly damaged in the blasts, has built a temporary check-in zone, conducted tests and had declared itself ready to restart flights, with a provisional restart set for Friday evening.

However, airport police threatened to strike over what they saw as lax security measures. The deadlock was only broken after talks between police union leaders and the government on Friday evening, Reuters reported.

SON Partners EU on Capacity Building

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in collaboration with the European Union (EU) has concluded plans to organise a national training on standards on code of practice for some agriculture produces.

In a statement jointly signed by an Acting Director of SON, Mrs. Chinyere Egwuonwu, and Mrs. Irina Kireeva of EU, the workshop is scheduled for Abuja this month.

The statement indicated that the event would unveil the results of training facilitated by the organisation focusing on exports on key agriculturecommoditiesincludingcocoa,beans,sheabutter,andmelon.

The project is coming in the heels of EU ban of Nigeria beans in the international market, and would eventually equip participants with the technicalities’ of the export market, with regards to the issues development of standards and the engagement of the private sector.

The theme of the training, the statement added is ‘Standard and Quality- Unleashing the potential of Agricultural products to grow the Non-oil Exports in Nigeria’, and is being organised under the auspices of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries from the EU’s Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). About 100 participants are expected at the forum.

TheTBTProgramme is financed by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund, with its main objective being to contribute to improving competitiveness in local, regional and export markets by enhancing the export capacity of economic operators in ACP countries.These it seeks to achieve through: the enhancement of the capacity of regional and continental quality infrastructure institutions; coordination and harmonisation of ACP technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures to facilitate intra-regional trade.

Other are through the provision of a pool of broadened capacity of economic operators to comply with Technical Regulations, Standards and Conformity Assessment Procedures set by major trading partners in selected priority sectors.

“The more power we produce, the more stability we will see, I can guarantee that but I can’t guarantee that people will not go and cut gas lines” Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola

24

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD FUEL CRISIS: NNPC, MAJOR MARKETERS’ FILLING STATIONS ENGAGE IN RACKETEERING

Filling Station along Itire Road in Surulere, which was sighted dispensing only into jericans and Total Filling Station at Mobalaji Bank Anthony, which was seen selling only at night.

Efforts to get in touch with the Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore did not yield fruits as calls put through to his mobile phone were not answered on Saturday.

But the Chairman of MOMAN and Group Executive Officer of Forte Oil Plc, Mr Akin Akinfemiwa said in a statement at the weekend that the public should not engage in panic-buying as the federal government had provided sufficient second quarter import allocations for the importation of petroleum products.

Akinfemiwa said the allocations had been evenly divided between the NNPC and the petroleum marketers.

According to him, the federal government, NNPC and the major marketers have put in place a structure to ensure the effective distribution of these allocations to the retail outlets and as a result, petrol has become readily available.

PROCEEDS FROM PENSION FUND INVESTMENTS LOWEST SINCE 2004

the funds profitably for the end users.

On the proposed investment of the funds in state bonds, he said the managers are being selective as far as state government bonds are concerned because of some reasons.

He explained: “If you take Lagos state and some of the oil producing states, you would find that a great proportion of these state governments rely on federal allocation to finance the budget. So with the drop in oil prices, there is a bit more risk in investing in state bonds because the monies that they get from the federal government has reduced by as much as 50 per cent and a lot of them have very low Internally Generated Revenues(IGRs).”

Group Business Editor

Chika Amanze-Nwachuku Maritime Editor

John Iwori

AgriBusiness/Industry Editor

Crusoe Osagie

Comms/e-Business Editor

Emma Okonji

Capital Market Editor

Goddy Egene

Senior Correspondent

Raheem Akingbolu (Advertising) Correspondents

Chinedu Eze (Aviation) Linda Eroke (Labour) Eromosele Abiodun (Cap Mkt) Ejiofor Alike (Energy) James Emejo (Nation’s Capital) Obinna Chima (Money Mkt) Reporters

Nume Ekeghe (Money Market) Nosa Alekhuogie (AgriBusiness)

NEWS

Financial Losses to Online Fraud Declining, Say NIBSS, CBN Emma Okonji The Nigeria InterBank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), have assured Nigerians of continuous reduction in the financial losses suffered by bank customers through online theft.

The two institutions however warned banks not to relax on the ongoing fight against financial theft and to come up with measures that would address the current trend where Fin-Tech vendors now roll out different applications with tempting incentives that will lure a whole lot of bank customers away from the banking sector. Such trend, if not checked, they warned, may give room to huge financial theft, since the operations of the Fin-Tech are not regulated.

Both the CBN and NIBSS gave the advice at a technology forum in Lagos recently, organised by technology experts on secured data.

Giving details of the decline in bank financial losses, the Managing Director, NIBSS, Mr. Ade Shonubi said in 2014, the total volume of fraudulent transactions across all banks was 1,461, resulting in N7.8 billion value of attempted fraud and N6.2 billion actual fraud loss. He however said that in 2015, the total volume of fraudulent transactions increased to 10, 743, resulting in N4.4 billion attempted fraud and N2.3 billion actual fraud loss.

Shonubi explained that the 2015 figures showed a

decline in the actual fraud loss from N6.2 billion in 2014 to N2.3 billion in 2015, even when there was increase in the volume of fraudulent transactions from 1,461 in 2014 to 10, 743 in 2015.

According to him, the stringent measures put in place by the CBN, helped in no small measures in reducing the rate of successful online theft in the country in the past few years.

Assistant Director, Banking and Payment System at CBN, Mr. Sola Agbola, who represented the Director, Mr.

Dipo Fatokun, said the CBN had in 2014 and 2015, introduced two factor authentication system for banks, to guide all financial transactions; the regulation of a non-EMV card; as well as the creation of fraud desk in all banks. He said such measures helped in reducing financial losses in banks.

Although he called on banks to continue strict enforcement on the CBN’s introduced measures, he however explained that the introduction of Chip and Pin cards as against the magnetic stripe cards that were initially

Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, have called for coordinated efforts of government at levels to diversifying the nation’s economy from its present mono-economy status.

They duo spoke in Enugu when the minister, led the management team of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), to participate at the 27th Enugu International Trade Fair.

The top government functionaries observed that diversification of the nation’s economy would reduce her over dependence on oil sector for survival, especially now that oil price has crashed by two thirds of what it was a year ago.

They maintained that diversification has become necessary as it would bring a permanent end to the uncertainties associated with oil as the major income earner for the country.

They also agreed in their separate speeches during the

machines to collect and spend stollen money because ATM machines do not deny cash withdrawal, especially when the card is duly registered with the banks, and that online thieves also prefer PoS because it is difficult to track ATM card holders to return stollen money, especially after they must have gone away with the items purchased with the stollen money from merchants.

They warned bank customers to be security conscious always and never disclose their ATM card information to anybody.

RELAUNCHING OF COLGATE

L-R: Team leader, Customer Development, Colgate Palmolive East West Africa, Mr. Vijay Ameta; Brand Manager Colgate Palmolive Nigeria, Mr. Gbadesola Adenrele; Market Insights and Analytics Manager, Africa Eurasia Division, Ms. Delia Brady; and Team Leader, Retail Marketing, East West Africa, Colgate, Mr. Jaques Rabie, at the announcement of Colgate as World No1 Selling Toothpaste held in Lagos …recently ABIODUN AJALA

Ugwuanyi, Ngige Advocate Coordinated Efforts to Diversifying Nigeria’s Economy Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu

used, also helped in reducing financial losses.

According to Shonubi, the use of Automated Teller Machine (ATM), recorded the highest number of fraudulent transactions in banks in 2015, followed by Point of Sakes (PoS) machines and web transactions through internet banking.

He explained that the ATM recorded the highest number of fraud in 2015 because of the introduction of cash transfer with ATM cards last year. He said online thieves now prefer to use ATM machines and PoS

courtesy call on the governor at the Government House that the focus of the trade fair on looking into other sources of revenue could not become more apt than now when the falling oil prices have plunged Nigeria’s economy into a precarious situation.

Ugwuanyi told the minister that Enugu state government has resolved to seek other sources of income that would create wealth and harness other potentials free from oil money that had blinded other sectors in the past.

According to the governor, “in pursuit of this goal, we have among other things, scheduled an International Investment Summit to hold here in Enugu from 12th to 14th of April, 2016 that would help us showcase the rich potentials of the state to investors around the world. ’’I am sure that the Hounourable Minister will be willing to help us secure necessary support from Federal Government to ensure that these noble efforts to attract investors and boost economic activities in

the state and region, yield the desired dividends”, he said.

On his part, Ngige, said the ministry would collaborate with Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources in training and empowering Nigerians particularly the youth in various skills acquisition.

He said the gesture is to enable Nigerians to use their hands on their raw goods and services and be selfreliant.

The labour minister explained that the ministry in line with its action plan, would take census of all skills acquisition centres in the country with a view to rehabilitating them to assist Nigerians reshape their mindset on white collar jobs.

According to him, the ministry had made frantic efforts in training and retraining entrepreneurs with various skills in the areas of blacksmithing, hair dressing, traditional tie and dye, welding, fabric weaving, brick laying among others using locally made machines and raw materials such as palm oil/kernel etc to put them into standard.

NCAA Directs Privately Owned Jets be Registered as Commercial Chinedu Eze The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has issued a directive that privately owned jets should now be registered as commercial aircraft because many of them are used for charter services whereas they were registered as privately owned.

Operating privately registered aircraft for hire and reward was deemed illegal by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations, but most of these private jets were used for charter.

By registering the aircraft as commercial, the owners could still use them as private jets and for charter services, but this would attract five per cent VAT to NCAA. The Director of Airworthiness Standards in NCAA, Benedict Adeyileka told THISDAY that it is a grey area, which is difficult to delineate when aircraft registered as private jet is used as charter, unless the agency could prove that money exchanged hands when such service was rendered, as aircraft owners are free to airlift their friends and business partners for free.

So because of the complications, Adeyileka said NCAA has persuaded private jets to be registered as commercial and remarked that the owners of private jets carry out strict maintenance of their aircraft and therefore there should be no anxiety about their maintenance.

“It is difficult to prove that the

owner of a private jet used it for commercial purposes. It is difficult because it is onus of proof; although operating private jets for commercial charter is illegal. You have to know that these people are rich and powerful and they have good lawyers and we need to prove our allegation beyond reasonable doubt.

“It will be difficult for you to know the mode of payment. So we know that they do charter with their private jets but we cannot prove it. So we have encouraged them to register their aircraft as commercial because we know that many of them don’t joke with their maintenance and we regulate them to ensure they operate safely,” Adeyileka said.

Also speaking in an interview with THISDAY, the Managing Director and CEO of Toucan Aviation Support Services, Achuzie Ezenagu, said that it is the concerned authorities that should resolve the issue of private jets being used for commercial charter services and acknowledged that the general aviation sub-sector is highly regulated.

Ezenagu noted that it is not only Nigeria that is in dilemma about the use of privately registered aircraft for charter services and recalled that even in the UK such controversy comes up from time to time.

“We work in a very highly regulated market. Globally, however, I will like to mention that even in the UK, the British government has not found a way around what you are referring to as grey charter market.”

25

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

MARKET REPORT

Banking Stocks Send Equities Market Southwards Goddy Egene and Eromosele Abiodun Despite closing the last two days of last week in the green, the Nigerian equities market returned southward last week on the back of poor performance by banking stocks. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Banking Index fell by 7.9 per cent as investors dumped bank stock in most days of the week to lock in profit. Besides, some investors reacted as Skye Bank announced profit warning, fuelling speculations that regulatory headwinds and high loan impairments will continue to hinder banks’ ability to make profits.

Apart from the above, prices adjustments for dividends also contributed to the negative trading recorded last week. At the close of trades for the week, the NSE All-Share Index and market capitalisation depreciated by 1.52 per cent to close at 25,507.09 and N8.774 trillion respectively.

Similarly, all other Indices finished lower during the week, with the exception of the NSE Premium Index, NSE Oil/Gas Index, NSE Lotus II and the NSE Industrial Goods Index that rose by 3.16 per cent, 2.06 per cent, 0.76 per cent, and 0.25 per cent respectively, while the NSE ASeM closed flat.

It was a brief trading week as the market opened for four days, having observed Monday 28th of March, 2016 as Public Holiday declared by the Federal Government of Nigeria to mark Easter celebrations.

The previous week, the Nigerian equities market had narrowly survived the negative reaction that trailed decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to increase rates.

The MPC had during the week resolved to raise the Monetary Policy Rae (MPR) otherwise known as the interest rate, to 12 per cent from 11 per cent. It also increased bank’s Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to 22.5 per cent from 20 per cent.

In their reaction, analysts’ advised investors to employ a cautious approach while gradually building their portfolio.

“While we advise cautious trading in the immediate, we see the current depressed price level post markdown for dividend as providing a good entry point for investors with a medium to longer-term horizon. As such, we advise that investors utilise this opportunity to gradually build position in quality names for a medium to long term investment horizon,” said analysts at Investment One Limited.

Daily Performance Analysis The market had opened the week in the red last Tuesday, dragged by negative sentiment towards banking (0.8 per cent) and industrial stocks (2.54 per cent) as mark down for dividend in both Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc led to a bearish close. The benchmark NSE-ASI shed 2.40 per cent to end the session at 25,277.29 points, corresponding to a market capitalisation of N8.69 trillion.

However, excluding the markdown of Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, the loss in index would be 1.37 per cent. In similar vein, Industrial tickers shed 2.54 per cent dragged by loss in Dangote Cement Plc (1.99 per cent) while banking tickers lost 0.8 per cent. Consumer Goods tickers also closed negative falling by 1.99 per cent on account of sell-off on NB (4.99 per cent). On the positive, oil and gas ticker gained 0.29 per cent.

Dangote Sugar Plc (4.91 per cent) led the list of 11 stocks on the gainers chart while Zenith Bank Plc (13 per

and value of trade respectively.

The market ended the week on a positive note last Friday as the NSE ASI increased further by 0.79 per cent to close at 25,507.09 points, compared with the gain of 0.64 per cent recorded the prior day. The appreciation recorded in the share prices of Access Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Oando Plc were mainly responsible for the gain recorded in the Index. Similarly, the market capitalisation appreciated by 0.79 per cent to close at N8.77 trillion, compared with the depreciation of 0.64 per cent recorded the previous day to close at N8.70 trillion.

cent) led the list of 27 stocks closing the session negative.

On Wednesday, losses in key banking and consumer goods stock drove the NSE-ASI index to a negative close, shedding 0.52 per cent to end the session at 25,411.69 points, with market capitalisation dipping by N45billion berthing at N8.65 trillion. A decline in price of market bellwether stocks including Nigerian Breweries Plc, UBA Plc and Zenith Bank Plc was largely to blame for the day’s outcome, cancelling out gains in Dangote Cement Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc and Seplat Plc. Volume and value of trade were, however, impressive rising by almost 80 per cent and 60 per cent each, compared to the previous session. As such, investor staked N2.14 billion on over 500 million units of stocks exchanged in 3,225 deals. On a sectoral basis, performance was in the red across board with the exception of Industrial tickers which rose 1.65 per cent buoyed by gain in Dangote Cement Plc (1.23 per cent). Banking index shed 2.62 per cent as the impact of markdown for dividend weighed on momentum for banking stocks, followed by Consumer Goods tickers with 1.98 per cent return on account of bearish sentiment toward Nigeria Breweries Plc (4.32 per cent).

The Nigerian equities market capitalisation and NSE-ASI index rose by 0.64 per cent as key subsector indices closed positive. Both NSE-ASI and market capitalisation ended the session at 25,306.22 points and N8.71trillion.Gains in Dangote Cement Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and International Breweries Plc, drove the rise in market capitalisation, cancelling out losses in Lafarge Africa Plc, Zenith

Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. Similarly, sectoral performance improved relative to previous session as gains were recorded in consumer goods trackers (0.25 per cent), Industrial Goods index (0.25 per cent) as well as Oil and Gas tracker (0.19 per cent).

Only the Banking index closed lower losing 0.83 per cent. However, market

TOP TEN BROKERS(BY VALUE)

turnover declined as investor staked N1.93 billion in 264 million units of stocks relative to the previous session’s trade with value estimated at N2.1 billion. A breakdown of activity showed banking sector stock led by FCMB Group and Fidelity Bank Plc took the lion share of trade, accounting for 84 per cent and 48 per cent of volume

AS AT LAST FRIDAY VALUE

% VALUE

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

BROKER

2,846,255,934.97

22.08

CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED RENCAP SECURITIES (NIG) LIMITED CASHCRAFT SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD FBN SECURITIES LIMITED ASSOCIATED ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED EFCP LIMITED A.R.M SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD MORGAN CAPITAL SECURITIES LIMITED TRUSTBANC CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED

2,238,948,542.01 1,395,164,770.19 437,986,084.68 343,196,387.41 318,804,760.67 246,961,606.36 235,639,381.31 200,866,289.96 197,160,638.71 8,460,984,396.27

17.37 10.82 3.40 2.66 2.47 1.92 1.83 1.56 1.53 65.64

TOP TEN BROKERS

(BY VOLUME)

BROKER

AS LAST FRIDAY VOLUME %VOLUME

CASHCRAFT SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD

331,491,935

CSL STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

245,588,102

9.73

200,380,670

7.94

ASSOCIATED ASSET MANAGERS LIMITED

13.13

STANBIC IBTC STOCKBROKERS LIMITED

198,016,550

7.84

NEWDEVCO FINANCE SERVICE CO. LIMITED

124,799,851

4.94

MORGAN CAPITAL SECURITIES LIMITED

93,045,369

3.69

A.R.M SECURITIES LIMITED - BRD

65,648,026

2.60

CENTRE POINT INVESTMENTS LIMITED - BRD

60,739,738

2.41

UNITEDCAPITALSECURITIESLIMITED

54,207,422

2.15

MBC SECURITIES

53,480,936

2.12

1,427,398,599

56.54

Market Turnover In all, a turnover of 1.262 billion shares worth N6.427 billion in 12,274 deals were traded last week by investors on the floor of the exchange in contrast to a total of 1.552 billion shares valued at N10.453 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 14,994 deals.

The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 1.022 billion shares valued at N3.734 billion traded in 8,227 deals; thus contributing 80.95 per cent and 58.11 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Agriculture Industry followed with 105.069 million shares worth N129.307 million in 155 deals. The third place was occupied by the Conglomerates Industry with a turnover of 40.758 million shares worth N58.455 million in 361 deals.

Trading in the top three equities– FCMB Group Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc accounted for 382.145 million shares worth N424.424 million in 1,019 deals, contributing 30.27 per cent and 6.60 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Also traded during the week were a total of 25,738 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N522,245 executed in 39 deals, compared with a total of 118,976 units valued at N1.267 million transacted the prior week in 20 deals.

A total of 22,030 units of Federal and State Government Bonds valued at N25.368 million were traded in 8 deals compared to a total of 91,918 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N100.479 million transacted the previous week in seven deals.

Gainers and Losers Meanwhile, the price movement chart of the NSE showed that a total of 24 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 22 equities of the previous week. Thirty-seven equities depreciated in price, lower than 38 equities of the previous week, while 128 equities remained unchanged lower than 129 equities recorded in the previous week.

The top 10 gainers were: Total Nigeria Plc (N13.81), Julius Berger Nigeria Plc (N3.30), International Breweries Plc (N1.69), Vitafoam Plc (70 kobo), Oando Plc (58 kobo) FCMB Group Plc (9 kobo), NASCON Allied Plc (39 kobo), Dangote Sugar Plc (30 kobo), AIICO Insurance (4 kobo) and Champion Breweries Plc (14 kobo).

Conversely, the top 10 losers included: Nigerian Breweries Plc (N11.31), Guinness Nigeria Plc (N8.93), Zenith Bank Plc (N2.02), Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (N1.71), United Capital Plc (70 kobo), Tiger Branded Consumer Plc (34 kobo), Transcorp Plc (19 kobo), UBA Plc (60 kobo), Trans Nationwide Express (12 kobo), and Nigerian-German Chemicals Plc (45 kobo).

26

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

INSIDE BROAD STREET

A view of Lagos financial district

Economic Prospects Still Gloomy

Obinna Chima The first quarter of 2016 ended last week with little to cheer about the economy. Generally, the slowdown in economic activities due to the delayed passage of the 2016 appropriation bill into law as well as the persistent scarcity of foreign exchange saw investor confidence reduce drastically in the first three months of the year.

In fact, Nigeria’s inflationary pressure, which intensified in March, pushed all five parameters of the Sales Managers Index to a 12-month low. A new set of data released recently showed that Nigeria’s Business Confidence Index down for the seventh consecutive month as it reached the lowest level in a year. Businesses in the survey commented on poor consumer demand, rising unemployment, high inflation, lower oil prices and difficult exchange rate conditions.

The Market Growth Index measured by the report also showed fifth consecutive decline and the lowest since March 2015. The Product Sales Index fell first time in 12 months as managers point to general rise in prices charged for products and services. At the employment level in the first quarter of 2016, the staffing index fell below the 50.0 no-change mark for the first time, as companies comment on staff rationing as part of cost-cutting measures at lower level of employment.

Naira Volatility Although in the first quarter of the year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) firmly held the official exchange rate at N197 to a dollar, the level of volatility recorded on the parallel market was unprecedented. The premium between the parallel market rate and the official market rate at the forex market, remained wide at an unacceptable margin.

Following speculations that the CBN may soon exclude payments of school from its lists of items eligible for foreign exchange at the official market, panic buying of the

MARKET INDICATOR greenback hit the parallel market.

Owing to this, the naira continued its downswing on the parallel market as it fell sharply to about N400 to a dollar, compared with the about N270 to a dollar it was at the beginning of the quarter.

The Bankers’ Committee had discussed ways of ensuring that the demand for foreign exchange for the purpose of paying school fees abroad, among others, does not crowd out real sector investments. The discussions also centered on how to redirect foreign exchange to the real sector, particularly industries that utilise raw materials. But some commentators viewed the deliberation by the committee as a signal that the central bank may soon be allocating forex to payment of school fees abroad.

Also, the central bank in the quarter cancelled the sale of dollars to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in its bid to preserve the country’s decreasing external reserves.

Inflation The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation in Nigeria, rose sharply to 11.4 per cent in February, compared to 9.6 per cent the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The latest figure saw inflation breach the CBN’s target band of between 6 – 9 per cent. The last time inflation hit double-digit in the country was in December 2012 at 12 per cent.

Also, in the first quarter, one of the biggest global rating agencies, Standards & Poor’s (S&P) revised the country’s sovereign credit outlook to negative, from the stable it was previously, just as the country’s total merchandise trade fell to N3.65 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year compared to N4.02 trillion in the previous quarter. S&P stated that Nigeria’s foreign exchange policy was creating dislocations in product and financial markets.

Monetary Policy At the end of its January meeting, the MPC had maintained the benchmark Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR), and the liquidity ratio at 11 per cent, 20 per cent, and 30 per cent respectively.

The MPC also maintained the asymmetric corridor at +200 basis points and -700basis points respectively. Nigeria’s external reserves stood at $27.864 billion as of last Thursday.

But at its March meeting, the MPC raised the MPR to 12 per cent from 11 per cent. It also increased bank’s CRR to 22.5 per cent from 20 per cent, in a move aimed at tightening liquidity, which the central bank blamed for the current pressure in the foreign exchange market with a strong pass-through to consumer prices. The MPC also kept liquidity ratio unchanged at 30 per cent, and further resolved to narrow the asymmetric corridor around the MPR from +200 and -700 basis points to +200 and -500 basis points respectively.

The CBN governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said the decision to resume the tightening regime after a four-month break, followed the evaluation of both internal and external factors, explaining that the “balance of risks is tilted against price stability”.

IMF on Nigeria’s Economy The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the quarter also pointed out that the Nigerian economy is currently facing substantial challenges, saying lower oil prices have significantly affected the country’s fiscal and external accounts. The Fund stated this in the conclusion of its 2016 Article IV Consultation with Nigeria, by its Executive Board. The document was dated March 31. The IMF, however welcomed recent monetary policy tightening by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and recommended that the central bank targets price stability to maintain inflation within the target range.

Continuing, the IMF noted that while the

non-oil sector accounts for 90 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the oil sector plays a central role in the economy.

Furthermore, it pointed out that lower oil prices have significantly affected Nigeria’s fiscal and external accounts, decimating government revenues to just 7.8 per cent of GDP and resulting in the doubling of the general government deficit to about 3.7 per cent of GDP in 2015.

Delayed Appropriation Bill After a three-month delay, the National Assembly in March passed the 2016 budget of N6.060 trillion, the first that will be implemented from scratch by the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The budget that was passed by the legislature had a reduction of N17 billion from the N6.077 trillion proposed by the executive.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, while presenting the budget report to the Senate, said never in the history of the National Assembly since 1999, has an annual budget witnessed more cuts as was the case with this year’s budget.

He blamed the budgetary cuts on the country’s economic challenges, explaining that cuts were made in recurrent spending, the budget deficit and borrowing plan.

While some senators expressed concern about the reduction in recurrent expenditure, saying it may affect the payment of salaries, Goje explained that provisions had been made under service wide votes to take care of the federal government’s wage bill.

But the president has said he would not sign the 2016 Appropriation Bill, passed into law by the National Assembly unless he critically reviewed it. The president said in view of the controversial alteration and padding of the budget proposals, he needed to review the document to be certain that its contents tallied with the authentic budget proposal presented to the National Assembly.

GTBank, Ijaiye Road, Ogba, Lagos Nume Ekeghe This branch is situated at Ijaiye Road, Ogba, which is both a residential and commercial area of Lagos. This is a relatively new branch to support the usual human traffic in the other branch situated on this road.

Inside this new branch, the interior as well as its exterior are very spacious, well organised and indeed it appeared to be one of the best

INSIDE BANKING HALL looking banking structures visited recently.

At the entrance, there are eight ATM machines, with four of them dispensing cash. And on the day of this observation, there were seven staff members attending to withdrawals, cheque deposits, pin collection and three others attending to cash deposit.

Also on the floor above were four customer service personnel.

The services at this branch were mixed. The tellers collecting monies were fast at accepting deposits, while the tellers for withdrawals and other services were slow, as a result, queues kept piling up. Also, the customer service personnel upstairs were also slow in attending to customers. It takes up to one hour to attend to one customer, who came to resolve an issue in this branch.

Also, a customers who frequently patronises this branch complained bitterly that the ATMs usually don’t dispense cash. Also, the other GTBank close to this branch and the one at Ojodu, often have similar problem with dispensing funds from the ATM machines and it is worst during evening hours, weekends and festive periods. This branch is beautiful but its services are poor. The management of the bank should ensure the ATMs are working at all times.

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

APPOINTMENT / AWARDS

Salami, Irabor Others Appointed Judges for Citi Journalistic Award Renowned economist and a full-time member of the faculty at Lagos Business School (LBS), Dr. Doyin Salami media icon and Chairman of RUYI Communications Ltd, Mr. Soni Irabor and three others, have been appointed as the judges in Nigeria for the Citi Journalistic Excellence Award (CJEA).

The three others are the Regional CEO West Africa, V+O Communications, Mrs. Josephine Aligwekwe; the Founder and Director of The Future Project, Mr. Adebola Williams and Mr. Tomiwa Aladekomo, with a decade of media and marketing experience in North America and Nigeria.

For over three decades, the CJEA has helped advance quality journalism as it recognises meritorious business journalism around the world, especially where journalistic career advancement programmes are fewer. Each year, gifted winners attend a once-in-a-lifetime 8-day seminar in New York,

run by the esteemed Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and sponsored

by Citi.

Citigroup said in a statement that more than 300 talented journalists from over 100 media outlets in 37 countries have attended the Seminar since its inception According to the statement, applications are screened by an independent judging committee made up of well-known and respected individuals, who understand the media and how it works, are active in the local community, are knowledgeable on international financial/business/economic affairs and appreciate good journalistic writing.

Salami is also a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria and had been a member of the federal government’s Economic Management Team.

Irabor is an award winning media icon, and a man of many parts; Broadcaster, Advertising Practitioner, Media

Manager, Communications consultant, Speech Trainer, Talk-show host and Toastmaster of international repute.

Irabor is the Chairman of RUYI Communications Ltd, an integrated marketing communications company. He also served as a member of the Advertising Standards Panel of APCON for more than seven years.

Aligwekwe is a seasoned communications analystconsultant and brand strategist with over 20 years experience across diverse industries. She currently sits on the advisory board of Newswire, Law and Events Magazine and Artezia Securities.

Aladekomo with over a decade of media and marketing experience in North America and Nigeria, merges global experience with local expertise to create unique consumer-focused experiences that resonate in a rapidly evolving African digital landscape. He is a Columbia University alumnus.

Williams has garnered

experience in Television production, Marketing and Communication.

Above all, he has worked as an expert in development across the continent - Williams is the Founder and Director of The Future Project, which runs The Future Awards, described by the World Bank as the “Nobel Prize for Young Africans” – identifying and rewarding young Nigerian leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs and using them as role models to inspire a generation of Africans.

The Judges called upon Nigeria’s media community to emulate initiatives like the CJEA, which provide incentives for journalists to strive for excellence. They congratulated the shortlisted finalists and encouraged them to make the most of this unique opportunity.

They also advised Citi to continue to use platforms like CJEA to support the growth and development of journalists in Nigeria.

L-R: Dr. Doyin Salami of Lagos Business School (LBS); Regional CEO West Africa, V+O Communications, Mrs. Josephine Aligwekwe; a media and marketing expert in North America and Nigeria, Mr. Tomiwa Aladekomo and media icon, Mr. Soni Irabor, who were appointment

Sovereign Trust Appoints Soyinka Managing Director Onaolapo, who meritoriously served the organisation for 21 years, has since taken his exit from the underwriting firm. The board has equally ratified the appointment of the new MD, who has also assumed office since January, 2016.

Soyinka’s elevation was greeted with cheer and admiration from his colleagues for his immense contribution to the continued growth of

Managing Director/CEO, Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun, has been honoured as one of the top 25 CEOs of Quoted Companies in Nigeria by Businessday Newspaper for the 2015 Financial Year. The award and dinner ceremony was held in Lagos recently.

Unity Bank said in a statement that General Manager/ Head Lagos-South West Zone of the bank, Mr. Olubowale Ogunrinde, who received the award on behalf of the MD, thanked the organisers for acknowledging the efforts the bank and its management have made despite the current economic terrain.

Somefun was appointed MD of Unity Bank last August. She is a professional banker with 26 years experience covering all key aspects of treasury, investment and commercial banking operations. She is a graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University (BA. Education/English) and

a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). She has also undergone Executive Training & Advanced Management Programs at INSEAD Fontainebleau, Harvard Business School and University of Columbia Business School.

Prior to joining Unity Bank, Somefun had a distinguished career with UBA Group where she led two major subsidiaries as MD/CEO. She had also served as General Manager and led three critical business units of UBA Group.

She had also worked with two leading consulting firms KPMG and Arthur Anderson (now KPMG).

The Top 25 CEOs of Quoted Companies in Nigeria award is an annual event organised by the newspaper with the aim of identifying, recognising and celebrating the CEOs behind recent success stories recorded by their organisations and the Nigerian economy at large.

Access Bank Appoints Habib Non-executive Director Access Bank Plc has announced the appointment of Mr. Abba Mamman Tor Habib, as Non-Executive Director.

A statement from the bank at the weekend described Habib as a thorough bred banking professional with 20 years banking experience 15 of which were spent with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, where he voluntarily retired in 2008 as an Executive Director.

His experience in Guaranty Trust Bank was said to have spanned across corporate banking and risk management.

Habib has since 2008 been the Managing Director of Gremcoh Services Limited, his family owned agriculture and real estate enterprise. He holds a First Class Bachelor of Science degree in Agric Economics from University of Maiduguri (1986) and Master of Science in Banking and Finance from Bayero University Kano (1997). Habib has attended several Executive Development programmes in leading institutions including African Development Bank, Harvard, IMD, D.C Gardner

London and Insead. His appointment is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the bank’s shareholders.

Commenting on the appointment, the Chairman of Access Bank, Mrs. Mosun Belo-Olusoga said members of the board of directors very delighted to welcome Abba into the board of Access Bank. “He brings on board a very rich professional and board level experience relevant to our Bank and our industry. These skills will no doubt support our Bank’s quest to become the world’s most respected African bank,” she added.

With this appointment, Access ank’s board is made up of 15 directors, seven of which are executive while eight are non-executive, two of whom are Independents.

Access Bank Plc is a full service commercial bank operating through a network of 350 branches and service outlets located in major centres across Nigeria, Sub Saharan Africa and the United Kingdom.

NAHCO Appoints Ode Executive Director

HERE COME THE JUDGES

The Management of Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc has announced the elevation of its erstwhile Executive Director and Divisional Head, Technical, Mr. Olaotan Soyinka, to the position of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the company.

This followed the retirement of the hitherto MD/ CEO, of the company Mr. Wale Onaolapo in December of 2015.

Unity Bank MD Bags Top 25 CEOs Award

the organisation in the past 18 years.

Briefing journalists on the development, the Head of Corporate Communications & Brand Management of Sovereign Trust, Mr. Segun Bankole expressed great pleasure at the smooth transition of leadership baton in the organisation. He said the development was a testament to the successful implementation of the succession plan framework that

the organisation had put in place over the years.

Soyinka is an erudite and well-grounded underwriter with over 20 years cognate experience. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria. A Graduate of Insurance from University of Lagos, Soyinka also holds a Masters of Science degree in Marketing from the same university. He joined Sovereign Trust Insurance in March 1998.

The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company PLC, (nahco aviance), has announced the appointment of Mrs. Folashade Ode as the Executive Director, Corporate, Legal Services and Company Secretary.

The appointment was announced just as the retirement of Mr. Bolaji Balogun and Arc Usman Arabi Bello from the board of the Company took effect.

Ode, whose appointment takes immediate effect, would execute her new office with the former role of Company Secretary.

The new ED is a graduate of Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, where she obtained her LL.B (HONS) and an MBA in international business. She is a member of many professional bodies, including the Nigeria Bar Association, International

Bar Association and Nigeria Institute of Management.

Ode is a highly motivated and hardworking solicitor with over twenty-five years cognate experience in corporate and commercial law and has exhibited unparalleled professionalism in the course of her career.

She has a diploma in Insurance, a Law degree from the Lagos State University (class of 1990) and was called to the bar in 1991, She obtained her MBA (International Business) in 2005 from the Lagos State University.

She has attended several leadership and management courses in Nigeria and abroad.

Ode is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, International Bar Association and the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM).

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

Orjiako: The Cost of Capital is Killing Businesses in Nigeria The Chairman of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Dr. ABC Orjiako spoke to Eromosele Abiodun on plans by the London Stock Exchange to help Nigerian companies access investible funds in Europe, the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector, and on the Nigerian economy. Excerpts: I would like to start by first of all congratulating you on your appointment to the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Advisory Group for Africa. One can say your appointment into the group was made possible by you listing on the LSE, what other benefits have been accrued to Seplat since listing on the LSE? To start with, you know that Seplat is the largest hydro carbon indigenous Nigerian Oil and Gas Company and arguably the biggest African Independent. And listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), we are the first company to do that and we pioneered that and became the first in both the LSE and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), we had a very successful IPO, oversubscribed and what this means to the company is to bring the company visibility and this also made it an immediate global brand, therefore it makes the company able to have access to the largest possible pool of investable capitals especially in the equities place. That is really very differentiating when you look at what is happening to us and the competitors.

So in terms of advantages, it’s made us a global brand, gives us access to investable capital, gives us easier access to funds compared to the competition.

Let’s look at the African Advisory Group, what are your roles or what will you be doing on the board?

The LSE Advisory Group for Africa was initiated by the CEO of the LSE, Xavier Rolet.

I think it is a very novel approach, it is very innovative, and it is a strategic move. What this sets out to do is to bring senior African business persons and institutions that would sit down, interact, articulate and formulate policy frame work towards growing the African capital market which has been variously challenged over the years and this would mean that this advocacy group would have regular interactions. They are going to be the ones that will act as an advocacy group that will cut across regulatory bodies as well as the institutions for investments as well as the investors themselves.

So part of the things we will be doing, will be regular interactions, formulation of approach to regulations and begin to look at ways to address the challenges that face the African capital market as well as look at ways to tap all the enormous opportunities. The ultimate goal really is to encourage prosperity in the African continent.

There are corporates who have seen your achievement over the last one year or so since you’ve been on the LSE and want to take this step to be listed on the LSE, what advice do you have for them and what do you think they can do to be listed on the LSE I think one of the things that we did in Seplat was not just about us listing and being a global brand with all the opportunities and competitive advantage, we have also managed to open a window of opportunities to other corporates to follow suit. Since we listed on the LSE, I am aware that quite a number of Nigerian companies have been making enquiries towards this listing. It’s not just to be listed on the exchange, one of the things we did is that our listing is actually on the main board.

So we are beginning to see companies from Nigeria that are making enquiries to do this and this is encouraging it will help them in the Nigerian capital market, it will also encourage more African corporates particularly from Nigeria to also have the benefits of having access to a very large pool of investable capital.

What are the major difficulties facing African

Orjiako Capital Market?

The African Capital market is facing a lot of challenges, this was why the LSE Advisory group for Africa was put together to tackle these challenges. I think the challenges of the African capital market is very wide ranging. It ranges from very low financial capacity and debt to very low liquidity levels. And in between this spectrum, you get other things like sparse interior sectorial involvement and the rest of it. Now if you look at how these are impacting Africa that means that the volume of businesses that can

I think the challenges of the African capital market is very wide ranging. It ranges from very low financial capacity and debt to very low liquidity levels. And in between this spectrum, you get other things like sparse interior sectorial involvement and the rest of it

be done in Africa that will have attraction to international investors is very low. If you look at the African continent, there are 54 countries but only about 25 of them have stock markets.

Now when you look at that, only about four maybe five are active; South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco. The rest of them are still at the rudimentary level. Now this poses a challenge, it means that various companies and entrepreneurs in the African continent who have great ideas that can go places are unable to tap investable capital, the reason being that they are listed. Remember what I said, low capacity, finances, and low liquidity. Not being listed on the exchange means that they don’t have visibility that is required for capital flow.

So this is one area that the London Advisory Group will be advising. We are an advocacy group as it were to champion bringing together likely African corporates face to face with global investors. There are trillions of investable capital looking for opportunities and Africa is a major frontier for growth but if these companies in Africa do not have the visibility, and the easiest way to have this visibility is to be listed in any of the exchange. Now, that is one. The second one we stress about is the fact that we have many companies that even if they are looking out do not know how to go about it. One of the things we are going to be doing is to have serious cooperation between the London Stock

Exchange and the various countries in Africa.

We are looking to have three levels, one is at the country level, and the other one is regional level and then global Africa level. Also we are looking at the possibilities of how we can have intra Africa growth and integration such that you can have a corporation in West Africa for example. We want to do this so that where you do not have visibility of stock exchange in any particular country, they can aggregate around a more visible one like the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the West African region and you can see the Kenya Stock Exchange in the East African region. South Africa is the biggest market in the south and in the North you can look at Morocco and Egypt. The real view is that a lot of entrepreneurs can latch unto this, make themselves visible. The LSE will create opportunities for investors to have all of these. Now one of the things we’ll look at very strongly is to look at one of the models the LSE has developed. We have what they call the 1000 companies to inspire Britain. This was championed by Xavier Rolet himself and what it has done is that it has created visibility for about 1000 SMEs in Britain and what it has done is to bring them together with investors.

Some of them are growing at the rate of over 50 per cent annually but have no real experience with the investors. Some of them are family businesses so that what this has now done is help some of them grow themselves through making themselves investable for equity capital.

And when that happens a good number of them, are now migrating to become listed securities, in that process you have succeeded at making real entrepreneurs have access to capital and grow the company. Even in Europe this is a major advantage because there is still quite a high level of unemployment and this mechanism has been proven to help create jobs through entrepreneurship growth. Another thing we looked at is to see how we can replicate this in Africa. Part of the things the advocacy group is looking to do is to have a 1000 companies in Africa to inspire growth in Africa. So we are looking at ways to adapt this method. In doing that, we also exchanged a lot of ideas about what we are already doing. If you look at a case like Nigeria, we are very clear in our minds that the informal sector in this country is wider than the organised private sector. Now we have the Director General of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Chinelo Anohu-Amazu as a member of the LSE Advisory Group for Africa. We also have the CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange as a member of the advisory group, one of the things that came out is that both of these have programs that are addressing the informal sectors as well as the SMEs in Nigeria. So, if we can adapt and collaborate with the LSE to see what they have done with the 1000 companies in Britain we will see how that would help. Another thing we spent quite some time doing is to listen to Sir Gilfold, I think he is the lead of the Commonwealth in the emerging market, part of the presentations he made was the Nigeria-UK co-operation. I think, in that, he had the president of the Nigerian NSE council, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, as a member of his team. It all shows that these kinds of co-operations will enable growth of the capital market not just in Nigeria but in the African continent.

I understand you’ll be having your inaugural meeting, I don’t know if some of the points you highlighted are the discussions you will be having, can you just let us know what CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

BUSINESSWORLD

INTERVIEW

ORJIAKO: THE COST OF CAPITAL IS KILLING BUSINESSES IN NIGERIA you will be discussing?

The inaugural meeting already happened on the 21st of March and all of these things I have been telling you have been addressed. We have already looked at using the UK-Nigerian co-operation of the capital market as a model that can spread to other parts of Africa. We made a strong point and the group recognised what Seplat did being an indigenous company and then took a view in developing the African capital market ecosystem. A company like Seplat will need to play a leadership role, being a mentorship company for the rest of the companies as they come, making sure that the Seplat example can be replicated and encouraging others to participate. The other thing we did was to look broadly at those challenges facing the African capital market. I have talked about the debt of financial levels, I have talked about the liquidity issues, and I talked about the sectorial intensity so that the cost of business in the African capital market is encouraged. In that way we will reduce the barriers between the investing capital and the companies.

Tell us about your experience so far on the London Stock Exchange Our experience is that in any thing you do, transparency and corporate governance is key.

If you don’t govern the companies very well, if you don’t take the flagship of best practices, the company will not go far. Two, you will get exposure, good exposure to a very large pool of investable capital and what you do with that opportunity is key to your growth.

My experience has been that investors who are very sensitive about what you do, very sensitive of the promises you make. So before we make promises, we are sure we are able to deliver on that promise, and are looking very closely at what you do, your track record, the structure of your organisation and how you can deliver on those promises, all of these things are key. And that is one of the reasons why we have continued to distinguish ourselves from competition. We have kept our promises, we have remained very transparent, remained very strongly governed and in best practice, and that is still why we are where we are. So when we look at the growth in our business, it is because the fundamentals are right, our number one is corporate governance and best practice.

Companies across all sectors of the Nigerian economy are suffering the foreign exchange crisis, what should government do to resolve this crisis?

I am not a financial expert but there are clear indices of what is happening to the economy that surrounds the Foreign Exchange. I think obviously Nigeria is facing a lot of challenges because of the foreign exchange rate. It is affecting investors and quite a lot of people who are doing businesses. It is affecting even the small and medium enterprises that are doing businesses. But having said that, I think this is a wakeup call for everyone both government and the corporates. I think this is the time for Nigerians to number one, Look inwards and see what we can do especially from the manufacturing point of view. It is the time for us to look at local raw materials to grow our manufacturing companies. It is the time for us to look very strongly towards agriculture. It is not every agricultural implement that requires foreign exchange because at the end of the day the exchange on the value of the Naira will be dependent on the level of productivity in the country. So we should begin to look inwards, into those things that will encourage growth that is why when I was speaking about diversification. I was speaking to the fact that once you grow power infrastructure, you are bound to create opportunities for manufacturers to create jobs, you are bound to create entrepreneurs. Luckily Nigerian demographics speak to a young labour force; we need to tap into this and do something local. When I talked about diversification, it’s about we looking very strongly into agriculture. If you look at the way the Nigerian population growth is going, we have a lot of mouths to feed. These are all the areas we need to create jobs and prosperity in the country. If you look at agriculture and even look at the agro based industries, quite a lot of things can be done. In the oil and gas business when I talked about gas to industry,

Orjiako we look at ways to create jobs in the petro chemical industries. Not just the humongous ones but even from petro chemical products we can create quite a lot of entrepreneurs. So this is the general message to the Nigerian population, where people will begin to reap in what they are doing and encourage internal increase in production. Having said that, I think government on the other hand should also look at some of the policy decisions they are making. I think it is very difficult for the country and the financial systems to manage three aspects all together. One is inflation, inflation is now double digit, I think it is creating its own challenges. Foreign exchange, even if you do not devalue the availability is an issue that needs to be addressed. The other point is interest rate, the cost of capital is challenging.

Double digit cost of capital, it is very difficult for the manufacturing sector to grow. In terms of policy framework, government should look for how to balance all of these. All these are bringing quite a lot of pains to the populace.

So these are the areas where government needs to look at how to tighten the policy framework that will be beneficial to the populace.

say about this?

The reforms I think everyone has been talking and this is the time to walk those talks. I think what the current administration is doing and the Minister for State Petroleum and GMD of NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has demonstrated is to take decisive steps towards the long awaited transformation and reforms on the NNPC. I think that is commendable. I think we have seen real seriousness in those structuring. I think what would be wrong is not taking those steps, the good thing is that he is taking the steps. He would then see the permutations, where there are mistakes, he would correct it. So we are happy about that move that he has made. We are also looking forward very eagerly to see the reforms in the PIB coming to effect. We took strong interest in what he said. We will take the bill, look at the fiscal component of that bill, look at the regulatory component and bring the operators and regulators together so that you have a win-win for everyone. My advice is that in passing the PIB, there is need to have solid engagement amongst all stakeholders so that the final outcome will definitely propel growth in the oil and gas industry.

The Minister of State Petroleum and GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is making effort to reform the oil industry in Nigeria and the reforms are going on without the passage of the PIB. What do you have to

Seplat is just five years, it’s like it’s been existing for a long while like some multinational oil companies, what is responsible for this exponential growth?

The exponential growth has been planned for, as we say internally is not by chance. It is based on a carefully planned, well thought out, long term vision. It is a combination of strong entrepreneurial spirit, a combination of strong corporate governance and best practices that is driving everything you see in our track record. We have a strong management team, very diverse and a strong board that basically propels all the growth objectives that we have outlined. So there are two major things that distinguish us when you look at Seplat. One is our corporate governance; corporate governance distinguishes us and the competition. The second one is the Seplat model of community engagement in the Niger Delta. These are the real fulcrum of our growth and achievement over the past five years.

It is the time for us to look very strongly towards agriculture. It is not every agricultural implement that requires foreign exchange because at the end of the day the exchange on the value of the Naira will be dependent on the level of productivity in the country.

So we should begin to look inwards, into those things that will encourage growth that is why when I was speaking about diversification

Oil prices have taken a beaten, nobody knows when it will get better and Seplat seems not to be affected by it, your results are fantastic. What are you doing that others are not doing?

Well, first of all as I spoke earlier on, I did say that when you have your long term goal plan well set out, when you have very strong management professionals, when you set off

from get go to be innovative in business you are bound to weather the storm. What you have seen in the oil and gas industry today is a circle, we have seen it before. Being a commodity, the oil price is bound to face the vagrants of the commodity market and that’s what has happened. We have seen that the oil price is at the lowest point of that circle. Now, obviously many things are responsible for it but as a company we have always been prepared for things like this because we set out to do our business on a long term. So you see, at Seplat , we have done is to keep a very close eye on our costs, we pride ourselves to be a low cost operating company. When the oil price circle began going south, we then became even more prudent. We looked at our carpex and we made sure that we focused on essential capex especially when it has to do with gas and we made sure that our operating capex remained low. We are at the lower end of OPEC’s per barrel in the industry and this is very important for us in terms of growth. Now when we look at the overall performance of the company, yes you are right, we are profitable. When we were in the market, we promised the investors profitability, we promised them value added and that is what we have continued to do.

Such that even when the revenue goes down, we compensate them in various ways and the ways we have done this is by cutting costs, making sure we maintain average production level. We promised that we were going to be going organically by increasing our production and we are doing that. We have achieved everything we said we would in that regard.

We promised that we would be growing by acquisition; we have demonstrated that, we have done other acquisitions. We promised that we were going to grow by gas commercialisation, our gas development has been compensatory in terms of revenue. So all of these put together has made the company robust, strong balancing profitable company. Delivering to investors what we said we would do, being growth in investment as well as in dividend paying, those are the things that distinguish us.

You talked about the gas commercialisation policy of Seplat. Let’s just talk about the gas policy of Seplat The gas strategy of Seplat is something we thought out from the beginning and we did this because we are an indigenous company and we know that the Nigerian government past and present administration have stressed the need to encourage power. In 2012 when the last administration launched the gas revolution program which is gas to power, gas to industry, gas to manufacture and then it reduced the price in the domestic market, privatised the Nigerian power companies, unbundled and privatise them. That did two things, one it created demand for gas and made demand for gas soar. We saw the price of gas move from less than 30cents per scf while in 2010 to $1 per scf and today it is $2, $2.15 per thousand scf in the domestic market. We have signed contracts for $3.15 per thousand scf. So, based on this, with increasing demand, we have seen that we are able to meet our domestic gas obligations and we are seeing increasing requests from independent power companies so we also have seen good opportunities between willing buyers and willing sellers. So when you compare this with the transfer price between the domestic price and the transfer price for LNG in the country, it becomes more incentivising to put gas in the domestic market. And as a Nigerian company, we then have keyed into this to contribute our quota in promoting gas development in the Nigerian economy. And what have we done?

We have then increased our gas production in the domestic market from about 90 million scf a day in 2010 to the current 300 million scf a day in 2016 and growing. By the end of this year, we have set the stage to take the capacity to over 500 million scf a day. If you look at the gas supply to the power industry in Nigeria, what you see is that about 1.2 billion scf of gas is delivered for the market. If you look at Seplat doing 300 million scf a day you will see that we are supplying 25 per cent of the gas to power in Nigeria and we are growing. So we are the biggest indigenous gas supplier in the domestic market and we are growing gradually.

When we look at everything that this country CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

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INTERVIEW

ORJIAKO: THE COST OF CAPITAL IS KILLING BUSINESSES IN NIGERIA about the acquisitions, having pioneered acquisition of divested assets by the International Oil Companies, we set the pace, and we became the only ones that had operatorship. We have built on that, we’ve grown organically during this period and we are still growing. We are commercialising gas and that is a very, very long term thing. What we are doing today is to consolidate on all of those gains and the leadership position we have while also thinking out of the box to see what opportunities exist.

Now when you look at it this way, we are focusing not just on acquisition of assets but ultimately we will be seeing acquisition not only at the assets level but also a possibility for us that will encourage geography and locational diversification. So the company remains focused, this notion seems very far away but we know that we are on the right track.

is doing, when we talk about diversification, it is clear in our minds that there is no way this economy will diversify without getting the power infrastructure right. As an indigenous Nigerian company, we are focusing on it, contributing our quota, helping our revenue growth and helping to create prosperity in Nigeria so that is what we are doing and the journey is still far but we are mainly focused on adding our contribution to it.

If we look at the model you are pursuing, the integrated business model in Seplat, given the swings in oil prices. Most of your acquisition was done when oil prices were high and oil prices are low now, how have you been managing the disparity in the cost of acquisition and actual returns on investment As a company we took a very long term view in everything we have done, our vision was clearly defined, our business growth was clearly defined. So when we say we are going to grow by acquisition we were very clear in saying that the price descent will be accretive.

What do we mean by price descent? We took into account the cyclical nature of oil prices, so when we look at any asset regardless of when we did the acquisition, we make sure that we put this into consideration and that is why our company will continue to be profitable, the top line revenue might be lower but we make sure it don’t go below zero.

In what way, if any will the crude oil price affect any of your plans?

Obviously, the low oil price will definitely affect the top line, the revenue and earnings will go down but what we will make sure of is that the bottom line does not go below zero. That is what we were making reference to. When you look at the last quarter result that was released, it is profitable and we are going to be having our annual general meeting (AGM) in May, I believe we will be delivering

Orjiako good results. So this is what is happening, even though revenue is low we are increasing revenue from gas. If you remember what I said earlier on, because we are keeping our eyes on cost, our production capex is not high so that means that our operations remain profitable.

On a personal note, someone told me Orjiako was a trained surgeon. You seem to be better than those who are petro-chemical engineers that have been in the oil and gas industry for a long time. How did this transformation happen?

Well, that is interesting. I have always said that I didn’t set out to do business while I was studying medicine. But I found myself from

my background of business people, my family background, I come from a business family and it became a natural thing to do business. But having said that, my passion is very strong in medical practice, I practiced orthopaedic surgery and trauma at the Orthopaedic Hospital for 11 years, I enjoyed it very much and today I am doing oil and gas. Everything I know is by association and I am doing it, that’s all I can say.

As a group where are you going? Don’t tell me you want to take over from shell or ExxonMobil, where is Seplat going?

Seplat’s vision is a very, very far destination.

We have set out defined growth patterns, talked

The industry because of the price, the profit lens appeared to have shifted downstream where a lot of refiners are having huge profit, taking advantage of the low oil prices as well, and given the huge supply gap in the country here; big players leading indigenous players like yours are expected in localizing the downstream benefits of it.

Like I said, commodity prices are cyclical depending on the part of the circle you are. You found that it is either that the refining margins are high or that it is too low so whereas today we are looking at the crude oil price being low, refining margins are higher than margins in the upstream amongst the producing companies.

That is only in a particular stage of the circle when you move to the other circle the margins also remain low so it is not a case that you jump from being upstream to downstream just because they have a momentarily increase in revenue. But even then it is not all downstream firms that are making money. I think the way to look at it is to make sure that your long term plan remains steady, remains robust and strong.

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Deriving Value from an Effective Pay Structure Nneka Jethro-Iruobe & Aminat Farinmade Background It is increasingly more difficult to agree on a definition for pay equity considering that the concept of “equity” itself is ethical, intrinsic and varies across cultures, countries and continents.

In recent times, the issue of pay equity has generated more debate, with the Congress of the United States throwing out the Pay Check Fairness bill for the fourth time.

This bill was introduced again at the 114th Congress in 2015.

According to Congress.gov, which is the official website for United States legislative information, this is “a bill to amend the Fair Labour Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, and for other purposes.”

To reduce the back and forth of litigation and provide a legal framework for judging pay equity, countries and jurisdictions have set up laws to guide fair treatment in the workplace. The United Kingdom and United States of America have the Equal Pay Act of 1970 and 1963, respectively. These laws, and many others, examine pay equity from the perspective of eradicating unwarranted pay discrimination based on race, gender and other factors.

This article looks at pay equity from the perspective of utilising an effective pay structure to achieve an organisation’s reward strategy.

What Is Pay Equity and Importance of Remunerating Based on Reasonable Factors Pay equity, refers to the concept that employees should receive proportionally fair treatment in terms of pay based on their contribution and investment in the employment relationship and on clearly-defined expectations as communicated to the employees from time to time. Reducing discrimination and unfairness based on favouritism and personal relationship is the key objective of pay equity.

If employees are to be compensated differently for doing similar or near-similar jobs, Reward Professionals should take care and ensure a fair basis for administering this differentiation. The fair basis for pay differentiating are referred to as Reasonable Factors. In essence, any differentiation in pay should be based on factors that are permissible by law, ethical and defensible by the employer. Such factors may include educational

qualification, critical or scarce talent, and higher productivity. Some of the benefits of remunerating based on only reasonable factors are: Reduces the risk of litigation from dissatisfied employees Assist employers to minimize the cost of unnecessary pay increase Provides properly-defined criteria that employee can strive to achieve and improve employee performance.

Allows for transparency in pay practices, improves employee value proposition and positions the organisation as the employer of choice.

Employees’ and Employers’ Perspectives to Pay Equity When discussing pay equity, perception is the same as reality because employees’ perception of their compensation directly impacts job satisfaction and engagement; both of which are critical to the achievement of business objectives.

There are two ways to perceive compensation as equitable.

Perception based on objective and scientific evidence and perception based on emotions. Employers usually use objective and factual methods as the basis of determining pay equity. One common way of doing this is to obtain and compare compensation data from companies that have similar jobs usually through compensation surveys where these data are shared in a confidential manner.

Also, organisations rely on secondary sources such as professional HR and Reward organisations for global and local information on recent happenings with regards to compensation.

On the other hand, most employees perceive pay equity in terms of how they “feel” about their pay in relation to other employees within and outside the organisation. Usually, employees find it difficult to understand why another employee with better skills and higher productivity should earn higher. In unionized environment, it becomes increasingly difficult to operate a merit pay system as negotiations are based on feeling of oneness and camaraderie.

Issues That Arise When Pay Is Not Equitable When there is no fair and objective basis for administering pay and there is a high perception of inequity, organisations may have to deal with the following issues: Increased exposure to the risk of litigation Reduced employee engagement leading to lower effectiveness on the job especially for employees that consider compensation as their

most important work value Union unrest Strain in the communication of compensation and benefits policies.

High attrition rate and loss of critical talent Lack of trust in the leadership of the organisation.

Can Pay Really Be Equitable?

One hard truth employers and reward practitioners have to face is that there is no perfect pay system. At the point of hiring a new employee and negotiating pay, it appears that both parties have found common ground on compensation and are satisfied. Within a short time when the thrills of the new job begin to fade, combined with information that colleagues on “similar” roles earn more, the previously-excited employee begins to question the equity in pay levels.

The critical question to answer is whether compensation is internally fair and externally competitive. If compensation is internally fair, this means that jobs of similar worth within the organisation are paid equitably, and any differentiation in pay will be based on reasonable factors such as years of experience, educations, skills etc. To determine, external competitiveness, organisations compare pay and determine their market positioning in comparison to pay levels in comparable organisations operating in the business space.

In delivering equitable and competitive pay, organisations need an administrative tool that clearly defines pay levels and assist with pay adjustments such as pay increases, pay freeze etc.

Effective Pay Structure as a Means of Ensuring Pay Equity An effective pay structure is a tool for administering a company’s compensation program. The various types of pay structures are shown in the diagram below: Organisations may choose any of the above types of pay structure depending on the business and what works best for each organisation. Some organisations adopt different pay structures for different business units / divisions.

In practice, organisations have had to pay below or above competitive pay levels for various reasons such as ability to pay and need for a critical talent. However, having an effective pay structure provides a systematic method of moving employees within and across pay levels. It also provides a framework for merit pay as well as a tool for pay negotiations during recruitment and collective bargaining.

In designing pay structures, organisations emphasize external equity by creating pay bands around competitive anchor points in the pay market. Therefore, pay structures provide objective basis for equitable pay administration devoid of emotions and favouritism. This increases the hiring and retention power of the organisation.

A well-designed pay structure, in conjunction with a Performance Management System that aligns with the company’s strategic objectives, encourages pay for performance. It also reduces the feeling of inequity and dissatisfaction amongst employees, since they are aware of the company’s expectations and the reward for meeting these expectations.

Use of Pay Structure in Solving Some Pay Equity Related Challenge A Proper Tool for Representing a Company’s Pay Philosophy: An organisation’s pay structure is usually built around its pay philosophy and a desired anchor point within the pay market. A well designed pay structure incorporates this desired market positioning.

Providing a document for communicating pay: A pay structure serves as a formal document for communicating and presenting the company’s compensation strategy to management and stakeholders.

Negotiation: In union negotiations, a pay structure provides a guide for management to know when you they are going overboard during bargaining. It also assists to, at a glance, assess the impact of proposed pay reviews.

Also, in hiring new employees, pay structures assist the HR team to quickly decide on the pay level to offer the new hire.

Managing Expectations of Gross Versus Net Salary: A clear pay structure allows reward practitioners to properly compute and communicate tax returns and net salary to employees ahead of any employment contract. This helps manage employee’s expectation of Gross versus Net salary.

Managing Tax Returns: A defined pay structure document can be presented to tax authorities during tax audits. It ensures compliance and transparency in making tax returns and reduces the risk of unwarranted tax liability.

Controls Pay compression: A well designed and properly administered pay structure assist to reduce pay compression, a situation where employees earn close to their supervisors due to factors such as union negotiations, employees staying too long on a level and

overtime payments. Pay structure assist to control the possibility of pay compression and reduce the dissatisfaction that arises from perceived pay inequity.

Fair basis for pay increases: Whether an employee performs well enough to deserve a pay increase or management approves annual increase, pay structures assist to define the quantum of increases within/across pay bands.

This ensures that pay increases are non-discretionary, equitable across board and attributable to reasonable factors only.

An Organisation’s Approach to Pay Equity Is as Important as its Reward Strategy.

For most organisations, a reward strategy consists of compensation and benefits as well as other nonmonetary and intrinsic rewards that employees receive for rendering their services.

Even for non-monetary compensation such as a hand shake for good performance, employees need to know that they are being rewarded fairly based on their contributions to the organisation, and that any differentiation is triggered by reasonable factors only.

If there is a perception of lack of pay equity on either monetary or non-monetary compensation, it will be difficult to harness the benefit of the reward strategy which is to drive employee performance and achieve business objectives.

Conclusion Now more than ever, organisations need to pay attention to pay equity and find the best possible approach to tackling the issues of pay equity to prevent loss of talent and lack of employee engagement.

It is important to establish a formal grievance procedure where employees can report perceived or actual pay inequity. In addition, necessary support should be provided to resolve the complaints.

To achieve pay equity through a customised and effective pay structure that aligns with company’s reward and business strategy, organisations can leverage one or a combination of the following resources Third party consultant In-house reward professionals Professional Organisations on Reward and Human Resources Information on market practices provided by compensation survey providers.

Nneka Jethro-Iruobe & Aminat Farinmade Manager, Compensation & Benefits Unit, KPMG, Nigeria.

Delays, High Charges Impede Flight Operations in Nigeria Chinedu Eze Nigerian passengers have cried out over endless complaints about flight delays, while airlines lament high charges, which they allege deplete their operational funds.

In the last two weeks, THISDAY learnt the situation became worrisome as flights were delayed for two hours or more and some were cancelled at short notice, leaving passengers stranded and frustrated.

Investigations revealed that the uncertainty about flight time has affected businesses engagements and eroded confidence in domestic flight operation because flight scheduled for

10:00 am might not take off till 2:00 pm, putting air travellers at the mercy of airlines.

Sources told THISDAY that generally there is low capacity among airlines because many aircraft are on AOG (Aircraft on Ground), as some of them that are due for major checks could not be ferried overseas because of the high cost of dollars.

“So some airlines that rested about one or two aircraft on AOG in their fleet try to meet up their published committed schedule with the fewer aircraft at their behest and this causes delay. And if any of the operational aircraft develops fault it further exacerbates the

problem,” a source said.

Some air travellers have indicted the major operators as most of the culprits in flight delays; these are airlines that operates more routes, including Arik, Aero, Medview and Air Peace and in the last six months Aero has been operating about half of its fleet, while the rest of the aircraft are on maintenance overseas or on AOG, but spokesman of the company, Simon Tumba said the airline had fuel supply challenge which has affected its operations.

An Arik source however explained that if an aircraft that was scheduled to pick passengers develops technical

problem, the aircraft has to be repaired and after it becomes airworthy, it would have to be certified by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and that takes time.

The source said there are other factors that cause delays or could lead to cancellation of flights and pointed out that many airports in the country do not have airfield lighting, which prevents flight from operating to the airport in the night. Then the issue of bad weather, which is beyond anybody’s control, also causes delays and flight cancellations.

“So airlines cram their flight schedules and most of the flight time take place during the day.

If we can operate to many of these airports both in the day and in the night we would put some flights in the night and create enough gaps between schedules, so that if there are technical issues the engineers will correct it before the next flight,” the source said.

He noted also that most of the delays in the past two weeks before Easter and after, was caused by inadequate supply of aviation fuel in addition to other factors.

Meanwhile, the airlines are complaining bitterly about high charges imposed against them by aviation agencies in addition to double taxation and high tariff on imported aircraft parts,

which they pay to customs.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) allegedly usurps substantial part of the money earned from ticket sales by airlines, but a source from FAAN’s commercial department said the agency only collects N1000 as passenger service charge (PSC), while the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) collects 5 per cent ticket sales charge, which it shares with some agencies like Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), the College of Aviation Technology, Zaria and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

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NEWS

NIMASA Confirms Hijack of Vessel, Pledges Speedy Passage of Anti -piracy Bill Nosa Alekhuogie The Director General (DG), Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside has confirmed the hijack of a Liberian chemical tanker, MT Sampatiki with five crew members onboard at Excravos, Delta state.

The vessel was reported to have arrived Port Harcourt on March 21, 2016 heavily loaded with gas oil and was allowed to sail out of the port on March 24.

The federal government was informed of the hijacking incidence on March 26.

According to the DG, the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has given instructions to the Agency to investigate the incidence with a view to rescuing the abducted crew and recovering the vessel.

Briefing journalists at the NIMASA Head quarters, weekend, Peterside revealed that the draft Anti-piracy Bill would be passed by the National Assembly as soon

as possible.

He said consultations with the Ministry of Transportation, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the Federal Ministry of Justice, the National Assembly, the Nigerian Navy, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the INTERPOL and other stakeholders were ongoing to ensure that necessary framework to counter the menace of piracy.

He also disclosed that the Agency has alerted the Nigerian Navy about the incident and has requested the deployment of the personnel and vessels in search of the crew and the vessel.

As at the time of this report, the Togolese authorities was reported to have boarded the ship to interview the crew members who were left onboard the vessel.

Peterside said: “We have used our satellite surveillance facility in conjunction with intelligence from the Nigerian Navy and tracked the vessel, which is currently off shore

Lome, while the search for the abducted crew members is still ongoing.’’

According to a statement obtained by THISDAY, Nimasa has contacted the Maritime Administrations of the Republic of Benin and Togo to ensure safe return of the vessel and release of the abducted crew. ‘’The Interpol Regional Bureau and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have also been contacted to reach their respective bureaus in Togo with any useful information that may lead to the rescue of the vessel and crew’’, the statement added.

“Our collaboration with some arms of the Nigerian military has been most useful. We have commenced the process of reviewing our Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force respectively for continued coastal patrol and air surveillance to deter criminals and ensure quicker response time when incidents do occur.”

Oando to Delay Release of 2015 Audited Results Goddy Egene The management of Oando Plc has notified the capital market community and other stakeholders that its 2015 audited accounts would be delayed. According to the requirements of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) audited results to December 2015 must be released on or before March 31, 2016.

However, Oando Plc said from available indications it was unlikely to complete the 2015 audit and issue audited accounts as required by NSE Rules.

“We have worked diligently with our external auditor, Ernst & Young (EY) to ensure a swift conclusion to the audit process.

However, after reviewing the financials, EY indicated that the Accounts may likely need to be referred to the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) pursuant to Rule 5 of

the recently publicised FRC Rules. We expect the process to be concluded on or before 31 May, 2016, however this is dependent on the completion of the external review process as referred to above,” the company explained in a statement.

Oando added that its accounts for full year will be in line with the third quarter performance to September 30, 2015, that showed a loss of N47 billion.

“The expected decline is attributable to the industry’s downturn, prevalent economic headwinds, as well as fiscal and monetary restrictions driven by a challenging macro environment. While we are actively restructuring the business to adapt to this difficult period, we are optimistic and steadfast in our commitment to return to profitability in 2016,” the company said.

Meanwhile, Oando Energy

Resources (OER), which is a subsidiary of Oando Plc listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TXN) has reported a net profit for the first time in two years.

The company reported net profit of $16 million net profit supported by an income tax recovery of $65.6 million and reduced impairment charges in comparison to 2014.

Commenting on the results, analysts at Rennaisance Capital (RenCap0 said: We appreciate that OER was able to maintain a strong production of 55kboe/d in 2015, reduce its debt outstanding by 61 per cent and reduce operations expenses to $11.9/boe, from $12.6/boe in 2014. However, we remain cautious on the stock especially at these low oil price levels and given all the structural changes and lender approvals the group is undergoing. In addition, OER obtained pioneer tax status on its gas production

Binatone Launches New kitchen Machine in Nigeria Nosa Alekhuogie A leading electronics manufacturer, Binatone Industries has launched a new Kitchen Machine into the Nigerian electronics market just as the company is expanding its operations in Nigeria.

The new product according to the Management of Binatone Group, was launched into the Nigerian electronics market to help reduce the stress associated with domestic cooking and baking.

“The new Binatone kitchen machine is loaded with a host of features to ensure that there is no more labour when making dough and during other food preparation” the company stated.

The new Machine, it said, comes complete with a 4 litre stainless mixing bowl and heavy duty mixing tools like kneading hooks, stirrer beater and a whisk all designed to withstand the rigours of constant usage.

“We have 1.5 litre lender with glass jar and 2.4 dough capacity planetary beating for quicker mixing results, plastic splash cover with easy feeding chute which allows adding further ingredients with ease. It is a fully interlocked machine for added safety and variable speeds with pulse function and non-slit feet. The kitchen machine has a 1200w long life and a powerful motor for the best mixing result and

for everyday use” It added The Binatone Group whose products are sold in many countries across Europe and Africa also hinted about its plans to expand its operations to make its products more affordable in Nigeria and other African countries.

Stressing that most of its products would be assembled locally in Nigeria very soon and made available at affordable prices, the company stated that its new kitchen machine is available at half the price of other leading brands with a two year warranty to enable Nigerians have access to and enjoy the product, which is available at all leading stores in Nigeria.

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Nigeria’s Manufacturing Index Declines in March Obinna Chima The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) improved marginally to 45.9 per cent in March 2016, compared to 45.5 per cent in the preceding month. This implied that the manufacturing sector declined at a slower rate during the review period.

The PMI report for March 2016 released at the weekend revealed that of the 16 manufacturing sub-sectors, 12 reported decline in the review month in the following order: transportation equipment; furniture & related products; plastics and rubber products; textile, apparel, leather and footwear; printing and related support activities; nonmetallic mineral products; paper products; fabricated metal products; primary metal; computer & electronic products; applies and components and electrical equipment.

The remaining four subsectors however reported

expansion in the following order: petroleum and coal products; food, beverage and tobacco products; cement and chemical and pharmaceutical products.

Furthermore, the report revealed that at 46.6 per cent, the production level index for manufacturing sector also declined for the third consecutive month, but at a slower rate than the preceding month. It showed that of the 16 manufacturing sub-sectors, twelve reported decline in production during the review month.

Also, the New Orders Index remained the same at 43 per cent in March 2016.

However, the index has been on the decline for the third consecutive month as 13 sub-sectors reported decrease in new orders. They included: transportation equipment; textile, apparel, leather and footwear; furniture and related products; printing and related support activities; computer and electronic products; plastics and

rubber products; primary metal; nonmetallic mineral products; paper products; fabricated metal products; appliances and components; cement and electrical equipment.

But the remaining three sub-sectors reported growth in new orders as follows: petroleum & coal products; chemical & pharmaceutical products and food, beverage & tobacco products.

“At 50.6 per cent, the supplier delivery time index for manufacturing sub-sectors improved for the second consecutive month, after 12 months of worsening delivery time. Eight sub-sectors reported faster suppliers’ delivery time in the following order: plastics & rubber products; textile, apparel, leather & footwear; appliances & components; primary metal; cement; petroleum & coal products; furniture & related products and electrical equipment. The transportation equipment sub-sector reported no change.

FirstBank Pledges More Support for SMEs Nume Ekeghe FirstBank Bank of Nigeria has reiterated its commitment to the growth of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) through various trainings, seminars and advisory services.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to THISDAY Corporate Headquarters, in Lagos, the Head, Media and External Communications at FirstBank of Nigeria, Mr. Babatunde Lasaki said in the last five years, the bank had extended a lot of financial support to small businesses across the country.

“I can say that we are the first bank to start the SME conferences and seminars. The first was in Lagos and since its inception, we have actually gone to all the six geopolitical zones to organise these seminars.

“In addition to that, we actually established commercial banking department and they are solely responsible for small and medium scale enterprises and apart from that, in the last three years we have organised

in partnership with Lagos Business School as part of our sustainability program.

We have done for women lead SMEs, media SMEs and different sectors of the economy and in every branches that you go to, you have an SME desk you can actually get advice services for free. And then we do train SMEs from time to time,” Lasaki said.

He also said the bank was focused on capacity development, which was why it went into partnership with various SME training schools, organise seminars, educate operators and aspiring business owners through its regular radio programme.

In addition, he said the bank sponsors an SME startup show on CNN. Also, he said on the 17th of this month, the bank would organise an SME summit.

He added: “We have supported various sectors from independent till date. This reflects in most of our activities in terms of our loan decomposition as well as our strength in our core

banking area. We pride ourselves as the retail mass market banking institutions and we support all the four main sub sectors of the economy.

From manufacturing to oil and gas services and public sector.

“Our support and concentration on those sectors is simply to drive home our point that we are a national icon, we support development and we want to create employment and then help government boost infrastructure and public utilities.”

Also, commenting on the expansion to other African countries, the Head , International Market Coordination & Head, Brand Quality Assurance at First Bank, Mrs. Chinwe Bode- Akinwande said: “We are actually in other African countries, we have expanded our footprint.

For now, we are in Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Seria Leone, Senegal and in DRC. After the acquisition and as at February this year the last market which is Senegal they are now called FBN bank.

Sterling Bank Takes MSME Conference National As part of efforts to support micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, Sterling Bank Plc has decided to extend its national conference for entrepreneurs to other regions in the country.

Specifically, the 2016 MSME Academy workshop will commence this Thursday in Port Harcourt. Other locations include Kaduna in May; Onitsha in July; Ibadan in September and Lagos in October.

Speaking to journalists on the initiative, the bank’s Executive Director, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, said the bank decided to take the conference to other cities in order to make its impact felt at a larger scale.

“So, whatever we have been doing for SMEs, the plan has always been for us to test it, get it right and then find a way to scale it so that it can

go round the country. SMEs are the foundation for employment.

“We have a wrong impression that the government can create employment by hiring people and sometimes, we have a wrong impression that the big corporation can also hire people. But when you look at it, even the biggest corporations in Nigeria does not have up to 50,000 employees. “’And if you watch carefully, the unemployment problem is Nigeria is getting worse and the only way that problem can be solved is the million of individuals who are starting businesses or who have small business, such that when the environment us positive they can expand their businesses and hire more people. So, for us, this is at the heart of solving the problem Nigeria is facing presently,” he added.

According to Suleiman, the target is to help create small businesses that would be able to find their ways around the challenges in the country.

“We want to take this national because we are already seeing changes in the behavior of customers and non-customers that participated in the process and we have improved their chances a for success.

“The partnership we are trying to build is to equip MSMEs so that it would be easy for them to access bank loans because they can understand better and be able to represent their business in ways that are compelling and we might have removed a few things that made it difficult for them to access bank loans. This is something we see transiting eventually into an established institute,” he added.

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun

MARKET INDICATORS MONEY AND CREDIT STATISTICS

(MILLION NAIRA)

NOVEMBER 2014 Broad Money (M2)

16,696,663.77

-- Narrow Money (M1)

6,678,249.30

---- Currency Outside Banks

1,231,005.96

---- Demand Deposits

5,447,243.34

-- Quasi Money

10,018,414.47

Net Foreign Assets (NFA)

7,183,427.14

Net Domestic Assets(NDA)

9,513,236.63

-- Net Domestic Credit (NDC)

16,353,454.75

---- Credit to Government (Net)

-1,755,121.92

---- Memo: Credit to Govt. (Net) less FMA

419,550.98

---- Memo: Fed. and Mirror Accounts (FMA)

-2,174,672.91

---- Credit to Private Sector (CPS)

18,108,576.68

--Other Assets Net

-6,840,218.12

Reserve Money (Base Money)

5,068,556.90

--Currency in Circulation

1,577,889.36

--Banks Reserves

3,490,667.54 • Source - CBN

MANAGED FUNDS Initial Price (N) Stanbic Balanced Fund

Buying Price(N)

Selling Price

1,660.29

1,685.29

Stanbic IBTC NEF

1,000.00

11,002.32

11,326.67.11

Stanbic SIBond

20

120.47

120.47

Stanbic IBTC Ethical

1

1.10

1.13

Stanbic IBTC GIF

142.90

143.38

UBA Balanced Fund

1.2563

1.2493

UBA Bond Fund

1.3443

1.3443

UBA Equity Fund

0.8205

0.8074

UBA Money Market Fund

1.1510

1.1510

ARM Aggressive Growth Fund

N13.1141

N13.5095

ARM Discovery Fund

N288.9978

N297.7112

ARM Ethical Fund

N22.6462

N23.3290

ARM Money Market Fund

13.1161 (Yield % ) • Monetary Policy Rate - 13%

OPEC DAILY BASKET PRICE AS AT 31 MARCH 2016 The price of OPEC basket of thirteen crudes stood at $34.33 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $34.91 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Murban (UAE), Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia) and Merey (Venezuela).

SOURCE: OPEC headquarters, Vienna

35

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

MARKET NEWS

Shareholders to Get N4.6bn Dividend as Fidelity Records N14bn Profit Goddy Egene and Eromosele Abiodun Shareholders of Fidelity Bank Plc will share N4.6 billion as dividend for the year ended December 31, 2015. The dividend, which is part of the N13.9 billion profit after tax (PAT) recorded for the year, translates to 16 kobo per share.

According to the audited

results of the bank, gross earnings grew from N136.9 billion to in 2014 to N146.9 billion in 2015. Profit before Tax (PBT) declined by 9.6 percent to N14.0 billion from N15.5 billion in 2014, while PAT settled at N13.9 billion compared with N13.8 billion the previous year. Hence, the directors recommended a dividend of N4.6 billion, thus maintaining a tradition of

T H E

consistent dividend pay-out for the past six years.

Commenting on the performance, Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Nnamdi Okonkwo said that it reflected the disciplined execution of the management’s medium term strategy and the resilience of evolving business models despite the extremely challenging business environment in

N I G E R I A N

2015. He explained that the bank improved the earning capacity of its balance sheet even in the face of decline in fee income precipitated by a N10.0 billion reduction in its foreign exchange income.

“We continued to increase yields on earning assets faster than the growth in funding costs which improved our Net Interest Margin (NIM) to 6.9

STO C K

percent in 2015. In spite of the strong double digit growth of 12.5 percent in net operating income, PBT declined by 9.6 per cent largely due to two critical factors: the 17.1 per cent increase in total expenses due to strategic investments and cost incurred in 2015 to position the business for further growth in line with our aspirations. The increase in impairments due

E XC H A N G E

to a more prudent approach adopted with respect to a special regulatory provision which was charged directly to the Profit and Loss (P&L) was responsible for the decline in profit,” Okonkwo said.

He disclosed that cost of risk remained within its guidance of 1.0 per cent despite a 6.7 per cent growth in the loan book and weaker macro-economic

36

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

CITYSTRINGS

Acting Features Editor Charles Ajunwa Email charles.ajunwa@thisdaylive.com

In the Spirit of Easter As part of efforts to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Fountain of Hope Society organised its 2016 Easter Cantata at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral in Lagos, reports Ugo Aliogo

T

he evening was filled with grace and splendour. The litany of classical renditions from the various singing groups and the cathedral choir helped to make the day a wonderful experience.

At each presentation, there was a showcase of excellence, laced with energy and verve.

The orchestra team displayed perfect dexterity of the musical instruments, supplying the best melodious tunes to each presentation. The guests were bedecked in their best attires.

They looked beautiful, with faces beaming with smiles. It was indeed an occasion fit for royals and elites. The ambience of the atmosphere paid credence to this fact.

The celebration was the 2016 Easter Cantata organised by the Fountain of Hope Society (FOH10NG), a pious society in Archbishop Vinning Memorial Church Cathedral, Ikeja, Lagos State, at the church premises.

Easter cantata is choral composition for one or more voices usually comprising solos, duets, recitatives, and choruses and sung to an instrumental accompaniment. The tradition which has been practiced for centuries, consists of a piece of music for singers and instruments, that usually has several parts known as movements and often has a religious subject Studies revealed that the cantata originated in the early 17th century simultaneously with opera and oratorio. The studies also noted that with the rise of instrumental music, the term appeared, while the instrumental art became sufficiently developed to be embodied in sonatas.

From the beginning of the 17th to late 18th century, the cantata for one or two solo voices with the accompaniment of basso continuo (and perhaps a few solo instruments) was a principal form of Italian vocal chamber music. George Handel’s numerous Italian duets and trios are examples of the cantata on a large scale. His Latin motet Silete Venti, for soprano solo, shows the use of this form in church music.

One of the highlights of the evening was the musical presentation by the FOH voices.

The presentation which was done in Yoruba language thrilled the congregation. For some minutes, there were questions amongst the congregation if the other presentation could equal the performance of the FOH voices.

With the exit of the FOH voices, it was time for another presentation. This time, the presentation was from a Yoruba dance group known as Ayan Jesu. It was a group of four young men, three of whom were carrying local music instruments. They were dressed in traditional blue Yoruba attire, while the other individual was the song leader.

The song leader swept the congregation off their feet, when he began in melodious Yoruba songs. For a long time, the congregation was dancing to the songs, as the song leader kept switching from one song to another, but retained the flow of excitement.

When it was time for the Ayan Jesu dance group to leave, the crowd clamoured for encore.

But an adage has it that even the best of dancers will one day take the spectator’s seat. From their display on stage, one could see a flow of rhythm and energy.

As the celebration moved from one realm to another, the congregation remained glued to their seats clamouring for more spectacles.

The series of George Handel’s songs from the cathedral choir ensured that the congregation never experienced a dull moment.

To bring the evening to a close, the youth choir was invited on stage. The youth choir used the opportunity to cut a slice in the entertainment cake. They put an icing on the cake with a masterpiece performance to

The orchestra and cathedral choirs

One unique feature about their presentations was the passion and energy of the soloists. The congregation could rarely differentiate between the singer and the international worship singing sensation Cece Winas. She kept the atmosphere in the mood of worship. One could hardly doubt, if the presence of God was not there. It was indeed a perfect ending to the Easter cantata. The memory of the event will linger on for years to come

The youth choir

The FOH Voices the admiration of all and sundry.

One unique feature about their presentations was the passion and energy of the soloists.

The congregation could rarely differentiate between the singer and the international worship singing sensation Cece Winas. She kept the atmosphere in the mood of worship.

One could hardly doubt, if the presence of

God was not there. It was indeed a perfect ending to the Easter cantata. The memory of the event will linger on for years to come.

In his welcome address, the Chairman of the Cantata Planning Committee, Prince Femi Tejuoso, stated that the event which is a compilation of several sacred compositions was aimed at celebrating the triumph of

Jesus Christ over death 2000 years, “it also focuses on the glorious ascension, which is the foundation of Christian faith.”

Tejuoso explained that the FOH was charged to host the 11th cantata by the founding Bishop of the Diocese, Rev. Peter Awelewa Adebiyi, adding that the celebration began since 2005 and “we have been doing this annually over this period to the glory of God.” He added that, “This annual Easter cantata hosting has been one of the avenues through which the FOH has been able to fulfill one of its cardinal objectives of evangelism in the Diocese of Lagos West. To this end, we have been able to contribute to funding projects within the Diocese through the support from friends.”

The President of the FOH, Mr. Femi Olutayo, expressed satisfaction that the event was successful for members of the FOH and a blessing to the church.

37

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

Revisiting the Gender and Equality Opportunity Bill Bolaji Abdullahi After studying the ‘Gender and Equality Opportunity Bill’, I could clearly see why it was so easily thrown out. Unfortunately, the Senate itself has not made its own case; the same way that those who have expressed outrage at the Senate’s decision have failed to make the arguments of why the bill should not have been rejected. We have seen plenty indignation and rhetoric but little rational interventions. Thus, we are about to miss another glorious opportunity to have a real debate on a matter that is at the very heart of our social progress.

President of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, has said the bill could be re-introduced. It shows that the Senate president is listening. Everyone interested in this bill should therefore see this as opportunity to go back and do more serious work on this very important bill. To start with, Senator Abiodun Olujimi should be commended for her courageous initiative. However, in any active democracy, no bill would sail through the parliament on account of its good intentions alone. As a matter of fact, we should all be worried if our Senators would pass a law only because it is the politically correct thing to do; or because they want the public to clap for them.

What are the qualities of a good law?

One, it must be necessary; there have to be real issues or problems that the law intends to address, which no law in existence at the time has adequately covered. Two, it must be acceptable; it must be an expression of the will and aspirations of the people. Three, it must be enforceable; if people break the law, enforcers should be able to catch and punish them. There are others. However, even on these three basic principles alone, this Gender Equality Bill is hugely deficient. A significant part of it actually read more like the communique of a gender seminar than a piece of legislation. However, if we ignore the letters and focus on the spirit, that is when the importance of this bill becomes really obvious, and the decision to revisit it becomes quite pertinent.

The bill can be divided into two broad categories. The first component would contain those provisions that seek to protect the rights and privileges of women in public life and promote economic and political participation by women. The second component seeks to protect and promote the social and economic rights and privileges of women in the family or domestic front. Senators who opposed the bill were quite right to argue that some of the things it intends to achieve for women were already covered by existing laws and the constitution. It is tempting on the face of this argument therefore to dismiss the bill as superfluous. But this would be wrong. While existing laws and the constitution may have addressed the issues; they have not solved the problems. Factors that inhibit the participation of women in politics or public life, for example, continue to thrive.

While there is nothing in our laws or in any rules guiding public or corporate institutions in our country that bar women from participation or representation, the reality is that the quality of women participation in public life does not reflect the demographic strength of women. The Senate itself presents the best example of this limitation, where out of 109 Senators only seven are women. The truth is that women usually lack the material resources and the social capability to seek political office. To paraphrase Armatya Sen, we cannot claim that an individual has the right or freedom to act in a particular way, when she is deprived of the capability and resources to exercise such right or freedom.

Saraki...called for the reintroduction of the Bill

Olujimi...fighting for the Nigerian women

Access to resources would continue to constitute a major barrier to women political participation. Unfortunately, this is even likely to get worse in the years ahead. As public sector reforms roll back the government and push the market forward, all the support systems and state-backed interventions that potentially discriminate in favour of women may also be eroded. Like one writer noted, in any market arrangement, “competition and choice could become the new rationale for legitimising the dominant male presence in politics and government.”

If women are less educated, it is only natural that men will outnumber them in public life. The same if they have less access to resources. If women have to also devote more time for domestic and family task, it is only natural that they will have less time for actively engaging in public political activities, the so-called “doubleburden.” This is why despite the increase in number of career women in recent years; most women still have to choose between family and public life. These problems can hardly be tackled with legislation alone.

Some women have wondered why Nigeria that has so sensibly adopted the quota system and federal character as a way of managing its diversity has found it difficult to adopt affirmative action as a broad based policy for supporting women. This connection is quite interest-

ing. However, for us to deal with women issues the same way, we have to start by asserting gender as a distinct social and even political constituency. This is not a job for the lawmakers alone. It cannot even be a task for women alone. Certainly, we need to bring more credentials to the gender debate than just our anatomies!

In recognising gender as a political constituency, we must be willing to take a critical look and have the courage to review institutionalised basis for male power and privilege. Altering this power relationship is central to leveling the field and creating the room for women to be active economic and productive agents.

Arguing that women should be treated on equal terms with men in political life, as things stand at the moment, is to further keep women down. Any push for equality without altering the power dynamics in gender relations ultimately places women at great disadvantage.You cannot speak of equality in a contest between two unequal actors. This bill tip-toed around the issue of positive discrimination, almost apologetically. This needs not be so. A deliberate policy of discrimination in favour of disadvantaged people within a society is the foundation for equity and justice. This however has to be framed in a way that would be understood by all that women empowerment does not necessarily translate to male disempowerment.

What is at the heart of the matter is always how men think about women and how women think about themselves in relation to political power. Women’s own psychological internalisation of inferiority would continue to constitute as much barrier to the quality of women’s political participation as men’s domination of women. As long as the few powerful women continue to understand women political participation in terms of how many women are dressed up in Aso-ebi and herded into political rallies, women cannot have the right champions for women in the corridors of power.

The second major component of this bill focuses on the rights and privileges of women within the family. This is where

Perhaps, another major drawback of this Bill is that it attempts to solve all the problems confronting women with a single piece of legislation. This would not work. Therefore, the Bill needs to be streamlined towards achieving incremental change rather than a total revolution

the issue of rights of women get entangled in cultural values. Among other things, the bill seeks to grant the rights to abort unwanted pregnancy to women under specified conditions. But we all know how highly contentious the issue of abortion is all over the world. In many countries, a candidate’s position on abortion can make the difference between victory and defeat.

When you throw abortion into a bill that seeks to protect the rights of women, you would always run the risk of having the baby thrown out with the bathwater. Ask Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State.

However, it is important to point out that, more often than not, when men oppose any law or policy that seeks to alter the power relation between men and women within the domestic sphere, they are merely affirming traditional customs and practices in relation to women; which were mostly constructed by men.

Therefore, unless these cultural practices are themselves altered, any attempt to curb them with the instrumentality of laws, would always be vehemently resisted.

This brings us to the issue of Islam and gender. Some Senators have argued that they were opposed to the Gender Bill because some of its provisions contradict the Shari’a. It is important to note that if any law contradicts the Shari’a, Muslims have the right to object to it, the same way Catholics would always be justified to oppose any law seeking to legalise abortion. After all, a law is an expression of the values held by a people.

However, we must be clear that there is nothing inherently incompatible between Islam and the rights of women. I recall that after the United Nations Beijing Conference on women in 1995, some Muslim countries were sternly opposed to and refused to ratify the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Gender rights activists in these countries sat down and analysed the Qur’an, which is the chief source of Islamic laws. What they found was simply startling. They found that the Qur’an, actually have granted women more rights than even the CEDAW; even though they also found some portions of the Holy Book that they were not happy with, but which, taken together, formed the basis for negotiation in the efforts to domesticate and therefore have the Convention ratified by their countries.

The point here is that there are so many provisions in the Qur’an that strongly affirm rather than deny the rights of women. I believe there are Muslim women NGOs who have done some work in this area. They need to come forward and work with Senator Olujimi in moving this Bill forward. For too long, men have hidden under the banner of religion to give expression to their syncretic traditions or practices in relation to women. This would only stop if they are challenged with the same very authority that they rely on.

Perhaps, another major drawback of this bill is that it attempts to solve all the problems confronting women with a single piece of legislation. This would not work.

Therefore, the bill needs to be streamlined towards achieving incremental change rather than a total revolution.

No matter what is done; men will remain on the driver’s seat for a long time to come.

But the purpose that a bill like this could serve, is to provide women with some kind of zebra crossing in both the public and the private arena. Even then, women would still need to look left, right and left again as they move forward because there would always be men who would continue to drive around wearing blinkers. . Abdullahi is the former Minister of Youth Development and Sports

38

MONDAY APRIL4, 2016 T H I S D AY

39

T H I S D AY • MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

Nigeria’s top 50 stocks based on market fundamentals

30-Mar-16 29-Mar-16

01 Lafarge Africa Plc.

% Change

Capitalisation

EPS

P/E

P/S

Div. Yld

Price/ Book Value

79.00

77.00

2.60%

359,837,242,990.00

5.93

13.33

1.35

3.80%

2.04

1.87

1.87

0.00%

19,635,000,000.00

0.16

11.81

1.18

2.67%

1.00

156.00

156.00

0.00%

56,252,860,872.00

13.51

11.54

0.88

3.85%

3.66

7.08

6.60

7.27%

18,758,023,716.24

0.79

8.91

1.16

7.77%

2.65

700.00

700.00

0.00%

554,859,376,400.00

29.95

23.38

3.67

4.14%

14.60

4.00

4.00

0.00%

6,496,875,000.00

0.34

11.79

0.76

5.00%

1.07

107.00

111.83

-4.32%

848,413,795,016.00

5.37

19.93

3.07

3.36%

4.98

3.99

3.98

0.25%

48,018,129,387.06

0.50

7.98

0.08

18.80%

0.30

09 Okomu Oil Palm Plc.

31.42

31.42

0.00%

29,971,852,200.00

2.25

13.99

3.38

3.18%

1.22

10 P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc.

22.71

23.90

-4.98%

90,169,533,691.95

1.10

20.70

1.25

5.72%

2.14

11 Presco Plc

34.60

34.60

0.00%

34,600,000,000.00

3.28

10.55

3.05

0.29%

1.54

0.50

0.50

0.00%

5,664,866,202.00

4.68

0.11

0.02

0.00%

1.89

310.00

300.00

3.33%

171,526,197,030.00

23.48

13.20

1.52

2.57%

0.61

0.92

0.92

0.00%

12,769,877,297.20

0.85

1.08

0.09

32.61%

0.09

15.00

15.00

0.00%

150,000,000,000.00

2.04

7.37

1.27

0.67%

1.34

1.55

1.63

-4.91%

44,625,148,095.30

0.36

4.34

0.40

5.81%

0.47

146.50

146.50

0.00%

49,739,949,120.50

12.41

11.80

0.21

6.14%

4.03

1.11

1.16

-4.31%

42,980,307,141.75

0.04

29.76

1.05

4.50%

0.49

20.00

20.48

-2.34%

38,417,287,740.00

3.62

5.52

0.48

8.75%

0.55

4.61

4.61

0.00%

7,923,437,476.95

1.81

2.55

0.71

15.18%

0.24

29.25

29.50

-0.85%

110,661,415,312.50

0.32

92.81

1.87

4.27%

13.83

22 United Bank for Africa Plc

3.23

3.96

-18.43%

117,182,870,020.06

1.64

1.96

0.37

18.58%

0.35

23 Unity Bank Plc

0.67

0.70

-4.29%

7,831,856,421.14

0.54

1.23

0.12

0.00%

0.09

24 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,124.00

0.10

5.16

0.94

6.00%

0.45

25 Wema Bank Plc.

0.79

0.76

3.95%

31,195,814,838.27

0.06

13.40

0.68

0.00%

0.69

02 Mansard Insurance Plc 03 Mobil Oil Nig Plc. 04 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc 05 Nestle Nigeria Plc. 06 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc 07 Nigerian Brew. Plc. 08 Oando Plc

12 Resort Savings & Loans Plc 13 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd. 14 Skye Bank Plc 15 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc 16 Sterling Bank Plc. 17 Total Nigeria Plc. 18 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc 19 U A C N Plc. 20 UACN Property Development Co. Limited 21 Unilever Nigeria Plc.

26 Zenith Bank Plc

10.96

11.31

-3.09%

344,105,571,894.56

3.37

3.26

0.80

16.42%

0.58

27 Mobil Oil Nig Plc.

159.95

159.95

0.00%

57,677,212,156.90

11.22

12.52

0.62

4.27%

3.42

7.35

7.02

4.70%

19,473,372,078.30

0.97

7.23

1.73

12.86%

3.31

715.00

715.00

0.00%

566,749,220,180.00

24.20

29.04

4.10

3.91%

11.94

4.10

4.00

2.50%

6,659,296,875.00

0.45

8.10

0.72

8.24%

0.97

98.00

98.20

-0.20%

777,051,887,024.00

5.37

17.72

2.73

4.73%

4.42

3.49

3.49

0.00%

42,000,819,940.06

0.50

7.80

0.08

19.23%

0.30

33 Okomu Oil Palm Plc.

30.00

30.00

0.00%

28,617,300,000.00

2.25

13.58

3.28

3.28%

1.18

34 P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc.

24.10

24.10

0.00%

95,688,496,784.50

1.10

19.09

1.15

6.21%

1.98

35 Presco Plc

34.25

34.25

0.00%

34,250,000,000.00

3.28

10.37

2.99

0.29%

1.52

0.50

0.50

0.00%

5,664,866,202.00

4.68

0.11

0.02

0.00%

1.89

350.00

349.52

0.14%

193,658,609,550.00

94.70

2.49

0.96

6.78%

0.63

0.98

1.00

-2.00%

13,602,695,381.80

0.90

1.22

0.11

27.27%

0.11

14.15

14.15

0.00%

141,500,000,000.00

2.65

5.29

1.18

0.71%

1.25

1.63

1.70

-4.12%

46,928,381,545.38

0.26

6.80

0.52

14.04%

0.07

137.75

137.75

0.00%

46,769,133,046.75

12.41

11.48

0.21

6.32%

3.92

1.13

1.13

0.00%

43,754,727,090.25

0.02

51.43

1.18

4.07%

0.51

20.10

20.10

0.00%

38,609,374,178.70

3.62

5.25

0.46

9.21%

0.52

5.10

5.10

0.00%

8,765,624,974.50

1.81

2.96

0.82

13.08%

0.28

27.50

27.50

0.00%

104,040,646,875.00

0.93

32.52

1.93

4.12%

15.86

46 United Bank for Africa Plc

3.11

3.18

-2.20%

112,829,326,861.42

1.44

1.94

0.37

17.86%

0.31

47 Unity Bank Plc

0.63

0.63

0.00%

7,364,282,903.46

0.54

1.22

0.12

0.00%

0.09

48 Wapic Insurance Plc

0.50

0.50

0.00%

6,691,369,124.00

0.03

17.47

1.78

0.00%

0.45

49 Wema Bank Plc.

0.87

0.88

-1.14%

34,354,884,695.31

0.00

24.86

0.63

0.00%

0.85

50 Zenith Bank Plc

12.17

11.94

1.93%

382,095,329,375.62

3.34

3.88

1.12

13.47%

0.71

28 National Salt Co. Nig. Plc 29 Nestle Nigeria Plc. 30 Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc 31 Nigerian Brew. Plc. 32 Oando Plc

36 Resort Savings & Loans Plc 37 Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd. 38 Skye Bank Plc 39 Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc 40 Sterling Bank Plc. 41 Total Nigeria Plc. 42 Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc 43 U A C N Plc. 44 UACN Property Development Co. Limited 45 Unilever Nigeria Plc.

TOTAL

8,023,551,903,821.00

TOTAL MARKET CAP

8,649,508,663,299.79

% OF MARKET CAP Annotation - MA* = Simple Moving Average

92.76%

Table 1 Market Statistics Mkt Indicators NSE All Share Index NSE Market Cap (N'Trillion) Thisday BGL 50 Index Thisday BGL 50 Market Cap (N'Trillion)

Open 29-Mar-16

Close 30-Mar-16

Change %

25,277.29 8.69

25,145.28 8.65

-0.52% -0.52%

103.60 8.07

103.05 8.02

-0.54% -0.54%

Table 3 Top 5 Gainers Stock

Open Close Change % 29-Mar-16 30-Mar-16

National Salt Co. Nig. Plc Flour Mills Nig. Plc. Wema Bank Plc. FCMB Group Plc. Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd.

6.60 18.54 0.76 0.80 300.00

7.08 19.40 0.79 0.83 310.00

7.27% 4.64% 3.95% 3.75% 3.33%

Table 4 Top 5 Losers Stock

Open Close Change % 29-Mar-16 30-Mar-16

United Bank for Africa Plc FBN Holdings Plc P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc. Sterling Bank Plc. Continental Reinsurance Plc

3.96 3.17 23.90 1.63 0.91

3.23 -18.43% 3.00 -5.36% 22.71 -4.98% 1.55 -4.91% 0.87 -4.40%

Market Index sheds 0.52% due to high sell pressure Market pulse on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today - Wednesday, March 30th, 2016, was negative as the market closed red due to profit taking opportunity provided by the 2015 full year earnings announcement by company’s coupled with dividend declaration to the delight of some investors. This was further highlighted by negative performance from the NSE Sub sectors; Banking, Insurance, and Consumer Goods (Save Oil & Gas). Trading activities increased in volume as 504.21 million shares worth N2.139 billion in 3,374 deals exchanged hands today. This is an increase from the 282.7 million shares worth N2.647 billion in 3,225 deals carried out on Tuesday. Topping in volume terms was Livestock Feeds Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and United Capital Plc, while Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc ended trading as the most active stocks in value terms.

The All Share Index (NSEASI) closed negative with a 0.52% (-132.01) decrease to 25,145.28 from 25,277.29 the previous trading day. Market Capitalization depreciated in tandem to N8.65 trillion from N8.69 trillion of prior trading day. The Thisday BGL 50 Index followed suit with 0.54% decrease to close at 103.05 from 103.60 the previous trading day, while its market capitalization stood at 8.02 trillion from N8.07 trillion of the previous trading day.

A total number of 15 stocks gained on the bourse today while 23 stocks declined, leaving 139 stocks unchanged. National Salt Co. Nig. Plc emerged the toast of investors as it topped the Thisday BGL 50 Index gainers’ list with a gain of 7.27% to close at N7.08 per share. It was followed Flour Mills Nig. Plc with a gain of 4.64% to close at N19.40 per share. Others on the gainers list include: Wema Bank Plc, FCMB Group Plc and Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. Ltd, while on the decliners’ list; United Bank for Africa Plc led with a loss of 18.43% to close at N3.23 per share. It was followed

by FBN Holdings Plc with a loss of 5.36% to close at N3.00 per share. Others on the losers list include; P Z Cussons Nigeria Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and Continental Reinsurance Plc.

REQUIRED DISCLOSURE This report has been prepared by BGL Plc. BGL Plc does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, the firm may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should use this report as one of many other factors in making their investment decisions.

For more details go to www.thisdaylive.com

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INTERNATIONAL

email:foreigndesk@thisdaylive.com

Parliament to Debate Zuma’s Impeachment Motion Tomorrow South Africa’s parliament will tomorrow debate a motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma, National Assembly Speaker, Baleka Mbete said, after a top court ruled the president had violated the constitution.

South Africa’s constitutional court ruled on Thursday that Zuma had failed to uphold the constitution by ignoring orders from the public protector that he repay some of the $16 million in state funds spent to renovate his private residence at Nkandla.

Since Thursday’s ruling, opposition party leaders, ordinary South Africans and even an anti-apartheid activist jailed alongside Nelson Mandela have called on Zuma to step down.

Mmusi Maimane, leader of the opposition party Democratic Alliance (DA), tabled the motion to have Zuma impeached, and Mbete told reporters yesterday that “the debate on that motion has been scheduled for tomorrow’s afternoon.”

The Africa National Congress majority in parliament will almost certainly give Zuma political cover against the at-

tempt to impeach him. But the judicial rebuke may embolden anti-Zuma factions within the ruling party to mount a challenge.

The unanimous ruling by the 11-judge constitutional court also criticised parliament for passing a resolution that purported to nullify Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings on the state spending on Zuma’s private residence.

DA Parliamentary Chief Whip, John Steenhuisen, said Mbete should also resign for her and parliament’s complicity in the Nkandla matter.

Mbete said she would not step down, but acknowledged the issue could have been handled differently in parliament. The scandal is arguably the biggest yet to hit Zuma, who has fended off accusations of corruption, influence peddling and rape since before he took office in 2009.

On Friday, the 73-year-old president gave a televised address to the nation in which he apologised and said he would pay back some of the money, as ordered. He said that he never

Trump Predicts ‘Very Massive Recession’ in US Republican presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump, predicted that the United States is on course for a “very massive recession,” warning that a combination of high unemployment and an overvalued stock market had set the stage for another economic slump.

“I think we’re sitting on an economic bubble. A financial bubble,” the billionaire businessman said in an interview with The Washington Post published on Saturday. Coming off a tough week on the campaign trail in which he made a series of missteps, Trump’s latest comments bring him back into the limelight ahead of Tuesday’s important primary in Wisconsin where he trails in the polls.

The former reality TV star said that the real U.S. jobless figure is much higher than five percent number released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “We’re not at 5 percent unemployment,” Trump said.

“We’re at a number that’s probably into the twenties if you look at the real number,” he said, adding that the official jobless figure is “statistically devised to make politicians — and in particular presidents — look good.”

Trump said “it’s a terrible time right now” to invest in the stock market, offering a more bleak view of the U.S. economy than that held by many mainstream economists.

The interview was bylined by the Post’s Robert Costa and famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward.

A real estate magnate, Trump has made appealing to bluecollar workers a hallmark of his bid for the Republican

nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, often blaming unemployment on the outsourcing of U.S. jobs and facilities to countries such as China and Mexico.

Trump vowed in the interview to wipe out the more than $19 trillion national debt “over a period of eight years,” helped by a renegotiation of trade deals.

“I’m renegotiating all of our deals, the big trade deals that we’re doing so badly on,”he said.

After making controversial statements about abortion last week, Trump has shown little sign of heeding calls from fellow Republicans to adopt a more presidential tone so as to avoid alienating voters in the November general election if he wins the nomination.

On Saturday, he questioned close U. S. ties to Saudi Arabia and again accused U.S. allies of not pulling their weight in the NATO military alliance. Trump told a campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin that partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “are not paying their fair share” and called the 28-nation alliance “obsolete.”

“Either they pay up, including for past deficiencies, or they have to get out. And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO,” Trump said. Tuesday’s Wisconsin nominating contest could be a turning point in the Republican race. Trump, 69, trails his leading rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, 45, of Texas in the state.

A Cruz win would make it harder for Trump to reach the number of 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination before the Republican national convention in July.

The winner will get to claim all of Wisconsin’s 42 delegates.

knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution.

The president travelled to his home province of KwazuluNatal yesterday to launch a

relief programme as part of government efforts to support areas affected by South Africa’s worst drought in more than a century.

He told a cheering crowd that he was still South Africa’s leader and joked about how youthful he was, but made no specific mention of the

Nkandla matter, the pending impeachment motion or calls for him to step down as he addressed the gathering in Zulu, his native language.

BRAVE ACTION

Cambodian police officers holding a python before handing it to members of the NGO WildAid, after it was recovered from smugglers, in Kandal province, outside Phnom Penh, CambodiaÖ yesterday

Burundi Accepts UN Police Deployment Burundi has accepted the United Nations security council’s resolution to send in police, the foreign affairs minister told Reuters on Saturday, after months of political tension. The 15-member council unanimously adopted on Friday a French-drafted resolution asking U.N. SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon to offer options for a police deployment to Burundi, where violence threatens to spiral into ethnic conflict.

President Pierre Nkurunziza said last April he would seek a third term, which his opponents said was

illegal. Since then, at least 439 people have been killed and more than 250,000 have fled.

“This U.N. resolution is fine for us since it takes into account everything we have been saying,” Alain Nyamitwe, Burundi’s foreign minister, told Reuters. “We have always been open to experts but never to sending of peacekeeping troops in Burundi,” he said, adding “a few” U.N. police could help stabilise the country.

But Leonce Ngendakumana, chairman of the opposition FRODEBU party, criticised the resolution

for failing to call for the deployment of peacekeepers.

“That U.N. resolution brings nothings to us,” he told Reuters.“We don’t want U.N. police but U.N. peacekeepers who would prevent Burundi from sliding into another civil war.”

The opposition wants the peacekeepers to be deployed to disarm the different armed groups including the militia allied to the ruling CNDD FDD party, known as “Imbonerakure”, Ngendakumana said.

“We need forces capable of restoring our army,” he said, citing last month’s

assassination of a senior army officer and rising cases of desertion by troops.

Tom Malinowski, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, accused the government of going back on its commitment to resolve the crisis through dialogue.

“Denouncing everybody from the Catholic church, to the media... to foreign countries as enemies of the people of Burundi is not going to get us to a successful dialogue,” Malinowski told a news conference in Bujumbura.

Syrian Forces Seize Islamic State-held Al-Qarytain Syrian and allied forces, backed by Russian air strikes, drove Islamic State militants out of the town of al-Qaryatain yesterday, Syria’s military command said, after gradually encircling it over the past few days.

Surrounded by hills, al-Qaryatain is 100 km (60 miles) west of the ancient city of Palmyra, which government forces recaptured from Islamic State last Sunday.

Al-Qaryatain had been held by the militant group since late August. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been trying to retake al-Qaryatain and other pockets of Islamic State

control to reduce the jihadist group’s ability to project military power into the heavily populated western region of Syria, where Damascus and other main cities are located.

Syrian state television said the army and its allies “fully restored security and stability to al-Qaryatain after killing the last remaining groups of Daesh terrorists” in the town, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

In a statement read out on Syrian television, the military command said this was a strategic victory which secures oil and gas routes between

the Damascus area and oilfields in eastern Syria.

It also disrupts Islamic State supply routes within Syria.

Government forces entered the town from a number of directions, Syrian media said. A Syrian military source told SANA state news agency the army had cleared areas northwest of the town of explosives planted by Islamic State.

Islamic State militants retreating from Palmyra laid thousands of mines which the Syrian army is now clearing before civilians can return.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

government forces had taken over half the town and that fierce fighting continued between Assad’s troops and Islamic State to the north and southeast of al-Qaryatain.

The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the five-year-old Syrian conflict through a network of sources on the ground, said more than 40 air strikes by Russian and Syrian planes hit areas near the town on Sunday. Islamic State still has complete control over the city of Raqqa, its de facto capital, and it controls most of Deir al-Zor province in eastern Syria, which borders Iraq.

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INTERNATIONAL

UN Audit Identifies Lapses Linked to Bribery The United Nations’ internal investigation office has uncovered serious lapses and due diligence failures in the world body’s interaction with organizations tied to an alleged bribery scheme involving a former U.N. General Assembly president.

The 21-page confidential report by the U.N. Office of

Internal Oversight Services’ (OIOS), reviewed by Reuters, outlines the results of an audit ordered by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in response to charges against John Ashe, General Assembly president in 2013-2014, and six other people.

The report gave the U.N. an overall grade of “partially

US Kills ISIS Militant who Murdered Marine in Iraq The anti-Islamic State coalition conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria has killed the IS militant believed to have been responsible for an attack on U.S. troops in northern Iraq last month that left a Marine dead, it said yesterday.

Militant Jasim Khadijah, a former Iraqi officer not considered a highvalue target, was killed by a drone strike overnight in northern Iraq, coalition spokesman U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren told reporters in Baghdad.

“We have information (that) he was a rocket expert, he controlled these attacks,”said Warren, referring to the shelling of a base used by U.S. troops near the town of Makhmour, located between Mosul and Kirkuk.

That attack killed Marine Staff Sergeant Louis Cardin and wounded eight others, all part of a company-sized detachment of less than 200 troops. They provide force protection fire to Iraqi army troops, who are making slow progress in a campaign to clear areas around Mosul, an IS stronghold.

Cardin’s was the second combat death of an American service

Fire Rips through Russian Defence Ministry in Moscow A fire ripped through a Russian Defence Ministry building in central Moscow yesterday, sending plumes of smoke over the Russian capital as fire fighters battled to extinguish the blaze.

Around 50 people were reported to have been evacuated from the administrative building, which dates from the end of the eighteenth century. Nobody was reported to have been hurt.

Photographs from the scene showed fire fighters scaling ladders to access the building’s upper floors with fire engines pumping water through hoses placed on the ground floor. Traffic through central Moscow was diverted.

Major-General Igor Konashenkov, on the scene, told the Interfax news agency that the flames had been put out, but that work was continuing to extinguish parts of the building that were still generating smoke and smouldering.

A source told Interfax the fire may have started as a result of a short circuit involving old electrical wiring. The Emergency Situations Ministry said the fire had covered an area of at least 50 square metres.

The Defence Ministry told Interfax the fire would not hamper its operations.

member in Iraq since the start of the campaign to fight the militant group in 2014. Warren said five other Islamic State fighters were killed in the air strike.

satisfactory” in the March 22 report, which is available to U.N. member states on request. It noted “important deficiencies” in the way United Nations and its staff interacted with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and oversees U.N. employees.

It is the biggest financial corruption crisis to rock the United Nations since the Oilfor-Food scandal hit the world body during the tenure of Ban’s predecessor Kofi Annan. U.N. officials and diplomats say latest scandal highlights the need for greater transparency at the United Nations.

OIOS recommended improvements in internal

U.N. risk management and controls in light of the irregularities uncovered - a U.N. document improperly altered, travel expenses paid by NGOs against U.N. guidelines, U.N. employees keeping iPads given to them by an NGO headed by an indicted individual.

OIOS urged Ban to ensure that any outside organizations the U.N. deals with are properly vetted. It also said that the U.N. should review any continuing relations with NGOs linked to the indictment.

The audit came in response to an ongoing U.S. investigation that has since October resulted in charges against seven people including Ashe, a former U.N.

ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda.

U.S. prosecutors say Ashe received $1.3 million in bribes from Chinese businessmen including Ng Lap Seng, a billionaire real estate developer who heads Macau-based Sun Kian Ip Group and was seeking to build a U.N.-sponsored conference center in Macau.

Francis Lorenzo, a suspended deputy U.N. ambassador from the Dominican Republic who prosecutors said helped facilitate Ng’s bribes and received bribes himself, pleaded guilty in March and agreed to cooperate with U.S. authorities.Sheri Yan, chief executive of Global Sustainability Foundation, a New York-based

NGO, and Heidi Hong Piao, its finance director, accused of facilitating bribes to Ashe, pleaded guilty in January. Julia Vivi Wang has not yet entered a plea, and Ng’s assistant Jeff Yin pleaded not guilty.

Attorneys for those charged either did not respond or declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office also declined to comment.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that while the Secretary-General was glad that the audit found many controls working properly, the flagged procedural lapses were a concern.

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MONDAY, APRIL4, 2016 • T H I S D AY

INTERNATIONAL

German Minister Says Migrant Crisis May Have Peaked On the eve of the first expulsions of refugees from Greece to Turkey under a deal to slow the influx of migrants to Western Europe, Germany’s interior minister expressed cautious optimism that the crisis had peaked.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is under pressure to slow the number of arrivals of migrants after 1.1 million people entered Germany last year, fuelling fears about integration and related costs.

“It is with great caution that I say the high point of the migrant crisis is behind us,” Thomas de Maiziere told Germany’s Tagesspeigel yesterday.

He said the number of migrants arriving in Germany from Austria - the main entry point for refugees, many fleeing war and deprivation in Syria - had fallen to about 140 a day in March, compared to thousands just a few months

ago.

However, this is largely due to tighter border controls imposed by countries along the Balkan route, including Austria. Merkel is banking on the success of the EU-Turkey deal which gives Ankara political and financial benefits in return for taking back refugees and migrants who had crossed to Greece.

Many politicians believe,

Niger’s ministers have formally resigned to make way for a new cabinet after the re-election of President Mahamadou Issoufou, according to a statement from the government’s secretary-general read on public radio on Saturday.

Issoufou was re-elected to a second five-year term in March polls boycotted by the opposition and was sworn into office on Saturday, vowing in a speech to continue the West African nation’s fight against terrorism.

The former French colony has deployed troops against the Nigeria-based extremist

group Boko Haram and has also contributed to a regional offensive against the militants. The president named Brigi Raffini, his current prime minister, to serve again in office. The prime minister submitted the cabinet’s resignation to Issoufou after his inauguration ceremony.

“The resignation was accepted,” the statement read. “While waiting for the nomination of ministers, the secretaries-general of the ministers are responsible for current affairs.” The prime minister is responsible for nominating a cabinet, which the president must approve.

outside parliament in Warsaw yesterday after the powerful leader of Poland’s ruling party backed a call by Polish Catholic bishops for a full ban on pregnancy terminations.

Poland already has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the European Union.

Official statistics show only several hundred abortions are performed every year, but pro-choice campaigners say underground abortions are very common.

The debate around reproductive rights has been building up for months.

The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which came to power in October,

however, that numbers will rise again once new routes open up, for example when migrants start crossing from Libya to Italy.

“If people come via this route again, we will need to find similar solutions like we did with Turkey and also start talks with North African countries,” de Maiziere said.

He said reception centers in northern Africa for migrants who have been returned to

Italy might be a possibility in exchange for humanitarian programs. Under the EUTurkey deal, for every Syrian refugee returned to Turkey, another will be resettled from Turkey in the EU. About 40 migrants are expected to arrive in Germany on Monday, an interior ministry spokesman said. German media reported they will land at

Hanover airport, in northern Germany.

Merkel’s own popularity has bounced back in the last month or so but her conservative bloc is still suffering. An Emnid poll on Sunday put her conservatives down 1 percentage point at a four-year low of 33 percent. It also put the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) up 1 point at 13 percent.

Attend Rally in Warsaw against Proposed Niger Ministers Resign after Thousands Abortion Ban Presidential Inauguration Kaczynski told pregnancy Thousands attended a rally plans to tighten regulations terminating to bring them into line with the Catholic Church’s teachings, infuriating liberals and women’s rights activists.

Chanting “keep your hands off the uterus” and “my body, my business,” the protesters waved wire coat hangers, a crude pregnancy termination tool widely seen as a grim symbol of the abortion underground.

“Even Iran’s abortion laws are more liberal than this proposal, that’s why we must protest,” said Marta Nowak, one the protesters at the rally, which was organized via social media by the left-wing Together party.

Poland currently allows

only at an early stage and when it threatens the life or health of the mother, when the baby is likely to be permanently handicapped or when pregnancy originates from a crime, for example rape or incest.

In a letter read out in churches across the country on Sunday, but made public earlier this week, Polish bishops called for legislative action to tighten the 1993 regulation. “.. Catholics’ position on this is clear, and unchangeable: one needs to protect every person’s life from conception to natural death,” they said. “We ask the lawmakers and the government to initiate the legislation.”

reporters earlier this week that as a Catholic, he had to follow the bishops’ call. While he would not force his party to vote for a ban in parliament, he was “convinced that a vast majority of the caucus, or perhaps all of it, will back the proposal.”

PiS plans to end state funding for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and reinstate a prescription requirement for “morning after” emergency contraceptive pills.

The party has a majority in parliament, and Kaczynski’s influence means that the party’s lawmakers tend to follow his cue. Prime Minister Beata Szydlo also expressed support for a ban.

T H I S D AY MONDAY APRIL 4, 2016

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NEWSEXTRA

Wike to Head PDP Convention Committee Four committees for inauguration this week

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Ahead of its national convention scheduled for May 21 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has chosen the host governor, Nyesom Wike, to lead the convention committee that will organise the event.

THISDAY also gathered that the leadership of the party has already compiled the list of members of the four committees as approved by the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in preparation for the convention and will be unveiling them this week.

The committees are national convention committee, reconciliation

committee, zoning committee and finance committee.

It was learnt that the party has already began to contact all those that are to serve in the various committees by sending out their invitations for the formal inauguration some time within the week.

A highly reliable source at the national secretariat of the PDP told THISDAY at the weekend that the committee members had been carefully selected to ensure that they give their best in their assignment.

“I can confidently confirm to you that within the next 48 hours the list of members of the committees

Ikeja Disco Discontinues Talks with Labour Sunday Okobi

exercise in futility.”

Ikeja Electric has discontinued talks with Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over the recent disengagement of its workers.

The electricity distribution company stated that the negotiation was tending towards a proposition that might jeopardise transparency, employee performance and service excellence to customers.

Last month, labour picketed the Ikeja Disco for three days over the disengagement of workers who allegedly failed to meet the company’s performance objectives and were deemed to be performing below standard.

However, the picketing was suspended after Ikeja Electric reached an agreement with the National Union of Electricity Workers (NUEE) and NLC to set up a committee to review the performance appraisal and competency assessment process.

Citing the reason for its action, Ikeja Electric’s Head of Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue, yesterday in Lagos explained that the company had to discontinue the talk due to a clear determination by representatives of labour “to stick to a pre-conceived and irreversible position that the process was flawed. Therefore, the review process was an

Rather than engage in an objective and constructive review of the whole appraisal process in line with global best practices, according to Ofulue, Labour, he stated: “Preferred an arbitrary review in which reduced criteria would be applied to certain selected employees who are members of the union.”

According to the Disco Head of Corporate Communications, “The performance review process was classified into four stages, clearly detailing steps to be taken at each stage. However, labour, without taking any of these steps into consideration and any justifiable rationale, insisted the process was flawed and demanded that Ikeja Electric must recall all disengaged staff.

“While we remain committed to upholding best human capital processes and stakeholder engagement in fostering excellence in the workplace, there are indications that the propositions of certain actors in the negotiation process are against our resolve to provide improved services to our customers and are fixated on jeopardising our overall interest to move the industry forward so we had no choice but to withdraw in the interest of our consumers.”

The Quramo Conference Series Returns to Lagos The Quramo Conference series is set to hold another edition of the Quramo Conference on April 8, 2016.

This year’s conference is tagged: ‘People Power: Human Capacity for Industrial Africa,’ and will hold at the Lagos Court of Arbitration, Lekki Lagos at 8a.m.

The conference will focus on investment in human capital for strengthening trade, addressing unemployment and supporting economic growth across the African region.

This year’s conference will interrogate issues relating to the human capacity requirements for today’s African economies.

There will be discussions on the skills required to build economies and whether these will be creative or applied skills. Mr. Mark Eddo of Mark Edo Media (formerly of ITN news) will be in conversation with

leading industrialist, Mr. Haresh Aswani, Managing Director of Tolaram Group, Nigeria.

There will also be presentations by policymakers including Mr. Akin Oyebode, Executive Secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund. Other speakers include: Ambassador Ingo Herbert, creative entrepreneurs, Ms. Caterina Bortolussi of Kinabuti Limited and Ms. Rolake Akinkugbe, Head Energy and Natural Resources, FBN Quest.

The Quramo Conference series has become a uniquely African platform for global thinkers to exchange and share influential ideas - building knowledge and stimulating new development.

The conference series is a policy forum which draws multidisciplinary experts from both public and private sectors convene to discuss global development challenges.

will be out. The committees have been formed and details of it will be made known this week. What has happened was that the chairman has been making wide consultations across the country.

“All organs of the party and nearly all important stakeholders of the party were being consulted so that we will have an all encompassing and acceptable committees,” he said.

The source said the National Chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has been criss-crossing various zones of the country in an effort to interface with critical stakeholders of the party so as ensure that they emerge a formidable force after the national convention.

The 69th NEC meeting of the PDP had approved a time-table for the party’s congresses to commence on Saturday, April 23 and to culminate in the National Convention on Saturday, May 21.

The communique signed by the National Chairman, and National Secretary, Prof. Adewale Oladipo, also said NEC has approved the setting up of four special committees to prepare for the national convention.

The NEC meeting also approved guidelines for congresses and the national convention, including the venue of the convention in Port

Harcourt, Rivers State.

Many individuals and groups in the PDP had kicked against the continued delay in forming the committees to prepare for the May convention, including the Board of Trustees (BoT) and an influential pressure group, PDP Rescue Group.

Both groups have insisted that the current leadership of the party must step down in May to allow new national officers to emerge during the national convention.

The PDP Rescue Group made up of some ex-governors, ministers and legislators said since the Ekweremadu Committee’s recommendation zoning the 2019 presidential ticket to the North, it is suggestive that the chairmanship of the party moves to the south in line with the zoning rotation tradition of the Party.

In their position contained in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman, Ambassador Wilberforce Juta and Secretary, Mr. Muktar Shagari, last Friday, the group urged Sheriff to immediately set up the approved four committees ahead of the party’s congresses and national convention.

It stated that the advice became necessary following the failure of Sheriff to constitute the committees as approved by the organs of the

PDP barely few weeks to the date of the party’s congresses.

On its part, the BoT warned of the ugly consequences of any attempt by Sheriff to manipulate things and possibly seek to reverse the recommendations of the Senator Ike Ekwerenmadu Post Election Panel to zone presidency to the North.

The acting Chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin, while expressing their concern, said recent courtesy calls and presentations to the national chairman by some praise singers urging him to continue beyond the stipulated three months tenure is an invitation to trouble, anarchy and the return of impunity in PDP. “I want to offer some advice to PDP National chairman on the consequences of the evil machinations of praise singers and prophets of doom on the unanimous approval of the PDP Governors’ Forum, national causes, BoT and the NEC terminating his tenure and that of the NWC on May 21, 2016,” he said.

Meanwhile, in line with the decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party, Sheriff has constituted the four special committees in preparation for the party’s national convention and the overall rebuilding and repositioning of the party.

The committees, which are to be inaugurated on Tuesday April 5, are the National Convention Committee, Reconciliation Committee, Zoning Committee and the Finance Committee.

In a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said that the national convention committee will be headed by Wike as Chairman, while the Taraba State Governor, Dairus Ishiaku, is to serve as Deputy Chairman and the Governor of Ebonyi State, Governor Dave Umahi as Secretary.

Similarly, the Reconciliation Committee has Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson as Chairman and Senator Ibrahim Mantu as Deputy Chairman while the Finance Committee has Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo as Chairman and Senator Godswill Akpabio as Deputy Chairman.

In the same vein, the Zoning Committee has Akwa-Ibom State Governor Emmanuel Udom as Chairman and Kelechi Igwe as Secretary.

The committees will be inaugurated by the National Chairman of the party, Sheriff in a ceremony on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at the national secretariat of the party at 2p.m. prompt.

FRIENDSHIP ACROSS BORDERS

L-R: Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; Former Governor, Senator Aliyu Wamakko; and Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, after the inauguration of President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic in Niamey....weekend

PDP Zones Presidency to the North in 2019, Says BoT Member Laleye Dipo in Minna The Peoples Democratic Party PDP may have zoned the presidential ticket of the party in the 2019 general election to the northern part of the country.

The decision of the party to zone the presidency to the North was ostensibly to short-circuit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) whose candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, is the incumbent president.

However, the PDP has continued to keep sealed lips on the zone that would produce the vice-presidential candidate but a source at a secret meeting held in Lapai town, the country home of the former Niger

State Governor, Abudulkhadir Kure, told THISDAY that the eastern part of the country would be given the ticket in view of the loyalty and support of the zone for the PDP in the series of elections so far held in the country.

“We are going to give the vicepresidential ticket to the East, the east has been very loyal to the PDP. It is going to be a payback time and assurance that they will get the presidential ticket in 2024,” the source said.

A member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Ambassador Wali Jibril, who spoke with journalists before the wedding fatiha of Kure’s daughter, confirmed that the presidency has been zoned to

the North for the 2019 presidential election.

Jibril who was the only top PDP bigwig that agreed to speak to the press after the secret meeting hinted that a search for a’ credible candidate had begun in earnest.’

“We have zoned the presidency to the north but the vice-president and other positions have not been zoned because we are still consulting.”

Wali further added that the party was on a reconciliation drive to ensure that all aggrieved members including those that had left the PDP came back to help the party to win the 2019 presidency.

For several hours before the consummation of the wedding

by the Chief Imam of Lapai Sheikh Bashir at the Lapai central mosque prominent members of the PDP among them former Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau Senator Smart Adeyemi Senator Philip Ajuda Senator Isah Mohammed had met in the private home of Kure.

When they emerged from the meeting and were all heading to the central mosque venue of the wedding ceremony, they all declined to speak to the press.

Some PDP youths who sighted the former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, among the dignitaries shouted his praises and urged him to return to the PDP.

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AGF Issues Turkish Airlines 21-day Ultimatum to Heed CPC’s Order James Emejo in Abuja The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, has directed the Turkish Airlines to respond to the request of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) for a full situation report on the allegations of shoddy treatment of passengers within 21 days.

The directive bordered on what transpired on December 20, 2015 with Flight TK 623 and other subsequent flights during the yuletide.

The AGF warned that the airline risked prosecution should it fail to comply by the given date.

Malami’s directive came on the heels of the CPC’s request to his office for the prosecution of the airline and its principal officers for its refusal to honour the order of the council, which demanded for a full situation report on its alleged ill-treatment of passengers of the said flights that arrived Abuja from

Istanbul without their baggage during the yuletide.

The Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mohammed Saidu Diri, conveyed the AGF’s directive in a letter signed on behalf of the attorney general as a response to the request of the Director General of CPC, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, to prosecute the international airline and its principal officers for the violation of the council’s enabling Act. The attorney general, who admitted that the demand of a full report on the alleged ill-treatment of the passengers of the said flights and the subsequent request for the airline’s prosecution for the violation of the council’s Act were backed by law, disclosed that the Turkish Airlines has been appropriately communicated on the government’s position.

Malami said his office “has written to Turkish Airlines instructing it to comply with your

request within 21 days or face prosecution, to serve as deterrence.”

However, Atoki described the development as a reflection of the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to ensuring that operators in all sectors play by the rules and respect the country’s laws and regulations.

She noted that the AGF’s stance was a re-awakening signal to the obligation of multinationals operating in the country to exhibit international best practices, noting that the development is a good omen for the promotion of a virile consumer protection regime in the country.

Passengers of the affected flights, some of whom were said to have travelled with minors, including those whose destinations were outside Abuja, were allegedly subjected to untold hardships, as they were forced to repeatedly check the airport in Abuja over the fate of their baggage, a development

which made them incur extra and unbudgeted expenditure, including hotel accommodation without any form of support by the airline.

Following the report of the incident, CPC in a letter to the airline, dated December 29, 2015, signed by its director general, requested the airline to provide it with a full situation report of the said events, including Turkish Airline’s policy on delayed baggage, particularly as regards the compensation of affected passengers, the number of affected passengers, the number of those yet to receive their baggage and when same was expected to arrive, including steps, if any, that had been taken to provide appropriate redress to the affected passengers.

The council further requested the airline to provide it with the full situation report of the said events on or before January 8, 2015, noting that the airline allegedly “failed to provide passengers with prompt and proper information about their

baggage which led to the confusion and disenchantment.”

But according to a statement

by CPC spokesman, Abiodun Obimuyiwa, the airline in a belated response to CPC failed to give any useful information on the issues raised by the council, stating instead that it had attended several meetings with different agencies of government in connection with the matter.

The airline also claimed that it had resolved the situation completely, contrary to complaints received by the council, indicating that another batch of baggage failed to arrive with the passengers on January 9, 2016, even as the council continued to receive complaints that affected passengers were not being compensated.

Disturbed by the seeming nonchalant approach of Turkish Airlines to the said complaints, the council again in a letter dated 21 January, 2016, signed by its Director, Legal Services, Mr. Emmanuel

Ataguba, gave Turkish Airlines seven days to comply with the council’s directive or face the full wrath of the law.

CPC, in the January 21 letter, had drawn the attention of the airline to Section 18 of the CPC Act, which criminalises disobedience to summons, neglect or refusal to attend and testify before the council or to answer any lawful enquiry or to produce any document as may be required.

It also informed the airline that “in the event that you continue to fail, neglect or refuse to comply with the council’s requirements within seven days of the receipt of this letter, the council will invoke its powers under the enabling Act.” Consequent upon the consistent refusal of the airline to respond to its lawful requests, the council thereafter approached the office of the attorney general of the federation for the prosecution of the airline and its principal officers in line with its enabling Act.

Drop in Revenue Hampers Airline Growth Worldwide ICAO president inspects facilities at Abuja airport Chinedu Eze Inadequate funding by states and their agencies, intense competition, deregulation, liberalisation and agitation for privatisation have impacted on the revenues generated by airlines worldwide and slowed the growth of the air transport sector.

The Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Muhtar Usman, made this known in Abuja at the weekend and said the policies adopted by different countries about two and a half decades ago to withdraw investment in airlines and airport facilities led to record of losses and low profits by airlines.

Delivering a paper titled: ‘Acts of Promoting and Sustaining Air Transport Economy while maintaining high level of Aviation Safety Standards,’ at the Airport Business Summit and Expo in Abuja, Usman said human and cargo traffic at many airports have also dwindled with declining purchasing power of passengers and shippers.

According to him, “On the other hand, the cost of providing standard air transport services has continued to rise with the continuous innovations in the facilities and increasing demand for customer satisfaction, as a result, most airlines presently are faced with high and rising cost of operation.”

The NCAA boss noted that in Nigeria, for instance, aviation fuel constitutes 40-50 per cent of the airlines’ direct operating costs, adding that high cost of funds and the steady devaluation of the local currency in which the airlines’ income is mostly denominated, against the foreign currencies on which their major expenses are based, and many others, no doubt, aggravate the challenge.

Within the period in reference, he said a lot of small and average airlines around the world have either collapsed or gone bankrupt,

while most, if not all the world’s major airlines have recorded losses or sharp falls in profit.

He remarked however that one of the few areas in which significant performances have been recorded is the operation of low-cost airlines, which have benefitted from a shift to cheaper travel because they use smaller and more fuel-efficient aircraft and extend their networks to small and remote aerodromes, thus taking their operations to the grassroots and aiding the distribution of goods and services to, as well as the development of the hinterlands.

Usman disclosed that the big challenge at the moment for Nigeria and many other countries was creating a friendlier and more enabling environment for airlines and indeed other economic activities to flourish and hence ensure a sustainable air transport industry.

He listed the country’s challenge to include the continuing attempt, mainly by the political leadership, to “domesticate” the global minimal standards and recommended practices that sustain aviation worldwide in a way to align with Nigeria’s local politics and local economic minima.

Meanwhile, the President of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Dr. Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu has inspected the new airport terminal being built at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

During the inspection, the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Suleh Dunoma, explained to him that the new international terminals being constructed simultaneously in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu would increase capacity and improve passenger facilitation.

Dunoma said: “In the past 12 years, passenger traffic at the airports increased from 4.4 milion to 15 million per annum and FAAN is expanding its capacity to accommodate envisaged growth.

PARTNERSHIP

L-R: Head, Large Corporates, Skye Bank Plc, Abuja, Mr. Mike Ozigi; Area Manager, North Central, Mr. Ishaka Abdulsalam; Executive Director, Abuja and Northern Directorate, Mr. Idris Yakubu; and Nasarawa State Governor, Alhaji Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, during the presentation of the report of the biometric and verification exercise undertaken by the bank for the state government in Lafia...Friday

BPPVows Stricter Evaluation of Contracts Awards to Cut Waste in Public Procurement James Emejo in Abuja The acting Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Mr. Ahmed Abdu, has vowed to employ stricter evaluation measures in its prior review responsibility to reduce wastage in the public contacting system.

The bureau had through proper scrutinisation of contracts recovered the sum of N680 billion to federal coffers within five years.

Speaking in Abuja at the close of the second National Conference on Public Procurement (NACOP), he said further savings in the contract award process will mean a greater focus on corruption preventive measures, as against emphasise on corrective measures.

He said the N680 billion saved between 2009 and 2014 for the nation through its prior review of procurements made by ministries, departments and

agencies of government was enabled by the sanitisation of the public procurement system through the registration, categorisation and classification of federal contractors, consultants and service providers on its national database.

He stressed that the efforts were to ensure that only bidders of similar rankings tender for the same projects and that bidders do not tender for contracts that are beyond their technical and financial capacities.

He further noted that as a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the country’s fight against corruption was expected to shift from corrective to preventive measures.

“This will involve ensuring strict compliance with extant regulations and guidelines on public procurement,” he added.

He clarified that the public procurement legal framework, which was exemplified by the

Public Procurement Act 2007, is patterned after the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) model law on public procurement.

According to him: “All of these are aimed at aligning Nigeria’s procurement system with global best practices.”

He said: “NACOPP is a veritable forum to achieve synergy with state governments on procurement issues. This is because, despite the different levels of government in the federation, there is only one Nigerian economy.”

Earlier, moderator of the programme, Dr. Abiodun Adeniyi, emphasised that the conference was particularly motivated by the understanding among Federal and State Procuring entities on how best to implement the public procurement reform.

Adeniyi, a communications consultant, said that NACOP was a recent creation to drum up the fact that Nigeria has one economy, with transparency, accountability

and quality as key goals of an ideal procurement system.

He said it made sense to have all “critical state holders at all levels to be on the proverbial same page in the reform implementation process.”

The forum serves as a consultative and advisory body to all the tiers of government in the federation and promotes a sustainable relationship and synergy between heads of procurement regulatory bodies at the federal and state levels.

The theme for this year’s event is: ‘Sustaining the anti-corruption campaign through Best Procurement Practices’ and aims to introduce state government representatives to the objectives and benefits of public procurement reform; provide a national platform for policy makers to interact and share experiences on public procurement procedures and processes and; and identify and agree on further strategies for improving on the implementation of the public procurement reform.

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Laboratory Council Leadership Tussle Pitches Health Minister against SGF Union opposes return of Emeribe

Paul Obi in Abuja The current crisis rocking the leadership of Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) appears to have pitted the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal.

The leadership tussle which has lasted for nearly three months, started when the minister directed the MLSCN through a letter signed by the Director of Hospital Services, Dr. Patience Osinubi, and dated February 19, 2016, calling for the declaration of the Office of the Chief Registrar of the council to be declared vacant.

The letter was issued notwithstanding the fact that the then Chief Registrar, Prof. Anthony Emeribe’s tenure was still on.

Also, the minister was alleged to have abused the provision of the MLSCN Act, stipulating that, appointment of the Chief Registrar shall be carried by the board This was followed with a restraining order from the National Industrial Court, insisting that the status quo should be maintained and followed pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Again, Adewole was said to have ignored another directive from the SGF office to him with Ref: NO.56331 demanding that the ministry “wait for the legal process to be concluded” before taking any step to oust Emeribe.

Further more, the appointment of the acting Chief Registrar in the person of Mrs. Olufunke Omotuyi

may be another area; the minister’s directive might have created a gulf between his the ministry and office of the SGF. A senior council official who spoke to THISDAY the on the condition of anonymity explained that Omotuyi is not the second ranking person in MLSCN. According to the source, Dr Mrs Lawrena Okoro was the Deputy Registrar 1, while Mrs Omotuyi was Deputy Registrar 2.

The source accused the minister of interference, absorbing the responsibilities of the council’s board and flagrantly abusing court orders, stating that “without ever inviting the registrar, without consultation and fair hearing, the minister went on to send a letter directing that the post of the registrar should be declared vacant.”

The source informed THISDAY that Adewole acting upon some fictitious but concocted order by directors in ministry “stepped into a zone that the law did not give him, arbitrary, calling for the sack of a sitting council registrar where there was no due process.”

THISDAY checks revealed that the decision by the minister to terminate the appointment of Emeribe did not fall under the purview of the recent sack of chief executives of agencies by President Muhammadu Buhari, as neither the MLSCN nor Emeribe was included in the sack that saw the termination of about 26 chief executives of government parastatals.

THISDAY gathered that plans are underway to petition the minister

Navy Seizes Two Boats Laden with N20.4m Stolen Diesel Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt The Nigerian Navy in Rivers State has said it has seized two wooden boats used in conveying about 100,000 litres of suspected illegally refined diesel worth N20.4 million in the state.

The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder’s Base Operations Officer, Commodore. Ugochukwu Ajulu, told journalists in Port Harcourt that three suspects were arrested on board one of the wooden boats while crew members of the second boat fled on sighting the naval patrol. .

Ajulu said the boats were both seized at Akuku-Toru Local Government Area during troops routine patrol of waterways and creeks in the state.

He said: “In-line with strategic directives from naval authorities, on March 31, our troops on routine patrol impounded two wooden boats carrying suspected illegally refined diesel in quantity of about 100,000 litres.

“The first wooden boat transporting about 60 drums fully loaded with suspected stolen diesel was impounded along Bakana waterways with three suspects onboard. “The second boat which had over 100 drums laden with illegally refined diesel was seized while it anchored at Aiteo jetty near Abonema.

“About 5,000 litres of diesel was also stored in a compartment on

the boat.”

The Commander said preliminary investigation was on-going to unravel the source and supply chain of the products.

He said the suspects would be handed over to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for further investigation and possible arraignment in court.

Ajulu called on members of the public to provide the navy with timely information that would lead to arrest of oil thieves, adding that identity of such individuals would be protected.

One of the suspects, Timothy Williamson, 33, admitted the crime before journa and pleaded for leniency from authorities.

Williamson, a Rivers indigene, said he was recruited into oil bunkering in January by a woman simply identified as “Mama” who distributed the product to some companies in the state.

“We work for our madam (mama) who we usually cook the product at our operating base in Snake creek in the state.

“We supply the product to our madam in the city who in turn supplies the product to Peace Oil located at Elechi Beach area of Port Harcourt.

“Please forgive me as I only indulged myself in this business (oil theft) because I had no job and money to feed myself and cater for my family,” Williamson pleaded.

again before the SGF, including ensuring that the SGF act on the alleged arbitrariness carried out

by Adewole.

Also, all efforts to speak to the minister were not fruitful as he was not available for comments.

Director of Press in the ministry, Mrs Boade Akinola, rather assured them that the minister will soon address the issue.

Meanwhile, in a joint statement, Association of Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (AMLSCN) and Medical Health Workers Union of Nigeria

(MHWUN) said no law was broken in the termination of Emeribe’s appointment.

Chairman of AMLSCN, James Ogbeche, said: “With regards to the SGF directing that status quo be maintained in Council and the interim injunction granted by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, we wish to state that the Council is not aware of any such directive from the SGF and this may be a report merely arising from the figment of the imagination of the author of the article. Dissatisfied with a concluded act of the

ministry, Professor Emeribe ran to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria to file a suit against the Minister of Health and Council seeking to be reinstated to his position.

“While the rules of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria provides that “an order of injunction made upon an application ex parte shall abate after seven days except the court subsequently otherwise directs in the interest of justice or to prevent an irreparable or serious mischief (Order 11 Rule 2 (3))” which means that the interim injunction granted

on March 2, 2016 has come to an end seven days thereafter, it is amazing to note how Emeribe has been brandishing the abated interim injunction about like some sword of Damocles!”

He maintained that Omotuyi’s elevation “as acting Registrar by the ministry, was necessitated by the failure of Professor Emeribe to handover to the most senior Director in Council. Omotuyi is currently on CONHESS 17 step nine which makes her the most senior Director in Council,” they stressed.

OUR BELOVED SON

Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello (left), addressing the Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Alhaji Dr. Ado Ibrahim, in his palace at Okene during a reception held in his honour by the people of Kogi Central in Okene....weekend

South-east APC Blames PDP for Lingering Fuel Shortage, Call for Patience Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu The South-east chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of being a major culprit behind the lingering fuel crisis in the country, pledging however that the President Muhammadu Buhari government was committed to addressing the problem.

The party also asked Nigerians to be patient with the federal government, noting that had the PDP fixed the nation’s refineries or built new ones, the country would not have faced the present fuel shortage.

Addressing an interactive town hall meeting with members of the APC at Egede, Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State yesterday, the spokesman of the South-east caucus of the party, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said Nigerians are paying for the sins committed

by PDP-led federal government which in the last 16 years failed to either fix the existing refineries or build new ones.

“We are paying unfortunately for the sins of PDP. I remember vividly in 2010, when the then Finance Minister and Coordinator of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala, announced to the whole world, the award of $23 billion Greenfield Refineries, to a Chinese company. The refineries were to be located in Bayelsa, Lagos and Kogi States. There was jubilation nationwide. If they had completed the refineries, today, we won’t be talking of scarcity or astronomical increase in fuel pump price.

They squandered the money and put Nigerians in the harm’s way,” he said.

Okechukwu assuring Nigerians that APC would fix the rot in the petroleum sector, made it clear that one year was not enough to fix a refinery or build a new one.

He however observed that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has assured Nigerians that the government would fix the existing refineries and enter into partnership with private

sector to erect new refineries.

Meanwhile, Okechukwu said the government has already added value of transparency, frugality and expertise in the petroleum products importation and fuel supply chain.

“We can’t stop pointing out the unconscionable wreckage the PDP unleashed on our economy in the last 16 years. The wreckage keeps on popping up at each junction, despite the efforts being made to suppress it.

“For instance, how can one fail to point out why Enugu Coal remained moribund when the fact on the ground shows that in 2012 - N923 million; 2013 -N1.7billion and 2014 - N1.1 billion were budgeted for 3D Seismic study survey for Enugu and Gombe Coal and were ignobly squandered?”

“How can we stop reminding ourselves of the sordid past, more so, the crude oil price, which used to cushion and cover the PDP gross corruption track has since the inception of Buhari’s regime nosedived?

A barrel of crude oil hovered between $90 and $100 in most

of the period under review; now it hovers between $30 and $40.

PDP sins bleed in every facet of our lives -dilapidated roads, poor power supply, collapsed social infrastructure and state of uncertainty.

“Our elders admonished us that before we find solutions to the rain beating us, we must first remember where, when and how the rain started. For us, yesterday is not gone. President Buhari’s score card is that he has triumphed in taming corruption and containing insecurity.

Revamping the economy is next in line with the 2016 budget,” Okechukwu said.

He therefore called on Nigerians not to shy away as usual, as President Buhari cannot spend any money not budgeted for as prescribed in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He noted that the president has raked in N3 trillion via the Treasury Single Account (TSA), and therefore enjoined Nigerians to monitor how the ministers, heads of departments and agencies execute it.

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Army Denies Report of ‘Tribal War’ at 82 Division Awgu community leaders hail Ugwuanyi over release of detained farmers

Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu The 82 Division of the Nigerian Army yesterday dismissed as false, the reports that there was a tribal war at the Division’ s barracks in Enugu which reportedly led to the death of three soldiers, insisting that the report was a deliberate and calculated campaign of calumny aimed at misleading the public and cause disaffection among troops.

A statement issued by the Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, Col. H. Gambo, noted that the reports were circulated on the social media by a “faceless and obviously subversive group named “Eastern Radio”.

The army spokesperson said the group created and posted a story titled: ‘Tribal War at Army Barracks, 82 Division, Enugu’ on various social media platforms.

In the write up, the group alleged that there was an altercation in an unnamed barracks in 82 Division over nomination for “peacekeeping operations” which led to exchange of gunfire among imaginary troops that resulted in loss of lives.

“Apart from obvious flaws and inconsistency in the narration, the Nigerian Army wishes to emphatically state that no such incident occurred at the 82 Division.

He noted that the intention of the group is to cause distrust amongst Nigerian troops and the country’s populace at large.

He however, said the group will not succeed because “the Nigerian Army is cohesive.”

“Their methodology is to employ such campaign of calumny and distortion of an established reign of peaceful, harmonious and esprit-de-corps culture in 82 Division and the entire Nigerian Army.

“However, the campaign is a failed one as the entire Nigerian Army remains indivisible,

unprovoked and not gullible to such cheap and heinous insinuations,” he said.

The army therefore urged Nigerians to disregard the false story from such groups “and their affiliated secessionist groups as there is no iota of truth in the story”.

“Above all, the Nigerian Army remains committed to providing aid to civil authority as enshrined in the 1999 and wishes to assure the public of the Chief of Army Staff’s unalloyed commitment to protect lives and property whenever called upon to do so in line with extant provisions of the law.

“We wish to also reassure all well meaning Nigerians that the Nigerian Army remains a national institution which emphasises peace, unity and mutual co-existence devoid of any sentiments or such variables as ethnic, tribe or religious differences,” he said.

Also, sequel to the release from prison of the 76 farmers from Ugwuleshi Autonomous Community in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, after they were granted bail

by Magistrate Court in Umuahia, Abia State, the traditional ruler of the community, Igwe Godwin Nwobi, and other leaders in the area yesterday commended the efforts of the state Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, over the release of the farmers.

The governor had during his visit to the community last Tuesday made a donation of N8.5 million as compensation for those whose farmlands were destroyed and for logistics to facilitate the release of the detained villagers.

While noting that the freed farmers arrived at their homes safely to unite with their loved ones after they were granted bail, the people of the community through their traditional ruler, Igwe Nwobi, and other political stakeholders appealed to the

federal government to find a lasting solution to the challenges encountered between the nomadic Fulani/Hausa herdsmen and indigenous farmers in their community over grazing on farmlands by which the farmers alleged destroyed their crops.

They said a lasting solution to the problem will go a long way to end the menace of the herdsmen and promote a peaceful and harmonious existence between the villagers and Fulani herdsmen.

Commenting further on Ugwuanyi efforts to calm frayed

nerves and reducing tension on the matter, Nwobi said the intervention of the governor made it evidently possible for the people to be granted bail and released to return home on that faithful day the bail was granted at Magistrate Courts in Umuahia.

According to the monarch, “I am happy that they are back. I thank the Enugu State Government for its efforts in making sure that my subjects came back. I appreciate the efforts of our governor, who visited my community over this matter. That shows he is a man of the people. We pray God to

grant him wisdom to continue to pilot the affairs of the state. I also thank my community for their understanding.”

Also commenting on the incidence, member representing Awgu South constituency in the state House of Assembly, Hon Nelson Uduji, said they went through arduous task in securing bail for the erstwhile 76 detained farmers and expressed gratitude to Ugwuanyi, other political leaders from the area for their intervention.

Uduji said their contributions in no small measure facilitated the bail

of the 76 farmers. He expressed worries that the psychological trauma of the incident would impact negatively on the attitude of the farmers within this planting season, and appealed to the federal government to initiate urgent steps in resolving the problem.

A farmer from the community, Chief Edwin Okeke, also tasked both the federal and state governments to find a lasting solution to the problem, lamenting that he took a loan to have planted about seven hectares of cassava which have been allegedly destroyed.

ACCEPT OUR CONDOLENCES

L-R: Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode; the children of the late elder statesman, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite; Olumide; and Mrs. Ebun Adeosun, during the governor’s wife’s condolence visit to Braithwaite’s residence in Lagos....yesterday

Labour Leaders Urge Amosun to Drop Charges on CertificateVerification

Don’t Allow Mediocres to Hijack Powers, Aspirant Tells Ekiti People

Sheriff Balogun in Abeokuta

Olakiitan Victor in Ado Ekiti

Labour leaders in Ogun State, under the umbrella of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNC), has urged the state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, to drop charges imposed on its workers for certificates verification, submission of additional qualifications and inter-cadre transfer.

The labour leaders stated in a letter sent to the governor which was jointly signed by the state Chairman of the JNC, Abiodun Olakanmi; Secretary, Olusegun Adebiyi; the state Chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), Akeem Ambali and Fajobi Olubunmi respectively.

They stated that various charges from N7, 500 and above were an open invitation for the financially weak and vulnerable to engage in corrupt practices.

The letter said: “In as much

as we are not opposing that academic claims and credentials of officers by the Civil Service Commission, or by other statutory agencies empowered to exercise same, we, however, have to instructively remind the officiating body to implement the verification process with strict compliance with the various extant regulations as spelt out in the Public Service rule.

“The price of N7,500 is too high, most especially for those considered rather vulnerable and financially weak to comply.

Pursuance of this policy with high amount constitutes an open invitation of officers to embrace corruption for, as we view it, even their annual wages do not commensurate with the various payments requested of them to have their certificate verified or, in a situation of additional qualifications to be added in their personal file which earned them little or nothing after all.”

The body, therefore, noted

that in as much as it was not opposing the exercise, the workers annual incremental do not commensurate with the various payments requested of them to have their credentials verified.

It added: “We thus strongly submit that the various price tags on certificates verification, submission of additional qualifications or inter-cadre transfer be dumped outright.”

JNC, however, appealed to Amosun to ensure that a fraction of the fund for the March salary be appropriated for the immediate payment of three months deductions out of seven of global deductions for both state and local government councils.

The organised labour suggested that the balance after payment of the global deductions be deployed to the payment of March salary for the most vulnerable and progressively to the highest level in the service, as the first option.

An Australian-based medical practitioner and All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant, Dr. Wole Oluyede, has urged the Ekiti State people to stop those he described as mediocre from hijacking the seat of power in the 2018 governorship poll.

Oluyede said part of the reasons he decided to join the race is to bring back the old glory and the needed rebirth.

On the contentious zoning generating ripples in the state, Oluyede said though the agitation being mounted by politicians from the Ekiti South senatorial district might not be in tandem with the constitution, reiterating that the APC must comply because it has become an unwritten agreement in the politics of the state.

Oluyede, who spoke in Ikere Ekiti yesterday added that it was wrong for the home-based politicians to see the indigenes living abroad as aliens and

threats not suitable to hold any political position in the state.

“I ‘m going to serve as rallying point to those living abroad so that they can bring their wealth down here to develop the economy of the state.

“The time for Ekiti rebirth is now, because the state has been pillaged and needed to be reborn.

“There is a lot of work to be done to help us out of the wood. No commerce, no industry, education is down; all we have is celebration of poverty and idiocy all in the name of politics. I have invested over one billion naira in the hospitality and medical sectors in Nigeria in the last five years.

“So, I want to say that we are all Ekiti indigenes. Both home and abroad-based indigenes should join hands together to help our state by preventing mediocre from hijacking powers,” he said.

Oluyede appealed to the APC to listen to the agitation that power should move to the South, saying it will negate the principles of

natural justice for the zone to be shut out of power while the other two district enjoy such privilege.

He described divisive politics as the bane of the country, particularly in the area of infrastructural development, saying: “All our leaders know how to do is to build infrastructure they cannot maintain. Instead of maintaining the ones on ground, they tend to build their own just because of what they will gain.

“That was why our schools hospitals , roads and industries have all destroyed. We can’t maintain them, because there is no sustainability of policies. But we are in Ekiti State to stabilise the system and make poverty a history in our land.”

The APC governorship aspirant begged members of his party to refrain from creating factions, being an opposition party and subject themselves to the supremacy of the party for it to bounce back to reckoning in the 2018 gubernatorial poll.

MONDAY APRIL 4, 2016 • T H I S D AY

50

NEWSEXTRA

Fiscal Crisis: Akeredolu Canvasses Cut in Governors’ Security Vote James Sowole in Akure Concerned by the fiscal crisis facing most states of the federation, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship

aspirant for the 2016 election in Ondo State, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has proposed a massive cut of security vote as part of strategies to manage trend.

Akeredolu, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), also recommended that the state governors should end reckless spending, lamenting that most governors “spend too much on frivolity.”

He expressed the concern in a statement issued by his media at the weekend, pointing out that managing a state at a turbulent time “requires the service of a inevitable to our daily living as man, who has vision and who its lights our environment, powers can see beyond today.” our homes, schools, hospitals, office, While acknowledging that the business and aid industrialization.

“This will also help the commission design policies and programmes in addressing issues in gas pricing and accessibility, power generation through both off-grid and on-grid sources of power, electrical power transmission, equipment standardisation and safety. Thereby reduce downtime and increase reliability of the Electricity value chain to develop without barriers.

“Electricity generation, transmission, distribution and marketing in Nigeria is regulated by the Nigeria Electricity Commission (NERC) formed by an Act of the National Assembly under the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 under the auspices of the Chairman/ CEO and 6 other commissioners from the 6 Geo-political Zones of the country. NERC has over the years been managed of nonengineers which has caused a drift in achieving its core mandate of ensuring increased power generation and distribution.”

Engineers’ Forum Appeals to Buhari to Appoint Members in NERC Ugo Aliogo As part of efforts to ensure stable electricity in the country, a group known as Young Engineers’ Forum (YEF), has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint seasoned professional engineers as chairman and commissioners in the managerial board of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

A statement jointly signed by the group Coordinator, Taiwo Adeolu, and Technical Secretary, Oladipo Agboola, stated that if professional engineers are appointed to the board of NERC, it would help to re-position the sector.

The forum in the statement noted that due to the relevance of electricity to the nation, it is important that the right individuals with the needed experience are appointed as chairman and commissioners.

The engineers explained that in aligning with the change mantra of the present administration, the sector needs to be re-positioned in order to promote industrialisation.

According to the forum, “Electricity is fundamental and

Danbatta: Why FG Can’t Achieve 30% National Broadband Target by 2018 Dele Ogbodo inAbuja The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has said government may not be able to attain the 30 per cent broadband target before 2018 because of inadequate infrastructure layout in the sector.

However, with only two infrastructure companies out of the seven already licensed for deployment in Lagos and North-central zones, the EVC said the NCC was committed to driving the process of the plan to completion, though it has just 24 months to go.

The NCC boss said: “We have said this must be driven by massive investment in infrastructure, otherwise, this will not be attainable.

“We are at the stage of developing the regulatory framework and we are doing that, and once this exercise is completed, we are envisaging that the licencing of the remaining zones with the provision of broadband infrastructure will take place within the next three or 4 months.”

Danbatta, who made the disclosure while addressing the 38 set of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) at Kuru in Plateau State, admitted that only seven percent of Nigerians have access to broadband services, adding that he has no access to broadband services where he lives in Kano.

He said government was committed to making broadband accessible, available and affordable to every Nigerian, adding that

there should be no discrimination between the rural and urban areas.

He however attributed the lack of broadband penetration to the intra and inter infrastructure, which he said was non-existent, and where it exist, the penetration is only seven percent.

Danbatta admitting that Nigeria has a challenge of digital divide, said: “We now talk of digital divide for countries like Nigeria and the developing world. The divide is real and it is characterised by of lack adequate infrastructure.

“If it is not real how come Nigeria is rated 134 out 144 countries and other countries within Africa like Egypt and South Africa are rated higher. These countries have high speed internet meaning they have succeeded in deploying broadband infrastructure for hosting faster data speed as well as faster internet service.”

According to the EVC, something must be done urgently and consistent with the national broadband plan to address this inadequacy of infrastructure in the telecommunications sector across He bemoaned the manner telecommunications/ fibre optics, base transceiver stations and infrastructure are being vandalised, adding that this disrupts the quality of service (QoS) being provided by telecoms operators.

On the 24 months left for the 2018 target, he said: “Well it is a target set by government and as usual, there are things that you need to do to meet targets and whatever improvement we are able to record by 2020.

27 states of the federation could no longer pay salaries, Akeredolu stressed the need for the chief governors of the affected states to be creative and make sacrifices.

Akeredolu said as the economy was going through turbulent time, what was required of a leader was “to manage the affairs of the state within the resources it has and cut some spending to stabilise the economy.”

“There are many things in terms of security vote. There are

many things in terms of reckless spending. Some governors still go out with a number of entourage.

What do you need it for when we are in a state of crisis? The problem we have is that we spend too much on frivolity.”

He lamented that chief executives of most states of the federation “have refused to cut their spending. If this crisis gets worse, what stops a governor from buying his food in the Government House?

“At least, you are able to

feed yourself in your house.

Why can you not feed yourself in Government House? Till tomorrow, President Barack Obama pays for his food in the White House? The one the United States Government takes care of is the state banquet,” he said.

The aspirant urged the governors “to cut off all these excesses. It does not have to continue this way. If it is a crisis period, you must call your people to prepare to make sacrifice so that we can move forward.”

WE APPRECIATE YOUR COMING

Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi (right), and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, during a thanksgiving service in honour of the mother of the governor in Uburu, Ebonyi State....yesterday

Ecobank Drags Honeywell to Supreme Court Ecobank Nigeria Limited has urged the Supreme Court to set aside a Court of Appeal verdict on its winding-up petition against Honeywell Flour Mills Plc over an alleged 3.5billion debt.

Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal High Court in Lagos last December 4 froze Honeywell’s accounts following an application by Ecobank’s lawyer Mr. Kunle Ogunba (SAN) of the Insolvency Forte.

The judge later varied the order by allowing Honeywell to withdraw N15million per week pending hearing of the suit, which Honeywell appealed against.

The Court of Appeal ruled in Honeywell’s favour and discharged the restraining order.

But Ecobank has urged the Court of Appeal to grant an order of injunction retraining Honeywell from taking advantage of the order discharging the interim/varied order pending the determination of the case by the Supreme Court.

The bank said the interim order was made to preserve Honeywell’s funds in some banks, namely Zenith, Access, Citibank, Stand Chartered, Wema, Guarantee Trust, Fidelity and Ecobank until the case is determined.

“There is an urgent need to preserve the res (subject-matter) of the appeal to avoid foisting a situation of helplessness on the Supreme Court, a superior court of record,” Ecobank said.

The bank is urging the Supreme Court to set aside the entire judgment/ decision of the Court of Appeal on the ground that the appellate court erred

in law in setting aside the ex-parte orders made by Justice Yunusa.

The Court of Appeal, in the judgment delivered by JusticeAbimbola Obaseki, set aside Justice Yunusa’s order on the ground of abuse of Order 4 of winding up rules.

But the bank is urging the Supreme Court to hold that the Winding-up Rules did not outlaw the issuance of ex-parte orders, among other ground.

Besides, it said the Winding-up Rules did not provide for ex-parte orders, adding that it was provided for in the court’s Civil Procedure Rules.

“The Winding-Up Rules is a subsidiary legislation and not elevated to the rank of a statute.

Rule 4 of the Winding Up Rules only provided for applications interparties and thus created a lacuna as it relates to ex-parte applications which can only be filled by the Civil Procedure Rules of the court,” the bank said.

Ecobank also appealed against the dismissal of its appeal challenging the jurisdiction of Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in establishing a customer banker’s relationship in a related case.

The Court of Appeal had held that there was a banker-customer relationship between the parties.

Bur the bank is praying the Supreme Court to hold that the Court of Appeal occasioned a gross miscarriage of justice by allowing the respondents the benefits of an “in-principle” agreement they were never party to.

Ondo LG Poll: PDP Lauds Mimiko over Successful Congress Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, has been applauded for his quality leadership style and entrenching internal democratic norms in the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The Chairman, Ondo PDP ward congress from the national secretariat, Abuja and member representing Kaba-Jumu federal constituency in the National Assembly, Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf, gave the commendation following the successful and a hitch-free ward congresses held across the 203 wards in the state preparatory to the local government elections billed to hold later this month.

The House of Representatives member who led a delegation to monitor the congresses which held at the ward level across the 18 local government areas of the state noted that PDP in the state has the depth capacity to contest any election and come out victorious, calling on other PDP state chapters to emulate the Ondo example.

According to chairman, the team was highly impressed with the ways and manners the party in the state was properly structured and organised.

“Our experience was fabulous.

It was exactly what party politics ought to be that is on ground in Ondo State PDP, because most times, political parties exhaust and deplete their energies and resources emplacing internal democracy even before election proper but

the reverse is the case in Ondo State PDP” he stated.

Commenting further, the lawmaker said he saw “quality leadership at the zenith working perfectly in Ondo and this is the ideal internal politics”, even as he boasted that the party has the depth capacity to win every election in the state considering its structure, organisation and commitment of its members and leaders. He thus, appreciated the party leader in the state, Mimiko, state chairman of the party, Mr. Clement Faboyede, party elders and members for their cooperation and mutual understanding.

Also commenting on the ward congresses held across the state, the state chairman of the party, Engr. Clement Faboyede stressed that the congresses were peacefully held while delegates exercised their franchise by electing new executives who will run the affairs of the party for the next four years.

Faboyede attributed the success story of the party to the entrenchment of good leadership and follower-ship doctrine embedded in the party.

“We are proud in the lord that PDP is a party to beat in the state considering the monumental achievement and populist programmes of our governor in the state, we respect our elders when it comes to decision making and issues are resolved amicably” he said.

MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016 • T H I S D AY

51

CRIME&PUNISHMENT

Police Arrest Female Pastor for Abducting Nine-day-old Baby Chiemelie Ezeobi Policemen attached to the Alakuko Police Division of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a female pastor for allegedly abducting a 9-day-old baby.

The pastor who was identified as the Founder of Word Encounter Ministry, Ijaiye, Mrs Esther Ozuem, was arrested by policemen after she came to the station to report a case of child abandonment in her church.

The case however took another twist, following police investigation by the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba, where it was discovered that Ozuem allegedly stole a member's new born baby and made it look as if the baby was abandoned in her church.

The mother of the baby, Christiana Ebele, 24 , in her statement to the police alleged that her son was stolen by her pastor after she went to her for financial assistance.

She said: "I am from a poor home and my family cannot assist me. I got pregnant with my second child but my boyfriend abandoned me when I told him I was pregnant. My elder sister took me to her church where I met Pastor Esther.

"My sister told her that we are poor and we cannot take care of the pregnancy and when the baby is born, life will be harder for us.

I was eight months pregnant and she agreed to help me.

"Pastor Esther took me in and she promised to help establish me financially after I give birth.

She told me that she will give me money to start a business and cater for the child.

"However, after I gave birth, she changed towards me. The day I gave birth, she refused

to take me to the hospital. She brought a nurse to help deliver me of the baby. " Although it was raining heavily, to my shock, she took the baby from me immediately after I gave birth and warned me not to touch the child. She also told me not to breastfeed the baby and when the baby was crying and I attempted to feed him, she got angry and chased me out of the house in the rain.

"I was crying but she did not allow me to carry my baby. I had to find my way to my sister's house and I told her what happened."

Asked why she did not report the case to the police, Ebele blamed illiteracy, adding that her poor financial condition also hindered her from seeking justice.

She said, "I don't have money.

I am very poor and can barely feed myself. My mother is also poor and other members of my family are not doing fine financially and because of this, I decided to leave everything to God to give me justice.

"I found out that Pastor Esther took my son and she had a child naming ceremony for him without informing me. She named him Temple Ozuem and even took him to the health centre and registered him as her son.

"I don't know why she came to report to the police but even now I can't cater for him. I need help and it is not true that I sold my baby. She did not give me any money. I only approached her for help and she said she will help me but she turned around and slapped me when I wanted to breastfeed my child.

"She showed me love when I was pregnant but after I gave birth, she took the baby from me and threw me out in the rain."

Ife Riot: Osun Expels Culprits, Reopens Schools Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

After four months of closure of schools caused by students' unrest, the Osun State Government yesterday announced the immediate reopening of four secondary schools located within Ile Ife metropolis namely; Oduduwa High School, St. Davids High School, St Johns High School and Seventh-Day Adventist High School.

The government also announced the expulsion of the students found culpable in the rampage which led to the wanton destruction of government property in the four schools and the Osun-owned Broadcasting Corporation, Orisun F.M, Ile Ife. Some public school students had last year protested the nonpayment of their West African Examinations Council (WAEC) fees by government and attacked the broadcasting station.

Seven of the protesters were

later arrested and arraigned before a magistrate court. While two of them were remanded in prison custody, others were taken to a corrective centre in Osogbo.

Stating its decision on the schools in a statement issued by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Festus Olajide in Osogbo, the government noted that it took the decision after various meetings held with the teachers and parents of students of the affected schools.

The statement also noted that students of the affected schools were to pay reparation fee for the damage done during the unrest, adding that arrangement was in place to ensure they complied with the directive.

Parents, guardians and students are also to sign a code of conduct to be of good behaviour as a condition precedent to the resumption of the students in any of the four Schools.

Although the said Pastor had registered the baby at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency with the name Ozuem and her mother's

name as Chinyere Ozuem where the child was immunised, she however maintained she didn't steal the baby.

In her statement to the police,

Ozuem said she was merely taking care of the baby after the mother abandoned the child and fled.

Police sources at the SCID who spoke to THISDAY said they were

also investigating Ozuem over fresh allegations that the three children she claimed were hers may not actually be her biological children.

FREE AT LAST

A cross section of the 76 Awgu farmers after they were granted bail by the Magistrates’ Court in Umuahia, Abia State...weekend

Bauchi Hunter, Police Kill Five Robbers, Recover Arms

Former NULGE Official Shot Dead by Police in Adamawa

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Daji Sani in Yola

The police anti-robbery squad in collaboration with a renowned hunter, Alhaji Ali Kwara, have killed five armed robbers and recovered arms in Bauchi.

The Bauchi State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Haruna Mohammed, who disclosed this to journalists yesterday, said the incident occurred at the weekend at about midnight.

According to him, following an intelligence report, renowned Kwara in collaboration with a team of police personnel attached to him raided a criminal hideout in Kunjin/Lodio forest in Bursali district of Zaki Local Government Area of Bauchi State and had a fierce gun battle with suspected armed robbers which lasted for more than 30 minutes.

"As a results, five of the suspects were fatally wounded and rushed to Federal medical centre, Azare but certified dead on arrival," Haruna said He said the exhibits recovered at the scene of the incident included four AK 47 rifles with beech numbers (03085) (8067) (19076)and(10968)respectively, one locally made revolver hand gun, one Hundred and Sixty Four(164) rounds of 7.62 live ammunition, Nine rounds of .9mm ammunition, Seven empty magazines,two expended ammunition and cash sum of N17,000.

Haruna noted that all the five unidentified corpses had been

deposited at FMC, Azare mortuary for autopsy, while investigation was ongoing.

On his part, Ali Kwara said: "The suspects terrorised the surrounding communities, they killed many people and assign levy on the villagers from N400,000 to N1million."

He said most of the robbers knew the villagers and they carried out their activities to cripple their economy.

The Secretary of Miyetti Allah, Alhaji Adamu Gidado, said the robbers collected over N41 million after they killed seven people and pray that the problem will definitely reduce.

The former Secretary General of National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) of Jada Local Government Area in Adamawa State, Mallam Abubakar Salihu, has been gunned down by a team of policemen and vigilante on patrol in the area.

An eyewitness account informed THISDAY that the deceased was returning from his farm on his motorcycle in the evening last Wednesday in Kojoli town in Jada Local Government and was stopped at a road block by the joint patrol team but failed to obey their order and was shot

by the police.

Confirming the incident, state Chairman of the union, Mallam Muhammadu Hamman Jumba told journalists in a telephone chat that late Salihu was said to have refused to obey a stop and search order by the security on duty along Kojoli-Jada road and was shot to dead.

Jumba further stated that his union would officially lay complaints to the authorities concerned to unravel the mystery behind the killing, noting that it a known fact that there was a standing order against the use of motorcycle in the entire state.

Five Die, Seven Injured in Lagos Fatal Auto Crash Chiemelie Ezeobi A fatal auto crash along the Mile 2-Badagry Expressway yesterday claimed five lives, including a nursing mother.

Seven others were left with varying degree of injuries.

The auto crash, which occurred at Abule Osun bus stop in Ojo Local Government Area of the state, involved a commercial Volkswagen bus with registration number FST 652 XF and a Max truck with number plate AA 188 SR. It was gathered that the driver of the Volkswagen bus was driving against traffic, when he rammed into the incoming truck, resulting to

the fatal loss of lives.

The Lagos Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Hyginus Omejo, who confirmed the incident said about 13 persons were involved in the accident, which claimed 11 adult males and two females.

He said: "Five persons died on the spot while seven others sustained severe injuries. Both injured and deceased were rushed to the hospital."

Omeje attributed the cause of the accident to recklessness on the part of the commercial bus driver.

He said the driver of the

commercial bus, who was driving against traffic, wrongly overtook another vehicle on the expressway before crashing into the incoming truck.

The FRSC boss also confirmed that the driver of the passenger bus violated the traffic laws by wrongly overtaking other vehicles, which made him loose control and eventually ram into the moving truck from the rear.

Also, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Dolapo Badmus, who confirmed the auto crash said the police is investigating the matter

52

T H I S D AY • MONDAY April 4, 2016

MONDAYSpOrTS

Group Sports Editor Duro ikhazuagbe Email duro.ikhazuagbe@thisdaylive.com

Dalung: Nigerian Sports Not Backed by Law Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja Youth and Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, stirred the Hornet’s Nest when he said that there was no legal framework in support of funding of sports in Nigeria.

Dalung contented that the Nigeria Football Federation

(NFF) which receives a monthly subvention of N150 million and the now proscribed National Sports Commission (NSC) were strangers to the laws of the land.

The minister, a former law teacher, known not to hide his views, told reporters that he gave similar opinion when he

Ifeanyi Ubah Apologises to LMC The Proprietor of FC IfeanyiUbah, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, has apologised to the League Management Company (LMC) over the incident that led to his 10-match ban from the Nigerian Professional Football League.

Apart from the ban, the club proprietor was equally fined N2.5m by the league body for encroaching onto the field as well as assaulting Heartland FC of Owerri goalkeeper, Ebele Obi. But in a letter accepting to submit to the summary jurisdiction of the LMC, Ubah pledged not to appeal the decision and offering an unconditional apology to the LMC, FC IfeanyiUbah fans and the football community for his actions.

While explaining that his actions were due to his overriding passion for the NPFL and its development, he further explained in the letter that he was moved to intervene by the actions of Heartland players towards the referee after the match with FC IfeanyiUbah in Nnewi, an action which led to some over reaction that he regrets.

“May I conclude by rendering my unconditional apology to my

numerous fans nationwide and in Diaspora for the incident and outcome. To the football family and the LMC, I promise to uphold the tenets of the game while promising to remain a good ambassador of the sport.

“To those who feel disappointed by the outcome, I plead that you find a place in your hearts to forgive me. With a deep sense of humility, I ask Nigerians for their support and encouragement as I wish to state categorically that this will never repeat itself again as dire lessons have been learnt”, Chief Ubah wrote in the letter dated April 2 and addressed the LMC Chief Operating Officer, Shehu Dikko.

The club, FC IfeanyiUbah also wrote separately to accept the N500, 000 fine imposed on it for failure to ensure adequate security immediately after the Match Day 8 fixture in Nnewi against Heartland.

Meanwhile, with the acceptance by all four clubs and individuals of the decisions contained in the recent LMC Summary Jurisdiction notices; the league body has announced a closure of all these case treated.

Ecobank Rapid Transfer Partners Okpekpe Race Ecobank Rapid Transfer has been named as the official money transfer service for the 4th Okpekpe 10km Road Race scheduled to hold on May 7 in Okpekpe town, Edo State.

A statement released by the organisers of the race, an International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Bronze Label Race would attract no fewer than 3, 000 local and international professional athletes.

Announcing the bank’s premium partnership in Lagos, Ecobank’s Managing Director, Charles Kie was quoted as saying that Ecobank Rapid Transfer“was best suited for the competition that had grown to have global recognition”.

This year’s partnership, the third in a row, that the bank would be bagging the official money transfer status of the race.

According to Kie, the Ecobank Rapid Transfer is an innovative money transfer services available within Nigeria and countries in some Africa, where Ecobank is present.

“The service was conceived out of the need to provide prompt, convenient, accessible and reliable money transfer facility for our retail

and wholesale customers and noncustomers of the bank”.

It said that Kie was optimistic that the Ecobank Rapid Transfer would provide the much-needed ease of financial transactions, during and after the competition and urged all the participants to avail themselves of the opportunity provided by the bank.

“This is an Ecobank priority `send and receive’ money transfer product available in all Ecobank branches in Nigeria.

“The product allows you to send and receive money across Nigeria and to also receive money from over 30 countries other, where Ecobank has its operation.

“It is our way of supporting this international race to ease the burden of fund transfer”.

The Okpekpe 10km road race is organised by Pamodzi Sports Marketing, a leader in sports marketing, sponsorship, hospitality and Rights Acquisition business in Nigeria in conjunction with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and the Edo State Government.

faced the Senate and House of Representatives’ Sports Committee about lack of legislative backing for sports in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) which is recognised by law was renamed NFF by the board in 2006. But the bill which is supposed to be an act of parliament is yet to ratify the change.

“I asked the National Assembly members, when they accused me of scrapping NSC, if they were aware that sports is not legislated in Nigeria. They were looking at me and wanted to know if the billions they were appropriating to NSC and NFF were illegal. I was assertive and said that is left for them to determine.

“I am an executive, I don’t make law, I implement law.

NFF is one of the decisions I inherited,” Dalung stressed.

The minister who scrapped the NSC last month and caused its Director General, Alhassan Yakmut, to be deployed, said the NSC which came onto being in 1971 via a decree, technically ceased to exist when it was never updated as a parastatal by the law reform of 2004.

“In law any legislation that never receives the attention of government is dead. There is no law backing NSC and I did not see it when I arrived as the minister as the product of mergence of two ministries”,

Dalung said.

Similarly, he said American coaches, Angie Taylor and Eric Campbell, who were earlier sacked have now been reinstated as High Performance directors for

Nigerian athletes for Rio 2016.

Their contracts have, however, been revised as they are now placed on $10,000 per month salary as against the $15,000 salary they were earning since 2013.

Dalung said he reinstated them to save the relations between Nigeria and the US as well as to prevent the country from paying heavy damages arising from the breach of their contracts.

Papilo FC players celebrating the 1-0 victory over Heartland FC... yesterday

NFF: Inyama Backs Amaju

Says: Those asking him to quit are not fair

A former board member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Chief Emeka Inyama, has declared that those calling for the resignation of the President of the nation’s soccer federation, Amaju Pinnick, following the failure of Nigeria to qualify for AFCON 2017 are not being fair to the youthful football administrator.

Inyama stated yesterday that as a person who only left the NFF board some few months back, he knows how passionate the NFF president is about Nigeria football and his desire to take the game to the next level in the country.

The Abia Warriors boss said the fact that Nigeria did not qualify for the 2017 Nations Cup does not mean we should rock the boat, especially for a board that has recorded several successes before now.

“We all know that Nigeria has before now qualified for virtually every international tournament under this same board. Beyond qualifying for major tournaments, we have won in places like Chile (FIFA U-17), in Senegal at the U -23 Nations Cup and African Women Championship. The truth remains that we can’t win all the time. And when

we fail to win, it should serve as an avenue to take stock and re strategize and not to make selfish calls for people who are working hard to quit.”

Continuing Inyama said: “The Amaju that I worked with on the NFF board is very passionate about our football.

He is one young man who is ready to put in everything in an effort to get result. What he needs now is our support and encouragement ahead of the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers.”

Inyama whose side Abia Warriors has started this season’s Nigeria Professional Football

League on a bright note also gave a pat on the back to the League Management Company (LMC) organisers of the league.

“Our league is getting better with every season. This informs why the fans are getting back to the various league venues.

The officiating has improved a great deal and this is why clubs now get results on the road. The LMC is getting it right and this is good for Nigerian football,” Inyama said.

He was quick to add that the target of Abia Warriors this term is to finish in the top bracket of the league log and pick a ticket to continental campaign.

STAT E F E D C U P F I N A L S …

Kanu’s Club Shocks Heartland, MFM Rules Lagos Papilo FC, the pet club of Nigeria legend Nwankwo Kanu yesterday upset Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side Heartland to emerge winners of the Imo State Federation Cup 2016.

Papilo FC won 1-0 at the Dan Anyiam Stadium in Owerri.

However, another Nigeria

premier league club MFM FC won their first-ever Lagos State Federation Cup when they thrashed NNL side, Bridge FC 3-0 at the Agege Stadium.

The church club sealed victory within 10 minutes as Sikiru Olatunbosun opened scoring in the 41st minute, he completed a brace in the

48th minute, before mercurial midfielder Emmanuel Onuwa scored the third goal in the 50th minute.

In Kwara State, Kwara United beat ABS FC 5-2 via penalty after the game ended 1-1 at regulation.

In Osun State, NNL side Prime FC beat non-league side Fehinty FC 2-1.

Sunshine Stars retained the Ondo State Federation Cup in Akure with a 2-1 win over Akure City FC. State Federation Cup finalists will represent their states in the national Federation Cup. Akwa United won last year’s cup competition to qualify for the 2016 CAF Confederation Cup.

MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016 • T H I S D AY

53

AFTERMATH OF AFCON 2017 FAILURE

SPECIAL REPORT

The Decline of Nigerian Football

Eagles… no longer super

Duro Ikhazuagbe and Olawale Ajimotokan

L

ast Tuesday marked another black day in the nation’s football history. Nigeria failed to qualify for another Africa Cup of Nations. It is the first time back-to-back and the third in five years. We missed the 2012 edition jointly hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Super Eagles (as defending champions) were not in Equatorial Guinea in 2015 and are not going to be among Africa’s best when they file out for action in 2017 in Gabon.

To discerning followers of the Beautiful Game in the country, signs of failure have been flashing ever since the qualifiers started late last year. The Pharaohs of Egypt only nailed the coffin with the one-all draw in Kaduna and the lone goal victory in Alexandria. How did we get to this sorry state in our football history when just three years ago Nigeria was Africa’s champions?

The decline in Nigeria’s football did not start with the failure to qualify for the three AFCONs missed in the last five years. It is the climax of a steady systemic failure that started after the Golden Generation of the Clemens Westerhof years left the stage and nothing concrete was put in place to recreate that era. Nigeria made her appearance at the global stage with the debut at USA ’94 that generation of Super Eagles came from years of experimentation that started way back in 1990 when Dutchman, Westerhof was in-charge.

Westerhof experimented with no less than

80 players to be able to fashion out the team that got to the Number 5 spot in FIFA ranking just before the Mundial in USA. That team played the kind of robust football that till date has not been matched by any successive Eagles. It was just inexperience that stopped Nigeria from moving beyond the challenge posed by Italy. It was also that same generation that dominated the squad that won the Atlanta Olympic football gold for Africa for the first time.

Of course, after Atlanta, Nigeria failed to build on the success of the Olympic gold.

Journey-man Bonfrere Jo who took charge after his countryman Westerhof left the saddle also dumped the team. Thereafter, Nigeria began this era of hire-and-fire of coaches in succession. Frenchman Phillipe Troussier took charge and qualified Nigeria for France ’98. He got dumped while a Serb, Bora Milutinovic who had pass his prime as at the time he was hired by Nigeria took Eagles to the World Cup. Did Nigeria match the quality of USA ‘94 in France? Indiscipline on the part of the players played a large role in the failure in France. Secondly, Bora had no effective control of the team like Westerhof did.

He also did not have an Augustus Aikhomu as backer in the corridor of power.

This led to total breakdown of decorum.

Nigeria left France a fragmented team, thus setting the stage for the free fall that has enveloped the game in the country today.

Bonfrere however returned to take charge of the team to bring back sanity ahead of the AFCON 2000 which Nigeria hosted and ended up with the silver after the

Pinnick...NFF President

Indomitable Lions beat Eagles to the trophy at the mainbowl of the National Stadium in Surulere Lagos.

That same year, Nigeria that won gold in Atlanta Olympic football event failed to qualify from the group stage of Sydney Games, Chile inspired by Ivan Zamorano crushed Nigeria’s dream of an encore.

Shaibu Amodu and Stephen Keshi who took Eagles to the next edition of AFCON in Mali have bitter story to tell about the team. A Sunday Oliseh led Eagles engaged then NFA and National Sports Commission chiefs in a bitter feud over bonuses and other issues that bother on indiscipline, The result was Eagles departing Mali with a bronze. Chief Adegboye Onigbinde then stepped in for his second ‘missionary journey’ with the team after first handling the Eagles in 1984. Vincent Enyeama was

capped against England but Eagles’ strange playing formation caused Nigeria to exit Korea/Japan 2002 at the group stage.

Eagles performance at AFCON 2004 was no better than what happened at the previous edition in Mali. It was the same bronze story.

Against all expectations, Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup hosted

by Germany. It was the most unthinkable thing that Eagles could lose the ticket to Angola right in front of their fans that sunny afternoon in Kano. While the humid condition of the former pyramid city was partly blamed for the defeat, majority of Nigerian ball followers generally agreed that Eagles caused the embarrassment for themselves through selective attendance at away matches.

At AFCON 2008, Nigeria almost went out at the group stage until Elephants of Ivory Coast did Eagles a favour, defeating Mali. They eventually returned home after crashing out in the semi final to host Ghana whose sporting press rechristened the Nigerian senior football team ‘Super Chicken.’

Amodu again returned to lead Nigeria to AFCON 2010 in Angola. It was the same story of being beaten by Ghana in the semi final. Although Amodu qualified Nigeria for the World Cup Africa was hosting for the first time in South Africa, he was dumped by the federation to exhume one Swede, Lars Lagerback to lead Nigeria to South Africa 2010 on a 300,000 dollars fee for a less than three months job. Despite holding a Lionel Messi inspired Argentine side coached by legendary Diego Maradona

54

T H I S D AY

AFTERMATH OF AFCON 2017 FAILURE to a decent game, Eagles threw away the chance to advance to a moment of madness in the second group game when Garba Lawal kicked a Greek player to earn an instant dismissal. Yakubu Aiyegbeni’s miss against South Korea in the last group match remains one of the worst performances by any player in the history of the Mundial.

In 2012, Nigeria for the first time since 1986, failed to qualify for the AFCON jointly hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Guinea’s 2-2 draw with Eagles at the Abuja Stadium ended Samson Siasia’s reign as chief coach. Another ex international, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi stepped in with the mission to revive the fading glory of the Super Eagles.

Keshi did well reinforcing the team with players from the domestic league. The experimentation paid off with the likes of Azubike Egwueke, Godfrey Oboabona, Ejike Ogwuenyi, Sunday Mbah and a host of others commanding regular shirts ahead of their foreign-based counterparts. That team restored Nigeria’s pride, winning the AFCON 19 years after the feat in Tunisia.

It was also the second time anyone was winning as a former player and coach.

But Keshi who was having a cat and mouse relationship with the NFF took his pound of flesh on the then Aminu Maigari led NFF board. Hours after Nigeria was crowned African champions, Keshi dumped the job in an interview with a South African radio station.

It took the intervention of then Sports Minister, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi to make the man fondly called The Big Boss to rescind his decision about quitting. NFF did not forgive Keshi for having the audacity to shame them in that manner.

By the time Keshi took Eagles to the World Cup in Brazil, the animosity between him and the federation leadership had gone beyond redemption. But fortunately for Keshi, the Illah-born gaffer had backing in a top government official in the Good luck Jonathan administration. He was untouchable. But after Eagles crashed out to France in the second round of Brazil 2014, NFF officials who were waiting for Keshi’s contract to expire had the opportunity to take their pound of flesh. Keshi’s contract was not renewed.

However, he was forced on the team on an interim basis with the National Sports Commission picking his bills.

Then succession disputes set in at the Glass House. Aminu Maigari was denied a second term. Former Sports Minister Tammy Danagogo was alleged to have prompted Jos club owner, Chris Giwa to run for the office. Delta FA boss, Amaju Pinnick who was one of the strong backers of Maigari also joined the race. Influential

SPECIAL REPORT

Oliseh...jumped ship when the heat became unbearable

marketing consultant, Shehu Dikko, Lobi FC Chairman, Dominic Iorfa, Kano Pillars Chairman, Abba Yola and a host of others also joined the race to succeed Maigari. Pinnick however outsmarted all the others by winning the Congress of September 30 in Warri. Before then, the Giwa group had gone against FIFA directive by conducting what can at best be described as a mock election in Abuja on August 26 where the Jos football financier emerged as president. The crisis that followed the power struggle between Giwa and Pinnick largely contributed to why Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2015 edition of the African football showpiece in Equatorial Guinea. It was this poor preparation that also snowballed into the qualifiers for the 2017 edition to be hosted in Gabon next year. You can imagine three coaches- Keshi, Oliseh and Siasia handled the team that has just failed to reach Gabon 2017.

Despite all that has been painted above, it will be unfair not to mention the gains recorded in age grade competitions.

Nigeria is the reigning world champion in FIFA U17 World Cup. The 2015 class of Victor Osimhen retained the 2013 trophy Nigeria won in UAE in Chile with Emmanuel Amuneke in charge.

Siasia also led his wards to win the inaugural CAF U-23 African Championship in Senegal late last

Keshi...won AFCON  but failed to qualify to defend it

• MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016

Siasia...was denied AFCON  ticket by Egypt

year as well as qualify Nigeria for the male football event of Rio2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. Almost all other Nigerian teams have either qualified or on the verge of doing so in continental and global football competitions. The question then is: why is it difficult to translate the successes at the youth level to the senior category? Why are these youths not integral part of the domestic league instead of rushing out of the country for greener pastures in Europe or north Africa?

A deep look into club football in the country revealed that poor funding has been responsible for why these clubs are finding it difficult to match others elsewhere.

Of the 20 clubs in the topflight, only Giwa FC, IfeanyiUbah FC, MFM FC and Ikorodu United are privately owned. The rest are funded by state governments. Even before the down turn in the country’s economy, most states have never really considered these clubs as businesses that should be managed as such. Instead, they are given to politically-correct persons to run. In addition to that, the administration of the league has often been a problem until the coming of the League Management Company (LMC). The league body has been able to restore sanity with the fans returning to the stands again to cheer their favorite team. It is no longer that the home team must win at all cost. Last season was replete with records of several away victories.

In addition to the above reasons for the free-fall of the Super Eagles, others attribute it partly to the failure of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to streamline football academies and check the activities of football agents.

Football academies litter the nation’s landscape and set up with the sole objective to help in the grooming and nurturing of young players. But sadly some of these academies are anything but a football school and are in urgent need of regulation and licensing.

Usually, the people behind the football schools set them up with sole objective to develop players to be sold to clubs in Europe and Asia for commercial benefits once they come of age.

The conventional practice is that a football academy is an integral part of the football club set up to develop its youth talent. It is a training school where students learn how to play football.

In the UK every football club in the Premier League and Championship has a football academy, and many more lower league clubs also have them, but not all.

For those living near a non-league club, they will discover that they are unlikely to have a football academy, but will find development schemes or community run projects, that young footballers can enrol onto. These schemes are great first stops in the footballing ladder and can be easily be booked onto before joining a bigger academy.

Football clubs that run academies use one of two different names. They are either called a Football Academy,

or a Football Centre of Excellence, but essentially they are the same thing. It is a place where the club can develop young talent.

Though football academies are coming up in every parts of the country, they appear to be more of trial and error approach with international best practices being ignored.

To an extent, Nigeria has benefited from the academy culture as some products from football schools have made grades, joined the professional ranks in Europe, ultimately finding their path into the national team.

Players like John Mikel Obi, Osaze Odemwingie, Kelechi Iheanacho and of late Kelechi Nwakali passed through the academy process.

But most often these academies are poorly funded, ill equipped and don’t boast of the right facilities, personnel and curriculum that will develop the players.

With regard to Nigeria, the biggest pitfall is that there is no deliberate attempt to impact on the players a collective and nationally defined philosophy which becomes part of them when they reach the later stages of their career.

The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja offers a peer into the structural defect with the way football academies in Nigeria are composed.

It is an all comers’ affairs, prompting a source at the NFF to make a startling revelation that the federation could not determine the number of the football schools that are in Abuja arising from the problem of regulation.

The official revealed that the only academy in the nation’s capital that is registered and up to standard is Fosla Academy. The Kashi-based academy which incorporates secondary school studies into its curriculum is run by former NFF President Sani Lulu Abdullahi.

The school’s programmes are tailored in accordance with the curriculum of the Nigeria Education Policies. The proprietor in consultation with the school’s Management Board, opined that their vision, mission, and goals could be best actualised if permanent structures were put in place for the commencement of a full-fledged secondary school. It is against this backdrop that Fosla Academy was set up to commence full academic session in September, 2011 with J.S.S.1 students.

NFF plans to strategically address the issue of regulation nationwide by referring the academies to the state FAs, which will screen and pre-qualify those that meet requirement before they are licensed and allowed to operate.

Although the Amaju Pinnick led-board of the NFF has made strides by getting a financial institution to support its Under-13 and Under-15 programmes, these developmental programmers are yet to hit the right cord for them to form the pool from which future Eagles are going to emerge from. It remains to be seen if successive administration at the Glass House will continue this project. This brings up the issue of lack of continuity of programmed at the federation. NFF had in the past experimented with weekend academy programme for kids. That programme with quality funding from FIFA died a natural death when Dr Tijani Yusuf stepped out of office as Secretary General.

MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016 • T H I S D AY

55

AFTERMATH OF AFCON 2017 FAILURE

SPECIAL REPORT

Odegbami, Chukwu, Others Speak on the State of Football in Nigeria KUNLE ADEWALE

F

ollowing the failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for yet another Africa Cup of Nations, THISDAY sought the views of some past gladiators of the game on what has gone wrong and how to reverse the free-fall of football in Nigeria.

SEGUN ODEGBAMI The history of Nigerian football would only have been half told without mentioning - Segun Odegbami. He was part of the IICC Shooting Stars team that won the Cup Winners Cup in 1976, which was the first continental trophy to be won by any Nigerian club side. And since breaking into the Green Eagles (as the Nigerian national team was then known) in 1975 he commandeered the Number Seven jersey for a number of years and went on to captain the team until his retirement from the national team in1981after Nigeria’s botched attempt to grab the ticket to the 1982 World in Spain. Odegbami was also part of the Eagles that won the first Africa Cup of Nations for Nigeria in 1980. Even after his retirement the marriage between ‘Big Sheg’ and football is still intact.

“Winning the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time for Nigeria was one great moment I cannot forget in my football career. It was a day over 60,000 fans at the National Stadium, Surulere and millions of fans watching on television lifted us up and made us believe we can win the trophy and we did not disappoint.

We still refer to it and still celebrate it up till now. We had the opportunity to shake the hands of the President of the nation (Alhaji Shehu Shagari) and he did so much for us, very much that some of us will forever thank him and I believe so many Nigerians still live with that fond memory of March 22, 1980,” the Polytechnic of Ibadan engineering graduate recalled.

From then it took Nigeria another 14 years to taste another Nations Cup glory, when the Eagles won the biennial competition in Tunisia, beating the Zambians in the final. After the Tunisia feat, winning the bronze had been the country’s best. But now it has descended to a level where Nigeria soccer fans go to churches and mosques to pray for the national team for a Nations Cup ticket, until the Eagles surprised victory in 2013 in South Africa.

Odegbami however blame the abandonment of wing play, which he said was Nigeria’s natural style of play as one of the reasons for the dwindling fortunes of the country’s football. “The neglect of wing play has affected our football very much because we have not put the natural gift of Nigeria to great use in our football. Nigerians are very strong, fast and skillful and if you add all these combinations together you need the wings to be able to exploit them on the field of play and that is why our football best suits for wingers and we were so successful while we were adopting the wings style of play and we won several trophies.

“But the moment we started concentrating on other styles outside the wings, we started looking ordinary and we never succeeded.

So we need to go back to our wing play and concentrate on players that have speed, strength and can go through one or two defenders and are in front of goal. That was what made me a bit special. People thought I was great but it was because I had only one or two defenders to beat and I am in front of goal the mouth,” Odegbami observed.

The former national team captain indeed is of the opinion that for Nigerian national teams to be back to the standard Nigerian football was known and to be able to match with great footballing nations, the country needs to produce more and better players, saying that Nigerian players these day are really ordinary, which shows that the foundation of our football is not really solid.

“We need to start producing very good players that can start to represent the very best of Nigerian football. Right now our footballers are really ordinary and we need to do something. And one of the biggest problems that is also confronting Nigerian football are the artificial pitches everywhere now. They are only good for viewership and television but they are not good enough for football and football development. With artificial pitches you cannot play attractive football and you pick injuries very easily. If we don’t go back to the days when we have good lush green pitches, which allows for good football and go back to secondary school football, which allows administrators of football to pick from the very

Odegbami

Chukwu

Amiesimaka

best, I’m afraid Nigeria will continue to struggle against small football nations. Look at the best football nations in the world you don’t find artificial pitches all over like you see here in Nigeria,” the ex international further observed.

According to the former Shooting Stars winger, the foundation of Nigerian football was rock solid when he was an active participant in football in the country from the early 70’s up till the turn of the ‘80s.

“After the Moscow Olympics in 1980, then arise some avoidable and unnecessary developments which started to rock that solid foundation and it all started with the unceremonious removal of Mr. Isaac Akioye as the director of sports at the National Sports Commission (NSC). He was the one with the training skills in sports that established the solid foundation and around him he trained and hired people who were to sustain the development, So, when he was removed in 1981 it created a crisis situation and those who took over from him, though tried to sustain what was on ground but the turnover of personnel in the administration of sports especially football in Nigeria became accelerated and it became more watery and by the time we got to the early 1990 it was so watered down, though the effect of that solid foundation was still strong to sustain sports development but by the 90’s it became less in terms of human capacity.

“Though, we were still winning laurels but the fact remains that the administrators that came in thereafter did not have the original vision of the initial founders. And by the time we got to the late 1990 the new administrators that succeeded came in with their own shallow vision and so the quality of the game started to drop, so much so that we no longer could recognise the original foundation.

There is no longer any connection between the original foundation and where we are now. We are just drifting; there is no clear vision and direction again. All the things that were initially built are now lost,” Odegbami lamented.

game.

“Each time the tenure of an administration ends there are always controversies as to who becomes the next president and members of the board, which in most cases end in long court cases and at the end of the day there is little or no time to take off. So we don’t come in with any tangible programme rather we just enter for competitions without proper planning. I have never seen any of the administration that shoots off with any developmental programme. We don’t have a sustainable programme, all we are after is just to participate in competitions.

Chukwu is also of the opinion that until we go back to the basics-school sports, the country will continue to be confronted with the same problem.

“It was from school sports and grassroots football that some of us emerged,” he noted.

The former Super Eagles coach also faulted the idea of heavy dependent of foreign-based players, saying attention should be focused on the development of the local league, whereby the nucleus of the national team should be home-based.

“You don’t build a national team in a foreign land. You don’t build a national team with entirely foreign-based players. It cannot work, even if they are all Peles. We have lot of talented players in Nigeria to form a formidable national team. We just needed to inject three to five foreign-based players into the team.

“That is how to build a national team. I don’t see why we cannot have a 19-year-old player in our national team? It took a lot of pressure to inject Kelechi Iheanacho into our national team. It is the young players that would provide longevity and that is how to build a team. It is not all about winning all the time,” Chukwu opined.

players on the dangers inherent in age falsification, adding that football administrators should desist from putting pressure on coaches to win competitions at all cost, as such coach would be left with little choice than to include over-aged players in their teams.

“Most of the coaches include over-aged players in their team so as to save their job which is doing a lot of damage to our football,” he said.

FRIDAY EKPO

LADIPO The President General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Rafiu Ladipo, on his part attributed the dwindling fortunes of Nigeria’s football, to the country’s refusal to defend the Africa Cup of Nations it won in 1994 in Tunisia.

“It all started in 1996 when we failed to take part in the ‘96 edition of the Nations Cup in South Africa that was when the fortunes of our football started going down.

As a footballer you have to be up and doing and be playing all the time and that two years break affected Nigerian football.

After the 1994 edition of the Nations Cup what have been our achievement?

At the 1998 World Cup in France we were humiliated in the second round, at the 2002 edition hosted by Japan and Korea we did not qualify from the group stages and in 2006 Nigeria did not even qualify while we did not win a single game at the South Africa’s edition in 2010 and something must have been responsible for these poor results.

And the reason is that we failed to take part in the 1996 Nations Cup. That was when our fortunes started going down,” he said.

CHRISTIAN CHUKWU

Another ex international, Friday Ekpo, also cited age cheats as the bane of Nigerian football. “Many of the players that have represented the country in age-grade competitions in the past failed to move up to the next cadre of national team because they falsified their age. The use of overaged players for age-grade competitions is one of the major reasons why football has not fully developed in the country. It has done a lot of harm to our football.

You will expect a good player that is truly 17 years of age to move to the U-21 category and later to the senior team later in his career. But that has not been the case; when you expect to see them at the senior level, they fade away because they had falsified their ages at one point in time,’’ he noted.

Ekpo therefore advised that seminars should be organised for upcoming

In his own submission, another former captain and coach of the national team, Christian Chukwu, blamed successive football administration for lack of planning and development of the

Mikel...not amused by Eagles failure to reach Gabon 

ADOKIYE AMIESIMAKA Another of Odegbami’s teammate in the national team, Adokiye Amiesimaka would however not want to comment after THISDAY asked for his opinion on the dwindling fortunes of Nigerian football. “I have nothing to say. I have nothing new to say that I have not said already and I don’t want to waste my time and waste anybody’s time. I used to run a column in Sunday Punch but I’ve stopped in the last three weeks because of that. There is nothing new to talk about its like repeating the same thing over and over again. They are not ready to heed so why bother? It’s not as if they don’t know what to do but we are just not ready to do the right thing. I’ve been writing and saying these things for the past 10 years, and I don’t want to continue repeating myself again,” an obviously furious Amiesimaka said with finality.

Monday April 4, 2016

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Price: N150

MISSILE Bishop Ekwe to Buhari “What we are talking about here is national and international security as it relates to cattle herdsmen. The question is: who has armed them with sophisticated weapons as AK 47?”

Bishop of Niger West (Anglican Communion) in Anambra State, Rt. Rev. Johnson Ekwe querying President Muhammadu Buhari over the violent activities of Fulani herdsmen across the country.

MAGNUSONYIBE GUEST COLUMNIST

Five Development Nuggets For Buhari

A

fter about three months (budget was first presented to National Assembly

by President Muhammadu Buhari on Dec.22, 2015) of being in congress for deliberations , the 2016 appropriation bill proposed at N6.08 trillion has eventually been passed ( on March 22, 2016) with a slight reduction of N200 billion to N6.06 billion by our legislators.

Owing to the controversy of ‘padding’ by civil servants in which it was embroiled,Nigerians received the otherwise cheering news with restrained optimism, largely because, due to lateness in its passage into law,another year would be lost in the implementation of the budget, particularly because, the rains are already here and contractors are not likely to be able to commence construction of roads and buildings which constitute a major part of the capital budget in the couple of months as contract bidding and award processes would still take a minimum of two months to conclude .

Perhaps as a stop gap measure, the N350 billion naira that finance minister , Kemi Adeosun promised to pump into the economy to reflate it-which is estimated to be merely 3% of the N11 trillion believed to be the accumulated local debt stock-would make any significant impact on the economy.

Nevertheless, it is better than nothing, as it would at least slightly increase the pace of activities in the economy which has been static in nearly one year after the assumption of office of the present regime.

Another point of anxiety for most Nigerians is the issue of fuel subsidy-to remain or to be scrapped.

To some extent, the concern has been addressed, as National Assembly has graciously approved a provision of N150 billion in budget 2016 for the expenditure which President Muhammadu Buhari said gulped a whooping N1.24 trillion in 2015.

Despite the recent modest efforts of govt in trying to reflate the economy via the aforementioned new measures being taken, which are more or less designed to be a shot in the arm,a lot still needs to be done to jumpstart the socio-economic activities which have been virtually crippled due to the ongoing crackdown on corruption and delay in approving the 2016 appropriation bill .

The following are five nuggets of Chinese development paradigm pointing to how Buhari can put Nigeria back on track and also prepare her for accelerated growth, befitting Africa’s largest Economy.

Firstly, the Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping’s dogged determination to solve her electricity power instability challenge as reflected in her construction of the three gorges dam against all odds,is a good candidate for emulation by Nigerian leaders.

Like the Chinese, President Buhari should take ramping up power supply more seriously. Lumping power up in the same ministry as works and housing, does not create the impression that overcoming power shortages and its attendant consequence on industrialisation is a priority by this govt. Separate power from works and housing, appoint another minister to supervise the left over of works and housing and free up the dynamic, high-achieving, former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola with the power ministry. It may be argued that the extra cost of another ministry would create more strain on our treasury but the benefit of a more nimble power ministry that would deliver more electricity power faster, out weighs the financial burden.

The urgency to overcome electricity challenge can’t be overemphasised but suffice it to say that it is the most critical catalyst for industrial development as evidenced by the Chinese experience. If power supply is stabilised and our economy is running 24 hours, instead of the current 12, Nigerian economy which

Buhari now has GDP value of $530 could double to over one trillion naira in a record time as productivity would increase when factories run none stop and people are at work both night and day.Think about it, at less than 12 hours working day,our national productivity output yields $530 billion.

Secondly, a combination of Import substitution policy introduced long ago but shabbily implemented and a new policy of Backward integration in agriculture should be pursued as a matter of urgency.

Already, the likes of Obasanjo and transcorp farms, as well as Orleans and Indorama farms are investing in cultivation and processing of some food items like poultry,rice and fruit juice across Nigeria, from Ogun, Delta to Benue states and environ. Likewise, Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa has pledged to join the farming revolution by growing rice and sugar in the northern parts of Nigeria and so also has billionaire, Hosa Okunbo who ‘thrown his hat into the ring’ of the new farmers club in Edo State region.

As a further testimony to the capacity of Nigerians to deliver when challenged, Erisco is already producing tomatoe purée in cans locally in Lagos and Dangote is said to have also recently commissioned one factory in Kano.

With more hands being on board to till the soil, food import ticket that is second only to fuel imports-$1.8 trillion, would be reduced very quickly .

Thirdly, petrol or premium motor spirit, PMS which is believed to consume the lion share of about N1.24 trillion of the foreign exchange outflow in 2015 should be tackled head-on.

Fortunately, President Buhari is familiar with building refineries, having been the one that built at least two major refineries in Nigeria during his tenure as minister of petroleum resources and military head-of-state in the late 1970s and 80s.

Along with impressive efforts being made by GMD of NNPC/Minister of state for petroleum, lbe Kachikwu, President Buhari should provide incentives (offer they can’t resist) for oil majors to invest in refineries as precondition for tax breaks and other privileges that they often seek.

Obviously, oil majors have the clout to make it happen faster than any other party because of their foot prints and experience garnered in other climes .

To that end, renewal of leases and award of new ones should be tied to establishment of refineries.

That is the wish of Nigerians, over and above the academic scholarships and book quizzes/contests being organized by major oil companies as corporate social responsibility, CSR initiatives.

The National Assembly, should take note of such realities while reviewing the Petroleum Industry Bill, (PIB) which they have promised to bring to

the front burner for deliberations next week. After they goofed with their failed attempt to pass the social media gagging bill and the ‘shooting’ down of the bill that would strengthen women’s rights plus their lavish expenditure on luxury jeeps instead of opting for cars assembled in Nigeria to boost employment at home, our lawmakers now have the opportunity to demonstrate that they truly love Nigeria.

Passing the PIB without partisanship being a clog is that opportunity to redeem their sagging image The new licenses granted for the establishment of modular refineries is good and so also is Aliko Dangote’s petrochemical plant and refinery under construction in Lekki axis of Lagos State.

Having revolutionised cement production in Nigeria to the extent that Nigeria is now a leader in the production of the commodity in Africa and net exporter of the product, Dangote has demonstrated capacity so he can be assumed to have the ability to deliver on local production of oil/gas in Nigeria.

Fourthly, Egypt ($307b GDP) which has a population of about 80 million is the third largest economy in Africa, by GDP value, next to South Africa which is ($350b GDP), and number 2, with Nigeria at ($530b), being number one.

Practically all the consumables in Egypt from tennis shoes, jeans pants to pampers baby napkins are locally produced by transnational corporations who via Egyptian pragmatic trade policies, are compelled to establish factories in Egypt.

That was only possible because Egypt enjoys stable electricity supply and fairly good infrastructure conducive for manufacturing hence my suggestion that a state of emergency should be declared for stable electricity supply in Nigeria. Similar conditions apply in South Africa with a population of under fifty million,

50 million people and better electricity and other relevant infrastructure than Nigeria, hence BMW and other vehicle assembly plants are located in South Africa.

Can you believe that General Electric, GE of USA opened its first factory outside of USA, in South Africa? That says a lot about the robustness of infrastructure over there .

The import of introducing policies that encourage multinational corporations to establish factories for the local production of their goods, is massive local jobs creation which would invariably trigger and energise an otherwise dormant middle class with the needed purchasing power to sustain the businesses.

Fifthly, on the search for home grown healthcare to conserve foreign exchange which Mr President recently acknowledged as consuming about one billion dollars annually, why can’t we set up a Healthcare City in Abuja like they have done in Dubai? The facility in Dubai boasts of having catered to over 1.2 million patients since inception.

Recently, a group of medical practitioners in the diaspora came together to establish a medical facility of international standard in Lagos.They faced enormous challenges trying to set it up, but eventually they did it anyway.

This confirms that Nigeria can replicate Dubai Healthcare City here, if the right incentives are provided.It would particularly be a potential health tourism magnet especially from African patients. The National Hospital, Abuja which was a good initiative, has failed because it is owned and operated by govt.

• Onyibe, a development strategist and futurologist, was commissioner in Delta State NOTE: Interested readers should continue in the online edition on www.thisdaylive.com

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